The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/06
By: Brian Hioe

Amendments to the Labor Standards Act have moved closer to passage despite

Photo Credit:關鍵評論網　林奕甫

protesters’ efforts, with the next step happening on Dec. 23.

Following a dramatic series of attempts to invade the Legislative Yuan and a blockade of the intersection of Zhongshan South Road and Qingdao West Road, protests today (Dec. 6) against planned changes to the Labor Standards Act were not successful in preventing the act from passing. Nevertheless, although labor organizers fear that the changes will pass speedily into law following a second and third reading on the floor of the Legislative Yuan, one can expect further protest to happen when this happens in the near future.

Protests began today at 9 a.m., when the committee review of the planned changes began. It is suspected by many that the legislature has deliberately taken to scheduling reviews of planned changes for morning times on weekdays, when workers would have more difficulty making it to a protest, meaning some need to take days off to make it. Likewise, this has allowed DPP legislators to make the accusation against workers that they are not real workers demonstrating, seeing as they seem to have so much time to protest.    [FULL  STORY]

Guangfu Township alone, which is located in the county’s central portion of East Rift Valley, has three tourist attractions that are worth recommendation.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taiwan’s eastern county of Hualien has not only a long and

Guangfu Township alone has three tourist attractions that are worth recommendation. (Photo courtesy of Soil and Water Conservation Bureau)

beautiful coastline but also many treasures in the landscape of the county’s mountains and valleys. Guangfu Township alone, which is located in the county’s central portion of East Rift Valley, has three tourist attractions that are worth recommendation.

1. Mataian Wetland (馬太鞍濕地)

The Mataian Wetland Ecological Park Area is the traditional homeland of the Mataian Ami people.

Located at the foot of Maxi Mountain, the wetland covers a surface area of 12 hectares. The springs of this natural wetland flow unceasingly. The clear, shallow Fudeng River originates from Maxi Mountain, where the spring waters converge from under the ground. This river zigzags from south to north through the Mataian Wetland, creating a greatly varied natural environment.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/06
By: Chen Wei-ting and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) Yushan, Taiwan’s tallest peak, saw its first snowfall of winter on Wednesday and is forecast to receive more snow later this week, according to a Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecaster.

According to CWB forecaster Wu Yi-fan (吳依帆), a thin layer of snow accumulated on Yushan, or Jade Mountain, after it began to snow on top of the 3,952-meter mountain at 12:35 p.m. on Wednesday.

The snow, brought by a continental cold air mass that hit the country earlier this week, did not last very long, Wu noted but said there is more to come.

Another cold air mass, stronger than the current one, is expected to hit Taiwan on Friday and if humidity and temperature conditions are right, there could be more snow on mountains with an elevation of 3,000-meters or higher, he said.
[SOURCE]

IN ATTENDANCE: The New Power Party’s Huang Kuo-chang denied the claim that he neglected his constituency’s needs and thanked the public for its support

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 07, 2017
By: Yeh Kuan-yu, Chin Shu-yu, Yu Chao-fu and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with Staff Writer

The New Taipei City Election Commission yesterday held a televised debate between

New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang yesterday takes part in a televised debate organized by the New Taipei City Election Commission at a television station in New Taipei City.  Photo: Chiu Shu-yu, Taipei Times

New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Sun Chi-cheng (孫繼正), chairman of the Greater Taipei Stability Power Alliance, a group opposed to gay marriage, over the second round of voting for the legislator’s recall scheduled for Dec. 16.

Sun criticized Huang for supporting amending of the Civil Code to legalize gay marriage and said it would destroy values that are intrinsic to families, adding that this was his primary reason for launching the recall effort against Huang.

More than half of New Taipei City residents are opposed to the proposed amendments, as well as 60 percent of all Taiwanese, Sun said.

There is neither legal nor public consensus on the issue, but Huang insists on “pushing it through,” Sun said, adding that such actions go against Huang’s touted belief that “people should determine public policies.”    [FULL  STORY]

inhabitat
Date: Dec 6, 2017
By Nicole Jewell

French architect Elizabeth de Portzamparc just unveiled competition-winning plans for the Intelligence Operation Center tower in Taichung, Taiwan. The futuristic tower – which will be over 800 feet tall – will have pockets of greenery infused throughout its many levels to provide a healthy interior environment and to help the modern tower blend into its surroundings.

The TIOC Tower will feature a digital cultural center, retail, offices and various restaurants, and it was designed to blend into the urban scheme of the neighborhood. The concept revolves around vertical interconnected spaces, which function as individual neighborhoods at each level. Along with office space, restaurants, and social spaces, green mini parks will be planted in virtually every level so that office workers, visitors, and guests will be able to enjoy plant life at any location in the building.

