Constitutional reform crucial: Tsai
Tsai made the remarks in a speech at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) national congress in Taipei, which she presided over in her capacity as party chairperson. Tsai highlighted major missions for the party. Tsai also called on opposition parties, saying that all parties should cherish the “constitutional moment.”Second, the DPP should dedicate more resources to cultivating young talent for the nation, she said. The KMT would establish a constitutional amendment committee comprising party members and academics to discuss issues, including the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan, she said. New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said his party would support constitutional reform, as it would address issues that have long been unresolved.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2020 15:56 UTC
Kenting beaches packed with microplastic debris
Kenting beaches packed with microplastic debrisHEALTH RISK? The microplastics found in Kenting sand have an average density of 200 microplastic particles per kilogram, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium deputy director Chen Te-hao (陳德豪) told reporters on Thursday, citing surveys conducted by the museum. The microplastics might become new channels for the transmission of pathogenic bacteria and antibody-resistant bacteria, he said. Nanwan Beach in Pingtung County’s Kenting area was packed with visitors yesterday. The concentration of microplastics in seawater was found to increase by five times when the Kuroshio current flowed by the coast of Taitung County, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2020 15:56 UTC
Commission takes people on tour of White Terror-era holding, torture sites
Commission takes people on tour of White Terror-era holding, torture sitesBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Transitional Justice Commission yesterday took members of the public on a guided tour of sites where political prisoners were held and tortured during the White Terror era. Among the sites visited was a facility where the government used to torture political prisoners to extract confessions from them. A woman during a tour led by the Transitional Justice Commission yesterday stands at a monitoring podium at a former Investigation Bureau detention center in Taipei to see how guards could watch all the prisoners at once. The Investigation Bureau appeared to have chosen the site of the facility — a one-story building — because of its location at the fringe of the city, he said. Another detention center at 28 Liangzhou St in Taipei was later demolished and replaced with a parking lot.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP ‘insistent about lay judge system’
DPP ‘insistent about lay judge system’TOO MUCH CHANGE: Sources said the DPP thought the jury system was ‘too risky,’ and rejected a proposal by civic groups to combine the jury and lay judge systemsBy Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporterDespite six failed negotiations with civic groups, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration is adamant about pushing through its proposals for introducing a lay judge system, rather than a jury system, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Lawmakers have failed to reach a consensus on at least 100 draft articles on the lay judge system, which are expected to be voted on during an extraordinary session this week. The DPP caucus insisted on a six-year trial of the proposed lay judge system, because of concerns about the higher costs of a jury system, they added. Separately, Northern Taiwan Society chairman Li Chuan-hsin (李川信) on Saturday called on the DPP to clarify its shift in support from a jury system to a lay judge system. He said he was concerned that a lay judge system would allow career judges to sway lay judges’ verdicts, adding that the DPP should wait and not allow itself to be hijacked by people working in the judiciary.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2020 15:56 UTC
INTERVIEW: Jury system backer outlines case against lay judges
INTERVIEW: Jury system backer outlines case against lay judgesTaiwan Jury Association founding chairman Jerry Cheng in an interview with ‘Taipei Times’ reporter Huang Tai-lin expounded on his belief that a jury system is a better remedy than the government’s proposed lay judge model to eradicate the judicial maladies that have plagued the nation’s judiciaryTaipei Times: Why do you believe Taiwan must push for a jury system? While it is no panacea, I believe a jury system could be a solution to most of the problems. However, after the employment of the lay judge system, the issue has not been solved. It adopted the jury system in 1845, but Article 46 of [Beijing’s recent] national security legislation removes the jury system, because the existence of juries means that authorities cannot employ heavy-handed means and beleaguer political opponents. TT: Be it a jury system or a lay judge model, do you think the nation’s judiciary is ready for public participation in trials?
