TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: Removing Chiang Kai-shek’s likeness from the nation’s currency would likely cost only a fraction of a NT$50 billion figure opponents have cited

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 27, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The cost of replacing currency bearing the likeness of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石)

would not reach NT$50 billion (US$1.62 billion) as rumored, but likely about one-10th that figure, a source said yesterday.

The Transitional Justice Commission last week sent a letter to the central bank asking for financial documents related to currency redesigns in 2000 and 2005, which could be used to verify if changing currency featuring Chiang would be too costly.

The currency redesign in 2000 cost the central bank NT$4.894 billion, a source close to the commission said, citing documents released by the central bank after the issue was raised by New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) on Tuesday last week.

Recalling NT$200 banknotes that feature Chiang’s likeness and redesigning the NT$5 and NT$10 coins would cost significantly less than the NT$50 billion estimate given by critics of the proposal, the source said.    [FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/25
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Education Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said his decision to finally approve the

appointment of Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) as president of the National Taiwan University (NTU) after nearly a year is aimed at protecting students’ rights and for the development of higher education.

Yeh announced Monday that the ministry had “reluctantly” agreed to support Kuan’s appointment and he says that it will now be up to the university to decide when he takes office.

According to the education minister, his office decided to approve Kuan’s appointment despite ongoing differences of opinion on the issue between the government and the university and despite major flaws in the selection process.

Credit: neverbutterfly / CC BY 2.0National Taiwan University’s main campus in Taipei’s Da’an district.
Yeh said he has asked the university to conduct a complete review within three months of the flaws and disputes that surfaced during the election process and provide a report to the ministry.    [FULL  STORY]

Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau invited the public to visit Kaohsiung and come to the best location in Taiwan to see off the last sunset of 2018

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau invited the public to visit Kaohsiung and come to the best location in Taiwan to see off the last sunset of 2018 to the accompaniment of a concert, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 31.

Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director -General Tseng Tzu-wen (曾姿雯) said that during the Qing Dynasty, the sunset at Sizihwan Bay was one of Taiwan’s Eight Famous Sights.

According to Central Weather Bureau’s statistics, Kaohsiung’s Sizihwan Bay is Taiwan Island’s best location to watch the last sunset of the year. As it is also a popular photography destination for couples, the tourism bureau has held the activity of seeing off the last sunset of the year with music and dances at Sizihwan Bay every year since 2015, having attracted a large number of domestic and foreign attendees over the years, Tseng said.

The bureau has invited Neo-Classic Chamber Ensemble and an acappella group to perform on-site for this year’s event, she added.    [FULL  STORY]

Last week’s student protests at NTU against former Premier Jiang Yi-huah are a snapshot of Taiwan’s current political moment.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/24
By Brian Hioe

A public outcry has emerged after student activists disrupted a talk at National Taiwan University (NTU) on Dec. 18 by former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), calling for Jiang to be held responsible for the actions of the “324” attempted storming of the Executive Yuan during the 2014 Sunflower Movement.

Jiang was Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)’s premier from Feb. 2013 to Nov. 2014 and he is held as responsible for the police violence which took place against student occupiers of the Executive Yuan by many, something which took place after an attempt by student occupiers to take over the building on Mar. 24, 2014. Namely, as premier, Jiang would have had direct authority over whether police force was taken against students or not, much as how during the course of the movement, occupiers of the Legislative Yuan were not evicted because Kuomintang (KMT) majority speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) did not give police the order to do so. For his part, however, Jiang has either denied responsibility for police actions or otherwise justified the actions of police as necessary.

The “324” attempted storming of the Executive Yuan was an attempt to escalate the Sunflower Movement after close to one week of inaction from the Ma administration. The attempt to storm the Executive Yuan, Taiwan’s cabinet, led to violent reprisals from the Taiwanese police, with the heavy use of riot police and water cannons.    [FULL  STORY]

Two days before Christmas Day, news came from 12,970 kilometers away that Taiwan’s expedition team had reached the South Pole

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Two days before Christmas Day, news came from 12,970 kilometers away that Taiwan’s expedition team had reached the South Pole after enduring blizzards and temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius for nearly a month, according to a Liberty Times report on Monday.

The expedition team overcame the treacherous terrain and conditions of the alpine route, and hiked 350 kilometers to reach the South Pole at 5 a.m. on Dec. 23, becoming Taiwan’s first expedition team to have reached the South Pole by cross-country hiking, the report said.

One of the team members is the well-known ultra marathon runner Tommy Chen, who won The 4 Deserts Race Series in 2016, and the Fire and Ice Ultra 250KM in 2018, among other grueling endurance races.

Chen was on the phone talking with his parents Monday morning, saying, “Pa, Ma, don’t worry. I finished! In the future I should be able to overcome more challenges.” To which, Chen’s parents replied, smilingly, “Don’t take any more challenges.”
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 25, 2018 
By Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Starting from next week, hog farmers who use leftovers to feed pigs can apply for

government subsidies to switch to fodder or stop raising pigs as part of measures proposed to prevent African swine fever (ASF) from being transmitted through food, the Council of Agriculture (COA) announced yesterday.

Since China reported its first infection in August, the government has stepped up quarantine measures against the disease, including by opening a central emergency operation center last week, COA Acting Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) told a news conference in Taipei.

The new municipal heads elected on Nov. 24 are to assume office today and Chen invited them to join a council drill simulating an ASF outbreak tomorrow.

At the event, he urged local governments to work with the council on disease prevention.    [FULL  STORY]

Tempo.co
Date: 23 December 2018 
Editor: Petir Garda Bhwana
Translator: Antara

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – East Java governor-elect Khofifah Indar Parawansa and the program navigation team visited Taiwan on Saturday to explore cooperation in technology with Taiwan.

During her visit, Khofifah also visited Radio Taiwan International (RTI), which has a number of programs on Indonesian language, as stated by an Indonesian RTI journalist, Tony Thamsir, in a statement received by Antara on Sunday.

According to Tony, Khofifah`s visit to Taiwan was the second time. Her latest visit was focused more on exploring cooperation with several large-scale companies in Taiwan, including Taiwan`s oil company China Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and national telecommunications services company Chunghwa Telecom.

Khofifah said while visiting CPC, she discussed opportunities for cooperation between CPC and East Java, especially because the province has the second largest source of natural gas in Indonesia after Riau.    [FULL  STORY]