Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/16
By: Chiang Chun-liang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Friday that the

government’s “long-term care program 2.0,” which is to be officially launched in 2017, after a trial run that started in November, will make Taiwan a country where seniors can enjoy their later years.

With Taiwan increasingly becoming an aged society, taking care of seniors is one of the government’s most important jobs, Tsai said while attending a plaque unveiling ceremony at a long-term care center in Chiayi County, which has the highest percentage of elderly population in Taiwan.

Starting next year, Taiwan’s long-term care program will be upgraded from “version 1.0” to “version 2.0,” in which the types of services provided will be expanded from eight to 17 and categories of care receivers from four to eight, she said.   [FULL  STORY]

COMMITTEE HEARING:Jaw Shaw-kong said that just because Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co can appoint some BCC directors does not make the BCC a KMT affiliate

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 17, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) has not been under the Chinese Nationalist

Party’s (KMT) control since 2005, so it should not be deemed a KMT affiliate organization, BCC chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) yesterday told a hearing held by the Cabinet’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee.

Responding to media queries before the hearing, Jaw, who became BCC chairman in 2006, said that calling the BCC a “KMT affiliate” was “framing” him, as the sales of land made after he bought the company had been legal.

According to the committee’s investigation, Jaw, who bought the BCC from KMT-owned Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co — paying NT$1 billion (US$31.3 million at the current exchange rate) for the BCC’s broadcasting facilities, while its real estate, which had an overall value of NT$4.7 billion, was registered as a debt Jaw owed Hua Hsia.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/15
By: Mo Tz-pin

Legislators are on track to revise the legal voting age in Taiwan from 20 years old to 18 years old, United Daily News reports.

The Internal Administration Committee of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s parliament, is reviewing a proposed amendment to the Referendum Act today. The amendment, which at this stage enjoys bipartisan support, will be sent for a second reading after it passes the review.   [SOURCE]

An intensity level of 4 was felt in Taitung County

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/15 22:56
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of southeast Taiwan at 10:14

p.m. on Thursday, which was centered about 17.7 kilometers northeast of Taitung County. It struck at a depth of 16.8 kilometers, according to Central Weather Bureau (CWB) data.

Light to moderate shaking was felt in parts of the island.

An intensity level of 4 was felt in Taitung County, an intensity level of 3 was registered in Central Taitung County, and an intensity level of 2 was reported in neighboring Pingtung County, according to CWB data.

An intensity level of 1 was felt in much of southern and central Taiwan from as far south as Kaohsiung and as far north as Changhua in western Taiwan and Hualien in eastern Taiwan. .    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/15
By: Tai Ya-chen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan will start to ban the killing of animals at public shelters next year as

scheduled, Council of Agriculture Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said Thursday.

Regardless of the difficulty, “the implementation of the no-kill policy will not be delayed,” Tsao said at a press conference after the Cabinet’s regular weekly meeting.

The Animal Protection Act was amended in February 2015 to stop the practice of euthanasia at public shelters for stray animals. Under the revised act, putting down animals that have been held at public shelters for 12 days or more will have to cease from Feb. 4, 2017.

It is doubtful, however, that the new policy can be implemented as scheduled, because many cities and counties around the country have said they cannot achieve the goal.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 16, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

A coalition of civic organizations and independence advocates yesterday held a rally in front of the

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to thank US president-elect Donald Trump for his support and urge Washington to upgrade the AIT to an embassy.

The demonstrators said they represented the aspirations of a majority of Taiwanese who wanted to thank Trump for speaking the truth when he accepted a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and referring on Twitter to Tsai as the president of Taiwan, who was elected by the people in a democratic vote.

“We are not here to protest, but to congratulate [US] president-elect Trump, and to celebrate the start of a new Taiwan-US relationship. Trump, by his words and actions, has accorded Taiwanese dignity and respect,” Taiwan Independence Party Chairman Huang Kuo-hua (黃國華) said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 16, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Thirty-nine Taiwanese nationals were among around 300 fraud suspects arrested

earlier this week in Spain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Thursday.

According to a report released by The Associated Press on Wednesday, 200-plus telecommunication fraud suspects were arrested on Tuesday during separate raids in Madrid and the eastern cities of Barcelona and Alicante.

The fraud network, reportedly made up mainly of mainland Chinese with some Taiwanese, is accused of swindling 16 million euros (US$17 million) from Chinese victims.

Asked to comment, MOFA spokeswoman Eleanor Wang confirmed in Taipei that at least 39 of the suspects were Republic of China citizens.

That number is expected to rise as Taiwan’s representative office continues to go through the identities of suspects with local police authorities.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/14

The U.S. and Taiwan continue to react to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments on the “one-

China policy,” made on Fox News Sunday. Trump said, “I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a ‘one-China’ policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.”

Richard C. Bush, senior fellow at the U.S.-based Brookings Institution and former U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, published an open letter to Trump yesterday. Bush writes, “Not only would it not work as a practical matter to try to use the One-China policy to leverage U.S. objectives on other issues, it would be immoral to do so. Taiwan is not a ‘tradeable good'” and “to enter into negotiations with China on the One-China policy is to create a zone of uncertainty that puts Taiwan at risk.”

According to CNA, Taiwanese officials said on Monday that Taiwan will not become “a bargaining chip” in an international geopolitical game if the country can maintain democracy and expand international participation. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)’s spokesperson Alex Huang (黃重諺) has refused to comment on Trump’s remarks, but says Taiwan would be pleased to see policy changes by any other government that can ensure the country’s democracy and help Taiwan take part in international events or discussions.    [FULL  STORY]

Defense ministry general says Taiwan will deal with any intrusion of its airspace ‘fearlessly without evasion or weakness’

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/14
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

In the event that a Chinese military aircraft enters Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the

Republic of China (ROC) military will deal with the situation “fearlessly without evasion or weakness,” a Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said on Tuesday.

The Air Force’s response would vary depending on whether the aircraft acted with hostile intent, Major General Chung Shu-ming (鍾樹明), director of the ministry’s Joint Operations Division, said at a regular press briefing.

He was responding to a question on how the military would handle intrusion of Taiwanese airspace by Chinese military aircraft, a scenario that has suddenly become more plausible as Chinese military jets flew close to Taiwan’s air defense identification zone twice in two weeks, in the wake of the controversial phone call between President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen which took place on Dec. 2.

The military closely monitors China’s military maneuvers and was fully aware of the two training missions near Taiwan’s ADIZ, said Chung.    [FULL  STORY]