Greenpeace hopes for plastic-free islands

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – During a special beach-cleaning campaign, environmentalists

removed 3 tons of trash including 10,000 plastic bottles from the beaches of Penghu, reports said Saturday.

Greenpeace said it hoped it could turn Penghu, an archipelago in the middle of the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan’s main island, into a plastic-free model area.

Especially during the winter, northeasterly winds would help garbage and plastic drift toward the north coast of the islands, according to a Central News Agency report, while in summer, the beaches on the south side would suffer most.

On Friday, students, residents and the crew of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior took to the beaches of the capital Magong to find and remove as much trash as they could.
[FULL  STORY]

The airline will also seek legal help for compensation from the three passengers

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/16
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After the incident on Dec. 9 when three drunk Japanese

passengers disrupted a China Airlines (CAL) flight, the airline has decided to list the three trouble-makers as unwanted customers, which means the company will ban the three passengers from traveling with the airline in the future.

President for China Airlines, Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) told media reporters that the company will seek compensation from the three men through legal channels for disrupting their business and causing havoc on the flight, and harassing other passengers as well as crew members.

As a result of the incident, the three passengers will be blacklisted and put on the unwanted customers list which will ban them from traveling with China Airlines in the future.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/16
By: Elaine Hou and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) Palau’s ambassador to Taiwan Dilmei Olkeriil characterized diplomatic ties between the two countries as “extremely stable” during a recent interview with CNA, despite a Chinese travel ban that prevents Chinese tourists visiting the western Pacific island country.

According to Olkeriil, Taiwan and Palau, which established official ties in December 1992, continue to enjoy exchanges in many areas, including tourism, medicine, education and other fields, all of which ensure the relationship is very stable.

This comes after the Chinese government recently issued a travel ban on Palau, prohibiting Chinese tourist groups visiting the country, which some in the media are calling a punitive measure for Palau’s relationship with Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 17, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday rejected criticism

from some KMT lawmakers that it was his disclosure of their tactics that allowed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus to fast-track bills aimed at nationalizing irrigation associations and pushing tax reforms.

“I did not specifically say on which day. I only told KMT lawmakers that they should prepare themselves for a night spent at the legislature,” Wu said on the sidelines of an event to hand out scholarships in the name of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) at the KMT headquarters in Taipei.

Wu was referring to remarks he made at a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee on Wednesday, in which he criticized the DPP caucus’ draft amendments to the Act of Irrigation Association Organization (農田水利會組織通則) and accused the party of turning a deaf ear to public opposition.

Wu said he had instructed the KMT caucus to prepare to spend a night at legislature, while calling on farmers to voice their opposition against the draft amendments.

Wu’s remarks prompted a handful of DPP lawmakers to camp outside the legislature building since early Thursday to prevent KMT lawmakers from occupying the plenary chamber and stall a session on Friday in which legislators were to decide whether to send the draft amendments for committee review    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan must ensure it avoids being a pawn in US push to resume port calls.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/15
By: J. Michael Cole

Li Kexin, speaking at the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington last

week toldhundreds of people assembled at an embassy event, that calls by U.S. Navy vessels at ports in Taiwan would violate China’s “Anti-Secession Law” of 2005 and automatically spark a military response.

The blunt messaging delivered on U.S. soil was ostensibly in response to the passage, on Nov. 30, of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act by Congress, which contains language authorizing the U.S. to evaluate the possibility of re-establishing “regular ports of call by the U.S. Navy at Kaohsiung or any other suitable ports in Taiwan” and allowing Taiwanese vessels to make port calls at U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) yards.

“The day that a U.S. Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unites Taiwan with military force,” the Chinese-language Liberty Times quoted Li, the No. 2 at the Chinese embassy, as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

Art-Zoo Inflatable Park opened on Thursday at Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall on its first overseas tour.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/15
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — ​Art-Zoo Inflatable Park opened on Thursday at Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall on its first overseas tour. The playground travels from Singapore to Kaohsiung and will be exhibited from 14 December 2017 to 4 March 2018.

Art-Zoo Inflatable Park is a culmination of an experiential inflatable playground and art installation in the setting of a zoological garden. Inside, there are eleven larger-than-life play zones, filled with whimsical animals and plants.

Jackson Tan, creator of Art-Zoo, indicated that the idea of creating a giant park derived from his childhood memory when visiting a zoo. The artist hopes to create an imaginary environment and encourage people to explore nature in a more artistic way.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/15
By: Elaine Hou and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan and Japan will hold a dialogue on maritime affairs

cooperation in Taipei next week, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Friday.

Discussions will touch on topics such as marine resources conservation, maritime emergencies and rescue, as well as marine scientific research, the foreign ministry said in a news release.

The objective of the meeting is to open up a positive dialogue mechanism on maritime issues and to foster closer cooperation between the two sides, the ministry said.

Taiwan’s delegation will be led by Taiwan-Japan Relations Association (TJRA) Secretary-General Chang Shu-ling (張淑玲), whose group will also be comprised of officials from the Fisheries Agency, Coast Guard Administration, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the foreign ministry.    [FULL  STORY]

LEGISLATIVE BROUHAHA:KMT  Legislator Lai Shyh-bao accused Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan of helping the president turn the democratic system into a monarchy

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 16, 2017
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday voted to send draft

amendments aimed at nationalizing irrigation associations and pushing tax reforms to cross-caucus negotiations, allowing the bill to skip a committee review.

Irrigation associations have traditionally been known for having close ties with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and are often deemed to play an essential role in the party’s vote-canvassing campaigns at a grass-roots level during local or national election campaigns.

The DPP, which holds the legislative majority, tendered a motion to send the draft amendment to the Organic Regulations for Irrigation and Water Conservancy Associations (農田水利會組織通則) to committee review.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 15, 2017

In accordance with the Taiwanese government’s green vision of the installation of rooftop

solar panels, Citibank Taiwan teamed up with Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) and Taiwan Renewable Energy Alliance (TRENA) to hold a press conference in early December to donate solar panels to Taiwan Blackfoot Disease Socio-Medical Service Memorial House and Changhu Ecological Elementary and Junior High School to construct community solar gardens. Legislator Chen Man-li was also invited to attend the press conference, showing her support on green energy.

Energy transformation and green energy development are the main schemes of major developments in many countries around the globe. Taiwan is no exception.

“As a global trend, green energy has not only become one of the Taiwanese government’s important policies, but also been the focus of concern for Citi,” said April Pan, head of Corporate Affairs at Citibank Taiwan. “Citibank Taiwan took the lead in combining the implementation of corporate social responsibility with the construction of community solar gardens to help non-profit organizations install solar panels. The installation of rooftop solar panels can not only generate power for personal use to help nonprofits to lower their electric bill, but also reaffirm Citi’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable environment. Meanwhile, this can also implement the government’s policies of energy conservation and carbon reduction.”
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-14

Taiwan will try to strike a balance between gaining US support for its national security

and ensuring regional peace. That was the word from Presidential Office spokesperson Joseph Wu at the Legislature on Thursday.

Wu was asked whether Taiwan would welcome US warships to dock at its ports after the US National Defense Authorization Act comes into force. Wu said the government will seek a balance between gaining US support on defense and maintaining regional peace.

Wu said, “This is a hypothetical question. On one hand, we are not clear on the US government’s stance. If we hold a discussion in the future, we will certainly approach the question in the best interest of Taiwan’s national defense. At the same time, we must also take into consideration factors regarding regional peace and security, we will try to strike the most appropriate balance [between these goals].”    [FULL  STORY]