KMT to propose constitutional amendments: Chiang
KMT to propose constitutional amendments: ChiangBy Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to propose constitutional amendments to require the president to give an annual state of the nation address to the Legislative Yuan and for the appointment of the premier to be approved by lawmakers, while working with other parties to ensure that the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan can operate independently, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang speaks during the weekly meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee at KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei TimesAbout 52 percent said incoming Control Yuan president Chen Chu (陳菊) would not represent the people, he added. “The basis for our discussions about the constitutional amendments should be to defend our democracy and crack down on the abuse of human rights,” Chiang said. “She should avoid turning Taiwan into a bargaining chip between the two countries — or an abandoned child,” the KMT chairman added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
New company to promote local content worldwide
New company to promote local content worldwideBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Creative Content Agency and CatchPlay yesterday announced that they have invested a total of NT$200 million (US$6.78 million) in a new company, Screenworks, to promote original Taiwanese television and film content to an international audience. CatchPlay is one of the teams behind such original Taiwanese content as The World Between Us (我們與惡的距離) and The Making of an Ordinary Woman (俗女養成記). Actors Bamboo Chen, left, and Sara Yu pose for photographers in Taipei yesterday at a news conference held by Taiwan Creative Content Agency and CatchPlay to announce the launch of a new company called Screenworks. CatchPlay has also worked to bring high-quality international content to Taiwanese audiences, CatchPlay Group chief executive officer Daphne Yang (楊麗貞) said. Now is the time for it to use its experience in the international market to bring high-quality original Taiwanese works to the world, Yang added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chen Chu likely to focus on Human Rights Committee
Chen Chu likely to focus on Human Rights CommitteeBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerFormer Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) would likely focus her energy on running the new National Human Rights Committee when she takes over as Control Yuan president, another incoming member of the government watchdog said. The legislature on Dec. 10 last year passed the Organic Act of the National Human Rights Committee (國家人權委員會組織法), paving the way for the establishment of a 10-member committee. However, a Control Yuan member, or a member of the National Human Rights Committee’s standing committee can propose an issue that would be debated and rigorously reviewed before the rights committee decides to accept the case. The Human Rights Committee is to have 10 members, including the Control Yuan president. The terms of the current Control Yuan members end on Friday, with the new members to assume their posts the following day.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
CTS rejects KMT lawmakers’ allegations
“The Ministry of Culture signed an agreement for CTS to produce its television programs with the NT$96 million subsidy. The agreement stated that CTS must invite bid by open tender, but it did not do so,” Lin said. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times“Instead, CTS gave production projects directly to five outside companies, which received a total of NT$87 million, or 91 percent of the ministry’s subsidy,” Lin said. We demand an investigation by the government ethics office, since CTS had deviated from the procedures the culture ministry stipulated in the agreement,” Lee said. “Therefore the ministry helped to obtain the funding, and abided by the professionalism and programming production of works under taken by CTS.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ministry scraps global video platform
Ministry scraps global video platformDIGITAL PLAN: The NPP said the Ministry of Culture must explain the controversy surrounding the platform and what it plans to do with the budget allocated for itBy Sherry Hsiao and Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporters, with CNAThe Ministry of Culture yesterday scrapped the Public Television Service’s (PTS, 公視) “international video platform” after it sparked controversy following reports that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) tried to use the platform as a mouthpiece and interfere with its personnel plans. However, the ministry said that to prevent the controversy from spreading, it has terminated the international video platform commission following a careful and comprehensive assessment. She saw a detailed version of the international video platform plan at an extraordinary board meeting on Monday, Hsu said. The ministry has terminated the application for the case, it said, calling for rational discussion among various groups on how an international video platform could be planned. The government is obligated to tell lawmakers what it plans to do with the NT$5.8 billion (US$196.6 million) budget that had been earmarked for the platform, Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2020 15:56 UTC
US bill outlines Taiwan defense conditions
US bill outlines Taiwan defense conditionsBy Peng Wang-hsin / Staff reporterProposed legislation in the US outlines three conditions in which Washington would be authorized to protect Taiwan were China to invade, a report said yesterday. US Representative Ted Yoho this month said he would introduce a Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, which would authorize US military force if China were to invade Taiwan-controlled areas, including its outlying islands. The bill would have a five-year sunset clause, Yoho said. “Taiwan has never been part of the PRC, nor do they want to,” he said, adding that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait need peaceful negotiations. US Representative Mike Gallagher on June 30 proposed a draft Taiwan Defense Act, which would ensure that the US Armed Forces would act in the case of a Chinese “fait accompli” invasion of Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
NPP calls out KMT lawmaker over his thesis
NPP calls out KMT lawmaker over his thesisBy Wu Su-wei and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerNew Power Party (NPP) Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday called for the recusal of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) from the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee, saying that Cheng is facing allegations of plagiarism and could be the subject of a Ministry of Education investigation. Cheng, together with the KMT, should issue a public apology to Hsinchu County voters, Hsu said at a news conference in Taipei. Former NPP legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said at a news conference last week that Cheng had plagiarized 50 percent of his doctoral thesis at Chung Hwa University. New Power Party Chairman Hsu Yung-ming, second left, holds a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, accusing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien of plagiarism. Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media on Thursday last week said that Lee plagiarized 96 percent of her master’s thesis.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ministry introduces measures to ensure thesis quality
