Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/12
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will attend the inauguration

ceremony of the expanded Panama Canal on June 26 and may transit through the United States during her first overseas trip after she takes office on May 20, according to a media report on Thursday.

On her trip to Panama, which is one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Tsai will also visit Paraguay, another formal ally, the United Evening News reported.

However, Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party said her travel itinerary is still being planned and a final decision has not yet been made, according to the report.

In March, Panama issued an official invitation to Tsai to attend the ceremony in June.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: May 12, 2016

Yilan Science Park is open for business in northeastern Taiwan, with

Omni Calibration Laboratory Ltd. the first tenant taking advantage of the world-class facility established to foster the country’s information communications technology and digital content industries, according to YSP administration May 10.

Situated 30 minutes by freeway from Taipei City, the 70.8-hecatre park is the newest and sixth campus of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s 36-year-old Hsinchu Science Park—the oldest and largest of facility of its kind in Taiwan. YSP’s cutting-edge ICT infrastructure, investor incentives such as tax breaks, reduced tariffs on machinery imports and R&D grants, as well as access to a large, highly skilled labor pool, make the park a must for small and medium enterprises.

Approved by the Executive Yuan in May 2005, the park cost more than US$250 million and Yilan County Government spent US$62 million on improving the connecting road networks. It is envisaged the facility will play a central role in transforming Yilan County into a cluster for knowledge-based services and spurring the upgrade of local industries.

Francis Lee, director-general of YCG’s Industrial Development and Investor Promotion Committee, said he expects the park to be a major success and a force in Taiwan’s ongoing industrial transformation. “Our pristine environment and abundance of cultural and industrial assets are real draws when it comes to attracting tenants from around Taiwan.”     [FULL  STORY]

SHAKEN:The earthquakes caused power to go out in some places, but major high-tech companies, such as TSMC and Innolux, said their operations were not affected

Taipei Times
Date: May 13, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The nation was shaken by a series of earthquakes yesterday, with the two biggest ones

reaching magnitudes 5.8 and 5.5 at about noon yesterday. There were no reports of serious damage or injuries at press time last night.

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said the epicenter of the magnitude 5.8 earthquake, which struck at 11:17am, was 19.7km southeast of the Yilan County Government offices, with a depth of 17.5km.

The earthquake generated several aftershocks, with the largest one — a magnitude 5.5 temblor — occurring at 12:29pm.

Bureau data showed that the largest intensity generated by the main earthquake was level 6, which was detected at Nanao Township (南澳), Yilan County.

The intensity level also reached 3 in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli, the bureau said.
The bureau attributed the quake to expansion in the Okinawa Sea trough.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/11
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Filipino workers in Taiwan are calling on Philippines President-elect

Rodrigo Duterte to seek justice and better rights for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), after he claimed victory in his country’s election on Tuesday.

“As OFWs, we don’t have any protection abroad. The previous presidents in the Philippines did not care about the migrant workers, OFW situation or victims of illegal human trafficking,” Gilda Banugan, chairperson of Migrante International’s Taiwan Chapter told CNA by telephone on Wednesday.

Banugan said her organization, which is allied with OFWs in Taiwan, is drafting a statement to send to Migrante International headquarters with the hope that it will inform the president-elect’s decisions on policies to improve the lives of the approximately 124,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan.

The priority is to prosecute brokers and recruitment agencies that violate the law by requesting illegal placement fees and to ensure that workers are employed through a direct hiring service, said Banugan, a Filipino caretaker who has been working in Taiwan for two years.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has a right to attend the World Health Assembly based on the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the spokesman of the next Cabinet, Tung Chen-yuan, said Wednesday in reply to Chinese insistence on a “One China” policy.

After a long period of doubt, Taiwan was invited to the May 23-28 event in Geneva, but the invitation letter insisted the island use the name “Chinese Taipei” and “respect the One China Principle,” a phrasing clearly inspired by Beijing. The two sides have since become involved in a war of words about the issue.

Tung, who will be sworn in as Cabinet spokesman along President-elect Tsai Ing-wen and other members of her administration on May 20, emphasized that Taiwan had every right to be present in Geneva.

