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Chu contrasts own policies with rival’s proposals

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Liluan Chu

Chu contrasts own policies with rival’s proposals.

Chu contrasts own policies with rival’s proposals.

emphasized the differences between his own policy proposals and those of his main opponent in his final televised policy presentation Friday before the January 16 elections.

The election is not about changing the person in charge, but about changing the right person, not the wrong person, because otherwise we will not know how the future of Taiwan will turn out, Chu said.

Attacking his Democratic Progressive Party rival Tsai Ing-wen, he described the past eight years as a period of opposition boycotts and protests without constructive proposals. The lack of response from the DPP could make voters doubt whether the party was ready to govern, he said.

Chu also emphasized the recent proposal to have a new Cabinet based on the majority in the new Legislative Yuan shortly after the election.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan organ donor numbers hit new high

Taiwan Today
Date: January 8, 2016

Taiwan saw a record 264 organ and 43 cadaveric skin donation cases last

An increasing number of people in Taiwan are ready to give the gift of life by signing up as registered organ donors. (CNA)

An increasing number of people in Taiwan are ready to give the gift of life by signing up as registered organ donors. (CNA)

year, indicating a rise in public acceptance of the practice and its key role in providing the gift of life.

The latest statistics from Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center revealed that more than 7,100 donors registered in 2015, up 9 percent from the year before. This was also a new high and reflects the impact of a center-initiated nationwide pro-donation campaign since 2004.

TORSC Chairman Dr. Lee Po-chang believes the upward trend is linked to the flash-fire that swept through an after-dark water park dance party last June in New Taipei City killing 15 and injuring over 500.

“The number of organ donors shot up in the two months following the tragedy,” Lee said Jan. 7. “Whenever major disasters strike, they bring out the very best in the people in Taiwan.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan reiterates stance on South China Sea

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/08
By: Tai Ya-chen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reiterated Friday that Taiwan has adopted an initiative to resolve the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea peacefully while maintaining its sovereignty claim over the area.
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The MOFA’s comments came after a letter by U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to Republican Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, cited Taiwan as one of the countries claiming sovereignty over the disputed islands in the South China Sea.

In October, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Lassen destroyer within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago built by China.     [FULL  STORY]

ELECTIONS: CUPP slams KMT on spousal residency

DISCRIMINATORY?Chinese spouses are required to live in Taiwan for six years before being granted residency, while people from other nations only have to wait four years

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 09, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang (王如玄) and China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) Chairman Chang An-le (張安樂), better known as the White Wolf, attended the Chinese Women’s Federation general meeting yesterday, at which Chang lashed out at the KMT for failing to allow Chinese spouses enjoy the four-year residency requirement for obtaining Republic of China residency that spouses from other nations do.

The Chinese Women’s Federation was founded in 2013 by Chinese spouses to promote the group’s interests. The meeting was attended by KMT politicians.

Wang said that new immigrants are “mothers of Taiwanese children” and each is “one of our own,” adding that various measures benefiting new immigrants, such as granting them the right to work and participate in occupational training before obtaining residency, were made possible when the KMT was in office and when she was Minister for the Council of Labor Affairs.

“It is not easy to make room [for those new measures] as some parties deem new immigrants as ‘not of our kind,’” Wang said.

It takes Chinese spouses six years to become residents, whereas for spouses from other nations it takes four years.

“Are [Chinese spouses] second-class citizens compared with Southeast Asian [spouses]?” Chang said after Wang left the meeting, adding that Wang failed to promise to make reforms.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai-Chen ticket vows to uplift traditional industries

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-07
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s traditional industries will become more competitive with creativity,

DPP ticket vows to uplift traditional industries. Central News Agency (2016-01-07 21:04:56)

DPP ticket vows to uplift traditional industries. Central News Agency (2016-01-07 21:04:56)

Democratic Progressive Party vice presidential candidate Chen Chien-jen said during a visit to a drapery wholesales, manufacturing and trading company in New Taipei City Thursday.

Chen is DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen’s running mate in Taiwan’s 2016 presidential race.

Drapery is an important consumer goods industry in Taiwan even though some people think it is a sunset industry, Chen said.

Noting that he has understood cloth can be used for different purposes after processing, Chen said Taiwan’s traditional industries will become internationally competitive with creativity.     [FULL  STORY]

MOFA lists facts on Diaoyutai Islands

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/07
By: Tang Pei-chun and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday listed 10 facts to emphasize that the Diaoyutai Islands are an inherent part of the Republic of China’s territory.

Diaoyutai Islands are geologically affiliated with the island groups off Taiwan’s northeastern coasts and are one of Taiwan’s subordinate islands, the ministry said.

