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China should face reality of ROC’s existence: MAC

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/21
By: Chou Yi-ling, Bear Lee and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council（MAC, 陸委會）said Tuesday that Beijing should squarely face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China and the fact that Taiwan and mainland China are under separate rule.

MAC made the statement in response to media reports that Nanjing University in a press conference earlier in the day launched “The Special History of the Republic of China,” a book which said the ROC was established in 1912 and ended in 1949.

MAC said that the portraits of the ROC in the university’s press release is contrary to the fact that the ROC has been objectively in existence since its birth in 1912. [FULL STORY]

Halting construction of Taipei Dome poses risks: Ko

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 22, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Taipei Dome could collapse if construction were immediately halted, which could affect the

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday said that if work on the Dome is stopped without careful planning, operations of the nearby Taipei Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) Bannan Line could be affected. Photo: CNA

operation of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System’s Bannan Line, or Line 5, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.

“As long as the base structure of the [Dome’s] site is unfinished, there is a risk of it collapsing,” Ko said.

Ko acknowledged concerns that the Dome’s construction might have caused damage to a historical site — the former Songshan Tobacco Factory — but said that its potential effect on the MRT line, which runs out to Taipei’s Nangang District (南港), if construction is stopped is “even more worrisome.”

Ko made the comments as questions were raised over the city’s response to the latest revelations of damage to the tobacco factory site.

He said the damage was discovered after an earthquake on Monday.

Taipei Department of Rapid Transportation Systems Commissioner Chou Li-liang (周禮良) said that as the basement of the Dome is being constructed from the top down, the structure cannot be stabilized until the lowest level of the basement is completed. [FULL STORY]

Lien Chan’s daughter rebuts reports on diet formula affair

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-21
By: Staff Reporter

Lien Hui-hsin, daughter of Taiwan’s former vice president Lien Chan, has rebutted media

Lien Hui-hsin. (File photo/China Times)

reports of her alleged involvement in the GeneHerbs pharmaceutical compound dispute, in which she received a one-year deferred prosecution in July 2014 over violations of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

Lien was accused of selling questionable weight-control medicine containing cetilistat, a compound used to treat obesity but which had not been approved for use by Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Fang Wen-shuan, Lien’s attorney, refuted local media claims at the time of the investigation that Lien, the largest shareholder of medicine’s distributor GeneHerbs, was the actual person in charge at the company. In an emailed statement, the representative said that “Lien never had any power to participate in the decision-making process of GeneHerbs Biotechnology as she was only an investor and an unpaid spokeswoman” and that “Lien was not a part of management nor a decision maker at the distributor and there was no evidence showing that any of the employees or shareholders of the distributor GeneHerbs had any prior knowledge of the presence of the compound cetilistat in their products, nor could any one of them have intentionally engaged in the addition or sale of any unauthorized materials.” [FULL STORY]

Clinton would do well, but Taiwan should not expect too much

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-04-20

After accepting the office of secretary of state in Obama’s first term, Hillary Clinton clocked

Hillary Clinton gives a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, March 10. (File photo/Xinhua)

nearly 1 million miles and visited 112 countries, making her the US presidential candidate with the most thorough understanding of international politics. Admittedly this is not particularly hard given the willful ignorance of international affairs among the Republican field, but being the most-traveled secretary of state in history is nonetheless a significant achievement that should not be sniffed at.

But Clinton’s strengths in this area will no doubt also be used as a line of attack from the GOP should she secure the Democratic nomination. She has already had to ride out the sustained and cynical attacks over Benghazi, where she was ultimately vindicated. Emailgate may still have some legs and the criticism of the Clinton Foundation for having received donations from foreign governments will no doubt be raised again in the next 18 months.

But if Clinton can succeed in becoming the first woman in the White House, the world should be assured of a knowledgeable and reliable commander in chief over foreign policy. In her past remarks on US-China policy and cross-strait relations, Clinton, in addition to affirming Taiwan’s democracy, said that the core of the US “One China” policy seeks peaceful relations between mainland China and Taiwan while upholding Taiwan’s autonomy. [FULL STORY]

Textbooks spark call for boycotts

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 21, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Civic groups yesterday announced a new alliance targeting Ministry of Education curriculum

Action Coalition of Civics Teachers spokesman Huang I-chung, right, holds up a textbook during a news conference in Taipei yesterday, calling on the Ministry of Education to withdraw certain curriculum changes. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

adjustments, urging local governments to boycott textbooks based on the new guidelines.

Representatives from 21 organizations urged the ministry to withdraw the adjustments, publish relevant meeting records and draft new rules mandating public participation in future changes.

Changes to high-school social studies curriculum guidelines announced last year by the ministry fueled controversy over what critics called ideological bias and an opaque design process.

