Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/28
By Yang Min-chu and Elizabeth Hsu

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (CNA) Two men from Taiwan were arrested in Japan Wednesday on charges of break-

From www3.nhk.or.jp

in and theft, according to news reports by Japanese media outlets including NHK.

The suspects, identified as Wu Chun-chih (吳純智), 45, and 53-year-old Wei Tien-chin (魏鈿晉), were involved in a break-in and theft case in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in May, the reports said, citing the Metropolitan Police Department of Tokyo.

The men were suspected of breaking in a residential unit when no one was in the house, and then stealing cash of around 1 million Japanese yen (US$9,950) and some jewelry, the police said.

According to the police department, the two men had traveled to Japan eight times since March 2014. They would stay in different locations in Japan for four to 11 days in each trip.     [FULL  STORY]

SMOKE SCREEN?SMOKE SCREEN? Netizens said DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin’s remarks were politically motivated to deflect blame away from the party’s mayors and county commissioners

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Netizens yesterday criticized Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) for blaming

A man yesterday clears away fallen branches from a street in Taipei following damage caused by Typhoon Megi on Tuesday. Photo: CNA

the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) for some local governments’ misjudgement in calling a half-day typhoon day on Tuesday, saying Chao was attempting to shift the responsibility away from the party’s mayors and county commissioners.

Chao on Tuesday asked Central Weather Bureau Director-General Shin Tzay-chyn (辛在勤) to apologize for the inaccurate forecasts that led local governments in the south to declare only a half-day typhoon day on Tuesday as Typhoon Megi swept across the nation.

Local residents criticized the decision after they had to commute in bad weather, with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德), Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠), Chiayi Mayor Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲) and Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) all apologizing for the decision.

Chao said the bureau’s forecast at 4pm on Monday suggested that the wind speeds in Kaohsiung on Tuesday morning would meet the requirement to suspend classes and work, but the bureau later lowered its estimated wind speeds to below the requirement.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-27
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Water supplies to part of Taipei and New Taipei City will be suspended Tuesday as Typhoon Megi is battering Taiwan with heavy rain and powerful wind. Taiwan Water Corp. announced a plan to stop municipal water supply roughly starting 4 o’clock Tuesday afternoon due to its skyrocketing level of water turbidity.

The company said a water purification plant responsible for the supply of Taipei City has stopped receiving water from reservoirs as its turbidity has exceeded 10,000 NTU, meaning it is undrinkable due to foul taste. The company said if the heavy rainfall continues and the large bulk of mud keeps being washed into Nanshih Creek, the supply disruption will last longer.

Taipei Water Department Commissioner Chen Chin-hsiang noted that Shihlin, Tianmu, Neihu districts of Taipei City, Xindian, Zhonghe, and Yonghe districts of New Taipei City will be severely affected. But the official said the normal water supply will be resumed once the water turbidity can reach the lower and safe levels.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/27
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Most cities and counties announced Tuesday that school and offices would be closed the following day due to Typhoon Megi.

Schools and offices in Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei, Hsinchu City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi City and County, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Yilan, Lienchiang, Penghu and Kinmen will remain closed Wednesday.

Stock and forex markets will be closed for a second day Wednesday.

Schools and offices in several other counties — Nantou, Miaoli, Hsinchu, Hualien and Taitung –will resume normal schedule, with the exception of a few villages and neighborhoods.     [FULL  STORY]

High-speed rail to resume at 2 p.m. Wednesday

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-27
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Most of Taiwan, including Taipei, Taichung and Tainan, were keeping their

The Miaoli District Prosecutors Office after the passage of Typhoon Megi.

schools and offices closed for a second day Wednesday due to the onslaught of Typhoon Megi.

Several of the local executives in the area had come under fire from the public for only declaring the latter half of Tuesday a day off for students and office workers.

The Wednesday closures were announced for 17 cities and counties, with the south deciding first, and northern areas only following suit at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The island counties of Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang were also closing down.

The only areas which would have schools and offices open Wednesday were Hsinchu County – but not Hsinchu City – Miaoli, Nantou, and Hualien and Taitung with the exception of a handful of villages in mountainous areas.    [FULL  STORY]

‘It’s a knowledge-intensive, time-consuming and unpredictable industry.’

The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/26
By: Mo Tz-pin

Cumbersome regulations are holding back the growth of biotechnology in Taiwan, an industry expert

Photo Credit：shutterstock.com / 達志影像

warns, adding that a suite of reforms proposed by the government could provide the sector with a much-needed boost and set the platform for other emerging technology industries.

The Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration, which came to power on May 20, has listed biotechnology as one of its “five innovative industries” to create jobs and help revitalize the economy. The administration plans to lift the value of the sector’s output from NT$2.16 trillion in 2015 to NT$3 trillion (US$100 billion) by 2020, according to its 2016 Taiwan Bioeconomy Development Program.

Last year Taiwan invested NT$48 billion in the biopharmaceutical industry. The sector reported revenue of NT$300 billion, up 3.5 percent from the previous year, according to data from the Executive Yuan. However, the Taiwan Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry says growth in the local sector has been slow and that Taiwan is falling behind other Asian countries. The annual growth rate of Taiwan’s biopharma sector from 2007 to 2014 was 2.9 percent. During the same period, Singapore’s grew at 6 percent and India 15 percent. The average growth rate for Asia was 4.9 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-26
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang said at the Legislature on Monday that Hong Kong discriminatorily denying Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators’ visa applications was very inappropriate and the council would keep working on improving the situation.

DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei said in a question and answer session that he could feel the unfriendliness of the Hong Kong government after Taiwan’s transition of power on May 20. He said during a trip back to Taiwan from South Africa in August, the original transfer at Hong Kong was cancelled during to a typhoon, so the airlines helped passengers to apply emergency visas for staying in Hong Kong. Chiu said his visa was denied while other passengers’ visas were granted.

Hong Kong also denied giving visas to DPP legislators Julian Kuo and Karen Yu, Chiu said.     [FULL  STORY]