20120529 3pm

3PM Intro

Good afternoon. It's time for ICRT news at 3. I'm Mike Woodward.

Taiwan's Finance Minister Resigns

First, Taiwan news... Finance minister Christina Liu has tendered her resignation ... as the controversy about the implementation of a capital gains tax continues to grow. The Finance Ministry issued a statement saying Liu can't accept the version of the bill being considered by the KMT's legislative caucus ... calling it too far away from what the government had proposed. The K-M-T legislative caucus has proposed a dual tax system - which will allow individual investors to opt to declare their capital gains through stock trading as personal income tax, or by substituting the capital gains tax with a stock transaction tax. According to reports, premier Sean Chen is planning to talk to Liu ... although it's unclear if he is planning to accept the resignation or ask her to stay on. Liu's proposal to implement a capital gains tax has received strong opposition from the business community and legislature. President Ma Ying-jeou has said he wants to pass the capital gains tax bill before the end of the current legislative session - which has been extended until June 15-th. The government wants to implement the new tax in 2013. (jm)

Taiwanese troupe honored

A Taiwanese performance troupe of schoolchildren stood out from among nearly 100 groups to win an award for its overall performance at the Berlin Carnival of Cultures. The group from Jianshan Elementary School in Gaoxiong was one of three groups at the annual event to win the prestigious award, encompassing general performance, musical skills and formations. The young children, dressed in costumes representing Taiwan's aboriginal tribes, performed folk songs and ancient tunes of the Bunun tribe on Saturday. The next day, they beat drums and danced to Samba music in a nine-hour street procession that attracted more than 4,000 performers from 99 performing arts groups. School principal Lin Rong-yi accepted the award on the open-air stage in Berlin yesterday while the children were away performing with a local band in central Germany. Two other groups won awards at the carnival for best floats and two were honored as the best teen groups. The Berlin Carnival of Cultures is one of the biggest annual cultural events held in Germany's capital. (jm)

suu kyi

in regional news... After 24 years in Myanmar, most of them spent under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi leaves today on an international tour to connect with world leaders and to deliver a Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech more than two decades overdue. Bangkok's towering skyscrapers and sprawling urban lights will be the opposition leader's first glimpse of the outside world, a stark contrast to the sleepy city of Yangon where the former military regime kept her a prisoner in her own home for a total of 15 years. She is to arrive tonight and spend several days in Thailand, where she'll speak Friday at the World Economic Forum on East Asia. In mid-June she'll head to Europe, with stops in Geneva and Oslo _ to formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize she won 21 years ago. In Dublin, she'll share a stage with U2 frontman Bono, a staunch Suu Kyi supporter, at a concert in her honor, according to Irish media. In England, she has been given the rare honor of addressing both houses of Parliament.

cubs

in sports action... The Cubs finally put an end to their lengthy losing streak. Correspondent Rory Spears reports.

weather

Taiwan weather forecast for tonight according to the Central Weather Bureau, rain up north, clear skies mid-island and rain down south. Lows tonite north, center and south respectively: 24, 24 and 25. At the moment Taipei is rather cloudy and 30, Taichung fairly cloudy and 30, Gauhsiung a bit cloudy as well and 31.

3PM Outro

That's ICRT News at 3. Thank you for listening. I'm Mike Woodward.