Taipei Times
Date: Mar 06, 2016
By: Chang Hsiao-ti and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A proposed bill to address the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) allegedly illegal party

assets is in fact a special draft act intended to address injustices committed in an era of autocratic rule, academics said in response to the KMT’s claim that the legislation was “specifically targeting” the party.

The draft legislation on oversight and management of political party assets, along with the KMT’s version, passed the legislature’s first reading and was referred to a legislative committee last week.

New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) held a public hearing, in which academics and experts debated the bill.

Chinese Culture University Department of Law director Hsu Hui-feng (許惠峰) said Article 4, Clause 5 of the KMT version — which stipulates that stock of all party-owned or businesses in which a party has invested, as well as funds received from sales of formerly owned businesses, should be considered “legal funding” — was a farce.

If the KMT version were to be accepted, it would be a “non-transitional justice” law, as it would leave nothing for the nation to demand as compensation, Hsu said, adding that the KMT’s attempt to blatantly deceive the public should be condemned.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President-elect Tsai Ing-wen on Friday expressed

support for a proposal from her Democratic Progressive Party to allow legislators to take their babies of up to three years of age with them to work.
The proposal by new lawmaker Karen Yu provoked a variety of reactions, with Premier Simon Chang reportedly calling it “strange” while her DPP colleague Lin Shu-fen proposed the formation of a day-care facility at the Legislative Yuan as a cooperative.

In a statement online, Tsai said she hoped that the new Legislature could point the way and function as a “people’s assembly” by moving forward to improve the workplace environment for parents of small children.

Not only lawmakers, their assistants, reporters and legislative officials needed improvements, but many private citizens also faced barriers at work when they wanted to take good care of their children, Tsai wrote.

Small children were not just the responsibility of their parents, but also needed the support of society at large, according to the president-elect. She listed changes at the workplace as one of the elements needed to prop up Taiwan’s falling birthrate. The problem needed to be solved by taking action, not by offering mere suggestions and words, she said.     [FULL  STORY]

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

Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday that the reason for her decision to double as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson after her inauguration on May 20 is “to adapt to new political situations [we] face today,” ensuring that the situations of “partisan opinions overriding public opinions and one-person decision making” won’t happen during her administration.

Urged by Central Standing Committee member Kuan Bi-ling and other members on Wednesday, Tsai promised to stay on as DPP leader after she becomes Taiwan’s president on May 20.

However, digging out Tsai’s critical talks about a Taiwan president doubling as a party’s chairperson, critics question Tsai for eating her own words.

In response, Tsai said during her visit to the semi-conductor industry at the Hsinchu Science Park on Thursday, “Of course I have to bear the consequences for what I have said,” but Wednesday’s decision was made in order to “adapt to the new political situations [we] face.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/03
By: Rita Cheng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taiwan’s high ratio of women elected to legislative office has impressed a

senior U.S. official, who said Wednesday that with Taiwan’s lead in promoting women’s rights, the newest project under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) will focus on women’s empowerment.

Kurt Tong, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, announced in a conference on Taiwan-U.S. relations in Washington, D.C. that the GCTF project will be an international women’s empowerment conference that will take place in Taipei March 11.

“This conference will bring together government and civil society leaders, primarily from the Asian and Pacific region, to discuss ways that we can promote and create political and economic empowerment to women and create a more inclusive society,” Tong said in a speech at the conference.

In his speech, Tong noted that Taiwan has recently elected its first-ever female president, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), whom he said the United States looks forward to working with and knowing better in the future.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: March 3, 2016

Taiwan leads the world in fostering democratic change, economic

development and good governance, according to the Transformation Index released Feb. 29 by Germany-based Bertelsmann Foundation.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Taiwan scored 9.53—the highest among all 129 countries and territories surveyed. It is followed by Estonia, the Czech Republic, Uruguay and Poland, while major regional competitors South Korea, Singapore and mainland China trailed at 11th, 25th and 84th, respectively.

Conducted biannually since 2006, the index measures how developing countries and territories, along with those in transition, steer social change toward democracy and a market-based economy.

Lauded as a high performer in terms of democratic politics and liberal market policies, Taiwan achieved a top-ranking score of 9.5 in the status component. The index also highlights the nation’s high degree of statehood, meaningful elections, stable democratic institutions and vibrant civil society, as well as the absence of undemocratic instruments.

Taiwan rated “developed” economically, notching up perfect scores in currency and price stability, private property and fiscal performance.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A carwash employee from New Taipei City was being questioned as a suspect in an arson attack on the Kuomintang headquarters, reports said Wednesday.

In the early morning of Sunday February 28, a man reportedly threw two Molotov cocktails at the building in Taipei City, starting a fire which was quickly extinguished by security staff.

Police reportedly arrested a man surnamed Lin, who apparently rented a motorcycle and altered its yellow license plates before staging the attack. He was being questioned Wednesday evening, reports said.

According to witness statements and camera recordings, the suspect arrived at the KMT headquarters on a heavy motorbike at around 4 a.m. last Sunday. In addition to throwing the projectiles, he also threw around leaflets with political phrases, including “A political party which murders people should not exist” and “The KMT and the US government should be held accountable for the massacre and for political repression in Taiwan.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/02
By: Chen Wei-ting and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) Various cold-stored and frozen fresh vegetables and

fruit imported from Japan, South Korea and the United States to Taiwan have been found to be tainted with excessive pesticide residue during customs checks in 2015, an official of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday.

The substandard foods were cabbages, spring onions, perilla and lily bulb from South Korea and Japan, as well as sweet oranges from Japan and cherries from the United States, said Hsiao Hui-wen (蕭惠文), a division chief at the FDA, while releasing the results of border checks on imported products in the last year.

All the products found to have failed to meet Taiwan’s food safety regulations had to be shipped back or destroyed based on the law, Hsiao said.

The official added that the qualification checking frequency on such products will now be increased from the basic 20 percent to 50 percent, in light of the findings.

In 2015, 640,012 batches of foods and products related to food were imported to Taiwan, up 3.85 percent from the previous year, according to FDA statistics.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: March 1, 2016

Taiwan commemorated the February 28 Incident of 1947 with a series of nationwide

ceremonies underscoring the need for all segments of society to come together and learn the lessons of history.

During an event at National 228 Memorial Museum in Taipei City, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou apologized on behalf of the government for the incident and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring such an event never happens again.

“Since the government offered its formal apology for the first time in 1995, it has never ceased to face up to its responsibility, right the wrongs of the past and uncover the facts,” Ma said.

The incident took place 69 years ago when protestors demanded Gov. Chen Yi institute reforms. When these demands went unmet, people throughout the island rioted against the government. Military reinforcements dispatched from mainland China killed thousands while restoring order.

According to Ma, the government has implemented numerous related government measures over the past 20 years, and he deeply empathizes with the victims’ families.     [FULL  STORY]