Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tainan City Mayor William Lai ended his boycott of the Tainan City

Council of almost nine months Friday by presenting his government report to the body.

Lai, a prominent member of the Democratic Progressive Party, was impeached by the Control Yuan on August 4 after having stayed away from the council since January out of protest against vote-buying allegations centering on council speaker Lee Chuan-chiao of the Kuomintang.

At a news conference announcing his decision to return to the council after 234 days, Lai said that “reforms had achieved temporary results,” so he could present his government team’s program to the council.

However, as the session started, only councilors from the DPP were present, reportedly because the others had not been informed of Lai’s decision to end his boycott.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/28
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Maria Tsai

Taipei Aug. 28 (CNA) The Tainan municipal government reported on Friday that the number of dengue fever cases in the city continued to rise recently to exceed 2,500 cases so far this year.

With 193 new cases reported on Wednesday, Tainan has now reached a total of 2,574 dengue fever cases, with four of the cases fatal, the city’s Department of Health said.

The Tainan municipal government said it will promote prevention measures against dengue fever on campus after school starts next week, and call for students and teachers to eliminate sources which cause the viral disease.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-28
By: CNA

Taiwan will raise monthly wages for the 220,000 migrant domestic helpers to NT$17,000

(US$520) from September 1, an Indonesian labor official said Thursday.

The amount will be an increase of NT$1,160 (US$35.90), or 7% from the current NT$15,840 (US$490), Agusdin Subiantoro, chief the National Board for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers, told CNA.

Taiwan has frozen the pay for migrant domestic helpers for 18 years, as domestic helpers are not entitled to the Labor Standards Law, which set the minimum monthly wage at NT$20,008 (US$620).

Agusdin said after rounds of negotiations, Taiwanese and Indonesian officials reached the agreement to increase migrant domestic workers’ pay earlier in the day.     [FULL  STORY]

PROTEST:Several hundred foreign labor agents rallied outside the Ministry of Labor against what they said were oppressive regulations that encouraged illegal workers

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 29, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

An agreement has been reached with Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand to

raise the salaries of domestic staff and caregivers from those nations, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday.

It is the first such increase in 18 years.

Starting next month, new contracts will require a monthly salary of NT$17,000, up from the current NT$15,840.

While wages for foreign migrant workers were originally equivalent to the national minimum wage, the minimum wage has gradually been increased over the years — most recently going from NT$19,273 to NT$20,008 at the beginning of last month — while the wages of foreign domestic staff and caregivers remained frozen.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/27
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s Army conducted a live-fire drill earlier this week to test

the combat capabilities of the recently acquired AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, marking the first time the U.S.-made choppers fired missiles in Taiwan, the Army confirmed Thursday.

The drill, conducted at a military base in southern Taiwan, was part of the Army’s preparation for formally commissioning the most advanced attack helicopters in its fleet, the Army said.

Weapons fired from the participating Apache helicopters included the air-to-surface Hellfire missile and the Stinger missile, the Army said.     [FULL  STORY]

‘A GOOD THING’:Hung dismissed concern over Lien joining China’s military celebrations, saying he has contributed a lot to the cause of cross-strait peace

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 28, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) decision to attend Chinese celebrations next

month marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, including a military parade, is a “good thing if it helps peaceful exchanges across the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said yesterday.

Lien’s decision has sparked controversy, with the Mainland Affairs Council and the Presidential Office expressing their disapproval, but saying they cannot stop him because he is going as a private individual.

Asked about the issue, Hung said that Lien made history by “embarking on an ice-breaking journey to China [in 2005]. laying the groundwork for peaceful interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

“As long as [the trip] is good for cross-strait interaction, it is a good thing. I believe the former [KMT] chairman knows what he is doing,” she said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/27
By: Chen Chih-chung and Maria Tsai

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) An academician of the Academia Sinica (中央研究院), Professor

Sow-Hsin Chen (陳守信), has won the 2015 Guinier Prize for his outstanding achievement in the field of small-angle scattering (SAS), according to the top research institute’s statement on Thursday.

Small-angle scattering is a type of structural analysis of matter that enables people to study the structure of a variety of objects such as solutions of biological macromolecules, nanocomposites, alloys, and synthetic polymers. It is used in a wide variety of areas, including medical ultrasound.

Professor Chen will receive his prize at the SAS2015, the 16th International conference on Small-Angle Scattering to be held in Berlin Sept. 13-18, the statement said. It added that he will also deliver a lecture in a plenary session of the conference.     [FULL  STORY]