Starting at the ground floor, an open-air, ribbon-shaped walkway will wind around the building’s first three floors. Following the shape of the walkway, an abundance of greenery will create an enjoyable natural trail that leads to the entrance of the building. On the interior, a large open atrium with floor-to-ceiling glass walls will be flooded with natural light, providing an active, healthy atmosphere.    [FULL  STORY]

J-Mall features Michelin restaurants from Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taichung now counts a street where three restaurants with one Michelin star each

A mall in Taichung presents 3 Asian Michelin restaurant chains. (photo courtesy of J-Mall’s Facebook page)

are lined up next to each other, reports said Tuesday.

Tim Ho Wan (添好運) of Hong Kong, Tsuta (蔦) ramen of Japan and Hawker Chan (了凡油雞飯) of Singapore have new branches in the central Taiwanese city which happen to be opening at one location, next to one another at a new J-Mall, reports said.

Despite the vicinity of Tunghai University, two major hospitals and an industrial zone, the area was still relatively lacking in international restaurants, according to the Hoyii Group, which represents the three brands in Taiwan.

Hawker Chan, founded by a farmer’s son from Ipoh in Malaysia, would open between three and five restaurants in Taiwan, while Tsuta was planning two to three, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/05
By: Elaine Hou and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Flogging will not be adopted as a form of punishment for drunk drivers and other

Tang Feng (唐鳳)/CNA file photo

criminals because it is incompatible with mainstream international views on human rights, a minister without portfolio responsible for digital policies said Tuesday.

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment,” Tang Feng (唐鳳) said on her Facebook page, quoting a Ministry of Justice response to a recent online proposal that flogging should be imposed as a legal punishment in Taiwan.

The proposal, submitted on the National Development Council’s (NDC) Public Policy Network Participation Platform, went online for public review in late October.

By Nov. 3, it had received more than 5,000 votes of support.    [FULL  STORY]

‘UNFORTUNATE’: Taipei’s top labor official decried the manner in which the legislation cleared committee and said that it would leave local governments unprepared

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 06, 2017
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday received more criticism for failing to observe

Government and opposition lawmakers on Monday struggle for control of the podium at a joint meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee and Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee in Taipei to discuss proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act.  Photo: CNA

legislative procedures during a review on Monday of a controversial amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).

With the aim of the amendment going into effect early next year, the DPP hoped to push it through legislative committee review by Thursday at the latest to pave the way for its passage by Dec. 31.

The bill, which includes several revisions aimed at increasing flexibility for work hours, is highly controversial and strongly opposed by some labor groups.

Two of eight revisions were approved before the DPP decided just before 10pm on Monday to pass the remaining six as a package, in effect ramming them through committee review without discussion.

The measures are now to be sent for cross-party consultation, which can last up to a month, before the amendment can be voted on by a plenary session.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-04

Taiwan’s Navy could terminate a contract with the nation’s largest private shipbuilder – Ching Fu

Navy Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Lee Tsung-hsiao (CNA)

Shipbuilding Co. – if the company does not meet an extended deadline for making good on a payment. The Navy says it would move to terminate the contract on December 9, the day after payment is due, if the company does not comply.

That was the word from Navy Command Headquarters Chief of Staff Lee Tsung-hsiao, who was answering questions at the legislature on Monday.

The struggling shipbuilder ran into trouble borrowing NT$20.5 billion (more than US$680 million) from a group of Taiwanese banks in order to fund a contract to build six minesweepers for the navy. But the banks halted the loans after the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into Ching Fu’s activities. The banks then filed a criminal lawsuit against Ching Fu in October for breach of contract.    [FULL  STORY]

Machinery, green energy, defense, biotechnology, agriculture, recycling and IOT could be the future for Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/04
By: Jane Rickards

Photo Credit: Matt’s Life CC BY 2.0

Among the seven industries targeted in the government’s “5+2 Industrial Innovation Program,” the one starting with the strongest foundation is smart machinery.

Overall machinery production value this year could break the NT$1 trillion (about US$33 billion) mark for the first time, says Stephen Su, General Director of the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). This year machinery exports rose 21.4 percent from January to September compared with the same period in the previous year, the Ministry of Finance reported, accelerated by global economic tailwinds.

The smart machinery initiative combines two industries where Taiwanese companies already possess global strength – machine tools and ICT. Su says some companies involved are creating factory and hospital systems that incorporate Cyber Physical Systems – integrating computing, networking and physical processes – and also the Internet of Things (IoT) – connecting physical devices ranging from cars to home appliances to the internet and eventually to one another.

As promising industries for development, the government’s “5+2” program also identifies green energy, defense, biotechnology, advanced agriculture, and a circular economy involving recycling. It also is promoting an “Asia Silicon Valley” project involving IoT and fostering start-ups. Su says these industries are still in their infancy and are yet to make an economic impact.    [FULL  STORY]