KMT presidential candidate says he will build flag platforms on all Taiwan mountains over 3,000 meters high

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/23
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate and erstwhile mayor of

Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), on Wednesday (Oct. 23) said that if elected president, he would see to it that every mountain over 3,000 meters has a flag-raising platform.

During a meet-and-greet with citizens of Zhongpu Township in rural Chiayi County, a member of the crowd suggested that the Taiwanese flag should be seen prominently across the nation. The person proposed that all mountains in Taiwan, including Yushan, Hehuanshan, Lishan, and Alishan, have flag pole platforms built on them to enable launch flag-raising ceremonies at sunrise.

After hearing the suggestion, Han eagerly agreed on the spot and declared, "A flag-raising platform is a must. All mountains over 3,000 meters should have flag pole platforms on them," reported ETtoday.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/23
By: Chen Chao-fu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Three people were sentenced to prison Wednesday for helping to hide

Vietnamese tourists and secure illegal employment for them in Taiwan shortly after the visitors entered the country last year.

The sentences handed down by the Kaohsiung District Court on the three defendants ranged from three months to three years in prison.

Mai Thi Trang (梅氏妝), a Vietnamese woman who was working as a sales representative of a travel agency in Hanoi, was given a nine-month sentence for her role in the disappearance of 148 Vietnamese who arrived in Taiwan late last year on tourist visas.

Mai and other employees at the travel agency were accused of charging US$1,000 to US$3,000 to obtain e-visas for Vietnamese who wanted to work in Taiwan and bringing them into the country under the "Kuan Hung" tourism program.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 October, 2019
By: Jake Chen

Taiwanese indigenous artist Eleng Luluan will showcase her work at an upcoming indigenous art exhibition in Canada. The exhibit is called International Indigenous Contemporary Art. It will kick off on November 8 at the National Gallery of Canada.

Luluan has been tackling the theme of man’s relation with nature for over 20 years. At the exhibit, she will present her latest installation work called “Between Dream”, which features a large piece of cloth woven with recycled packing materials. Luluan says in her promotional literature that she aims to create a protective space similar to that of a mother’s womb.     [FULL  STORY]

Past midnight, Hong Kong had no response to controversial condition imposed by Taiwan – that its own police and prosecutors bring Chan Tong-kai, 20, back to island

Taipei also warns that Hong Kong will be responsible for the consequences of letting suspect go free

South China Morning Post
Date: 23 Oct, 2019
By: Lawrence Chung , Alvin Lum , Christy Leung  

Hong Kong’s embattled government remained silent late on Tuesday night as Taiwan raised the stakes in an escalating political row by offering to accept the surrender of a murder suspect whose case sparked the city’s extradition bill crisis.

Past midnight, Hong Kong had no response to a controversial condition imposed by the self-ruled island – that its own police officers and prosecutors be allowed to bring 20-year-old Chan Tong-kai back – and a warning that the city would be responsible for the consequences of letting him go free.

After flatly rejecting Chan’s offer to turn himself in to Taiwan, where he is wanted for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend last February, and insisting Hong Kong should further detain and prosecute him following his expected release on Wednesday, the island’s government on Tuesday afternoon said it was willing to take him back.

Mainland Affairs Council vice-chairman Chiu Chui-cheng held a press conference in Taipei to announce that Taiwan was willing to take Chan into custody because the “Hong Kong government is reluctant to deal with the murder case” and “obviously does not want to exercise jurisdiction”.
[FULL  STORY]

Research appears to show that strengthening chewing ability will lower the risks of dementia and memory loss in elderly

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Advanced Cultural Association (TACA) held a public welfare activity on Tuesday (Oct. 22) highlighting new findings that appear to show a correlation between chewing ability and prevention of dementia in senior citizens.

The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of an aged society is when more than 14 percent of its population is over 65 years old. Taiwan became an aged society in 2018, and is set to be super-aged by 2026 when at least 20 percent of the population is 65 or more.

TACA Chairman Kobe Chih (池國平) said that since 20.7 percent of Taiwan's population is forecast to be over 65 years old by 2026, it’s a pressing issue for the government. As such, it is important for the government to plan programs to enhance the health of senior citizens and reduce the tremendous costs of the country's long-term healthcare plan.

Research seems to show that strengthening chewing ability can lower the risk of dementia and memory loss. Therefore, Chih urged the public to focus more on oral health.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/22
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) The nine major retailers in Taiwan are not performing satisfactorily in terms of eliminating plastic packaging, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-governmental environmental organization Greenpeace.

Taiwan retailers — from hypermarkets to convenience stores — are carrying out sporadic programs to reduce plastic packaging but do not have any sustainable plans in that regard, said Chang Kai-ting (張凱婷) of Greenpeace, whose work is focused on plastic reduction.

"None of the retailers have a comprehensive or systematic plan for cutting the use of plastic packaging," Chang said.

It would be best if companies drew up a schedule for phasing out plastic packaging and implemented some systematic plans accordingly, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 21 October, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

President Tsai Ing-wen met Monday with Guatemalan President-Elect Alejandro Giammattei.

Guatemala is one of Taiwan’s Central American allies. During the meeting, Tsai said that Giammattei’s decision to visit Taiwan less than two months after his election shows the importance he places on bilateral ties.

Tsai said that Taiwan and Guatemala work closely in areas such as education, agriculture, and medicine. She said that Giammattei understands what the people of Guatemala need, and that he will make bilateral cooperation the most effective it can be.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Justice Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang says Hong Kong authorities must follow up the case by pressing charges against the suspect before he is released

But Hong Kong’s Security Bureau insists Taipei has “absolute jurisdiction” over the case and surrender is not any obstacle in terms of legal procedures

South China Morning Post
Date: 22 Oct, 2019
By: Gary Cheung, Lawrence Chung, Chris Lau  

Both the Hong Kong and Taiwan governments have toughened their stances, each demanding the other side’s cooperation, in an escalating row over the fate of the fugitive murder suspect whose case sparked the city’s extradition bill  crisis more than four months ago.Taipei on Monday said that Chan Tong-kai’s offer to surrender  himself to Taiwan to face charges over the murder of his pregnant girlfriend was not enough, and that formal talks were required within a mutual legal assistance framework. The Hong Kong government countered that it was a simple matter of the 20-year-old student turning himself in to a jurisdiction where he was still a wanted man.

Chan, who fled home to Hong Kong after the murder early last year, is due to be released on Wednesday following 18 months behind bars on money-laundering charges stemming from the theft of the victim’s property and misuse of her finances.

Local authorities could not find enough evidence to prosecute him for the more serious crime committed in Taiwan, and his case was cited by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as a key justification for her extradition bill to plug a legal loophole preventing Hong Kong from transferring criminal suspects to jurisdictions with which it lacked a fugitive transfer agreement.
[FULL  STORY8]