Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-13
By: Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is displaying an

unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) it developed at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition, reports our Chinese-language sister paper Want Daily.

The institute rivals its Chinese counterparts in the development of UAVs, said Alex Ma, head of the institute’s aeronautical system division. The institute’s UAV has an autopilot capable of taking off and landing unassisted, he said. There is no evidence suggesting that the Shendiao, the latest UAV from China’s “Condor” drone series, has the same capability, Ma added.

Although the institute has yet to name the UAVs it has been developing, the institute’s staff members have dubbed them “big airplanes,” said Ma.

In addition to its autopilot, Taiwan has developed other UAV technology such as the coordination of multiple aircraft by a single pilot, retransmitting signals through a UAV, remote-controlling UAV through the internet and transmitting real-time images from a UAV, said Ma. The technology is designed for UAVs carrying out reconnaissance missions.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 14, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday

said that there is no doubt that KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) is her election campaign manager and KMT Secretary-General Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) the campaign director, after weeks of media speculation that nobody in the KMT camp was willing to take the jobs.

Following Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) announcement that Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) is to be her campaign manager, Hung on Wednesday said that it is the candidate who runs that matters.

“If the candidate is empty [in substance], it would not change a thing, no matter who has been chosen as the campaign manager,” she said.

When asked about her own campaign team, Hung yesterday said that the KMT has a united front that binds the party’s legislative and presidential campaigns, “so Chairman Chu and Lee are undoubtedly the campaign manager and director, and other personnel appointments will be announced later.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-12
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

State-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) is conducting an investigation on the offshore

wind turbines toppled by Typhoon Soudelor last week, reports said Wednesday.

The typhoon’s powerful gusts of up to 202 to 220 kilometers per hour blew seven of its 18 wind turbines at Taichung’s Gaomei Wetlands to the ground, incurring an estimated NT$460 million (US$14.48 million.) in losses.

There are already widespread speculations about how the turbines could be toppled as they are made to withstand the wind.

According to Li Wen-ping, deputy director of Renewable Energies at Taipower, the preliminary report will be disclosed publicly within two months.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin said although Taiwan imports 97 percent of its energy sources, the government is worried that the damages incurred could lead to other possible causes, hence it has called for an investigation to oversee the matter.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/12
By: C.W. Huang, Y.L.Wei and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) Minister of Labor Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文) said Wednesday that the Basic Wage Review Committee has decided not to raise the basic wage at this time but may discuss the issue again in the fourth quarter, depending on the economic situation.

Taiwan’s basic wage has been increased several times over the past five years, with the most recent hike implemented on July 1 this year, raising the monthly basic wage from NT$19,273 (US$595) to NT$20,008, and the hourly basic wage from NT$115 to NT$120.

However, several labor unions have been calling for an increase to NT$26,000 per month and NT$161 per hour.

During the committee’s four-hour discussion, representatives of workers and employers debated the wage issue fiercely and eventually decided to shelve it for the time being.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-12
By: CNA

A Taiwanese documentary chronicling the later years of Taiwanese women forced into

sexual slavery by Japanese forces during World War II will soon hit cinemas around Taiwan to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.

Song of the Reed, a 76-minute documentary, was produced by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation and directed by Wu Hsiu-ching, an assistant professor at National Taiwan University of Arts.

It documents how some of the “comfort women” from Taiwan who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels overcame grave physical and mental trauma and how their attitudes toward life developed over the years, the foundation said, adding that the film focuses on the women attending various workshops organized by the foundation.

“The documentary portrays the strength of life and courage (demonstrated by the women),” said Kang Shu-hua, executive director of the foundation, at a news conference Tuesday just before a screening of the documentary in Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The monthly minimum wage should be hiked to at least

NT$26,000 (US$811) to cover the rising cost of living, labor groups said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Labor is scheduled to host the regular review committee for the minimum wage on Wednesday. Following a decision last year, the basic wage reached NT$20,008 (US$624) last month, reports said.

At a news conference on the eve of the meeting, labor groups said Taiwan should follow the example of the International Labor Organization and allow workers to earn enough to cover basic household expenses. In this case, the minimum wage should rise to at least NT$25,997 a month, the groups said.

The MOL should also open up the committee meeting to the public, or at least broadcast it live online, while explaining how it calculated the salary. The groups also condemned business organizations for opposing minimum wage hikes each year and for saying the time was not right. The employers never said when the time would be right, the labor activists said.     [FULL  STORY]