Ministry introduces measures to ensure thesis qualityBy Wu Po-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Ministry of Education yesterday unveiled eight measures designed to ensure the quality of graduate theses following allegations of plagiarism and writing by proxies. The Ministry of Education building is pictured in Taipei on Friday last week. The cases also raised doubts about the quality of education at various institutions, as well as these institutions’ mechanisms for controlling the quality of students’ theses, he said, adding that the ministry hopes to resolve the issue by supervising schools and implementing the eight measures. The measures, which are to be implemented next year, aim to improve the quality of local degree programs. Cases where students are suspected of employing proxy writers for their theses would be investigated by the ministry, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chinese boat crew facing charges
Chinese boat crew facing chargesBy Huang Chia-lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerEighteen Chinese fishers were yesterday charged with allegedly catching eel in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) last week after they were apprehended by a joint Coast Guard Administration and Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office task force. A Hainan-registered Chinese fishing boat is caught allegedly fishing illegally in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands) on Friday last week. Eels found after a Hainan-registered Chinese boat was caught allegedly fishing illegally in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands) on Friday last week are pictured. The coast guard said that its ships are patrolling near the Pratas Islands throughout the day to safeguard the rights of the Taiwanese fisheries industry. The coast guard said that its actions would also go a long way toward ensuring the sustainable development of local marine resources.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Rethink medical tourist start date: KMT, groups
Chiang asked whether the safety of Taiwanese and the nation’s frontline medical staff should be risked for the healthcare rights of foreign patients. KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) asked whether there were diplomatic or economic factors behind the ministry’s decision to allow foreign medical patients entry at this time. The ministry should listen to the voices of the nation’s frontline medical workers, she said, urging the ministry to reconsider the policy. Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety representative Chien Li-chien (簡立建) said that before announcing such policies, the government should communicate with the nation’s frontline medical workers. Nationality is not important when helping patients, but it is crucial to protect the nation’s medical personnel and healthcare resources, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2020 15:56 UTC
Minister explains fresh stimulus program
Minister explains fresh stimulus programBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe government’s NT$210 billion (US$7.12 billion) Stimulus 3.0 program is to provide more relief to Taiwanese businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told a news conference yesterday. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua smiles during a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “We have heard from young entrepreneurs that they are having difficulty obtaining loans from local lenders. This government program will fill that need and create 100,000 job opportunities,” Wang said. The program is slated to launch on Saturday and to qualify, young entrepreneurs need to be aged 20 to 45, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
PTS executives resign after vote
PTS executives resign after voteBy Chen Yu-hsun / Staff reporterThree Public Television Service (PTS) executives, including the president, yesterday resigned after a controversial plan was passed at a board meeting. PTS president Tsao Wen-chieh (曹文傑), executive vice president Hsieh Tsui-yu (謝翠玉) and news department manager Su Chi-chen (蘇啟禎) tendered their resignations after the vote. Public Television Service board member Feng Hsiao-fei talks to reporters after a board meeting at the company’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chen Yu-hsun, Taipei TimesAfter Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) on Tuesday last week confirmed that PTS was planning the project, there had been rumors that the project had not been approved by the PTS board of directors. PTS last month submitted a request for funding from the ministry, with NT$45 million (US$1.53 million) earmarked for the pilot project.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
Control Yuan chides CEC over power plant petition
Control Yuan chides CEC over power plant petition‘NEGLIGENT’: A referendum proposal to activate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant combines two policy issues and is problematic, a Control Yuan member saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterCentral Election Committee (CEC) officials should be held responsible for wrongful conduct and negligence over a referendum petition calling on the government to activate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and use it for commercial energy generation, Control Yuan members said yesterday. The CEC in December last year said that Huang’s petition had reached the legal threshold for a referendum to be held. 4 nuclear power project has been shelved and to restart it would mean to repeal a major government policy decision,” Tien said. “Therefore this referendum question combines two major government policy decisions. According to the Referendum Act (公民投票法), two policy decisions cannot be combined into one referendum question for people to vote on,” she said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei Zoo launches panda cub naming campaign
Taipei Zoo launches panda cub naming campaignStaff writer, with CNATaipei Zoo has begun a campaign to find a name for a panda cub born at the zoo on June 28, a spokesman said yesterday. A one-month-old panda cub nicknamed Jou Jou, the second cub of Taipei Zoo’s giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, is pictured yesterday at the zoo. The new cub is the second to be born to giant pandas Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓), who were gifted to Taiwan by China in 2008. Their first cub, born in 2013, was named Yuan Zai (圓仔). The young panda has also shown greater resilience to changes in its environment and is less likely than Yuan Zai to call out, Tsao added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
iPass issues Olympic-inspired card
iPass issues Olympic-inspired cardBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterStarting tomorrow, iPass Corp is to begin taking orders for a new smart card featuring the national team’s uniform for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Olympic team uniform is one way to show national honor and athletic spirit, the Kaohsiung-based company said. A limited-edition iPass card design featuring the nation’s team uniform for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is displayed at a news conference yesterday in Taipei. The new card is the first partnership between the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and iPass, the card company said. The Olympic team uniform was used as the basis for the card design, with a plum flower national emblem added to it, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2020 15:56 UTC