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei mayor holds 55 percent approval rating: poll
Taipei mayor holds 55 percent approval rating: pollBy Lee I-chia / Staff ReporterTaipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has a 55 percent approval rating among city residents, a survey released on Friday by the Taipei Research, Development and Evaluation Commission showed. Ko’s approval rating was the same as a poll conducted in December last year, and his disapproval rating was 2 perentage points lower. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, second right, Taiwan Tourism Interchange Association President Lai Pi-chen, left, and Taipei Hot Spring Association president Chou Shuei-mei, second left, attend the opening of the Taipei Summer Travel Expo on Friday. It collected valid responses from 1,083 city residents, while 1,075 people refused to take the survey. Both options would require a tunnel, the construction of which could affect the water quality at the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫), the main source of water for Taipei and New Taipei City, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Files tie Chiang Ching-kuo to NTU surveillance
Files tie Chiang Ching-kuo to NTU surveillanceBy Chen Yu-fu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerNewly declassified documents tie former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) to the political persecution of members of National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Department of Philosophy in the 1970s, the Transitional Justice Commission said. Chiang, who was premier at the time, should ultimately be considered responsible for the persecution, the commission said. The commission made the remarks after the National Security Bureau and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau declassified intelligence files related to what is known as the NTU Department of Philosophy Incident. However, the National Security Bureau appeared to be more inclined to support Sun in his purge, the files show. The NTU Department of Philosophy Incident happened because Chiang could not make his judgements based on facts, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT undecided on fate of branches
KMT undecided on fate of branchesCALL FOR UNITY: Inside the KMT, debate remains about whether to abolish the Examination Yuan and Control Yuan, but the DPP says they should work togetherBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) will not finalize its stance on the fate of the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan until after it holds intraparty discussions, KMT spokeswoman Hung Yu-chien (洪于茜) said yesterday. Possible scenarios for the two branches of government include temporarily freezing them, abolishing them or shifting their operations to a task-based model, Hung said. The KMT would hold more discussions after it establishes a constitutional amendment committee, which would be comprised of party members and academics, she said. The entrance to the Control Yuan is pictured in Taipei on June 17. Although the KMT has not formed a consensus on the matter, it is difficult for some party members to agree with KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲), who — along with a few other KMT lawmakers — has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the DPP on abolishing the two branches, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
At DPP congress, groups to vie for high-ranking seats
At DPP congress, groups to vie for high-ranking seatsBy Huang Shin-po and Jason Pan / Staff reportersGroups within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are expected to vie for high-level positions at the party’s national congress today in Taipei, while leading party figures are to stump for its Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). On the agenda is the election of the party’s core power structure, which consists of the decisionmaking bodies of the Central Executive Committee and Central Standing Committee. The Democratic Progressive Party’s logo is displayed at the party’s headquarters in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Su Fun-her, Taipei TimesThe party’s charter stipulates that the congress must elect 30 members for the executive committee, from which party members would choose 10 to make up the standing committee. Another position of contention is chairperson of the DPP Central Review Committee, with Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) reportedly favored by Ing’s Clique while others are reportedly aligned to Kaohsiung City Councilor Kang Yu-cheng (康裕成), they added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
NTNU course offers VR smell help
NTNU course offers VR smell helpBy Wu Po-hsuan and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerNational Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) has designed a virtual reality (VR) course combined with aromatherapy to increase the well-being of elderly people, with the research results published in an international medical journal. The course allows people to play a game in which they can smell natural scents, Guo said, adding that the scents help stabilize emotions and ease discomfort. The course and research findings have been published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Guo said. PureAroma Healing Academy principal Cheng Ya-wen (鄭雅文), who collaborated with NTNU on the course, said that initially, scents were delivered manually. The upgraded version, dubbed the “VR 2.0 course,” uses a scent diffuser containing seven fragrances in front of the player.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Changhua eyes tourist boom with bomb shelter plan
