STANDOFF:KMT legislators accused the TSU of wasting resources, while the TSU was adamant that the KMT would not preside over the review of the oversight bill

Taipei Times
Date: May 13, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

The legislature yesterday saw legislators from the Chinese Nationalist Party

(KMT) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) scuffle over a motion to refer a bill on the institution of an oversight mechanism to regulate cross-strait agreements to the Internal Administration Committee for review, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) withdrawing its boycott.

On Friday last week in the general assembly, the TSU caucus proposed 349 agenda-changing motions — and the DPP 151 for a total of 500 — to block the floor’s agenda, which included the reconsideration of the oversight bill.

The reconsideration would have been put to a vote if processed, almost guaranteeing — with the KMT’s majority in the legislature — the ruling party’s successful referral of the bill to the committee this week for a review presided over by a KMT legislator.     [FULL  STORY]

BLOWING SMOKE:Officials seeking ‘flexible’ enforcement of air pollution laws were quizzed over their wording. One legislator asked if the EPA had abandoned its principles

Taipei Times
Date: May 12, 2015
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

A legislative committee session yesterday sputtered into gridlock as legislators

and government officials sparred over legal language in proposed amendments to limit air pollution, prompting several legislators to accuse the authorities of being nonchalant about potential health hazards posed by factory emissions.

The session focused on capping factory-emitted PM2.5 — airborne pollutants measuring less than 2.5 micrometers — identified as a carcinogen by the WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

An amendment proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said that if the annual concentrations of air pollutants — ozone, PM10 and PM2.5 — gauged in a municipality exceeds the annual standard stipulated by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for three years in a row, that municipality shall be designated a “level 3” air pollution prevention zone, meaning air quality in the region is in breach of emission standards.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-11
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s outlying island county of Kinmen started to cull 198 cattle on Saturday

afternoonon around a ranch in Jinning township which was found to have cattle infected with foot-and-mouth disease. The cull should be completed within two days, the county government said the same day.

The virus, confirmed as type-A foot-and-mouth disease, was found for the first time in the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the meat of a slaughtered cow from the farm, Council of Agriculture deputy minister Wang Cheng-teng said Friday. Further tests revealed that another cow on the farm was infected with the virus, Wang said, adding that the animal has euthanized.

The virus strain was tested with 99.9% similarity to a virus strain found in southern China’s Guangdong province in 2013, the council said.

Wang said the virus originated in China and may have been transported via the “mini three links” between Fujian on the Chinese mainland and the island of Kinmen, located about 10 km from the city of Xiamen on the mainland.

CNN
Date May 10, 2015
By: tcoolidge

When Anna Marie Jarvis petitioned then President Woodrow Wilson for a national holiday, she intended for Americans to share the love and reverance of mothers annually. It began as a tribute to her own mother Anna Jarvis, and after signed a proclamation on May 9, 1914, Mother’s Day grew into an international phenomenon bigger than what Jarvis could have imagined. The annual commemoration has become an important national holiday in many countries, with significant economic impact as well as personal significance.

Mother’s Day is celebrated officially and unofficially in many countries around the world. The celebrations may take place at different times of the year. As in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and India takes place on the second Sunday in May. However, in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, and Mexico, Mother’s Day fall on a different day.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-10
By: CNA

Preparation for a Taiwan conflict with the possibility of US intervention

continues to dominate China’s military modernization program, according to an annual report on China’s military developments released Friday by the Pentagon.

“Alongside positive public statements about the Taiwan Strait situation from top leaders in China following the re-election of President Ma Ying-jeou in 2012, there have been no signs that China’s military posture opposite Taiwan has changed significantly,” the report said.

It said the Chinese military is capable of increasingly sophisticated military action against Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]