The China Post
Date: July 21, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — With a religious group gearing up to take to the streets, the central

government scrambled Thursday to rebut a rumor that it wanted to prohibit the use of incense.

The Ministry of the Interior said Thursday that there were no plans to prohibit the use of incense, the burning of joss paper or the practice of other religious customs.

Religious groups, in response to a rumor of the ban circulating online, had said they would congregate on Ketagalan Boulevard on Sunday to protest the government’s disrespect for their rites.

At the Democratic Progressive Party headquarters on Wednesday, President Tsai Ing-wen had reportedly censured the Ministry of the Interior for failing to deny the claim.
[FULL  STORY]

Father Daniel Ross was major sociology reformer

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – American Jesuit Father Daniel Ross (羅四維), a former dean of Fu Jen Catholic University’s (輔仁大學) sociology department, died Saturday aged 84, a week after receiving Taiwanese citizenship, reports said.

Taiwan recently changed naturalization laws to allow a limited number of individuals from overseas to hold dual citizenship. Most of the beneficiaries so far have been Catholic missionaries who have spent decades in the country.

Ross was born in the state of Wisconsin in 1933 and arrived in Taiwan in 1960 following his studies at Loyola University in California.

He started by taking Chinese language classes in Hsinchu and then went on to teach English in Changhua County before leaving to study three years in the Philippines. After returning to Taiwan in 1966, he became a priest in Hsinchu.    [FULL  STORY]

McCain is known as staunch Taiwan ally

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen on Thursday tweeted her wishes for a

quick recovery for prominent United States Senator John McCain, after he had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

The Arizona Republican is known as a staunch supporter of Taiwan and chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. The island relies for a large part of its defense on arms supplies from the U.S.

McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot last week, which turned up the discovery of a brain tumor.

“John McCain is a champion for #freedom & #liberty around the world. I join the people of #Taiwan in wishing him a quick recovery,” Tsai tweeted.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/20 21:41:00
By: Miao Tzung-han and S.C. Chang

Taipei, July 20 (CNA) Taiwan’s top China policy agency called on Beijing Thursday to “respect facts” after the Chinese authorities banned the Chinese media from using the name “Republic of China” – the official title of Taiwan.

In a move intended to increase pressure on Taiwan, China’s official Xinhua News Agency published a set of guidelines for the Chinese media when referring to Taiwanese authorities, including not allowing the media to report the Taiwanese version of the “1992 consensus.”

The “1992 consensus” was a tacit agreement reached in Hong Kong in 1992 between China and Taiwan, then under Kuomintang (KMT) rule, that there is only one China, with the two sides free to have their own interpretation of what that means. Many in Taiwan see this as “one China, with different interpretations.”

Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), vice chairman and spokesman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), urged Chinese media to “fully report reality and respect the fact that the Republic of China exists.”    [FULL  STORY]

TRAIN STRAIN?Local governments might face financial strain as they would have to pay NT$390.9 billion for the infrastructure program’s rail projects, a lawmaker said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 21, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday reported Premier Lin Chuan (林

全) to the Control Yuan over alleged dereliction of duty for allowing the Executive Yuan to “illegally” budget the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program.

Lin breached Article 83 of the Budget Act (預算法) by allowing the construction of parking lots, recreational facilities and the Hakka Romantic Avenue — a proposed road connecting New Taipei City and Taichung to promote Hakka attractions — to be listed under the program, the complaint says.

A special budget should only be planned to cover urgent expenses pertaining to national security, disaster relief, economic crises or major national policies, it said.

In the last case, a special budget may be planned several years after the previous one.

The Executive Yuan’s listing of parking lot construction and computer upgrades for agencies contravenes Article 23 of the act, as those items should be paid for with running expenses rather than a special budget, the KMT said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 20, 2017
By: The Phnom Penh Post/ANN

PHNOM PENH — Taiwanese officials have arrived in Cambodia to push for seven of

their nationals — among 31 suspects arrested over a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) scam — to be repatriated to the country instead of China, according to a statement from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry.

Uk Hai Sela, the head of investigations at the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Department, on Monday denied that any of the 31 people arrested that day over the VoIP scam were Taiwanese, and said that they would all be deported to China once the Chinese government arranged transport.

However, a Chinese-language statement from Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said it had dispatched officials posted in Vietnam to check on seven of the arrested. Taiwan has not had representation in Cambodia since 1997, when Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered its Phnom Penh offices shuttered.

“After checking with the Cambodian authorities, we found out that seven of the arrested suspects are from our country,” the Tuesday press release said. “Ho Chi Minh City has sent representatives to Cambodia to confirm the identity of the suspects, and provided the necessary assistance.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-19

The Magistrate of Hsinchu County, Chiu Ching-chun, highlighted plans to certify Halal

dining in an effort to promote Muslim tourism to Taiwan. Chiu was interviewed by Radio Taiwan International on Wednesday.

Under its Southbound Policy, Taiwan is strengthening ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia. These includes countries with a large Muslim population.

The number of Muslim tourists is increasing around the world and is forecast to exceed 170 million by 2020. That would account for over 10% of global tourism. Last year, around 180,000 Muslim tourists visited Taiwan. Chiu describes how Taiwan is working to become a more Muslim-friendly destination by certifying Halal dining.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai’s overall support went up 4.9 points from the previous survey reaching 51.6 percent

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/19
By: Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan news)– Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has received support from the majority of citizens after reforming pension programs for civil servants, public school teachers and political delegates.

A survey published by the Taiwan Next Gen Foundation shows that 68.1 percent believed that the reform was positive for Taiwan’s future, 62.8 percent of the respondents are satisfied the result of the reform, and 61.9 percent saw it as major accomplishment by Tsai government.

Tsai’s overall support went up 4.9 points from the previous survey, reaching 51.6 percent, also received 8 points in her satisfaction rating, scoring 41.4 percent.
[FULL  STORY]