Taiwan is a genuine global leader when it comes to promoting media literacy and civic tech solutions to the problem of disinformation

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/19
By: David Green

Taiwan’s role as a target for disinformation and the strength of its civic tech movement are attracting global attention as the world seeks inspiration and leadership in the fight against online falsehoods.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day international workshop on Defending Democracy Through Media Literacy in Taipei on Thursday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scott Busby praised Taiwan as an invaluable democratic model in an Indo-Pacific region beset by democratic backsliding and human rights abuses.

The workshop, hosted by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) and the 13th event held under the U.S.-Taiwan Global Cooperation Training Framework, will see participants from 12 countries share opportunities to deepen international cooperation on promoting media literacy.

In his first trip here, Busby warned that disinformation threatens to undermine pluralism, stoke polarization and drown out of the marginalized while “distracting the public from the fundamental principles of good governance, an independent media, human rights, and democratic values.”    [FULL  STORY]

 

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/19
By: Lee Hsin-Yin,Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (TIAC) said Friday it will double the number of baggage drop-off kiosks to 26 by the end of the year as part of a program to modernize airport services.

The new kiosks will be installed near the No. 16 and No. 17 check-in counters at Terminal 2 of Taiwan’s main international airport, said TIAC Senior Vice President Jerry Dann (但昭璧).

The existing 13 baggage drop-off kiosks, which were introduced on Oct. 1, handle an average of 800 pieces of luggage per day, but have a capacity of 3,000 pieces, Dann said.

More passengers are using the service, which takes about two minutes compared with five minutes for manual handling, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/19
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) The top European Union (EU) representative to Taiwan is

“cautiously optimistic” that the EU could soon lift the “yellow card” it issued against Taiwan in 2015 for its lack of cooperation in fighting illegal fishing, she said Friday.

The EU placed Taiwan on its watch list for insufficient cooperation in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in October 2015.

Since then, EU officials have visited the country every six months to see how the issues are being addressed, and the latest week-long inspection trip concluded on Oct. 12.

Asked about the latest inspection, Madeleine Majorenko, head of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO), told reporters Friday that the inspectors were quite satisfied with what they saw in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

BIGGER NOT BETTER? William Lai said the government would not be able to handle labor-intensive companies, so it would be best if they met its development goals

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 20, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that agencies concerned with economic

development are confident they would solve problems facing businesses planning to move back to Taiwan.

Lai made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月), who represents Changhua County, asked whether the government is ready to respond to the trend of Taiwanese businesses moving production lines back home in the wake of the trade war.

Investment is an indispensable factor to drive economic growth, which is the government’s top priority, Lai said.

Since he becane premier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has been under orders to identify problems regarding the “five shortages” of land, water, electricity, talent and labor, and to engage in extensive talks with local industries, Lai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-10-18

A top Taiwanese university is promoting its groundbreaking solar glass technology on the global market.

The National Taiwan University of Science and Technology is moving to launch their award-winning heat insulation solar glass (HISG) product to the world.

HISG has been given the Marie Curie Award by the EU. It’s a transparent material capable of blocking 80 percent of heat penetration. At the same time, it generates electricity from solar energy. The material is able to help maintain indoor temperatures at a comfortable 26 degrees Celsius while it is 40 degrees outdoors. The glass is also resistant to strong typhoon-level winds.    [FULL  STORY]

American male arrested as 4th suspect in grisly murder of Canadian English teacher in New Taipei’s Yonghe District

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/18
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —  An American male English teacher has been identified as the fourth suspect in the gruesome murder and dismemberment of a Canadian English teacher and was arrested in his sleep by police early this morning.

The suspect, identified by SETN as a 46-year-old English teacher named Jason Eugene Hobbie (Chinese name 何傑生), is suspected of helping 37-year-old American tattoo artist Oren Shlomo Mayer to burn the evidence of the grisly murder of 43-year-old Canadian English teacher Ryan Sanjay Ramgahan. Based on testimony by the other American suspect, 30-year-old Ewart Odane Bent, New Taipei police obtained a warrant for Hobbie’s arrest and arrived at his home at 8 a.m. this morning.

When police arrived at his home at 8 a.m. this morning, the door was opened by his eldest daughter preparing to go to school and they presented their warrant for her father’s arrest. Hobbie was found to be fast asleep when police entered his room and had a calm demeanor when awoken. Police then searched his home for evidence.

When questioned by police about his role in the murder, he said that he received a call from Mayer that day asking him, “Do you want to set off fireworks from the riverbank?” reported Liberty Times. Hobbie had ridden his scooter about halfway, when he received a second phone call from Mayer saying, “Our scooter is out of gas, can you please buy some gas for us?”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/18
By: By Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Responding proactively and making the decision-making process

transparent are among the government’s approaches to countering the spread of misinformation and disinformation, digital minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said Thursday.

In a keynote speech at an international workshop on media literacy, Tang cited a line in a Leonard Cohen song that shows he saw the influence campaigns facing democracies in the digital age as hope in darkness.

“There is a crack in everything, and that’s how the light gets in,” Tang quoted from “Anthem” at the 2018 Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) International Workshop co-hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD).

“Here we are facing a crack in our democracy through disinformation, misinformation and different kinds of ways to undermine trust in our democratic institutions,” Tang said.
[FULL  STORY]