The University of Texas at Dallas
March 24, 2016

UT Dallas’ School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences will host a symposium this Friday on the recent historic Taiwan elections that led to a victory for the state’s pro-independence party. The public is invited to attend.

The Taiwan Democracy Symposium will include panel discussions with leading scholars from Taiwan and the United States, who will explore the election’s outcome, participation of young voters, impact on Taiwan’s relations with China, and future relations between Taiwan, China and the U.S.

The Greater Dallas Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwan and Asia Program at The University of Texas at Austin are sponsoring the event to help educate students and the public.

“The January elections resulted in a huge turnover, with the opposition party capturing the legislature and the presidency,” said Dr. Karl Ho, UT Dallas clinical associate professor of political science, public policy and political economy. “This means there is potential for major change in public policy in Taiwan.”
Taiwanese voters in January elected their first female president, Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The DPP also secured a solid majority in the democratic nation’s legislature. The DPP’s win raises questions about future relations between Taiwan and China.

“We’re trying to help the American people understand the situation in Taiwan and to do our best to help Taiwan,” said TingWhai Lee, the chamber of commerce’s president-elect.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-23
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his successor, President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, on Wednesday March 30 to discuss the handover of power, the latter’s office announced Wednesday.

Tsai won the January 16 presidential election by an overwhelming margin, but the inauguration of a new president traditionally takes place on May 20, allowing for a long transition period.

Teams from the Presidential Office and from Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party have met several times to discuss the details of the handover.

The location of the planned meeting between Ma and Tsai was not immediately known, even though it was expected to be the Presidential Office Building, reports said.

The deal was reached with a view to facilitating the handover of power and opening a new chapter in positive interaction between government and opposition, Tsai’s office said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/23
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced Wednesday that this year’s dengue fever season has begun in his city, and he ordered that measures be carried out to prevent mosquitoes that carry the virus from breeding and spreading.

The announcement came one day after the city’s Department of Health confirmed the first indigenous case of dengue fever infection in Tainan this year, two months earlier than the first case was recorded in 2015.

Under the city’s prevention and control protocol, all 37 districts of the city will be required to complete the spraying of anti-mosquito pesticides by the end of April, and ward chiefs will be obliged to help households in cleaning up places where mosquitoes could breed, Lai said.

The southern Taiwan city was hit by the worst dengue fever outbreak in history last year, reporting around 23,000 cases of dengue fever infection that resulted in 112 fatalities, according to the city health department.

The first dengue fever patient of 2016 was a 63-year-old man living in Annan District, who began developing a fever and rash and felt fatigued on March 15. He was not confirmed as having dengue fever until Tuesday, the health department said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: March 23, 2016

The pursuit and firing upon of two Taiwan-registered fishing boats by an

Indonesian government vessel in the Strait of Malacca March 21 is a matter of grave concern, according to the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We are highly concerned about the case, and Premier Chang San-cheng refuses to accept Indonesia’s use of violence,” the MOFA said in a statement March 22.

In order to clarify the truth, the MOFA demands Indonesia’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, as well as relevant agencies, provide evidence supporting claims that the two fishing boats were operating in the Southeast Asian country’s exclusive economic zone and attempted to ram the Indonesian government vessel.

“We expect a swift response explaining why the Taiwan fishing boats were fired upon by the Indonesian government vessel.”

According to the MOFA, the government’s grave concern was conveyed to Deputy Representative Siswadi of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei. Siswadi said he fully understands Taiwan’s stance and will speedily relay any official response.     [FULL  STORY]

JUST BEING POLITE:Giving gifts ‘proportional to social etiquette’ during traditional holiday celebrations does not constitute bribery, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 24, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it would not press

charges against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) after wrapping up its investigation into vote-buying allegations.

Independent candidate Billy Pan (潘建志), a psychiatrist and political commentator, who lost the Jan. 16 legislative election to Chiang in Taipei’s Songshan (松山) and Zhongzheng (中山) districts, had accused Chiang of offering prizes at public events to solicit votes.

