Page Two

Authorities call for bar membership reform

TRUST IN THE COURTS: A committee said people would lose their belief in the fairness of judicial officials if a formerly convicted prosecutor were allowed to become attorney

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 02, 2018
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Judges and prosecutors who have been charged with corruption or who lack the moral disposition to practice law should not be allowed to become attorneys, the Control Yuan’s Committee on Judicial and Prison Administration Affairs said in a report published late last month.

The Tainan Bar Association on Oct. 12 appealed to the Supreme Court after the Tainan District Court and the Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court ruled against the association in a lawsuit over whether former Nantou District Prosecutor Wang Chao-chen (王朝震), who has been convicted of corruption, should be given membership and be allowed to practice law.

According to Article 4 of the Attorney Regulation Act (律師法), “any person having been convicted of a crime and been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of greater than one year, said conviction involving a crime of moral turpitude affecting their moral fitness to practice law and for that reason having been disbarred by the Attorney Disciplinary Committee” is disqualified from practicing law, with the exception of people who have received a suspended sentence.

According to the high court and district court’s legal interpretation, although the first item of the article states that people who have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of greater than one year cannot practice law, they do not unequivocally lose their qualification.    [FULL  STORY]

CuVee Hits Liuhe Night Market of Taiwan

invenGlobal
Date: Dec 31, 2017
By: Byungho “Haao” Kim, Dasol “Viion” Jang

“When I fill my stomach happily without having to worry about solo queue, I feel a brief freedom. When I only concentrate on the food, without caring about anybody else, not being interrupted by anybody; this lonely action is the best healing moment given equally to all summoners out there.”
-CuVee-

Anyways, I’m hungry.

I’m here in Taiwan for the Rift Rivals, but the prize money is too little. I continued winning until the finals, but lost at the finals. Disgraceful. Furthermore, I’m kind of lost here.

So unfortunate, where did I stray from the path?

Is this a night market? I won’t panic. I’m just hungry.

Any place is good. I’ll just head anywhere there’s food.


 

A noodle shop near the entrance of the market.
[FULL  STORY]

1,740 school bathrooms renovated by year end

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-31

The education ministry said Sunday that 540 schools will have renovated at total of 1,740 bathrooms by year end.

The ministry said the K-12 Education Administration has earmarked NT$200 million (US$6.6 million) annually for the last three years to help renovate the bathrooms of elementary and high schools across Taiwan. The program has focused on repairing and rebuilding ventilation and drainage systems, as well as improving hygiene and conserving water and energy use.

The program has also helped many schools decorate their bathrooms with various materials and visual elements that are unique to the school’s surroundings.
[FULL  STORY]

Happy New Year from Taoyuan City of Northern Taiwan

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/01
By: Mabel Neo, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI(Taiwan News) – Counting down to 2018 from the last hundred seconds of 2017, Taoyuan City wishes you a Happy New Year!

Many audiences were present at the Taoyuan Arts Centre on the last day of 2017 not for stunning fireworks displays but for the Asian Javelin record holder Cheng Chao-tsun to do the significant throw to signify the start of the brand new year.

Ex-Girls’ Generation member Jessica was also invited to the countdown concert held at Taoyuan this year. Not only her songs, but she also sang a little bit of a popular Mandarin song A Little Happiness (小幸運).     [FULL  STORY]

Immigration agency to offer new conveniences in 2018

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/31
By: Huang Li-yun, Elizabeth Hsu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) The National Immigration Agency (NIA) will introduce a number of

CNA file photo

new measures on Monday that make it easier for foreign nationals to travel to Taiwan or stay in the country for extended periods of time, the NIA said in a statement Sunday.

The new measures include streamlining procedures for Chinese nationals traveling via direct ferry between China and the Taiwan-controlled island chains of Kinmen and Matsu, it said.

Starting Monday, Chinese nationals holding a permit for travel to Taiwan from Fujian Province in China will no longer be required to present a so-called G note detailing the date and purpose of their travel when they arrive in Kinmen or Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, the statement said.

The time needed to review applications by Chinese citizens to visit via direct ferry for academic, sports, religious, artistic, cultural, or business purposes will also be reduced from five to three days, the NIA said.    [FULL  STORY]

Intelligence official quits over claims

ALLEGATIONS: A high-level source said that the nation’s main intelligence agency has made repeated mistakes, misappropriated funds and has left important positions unfilled

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 01, 2018
By: Lo Tien-pin and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

National Security Bureau Third Department Director Wang Shao-pai (王少白) has accepted responsibility for alleged mistakes in the daily national security briefing and tendered his resignation, a high-level source said on Saturday.

