Focus T&aiwan
Date: 2019/06/18
By: Wang Shu-fen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) More than 800 people in Taipei showed up Tuesday for the first in a series of specially organized exams that are being held by the government to issue commercial driver's license for operators of non-traditional types of taxis.

About half of the 800-plus drivers who took the multipurpose taxi driver exam were people who work for the ride-hailing service Uber Taiwan, the local subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc., according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).

The exam was held under a multipurpose taxi service program initiated by the government primarily to encourage Uber and other types of non-traditional taxi services to adhere to the relevant laws, the ministry said.

Under Taiwan law, a multipurpose taxi is defined as a ride service in which the driver is not legally required to use a yellow taxi. The fares are metered, but passengers must contact the drivers via an app, the law states.
[FULL  STORY8]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 June, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says Taiwan’s democratic system poses a challenge to the legality of China’s

totalitarian regime. Wu was speaking Monday at a seminar entitled “The Risk to the Asian Peace: Avoiding Paths to Great Power War.”

The seminar was co-sponsored by National Chengchi University and the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
[FULL  STORY]

Local residents raise water buffalo in fields lining Provincial Highway No. 11 in Taitung County, posing danger to road users

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/17
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A female motorcyclist died after hitting a water buffalo on a highway in Donghe Township in Taiwan’s eastern county of Taitung on Sunday night (June 16), Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday.

A witness said he was driving on the coastal Provincial Highway No. 11 sometime after 8 p.m. when the vehicle in front of him suddenly stopped, so he braked and stopped his own car. He then stepped out to ask what had just happened. As he was walking towards the car, he saw a scooter and woman lying on the highway, according to CNA. The driver of the other vehicle told him that the female motorcyclist had "just hit a water buffalo,” the news outlet reported.

A passerby called authorities to report the accident. The driver of the car in front performed CPR on the unconscious woman according to instructions given by the fire department via cell phone until an ambulance arrived and rushed the victim to a local hospital. However, the hospital pronounced the woman dead later that night, CNA reported.

Some local residents raise water buffalo in the fields lining Provincial Highway No. 11, and there have been multiple incidences of vehicles hitting the animals in the past, the news outlet reported. In the previous two cases, the car of one frightened motorist was dented and damaged, and in the other case, a water buffalo was killed, according to CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/17
By: Flor Wang and Chen Chun-hua

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has long supported the right of referendum and passed legislation to lower referendum thresholds in late 2017, has now passed a bill that will limit the exercise of direct democracy.

The DPP-controlled Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Referendum Act on Monday that will only allow national referendums to be held on the fourth Saturday of August every two years, starting in 2021.

That means they cannot be held together with Taiwan's presidential election in January 2020 or subsequent votes every four years after that or in conjunction with elections for local government offices to be held next in late 2022.

DPP lawmaker Chiang Chieh-an (蔣絜安) said the measure was passed to avoid the chaos of having referendums held alongside national polls, referring to local elections in November 2018 when 10 referendum questions were held as part of the vote.    [FULL  STORY]

‘WEDDING BANQUET’: The group is also to hold an exhibition in the US city to showcase Taiwan’s progress in promoting marriage equality

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 18, 2019
By: Yang Mien-jieh  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese gay rights advocates are teaming up to join a pride parade in New York City on June 30, Marriage

Equality Coalition Taiwan said, adding that the group is planning a “Wedding Banquet” exhibition to showcase the nation’s progress in promoting same-sex marriage rights.

Taiwan on May 17 became the 27th nation and the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, the ripple effect of which is being felt in neighboring countries, the coalition said.

Several South Korean activists expressed the hope that their country would follow suit during their pride march earlier this month, while a number of lawmakers in Japan have continued to propose bills to promote marriage equality, it said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, which refers to a series of demonstrations initiated by gay communities in New York against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, and is considered a seminal event leading to the LGBT+ liberation movement in the US.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/16
By: Feng Shao-fu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) Fluorescent blue sparkles, dubbed "blue tears," that glow around Taiwan's offshore Matsu Islands are not caused by toxic algae and a sign of environmental deterioration, a Taiwanese researcher said Sunday in rebutting a recent study.

Chiang Kuo-ping (蔣國平), a distinguished professor at National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU), said it cannot be established that the "blue tears" along beaches near Matsu are associated with toxic algae because they do not drain oxygen from the surrounding waters and kill marine life in the process as stated in the study.

He said the single-celled "noctiluca scintillans," also known as "dinoflagellates" or sea sparkles, that generate the bioluminescence described as "blue tears" when disturbed are non-toxic heterotrophs — organisms that feed on other sources of nutrition to survive.

In coastal ecosystems, they replace copepods — small crustaceans commonly found in aquatic communities — as the main consumers of phytoplankton and play the role of a "terminator" of single-cell algae called diatoms, which Chiang described as a normal phenomenon in marine ecosystems.
[FULL  STORY]