The ministry is appealing a court decision ordering the release of committee member names, meeting transcripts and voting records for the adjustments. [FULL STORY]

Thief claims a voice told him to steal labor minister’s car

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/20
By: Yu Kai-hsiang and Scully Hsiao

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) The man who stole the car of Labor Minister Chen Hsiung-wen was caught hours after it was stolen Monday and said he drove the car away because a voice in his head told him to.

The thief, surnamed Lin, was caught on the Sanying Interchange on National Freeway No. 3 in Sanxia District, New Taipei, around 6 p.m.

Lin stole Chen’s car at 9:10 a.m. from the basement of the building in Taipei that houses the ministry, apartments and a swimming pool, after Chen’s chauffeur left the car unlocked and the car’s key in the glove compartment, according to Lee Chien-chang, head of Yanping Police Station.

Police hunted down the thief through the electronic toll collection system. [FULL STORY]

Taiwan’s entertainment business lucrative for stringers

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-20
By: Liao Hui-chuan and Staff Reporter

Mainland Chinese media are still paying a pretty penny to grab exclusive and fresh content

Kuo Shu-yau, left, a Taiwanese TV and movie celebrity, gives food to one of her fans at an event in Taipei on April 18. (Photo/Nien Keng-hao)

from Taiwan’s vibrant entertainment news industry, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper Want Daily.

Most Chinese media outlets do not have their own correspondents in Taiwan, and prefer to hire a Taiwanese stringer to report on local entertainment events on a daily basis.

When a media company wishes to establish a branch office in Taiwan, it has to provide all sorts of healthcare insurance and other benefits to the correspondent, as well as a fixed salary, a senior Taiwanese journalist said. The salary paid to correspondents in Taiwan, however, has to be at least 10% higher than the average salary in the media industry in China, but foreign media corporations are reluctant to hire extra employees in order to cut down on costs. [FULL STORY]

Public supports compulsory military service: survey

FEEL A DRAFT?Observers said the Academia Sinica poll revealed public concerns over the corruption and morale scandals battering the armed forces

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 21, 2015
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Most of the Taiwanese public favors a return to compulsory military service, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said yesterday, citing a recent opinion poll conducted by the Academia Sinica.

In response, Ministry of National Defense officials said the transformation to an all-volunteer military cannot be reversed.

Hsiao discussed the poll results yesterday at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei.

She said the poll showed majority support in every age group for returning to the compulsory military service system to bolster military strength. [FULL STORY]

Free Taiwan Party announces formation to promote independent nation

Formosa’s newest political party advocates independence for Taiwan.

The Examiner
Date: April 19, 2015

The Free Taiwan Party is Formosa’s newest political party. Launched April 17, the Free Taiwan Party has a distinct political message, the termination of control of the island by the Chinese Nationalist Party. Taiwan, as Formosa is now commonly called, remains under occupation since the end of World War II by the Republic of China in-exile under a Kuomintang administration. The United States is responsible for the unresolved international status of Taiwan created by US foreign policy priorities during the Cold War.

Aquia Tsay is the chief organizer of the new party. Aquia is a well-known and admired supporter of Taiwanese independence and has led numerous demonstrations and protests against ROC control of Taiwan. Encounters with the police have sent Aquia to the hospital several times. An advocate of non-violence, Aquia has refused to press charges against ROC police who have beaten him during his peaceful protests. A retired university professor, Aquia is a close friend of Su Beng, the island’s best known advocate for an independent Taiwan.

The announcement rally of the Free Taiwan Party was attended by a number of members of the Sunflower student movement and various civic and advocacy groups including the Alliance for Referendum for Taiwan. The formation of the party has been in the planning stages for several months but a decision to go forward was delayed until the Democratic Progressive Party made its position on Taiwan independence clear. Last week, the DPP nominated Tsai Ing-wen for her second bid for the ROC presidency. Tsai has said she supports the status quo and is expected to steer the DPP away from independence. [FULL STORY]

India courts Taiwan’s electronics and hardware cos to ‘Make in India’

Hindustan Times
Date: Apr 19, 2015
By: M Rajendran, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

China may be the global electronics factory, but it is neighbouring Taiwan that India is increasingly looking at to drive its ‘Make in India’ initiative.

A team led by secretary electronics and information technology RS Sharma went to Taiwan in March, and met a few major companies. The delegation will soon undertake a follow-up visit.

“A number of proposals have been given final shape. We hope to firm up a few contracts with Taiwanese companies for setting up telecom and electronic manufacturing units in India,” a top official in communications ministry told HT.

India currently imports electronic products worth $100 billion annually, setting of concerns among policymakers that the digital inclusion plans may have to be aided entirely by imported devices. Last year, the government launched the plan to set up clusters for manufacturing of electronics goods with an incentive scheme: the government would add Rs 25 to every Rs 100 that an electronic producer invested in these clusters. [FULL STORY]

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