Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/11
By: Wu Jui-chi and Ko Lin

Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) William Brent Christensen, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) Taipei office, arrived in Taipei Saturday to assume his post.

Upon his arrival, Christensen told the press that he is very happy to be back in Taiwan, adding that he looks forward to continuing to develop the many areas of U.S.-Taiwan cooperation.

In a video posted on the AIT’s official Facebook page on Friday, Christensen said he was very glad to have had the opportunity twice before during his diplomatic career to have been stationed in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

CONNECTED: The transit system would connect Tainan with Kaohsiung, making the municipalities the ‘twin engines’ that propel Taiwan’s development, the premier said

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 12, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the beginning of construction on

Tainan’s advanced transit system, which is to connect Tainan to Kaohsiung, saying that the project would see southern Taiwan replace the north as the driver behind national development.

Part of the Cabinet’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, the system is to be constructed in stages, with the first stage being the construction of three lines — color-coded red, blue and green — at a cost of NT$75 billion (US$2.44 billion), Lai said at a ceremony in Tainan.

The transit system is to be built to international standards, Lai said, adding that he hoped the system would leverage Tainan’s development.

The three lines would pass through Tainan’s culturally rich Anping (安平), West Central (中西) and North (北) districts, as well as the the city’s most populated Yongkang (永康) and East (東) districts, Lai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Voice of America
Date: August 10, 2018
By: Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan’s president will travel to North, Central and South

America this month to renew support from two of her government’s few remaining foreign allies and tighten informal ties with the United States, both steps crucial to resisting increased pressure from China.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will leave Sunday for Paraguay, the only Taiwanese ally in South America, and the tiny Central American state of Belize. She is scheduled to stop in the western U.S. cities of Los Angeles and Houston for events that some expect to showcase the strength of Taiwan-U.S. ties.

China has condemned the stopovers as it considers Taiwan part of its territory rather than a country entitled to diplomacy with Washington, which has formal ties with Beijing. Communist officials in Beijing have chipped away at Taiwan’s foreign relations since Tsai took office in 2016. They resent Tsai for declining to see her government and China’s as part of one country.    [FULL  STORY]

As a professional, it’s your responsibility to scrutinize “employee-first” and other similar claims in search of the truth

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/10
By: Robert Hayes, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

Every firm in the business world has some mention in their mission-vision statements, corporate news, or press releases about how they are an employee-first company, but this is almost always lip service. The vast majority of companies are only out to protect their own interests, even at the expense of employees, and they make their lack of concern as clear as day from the moment they hire people. How can you tell? Just look at the fine print of every employee contract. Or better yet, observe their actions.

Almost every employee contract will have a clause buried deep in the text stating that the employee cannot work in the industry for up to one year, sometimes longer, after they leave the hiring company. This clause may make sense for C-level executives or vice presidents who would have access to trade secrets and the strategic direction of the business, but companies can apply this clause to almost anyone, even fresh graduates who are working in an entry-level position.For anyone who is not an executive, a non-compete clause means the company doesn’t care about your career growth the moment you step out of the door.

If for example, a student graduates with a degree in finance and gets a job at a brokerage that requires a non-compete to work there, how can he realistically advance his career beyond that position? His whole education, background, and experience is in that field, but the non-compete would demand that he sit on the sidelines for a year if he leaves, not earning from his domain expertise.

It would be fine if companies compensated employees for following a non-compete, as they do with executives with what is known as the “golden handcuffs” or “golden parachute,” but they usually do not offer any remuneration for the rank-and-file staff that would need this most. The general attitude toward employees stuck with a non-compete and the inability to work in their chosen profession is “tough luck.” When these companies refer to their culture as “employee-first,” they might actually be referring to the shooting order of their firing squad.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/10
By: Elaine Hou, Ku Chuan and William Yen

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) Taiwan’s Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) was

named one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government,” according to a recently published list from global public policy think-tank Apolitical.

The 2018 list of the world’s 100 most influential people in digital government is the first of its kind to show the international spread of innovative work in the field and includes people from every continent, the Apolitical website pointed out.

The individuals listed were nominated by over 100 expert contributors, including digital government experts, academics and public servants, the website said, adding that the final selection was reviewed by independent experts from around the world.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 11, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

In a video announcing his pending arrival today, incoming American Institute in

Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen yesterday said he hopes that he could work with diverse actors to further the economic and cultural relations between Taiwan and the US during his tenure.

Greeting the AIT’s 100,000 Facebook fans in Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Christensen said that it is a strange turn of fate for him to be returning to the US institute for a third tour.

“The first time I came to Taiwan was in the 1970s… AIT is the destination of my first overseas positing as a diplomat. Twenty years after that, I also had the privilege of serving as the institute’s deputy director [from 2012 to 2015],” Christensen said in Mandarin.

“And now, I will be coming back to the AIT once again, as its director. What a turn of fate,” he said, adding that he and his family have been counting down the days until they can reunite with their old friends in Taiwan and make new ones.
[FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/09
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is directing government agencies to work on measures to reduce possible fallout on the local economy from the escalating trade war between the United States and China.

Speaking after a briefing by the Economic and Trade Negotiation Office, Tsai said if the trade war intensifies over the long-term, it is expected to impact Taiwan’s exported-oriented economy.

China announced Wednesday that it will impost additional tariffs on US$16 billion of imported American autos and energy products, responding to the Trump administration’s detailing the previous day of 25 percent tariffs on an equivalent value of Chinese products.

When the tariffs come into effect on Aug. 23, the two sides will have taxes on about US$100 billion worth of bilateral trade. Trump has said he is considering imposing a 25 percent tariff on a further US$200 billion of Chinese goods in September, a threat that Beijing has promised to match yuan for yuan if it is carried out.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/08/09
By:  Central News Agency

Customs in Kaohsiung raided a suspicious container at a pier in Kaohsiung early this week and seized 111.454 kilograms of ketamine which they said had a street value of NT$100 million (US$3.27 million), Customs officials said Thursday.

An investigation is underway to find those involved in the drug smuggling operation, according to a press release from Kaohsiung Customs.

Customs officials noticed a 20-foot container of “plastic injection tools” Tuesday when inspecting the manifest of a ship that sailed from Malaysia to Kaohsiung.

A joint search by Customs and the police was carried out, in which the drugs were discovered.     [FULL  STORY]