The ministry said the Diaoyutai Islands were first discovered and named by the Chinese. They were covered in China’s coastal defense system in the Ming Dynasty and were included in China’s territory as an administrative region of Taiwan during the Ching (Qing) Dynasty.

It said that the Diaoyutai Islands were “furtively occupied” by Japan during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and that the occupation is invalid from the onset.     [FULL  STORY]

EVA rated among world’s top 20 safest airlines

Taiwan Today
Date: January 7, 2016

Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp. was named one of the world’s 20 safest

Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp. is collecting a bevy of international accolades for its quality services and clean safety record over 25 years of operations. (Courtesy of EVA)

Taiwan’s EVA Airways Corp. is collecting a bevy of international accolades for its quality services and clean safety record over 25 years of operations. (Courtesy of EVA)

full-service airlines for 2016, according to a survey released Jan. 5 by Australia-based aviation safety website Airline Ratings.

“It’s an honor to be selected for the list for the third consecutive year,” EVA Chairman Chang Kuo-wei said. “The recognition is meaningful and more than welcome as it underscores the company’s commitment to safety and quality while highlighting the international competitiveness of Taiwan’s aviation industry.”

Launched in 2013, the study assesses airline safety by reviewing a carrier’s fatality record for the past 10 years, operational safety audit certification by the International Air Transport Association and compliance with eight safety parameters of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

EVA earned a top seven-star ranking and was lauded out of 407 regularly monitored airlines for its operational excellence and spotless safety record.     [FULL  STORY]

Civic groups voice support for ‘third force’

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 08, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff Reporter

Representatives from more than 30 civic groups yesterday urged voters to

Anti-Poverty Alliance convener Chien Hsi-chieh, fifth right, Garden of Hope Foundation chief executive officer Chi Hui-jung, sixth right, and others raise their fists in support of “third force” candidates outside the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Anti-Poverty Alliance convener Chien Hsi-chieh, fifth right, Garden of Hope Foundation chief executive officer Chi Hui-jung, sixth right, and others raise their fists in support of “third force” candidates outside the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

support “third force” parties in the legislative elections on Saturday next week.

Members of the Anti-Poverty Alliance, Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Garden of Hope Foundation and other groups stood outside the Legislative Yuan shouting slogans calling for voters to support “third force” parties with “ideals” and “civic consciousness,” which they said represented the “hope of the nation” in a crucial election.

The groups endorsed the New Power Party (NPP), the Green Party-Social Democratic Party Alliance and the Trees Party (樹黨), with numerous representatives urging undecided voters to vote for the Alliance. The parties all have close ties with civic groups, whose members comprise the majority of their candidates and leadership.

“We cannot see vision in any of the major parties and we know that during their governance over the last 16 years, they have backtracked on numerous promises they had made to the public,” Promotion Alliance for a Just and Ecological Society convener Chang Tse-chou (張則周) said. “If we are to hope that Taiwan becomes a more just and democratic nation, we have to have a vision, and we can clearly see that the new political forces have such a vision and deserve our support.”     [FULL  STORY]

Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei begins soft opening January 9

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei announced Wednesday to begin its soft opening on

Grand Mayfull Hotel begins soft opening Jan 9.

Grand Mayfull Hotel begins soft opening Jan 9.

January 9, 2016.

Gran Mayfull Hotel Taipei aims to build an international hotel to provide a luxurious accommodation and fine dining environment.

Only 10 minutes’ drive away from Songshan Airport, the Grand Mayfull Taipei Hotel offers 146 deluxe rooms, 5 carefully crafted theme restaurants, and a pillar free grand ballroom, which is equipped a 360 degree projector screen, a VIP club with private space and customized services for the members, and a heated outdoor swimming pool with sauna as part of a very complete range of leisure facilities.

Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei’s target aat successful entrepreneurs, enterprise senior managers and high-end customers. Kaku Kuo, deputy general manager of Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei, said, “We set the goal for the average room rate of the first year is NT$14,000 per room night and the room occupancy of the first year is 40%.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan condemns North Korean hydrogen bomb test

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/06
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday condemned North Korea’s alleged

Photo courtesy of Kyodo News

Photo courtesy of Kyodo News

detonation of a hydrogen bomb as a provocative action and called against any move that could undermine stability in the region.

The condemnation came in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Pyongyang’s announcement earlier in the day that it had successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test, a significant advance in its pursuit of a nuclear arsenal.

The Republic of China government has strongly condemned North Korea’s action and has expressed serious concern about it, according to the statement.

The ROC has urged North Korea to respond to the international community’s calls and abide by United Nations resolutions, by stopping any moves that could undermine the region’s security and working jointly to maintain peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in East Asia.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said the test was conducted “for self-defense.” The test also means a higher stage in the country’s development of a nuclear force, it added.     [FULL  STORY]