Mandatory national language classes not an issue: MOE
Mandatory national language classes not an issue: MOEBy Sherry Hsiao and Rachel Lin / Staff reportersThe inclusion of mandatory “national language” courses in junior-high schools would not affect the number of class sessions dedicated to existing mandatory subjects, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday. “National language” is currently a mandatory course in elementary schools and an elective in junior-high schools. The NAER proposals incorporate “national languages” into the mandatory curriculum without affecting the number of class sessions for other mandatory courses, the ministry said. The subcommittee had proposed making “national languages” mandatory for the first year, and flexible in the second and third years, sources said. A third proposal would make “national languages” mandatory in the first and second years, and flexible in the third, the sources said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 03, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan neutral on US presidential vote, MOFA says
Taiwan neutral on US presidential vote, MOFA saysBy Lin Chia-nan and Hsieh Chun-lin / Staff reportersThe government is neutral regarding the US presidential election result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, adding that it is in close communication with the US about further arms sales. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou speaks at a regular news conference at the ministry in Taipei yesterday. Whichever party wins the presidential election, Taiwan would continue to deepen bilateral partnerships in various areas, she said. The military remains prepared to monitor the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the region, he said. Asked about the possible sale, Ou said the foreign ministry would wait until it receives the US’ formal notification to brief the public.
Source:Taipei Times
November 03, 2020 15:56 UTC
TIER raises GDP forecast for this year
TIER raises GDP forecast for this yearBIG BUMP NEXT YEAR? Yesterday’s report was the first time that TIER has issued a forecast for the economy for next year. Exports are expected to grow from a revised 1.85 percent this year to 4.87 percent next year, TIER’s report said. “Next year will be a prosperous year,” the best year for the nation’s economy in five years and favorable for private consumption, Huang said. The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics in August predicted Taiwan’s GDP would grow 3.92 percent next year.
Source:Taipei Times
November 03, 2020 15:56 UTC
Groups call for ban on ractopamine in schools
Groups call for ban on ractopamine in schoolsON THE BOOKS: The Ministry of Education said that the School Health Act already addresses parents’ concerns, as it orders schools to prioritize the use of local ingredientsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterDozens of people from parents’ groups yesterday rallied in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, urging lawmakers to ban pork containing ractopamine residue from schools. “If the law does not ban pork products treated with ractopamine from schools, who would be responsible if they are found on school campuses?” KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said. KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said that people concerned about the policy should protest to show the government that the majority of the public are against pork treated with ractopamine entering schools. TPP Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) called for source management using a product code to identify and trace imported US pork treated with the additive. At the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday, opposing parties proposed motions to amend the School Health Act to ban pork containing ractopamine from schools.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taoyuan aims to upgrade shrine and cultural park
Taoyuan aims to upgrade shrine and cultural parkBy Hsieh Wu-hsiung and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taoyuan Department of Cultural Affairs plans to file a request with the Ministry of Culture to upgrade the status of the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park from a municipal heritage site to a national one. The evaluation results suggest that the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park meets the requirements to be designated a national heritage site, the department said, adding that it would file the request by the end of the year. A visitor approaches the Torii gate at the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine on Sunday. Department Director-General Chuang Hsiu-mei (莊秀美) said that the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park is in the best condition among Japanese shrines nationwide, preserving a lot of architectural elements authentic to Japanese culture. The Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park, which contains the former Taoyuan Shrine, although smaller, is one of the few that remains, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Cabinet, police go a year without a security meeting
Cabinet, police go a year without a security meetingBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Executive Yuan and the National Police Agency have not held an interagency public security meeting for a year, despite a mandate to convene every two months, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday amid public outcry over the murder of a Malaysian student. At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee, legislators questioned Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) about public security after the abduction and murder of a Chang Jung Christian University student surnamed Chung (鍾) in Tainan on Thursday last week. Public security does not just concern law enforcement and the Ministry of the Interior, but also other agencies and local governments, Chiang said, asking Hsu when the last meeting was held. Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung, right, gestures while answering a question at a meeting of the Internal Administration Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Hsu promised to immediately approach the Executive Yuan to recommend convening a public security meeting.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
First Financial aims to boost loans to SMEs: chairwoman
First Financial aims to boost loans to SMEs: chairwomanBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) plans to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support the government’s policy, newly installed chairwoman Chiou Ye-chin (邱月琴) said yesterday. First Financial Holding Co’s new chairwoman Chiou Ye-chin poses for photographs yesterday after a handover ceremony at the company’s headquarters in Taipei. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesChiou, a former president at state-owned Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), said that under her leadership, First Financial would seek to emulate Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), the most profitable state-run financial conglomerate. First Financial would not rule out merger and acquisition opportunities to grow its assets after losing the competition for Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽) to Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) in August, Chiou said. With a bachelor’s degree in economics from National Taiwan University, Chiou has served at different positions at Bank of Taiwan for the past 37 years.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Adimmune reassures amid vaccine concern
