Taiwan Today
Date: March 15, 2016

Taiwan International Orchid Show is assisting the local industry fulfill its

potential while showcasing growers’ capabilities in orchid breeding and cultivation.

Kicking off March 12 at Taiwan Orchid Plantation in Tainan City, TIOS comprises business matchmaking, an orchid competition, exhibition and related symposiums. A total of 2,800 buyers from 24 countries and territories are attending this year’s edition, with visitor numbers expected to hit 200,000 by the final day March 21.

ROC Premier Chang San-cheng said at the opening ceremony that the plants exhibited at TIOS, especially Oncidium and Phalaenopsis orchids, are among Taiwan’s key agricultural exports.

“Last month’s decision by the U.S. to greenlight imports of Taiwan Oncidium orchids potted in growing media further creates more business opportunities for local growers, while strengthening the industry’s competitiveness in the international marketplace.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The New Power Party failed in its plan to elect a new executive chairman Tuesday after not enough members of its leadership turned up.
The relatively young party, which won five seats in January’s legislative election, has a structure topped by a seven-member board of chairpersons, who were scheduled to vote for an executive chairman on Tuesday.

However, since three of the members were unable to attend the event, the party decided to cancel a news conference and to postpone the election until Friday.

The seven board members, elected Monday in a vote by 44 percent of the party’s more than 2,000 members, were incumbent executive chairman and lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang, legislators Freddy Lim and Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, writer Neil Peng, movie director Ko I-chen, legal reform activist Lin Feng-cheng and writer Lin Shih-yu. Ko and the two members surnamed Lin were the ones who were absent, a party official said.

Huang, who was reportedly the favorite to be re-elected, apologized to the media for the unexpected postponement, while Peng said that lawmakers should not combine their position with that of party leader. There should be a separation between party matters and public office, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/15
By: Wu Jhe-hao and Lilian Wu

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) The annual Wanan drill in central Taiwan will be staged

March 21 at 1:30 p.m., police authorities announced Tuesday.

There will be traffic and light controls during the 30-minute drill. Police reminded the public that during the drill, whether they are at home or in public places, windows should be shut, while water, electricity and gas should be turned off.

Those who work outdoors should follow instructions on entering public shelters, and vehicles should stop on the roadside.

In terms of public transport, the high-speed rail and Taiwan Railways Admnistration service will operate normally, but those passengers who disembark from the trains should evacuate. There will be controls on freeway on-ramps, with vehicles allowing to get off but not to enter.      [SOURCE]

ACCESSING ARCHIVES:White Terror era researchers say that transitional justice is not just about tearing down Chiang Kai-shek statues, but about piecing together the past

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 15, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The military police searching the home of a civilian selling White Terror era

documents without a warrant last month have sparked a public uproar, bringing back memories of an authoritarian regime where people were arbitrarily accused of being communists or rebels.

Just weeks before the scandal, the term “transitional justice” had grabbed the headlines in the form of cries urging the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to return its ill-gotten wealth. However, for some people, such as Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), the term means much more.

Yu has just refocused the public’s attention on a draft legislation on overseeing the archives of political persecution cases when the farce played out by the military took place.

Yu first proposed the bill in 2012 — which was co-drafted with the Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation (TATR) and modeled on the Stasi Records Act passed by Germany in 1991 — but the motion was blocked at least 74 times by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in the Procedure Committee, preventing it from being referred to a legislative committee for deliberation.

Asked about the urgency of drafting a law on overseeing the political archives when there is an Archives Act (檔案法), Yu said that a political archives act, if promulgated, would ensure greater transparency, as well as better collection and organization of files relating to the 228 Incident and the White Terror era.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/14
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) The ratio of people who identify themselves as Taiwanese is as high as 73 percent, while the ratio among those aged 20-29 is even higher, at 85 percent, according to a survey by a major local newspaper.

The poll by the United Daily News, published Monday, shows that the ratio of those who identify themselves as Taiwanese has climbed to 73 percent from 44 percent in a similar poll in 1996, when Taiwan held its first popular presidential election.

The figure represents a two-decade high. In comparison, those who identify themselves as Chinese dropped to 11 percent from the 31 percent 20 years old, setting a new low.

In the latest survey, 10 percent of those polled said they are both Taiwanese and Chinese. One percent said Taiwanese are Chinese and six percent declined to comment.

On Taiwan’s future, 46 percent expressed the hope of keeping the cross-Taiwan Strait status quo permanently, but 19 percent said they hope for early independence, 17 percent said they want to maintain the status quo before independence, and 4 percent said they want early unification.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/13
By: Chen Chun-hua and Kay Liu

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) A Democratic Progressive Party legislator said Sunday he will propose an amendment to the National Health Insurance Act that will bar access by people like controversial singer Huang An (黃安) to Taiwan’s medical resources.

In a Facebook post Saturday, Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) blasted Huang, a Taiwanese citizen based in China, who returned to Taiwan Thursday for heart surgery that is estimated to cost the National Health Insurance over NT$800,000 (US$24,511.31).

Lin said in a statement released Sunday that the singer’s return exposes a loophole in the national health insurance program.

The 52-year-old Huang, who works mainly in China, has been criticized for what is seen as his vendetta against certain Taiwanese performers whom he has labeled as supporters of Taiwan independence and has thus derailed their careers in China.

One of the Taiwanese singers was Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), a teenage member of the South Korean girl group Twice, who lost an endorsement deal in January with a Chinese company and was forced to apologize for carrying a Republic of China (Taiwan) national flag on a South Korean TV show.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taoyuan Deputy Mayor Chiu Tai-san on Sunday confirmed that President-elect Tsai Ing-wen had urged him to join her Cabinet, saying his attitude is “If the president needs me, of course, I will do my best.”

Sunday’s media reports said Tsai had tapped former minister of finance Lin Chuan on Saturday to be premier in her incoming administration after the power transition on May 20. Media reports said the appointment will be announced later this week.

Media also reported that the first wave of appointments had been made, with Chiu being tapped to be minister of justice, former Pingtung County Commissioner Tsao Chi-hung to head the Council of Agriculture, former Council for Economic Planning and Development vice chairman Chang Ching-sen and National Taiwan University Professor Lin Wan-yi to be ministers without portfolio.

Chiu will resign as Taoyuan deputy mayor at the end of the month to join Tsai’s team.

Chiu confirmed to a reporter on Sunday during an interview that Tsai met with him on Saturday and urged him to take the post of minister of justice.     [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/13

Houston, March 13 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his entourage

arrived in Houston, Texas, Sunday en route to Central America on his last overseas trip as president before stepping down in May.

Before heading on Monday to Guatemala, the first of two allies he is expected to visit, Ma will call on a plant of Taiwan’s Formosa Group and meet with U.S. members of Congress and representatives of overseas Chinese communities here.

Ma is due to make a transit in Los Angeles on his way back to Taipei after winding up his activities in Belize.      [FULL  STORY]