New Premier Vows to Prioritize Reforms
- President Tsai Ing-Wen announced a major cabinet reshuffling on Tuesday as the first Premier of her administration, Lin Chuan, resigned on Thursday and was immediately succeeded by William Lai, the former mayor of Tainan City on Friday.
- Lai plans to tackle domestic reforms focused on Taiwan’s industrial transformation, which includes handling impacts created by the “one fixed, one flexible day off” policy, energy transformation and an aging society.
- He emphasized that his cabinet will be a practical cabinet that is dedicated to solving social problems instead of winning elections, but his appointment is widely seen as preparation for DPP’s 2018 election campaigns.
Airbnb Registers for Filing Tax in Taiwan
- The online lodging giant Airbnb completed its registration for filing tax in Taiwan this week, following the footsteps of other foreign tech companies including Facebook, Google, Dropbox, and Uber.
- As the government continues to encourage foreign tech companies to complete tax registration, August has seen the number of registered companies surpassing the record in July. The first quarter saw the overall tax revenue from cross-border tech companies grow to more than $4000 million NTD, and the government expects the tax revenue for July and August to surpass that record.
Lee Ming-Che’s Wife Headed to China for His Trial
- The official trial for human rights advocate Lee Ming-Che has been scheduled on September 11th, and his wife, Lee Ching-Yu, departed from Taoyuan Airport on September 10th to attend the hearing.
- Lee expressed that there is the possibility that her husband would be coerced into pleading guilty for subversion of state power. She also learned about her mother-in-law’s surprised plan to also attend the trial in China, which former DPP legislator Wang Li-Ping suspected as a possible move triggered by the Chinese government.
- Lee emphasized that the only purpose of her trip is to find a way to ensure the safe return of her husband.
A Love Note to Rainy Days in Taipei
- Taipei may not be so well-known for its rain like London, but there is certainly no shortage of long rainy season in this city. While inconvenience comes quite easily with pouring rains, there are still ways to help you enjoy rainy days in Taipei. Taipei Love Notes shares one love note on rainy days in Taipei with us this week.
(Feature photo by William Yang)
William is a journalist for Deutsche Welle, and was News Director at Ketagalan Media. He holds a Master of Journalism degree from Temple University, and he also contributes to major international media outlets including Quartz and BuzzFeed. He is based in Taipei.
Latest posts by William Yang (see all)