ABS CBN News
Date: Sep 20 2017
By: Agence France-Presse

A group of foreign fishermen in Taiwan were locked in tiny windowless rooms around the clock to stop them escaping while not at sea, prosecutors said in the island’s latest abuse case involving migrant workers.

Fishing and boat company owners were among 19 people charged Monday in the southern city of Kaohsiung for illegally holding 81 foreign fishermen in buildings after they had berthed their boats.

When they were at sea, the fishermen were sometimes made to work for 48 consecutive hours without rest for a monthly wage of US$300-$500, the prosecutors said — despite Taiwan’s labour laws which stipulate a maximum working day of eight hours and minimum wage of around $930.

“The accused exploited the fishermen with illegal methods for their own profit,” prosecutors said in a statement, describing the fishermen as “slave labour in the sea”.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-19

Taipei is preparing to host the Taipei International Travel Fair, Taiwan’s biggest annual travel expo, this October.

200 booths are being added to this year’s event, bringing the total to over 1,600. China has backed out of this year’s show, but several other countries are participating for the first time, bringing the total number of national booths to a record-breaking 68.

The Taiwan Visitors Association says that with the demand for booths outstripping available space, next year’s show will be moved to the larger Nangang Exhibition Center. The new venue is able to hold 2,400 booths. The visitors association has also set a goal of attracting 100 countries to set up booths next year.
[SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/19

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) National Immigration Agency (NIA) Director-General Jeff J. Yang (楊家駿) announced Tuesday that in future whenever foreign workers’ whereabouts are unknown after leaving their official place of employment, his agency will no longer refer to them as “illegal runaways” but rather classify them as “unaccounted for.”

Yang made the announcement following a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan with 4-Way Voice’s chief editor Chang Lung-yu (張龍宇) and Kuomintang lawmakers Lin Li-chan (林麗蟬) and Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖).

Foreign workers often feel compelled to leave their jobs in Taiwan for reasons beyond their control, but despite that are often characterized as suspects or criminals, which Yang said was unhelpful and would henceforth be replaced by the designation “unaccounted for.”

Yang said that the focus should not be solely on the “arrest” of foreign workers who leave their place of employment, but rather laws relating to illegal agents and employers should be more rigorously enforced because they are often the reason migrant workers leave.    [FULL  STORY]

BAD EGG?A KMT official said the premier must hold Tsai Ing-wen to the standards he demanded of Ma Ying-jeou, while a lawmaker asked if graft might cause a scandal

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 20, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) should hold President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration and the fipronil-tainted eggs scandal to the same strict standards he demanded of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during the 2014 tainted cooking oil scandals, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.

The Taipei Department of Health on Monday announced that it has sent a large batch of eggs discovered last week to have been contaminated by the insecticide back to Tainan, where they originated, to be destroyed, KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) told a Taipei news conference.

The discovery of more tainted eggs came after the central government told the public on Aug. 18 that all fipronil-tainted eggs had been accounted for and that eggs on the market were safe for consumption, which showed that Council of Agriculture and Ministry of Health of Welfare efforts to curb the distribution of tainted eggs had failed, Hung said.

As Tainan mayor, Lai had criticized Ma for “shifting the responsibility” of preventing substandard cooking oils being produced from his administration to local governments, Hung said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-18

The Presidential Office says that Beijing is continuing to use its One China principle to suppress Taiwan in the international community. That’s the word from Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang on Monday. Huang was responding to Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela’s claim that money had nothing to do with his country’s decision to establish diplomatic ties with China. Varela made the statement in an interview with China’s state television, CCTV, on Monday. Panama broke ties with Taiwan to switch recognition to China on June 13.

Huang told reporters in Taipei on Monday that the international community is aware of Taiwan’s role, and how it has always been a contributor to peace and stability, rather than an instigator of conflicts.

Huang said Taiwan will continue to work on maintaining cross-strait peace and stability. He said that should be the responsibility and the goal of both Taiwan and China. Huang said that politics should not be a factor that influences cross-strait relations, nor should either side disturb the other’s diplomatic efforts.
[FULL  STORY]

INFRINGEMENT:The ruling could give the president precedent to intervene in ‘potential disputes between different branches of government,’ prosecutors said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has appealed a court ruling acquitting former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of abetting the leak of classified information related to an investigation of an opposition lawmaker while the investigation was ongoing in September 2013.

Prosecutors on Friday filed an appeal against the Aug. 25 ruling by the Taipei District Court, contending that it was made on an erroneous legal foundation, office spokesman Chou Shih-yu (周士榆) said.

By ruling in favor of Ma, the court misconstrued the president’s power to mediate interpersonal disputes and created an ambiguous standard that allows the president to step into “potential disputes between different branches of government,” which would allow the president to intervene in judicial investigations and infringe on people’s basic rights, Chou said.

The ruling has damaged the principle of separation of powers and the protection of people’s basic rights, he said.    [FULL  STORY]