NOT CRIMINALS: Legislator Lin Li-chan said 90 percent of immigrants come to Taiwan through marriage, attesting to the difficulty of doing so for work or other reasons

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 06, 2018
By: Cheng Hung-ta and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday panned the Cabinet’s efforts on

immigration policy as too slow, urging the government not to treat immigration laws as measures to prevent crime.

KMT Legislator Lin Li-chan (林麗蟬), at a news conference with KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), said she has proposed a draft immigrants’ basic act, while Chiang proposed to amend Article 19 of the Nationality Act (國籍法).

Lin, a naturalized immigrant from Cambodia, said new immigrants still face great challenges in everyday life and when looking for jobs.

New immigrants often feel they are scrutinized by the Taiwanese public, Lin said, adding that the government has failed to take concrete action, through policy or legislation, to facilitate their integration into Taiwanese society, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 04, 2018

Taiwan plans to set up more than 3,300 battery charging and swapping stations for

electric scooters over the next five years as part of wider efforts to curb air pollution and promote sustainable solutions, according to the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs Jan. 3.

Under the initiative, state-owned petrochemical firm CPC Corporation, Taiwan will receive government funding to establish 1,000 such facilities, most of which will be located at the company’s gas stations. Local enterprises will also be able to apply for subsidies to open e-scooter battery stations, with grants per unit totaling either NT$300,000 (US$10,140) or 49 percent of installation costs.

The number of battery charging and swapping stations set up across Taiwan with the help of government funding reached 1,825 last year, the IDB said, adding that the plan aims to raise this figure to more than 5,000 by the end of 2022.

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-04

Premier William Lai says flu vaccines offered to the public free of charge are still effective

despite the arrival of an unexpected strain. Lai was speaking Thursday at the Cabinet.

Lai’s comments came after Taiwan’s health authorities confirmed that the B virus that recently appeared is the Yamagata strain, not the Victoria strain predicted earlier by the WHO.

Taiwan has already entered the flu season and Lai has told the health ministry to step up its monitoring and preparation.

Cabinet spokesperson Hsu Kuo-yung relayed the premier’s message. Hsu said, “This year, the flu vaccines made available to the public free of charge were selected according to the virus predicted by the World Health Organization. Although the vaccines are unable to accurately predict the current virus strain, they protect vaccinated persons to some extent and are able to reduce the risk of serious illness or death. To cope with the peak flu season that will arrive around Chinese New Year, the health ministry must work with other agencies and local governments to step up preparation in line with its contingency plans. These include flu surveillance, anti-virus vaccines, prevention on campuses and institutions, medical care, coordination of resources, and so on.”    [SOURCE]

Ko will visit Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Turkey

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On his upcoming trip to Europe, the donation of a mosque by the

Turkish government to Taipei City would be one of the topics for discussion, Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Thursday.

The mayor was planning a visit to the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Turkey between January 27 and February 6, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Central News Agency reported.

While urban renewal, environmental protection and public transportation would be the major themes of interest, the Turkish government had reportedly invited Ko to discuss plans to build a mosque in Taipei City.

“If somebody wants to spend hundreds of millions of New Taiwan dollars to build something, I just have to go and discuss that,” CNA quoted the mayor as saying.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/04
By: Elaine Hou, Liu Lee-jung and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) There should be no technical difficulties in adding a third gender option to Republic of China (Taiwan) passports as long as the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) approves a third gender option for household registration and national identification purposes, the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) said Thursday.

Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) previously asked relevant ministries to look into the possibility of adding a third gender option to passports and other identification documents.

According to BOCA’s preliminary assessment, as long as the Ministry of the Interior approves such an option and adds it to national identification cards and household registration, the bureau will follow suit.    [FULL  STORY]

STAYING: The US is the nation’s seventh-largest foreign investor, with most firms accessing domestic market or supply chains, so changes are unlikely to see them leave

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday ordered the government to hasten its efforts to

reach agreements with the US in response to the US’ planned tax reform, which could boost exports and help Taiwanese businesses reduce their reliance on China by relocating their investments to the US.

The US’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law last year introduces reduced tax rates for businesses and individuals in a bid to spur economic growth, with its effects expected to be felt internationally.

However, the reform plan is forecast to have limited influence on Taiwan’s economy, a National Development Council analysis showed.

The tax cuts are expected to increase personal disposable income and spur domestic consumption in the US, which would stimulate Taiwan’s exports to the US in the short term, but whether it would turn into long-term export growth remains to be seen, the council said.

One project aims to spread awareness of the sheer size of Taiwan’s highland trees.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/03
By: Dinah Gardner

If you, like me, are scared of heights, this article may make you a bit dizzy – we are going

to the very tops of some of Taiwan’s tallest trees.

Often called the lungs of our planet, trees and tree ecosystems are high on any conservationist’s list. A Tasmanian couple, canopy ecologist Jen Sanger and adventure photographer Steven Pearce, started The Tree Projects to give an extra push to forest protection by doing something few before had done: photographing and videoing the very tops of tall trees. Last year, it was Taiwan’s turn.

“We chose Taiwan because not many people outside of Taiwan know that such wonderful and impressive trees grow there,” Sanger told The News Lens. The trees she’s talking about are Taiwania cryptomerioides, a type of Cyprus. The Taiwania are like giant Christmas trees, huge bushy conifers that grow in central Taiwan and a few other places in Southeast Asia and China. According to the IUCN, they are also called a coffin tree or Taiwan cedar. They are very long-lived but has a “vulnerable” status because of logging for timber.

“We chose this tree as it is one of the tallest tree species in Taiwan. It is quite special as there are not many places in the world where you see a tree this size growing at a high elevation,” said Sanger.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/03
By: Taiwan Today,Agencies

A national flag-raising ceremony took place Jan. 1 on Taiping Island in the Nansha (Spratly)

Islands, underscoring the unwavering determination of the Republic of China (Taiwan) government to safeguard the country’s territory, according to the Cabinet-level Coast Guard Administration.

In light of attempts by neighboring countries to assert maritime and territorial rights in the region, the CGA said it is continuing to crack down on foreign fishing vessels trespassing in ROC territorial waters. At the same time, the government is continuing to strengthen Taiping Island’s search and rescue as well as emergency medical capabilities.

The CGA said its efforts are in line with the national policy of turning the island into a base for providing humanitarian aid and supplies in the South China Sea.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/03
By: Liu Li-jung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) The revised Referendum Act, aimed at lowering the thresholds for

plebiscites in Taiwan, will take effect Friday after promulgation of the amended rules by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC).

In a statement, the CEC said it will become the supervisory body for implementation of the amended law.

As an independent body, the CEC will implement the new law in a fair, open and transparent manner to ensure the rights of the Taiwanese people in a referendum, CEC Chairman Chen In-chin (陳英鈐) said in the statement.

The CEC said it is writing rules related to the amended act, including an electronic process for initiating a referendum and revised regulations on referendum debates.
[FULL  STORY]