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Lawyer calls for probe into president’s foundation

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

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee should launch a probe into foundations headed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to determine whether they are Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) affiliates, an attorney said yesterday.

Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), representing the Minsheng Development Foundation and the National Development Fund, made the remark at a hearing to determine whether the foundation and the fund, along with the Mintsu Development Foundation and Minchuan Development, are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) affiliates.

The committee earlier during the hearing said that the post of Mintsu and Minchuan foundations’ presidents have been taken by KMT Administrative and Management Committee directors, suggesting that the foundations could be linked to the KMT.

Yeh said the foundations being probed yesterday were each founded by NT$30 million (US$951,384) donated by Hsinyutai Co in Sept. 2015.

The KMT in 2010 transferred its shareholding rights in Hsinyutai to Central Investment Co chairman Gordon Chen (陳樹) and four other persons, meaning that the donations made by Hsinyutai were irrelevant to the KMT, Yeh said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to cooperate with Finland to fight fraud

The China Post
Date: January 21, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

Taiwan and Finland have signed a cooperation arrangement to jointly fight customs fraud, the Ministry of

Customs Administration Director Liao Chao-hsiang (廖超祥), right, and his Finnish counterpart Antti Hartikainen, director general of Finnish Customs, shake hands during a signing ceremony in Helsinki on Thursday, Jan. 19. (Photo courtesy of Customs Administration)

Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced on Friday.

The agreement was signed on Thursday in Helsinki by Customs Administration Director Liao Chao-hsiang (廖超祥) and his Finnish counterpart Antti Hartikainen, director general of Finnish Customs, MOFA said in a statement.

The signing ceremony was joined by officials from Taiwan’s representative office in Finland.

It is worth noticing that the R.O.C. flag and Finnish flag were seen at the signing ceremony, as shown in a photo released by Customs Administration on Friday.

It is rare sight given the fact that the countries do not have official diplomatic ties.

According to the administration, the agreement was signed during an ongoing three-day visit by a Taiwanese delegation led by Liao.

Both sides had engaged in dialogue following the signing ceremony to enhance cooperation to combat customs fraud, it said in a released statement.    [FULL  STORY]

National Taiwan University Hospital makes head, neck cancer surgery breakthrough

Taiwan Today
Date: January 19, 2017

The world’s first minimally invasive procedure for removing head and neck tumors was

Dr. Yang Tsung-lin stands beside a poster detailing his groundbreaking minimally invasive surgical approach for removing head and neck tumors. (Courtesy of Liberty Times)

unveiled Jan. 17 by National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei City.

Developed by NTUH’s Otolaryngology-Head and Neck team, the advanced surgical method effectively removes recalcitrant head and neck tumors and results in an aesthetically pleasing appearance. To date, NTUH has successfully performed more than 200 operations on patients with cancer in such organs as the lymph nodes, salivary glands and thyroid.

Dr. Yang Tsung-lin, attending physician at NTUH’s Department of Otolaryngology, said the procedure is a significant breakthrough as nearly 90 percent of cases require open surgery. “The new approach reduces the impact of operations on the head and neck and increases surgical precision.”

According to Yang, traditional head and neck open surgery leaves an unsightly 8-10 centimeter scar, whereas the new procedure leaves a smaller one. “It combines endoscopy, robotic surgical systems and an innovative instrument to leave a much smaller incision along the hairline of the posterior neck, making the approach more acceptable to patients,” he said.

The surgical method is made possible through the use of Yang’s Retractor, an automatic mechanical wound opener developed by the medico. Yang received a National Innovation Award for the device in 2015, and it is patented in a number of markets worldwide, including Taiwan, Japan, the U.S. and mainland China.    [FULL  STORY]

Editorial: Taiwan on the verge of the Trump era

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/19
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

On January 20, the office most frequently connected with the title of most powerful man

(By Associated Press)

in the world changes hands, when the first African-American president of the United States, professional politician and Democrat Barack Obama, moves out to make way for abrasive businessman, television host and populist Republican Donald Trump.

The handover has so far provided joy to only a limited number of groups, with the vast majority of domestic and world opinion either terrified or of what a Trump Administration is planning for them.

The new president’s frequent comments at election rallies and on Twitter has assured him tough opposition from a variety of groups such as women, African-Americans, gays and Muslims.    [FULL  STORY]

Scorsese says his dream of filming ‘Silence’ was achieved in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/19
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese said Thursday in Taipei that his dream of filming the historical drama “Silence” was achieved in Taiwan, and he hopes to give the film as a “gift” to the Taiwanese people.

“It’s an extraordinary thing to be here to present the film, a film that I have been working on for many, many years,” the 74-year-old American director said at the premiere of “Silence” in Taiwan.

“It has been a dream of mine and that was brought to fruition here in this extraordinary country of Taiwan. It was a great inspiration and I hope that it does justice to all of you,” said Scorsese, who had attempted to make the film for three decades.