Health was a human right and a universal value, Tung said, quoting the WHO Constitution.     [FULL  STORY]

PARTY”S ONLY CARD:Hung said the reference to UN Resolution 2758 in the WHO’s invitation to Taiwan for the annual WHA is a warning from Beijing to the DPP

Taipei Times
Date: May 12, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday urged the

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to face the underlying problems posed by the citation of UN Resolution 2758 in Taiwan’s invitation for this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), which she said could be a precursor to a full-blown campaign by Beijing against Taipei’s participation in international organizations.

“The key to Taiwan’s abundant achievements in the area of foreign affairs during the KMT’s tenure of the past eight years is stable cross-strait ties, which have been sustained by the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus’ and the mutual good will that accompanies the ‘consensus,’” Hung said at a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee yesterday afternoon.

Expressing concerns that the achievements could be nullified by the DPP’s opposition to the “1992 consensus,” Hung said that the party’s stance could also put an end to the unofficial diplomatic truce between Taipei and Beijing and make it all the more difficult for Taiwan to participate in international organizations.

The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-10
By: George Liao

The “Gourmet Rhythm I-Mei Food Court” on the campus of Fu Jen Catholic University reopened on Monday after sitting idle since the last contractor terminated operation last year. University president Chiang Han-sun said during the inauguration on Tuesday that the introduction of a food court run by I-Mei, a food company with an excellent record of food safety, is the school’s first step towards raising food safety awareness on campus.

The food court is a compact one with four stores—I Mei’s Luis Kitchen and catering services Ban Doh, Family Mart, tea and drink vendor Licha FRUCHT, and bento box and noodles vendor Eating Is Power.

Before the inauguration ceremony, a nearly houseful of students were already sitting in groups in the food court, eating and talking. The food court has been facilitated and redecorated by I-Mei into a clean, comfortable environment that exudes an artistic feeling. Looking through the windows on one side of the food court is a garden with many old and flourishing banyan trees, a view that conveys a strong sense of peace and relaxation.

A freshman surnamed Chiu said he liked the food court because sitting there made him feel like he was having afternoon tea at a pleasant place, unlike some other restaurants where he just wanted to eat and then head out. Besides the environment, students are also concerned about price and food safety, Chiu said. The prices at the new food court are reasonable to him, and I-Mei put him at ease on the issue of food safety, he said. What is even better is that it is close to the dormitory he lives in, he added.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/10
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Y.F. Low

Taipei, May 10 (CNA) The Central Bank unveiled Tuesday two commemorative coins to be issued to mark the inauguration of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President-elect Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁).

A total of 10,000 NT$2,000 gold coins and 50,000 NT$200 silver coins bearing portraits of Tsai and Chen will be released by the Bank of Taiwan on May 20 inauguration day, according to the Central Bank.

The gold coins will be priced at NT$48,000 (US$1,473) each, while the silver coins will be sold at NT$1,600, the Central Bank said.

Due to recent falls in gold and silver prices, the price of the gold coins is NT$6,000 cheaper, while the price of the silver coins is NT$200 cheaper, than those issued to mark the second inauguration of outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2012.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 10, 2016

Taiwan Railways Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the

Forestry Bureau under the Council of Agriculture concluded two memorandums of understanding with Swiss railway operator Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn May 6 in Taipei City, paving the way for bilateral collaboration spanning a broad spectrum of areas.

Signed respectively by TRA Director-General Chou Yung-hui, bureau Director-General Lee Tao-sheng and MGB Chief Executive Officer Fernando Lehner, the memorandums establish sister relations between Taiwan’s iconic Alishan Forest Railway and MGB, along with its subsidiary Gornergrat Bahn.

In a ceremony held at TRA Taipei Station, Premier Chang San-cheng praised Alishan railway and MGB for spurring economic growth while contributing to environmental protection. “It’s a perfect match of two world-class railways,” Chang said, adding that he expects the partnerships to enhance people-to-people exchanges and promote tourism in Asia and Europe.

Under the TRA-MGB memorandum, the two organizations will exchange information and share experiences in business operations, development strategies and talent cultivation, as well as jointly organize marketing campaigns and projects of mutual interest. The bureau-MGB memorandum covers many of the same areas, in addition to major station and website promotions.

Constructed as the highest narrow-gauge railway in Asia in 1912 during the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945), the 78-kilometer Alishan line runs through the scenic mountain resort of Alishan in southern Taiwan’s Chiayi County.     [FULL  STORY]