Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/09
By: Liao Yu-yang and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) A plan by state-owned oil company CPC Corp., Taiwan to relocate its

closed Kaohsiung naphtha cracker plant to Indonesia fell through on Monday after its Indonesian partner nixed the move, the Taiwanese company has announced.

Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company, ended up seeing the move as being too costly and felt the funds that would have been devoted to the CPC plant could be used instead to build a new naphtha cracking plant, CPC said.

CPC had been in talks to set up a joint venture with the Jakarta-based company to move its fifth naphtha cracker plant to the Indonesia.    [FULL  STORY]

China’s state-backed propaganda mouthpiece Global Times calls the anticipated 2019 referendum an ‘unrealistic dream,’ fears it would be a ‘disaster’ 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/08
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In an editorial published the same day as the formal

establishment of the Formosa Alliance on April 7, the Chinese state-backed Global Times publication expressed its worry towards the idea of a public referendum that might amend Taiwan’s constitution.

The article entitled “Taiwan vote unrealistic dream” claims that the only people in support of the referendum are an older and marginalized generation that is “out of main stream.”

The piece references a pro-Beijing website in Taiwan, which says that the referendum aiming to formally declare the nation of Taiwan, is not only “an unrealistic dream,” but that that such an“unrealistic” referendum would also be a “disaster,” which betrays their true worries towards the referendum and the Formosa Alliance.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/08
By: Lu Hsin-hui, Wang Shu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will hold a press conference on April

11 to announce the appointment of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) as the new Presidential Office secretary-general, the Presidential Office said Sunday.

The move will fill the position left vacant by Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who became foreign minister in a cabinet reshuffle in late February, said Presidential Office spokesman Sydney Lin (林鶴明).

According to an unnamed senior official, Chen is expected to assume the post after President Tsai returns from a five-day trip to the Kingdom of Swaziland, one of Taiwan’s two diplomatic allies in Africa, from April 17-21.

In a statement earlier Sunday, the Kaohsiung mayor confirmed that she has accepted the new position, noting that she will assist President Tsai in her push to promote government reform.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/04/07
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei (CNA) – President Tsai Ing-wen stressed the importance of transitional justice for Taiwan on Saturday, calling it the most important step following the democratization of the country.

At an event to commemorate pro-democracy pioneer Cheng Nan-jung, Tsai said it is important the country gets transitional justice right.

While the world already associates Taiwan with democracy, there is one missing element, namely the carrying out of transitional justice, the president said.

The process, which is rooted in uncovering the truth, taking responsibility and social reconciliation, is one the Tsai administration has long championed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/07
By: Hsiao Po-wen and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Public hospital staff members were considered the most upright and

ethical public sector employees from a list of 26 different professions in 2017, according to a public opinion survey conducted by the Agency Against Corruption (AAC).

The telephone survey, which was conducted in June 2017 and published this March, had a random sample of 1,106 people who rated public employees on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being most corrupt and 10 most upright.

After the results were collated, public hospital staff received an average score of 6.55, followed by civil servants with 6.17, supervisory staff at 6, fire prevention inspection staff 5.94, police 5.84 and military service personnel 5.83.

According to the AAC, the ranking for the police rose two spots from its October 2016 position of seventh, which could be attributed to efforts by police departments to rebrand and connect with the public through social media.    [FULL  STORY]

PLAN B: Regardless of whether Taiwan receives an invitation to attend the assembly, the minister of health and welfare said he would meet with officials from other countries

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A number of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have sent separate proposals to WHO Director-

General Tedros Adhanom asking that the nation be invited to attend this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to the 71st WHA, to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 21 to May 26, and it has officially asked its diplomatic allies to petition the international organization on its behalf, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry would not disclose which allies were approached, but said that several countries with which Taiwan has diplomatic ties have written to propose “inviting Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer.”

Taiwan would continue to seek an invitation until the start of the assembly, even though the chance of obtaining one appears even slimmer than last year, a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.    [FULL  STORY]