The News Lens
Date: 2016/11/21
By: Jason Hsu

Kicking out companies like Uber, UberEats, Gogovan and LaLaMove is not a solution, argues

opposition lawmaker Jason Hsu.

Since its founding in 2009, Uber has been both a disruptive innovation and destructive lawbreaker all over the world. Taiwan is no exception. Over the course of four years, the ride-sharing startup has collected over NT$150 million (US$4.7 million) in fines and is facing numerous other charges.

Uber is seen as a threat to the traditional taxi industry, which is highly regulated and run by licensed companies. However, Uber is popular among the younger generation who are used to using mobile phones to organize their daily activities such as requesting rides, ordering food and banking.

Without owning a single fleet of cars, Uber calls itself a technology company that allows riders and drivers to match each other via its platform. However, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC), Uber is operating in violation of Public Road Law Article 23, which stipulates a company like Uber must register as transportation business entity and its drivers and cars obtain professional vehicle licenses.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/21
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

More than 20Taiwanese nationals were arrested for allegedly involved in online fraud in Philippines on Monday.

The Taiwanese nationals were nabbed in Guadalajara, Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, Monday afternoon, according to local media.

Supervising agent Allan Tubi, officer-in-charge of NBI Regional Cybercrime Center, said they received information from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office that they received a report from Taiwanese who fell victim to the fraudsters.

The operation was authorized by a search warrant issued by a Cebu City court, and more specific details will be given later, the agent said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/21
By: Ku Chuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) will start next year to promote green rooftops as part of an effort to realize his stated goal of turning Taipei into a “garden city.”

Ko announced the plan to transform building rooftops into “green gardens” at a press conference held on Monday as he launched a year-end review into the garden city policy.

“The garden city is an new industry,” the mayor said, announcing that starting next year the city will promote the transformation of rooftops into green gardens.

Spending NT$100,000 (US$3,123) to NT$150,000 on a rooftop will not only transform the concrete roof into a garden where residents can do exercise and engage in leisure activities, but also help ensure the building remains cool in the summer months, reducing the use of air conditioners, Ko said.    [FULL  STORY]

WAR OF WORDS:The committee said it no longer needed to make the trip to collect documents, but one top KMT official said that it was engaged in ‘malicious mudslinging’

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 22, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday canceled a planned visit to the Chinese

Nationalist Party’s (KMT) archives in Taipei to examine records over what it said was an “unacceptably high” documentation fee demanded by the party, adding that it believes it has the necessary evidence to order the KMT to transfer ownership of two holding companies.

The committee wanted to visit the archives to look for documents pertaining to the founding capital of Central Investment Co, a KMT-owned company whose assets are at the center of a legal battle between the committee and the party.

KMT officials criticized the committee for what they said was a “rude no-show.”

However, committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said yesterday’s visit was canceled because of the KMT wanted NT$46,000 (US$1,437.50) for 26 documents, and the committee also wanted to avoid a potential conflict with protesters outside the KMT archives.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 22, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday ordered the Cabinet to tighten supervision over state-subsidized

foundations and social organizations, in an apparent reply to a snub from a cultural affairs body.

The instructions came after Tsai’s admission to the General Association of Chinese Culture (GACC), a cultural affairs body that has historically received state subsidies, was apparently deliberately postponed two times.

A GACC committee meeting — designed to screen applications from over 600 new members including Tsai — was called off Monday afternoon, postponing Tsai’s admission into the organization for the second time within seven days.

In the past, it was customary for the nation’s president to serve as GACC head.    [FULL  STORY]

A Qing dynasty emperor said back in 1922, “Taiwan hasn’t belonged to China since the days of yore.”

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/20
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Dr. Sun Yat-sen came to Taiwan three times. He stayed for half a month the first time, but only

stopped over in Taiwan briefly for the second and third times. With regard to the fact that Taiwan was a part of Japan’s territory at that time, the founding father of modern China never made an official statement on the matter.

However, at a ceremony to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Sun on Nov. 12 this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping played the same old tune of “China and Taiwan belong to the same China.” If Sun were alive, he would be very surprised to hear that.

Anyone familiar with Chinese history knows that the territories of Chinese dynasties have changed a lot since ancient times. Even the sizes of territories within a same dynasty may vary. For example, the difference between Qing dynasty’s largest territory and smallest territory was 1.8 million square kilometers, or 50 times that of Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/20
By: H.Y. Wu and Flor Wang

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) The mercury cold dip to below 20

degrees Celsius across Taiwan from Wednesday to Friday, when a wave of northeasterly winds are expected to be at its strongest, the Central Weather Bureau said on Sunday.

Daytime lows in northern and eastern parts of Taiwan are
forecast to fall to 18 degrees Celsius by that time due,
while temperatures in central and southern Taiwan will hover between 20-24 degrees.

On Sunday, there will be brief showers across the country
in the afternoon due to an approaching cloud system, but the weather will stay warm, the bureau said. Daytime highs in northern and eastern Taiwan could reach 29 degrees, while those in central and southern Taiwan will hover between 30 and 32 degrees.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 21, 2016
By: The China Post

By Joseph Yeh–Six groups of startup teams and college students won top prizes at the 2016 DBS

Taiwan Hackathon on Sunday, based on their innovative financial solutions, according to DBS Bank (Taiwan).

The top six teams stood out among a record 200 challengers who signed up for the three-day annual competition, which was first launched in 2015.

The top three winning teams received prize money amounting to NT$150,000, NT$100,000 and NT$60,000.

The fourth to sixth place winners each received NT$30,000 in prize money.

Hackathons are an increasingly popular method for finding new solutions to old problems in the tech industry.

During a hackathon, creative talent collaborate to solve a problem before a tight deadline.

Hackathons can test and cultivate rapport and problem-solving skills of team members under strict time constraints.

The teams must work together to devise innovative financial solutions within a very limited timeframe, according to DBS Bank (Taiwan).

Speaking during the awards ceremony, Jerry Chen (陳亮丞), general manager of DBS Bank (Taiwan), said digitization is sweeping like a tsunami through the global financial industry.    [FULL  STORY]