Changhua eyes tourist boom with bomb shelter planBy Chang Tsung-chiu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Changhua County Government yesterday said it hopes to open a 69-year-old bomb shelter on Baguashan (八卦山) to visitors as part of a plan to turn the location into a military tourism hotspot. The bomb shelter — which is 98m long, 2.2m wide and 2.2m high — is near the Baguashan Silver Bridge, one of the most iconic tourist spots on Baguashan, but the shelter is only accessible to groups or institutions that have made a reservation, the county government said. Baguashan Silver Bridge is pictured in Changhua County yesterday. Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said that the bomb shelter has the potential to become a tourist hotspot. The commissioner is considering whether to make the bomb shelter part of a military technology area that offers visitors an immersive experience, Tien said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
HK office in ‘one China’ standoff
HK office in ‘one China’ standoffBy Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA and ReutersTaiwanese officials in Hong Kong have been told that their visas would not be renewed if they do not sign a document supporting Beijing’s claim to Taiwan under its “one China” principle, sources have said. The title and logo of the Mainland Affairs Council are pictured on a podium at the council’s offices in Taipei in an undated photograph. Our representatives in Hong Kong will hold fast to their position.”The Hong Kong Immigration Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chen made the remarks when asked about the Hong Kong government reportedly demanding that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong sign a document agreeing to Beijing’s “one China” principle before the visa of Acting Representative to Hong Kong Kao Ming-tsun (高銘村) would be renewed. The office has five divisions — consular affairs; news and culture; general; economy; and contact — and its officials are on three-year rotations.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 16:00 UTC
Humans all from one community: Hsinchu exhibition
Humans all from one community: Hsinchu exhibition‘YOU ARE ME’: The exhibition hopes to bring people together in the post-COVID-19 era by showcasing how people belong to one communityBy Hung Mei-hsiu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe theme of the Hsinchu City Art Gallery’s new exhibition is that all humans — regardless of ethnicity, skin color or nationality — belong to the same community, with the hope that the displays would enrich people’s experience in a post-COVID-19 era. Due to COVID-19, Germany-based artists Achim Mohne and Uta Kopp, two of the artists featured in the exhibition, contributed their works via videoconferencing, the museum said. Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien, right, accompanied by Australia-based international exhibition curator Annie Ivanova, left, looks at an art installation at the special exhibition “You Are Me — Mapping New Geographies” at Hsinchu City Art Gallery on Thursday. Empty spaces have been left among the portraits hung along the exhibition wall so that viewers can stand in the spaces and take a selfie with the portraits, the museum added. Other participating artists include Tseng Yu-chuan (曾鈺涓), Liao Chi-yu (廖祈羽), Lin Hao-chiang (林豪鏘) and Liu Chih-hung (劉致宏), it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Study reveals key genetic mutations of nonsmokers
Study reveals key genetic mutations of nonsmokersINSIGHT: The study hopes to raise public awareness of the potential carcinogenesis of food additives and secondhand smoke, as well as hereditary factorsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterA team of researchers yesterday unveiled the key genetic mutations of nonsmoking lung cancer patients, aiming to develop early diagnostic tools and precision medicine for the disease. Along with the US Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium, they studied tumor progression of patients in Taiwan and the US, she said. The study helps with the development of screening tools through blood testing, which would allow high-risk groups for lung cancer to avoid carcinogenic substances or behaviors, he said. However, the program has only received four years of funding, which is to end next year, Chen Yu-ru said. The funding has shrunk annually, she added, while expressing the hope that the government would continue to support the program.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Government mulls more funds for virus-hit firms
The government has already spent NT$200 billion (US$6.8 million) helping firms combat the COVID-19-related slowdown. Stimulus 3.0 is likely to add another NT$200 billion of relief, which would be allocated to support Taiwanese businesses hardest hit by COVID-19, mostly in the manufacturing sector, Wang said. “Orders in the traditional manufacturing sector such as textile and heavy machinery industries have dried up severely,” she said. Separately, people have claimed nearly 6.7 million vouchers as part of the government’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program, which started on Wednesday, with 1.73 million claimed electronically, the ministry’s data showed. Businesses can take the vouchers to banks or post offices to exchange them starting from Thursday next week, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2020 15:56 UTC