UNFAIR: Having a pension plan does not mean a spouse is rich, the New Taipei City Education Union secretary-general said. Legislator Yu Mei-nu said such rules exist in Germany

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 16, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

A group of public school teachers yesterday protested outside the Democratic Progressive

Party’s (DPP) headquarters in Taipei against provisions in a law set to take effect in July that would allow public school teachers’ spouses without a pension plan to receive part of their pension after a divorce.

About 20 teachers called for the Act Governing Retirement, Severance, and Bereavement Compensation for the Teaching and Other Staff Members of Public Schools (公立學校教職員退休資遣撫卹條例) to be amended.

Until the law takes effect, pensions are not considered part of a married couple’s shared assets and do not have to be redistributed upon divorce.

However, the act stipulates that teachers’ spouses of more than two years who are not on a pension plan can claim part of a teacher’s pension in case of a divorce.
[FULL  STORY]

The Washington Post
Date: April 14, 2018
By: Simon Denyer

TAIPEI — After studying fashion management in London, 33-year-old Gaga Liu considered her choices: a move back home to her native Taiwan, or a job in the glitzy city of Shanghai on the Chinese mainland.

“Shanghai is a very fashionable city, a big market. Every brand wants to set up a flagship store there,” she said. “Taiwan is a very small market.”

It was no contest. Three months ago, like many of Taiwan’s young people, she moved to mainland China to work as a visual merchandiser for Hermès.

She is one of hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese flooding to their booming neighbor to find work, fueling fears of a brain drain from their island home.    [FULL  STORY]

“Little India” appeared in Taipei this weekend

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/14
By: Jane Lau, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – With the support of the Taipei City Government, the India Taipei Association (ITA) hosted the India Spring Carnival at Taipei Main Station today.

It was a carnival of music and dance performances, food gourmet and rich cultural exchange. Event-goers enjoyed the song and dance by the performers, while tasting a wide array of traditional Indian cuisine.

Visitors could enjoy classical, Bollywood and folk dance at the carnival.

Visitors could choose to get a full meal or a snack at the carnival. Indian cuisine often uses flavorful spices, infusing sweet and spicy.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/14
By: Liu Lee-jung and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Saturday condemned the Syrian government’s chemical attacks on its civilians and voiced its support for global sanctions against such crimes.

Asked about the air strikes launched by the United States, the United Kingdom and France on Syria following its suspected use of chemical weapons on civilians, MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the Republic of China (Taiwan) has always respected and protected human rights and democracy.

Taiwan strongly opposes and condemns any government that uses chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction to hurt innocent people, and supports the international community’s adoption of necessary sanctions, Lee said.    [FULL  STORY]

REVIEW: Some nominees wrote that the committee’s focus should be understanding histories and authoritarian symbols, while others called for their wholesale removal

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2018
By: Tseng Wei-chen and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

While removing authoritarian symbols, the transitional justice promotion committee should

aim to avoid exacerbating conflicts between opposing sides, committee chairman nominee Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) wrote in materials that were on Friday submitted to the legislature by the Executive Yuan for its review of the committee’s nominations.

Taiwanese hold divergent views on authoritarian symbols, Huang said, adding that if the committee could allow society to form a consensus on their removal, it would have succeeded.

When determining the truth and who holds responsibility, the committee should build trust, push for dialogue and allow people to decide which symbols are authoritarian and how to handle them, Huang said.

People often reduce the purpose of the committee to changing road names and the faces on currency, full-time committee member nominee and former Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation chief executive Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) wrote.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-13

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help Taiwan’s representatives abroad explore business

opportunities and attract investment. That was the word from the foreign minister, Joseph Wu, on Friday.

Wu was speaking at a foreign ministry seminar on the challenges facing Taiwan’s economy and trade. He said Taiwan’s awkward position on the international stage makes it important to focus the limited resources on attracting foreign investment.

Wu said the ministry will keep Taiwan’s representatives abroad informed of the latest changes in global trade, as well as organize training sessions to make them more capable when it comes to explore business opportunities on an international level.    [SOURCE]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/04/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has been testing its domestically made “Teng Yun” (騰雲) or Cloud Rider drones near an Air Force base in sparsely populated Taitung County, the United Daily News reported Friday.

The Teng Yun is a medium-altitude long-endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle produced by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (中科院).

One of the drones was recently spotted flying above the Zhihang (志航) Air Force Base in Taitung County, according to the United Daily News. The newspaper reported that local residents first thought it was a fighter jet because of its large size, but they noted it did not have a cockpit and made a different sound.    [FULL  STORY]