Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/02
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) American personnel arrived in Taiwan Thursday evening to repair a
mechanical problem on one of two American F-18 fighters that made an emergency landing at an air force base in Taiwan the previous day.

Taiwan’s Air Force and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan, both confirmed that a C-130 transport plane carrying U.S. maintenance personnel and aircraft parts had arrived at Tainan Air Force Base in southern Taiwan.

It was not immediately clear how long it would take to repair the aircraft. Taiwan’s Air Force said that it will provide any necessary logistics assistance to the U.S. personnel.     [FULL  STORY]

BLACK-BOX CHARGES:The KMT caucus said that protesters’ accusations that the bid was secretive were over-politicizing the matter, as Beijing had not responded yet

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 02, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said that “no legislative caucus is

opposed to the nation’s intention to join China’s proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank [AIIB].”

However, he also added in comments made after a closed-door meeting with Executive Yuan officials and legislative caucus representatives across party lines that there would be no entering the bank “if national dignity is not maintained.”

Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and ministers involved in the handling of the bid to join the bank visited the Legislative Yuan, meeting Wang and the opposition parties’ caucus whips to discuss the bid.

The move to has been met with suspicion from opposition lawmakers and sparked protests late on Tuesday night.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/01
By: Lawrence Chiu and Elizabeth Hsu

Beijing, April 1 (CNA) China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has received Taiwan’s letter of intent to join

its proposed Asian Investment Bank (AIIB) and welcomes its participation — under the “proper name” — the office’s spokesman, Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), said Wednesday.

The letter of intent has been handed over to the provisional secretariat of the AIIB, Ma told CNA.

However, as of press time, no information on Taiwan’s application for access as a member of the proposed bank has been published on the official website of China’s Ministry of Finance, which is in charge of updating data on AIIB membership applications from around the world.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-01
By: CNA

Taiwanese pop diva A-mei, a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage and other gay rights,

has rolled out two “rainbow products” to support the gay community, ahead of an April concert marathon in Taipei.

One of the products is a rainbow towel printed with the word “Utopia,” while another is a handheld sign that can be used as a hand fan or a sign to rally for gay rights.

The design of the sign is being kept a surprise, but 12,000 of them, each priced at NT$100 (US$3.20), will be sold at the Taipei Arena, the venue of the “Utopia” concerts, beginning April 4, according to A-mei’s record label EMI.     [FULL  STORY]

SELF-DEGRADING:One activist said the government filing an application to join the AIIB through the TAO was equivalent to admitting that Taiwan was a part of China

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 02, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

Following the government’s announcement that it had asked China’s Taiwan Affairs Office

(TAO) to forward its application to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Tuesday, hundreds of people rallied outside the Presidential Office Building late into the night and into the morning yesterday to protest the move.

Holding banners and shouting slogans accusing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of being a traitor, a crowd of more than 30 people — mobilized by several student activist groups, including the Black Island National Youth Front and Democracy Tautin — gathered in front of the Presidential Office Building without prior notice at about 9:30pm on Tuesday night     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/01
By: Elaine Hou and Lu Hsin-hui

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Two American F-18 fighters have made a rare landing at an Air Force

base in Taiwan after one of the planes encountered mechanical problems, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed Wednesday.

The pilots landed their planes at Tainan Air Force Base at 1:19 p.m. on Wednesday after requesting permission to land because of a mechanical glitch in one of the two aircraft, the ministry said.

Mark Zimmer, the spokesman for the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the U.S.’s de facto embassy in Taiwan, could not provide further details on the planes, but he confirmed that the crew members and the planes are safe and thanked Taiwan for its assistance.     [FULL  STORY]

Chang Yi-hisn, who suffers from erectile dysfunction, faces life in jail In botched suicide attempt he tried to flatten himself under a garage door Rang fire brigade to free him – but failed to mention he’d murdered his wife When asked if he lived alone he told rescuers: ‘Oh, I also stabbed my wife’

Daily Mail
Date: 31 March 2015
By Elaine O’flynn For Mailonline

A husband hacked his wife to death with a meat cleaver after she made fun of him for not

being able to get an erection.

Chang Yi-hsin flew into a rage at the couple’s family home in Yunlin, west Taiwan, after his wife Lin Yue-gui ridiculed his use of Viagra.

During the argument the 59-year-old told her husband, 63, that the only thing his penis was good for was going to the toilet.

Chang Yi-hsin, who suffers from erectile dysfunction, butchered his wife with a meat cleaver when she ridiculed him for his condition during an argument. He is pictured with her blood splattered over his feet.

Chang attempted to hide the murder weapon by throwing it away. After murdering his wife and leaving her in a pool of blood in their living room he tried to commit suicide by flattening himself under his garage door    [FULL  STORY]

Rocket News 24
Date: March 31, 2015
By: KK Miller

Ghibli films and Hayao Miyazaki are synonymous with anime all over the world, and arguably one of their most popular characters is Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro. It’s easy to see why people love the big huggable guy. He’s cute, he’s fuzzy and he’ll whisk you away on fantastic adventures and introduce you to his other friends, Catbus, blue Totoro and white Totoro.

But when an unofficial Totoro shows up out of the blue, how popular does it need to get before lawyers start sending cease and desist orders?

When people want to use Studio Ghibli characters, they usually obtain the express permission to do so, like with these adorable cream puffs. However, it’s unlikely in this case that the Taiwanese Totoro did as well. So what’s his story?     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-03-31
By: CNA

Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) on Monday launched stricter cockpit safety

regulations to prevent tragedies like Germanwings flight 9525, whose co-pilot appeared to have crashed the jet into mountains on purpose, killing all 150 on board.

The CAA said Taiwanese airlines will now be required to have at least two crew members in the cockpit at all times, one of whom must be a pilot.

The new regulation was announced after the March 24 crash of Flight 9525 in the French Alps, which investigators said was a deliberate act by the co-pilot.

Investigators said co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit and put the plane into a gradual descent until it crashed into the side of a mountain, killing himself, the crew and all passengers.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/03/31
By: Tseng Ying-yu, Lawrence Chiu and Lilian Wu

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Taiwan has sent out a letter of intent on joining the proposed China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Foreign Affairs Minister David Lin (林永樂) said Tuesday.

The letter of intent was sent at around 7 p.m., Lin said. Tuesday is the last day for interested parties to apply for founding membership of the proposed regional bank.

Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said it would be best for Taiwan to join the AIIB under the name of the Republic of China, although he also said that it is not yet time to talk about the name designation.     [FULL  STORY]