Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/24
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 24 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said Wednesday that he does not rule out the possibility of visiting Taiping Island, the biggest Taiwan-controlled island in the contested South China Sea, but added that he has no immediate plans to do so.

Taiping in the Spratly Islands is part of the territory of the Republic of China, so there is a legitimate possibility that he could visit, Ma said in response to reporters’ questions during a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

“I currently have no plans to visit (Taiping), but I will not rule out the possibility,” Ma said, during a question-and-answer session with the media and foreign affairs officials.

With an area of 0.49 square kilometers, Taiping, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest natural land mass in the Spratlys, which lie about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Taiwan, in the South China Sea.     [FULL  STORY]

Shanghaiist
Date: Jun 23, 2015
By Sharon Choi

After images of an attractive bean curd seller in Taiwan spread across social media, fans did some digging to try to identify the rumored shop owner’s son.

It turns out that the man’s name is Yi Tin Chen (陳奕廷), and when he’s not creating long queues of oglers outside of the bean curd shop in the Beitou district of Taipei, he works as a promotional model, according to his Facebook profile. Are we surprised?

The smokin’ hot 26-year-old was captain of his high school basketball team and currently lives in Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-23
By: Yen Tieh-lin

June 16 was the deadline for Beijing to offer a rebuttal a rebuttal to the Philippines’

explanations on disputes in the South China Sea to the UN Arbitral Tribunal, but as expected, the Chinese government did not issue any comment. The case now enters the debate stage.

In January 2013, the Philippines took a legal step to counter China’s claim that it owns virtually the entire South China Sea. Manila formally notified Beijing that it was seeking international arbitration to declare Chinese moves in the resource-rich waters “illegal and invalid,” according to the Article 287 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The tribunal has published four procedural commands since then but China has maintained its position not to accept or participate in the arbitration, without offering any rebuttal.

Yet China’s foreign ministry last December unveiled a statement to detail its position in the case. It emphasized that the disputes over the sovereignty of reefs and islands do not fall under the the convention and therefore the tribunal has no jurisdiction. It also said that in 2006, the Chinese government issued a statement saying that it would not accept an external mechanism for the resolution of disputes and its current military activities.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/23
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Taiwan on Tuesday called on veterans who fought in the

Second Sino-Japanese War not to be influenced by Beijing’s united front campaign and to avoid attending an event in September to commemorate what China claims is “the victory of the Chinese people” in the eight-year war.

Ministry of National Defense spokesman Luo Shou-he (羅紹和) stressed that the victory belongs to the Republic of China and said this fact cannot be distorted.

He urged the veterans who fought in the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945) to keep the ROC in mind and not to be swayed by Beijing’s unification propaganda, when asked about China’s plan to invite old soldiers to participate in a military parade slated for Sept. 3 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/23
By: Bian Chin-feng & Bear Lee

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) Afternoon thunderstorms in Taiwan on Tuesday disrupted air

traffic at Taoyuan International Airport, forcing one flight to return to Wenxhou in China, airport authorities said.

The heavy downpours flooded parts of the airport’s aprons, especially the area for domestic flights, the authorities said.

Airport officials said air traffic will return to normal after the rain stops.

CONTENTIOUS CUTS:The Taipei mayor also plans to reduce benefits for Taipei’s wealthy elderly, who might see their rights to free bus travel and other subsidies cut

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 23, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Discounts for EasyCard use are to be canceled as part of an adjustment of public transportation

ticket prices, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.

He said that the discounts would be canceled to make accounting simpler for the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) which has been shouldering the cost of the discounts.

EasyCard users currently enjoy a 20 percent discount on MRT rides along with an additional 20 percent discount for transfers between the MRT and city buses.

Ko added that the canceling of the discounts would not necessarily entail a price hike, because it would be paired with the implementation of a new formula for calculating public transportation usage fees.

“In the future, the MRT, city buses and the YouBike system will all be viewed as parts of Taipei’s public transportation system,” Ko said. “Switching to a different mode of transportation within 30 minutes will be considered a single trip.”     [FULL  STORY]