Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/14
By: Christie Chen 

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) The Taiwan International Human Rights Film Festival kicked off Saturday in Taipei to mark the 30th anniversary of the lifting of Martial Law in Taiwan and to encourage reflection on human rights issues.

During the seven-week festival, which was organized by the Preparatory Office of the National Human Rights Museum, two Taiwanese films and nine foreign films will be screened at 18 locations around the country.

“There was a time when Taiwan believed in collectivism and believed that economic prosperity would bring happiness,” Deputy Culture Minister Ting Hsiao-ching (丁曉菁) said at the opening of the festival. “The fact is, authoritarian rule allowed the state machinery to cause a lot of collective harm at certain periods of time.”

She said some people are still unwilling to face the past and may think that it had nothing to do with them.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 14, 2017
By: Rita Cheng and Y.F. Low

WASHINGTON (CNA) – Meetings between the representatives of the United States

and Taiwan at next month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam are expected to take place based on “past practice,” a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

Although the schedules for bilateral meetings have not been set, “past practice is probably a good indicator of future events,” said Matt Matthews, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Matthews, who is also the U.S. ambassador to APEC, said he believes whoever represents the United States at the APEC ministerial meeting, “similar kinds of meetings will take place.” The U.S. diplomat made the comment at a conference held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in response to a question on whether there will be a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Taiwan’s representative James Soong (宋楚瑜) at APEC.,    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-13

President Tsai Ing-wen has called on participants of the Yushan Forum to support the

government’s New Southbound policy. Tsai was speaking Friday while meeting keynote speakers and foreign scholars.

The government-sponsored, two-day forum ended Thursday. The theme of this year’s forum centered on the promotion of social and economic links between Taiwan and countries targeted by the government’s New Southbound policy. Those countries include nations in South and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Tsai said the goal of the policy is to redefine Taiwan’s role in South and Southeast Asia. She also said Taiwan needs support from neighboring countries and the international community to make it successful.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/14
By: Wang Shu-fen and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Pouring rains and gusty winds can be expected in most parts of Taiwan Saturday, as the country remains under the combined influence of a northeasterly monsoon and Tropical Storm Khanun, the Central Weather Bureau said.

The mountainous areas of Taipei and Yilan, in particular, are expected to see extremely torrential rain, with accumulated rainfall of over 500 mm within 24 hours, the bureau said.

Torrential rain is expected in Hualien, Taitung, Yilan’s flatland areas, and the mountainous areas of New Taipei and Pingtung, with the accumulated rainfall exceeding 350 mm within 24 hours, according to the CWB.

Extremely heavy rain is forecast for Keelung, the greater Taipei area, the Hengchun Peninsula, and the mountainous areas of Taoyuan and Hsinchu, with accumulated rainfall of over 200 mm within 24 hours, the bureau said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 13, 2017
By: Chen Chun-hua, Chen Chih-chung and Kuan-lin Liu

TAIPEI (CNA) – The Ministry of Education (MOE, 教育部) maintained Friday that it is

not interfering with the press freedom of the Mandarin Daily News (國語日報), even though it asked the Taipei District Court a day earlier to dissolve the newspaper’s current board of directors.

Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said during questioning at the Legislative Yuan that given the government’s involvement in the paper’s founding in 1948, his ministry asked the court to dissolve the board of directors running the children’s newspaper because internal disagreements have made it difficult for the paper to operate.

The ministry asked the court to appoint an interim board so that the publication can return to normal operations, a process that he estimated will take three to six months.

Pan claimed that his ministry will not be involved in the management of the newspaper or in any way infringe upon its press freedom, but simply made the request to the court for the good of the newspaper’s employees and the public.

Following the ministry’s request to the court, Mandarin Daily News Chairman Hung Kuo-liang (洪國樑) quickly fired back, essentially dismissing government involvement in the growth of the company, saying that government funding was used up by 1950 and that the original employees have all since left the company.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan has been investing heavily to improve its defense system, but AIT chairman thinks it needs to do more

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/13
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)– The American Institute in Taiwan’s chairman James Moriarty

said on Thursday that Taiwan should be more concerned about increasing its defense system as depending on the U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security is not enough amid an increasingly complex situation between China and Taiwan.

According to the Central News Agency, Moriarty asked Taiwan to invest more in its defense ability and garner more strength as the current situation is not helpful enough to withstand the opponent and falls short of what is required to be able to maintain peace and stability in the region.

“While we commend Taiwan for the considerable strides it has made, it can and must do more as the security threat against it continues to evolve,” Moriarty said at a forum held by Brookings Institution as quoted by CNA.     [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-12

A former Japanese member of parliament says visa-free treatment is a key to success

for Taiwan’s New Southbound policy. Tokuichiro Tamazawa was speaking on Thursday at the second day of the Yushan Forum in Taipei.

The New Southbound policy aims to strengthen Taiwan’s economic and cultural ties with countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The Yushan Forum aims to enhance Taiwan’s soft power as well as cooperation with other Asia-Pacific countries.

Tamazawa brought up the example of Japan granting visa-free status to Taiwanese passport holders ten years ago. Tamazawa said the number of visitors traveling between the two countries has since risen year on year. That factor will contribute to the success of the policy, he said. Tamazawa said visa-free treatment should be granted to countries that meet security regulations.    [FULL  STORY]

CWB issued a heavy to torrential rain advisory for five cities and counties in northern and eastern Taiwan Thursday

Taiwan News  
Date: 2017/10/12
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 12 — The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) issued a heavy to torrential rain

advisory for five cities and counties in northern and eastern Taiwan Thursday due to strengthening northeasterly winds and the peripheral effects of a tropical depression east of the Philippines.

Extremely heavy or torrential rain can be expected in Yilan County, where accumulated rainfall will likely exceed 350 millimeters within 24 hours, the bureau said.

As of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Yilan’s Niudou Village had already accumulated nearly 330 mm over the previous 24 hours.

Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung City and Hualien County will experience heavy rain, meaning accumulated rainfall exceeding 80 mm within 24 hours, according to the bureau.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/12
By: Ku Chuan and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Thursday that an integrated

platform for information security and data protection in the finance sector must be set up in Taiwan by the end of the year.

Lai issued the directive to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) at a regular Cabinet meeting in the wake of a recent case of bank theft by means of computer hacking, according to Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇).

In the meeting, the premier noted that while the FSC has been promoting information security in the finance sector for years, there have been occasional cases of cyber security breaches in Taiwan, Hsu said.

Stressing that information security is vital to national security, Lai asked the FSC to examine the holes in the existing financial system and set up an integrated system by the end of the year, which would provide better information security and data protection, Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]