Page Two

Review of proposals for oversight of cross-strait pacts stalls

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-03-22

A review of proposals for a mechanism supervising cross-strait agreements has stalled in the Legislature.

The supervision of cross-strait agreements has been an important political issue since the Sunflower Student Movement demanded the creation of an oversight mechanism three years ago.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the opposition KMT, and four other smaller political parties each submitted proposals to the Legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on Wednesday.    [FULL  STORY]

Authority: individual septic tanks should be cleaned once a year

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/22
By: George Liao,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

According to Taipei City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), households

DEP: Households not connected to sewer pipelines and still use septic tanks should adopt a tank-cleaning schedule of at least once a year.(By Central News Agency)

which have not been connected to sewer pipelines and still use septic tanks should adopt a tank-cleaning schedule of at least once a year or face fines.

Having the tanks cleaned at least once a year can help keep the functioning rate of the facility above 51 percent, the DEP said. Tanks which have not been cleaned for a long time risk having the processing efficiency reduced to 3 percent, according to the DEP.

In addition, the national Environmental Protection Administration’s new policy of directly disposing tissue papers in the toilet is estimated to increase residue buildup in septic systems by 14.3 percent, further burdening their functions, according to the city’s environment protection agency.    [FULL  STORY]

Two Taiwanese reported missing in Nepal

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/22
By:Charles Kang and Ko Lin

New Delhi, March 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s representative office in India confirmed

(Picture downloaded from Pixabay)

Wednesday that two Taiwanese who went to Nepal in late February to hike in the Himalayas have not been in touch with their relatives for almost three weeks.

Liang Sheng-yueh (梁聖岳) and Liu Chen-chun (劉辰君) arrived in Nepal on Feb. 22 and but have not been in contact with their families since March 3, the office said.

On March 15, the office said, it was contacted by the relatives of the two hikers to provide assistance.

Liang and Lu were supposed to contact their travel agency Wednesday, when they were scheduled to arrive in Langtang Village, some 3,500 meters north of Kathmandu Valley. According to their schedule, they were expected to climb to an elevation of 4,000 meters in that part of the Himalayas, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]

Last P-3C plane said arriving in July

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 23, 2017
By: Lo Tien-bin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The last of Taiwan’s order of 12 Lockheed P-3C Orion aircraft is expected to be delivered in July, a Ministry of National Defense official said.  [FULL  STORY]

The US-made aircraft is to be unveiled at a ceremony that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is expected to attend, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese submarine fleet is large and equipped with high-tech weaponry, so a three-pronged counterattack from air, sea and undersea units and modern submarines would be essential to prevail in a military conflict, the official said.

The Orion aircraft are to be the backbone of the nation’s marine patrol warfare capability, the official said.    [FULL  STORY]

Gov’t concerned over reports US, China may sign 4th communique

The China Post
Date: March 23, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

The government has urged the U.S. against a new joint communique with Beijing that could limit arms sales to Taiwan and c6ommit Washington to the “One China” principle, Foreign Minister David Lee said Wednesday.

The Chinese-language Liberty Times reported earlier this month that former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had been pushing for a fourth communique in which the U.S. would acknowledge support for the “One China” principle. The principle defines Taiwan as an inalienable part of China.

Under the third joint communique agreed by Beijing and Washington in 1982, the U.S. is committed to not pursuing a “One China, one Taiwan” or “Two Chinas” policy. The document, however, makes no explicit mention of the U.S.’ support for the “One China” principle.

Some reports have suggested that a new communique, which may also include provisions limiting U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, could be signed at a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, scheduled for April.    [FULL  STORY]

Public views sought on nuclear waste disposal: Premier

Radio Taiwan International0
Date: 2017-03-21

The government will solicit public opinion on the disposal of nuclear waste. That’s the

Premier Lin Chuan
Premier Lin Chuan says the government will solicit public opinion on the disposal of nuclear waste. (CNA photo)

word from Premier Lin Chuan on Tuesday.

A decision on a final location for a nuclear waste disposal facility has been mired in controversy. On Tuesday, Economics Minister Lee Chih-kuang dismissed recent reports on a set date for the facility’s construction.

Opposition lawmaker Yang Cheng-wu expressed doubt about one proposal for a central interim storage facility while the final facility’s location remains undecided. He said the decision process requires no input from the public. Yang said this has prompted concerns that Taiwan’s outlying islands, such as Penghu, could be used as a nuclear waste dumping ground. This has been the case up until now, with the country’s nuclear waste stored on the outlying island of Lanyu.

Premier Lin Chuan said in response that the government will solicit public opinion during the entire decision-making process. He promised there would be no under-the-table decisions on the subject.    [FULL  STORY]

Gogoro riders to be able to recharge scooters at PX Mart

With the world’s highest density of scooters, Taiwan has proven to be an ideal market for electric scooters.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/21
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese startup Gogoro announced Tuesday that riders of

(By Wikimedia Commons)

their Smartscooters will soon be able to change batteries at PX Mart (全聯福利中心), a leading supermarket chain in Taiwan, making it more convenient for them to power up their scooters.

The hi-tech Smartscooter, often dubbed as “the Tesla of scooters,” runs on two swappable Lithium batteries. Riders are able to swap out depleted batteries at over 300 Gogoro charging stations across the nation’s urban regions, including gas stations, MRT stations, convenient stores, and shopping malls.

The company announced today that more charging stations, or GoStations, will be installed at 20 of the PX Mart branches across the island by the end of June, and the network will be further expanded by the end of 2017 to cover the western part of Taiwan. Customers will be given more options to recharge their scooters without having to worry about dead batteries.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan ranks 38th worldwide in gender equality in 2016: DGBAS

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/21
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Y.F. Low

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Taiwan ranked 38th in the world in terms of ender equality last

CNA file photo

year, higher than neighboring Singapore, China, Japan and South Korea, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Tuesday.

In 2016, Taiwan’s gender gap index (GGI) stood at 0.729, an increase of 0.005 from the previous year and pushing the country’s ranking up by five notches, the DGBAS said.

The index is calculated using the same formula as that created by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which comprises four subindexes covering the areas of economic opportunity and participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.    [FULL  STORY]

Counterterrorism Center opens in Taoyuan’s Sinwu

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 22, 2017
By: Lee Jung-ping and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Opening its Counterterrorism Center in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋) yesterday, the

Members of the Wei-An Police Special Services Commando conduct a hostage rescue drill at yesterday’s opening ceremony for the National Police Administration’s Counterterrorism Center in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District. Photo: CNA

National Police Administration (NPA) said the center would usher in a new age of counterterrorism efforts in the nation.

At the ceremony, presided over by Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), center employees conducted their first drill, which simulated a terrorist attack on the Taipei Universiade athletes’ village.

The simulation included bomb attacks, random shooting and hostage-taking, arrival of a counterterrorist taskforce via helicopter and exchange of fire with the “terrorists” and the successful extraction of the hostages, the agency said.

The Ministry of the Interior in 2003 authorized construction of the center, but revisions of the plan and difficulty in finding contractors delayed the start of construction until 2015. The center was finally completed last year.    [FULL  STORY]

The short arm of the law

The China Post
Date: March 22, 2017
By: CNA

Two students from the Guangming Elementary School in Hsinchu County pose with an adult in police gear during a field trip on Tuesday. A total 263 students and teachers from the school were treated to an exciting filed trip yesterday at the Hsinchu County Police Department, where first graders interactively learned about basic law and traffic regulations for two hours.    [FULL  STORY]