CONTRADICTORY:The NPP says there is no law requiring the payment of holiday bonuses to retired public servants who receive a monthly pension of NT$25,000 or less

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

The Executive Yuan should not monetarily reward retired public servants at next year’s Lunar New Year

holiday, because such payments lack a legal basis and run counter to efforts to push for pension reform, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday.

As the first cross-caucus negotiation round drew to a close yesterday, the NPP held a news conference in Taipei to promote its pension reform platform.

Referring to a directive issued last week by Premier Lin Chuan (林全) to continue paying holiday bonuses to former public servants whose monthly pension is less than NT$25,000 (US$822.34), NPP caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said the NT$25,000 threshold was set by the Executive Yuan to justify the payments as they are not stipulated in any law.

The Executive Yuan last year resolved to stop issuing holiday bonuses to retired civil servants receiving a pension of more than NT$25,000 for the Lunar New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 20, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu reiterated Tuesday that she supports a pardon for

former President Chen Shui-bian and that she believed President Tsai Ing-wen would make a judicious decision on the matter.

The mayor’s statement comes at a time when the former president’s supporters are renewing their push for him to be pardoned on the basis that his graft conviction in 2009 was “unjust.”

Councilors from six major cities and seven counties formed a lobby group on Tuesday in Kaohsiung, with plans to collect the signatures of over half of all Democratic Progressive Party delegates to force a decision on the issue at the next party congress in September.

Chen Chu, at a separate venue, said that she supported a presidential pardon for Chen Shui-bian.

“This is an important matter within the party and I trust that the president, as the party’s chairwoman, will handle the matter judiciously,” she said.

Asked whether she would join the pressure group, Chen said that its members were local city and county councilors.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 19, 2017
By: CNA

WASHINGTON — James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, said Sunday that now is

the time for the United States and Taiwan to iron out their trade differences by taking advantage of existing negotiating channels.

Moriarty said that if the two sides can use bilateral mechanisms like the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to resolve trade irritants, it will help “foster stronger and closer trade relationships.”

There has “never been a better time than now to resolve outstanding bilateral issues” if economic reform is to make major advances toward economic liberalization, Moriarty said.

The TIFA, signed in 1994, is the primary mechanism for dialogue on trade between the United States and Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Authorities of Longshan Temple (龍山寺) in Taipei City announced at a press

conference on July 19 that only one incense burner will remain in the temple to be in line with creating a healthy environment for worshipers.

The temple authorities have called off the practice of burning of paper money and reduced the number of incense burners from seven to three.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) also attended the press conference and gave a speech, during which he expressed his gratitude to the temple for striking a balance among the preservation of traditional culture, conservation, and public health. He also looks forward to other temples joining the initiative.

Ko stressed that environmental issues are important policies for Taipei as a civilized city. This is especially true when the top cause of death is cancer, with lung cancer claiming the most victims. What is worth noting is that many victims are not smokers, showing that there are already too many PM 2.5 particles in the air.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/19
By: Chang Shu-ling, Liang Pei-chi and Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) A Taipei-Shanghai forum is set to be held in Shanghai on July 2, with the theme

of “healthy city,” a Taipei spokesman said Monday.

Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) said that Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong (應勇) will represent the two cities at the forum.

He said the forum will center on four topics — community health, environmental protection, smart city and public service, and young start-ups.

The two sides will also sign a memorandum of understanding covering exchanges and cooperation in four aspects, including exchanges between the University of Taipei and Shanghai University, between Taipei Nehui District and Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, the promotion of basketball, and consumer rights protection.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 20, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The air force yesterday said it had successfully intercepted a Sky Bow II (Tien Kung II) missile, using a

Patriot II missile, during a test in the morning
.
The Sky Bow II, a surface-to-air missile developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, was fired from Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 6:35am, the air force said.

It was successfully intercepted over Green Island (綠島) by a US-made Patriot II missile fired from Jupeng Base in Pingtung County, it said.

Members of the public started to gather in Chenggong Township as early as 4am to watch the launch, an event that one spectator described as the nation’s “most expensive fireworks show.”  [FULL  STORY]

The book contains 280,000 words and has former premiers’ writing in the foreword

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/18
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A 17-year-old student Chiang Tsung-fan (江宗凡) from Hualien High School

launch his first science fiction novel, “Apocalypse” (天啟Ⅰ:末世訊號), June 17, with a former premier invited to give a speech at the book launch event, reports said.

It had taken him one year to finish the 280,000-word science fiction since beginning his work on it as a tenth grader in high school. After completing the book, he submitted the script to several publishers. Eventually Cite E-Printing Co., Ltd. (城邦印書館), a subsidiary of Cite Publishing Ltd. (城邦文化) where writers pay to have their books published, agreed to publish his book.

Having started writing stories when he was at junior high school, Chiang said that he was just passionate about writing and did not worry about sales.
[FULL  STORY]