Tremor was followed by suspected aftershock

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An earthquake measuring 4.6 hit Hualien County at 6:48 p.m. Wednesday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported.

The region on Taiwan’s east coast was hit by a magnitude-6.0 tremor on February 6 which caused 17 deaths amid the collapse of several tall buildings.

The epicenter of Wednesday evening’s quake was located 28.8 kilometers northeast of Hualien City and a relatively shallow 12 km under the surface.

The tremor was not felt in the country’s major urban areas, according to Central Weather Bureau data.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/14
By: Jeffrey Wu and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) Leading multinational tech company Microsoft is focusing on

recruiting artificial intelligence (AI) talent from Taiwan during its current recruitment season, a Microsoft Taiwan official said Wednesday.

Michael Chang (張仁烔), chief executive officer of the newly announced Microsoft AI research and development hub in Taiwan, explained that Microsoft is targeting AI talent in Taiwan because of the hard and soft skills that local students possess.

Not only are some Taiwanese skilled at data analysis and coding, but they are also insightful, creative and good team players, Chang continued.

The talent base in Taiwan is actually one of the main reasons Microsoft decided to base its AI research and development center here, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

FREED: Suspected scammers who threaten minors with releasing their naked images might delete the images or continue their threats if released on bail, a group said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 14, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Li-fen (李麗芬) and welfare groups

yesterday urged courts to be strict when prosecuting child and adolescent pornography cases, and hold suspected offenders in custody to prevent further harm.

A Changhua County judge last month held a prosecutor in contempt of court and ordered her arrest after she was ruled to have made inappropriate comments in court after the judge rejected her request for a suspected sex offender, who allegedly had naked images of at least 52 teenage girls obtained through online scams, to be detained to prevent further danger to the public.

The suspect was released on NT$30,000 bail.

The case has attracted public attention and the groups yesterday cited the case and other similar cases of child and adolescent pornography scams to urge judges not to underestimate the harm such actions cause their victims.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-13

The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday found 22 participants of the Sunflower student

movement in 2014 not guilty of obstructing official business.

Student protesters occupied the Legislature for nearly a month in March and April 2014. They were unhappy with attempts by the then majority Kuomintang to force the passage of a controversial trade pact with China. The 22 were also found not guilty by the Taipei District Court in March last year.

A spokesperson for the high court, Chiou Jong-yi said however that Tuesday’s verdict was different from the district court’s. Chiou said, “The district court found the defendants not guilty on grounds of right of resistance or civil disobedience. However, the high court said the prosecutors did not charge the defendants on occupation of the Legislature but on their speech, whether it carried any form of incitement, obstruction of official duties, insult to the government or violation of the Assembly and Parade Act. Since there was no charge on the occupation of the Legislature, then it is not an issue of civil disobedience or right of resistance.”

Present at the verdict was Huang Kuo-chang, a lawmaker from the New Power Party that formed out of the Sunflower movement. Huang said the high court’s verdict holds significance for the future development of Taiwan’s politics.    [SOURCE]

Turnout for this year’s anti-nuclear march was disappointing, even as the government shows signs it is willing to rely on nuclear power.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/13
By: Brian Hioe

The annual anti-nuclear demonstration and march held to commemorate the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster in Japan on March 11th, 2011, was held in Taipei Sunday.

The demonstration marked the seventh anniversary of the disaster, during which the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor was prompted by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The Fukushima disaster led to the revival of Taiwan’s longstanding anti-nuclear movement, as there has long been concerns that the high-level of seismic activity in Taiwan could lead to a similar nuclear disaster following an earthquake – and as Taiwan is much smaller than Japan geographically, this could be disastrous. Given the high and low ebbs of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement, at various points since 2011, Fukushima commemorations in Taiwan have actually been larger than in Japan.

Credit: Brian Hioe
Attendance was, however, low compared to previous years, with high estimates placing numbers at 2,000. The reality could have been much lower, closer to the hundreds. In 2014 during the Ma administration, shortly before the Sunflower Movement broke out, the anti-nuclear march drew 200,000. Anti-nuclear demonstrations after the Sunflower Movement drew 50,000 to occupy Zhongxiao West Road in front of Taipei Main Station, with tensions high due to a hunger strike by former Democratic Progressive Party chair and democracy movement martyr Lin Yi-Hsiung against nuclear energy. Demonstrators were later driven out by police, who fired water cannons on the crowd.

Perhaps, then, low numbers points to how key social issues are deeply linked to anger against specific political parties in Taiwan, with the anti-nuclear movement having seen a notable decline since the Tsai administration took office. Last year’s anti-nuclear demonstration did not draw more than several thousand as well, though organizers last year stated that they had anticipated over 100,000.    [FULL  STORY]

President congratulates Pontiff on 5th anniversary of his election

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Amid concern that the Vatican and China are moving closer to an

agreement, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Tuesday she hoped that Pope Francis could visit Taiwan.

Tsai made the statement in a message congratulating the Catholic leader on the fifth anniversary of his election.

The Vatican is Taiwan’s only official diplomatic ally in Europe, but concern has been mounting that as the Church is close to an agreement with China on the appointment of bishops, the relationship is in danger.

Tsai wrote she was honored to represent Taiwan’s people and government to hand their best wishes to the Pontiff, the Central News Agency reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-12

Taiwan’s top minister in charge of the digital economy and open government – Audrey

Tang — spoke at a Vatican conference over the weekend. The event, sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, brought together speakers from about a dozen different countries to discuss the ethics needed for using artificial intelligence.

Minister Tang spoke at the conference about how technology had given a tremendous boost to Taiwan’s democratic development. She also spoke about “vTaiwan”, a digital platform that her office runs, which allows the public to weigh in on different issues. Taiwanese transportation regulators recently used the platform to hold discussions with Uber drivers to resolve disputes about the ride-sharing economy.
[FULL  STORY]