The “National Security Daily” (國安日報) is a generic term for the bureau’s daily compilation of important international, cross-strait and domestic intelligence, which contains time-sensitive and highly sensitive information and is only distributed to the president, vice president, premier and a select number of high-level government officials.

In a recent National Security Daily, a member of the bureau’s third department mistakenly attributed a politician’s criticism of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to a legislator who accompanied Tsai on last year’s visit to the nation’s diplomatic allies in the South Pacific, said the high-level source, speaking on condition of anonymity

A summary of the criticism was included in the written daily national security briefing, but the mistake was pointed out and corrected by the Presidential Office on the same day, the source said, adding that the office requested that the bureau look into the incident and address it.    [FULL STORY]

Palau holds out as China squeezes Taiwan’s allies

Tiny tourism-reliant Pacific nation defies pressure from its biggest source of
visitors

Financial Times
Date: 12/30/2017
By: Edward White in Taipei and Nicolle Liu in Hong Kong

Palau, a tiny Pacific nation of just 21,500 people, has vowed to

Tommy Remengesau,
Palau’s president, and Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive party, which has replaced the more
China-friendly Nationalist party in power in Taiwan © EPA/Bloomberg

resist renewed pressure from Beijing to cut its diplomatic links
with Taiwan.

One of just 20 nations keeping formal diplomatic ties
with Taiwan, Palau was named in a notice issued by Chinese
officials last month warning travel agencies that it was illegal to
advertise group tours to destinations not on China’s approved
list.

But while a clampdown on Chinese visitors would hurt the Palau
economy, the nation said it had no plans to switch its allegianceaway from Taipei.
“Palau is a country of laws, it is a democracy and we make our own decisions,” said Olkeriil Kazuo, spokesperson for Palau’s president, Tommy Remengesau.    [FULL  STORY]

New traffic rules for Taipei in 2018

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-30

The Taipei City government is introducing new traffic regulations and incentives starting in 2018.

For bicycles parked in unauthorized areas, the city government will charge a towing fee of NT$100 (US$3) and a storage fee of NT$25 per bike per half day.

The city will also reward members of the public who give dash cam footage to assist traffic accident investigations. Helpful footage will receive a NT$1,000 (US$30) reward.
[FULL  STORY]

President dines at Mos Burger in Taipei to show support for its pay hikes

The fast food chain recently made the decision to give its employees a raise

Taiwan News  
Date: 2017/12/30
By: Fan Cheng-hsiang, Yu Hsiao-han and Kuan-lin Liu,Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) got breakfast at a Mos Burger in Taipei

Image from President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Facebook page

with her aides Saturday to show support for the fast-food chain’s decision to give its employees a raise, she wrote on her Facebook page.

In the post, Tsai said she wanted to treat her aides to breakfast after her year-end press conference on Friday, and when no one could decide where to go, she suggested Mos Burger to support the chain’s move to raise wages.

Mos Burger announced on Dec. 26 that it will give its employees average pay hikes of 4.2 percent, including 5.3 percent hikes for part-time workers to NT$140 (US$4.7) per hour, starting Jan. 1, 2018.

The pay raise coincides with new minimum wage standards that will also take effect nationwide on the first day of 2018 and boost the hourly minimum wage to NT$140 and the monthly minimum wage to NT$22,000.    [FULL STORY]

Mercury forecast to dip to 14 degrees for New Year holiday

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/30
By: Wang Hsu-fen and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) With the arrival of a cold air mass, temperatures over the New Year holiday are expected to fall to as low as 14 degrees Celsius, the Central Weather Bureau said (CWB) Saturday.

The CWB said due to the effect of a continental cold wave, the mercury is expected to start falling on New Year’s Eve on Sunday, growing colder later that day and early New Year’s Day across Taiwan.

The bureau urged people planning to attend countdown parties or national flag raising ceremonies around the island to keep warm.

According to the CWB, daytime temperatures on Sunday in northern Taiwan are forecast to range from 15-16 degrees and in other areas of the country to hover between 20-25 degrees.    [FULL  STORY]