The China Post
Date: December 21, 2016
By: Michelle Yun, AFP

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Watching her boisterous twin toddlers romp around the living room,

Hope Chen worries what would happen to them if she ever fell seriously ill or had an accident.

In a worst case scenario, it should be her partner of seven years who would look after them, Chen says. But Taiwan does not recognize them both as legal guardians because they are gay and cannot marry.

Chen, 37, gave birth using eggs from her partner Zoro Wen. She had to travel to Thailand for IVF, which is only allowed in Taiwan for legally married couples.

“I’m the mother who gave birth so I’m the only legal parent,” Chen, 37, told AFP from the family’s Taoyuan apartment in the north of Taiwan, where a floor-to-ceiling bookcase includes the title “Why do you have two moms?”    [FULL  STORY]

BRAIN TRUST POLL:Residents of the six special municipalities were asked about their mayors, those of the other cities and their favorite national leaders

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 21, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) has topped a list of the most satisfactory leaders of

the nation’s six special municipalities, while Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) came in last, but the physician-turned-politician’s approval rating still surpasses that of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a survey released yesterday by the Taiwan Brain Trust think tank showed.

The think tank commissioned Trend Survey and Research Co to conduct the survey to mark the second anniversary of the mayors’ inauguration on Dec. 25, 2014. The polling was conducted from Tuesday to Saturday last week.

It sought to gauge public perceptions of the mayors among the residents of the special municipalities they administer as well as several high-profile politicians from the pan-blue and pan-green camps.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lenas
Date: 2016/12/19

A protest demanding equal rights for migrant workers was held in front of the

Philippines representative office in Taipei yesterday, which was also International Migrants Day.

The protesters said they face unreasonable working conditions, such as unpaid overtime and excessive workload, reports CNA. They also raised problems with brokers charging workers additional fees due to loopholes in the contracts they sign upon arriving in Taiwan. They hope the Philippine government will support them and resolve the problems

A Philippine official from the office accepted the protesters’ petition, but did not make a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

A junior high school relay team sacrificed a sure win to enable a classmate with cerebral palsy to realize his dream of racing

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei — A junior high school relay team in Taichung City sacrificed a sure win during a

school sports meet so that a special classmate could participate in the race.

“Thank you all,” said Yang Yu-ying, a senior at Taichung Municipal Li Ming Junior High School who suffers from cerebral palsy due to premature birth, after competing his first race ever. “It was really exciting and touching.”

Yang had always been the bench warmer of his class team during school sports meets since he was small and never expected to participate in any sports events. But this time it was a totally different experience because he was given the chance to compete.

Yang’s class has been a frequent winner of relay races, but the team sacrificed a sure win a recent sports meet to fulfill Yang’s dream of participating in a relay race. Master teacher Lin Sheng-lan decided to let Yang participate in their last sports meet at the school.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/19
By: Liu Kuang-tin and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Four members of the Taijimen Qigong Academy (太極門氣功養生學會) were apprehended by Military Police as they tried to force their way into the Presidential Office, police said on Monday.

According to the Zhongzheng First Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department, a Taijimen member surnamed Hsieh on Sunday applied for a police permit to hold a rally from 9 a.m. on Dec. 18 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 20 on Ketagalan Boulevard. As a result, an estimated 5,000 Taijimen members demonstrated peacefully in front of the presidential office, chanting “Love Taiwan with your heart.”

At 5:18 p.m.on Monday, about 30 Taijimen members broke away from the larger group at the intersection of Chongqing South Road and Guiyang Road, trying to force their way through the entrance to the presidential compound, police said.    [FULL  STORY]

GrassrootsLocal governments said they sent draft regulations to the EPA for approval under the Ma and the Tsai administrations that have yet to be acknowledged

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2016
By: Yang Mien-chieh and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The national government should implement rigorous and uniform standards for air

pollution regulation to end the confusion over multiple regulatory systems at the state level, experts and environmental groups said in response to controversies regarding coal-fired power plants in Taiwan’s central region.

Last year, six county and city-level governments in the central region signed an agreement to ban petroleum coke and bituminous coal-fired power plants — among them the Taichung, Yunlin and Changhua governments that passed regulations to step up environmental regulations.

In May last year, the Yunlin County Council passed self-governing regulations to ban bituminous coal and petroleum coke in Yunlin, and it is estimated the rules would have reduced the annual emission of oxides by 5,595 tonnes or 40 percent, airborne particles by 757 tonnes, or 73 percent, and nitrogen oxides by 8,200 tonnes, or 53 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 20, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

The Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee (IGPASC) has confirmed it held secret talks with the Kuomintang (KMT) aimed at resolving an ongoing legal battle over the fate of the opposition party’s assets.

But the closed-door negotiations failed to reach a conclusion over ongoing legal conflicts or to determine the fate of the party’s assets following a committee order to seize the KMT-linked Central Investment Corp. (CIC) and Hsinyutai Co, according to local media.

An eight-point administrative contract proposed as a means to overcome legal fights over the freezing of KMT assets and government moves to nationalize the two firms, was rejected by the KMT.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/19
By: Central News Agency

Taipei — Members of several groups dedicated to migrant workers’ rights protested

outside the Philippines’ representative office in Taipei on Sunday to ask for help in handling labor issues but received a muted response.

During the protest, a Philippine official emerged from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, getting the protesters’ hopes up that the office would answer their appeals.

But the official simply accepted the protesters’ petition and returned to the office without making any statements.

The protest was held as the world observed International Migrants Day on Dec. 18.   [FULL  STORY]