Page Two

Culture Ministry to subsidize renovation work

The China Post
Date: June 27, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Ministry of Culture will provide a subsidy of NT$180 million (US$5.54

A Japanese colonial-era building is seen in this photo taken in Taitung on Sunday, June 26. (CNA)

A Japanese colonial-era building is seen in this photo taken in Taitung on Sunday, June 26. (CNA)

million) for the preservation and renovation of a complex of 18 Japanese colonial-era buildings in Taitung, southeastern Taiwan, a legislator said Sunday.

The residential community in downtown Taitung was built to be high-end dorms for senior Japanese officials in the 1930s, but due to lack of maintenance and management over the past few years, the houses are now in poor condition, according to Legislator Liu Chao- hao (劉櫂豪), a Taitung native.

The renovation work therefore requires a great deal of funding and manpower, Liu said, adding that he has sought the funds under a Culture Ministry plan to renew historic sites through regional integration and revitalization.

Noting that a city’s history is usually part of its charm, Liu questioned whether it is wise that some regions have torn down buildings of great historic significance for the sake of economic development. He added that culture is an important part of soft power and competitiveness.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT congratulates UK citizens on their decision to abandon the EU

The China Post
Date: June 26, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Kuomintang (KMT) congratulated the citizens of the United Kingdom on holding a peaceful referendum on the country’s European Union membership, in the wake of Britain’s referendum to exit the EU, which was held on Thursday, June 23. According to a KMT press release, the referendum tells the world that the United Kingdom is a “robust democracy governed by the rule of law.”

Eric Huang, chief of the KMT’s international section, said it is vital that Taiwan’s current strong economic and cultural relations with the United Kingdom are maintained. He went on to say that the KMT looks forward to working with the people and government of the United Kingdom as they enter the transition period.

Huang also said that it is vital to Taiwan that engagement with the European Union, which spans across all its members, continues. According to Huang, the KMT supports continued efforts to develop this engagement following the United Kingdom’s exit and welcomes efforts by the European Union’s representative office in Taiwan to achieve this.     [FULL  STORY]

Mandarin Airlines could also face strike

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-25
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After China Airlines agreed to most demands by striking flight 6764473attendants, its affiliate Mandarin Airlines could face similar action, reports said Saturday.

The Mandarin Airlines professional union is reportedly scheduled to hold its final round of talks with management on July 7, and its members are facing issues similar to the ones that led to Friday’s CAL strike, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily.

Problems included the location for pilots to report to work being moved from Taipei Songshan Airport to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, overtime for flight attendants, ground staff having to work shifts of colleagues leading to up to 46 hours of overwork per month, and a serious wage discrepancy between Mandarin and CAL with lower pay for the same work, union chairman Wu Yen-hsien said.     [FULL  STORY]

Sodagreen biggest winner at Golden Melody Awards

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/26
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Taiwanese pop music band Sodagreen’s (蘇打綠) album “Winter 58998767Endless” (冬未了) emerged as the biggest winner of Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards Saturday, bagging five awards, including Best Mandarin Album.

“Winter Endless,” which entered the competition with a leading eight nominations, also won in the categories of Best Band, Best Lyricist, Best Album Producer and Best Musical Arranger.

The album, a collaboration between Sodagreen and GermanPops Orchestra, is Sodagreen’s 10th studio album and the last of the four concept albums created as part of the band’s Project Vivaldi.

The project began in 2009 and was inspired by composer Antonio Vivaldi’s violin concerti “The Four Seasons.” The four albums were recorded and produced in Taiwan’s Taitung, London, Beijing and Berlin, respectively.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP caucus plans to call two extraordinary sessions

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 26, 2016
By: Tseng Wei-chen / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus is planning to call two extraordinary legislative sessions after the current session ends on July 15 to clear some major bills, such as those dealing with ill-gotten party assets and promoting transitional justice.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus protested the passage late last month of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) amendments requiring speakers and deputy speakers of local councils to be elected by open ballots by pronouncing that they would stop partaking in cross-caucus negotiations.

Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) has since attempted to convene a cross-caucus negotiation several times, but to no avail.

After DPP lawmakers conducted a committee review of the bill dealing with ill-gotten party assets on Wednesday last week, in the face of criticism by KMT lawmakers, who later staged a walk-out, the KMT caucus said that it would propose more than1,000 motions to obstruct the passage of the budget bills on state-run enterprises.     [FULL  STORY]

China ‘blackmailing, coercing’ Taiwan: DPP caucus

The China Post
Date: June 26, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — The legislative caucus of Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) reacted angrily Sunday to China’s suspension of official communications with Taiwan, saying that forcing Taiwanese to accept its version of the “1992 Consensus” is tantamount to “blackmail and coercion.”

Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡), secretary-general of the DPP caucus at the Legislative Yuan, was commenting on China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman An Fengshan’s rejection a day earlier of Taiwan’s protest over the handover of Taiwanese fraud suspects caught overseas to the Chinese authorities.

An, while stating the reason for China ignoring Taiwan’s protest, said for the first time that the cross-strait communication mechanism “has been suspended” since the new government was sworn in in Taipei last month, because the new government refuses to recognize the “1992 Consensus,” which he said is the political foundation for cross-strait relations that embodies the “one China” policy.     [FULL  STORY]

Cross-Strait Watch No. 2

An overview of key developments in relations between Taiwan and China this week.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/24
By: Shuhei Omi

Despite efforts by Taiwanese diplomats to ensure the return of 25 Taiwanese telecom fraud

Photo Credit：TIDF提供

Photo Credit：TIDF提供

suspects from Cambodia, Phnom Penh authorities forced them onto a plane bound for China on June 24. TNLI’s coverage here.

On June 2, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) responded to remarks by Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) saying that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy was “destined to fail” if it was meant to go against cross-strait ties. Lin said the Taiwanese government was happy to improve business ties with China on its current basis, but that ties with third countries were not mutually exclusive to cross-strait relations, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported.

The new southbound policy has been presented as a major part of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) agenda, centered around 0improving trade ties between Taiwan and Southeast Asian and South Asian countries, which many see as an attempt to decrease Taiwan’s economic dependence on China.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan plays down Brexit fears

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As it became clear that British citizens had voted in favor of 6764180leaving the European Union, Taiwan’s government played down the eventual impact on the island’s economy.

Premier Lin Chuan was scheduled to chair a meeting later Friday with the heads of the Central Bank and of key ministries to discuss the fallout from “Brexit,” reports said.

President Tsai Ing-wen, who was on her way to the United States and Latin America for her first official overseas trip, reportedly monitored the results from the British vote and told her Cabinet to address the eventual impact on Taiwan’s economy, finances and manufacturing sector.

Following the victory for the Leave camp, Taiwan’s major stock index closed trading Friday noon with a loss of 2.3 percent. In Great Britain, the value of the pound dropped to a 30-year low while the stock market opened with a sharp fall.     [FULL  STORY]

CAL flight attendants to resume work on Monday: union

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/24
By: Chen Wei-ting and Christie Chen

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Flight attendants from China Airlines (CAL) who have been on a 201606240029t0001strike since midnight Thursday will resume work after midnight Sunday, after the airline reached a preliminary consensus with the flight attendants on their demands.

The Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union guarantees that CAL flights will resume normal operations after midnight Sunday, but the striking flight attendants will continue to be off duty over the next two days because they are physically and mentally exhausted, Lin Chia-wei (林佳瑋), secretary-general of the union, said Friday.

Individual flight attendants, however, can decide whether they would like to resume work earlier, Lin said.     [FULL  STORY]

China Airlines president ‘avoided telephone calls’

CABINET’S CHAGRIN:New chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan said Chang Yu-hern ignored a text message he was sent yesterday evening and refused to answer his calls

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 25, 2016
By: Loa Iok-sin and Abraham Gerber / Staff reporters

New China Airlines chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) and an Executive Yuan official

China Airlines (CAL) flight attendants protest outside Democratic Progressive Party headquarters in Taipei yesterday, demanding that the ruling party address the CAL dispute. Times Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei

China Airlines (CAL) flight attendants protest outside Democratic Progressive Party headquarters in Taipei yesterday, demanding that the ruling party address the CAL dispute. Times Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei

yesterday criticized former company president Chang Yu-hern (張有恆) for refusing to accept a Cabinet suggestion to make concessions to flight attendants, and accused him of refusing to answer his telephone calls.

Ho told a news conference yesterday that Chang had refused a request to immediately drop company requirements that flight attendants report to work at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport late on Thursday night following the announcement of the strike.

“I sent him a text message at 6:31pm asking him to address the matter in accordance with the results of my talks with the Executive Yuan, but he did not accept what I told him,” Ho said. “In addition, when I called him, he did not pick up and also did not return my call. He did not even let me know the results of the firm’s internal meeting on addressing the strike.”     [FULL  STORY]