TAOYUAN RACE: Saying the KMT has lost the public’s trust, Yang Li-huan said she did not get nominated because she lacks the right political or financial connections

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 10, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Yang Li-huan (楊麗環)

yesterday announced that she is leaving the party to run for Taoyuan mayor as an independent, after the party reiterated its support for KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) as its candidate.

Yang said on Facebook that it was with a heavy heart that she had decided to leave the KMT.

“I have been a politician for 22 years, having started as a borough warden,” she said in the statement.

“I have striven for the development of my hometown, Taoyuan. However, my efforts have not been appreciated by the party leadership, because I do not have a pedigree and I am not backed by any heavyweight, faction or corporation,” she wrote.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-07

President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the Council of Agriculture to open up

more farmers’ markets. The move intends to give organic farmers better access to buyers.

On Tuesday, President Tsai joined in a celebration of Taiwan’s organic farmers. The event, a forum organized by the Youngsun Culture & Education Foundation, featured a variety of organically grown produce. Of special interest to the president were bananas with edible peels.

Taiwan has ambitious goals for organic farming. With the passage of the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act in May, the government has set a target of increasing the area of organically farmed land to 15,000 hectares by 2020.    [FULL  STORY]

Sarah Gallo, also known as The Five Foot Traveler, has been to over half of the world’s countries. Here, she recounts a three-day whirlwind road trip through western and central Taiwan – and takes us along for the ride.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Sarah Gallo

After far too long in the fascinating yet claustrophobic confines of Hong Kong, Erik (my travel partner) and I were thrilled to be on our way to Taiwan – my first time to the island. Before heading north to Taipei, we decided to do a quick three-day road trip through central and southern Taiwan, beginning in Taichung, to get a better feel for the country. After shopping around, we found an older car, but it drove well and had working air conditioning – which we quickly found out was an absolute must! Shortly after stepping off the plane in Taichung, we were on our way to one of Taiwan’s highlights: the gorgeous Sun Moon Lake.
[FULL  STORY]

Chang denies illegal funding from Chinese government

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Investigators raided the home of former gang leader Chang An-lo (張安樂), also known as the “White Wolf,” and the offices of his China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP, 統促黨) in a search for illegal funding from China, reports said Tuesday.

Chang is no stranger to investigations, as he once headed one of Taiwan’s top criminal gangs, the Bamboo Union, and spent years in exile in China. He recently repositioned himself as a fierce advocate of unification with China, but his group still occasionally becomes involved in violent clashes with opponents.

Teams of prosecutors alighted at the CUPP offices in Taipei City at 8 a.m. Tuesday and remained there for five hours before leaving with 13 cardboard boxes and several computers, the Apple Daily reported.

Chang told reporters his home had also been searched before he traveled to the CUPP offices. He denied allegations that his small pro-unification party had received funding from the Chinese government in Beijing, though he said he had used money he had made in China through investments and manufacturing.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Ko Lin 

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Nearly one third of Taiwanese fathers feel they are alienated from their children because they don’t spend enough time with them during the week, according to a yes123 online job bank survey released Tuesday.

The poll on the pressures facing working fathers and their career planning reveals that 14.8 percent do not even have dinner with their children, while 30.2 percent said the alienation has been caused by extended working hours and overtime.

Among those polled, 74.2 percent said they spend more than nine hours in the office a day, while 18.4 percent admitted that they practically spend no time with their children during a work week.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 84.3 percent said their salary “was not enough” to cover their expenses, while 39.3 percent said they are the sole breadwinner in the family.    [FULL  STORY]

ASSETS FROZEN: The corps’ directors were required to deliver work report to the KMT and Chiang Kai-shek said the corps was affiliated with the defense ministry

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 08, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Cabinet’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday

designated the China Youth Corps as an affiliate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), demanding that the corps declare its assets within four months.

The committee reached the decision after determining that the KMT had controlled the corps’ personnel, operations and finances — the criteria for listing an organization as a party affiliate under the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例).

“In terms of the corps’ personnel, its first director was Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), the son of then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and who later became a KMT chairman,” committee chairman Lin Feng-jeng (林峯正) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that Chiang Ching-kuo’s successor, Li Huan (李煥), also had plenty of experience working in the KMT.

That the corps’ directors were required to deliver work reports to the KMT’s Central Standing Committee before the lifting of martial law suggests that the party had control over the corps’ operations, Lin said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-06

President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is determined to strengthen its military self-

sufficiency. She was speaking Monday at the Navy Command in Taipei.

Tsai said her administration has increased next year’s defense budget in order to meet the needs of national security and to underline the government’s determination to build its own military hardware.

“A military budget of NT$346 billion (more than US$11.3 billion) has been earmarked for 2019, up NT$18.3 billion (nearly US$600 million) from the previous year. The overall defense budget accounts for 2.16% of the GDP. In the meantime, I have also demanded that the military speed up the structuring of its defense capabilities,” said Tsai.     [FULL  STORY]

Whether it was a hack of TSMC or not isn’t the point.

Bloomberg
Date: August 5, 2018
By: Tim Culpan

I was at a hackers conference in Taipei a few years ago when I got talking to one of the

country’s leading cybersecurity experts. I wanted to know the state of play in the ongoing cyber war between Taiwan and China.

“There’s no war,” came the response. I was flummoxed. All day, stories had been flowing about attacks from China and the ongoing risks.

“It’s only a war if you fight back,” was the explanation. “Taiwan doesn’t fight back.”

For more than a decade, Taiwan has been ground zero for attempts to breach its computer networks. Beyond obvious targets such as political parties, government departments and national security apparatuses, many businesses have been attacked. In one breach, a major flat-panel display maker’s patent department was infiltrated, and all the evidence pointed to Chinese hackers.    [FULL  STORY]

 

 

New medical evacuation service takes off in Kinmen, slashing 50 minutes off travel time to Taiwan 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/08/06
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Kinmen County’s (金門縣) new emergency medical aircraft entered into service today, reducing travel time for patients traveling to Taiwan island by 50 minutes, reported CNA.

Magistrate of Kinmen County, Chen Fu-hai (陳福海) said that the new aircraft will improve healthcare provided to the county, but hoped that the aircraft does not need to be used too often.

The new aircraft is a Brazilian-made Embraer Phenom 300, which has been especially configured for medical emergencies.

The aircraft is operated by three pilots and the has room for seven family members, medical staff and crew, in addition to the single stretcher bed. The aircraft has a top speed of 936 kph, faster than a helicopter, as well as being more comfortable.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/06
By Joseph Yeh, CNA staff reporter 

Twenty-three years is a long time to wait for an answer and it is especially painful for a mother who has spent that time searching for the truth behind the death of her son while serving in the the ROC Navy in 1995.

Even though the death of Huang Kuo-chang (黃國章) remains shrouded in mystery, on Aug. 4, Chen Pi-e (陳碧娥) finally received the apology she had wanted for 23 years.

The apology was made by Commander of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy Admiral Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光) over the death of Chen’s son which it has long been suspected was due to bullying, even though the Navy to this day has never officially accepted that assertion.

“Mrs. Chen has suffered through the pain of personal loss for the past 23 years, and the Navy owes her an apology,” Huang Shu-kuang said. He also stressed that the apology is not a substitute for justice and the search for the truth about the young seaman’s death will continue.   [FULL  STORY]