The office said there was insufficient evidence that Chiang engaged in vote-buying.

However, Chiang is not yet cleared from election-related litigation, since Pan had also filed a civil suit to nullify the election result, with the Taipei District Court scheduled to start its hearing next month.

Chiang Wan-an is the son of former KMT vice chairman John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) and grandson of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A court scrapped a fine of NT$102 million (US$3.1 million) for Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. Tuesday over its pollution of a river, but the Kaohsiung City Government said it would file an appeal.

ASE, the world’s largest computer packaging and testing company, was found in 2013 to have discharged waste water into Kaohsiung’s Houjing River without the required treatment.

Following an appeal by the company against the fine issued by the Kaohsiung City Government, the High Administrative Court ruled ASE did not need to pay the money. The city immediately stated it could not accept the verdict and would appeal it.

The judges said the city’s environmental affairs department had not been able to produce sufficient convincing evidence, and had exceeding its authority as well as relevant laws by both the reasoning behind the fine and its size.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/22
B:y Hsieh Chia-chen, Tai Ya-chen and S.C. Chang

Taipei, March 22 (CNA) Media representatives of 10 foreign media outlets will

have a chance to see for themselves that Taiping Island in the South China Sea is not a reef, as has been claimed, but a natural island, officials said Tuesday.

The media outlets are CNN, Al-Jazeera TV, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times of London, the Associated Press, Agence France Presse, Reuters, Bloomberg, Kyodo News Agency and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Most of them have repeatedly asked for a chance to visit the island, which has been under Republic of China administration since 1946. Foreign Minister David Lin had previously expressed hope that the trip could be arranged by the end of this month.

Early Wednesday, the media representatives will fly from Taipei to Pingtung in southern Taiwan, where they will take a special flight that is scheduled to arrive at the island’s airport at 11 a.m.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: March 22, 2016

A bill boosting Taiwan’s participation in the International Criminal Police

Organization (Interpol) was signed into law March 18 by U.S. President Barack Obama, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We are deeply grateful to the U.S. executive and legislative branches for their staunch support of Taiwan’s meaningful participation in Interpol,” the MOFA said in a statement.

The bill directs the U.S. secretary of state to develop a strategy within 90 days of its enactment assisting Taiwan to obtain Interpol observer status and take part in associated activities; instruct Interpol Washington to request such status for Taiwan; and urge Interpol members to back Taiwan’s bid and participation.

“These developments underscore the great importance Washington attaches to Taiwan’s expanded participation in international organizations,” the MOFA said. “Such long-term bipartisan support also shows that Taiwan-U.S. relations are at their best state in 37 years.” (YHC-JSM)     [SOURCE]

FIXING ‘BIRDCAGE ACT’:The party seeks to lower thresholds it says make the act the preserve of big political parties, while safeguarding the rights of Aborigines

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 23, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The New Power Party (NPP) caucus yesterday proposed amendments to the

Referendum Act (公民投票法) to lower referendum thresholds and the minimum voting age and switch to a plurality voting system.

At a post-caucus press conference, the NPP said it would modify the act to lower the signature threshold from 0.5 percent to 0.01 percent of the electorate to initiate a referendum proposal and lower the threshold to put a referendum proposal to a vote from 5 percent to 1.5 percent of the electorate.

“The Referendum Act is often described as a birdcage act, because its thresholds are set so high that it deprives people of their rights to referendum and makes referendums a tool of large parties capable of mobilizing a large number of voters,” NPP Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.

The party also proposed lowering the minimum voting age from 20 to 18, establishing absentee voting and shifting to a plurality voting system from the simple majority system, under which a referendum proposal is passed when more than 50 percent of eligible voters cast ballots and when more than 50 percent of the ballots cast are in approval of the proposal.

While average voter turnout is about 70 percent in Taiwan, the so-called “double-50-percent thresholds” are advantageous to opponents of a referendum proposal, because their parties can vote down a proposal simply by persuading 20 percent of the public not to vote, making the act unfair, Hsu said.     [FULL  STORY]