MA’S MANTRA:The former president said the 1992 cross-strait delegates had told him there had been no such consensus, and that Ma only invited ridicule by ‘chanting’ it

Taipei Times
Date: May 03, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said that there is no such

thing as the so-called “1992 consensus” and it “only incurs ridicule” when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) keeps “chanting” it.

The 92-year-old former president attended the 2015 Convention on the Action Plan for Constitutional Reform, co-hosted by several civic groups, including Civil Alliance to Promote Constitutional Reform (CAPCR) and the Lee Teng-hui Foundation, as the “honorary convener” yesterday.

Asked how he views the visit by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to Beijing and Chu’s scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) tomorrow, Lee said Chu went to China “to represent the KMT, [so] it has nothing to do with me nor with Taiwanese, as it’s the KMT’s own business.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/01
By: Wang Chao-yi and Lilian Wu

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A man surnamed Shih has been turned over to law enforcement authorities for allegedly sneaking 312 kilograms of ketamine from China with a market value of NT$150 million (US$4.9 million) into Taiwan, investigators announced Friday.

Investigators said that another case in which they seized 667.4 kg of ketamine in Tainan in February led them to track down Shih.

Shih imported the ketamine in a shipment of 12 wooden crates of large-sized Chinese characters used on shop signs or advertisements imported from Guangdong province to Kaohsiung via Keelung.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-01
By: CNA

Two more teams organized by Taiwanese charity groups are set to provide

relief assistance to survivors in Nepal in the wake of a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that devastated large areas of the Himalayan country and killed thousands.

One of the teams is a 60-member group from the New Taipei-based Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps, said Ray Mou, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of NGO International Affairs, at a news briefing.

The group, which is scheduled to depart for Nepal May 2, will consist of doctors, nurses and volunteers, and will begin offering medical services to the injured as soon as it arrives, the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps told CNA. They are set to stay there for a week, it added.     [FULL  STORY]

‘GUAVA CHECKS’:Protesters including nurses and police officers complained of being made to work excessive hours and said that legislation meant to help them was toothless

Taipei Times
Date: May 02, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Tens of thousands of labor union members and workers from various industries

yesterday braved intermittent rain and took to the streets in Taipei on International Workers’ Day, demanding an immediate end to overwork, long working hours, stagnant salaries and the employment of temporary workers.

Holding flags and signs outlining their demands, more than 10,000 nurses, police officers, firefighters, migrant workers, flight attendants, pilots, teachers and finance workers gathered along Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building yesterday afternoon to protest against work exploitation and accuse the government of having turned a blind eye to their predicaments.

“We workers are no fools,” Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions director-general Chuang Chueh-an (莊爵安), the leader of the rally, told the large crowd of protesters.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/01
By: W. T. Chen and Flor Wang

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A highly anticipated two-month rainy season appeared to begin on Friday amid Taiwan’s worst drought in decades, with weathermen calling it a good omen for the country.

Cheng Ming-dean, director of the Central Weather Bureau’s Forecast Center, announced the arrival of this year’s monsoon rain season on his Facebook page on Friday when rain fell in New Taipei.

According to the bureau, rainfall in the city’s Xindian District reached 43.5 millimeters per hour, while that in Shenkeng and Shiding districts reached over 20 millimeters per hour.     [FULL  STORY]

Bangkok Post
Date: 30 Apr 2015
By: AFP

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s top court on Thursday upheld a life sentence handed down to

a man who murdered his sister and pickled her head in a gruesome crime that shocked the island.

Chen Chia-fu, 39, was arrested and later indicted on suspicion of murdering and dismembering his sister in 2012 for an insurance payout of around $200,000. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty saying that Chen showed no remorse.

A district court in 2014 sentenced him to life in prison on the grounds that he had no prior criminal record and grew up in an “abnormal” family with a history of violence and mental disorders.

Both prosecutors and Chen, who had pleaded not guilty, appealed to the high court over the ruling, and then the supreme court, which both maintained the previous sentencing.     [FULL  STORY]

Bangkok Post
Date: 30 Apr 2015
By: AFP

TAIPEI – Pungent slices of fermented tofu, piping hot pork buns and crisp green

guava slices are some of Taiwan’s classic street eats, with the best stalls attracting queues of locals and visitors.

Now these no-frills favourites are being joined by a new wave of restaurants tapping in to the island’s abundant fresh produce and vibrant cuisine.

Their fusion of seasonal menus and slick interiors at modest prices is starting to create an international buzz — Conde Nast Traveller magazine has labelled Taiwan as the “foodie destination of 2015”.

The island’s star chef, Andre Chiang — who trained in France and runs the acclaimed Restaurant Andre in Singapore — recently opened his first venue on home turf, RAW, in northern Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/30
By: Cheng Chi-feng, Hsiao Po-yang and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Many places in Taiwan are set to see the peak of firefly activity in May, when the insects breed, local governments said Thursday.

In northern Taiwan’s New Taipei City, the firefly season could continue through early June, according to city government’s Agricultural Department, which has listed 48 hot spots for firefly watching.

These places include the Yuanshan hiking trail in Sanxia District, the historic streets of Pingxi District, and the Emerald Pond in Xizhi District.

Vistors to the city can observe over 30 percent of Taiwan’s 60 firefly species, thanks to improved conservation efforts, said department head Liao Jung-ching (廖榮清).     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/30
By: Tang Pei-chun, Sofia Yeh, Kelven Huang, Yang Sze-jui and S.C.
Chang

Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Visiting former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihido Noda urged Taiwan Thursday to review its policy on restricting imports of Japanese food items suspected of radioactive contamination in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Noda was among a group of 10 Japanese lawmakers visiting Taiwan mainly to discuss food safety issues as Taiwan was scheduled to tighten regulations May 15 related to Japanese food imports after it was found that food items from the radiation-affected prefectures of Gunma, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Chiba had made their way illegally into Taiwan last month.

The new measures, requested by the Legislature, require that the specific places of origin, rather than just the country of origin, be listed on Japanese food products. For some products, a radiation inspection certificate will also be required.     [FULL  STORY]