Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/09
By: Amy Huang and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck at sea between Kinmen and Penghu, two of

Taiwan’s outlying counties, at 3:10 p.m. on Monday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

The quake’s epicenter was located in the Taiwan Strait about 70.5 kilometers southeast of Kinmen County Hall at a depth of 33.8 km, the bureau’s data showed.

No casualties or damage were reported.

Unlike Taiwan, Kinmen is seldom shaken by earthquakes, leaving many residents in Kinmen wondering if the shaking they were feeling was an artillery drill.

An intensity of 2 on Taiwan’s 7-tiered intensity scale was felt in Kinmen and an intensity of 1 was felt in Penghu’s Magong City, according to the bureau.    [FULL  STORY]

EVASIVE:When asked if he would run for president, Wu Den-yih said that the KMT would have a shot at coming back to power only if it wins next year’s local elections

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 10, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday pledged to establish a just, efficient and

harmonious government if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regains power again, as he announced his decision to run in the party’s chairperson election.
Wu made the announcement at a news conference in Taipei, which was attended by KMT lawmakers, local elected representatives and representatives from the military and the business community.

In a speech marked by praises for former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and Republic of China (ROC) founder Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), Wu said he decided to throw his hat into the ring because the party, whose cultivation allowed him to climb from the position of Taipei City councilor to vice president, is in distress.

Speaking about his 40-year political career, Wu was briefly overcome by emotion when he talked about how the publication of his opinion pieces in prominent newspapers during his sophomore year at National Taiwan University led to a meeting with Chiang in 1968.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-01-08

Passengers traveling on four Taiwanese airlines will soon be able to check in at Taipei Main Station in

downtown Taipei. That’s pending the opening of a new MRT (mass rapid transit) line to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. The company behind the line Taoyuan Metro Corporation said Sunday that the service could begin before the end of the month.

The four airlines are China Airlines and its subsidiary Mandarin Airlines, as well as EVA Airways and its subsidiary UNI Airways. So far, the remaining airlines operating out of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have yet to follow suit.

The service will allow outbound travelers to check their luggage and get boarding passes before taking the 35-minute train trip to the airport.

Transportation Minister Ho Chen Tan has said his ministry is “optimistically looking forward” to issuing the permit for the airport MRT line to begin trial runs before the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Jan. 27.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/08
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan’s government is offering rewards of up to NT$300,000 (US$9,300) a year per capita to members

of the public who provide information about transportation services offered by the ride-hailing company Uber, which are illegal in the country, the transportation ministry said Friday.

People who provide information that result in fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$5 million against Uber will be eligible to receive 10 percent of the fine, up to a maximum of NT$30,000 a year, the ministry said.

For those who give information that leads to fines of between NT$5 million and NT$10 million, the reward will be 1 percent, with a ceiling of NT$80,000, according to the ministry.

It said that for fines of over NT$10 million, the reward will be NT$100,000 but no one person will be eligible to receive more than NT$300,000 per year, no matter how many reports they make or the size of the fine levied against the company as a result.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/08
By: Justin Su, Yu Kai-hsiang and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Police in Taipei restrained three men Sunday who appeared to be trying to make

trouble outside the venue where Hong Kong and Taiwan lawmakers were holding a forum.

The three men, who are members of the pro-unification Patriot Association (愛國同心會), shouted at police officers and refused to show their ID when asked to do so.

They were among dozens of people who gathered outside a building on Songjiang Road in Taipei, where visiting Hong Kong lawmakers and some Taiwan legislators were holding a weekend forum on civic and social movements, lawmaking and democracy.

Most of the protestors appeared to be members of groups that favor of Taiwan’s unification with China, including the Chinese Unionist Party (中華統一促進黨), according to police.    [FULL  STORY]

NO SPRINGBOARD:KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin promised not to run for any other public office if elected KMT chairman, saying it was the only way to gain trust

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 09, 2017
By: Lin Liang-sheng and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday made a surprise

appearance at a public event also attended by KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), fueling the speculation that there is friction between the two over the party chairmanship election.

Hau, 64, the son of former premier and army general Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村), on Saturday announced on Facebook that he will run in the chairmanship election on May 20.

Hau’s office yesterday announced that he would attend an event hosted by the Blue Creek Society the same day, while the KMT Cultural and Communications Committee said Hung had no scheduled public appearances for the day.

However, Hung arrived ahead of the event while Hau was speaking with reporters.

It was the second time in less than a month that Hung showed up unannounced at a public event attended by Hau. Hau was hosting a news conference on Dec. 21 last year on the government’s plan to lift a ban on food imports from five Japanese prefectures, when Hung showed up unannounced.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 9, 2017
By: Stephanie Chao, The China Post and CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s camp said Saturday that it would not meet

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen during her transit in Houston en route to Central America.

Tsai landed in Houston on Saturday and will leave for Honduras on Sunday, local time, in the afternoon.

A member of Trump’s transition team said Saturday that neither Trump nor transition team members would be meeting with Tsai, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Tsai’s routine stopover is closely watched by Beijing in the wake of a surprise phone call on Dec. 2 that Trump accepted from the Taiwan president, upending decades of U.S. foreign policy.

In Houston Tsai received high-level treatment upon arriving in Houston, with Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty and Taiwan’s Representative to the United States Stanley Kao greeting her at the airport.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/01/07

Ninety-year-old lawyer George Wang (王可富) is suing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) and New Power Party legislators Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) along with 43 other legislators over the draft marriage equality bill. Wang was a legal advisor to former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) father Ma Ho-Ling (馬鶴凌).

In a statement issued to the press, Wang claims that the legislators are “intentionally destroying the country’s family system by allowing same-sex marriage.” He also says the accused legislators are violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and condemning Taiwanese citizens to no longer bear offspring. He continues, “the legislators should be charged for preparing to commit murder under Article 271 of the Criminal Code.” Wang also says “same-sex marriage goes against nature, and all those who agree with an old man are welcome to join my lawsuit.”

Draft amendments to the Civil Code have already passed the initial committee review stage at the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament. The amendments still need to go through a second and third reading before it can become law.    [SOURCE]

Civil servants organizations oppose government plans

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Protesters in a van tried to ram their way into a forum about pension reform in

Taichung, reports said Saturday.

Following the workweek and the number of days employees can work, the next hot topic for reform listed by the government was the size of pension payments, which is most likely to affect civil servants, teachers and military staff who used to benefit from generous standards.

The first forum in a series about the pension reforms took place in Taipei on December 31, and became the focus of protests both inside and outside the venue.

On Saturday, the event moved to National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, but even before it started, clashes erupted between protesters and police. A group of protesters wanted to drive a van loaded with loudspeakers and covered in slogans into the campus, but police tried to stop them, leading to violent confrontation, reports said.    [FULL  STORY]