Monthly Archives: April 2016

INTERVIEW: Pension reform process to be transparent

Vice president-elect Chen Chien-jen said in a recent interview with Chinese-language ‘Liberty Times’ (sister newspaper of the ‘Taipei Times’) staff reporter Tzou Jiing-wen that he would immediately convene the national insurance fund reform committee after he is sworn into office on May 20, with a promise to deliver a draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan within the year

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 30, 2016

Liberty Times (LT): What are your opinions on the national pension reform?

Vice president-elect Chen Chien-jen gestures during an interview in Taipei on April 19. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁): The current system is overly complicated. Not only are there different government agencies handling the same affairs, but the discrepancy of rates for different vocations are also too great. Above all, potential liabilities for all the different national pensions are at an alarmingly high level.

According to estimates, funding for military personnel’s, civil servants’ and teachers’ insurance will become insolvent in the next several years. Recent polls also show that a high percentage — 70 to 80 percent — of the public supports financial reforms and it is high time for the government to act. After all, compared with the past, the situation has become much more urgent.

Taiwan has entered a new democratic age where the public wishes to have more say in how the government does things and we hope to arrange a series of open debates as quickly as possible — hopefully within the year — to address the issue. [FULL STORY]

President-elect Tsai visits MOFA

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President-elect Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President-elect Chen Chien-jen visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Friday to hear a secret report.

Foreign Minister David Lin and his deputies Bruce Linghu and Javier Hou welcomed the delegation in what is a normal feature of the transition period up to the May 20 inauguration. Tsai and Chen earlier also visited the Ministry of National Defense for a similar briefing.

Tsai was accompanied at MOFA Friday by several key members of her new foreign policy team, including the next secretary-general of the National Security Council, Joseph Wu, Foreign Minister-designate David Lee, his deputy Wu Chih-chung and the next presidential secretary-general, Lin Pi-chao.

It was not immediately clear which topics the ministry briefing for Tsai would concentrate on, but reporters waiting at the entrance of the MOFA building shouted questions at her about the crisis in the relationship with Japan. [FULL STORY]

President-elect vows to safeguard Taiwanese fishermen’s rights

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/29
By: Tang Pei-chun, Sophia Yeh and Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pledged Friday to safeguard the rights of Taiwanese fishermen, in the wake of the detention of a local fishing boat by Japan on the high seas in the Pacific, near the Japan-controlled atoll of Okinotori.

The incident was one of the issues included in a briefing given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to Tsai on Friday, according to Foreign Minister David Lin (林永樂).

Lin said that during the briefing, he explained to Tsai about the course of the incident and the steps taken by the government, such as lodging a strong protest with Japan.

In response, Tsai said Taiwan should continue to negotiate with Japan to try to find a resolution to the dispute, according to Lin.

When asked by reporters how she is going to protect the rights of fishermen in the future, Tsai held up her right fist and said: “Going all-out to safeguard.” [FULL STORY]

Design hotels put new face on old Taipei

Taiwan Today
Date: April 29, 2016

The opening of more and more design hotels in Taipei City’s Ximending is putting a new face

Ximending in Taipei City is transforming into a first-choice destination for travelers from across Asia. (Staff photo/ Huang Chung-hsin)

on the former commercial center Wanhua District while raising Taiwan’s profile as a must-visit destination for tourists from across Asia.

These eye-catching and stylish accommodation facilities have increased from 60 to 104 over the past four years on the back of rising numbers of visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Thailand and mainland China. This influx of arrivals is spurring economic activity and investment in western Taipei, which declined in popularity over the past 20 years as the eastern part of the city attracted trendy restaurants and retailers.

Kang Dong-hwan, 22, a student from Pukyong National University in the South Korean port city of Busan, said he chose to stay in Ximindeng on the strength of its cultural attractions like The Red House, a 108-year-old Western-style red-brick octagonal structure doubling as a cultural and creative industry market bazaar; cinemas; coffee shops; food stalls; tea houses; and convenient central location.

“All the accommodation and travel websites give Ximending top ratings,” he said. “A lot of my friends also recommended the area as one of the best places to get a real taste of Taipei and Taiwan hospitality.”

WOW Hostel Ximen is one of the many accommodation facilities regularly frequented by overseas tourists. Once a commercial space, the hostel’s fashionable design is complemented by an evening soundtrack of live music from a club on the next floor down nowhere older singers belt out popular Taiwan tunes from the 1930s and 1940s. [FULL STORY]

US opposes Chinese coercion

EXEMPLARY:Taiwan has given the world an illustration of what a democratic election is, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a US House committee hearing

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 30, 2016
By: William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that Washington wanted to make sure that Taiwan could not be coerced by China to do things “against the will of its people.”

Blinken said that he had very good talks with president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the US Department of State last summer and that “we have strongly encouraged the Chinese to engage with her and to engage with Taiwan.”