Scorsese attended the Thursday event along with the film’s producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff and co-writer Jay Cocks. Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) made an appearance to show support for the film.    [FULL  STORY]

Committee to unfreeze KMT bank account

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

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday said that it would unfreeze the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Bank SinoPac account so it can pay its employees’ salaries and bonuses.

“On the grounds of protecting the rights of the KMT’s employees, the committee will allow it to withdraw from its Bank SinoPac account to pay its employees this month’s salaries and year-end and performance bonuses,” committee Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said after a closed-door “compulsory” negotiation with KMT officials and its employees, which was held at the request of the Taipei Department of Labor.

After the KMT’s account was frozen by the committee last year, it has experienced difficulty paying its employees.

The money from the account should be used to pay salaries and bonuses, while the remainder may be used to pay severance fees and pensions due to a planned mass layoff, Koo said, but added that the KMT cannot use the funds to pay employees it has rehired.    [FULL  STORY]

Need a passport? Step one: Send a message on Line

The China Post
Date: January 20, 2017
By Joseph Yeh

Booking an appointment to apply for a passport is now as easy as sending a text.

The Line account of the Foreign Ministry’s Bureau of Consular Affairs offers a 14-language translation service to help users communicate with locals during their overseas travel. (Joseph Yeh, The China Post)

The Foreign Ministry’s Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) is adding new features to its official account on the popular messaging app Line, which already offers emergency contact information to Taiwanese travelers.

Starting today, you can also hit up BOCA’s Line account for instant translation services and to reserve an in-person appointment to apply for a passport.

BOCA Director-General Agnes Chen (陳華玉) said that to offer a more comprehensive, one-stop service to passport holders, her bureau had worked with a private company to add extra features that officially go online today.

Line users can now message the BOCA account to reserve a time slot for applying for a passport, which would save them considerable time waiting at BOCA’s office.

Another new feature offers instant an translation service from Chinese into 14 languages so that users can communicate with locals during their overseas travel, especially in the event of an emergency, she said.

More than 750,000 users have added BOCA as a friend on Line since the bureau established its account on the free messaging service in May 2015.    [FULL  STORY]

Chinese exiled scholar slams Tsai Ing-wen as ‘gutless for change’

Tsai’s status quo in cross-strait relations blasted by Yuan Hongbing

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/17
By: Sophia Yang,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News) – Yuan Hongbing, renowned author and exiled Chinese scholar,

Yuan Hongbing (Photo courtesy of bannedbook.org)

published an article on the first anniversary of Tsai Ing-wen’s victory in Taiwan’s presidential election. On the one hand, he poignantly criticized Tsai administration’s absence of deliberate planning and daring to carry out reforms, and on the other hand, lambasted her lack of the courage to challenge the status quo and to normalize the island country’s political situation.

Known as a writer and democracy activist, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center Editor in Chief, Yuan taught law at China’s leading school Peking University in the late 1980s and was suspended from duty and investigated for supporting the pro-democracy student protests that ended in bloodshed at China’s Tiananmen Square. Yuan was jailed for sabotage in 1994 and applied for political asylum in Australia in 2004.    [FULL  STORY]

Labor group demands legal protection of overseas-hired fishery workers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/17
By: Yu Hsiao-han and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) Members of Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA)

staged a protest in front of the Ministry of Labor building on Tuesday, demanding that fishery workers hired overseas should be protected by Taiwan’s Labor Standards Act.

The act protects basic human rights, payments and other benefits including paid leave.

However, the ministry replied that fishery workers on Taiwanese fishing boats have not entered the country and therefore do not qualify for protections stipulated in the act.

TIWA said Taiwan, which operates the largest fleet of deep sea fishing boats in the world, currently hires 14,627 foreign fishery workers who contribute to annual output worth NT$40 billion (US$1.27 billion).    [FULL  STORY]

Taichung drill simulates amphibious assault

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 18, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

A pre-Lunar New Year holiday military exercise was held in Taichung yesterday to

A member of the army’s skydiving team trails smoke during a parachute display in Taichung yesterday to highlight the armed forces’ heightened readiness over the Lunar New Year holiday. Photo: CNA

simulate a landing by Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amphibious units, with the nation’s first female attack-helicopter pilot participating in the drill.

The exercise simulated a PLA naval formation of destroyers, amphibious vessels and escort ships conducting a training drill in the Taiwan Strait, but abruptly crossing the median line between Taiwan and China, with ship-borne helicopters launching an attack to seize key military infrastructure in Taiwan.

The exercise came a week after China’s first and only aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait.

The exercise saw coordinated operations by the army’s tank battalions and aviation units, while the 10th Army Command dispatched M109 howitzers, M60A3 main battle tanks, CM33 Clouded Leopard armored vehicles, AH-1W Super Cobras and UH-60M Black Hawks to repel the mock enemy units and retake occupied facilities.

The Clouded Leopards displayed their ability to mount steep slopes, with M60A3 tanks rumbling over a car used as an enemy barricade.    [FULL  STORY]