The China Post
Date: July 6, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — There were nearly 1,700 superrich people in the country last year, according to a

wealth report released Thursday.

The number of ultra-high net worth individuals, defined as those with a net worth of at least US$30 million, increased by 5 percent from last year to 1,676, according to the 2017 Wealth Report by real estate consultancy REPro Knight Frank.

Of them 1,380 were worth above US$30 million, 267 were worth over US$100 million and 29 were billionaires.

Most of them (84 percent) lived in Taipei and invested mostly in financial products (25 percent), real estate (23 percent) and their own businesses (21 percent).

Taiwanese superrich were among the top homeowners among the very wealthy worldwide, owning four properties each on average, second only to the 4.3 homes of their Saudi Arabian counterparts.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-05

An international workshop on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief has opened in Taipei.

The event is organized by the National Fire Agency and the foreign ministry along with the American

Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy. The workshop aims to help Asia-Pacific countries increase their ability to respond to disasters.

Officials from countries including Thailand, Malaysia, and Pakistan are attending the workshop. The workshop will feature speakers from the National Fire Agency, USAID, and the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance.

During the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong said that Taiwan is willing to share its experience in dealing with disasters with other countries.

Vice Foreign Minister Jose Maria Liu spoke about the workshop’s significance for Taiwan-US ties. He said that this is the second event held so far this year under Taiwan-US Global Cooperation and Training Framework. He also said it is the first event held under the framework to focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
[FULL  STORY]

President Tsai has appointed seven ambassadors-at-large to promote Taiwan’s diplomacy

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/05
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On her Twitter account, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on

Wednesday that she has recently appointed seven new ambassadors-at-large from the fields of environmental sustainability, public health, digital opportunities, women’s empowerment, sports, culture, and other areas of excellence to help promote Taiwan’s diplomatic work.

The seven appointees include Kuo Hsu-sung (郭旭崧), former director-general of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Centers for Disease Control; Eugene Chien (簡又新), former Foreign Minister and current chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy; Chen Chung-shin (陳重信), former head of the Environmental Protection Administration; Chen Jen-ran (陳正然), independent director on Chunghwa Telecom’s board of directors; Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志), chairman of PChome Online Inc.; Fan Yun (范雲), an associate professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Sociology; and Chi Cheng (紀政), an Olympic medalist and accomplished Taiwanese athlete.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/05
By: Shen Ju-feng and Christie Chen

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Father Gian Carlo Michelini (秘克琳), an 81-year-old Catholic priest from Italy

who founded the renowned Taiwanese children’s folk dance troupe, the Lan Yang Dancers, will receive Taiwanese citizenship on Thursday in recognition of his invaluable contribution to Taiwan.

Michelini is set to become the first foreign national to be naturalized as a Taiwan citizen due to his contributions in the field of art and culture.

The passing of an amendment to Taiwan’s Nationality Act in December last year allowed foreign nationals applying for citizenship to keep their original nationality if they are high-level professionals in technological, economic, educational, cultural, art, sports or other domains whose specialties are deemed to serve the interests of Taiwan.

Yilan County government said on Wednesday that Michelini’s household will be registered in Yilan, where the priest is based.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 06, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Following the Control Yuan’s impeachment of Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) on

Tuesday, Wong issued a five-point statement defending his reputation and denouncing the watchdog body for “making a hasty decision, as the judicial process has not yet taken its course.”

The Control Yuan on Tuesday voted to impeach Wong, saying he had engaged in profiteering and other financial crimes linked to the OBI Pharma (台灣浩鼎) scandal.

“I have not violated the rule on conflict of interest with regards to Academia Sinica’s transfer of technology to OBI Pharma, and therefore I cannot accept the Control Yuan’s impeachment. The reasons cited for it contained serious misunderstandings,” he wrote.

Wong also said the Control Yuan’s decision was made without regard for due process, as he had not been given the opportunity to give his side of the story during the impeachment procedure.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: Wednesday, July 5, 2017

TAIPEI — The United Nations has agreed to investigate the case of a Taiwan pro-democracy

advocate arrested in China in March, a Taiwan-based human rights groups said late Wednesday.
According to Covenants Watch, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances said that the case of Lee Ming-che’s disappearance in China will be discussed in its next session, set for September 11-15 in Geneva.

“The highly urgent case has drawn attentions from the U.N.,” Covenants Watch chief executive officer Huang Yi-bee told dpa.

It is the first time the U.N.’s human rights mechanism is taking a case about Taiwan, a non-U.N. member, because the alleged violator, China, is a U.N. member, Huang said.    [FULL  STORY]

River takes 40 tons of mostly plastic trash to the ocean per day

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Tamshui River (淡水河) is the 16th dirtiest river in the world as it dumps

14,700 tons of mostly plastic trash into the ocean per year, according to The Ocean Cleanup foundation.

The organization, founded by Dutch engineering student Boyan Slat when he was just 20 years old, drew up a list of 40,000 rivers across the world which function as “vacuum cleaners,” drawing out garbage and pulling it out into oceans and seas.

Each year, between 1.15 million and 2.41 million tons of trash, in particular plastic, ends up at sea, with two thirds being carried there by the 20 dirtiest rivers.

The Tamshui River figures at No.16 on The Ocean Cleanup’s list, while three of the five filthiest rivers are located in China. The Yangzi (長江) stands at No.1, followed by India’s Ganges and another Chinese river, the Xijiang (西江). The Huangpu (黃浦江), formerly known as the Whampoa, and Nigeria’s Cross River round out the top-five.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/04
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) The wealth gap between the richest households and their poorest counterparts remains wide, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Following the month-long income tax filing season in May, the MOF released data showing that the top 5 percent of tax paying households reported an average of NT$4.72 million (US$154,754) in annual income, compared with the average of NT$47,000 reported by the bottom 5 percent.

The figures show the gap between the richest and the poorest households is the second-highest level since 2015, when the difference reached around 110 times, the MOF data shows.

Among the top 5 percent of the tax-paying households, the average annual wage totaled NT$2.87 million, about 198 times the average of only NT$14,000 reported by the bottom 5 percent, the MOF said.    [FULL  STORY]