He was testifying on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing, titled “America as a Pacific Power: Challenges and Opportunities in Asia.”

US Representative Steve Chabot said that China would very likely “act up and try to throw its weight around” with Tsai’s inauguration on May 20 and the Democratic Progressive Party’s coming to power.

He said that China was a “classic bully” and that Beijing would want to show its displeasure.

“Taiwan is a very important US ally,” Chabot said. [FULL STORY]

Legislative Yuan votes against textbook changes

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-29
By:0 Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Legislative Yuan on Friday approved a motion calling on the Ministry of Education to drop controversial textbook changes, leading to a protest by the Kuomintang.

For over a year, debate has been simmering about revisions to high-school texts seen as being too pro-Chinese and too vague about the role of Taiwan’s democracy movement. Last summer, hundreds of students stormed the MOE building and one of the protesters even committed suicide.

A total of 71 out of 113 lawmakers approved the proposal by Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Cheng Li-chiun, the woman who is scheduled to take over as minister of culture on May 20. Only 15 voted against the measure and one abstained.

The proposal already came up for review at the Legislative Yuan on March 29, but the KMT demanded it be handed over for negotiation, a process which in effect takes it off the agenda for a month. [FULL STORY]

Civic groups call for education rights for HIV-positive students

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/29
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) The Persons with HIV/AIDS Rights Advocacy Association of Taiwan (PRAATW) and other civic groups spoke up for the educational rights for HIV-positive students in Taipei on Friday as an appeal for reinstatement by an expelled student heads to court.

They were highlighting the case of a former student at National Defense University, called Ah Li, who was forced out of school after being found HIV-positive in a health test in early 2012.

The hospital that conducted the exam passed the result to the university without Ah Li’s consent, and the school subsequently held frequent conversations with him, trying to get him to drop out.

The school also required him to wash his bowl, plate and eating utensils separately and barred him from swimming in the swimming pool. [FULL STORY]

Cross-strait clinical tests open door for Taiwan firms

Taiwan Today
Date: April 29, 2016

Taiwan and mainland China recently recognized for the first time the results of clinical drug

A researcher at a Taiwan biotech company conducts a test on a new locally developed drug. (Staff Photo/Huang Chung-hsin)

tests conducted by four hospitals on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, paving the way for local pharmaceutical firms to further tap the growing mainland Chinese market.

The four Taiwan facilities are Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Linkou District, New Taipei City, and National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital and Tri-Service General Hospital, all in Taipei City, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

This breakthrough eliminates the need to conduct another set of clinical trials in mainland China, cutting considerable time off the approval process for drug-makers developing new products. It is an important part of maximizing a pharmaceutical’s profitability before the removal of patent protection.

The development was made possible by the Cross-Strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health Affairs concluded in December 2010 by Taiwan and mainland China. Under the pact, the two sides agreed four years later to mutually recognize clinical data so as to avoid duplicating trials. [FULL STORY]

KMT occupies podium, demands talks

STICKABILITY MOCKED:DPP lawmakers said that the new opposition should learn from their efforts to tie up the podium and stay for three days, not just an hour

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 30, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday occupied the legislative speaker’s

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying, front, second left, tears a placard as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators occupy the podium of Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, second row, fourth left, during a floor vote in the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

podium for the first time in history, as the opposition protested the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus’ putting a motion to vote without conducting cross-caucus negotiations.

Lawmakers argued with each other, with the legislature descending into disorder over a motion to require the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Education to retract social studies and Chinese-language high-school curriculum guidelines that were controversially announced in February 2014.

The motion — launched by DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) — asked the legislature to decide whether to retract the guidelines promulgated by the ministry in 2014, which it said came about “through a process that breached the principles of transparency, professionalism and bottom-up social participation, and with adjusted content that defied facts and whitewashed the era of authoritarian rule.”

The motion was removed from the agenda last month, pending a cross-caucus negotiation and as the one-month negotiation period ended yesterday, the motion was put to a floor discussion to be followed by a vote. [FULL STORY]

Hsieh Su-wei has mixed day in Prague

COLD CONDITIONS:Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles competition, said she had to wear almost all of the clothes she had with her

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 29, 2016
By: Dave Carroll / Staff reporter Staff reporter

Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles at the Prague Open on Wednesday, but crashed out in the quarter-finals of the doubles later in the day along with fellow Taiwanese Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Chin-wei.

In the second round of the singles, Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh rallied after to losing the second set to oust 18-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in 1 hour, 37 minutes.

The Kaohsiung-born world No. 78 saved 10 of 13 break points and converted four of eight, winning 82 of the 159 points contested to advance to a quarter-final against Lucie Safarova, who advanced when fellow Czech Lucie Hradecka retired with a neck injury with the second seed leading 6-4, 2-0. [FULL STORY]

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