TAEF think thank to strengthen relationships between Taiwan and New Southbound Policy nations

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government’s New Southbound Policy can start at home

with a positive treatment of foreign workers and spouses, the chairman of the new government-funded Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF, 台灣亞洲交流基金會) said Saturday.

The think tank was expected to lead efforts to strengthen relationships with the countries targeted by the New Southbound Policy, 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six countries in South Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. The policy was launched by President Tsai Ing-wen after she took office in May 2016.

Charity starts at home, so people in Taiwan should begin by treating foreign workers and spouses well, TAEF Chairman Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌) said in an interview with the Central News Agency.

Most foreign workers in Taiwan, he noted, hail from New Southbound Policy countries, in particular the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Care and concern for those workers from overseas could be linked to the policy, he told CNA, adding that Taiwanese should not wait until going overseas before practicing the policy.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/15
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The gap in the labor participation rate between men and women in Taiwan has narrowed in the past decade at a time when more and more women are jumping into the job market, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

Data compiled by the MOL showed the labor participation rate among male workers stood at 67.13 percent in 2017, down 0.11 percentage points from 2007, while the percentage of women working was 50.92 percent, up 1.48 percentage points from 2007.

In 2017, 6.56 million men jumped into the local job market, while 5.23 million female workers entered the workforce, the data indicated.

The figures translated into a difference of 16.21 percentage points in the labor participation ratios between male and female workers, down from 17.80 percentages in 2007.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Friday pledged to pay more attention

to the psychological health of ministry officials, after the nation’s envoy to Osaka committed suicide amid criticism over his office’s assistance to Taiwanese tourists in need.

In an open letter to ministry officials at home and abroad sent on Friday and provided to reporters yesterday, Wu said that he was heartbroken over the passing of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Osaka branch director-general Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠).

“Su left behind his wife and children… I blame myself for the break-up of his family due to work, and the pressure he faced from within and from outside,” Wu wrote in the letter. “I am writing this letter to tell you that the ministry needs to make improvements and should take better care of your physical and psychological health, as well as your family life.”

Su, who assumed leadership of the Osaka office in July, took his own life early on Friday at his residence in Osaka, Japan, about a week after his office came under fire for a staff member’s alleged refusal last week to help a Taiwanese tourist stranded in Osaka in the wake of Typhoon Jebi find accommodation.    [FULL  STORY]

Times of India
Date: 9/14/2018

HONG KONG/TAIPEI: As Beijing intensifies its effort to further isolate Taiwan

diplomatically, Taipei is actively but discreetly broadening security
ties with regional powers beyond its long-standing relationship with the United States.

From efforts to share intelligence on China’s military with India and the prospect of engaging Japanese experts in its submarine programme, Taipei’s
push is gradually bearing fruit despite sensitivities surrounding relations with Taiwan, according to government officials, military attaches and
diplomats.

Taipei is actively but discreetly broadening security ties with regional powers like India and Japan

The move mirrors Taiwan’s more public “southbound” policy to deepen commercial and cultural links with the region.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Foreign Affairs Minister says Taiwan’s exclusion from UN detriment to both Taiwan and the world

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/09/14
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said that

despite Taiwan being unable to participate in the United Nations (UN), Taiwan has complied with its duties as a responsible stakeholder during an interview with Italian newspaper Il Messaggero published on September 6.

“The UN continues to ignore what Taiwan can offer,” Wu told Il Messaggero, adding that “we are extremely disappointed that the UN continues to misuse the Resolution 2758 of the 1971 General Assembly to justify the exclusion and isolation of Taiwan.”

Wu’s interview and direct language suggests a change in tactics by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA, 外交部) bid to for greater participation in the international community. Earlier this month, MOFA slammed the UN for “violating fundamental human rights” of 23 million Taiwanese people.

MOFA previously announced in August that this year’s effort to promote Taiwan’s involvement with UN-affiliated organizations would be stronger than previously, but would not seek admission into the organization.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/14
By: Hsiao Po-wen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Leu Weng-jong (呂文忠), director-general of the Administrative

Enforcement Agency of the Ministry of Justice, will be the new Investigation Bureau director-general, Justice Minister Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) confirmed Friday.

Leu will take over the position left vacant by Tsai, who was appointed minister of justice in a Cabinet reshuffle in July.

A postgraduate at National Chiao-Tung University’s Institute of Technology Law, Leu previously served as director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Legal System, as well as acting director-general of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Although the appointment came as a surprise, Leu told CNA he is fully aware of the new responsibilities that await him.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-09-13

Nurses protested in front of the health ministry on Thursday to call on the government to improve their working conditions.

Members of the Taiwan Nurse Medical Industry Union (TNMIU) chant their slogans in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. They are calling on the government to improve their working conditions by hiring more nurses.

The protest takes place exactly one month after a fire broke out at the Taipei Hospital, resulting in 13 dead and 39 injured. Many believed the fire wasn’t properly dealt with due to the low number of medical staff members on site.    [FULL  STORY]

Failure to tackle illegal fishing and human rights abuse in the Taiwanese fleet harms the country’s reputation and jeopardizes millions of dollars in seafood trade.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/09/13
By: Max Schmid

Taiwan’s fishing industry, and the agency in charge of monitoring it, are once again on the receiving end of harsh international criticism.

In July, the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced that the Taiwanese vessel Fuh Sheng 11 had become the first ship cited for violating the Work in Fishing Convention (also known as C188), which sets standards for the fair treatment of fishermen at sea. The ship was inspected in Cape Town, South Africa, which is one of 10 countries to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention to date.

Today, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), after interviewing multiple crew members in Indonesia, is revealing that the situation was graver than initial reports made it out to be. EJF also says Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency, which regulates the industry, missed several opportunities to hold the vessel to account. Crew members told EJF they were beaten and made to work up to 22 hours a day. EJF also received evidence of the illegal finning of sharks, including endangered hammerhead sharks.

The report is the latest in a series of nongovernmental organization (NGO) and media revelations that suggest a pattern of work abuse, salary withholding, and illegal fishing by Taiwanese vessels.    [FULL  STORY]