DEADLINE EXTENSION:The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee set a new deadline, as some people might be unaware the law applies to them

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Individuals or groups that served as a trustee to a political party or party-affiliated

organization have four months to declare their assets, or face a fine of up to NT$5 million (US$165,700), the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee said yesterday.

Committee Chairman Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正) said that the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) stipulates that political parties, party-affiliated organizations and their current or former trustees are required to declare their assets within one year of the act’s promulgation on Aug. 10 last year.

“However, considering that the public might still be unfamiliar with the relevant statutes, the committee decided to extend the asset declaration deadline by four months. If you are required to file a report, but fail to do so before March 1 next year, a fine of between NT$1 million and NT$5 million will be issued,” Lin told a news conference in Taipei.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 1, 2017
By: Huang Huei-min and Evelyn Kao

TAIPEI (CNA) – Kinmen County on Wednesday began charging non-residents for the

use of rental bikes under the county’s K-bike system, but residents will be able to ride for free for the first four hours of use, a county government official said.

Non-resident K-bike riders will be charged NT$10 (US$0.30) for every 30 minutes of use and up to NT$250 per day, according to Chen Mei-ling (陳美齡), director of the Kinmen County Government Tourism Bureau.

Residents who hold Kinmen Citizen Cards can ride K-bikes free of charge for the first four hours, but will then be charged NT$10 for every 30 minutes of use thereafter, or up to NT$150 a day, Chen said.

More than 68,000 people have used the K-bike public rental bicycle system since the launch of its trial run on April 16 in the outlying island county, Chen said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-31

President Tsai Ing-wen will visit the Solomon Islands as planned despite a wave of

cabinet resignations in the country over the weekend.

Tsai is on a weeklong visit to three of Taiwan’s Pacific allies. She is scheduled to arrive in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday. However, seven of the country’s ministers resigned on Saturday. There are reports that they may launch a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

The foreign minister, David Lee, who is traveling with Tsai, said Tuesday that there will not be a no-confidence vote until at least November 6, after Tsai’s visit is over. He also said political parties in the Solomon Islands agree that Tsai’s visit is important. He said the country’s parliament plans to reconvene specially on Thursday to hear an address from Tsai.    [FULL  STORY]

Repairs on Nov.1 will affect 9,000 passengers

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A total of 60 flights carrying 9,000 passengers will feel the

impact of the closure of the south runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from 12:00 a.m. until 4 p.m. Wednesday November 1.

The shutdown has become necessary because airport management wants to have cracks in the runway repaired as quickly as possible, even though they do not pose an immediate threat to aircraft landing or taking off there.

The north runway, which will remain open all through the works, can handle 30 flights per hour, according to a report by the Central News Agency, but still an estimated 9,000 travelers were likely to be affected, so anyone with a flight booked for November 1 should look out for notifications from their airline.

The problem with cracks occurred less than two years after the last major work on the same runway, which led to its opening for service in January 2016. In the latest incident, cracks several meters long and up to 2 millimeters wide appeared, possibly due to recent heavy rain.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/31
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) The Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Tuesday released its draft

amendments to the labor law, saying that the public has seven days to give suggestions and opinions on the revisions.

MOL Chief Secretary Chen Ming-jen (陳明仁) said the ministry has made five major draft revisions to the Labor Standards Act, which was amended last year but caused dissatisfaction among both employees and employers.

One of the major revisions this time is a change to the current rule that stipulates one mandatory day off and one flexible rest day per week and bars employees from working more than six consecutive days without a break.

The draft amendments allow employees to work 12 days in a row once they take one mandatory day off on either end of the 12-day period.    [FULL  STORY]

TOOTHLESS:Legislators criticized the government for reversing its intentions, saying the policy would only become justification for canceling seven holidays

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 01, 2017
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Legislators across party lines yesterday criticized the Cabinet’s draft amendments to

the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), saying that the government risks undoing improvements it has made on workers’ rights by reintroducing poor work conditions.

During a question-and-answer session at the legislature in Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) asked Premier William Lai (賴清德) to clarify the reason behind the proposed amendments.

The act was amended only 11 months ago, Chiang said, expressing concern that the proposed amendments would harm workers’ rights.

Lai said that the aim of the amendments is to create a “safe and flexible” work environment for employees, but Chiang said that the premier was being too optimistic.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-30

Vice President Chen Chien-jen says the government abides by the Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Chen was speaking Monday at a meeting on the review of Taiwan’s first report on the CRPD. The UN convention became effective in 2008.

Chen said although Taiwan is not a UN member, the convention was written into law in 2014. Taiwan published its first national report on CRPD in 2016.

Chen said the government has taken concrete steps to implement CRPD as human rights protection is the government’s stated policy.

At the invitation of the vice president, experts from Japan, Britain, Sweden, Canada and the United States are in Taiwan to review the government’s report.
[SOURCE]

After horrific fire took the lives of a family of four, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je calls for smoke detectors in all illegal structures

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to yesterday’s tragic fire, which killed a

family of four in a modified building, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) told the media today that he will have the fire department promote the installation of residential smoke detectors citywide, even in illegal structures, and if they fail to comply, “they should be torn down.”

Ko said that he has been informed by the fire department that many lives have been lost in illegal structures that caught fire and there were over 10,000 such structures in the city before he took office. Ko suggested this stopgap measure of installing smoke detectors in such structures, as waiting for them all to be dismantled before installing fire safety equipment leaves many exposed to the dangers of fires for years.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/30
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) Taiwan’s Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital

signed an agreement with the Marshall Islands’ Ministry of Health and Human Services on Monday to continue a medical internship program as well as establish a Hospital Information System (HIS) to enhance the quality of health care in the Pacific island country.

During President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit, she and Hilda Heine, President of the Marshall Islands, witnessed the signing of an agreement between Taiwan’s Shuang Ho Hospital and the Marshall Islands’ health ministry.

According to the agreement, Shuang Ho Hospital will help with the running of a clinical internship program for medical interns in the Marshall Islands as well as set up a HIS at Majuro Hospital, which is located in the country’s capital city Majuro, to digitize patient records and other medical information.
[FULL  STORY]