HK Sec. of Security says govt. willing to facilitate Chan's return, insists it will not offer Taiwan legal assistance

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/31
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan awaits the handover of murder suspect Chan Tong-kai (陳同佳) from the Hong Kong authorities, Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau has confirmed that they are in contact with law enforcement officials in Hong Kong.

According to the CIB, police in Taiwan are ready for Chan’s arrival and are awaiting information from Hong Kong regarding confirmation of his travel date. Mirror Media reports that on Oct. 30, there was affirmative correspondence between both sides regarding the case of Chan, who is wanted for murdering his girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing in Taiwan back in early 2018.

The report cites John Lee (李家超), Hong Kong’s secretary of security, as saying that while there is no current extradition treaty or legal framework for official cooperation between Taiwan and Hong Kong, Chan has agreed to willingly surrender himself to Taiwanese authorities. Lee states that Hong Kong will assist Chan by facilitating his travel to Taiwan.

Lee also emphasized that Hong Kong is seeking a viable solution to the current debacle and that the city's government remains committed to the rule of law. He said he hopes that justice will be delivered and that the victim’s family can thereby receive comfort.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/31
By: Flor Wang and Liao Yu-yang

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) A decision by Chile, the host country of the 2019 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to cancel the summit will reduce Taiwan's international exposure, a local scholar said Thursday.

APEC is one of the few world bodies in which Taiwan can participate as a formal member, Charles Chou (周子欽), associate director of the International Affairs Department of Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, noted.

In preparation for the 2019 APEC summit, Taiwan had developed several proposals on a post-2020 vision for dealing with issues related to women, he said, commenting on an announcement earlier in the day by Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on the cancellation of the summit in Santiago Nov. 16-17 due to mass protests in his country.

Pinera also said he was calling off plans to host the United Nations annual global climate conference that was scheduled for December in Santiago.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 October, 2019
By: Jake Chen

Government holds fire rescue drill in eastern Taiwan (Photo)

On Monday and Tuesday, firefighters, rescue workers, and soldiers, conducted a series of drills in which they practiced tackling various fire hazards.    [FULL  STORY]

Canada can learn what Beijing plans next from watching Taiwan

Epoch Times
Date: October 30, 2019
By: Omid Ghoreishi

OTTAWA—The West can learn a lot from observing how China is attempting to undermine

Louis Huang of Vancouver Freedom and Democracy for China holds photos of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are being detained by China, outside British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver, on March 6, 2019, as Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou appears in court. – Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese telecom executive at the center of an escalating row between Ottawa and Beijing, was due in court in Canada to get a date for a hearing into a US extradition request. Meng’s arrest in Vancouver in December on a US warrant infuriated China, which arrested several Canadians days later in what was widely seen as retaliation. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo credit should read JASON REDMOND/AFP/Getty Images)

“China is trying to push out its influence on Western countries,” Chen, now chair of the Taiwan-based think tank Prospect Foundation, said at a panel discussion in Ottawa on Oct. 28. Titled “Blunting China’s Sharp Power: How democracies can defend against Chinese influence operations,” the discussion was organized jointly by Chen’s organization and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI).

For Canada, the issue of China’s rise and the communist regime’s hostile acts against Western democracies is all the more in focus in recent months, as Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor remain behind bars in China after Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and China continues to block Canadian imports.

“The Chinese Communist Party has an ongoing campaign to embed agents of influence in Canadian business, politics, media, and in academia,” MLI managing director Brian Lee Crowley said in his talk. “Beijing aims to turn Canadian public policy to China’s advantage, to acquire useful technology and intellectual property, and to be able to monitor and intimidate Chinese Canadians and others.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/30
By: Kuo Chien-shen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) A draft bill that would allow fines ranging from NT$300,000 (US$10,100) to NT$1.5 million for employers found guilty of age discrimination cleared the committee stage in the Legislature Wednesday.

The draft bill is aimed at boosting the labor participation rate of middle-aged and elderly people and protecting their right to rejoin the workforce by providing them with equitable employment opportunities.

Under the bill, middle-aged workers are defined as those aged 45-65, while elderly workers are those over 65.

The draft legislation stipulates that employers cannot subject anyone to unfair treatment because of their age. Discrimination refers to detrimental actions taken against job applicants or employees related to their recruitment, hiring, job allocation, performance evaluation, promotion, wages and benefits, retirement or redundancy payments.    [FULL  STORY]

RECORDS AND INTERVIEWS: Inspectors found that of the 45,129 people working for delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and Foodpanda, only 1,363 are contractors

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 31, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The majority of food-delivery personnel are hired as employees, rather than contractors, the Ministry

Minzu Road Police Station Director Lin Chien-min, second right, of the Changhua County Police Department’s Changhua Precinct, gives a food delivery courier a card with a list of traffic safety tips during a public information activity on Friday last week.
Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times

The ministry said that the findings of a labor inspection conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, contradicted claims by food-delivery platform operators that their workers are contractors and not employees, so they are not obligated to follow the rules in the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and Labor Inspection Act (勞動檢查法).

The inspection focused on people working for Foodpanda, Lalamove, Cutaway, Quickpick, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, YoWoo Food Delivery, Foodomo and JKO Delivery, administration Director Tsou Tzu-lien (鄒子廉) said, adding that Honestbee and Foodtoall have ceased operations.

Inspections were carried out by randomly selecting five or more delivery workers from each of the nine existing platform operators and asking them about their work relationship with their platform.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 29 October, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

Birds at Guandu Nature Park (photo: Taipei Animal Protection Office)

The festival will include forums on art, education, science and how people can cooperate between these fields. Three experts will speak on their perspectives of protecting nature and the environment.    [FULL  STORY]