Adimmune reassures amid vaccine concernLOW RISKS? Adimmune Corp chairman Steve Chan is pictured at the company’s office in Taichung on Aug. 23. The deaths have raised public concern, with many wondering if they should still take flu vaccines if they have health conditions or chronic diseases. Adimmune has supplied the government with 3.7 million flu vaccines for this year — or 60 percent of all government-funded flu shots — but the ratio of people having an adverse reaction to the vaccine is very low at 116 cases, he added. Adimmune yesterday reported record-high sales of NT$614 million (US$21.24 million) for last month, 2.75 times higher than a year earlier.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Groups petition against sheep show
Groups petition against sheep showPASTORAL LIFE: The show involves sheep being held down to shear their wool and they become scared when chased by a shepherd’s dog, animal welfare groups saidBy Tung Chen-kuo and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerAnimal welfare groups have launched an online petition to end a signature sheep show at Nantou County’s Cingjing Farm (清境農場), drawing mixed reactions from the public. Sheep huddle in a pen at Nantou County’s Cingjing Farm on Oct. 1. As a public enterprise, Cingjing Farm should respect animal life and stop the show to set an example for other farms, it added. Cingjing Farm said that it respects the opinions of the groups and would give a full explanation if the petition reaches the 5,000 signature threshold. If this way of life should be criticized, the petition should have been launched on an international platform to protest all countries that use shepherd dogs to herd sheep, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Group slams plan to promote new lay judge system
Group slams plan to promote new lay judge systemBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA Judicial Yuan plan to budget NT$120 million (US$4.15 million) next year for a public marketing campaign to promote a lay judge system is an attempt to mislead society on “wrongly implemented” reforms, a civic group said yesterday. The Taiwan Jury Association, which has been pushing for a jury system instead of the government’s preferred lay judge approach, said the Judicial Yuan should face up to the core judicial reform issues that need to be addressed. The Judicial Yuan should promote impartial trials and improve the judiciary for those working within it, rather than throwing money at “propaganda,” the association said. “If no improvements are made to judicial proceedings, then what is the point of hiring Internet celebrities to promote the system?” he said. Internet Gazette Law Paper (法治時報社) publisher and legal expert Huang Yueh-hung (黃越宏) said that the Judicial Yuan was using taxpayer money to promote its lay judge system, while abandoning a proposed jury system, which the Democratic Progressive Party calls for in its charter.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Prosecutors meet family of Malaysian student who was murdered last week
Prosecutors meet family of Malaysian student who was murdered last weekBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterPublic prosecutors yesterday met with the family of a Malaysian student who was murdered in Tainan last week, while a traditional ritual was also held for her. The 24-year-old Chang Jung Christian University student, identified only by her surname, Chung (鍾), was abducted on Wednesday last week while walking near the school in Gueiren District (歸仁), police said. Staff and students at Tainan’s Chang Jung Christian University yesterday tie ribbons on trees on campus in memory of a Malaysian student who was murdered in Tainan last week. Chung’s classmates joined the family for a traditional ritual near where she had been abducted. Separately yesterday, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) ordered the formation of a school safety task force to inspect all of the city’s schools and their surrounding areas, and make recommendations to improve safety measures.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Turkish flag move regrettable: officials
A thank-you posted on Twitter by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to nations for their support following Friday’s earthquake, which included the Republic of China’s flag, third row center, is pictured on Saturday. “We condemn China’s regrettable intervention and repression on a matter of humanitarian assistance that has no political implications,” Wu said. Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu gestures yesterday as he speaks to members of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The Chinese aircraft involved were one Y-8 marine patrol plane, one Y-8 tactical reconnaissance aircraft, two Su-30 jets, two J-16 fighters and two J-10 jets, the defense ministry said. The air force scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets before the Chinese planes left the air defense identification zone, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Lin Wen-yuan elected Tatung chair
New Tatung Co chairman Lin Wen-yuan, left, and Shanyuan Group chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “It was Wang’s idea, and Lin Kuo accepted,” Lin Wen-yuan said. Former Tatung chairman Lin Wei-shan (林蔚山) has been jailed for embezzlement and Lin Kuo, his wife, took over as chairwoman. Lin Wen-yuan is to remain the chairman of Eastern Broadcasting Co.“Strong CEOs make for relaxed chairmen,” Lin Wen-yuan said. “I cannot promise when Tatung will pay a dividend again, but I can promise that in a year they [investors] will have a new Tatung,” Lin Wen-yuan said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Mayor criticizes double standard on ractopamine
Mayor criticizes double standard on ractopamineIMPORTS VERSUS DOMESTIC: The central government must clearly explain its policy on lifting the import ban if it wants local governments’ help, Ko Wen-je saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTaipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the central government for allowing imports of US pork products containing ractopamine residue, but banning the use of the leanness-enhancing feed additive by Taiwan’s pig farmers. “My attitude is simply ‘yes or no’ — [the government] just [needs to] clearly explain the policy and publicize the procedure, and we will raise our hands with questions if we have different opinions,” Ko said. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je looks at reporters from inside an art installation made of bamboo at the Guandu International Nature Art Festival in the city’s Beitou District yesterday. Did you not say it is safe to eat?” he said. In related news, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) yesterday responded to Ko saying on Saturday that he wanted to ask the minister just how much pork containing ractopamine would be imported in the first year after the ban is lifted.
Source:Taipei Times
November 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
INTERVIEW: Pandemic draws Taiwan, Czech Republic closer
There are not many people in the Czech Republic who have maintained contact with Taiwan for more than 30 years, he said. Unlike Taiwan, the pandemic situation in the Czech Republic is getting worse, and various measures implemented by the government have sometimes been chaotic, he said. The Czech Republic in April signed a cooperation agreement with Taiwan on fighting the pandemic, making it the first European country to do so. Asked if the Czech Republic should side with the US in security issues, Drahos said that the US is a much more important partner for the Czech Republic than either China or Russia. Nevertheless, the Czech Republic fully understands the situation in Taiwan and Taiwan’s effort to remain a democratic and free country, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 01, 2020 15:56 UTC