Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/29
By: Fan Cheng-hsiang and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) The Legislative Yuan on Friday passed an amendment to step up

efforts to prevent child abuse, including by requiring day care centers to install surveillance cameras.

The new revisions to the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act are expected to strengthen a dual approach to combating child abuse in Taiwan.

The act covers measures required to prevent or detect child abuse and punish lesser offenses, while the Criminal Code, which could soon be revised to sentence child abusers to up to 10 years in prison, prescribes penalties for more serious offenses.

The revisions passed Friday added many provisions that attempt to provide a safer environment for children and adolescents and prevent their abuse.    [FULL  STORY]

LAW AS TUTOR: A mother said her daughter’s death could have been prevented had legislators fixed the laws, while others said tough rules would deter people

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 30, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Zero tolerance, flogging for repeat offenders and an alcohol-tax fund were among the

suggestions from members of the Anti-Drunk Driving Party to deal with those convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) at a rally at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Families of people killed by drunk drivers presented a petition to lawmakers that outlined demands for harsher penalties, saying that the law is too lenient and has no deterrent effect, while fatal incidents are on the rise.

“We want the government to use the most severe tactics to combat DUI to protect people on the roads. Let us not have any more tragedies befall families due to drunk drivers,” Anti-Drunk Driving Party convener Lee Tai-chung (李載忠) said. “If the government were to impose strict laws and punishment for DUI offenses, maybe it would put fear into habitual drunk drivers and keep them within the law.”

The party said it is seeking to have floggings administered to repeat offenders, mandatory three-day detention, murder indictments for drunk drivers who cause fatalities, a ban on holding public office for people with a DUI record and a fund to compensate those affected by drunk driving incidents, with payments to be made by the offender.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 28 March, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

A photo with former US President Ronald Reagan’s handwriting (RTI photo)
President Tsai Ing-wen says that the United States’ commitment to Taiwan is unquestionable. Tsai was speaking in Honolulu Thursday while visiting an exhibit marking the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. The Taiwan Relations Act forms the basis for US-Taiwan relations in the absence of official diplomatic ties.

Tsai said the act has been the cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations since 1979. However, she also said that China has been challenging the act over the 40 years since it was passed. She said Taiwan’s staunch stance on democratic freedoms and the US’s stable friendship toward Taiwan have allowed US-Taiwan relations to reach an even more meaningful level.

Tsai cited the good relationship between two sides as she pointed to a photo in the exhibit.    [FULL  STORY]

Deciding to have children doesn’t have to be expensive in Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/28
By: If Lin

Taiwan has the world’s lowest fertility rate. However, if you and your partner are planning to have children, the government might have your back.

In order to encourage couples to have children, every one of Taiwan’s municipalities has introduced childbirth incentives. This article analyzes the various incentives offered by Taiwan’s counties and cities and points out the details of how these programs differ. It also organizes the details of governmental social insurance schemes that offer a maternity benefit, which are also available to couples who are preparing to have children.

Up until November 2018, the total number of childbirths in Taiwan – population 23.58 million – was only 181,601, with a meager monthly average of about 15,133. This is the second lowest annual total of child births ever documented in the Ministry of the Interior’s records. The worst year was 2010, when there were only 160,684 newborns. However that may have also been related to the fact that it was the Year of the Tiger.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/28
By:  Central News Agency

The Executive Yuan approved a draft amendment to the Criminal Code at its weekly meeting Thursday, mandating that drunk drivers found guilty of intentional vehicular homicide could face capital punishment.

The draft stipulates that repeat drunk drivers who commit a similar offense within a five-year period that results in serious injury to another party, face a jail term of five to 12 years, and in the event the victim dies, seven years to life imprisonment.

The bill will be sent to the Legislative Yuan where they will be debated and passed before taking effect.

Citing Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Executive Yuan spokesperson Kolas Yotaka (谷辣斯．尤達卡) said more severe punishments are being introduced for driving under the influence (DUI) because such behavior has resulted in the deaths of many innocent people and destroyed numerous families    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/28
By: Ku Chuan and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) The Cabinet approved Thursday a bill that would create high legislative thresholds for passage of any potential political agreement with China and make any such deals subject to a national referendum.

The draft bill will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review during the current legislative session.

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at a Cabinet meeting that day that the push to get the amendment passed early this session came after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) Jan. 2 speech proposing the “one country, two systems” model for unification with Taiwan and calling for negotiations with representatives of various sectors in Taiwan on the issue, according to Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka (谷辣斯‧尤達卡).

Xi’s speech made the government feel it is imminent to pass legislation to safeguard the country’s national sovereignty and establish a safety net for Taiwan’s democracy, Kolas said.    [FULL  STORY]

INDIGENOUS DEFENSE: Despite Chinese obstruction, the project is on track to have a blueprint completed by next year and a prototype by 2024, Yen De-fa said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 29, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The contract design phase of the nation’s first indigenous submarine project has been

completed and the prototype would be ready by 2024, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday.

After a closed-door legislative briefing, Yen told reporters that the military has acquired all the export permits needed from foreign contractors to complete the contract design for the first domestically built submarine.

The completion of the contract design was the first phase of the submarine project, which is to be followed by the blueprint design, then construction of a prototype and mass production, he said.

In the next phase, the military would need more export permits, Yen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 27 March, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Google says it will donate US$1 million to help bridge the gap in educational resources between rural and urban areas in Taiwan. Google Taiwan General Manager Jian Li-feng made the announcement on Wednesday.

Jian says Google will donate the money to Junyi Academy, an educational foundation that aims to provide equal, quality educational opportunities free of charge via its cloud platform. Jian said Google hopes one million Taiwanese elementary and middle school students will benefit from the platform.    [FULL  STORY]

Fines will be enforced after June

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/27 
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In order to facilitate the tracking of an eventual African swine fever outbreak, trucks transporting pigs will have to be equipped with a Global Positioning System or GPS, the government said Wednesday.

Over the past few months, Taiwan has intensified its checks on pork and other meat products in order to prevent the expansion of the disease from overseas, and particularly from China, into the country. Passengers arriving at airports or harbors and failing to report banned meat can face a fine of NT$200,000 (US$6,480).

As statistical evidence showed that the fever was still in its most active phase, the government announced it would order the installation of GPS on an estimated 1,400 trucks transporting hogs by the end of June, the Central News Agency reported.

Companies who installed the devices before the end of this month could receive subsidies, while those who failed to do so after June would face fines, Council of Agriculture officials said.    [FULL  STORY]