Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/05
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Aug. 5 (CNA) Taiwan bestowed a medal upon Argentina’s former top

representative in Taiwan on Wednesday in recognition of his efforts to advance relations between the two countries during his tenure here, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂) conferred the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy on Juan Pena during the ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry’s offices in Taipei, according to a statement issued by the ministry.

In his address, Lin lauded Pena’s efforts to strengthen bilateral exchanges in the areas of trade, culture, environmental protection and small- and medium-sized enterprises, the statement said.

Pena also made efforts to streamline the procedure for Taiwanese nationals to apply for tourism visas to Argentina, Lin said.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-05
By: CNA

Taiwan’s legislative speaker, Wang Jin-pyng, called for student protesters occupying the

Ministry of Education compound in Taipei to return home Tuesday, saying their demands should have been met after the Legislature approved the conclusions of the ruling-opposition talks on the dispute surrounding the revised high school curriculum guidelines.

The adopted conclusions include the Legislature suggesting that the ministry kick off a review of the disputed curriculum guidelines based on the Senior High School Education Act at once, and the green light for schools around Taiwan to freely select textbooks for the 2015 academic year.

Those conclusions should have met the protesting students’ demands, Wang said after talks with members of the legislative caucuses of the ruling and opposition parties at the Legislative Yuan earlier in the day.     [FULL  STORY]

As high-school students across the nation protest against the Ministry of Education’s adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines, National Taiwan Normal University history professor Chou Liang-kai, who headed the ministry’s curriculum adjustment committee for 2006 and 2009, elaborated on his view of the latest adjustments in an interview with staff reporter Tsai Ying of the Chinese-language ‘Liberty Times’ (the sister newspaper of the ‘Taipei Times’)

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 06, 2015

The protests against the “black-box” curriculum adjustments involve not only the issue of

procedural justice, but the conflict between a closed perspective of history — represented by the ministry’s latest adjustments — and an open historical perspective that educators support, National Taiwan Normal University history professor Chou Liang-kai (周樑楷) said.

Chou called on the ministry to be open-minded and at the very least delay the implementation of the adjusted guidelines, while urging Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) to step down to take political responsibility.

Chou said he is willing to support students protesting against the ministry, even though the 2006 Taiwanese history curriculum guidelines had him embroiled in a controversy involving Taiwanese independence versus unification.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/04
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) Taiwan presented a medal to Canada’s top envoy in Taiwan

Tuesday, in recognition of her efforts to advance relations between the two countries over the past three years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said that day.

During the ceremony, Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂) conferred the Friendship Medal of Diplomacy upon Kathleen Mackay in recognition of her contributions to promoting bilateral ties, the ministry said in a statement.

In an address at the ceremony, Lin expressed gratitude for Mackay’s efforts to strengthen Taiwan-Canada exchanges and cooperation.

“I very much appreciate the support we received from MOFA and other ministries,” Mackay said after receiving the medal. “I am certain that we will be able to continue to enhance our relationships.”     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-04
By: CNA

Workers from the Philippines will be able to travel to Taiwan for work in two or three

weeks at the earliest after Taiwan and the Philippines signed cooperation guidelines Monday on worker recruitment, management and service.

The agreement was reached at the sixth ministerial conference between labor ministers of the two countries in Taipei.

The Philippines agreed to provide information on quality workers, while Taiwan for its part agreed to help good employers hire Filipino workers.

The two sides will streamline the application procedures for direct hiring and will help employers directly hire Filipino workers without having to go through brokers.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/04
By: Wang Shu-fen and Brook Hsiao

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) Construction of a new no-kill animal shelter for abandoned and stray animals will be completed early next year in Yanchao District of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan, according to the city’s animal protection office.

Kaohsiung City Animal Protection Office Director Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said that the shelter will cover one hectare, with the capacity of settling 500 animals. The construction cost is estimated at about NT$100 million (US$3.2 million).

Kaohsiung needs to deal with around 5,000 abandoned animals every year and the existing facilities are unable to meet demand, hence the decision to construct the new shelter.

Hsu also said that around half of the animals taken in by shelters are adopted after being treated. In addition, no more abandoned animals will be euthanized in Kaohsiung, which is aiming to become known as an animal-friendly city.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-04
By: CNA

A group of foreign students in the Netherlands, led by a young woman from Taiwan,

recently raised €500 (US$548) for education on Orchid Island, by cycling around the south of the country.

“It is not much, but it shows how much we care,” said Yang Ching-wen, who is studying an MBA at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and organized the July 30-31 cycling event that took participants to The Hague, Delft, Leiden and Gouda.

“The idea occurred to me after I read an article about education on Orchid Island sent to me by a friend online,” explained Yang, who also visited the island to the southeast of Taiwan.

Motivated to help countrymen in need, Yang asked eight of her classmates from Japan, South Korea, Brazil, India, Bolivia, Peru and Holland to make the journey with her after the school semester ended.     [FULL  STORY]