REAL-ESTATE DEAL: The mayor questioned an apparent leak of personal data by the government, but Next Magazine said its information came from several sources

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 08, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday accused the media of invading his privacy, amid

reports that he had purchased a luxury apartment in Taipei in 2011 and questions about how he financed the purchase.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate purchased a 90 ping (298m2) apartment in Nangang District (南港) for more than NT$70 million (US$2.3 million at the current exchange rate) and sold it in 2015 at a loss of about 3.5 percent, the Chinese-language Next Magazine reported on Wednesday.

Han yesterday fired back on Facebook.

“A simple and legal sale has been publicized during this period leading up to the elections at the expense of an individual’s privacy,” he wrote. “I strongly question the motivations of the people who leaked the information.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radiio Taiwan International
Date:  Nov 7, 2019
By: Paula Chao
 

ROAR. That’s what Taiwan’s economy did in Q3, even though forecasters were predicting a meow. In today’s show, find out how the country has risen to the top of the four Asian Tigers, with an economic growth rate surpassing South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong! It turns out that the US-China Trade War has brought some unexpected benefits to Taiwan.  

Also, Taiwan has another nickname: Kingdom of Fruit. Today, Natalie Tso guides her co-hosts through some fruity numbers, and offers a look at the new “it” fruit being exported to America: guavas.    [FULL  STORY]

 

The News Lens
Date: 2019/11/07
By: Shreya Dasgupta

A few marine biologists hunted for pygmy seahorses in Taiwan via Facebook and Instagram, and discovered that Taiwan is one of the world’s pygmy seahorse diversity hotspots.

Pygmy seahorses are fascinating animals. These tiny, colorful seahorses measure less than an inch (2.7 centimeters) and match their body colors and textures to those of the vibrant corals they call home. But these diminutive masters of camouflage are also extremely hard to spot. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that very little is understood about the seven pygmy seahorse species currently known to science.

But Colin Wen, a marine biologist at Taiwan’s Tunghai University, and his colleagues got creative.

Their hunt for pygmy seahorses initially started with a search for Denise’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise), a species that was first described in 2003 from Indonesia. The species hadn’t been recorded in Taiwan yet, although Wen and his colleagues had heard of rumored sightings at Orchid Island from their scuba diver friends.

“By chance, shortly after asking friends in the dive industry to record sightings of pygmy seahorses for us, a photo of H. denise taken at Orchid Island surfaced on social media,” Wen told Mongabay.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan listed as province of China since 1974 by International Organization for Standardization

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/07
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Control Yuan on Thursday (Nov. 7) urged the Executive Yuan to address the erroneous labeling of Taiwan as a province of China by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The island has been wrongly referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” since 1974 in ISO 3166, a standard that designates codes to represent the names of countries and their subdivisions, said Peter Chang (張武修) of the Control Yuan, an investigative agency that monitors other government branches.

The standard-setting body has also obstructed Taiwan from participating in events related to ISO matters, Chang added. Taiwan was a founding member of the ISO in 1947 but was stripped of membership in 1953 for having failed to pay fees since 1949, when the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan.

Hindered by ISO and opposed by the Soviet Union, Taiwan tried but failed to restore its membership. The country lost its seat in the United Nations in 1971, and its endeavor to return to the organization was complicated by China’s joining the body in 1978, Chang pointed out.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/07
By: Miao Zong-han, Chen Chih-chung and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), the nation's top policymaking body on China, on Thursday warned schools in Taiwan of the need for stricter cyber security practices after it was confirmed that computer systems at a local university were hacked, alleging the attacks were carried out by China.

The MAC issued the warning as National Sun Yat-sen University confirmed that the e-mails of more than 10 scholars specializing in cross-strait studies at the school have been monitored for about three years.

The university said that the IP addresses where network intruders logged on were identified as being located in the United States, China and Hong Kong. The targets of the hack were all professors specializing in political science, cross-strait affairs and Taiwan public affairs.

Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), deputy head and spokesman of the MAC, said that the government agency has contacted the Ministry of Education to gain a better understanding of the situation and asked it to urge schools to improve information security.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 November, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan's railways administration has pulled the plug on a plan to equip train stations with facial recognition software.

The Taiwan Railways Administration has canceled a plan to equip train stations with facial recognition software.

The plan was proposed as a way of preventing a repeat of violent incidents like a 2014 stabbing spree in the Taipei Metro and a 2016 bombing at Taipei’s Songshan Station.    [FULL  STORY]

The Pingtung County Government published six issues of the Pingtung's Tourism Brochure in 2019 and the brochure instantly became a viral hit on social media. 

The News Lens
Date: 2019/11/06
By: Pingtung County Government

Only a few places can offer quietness and a peace of mind like the mountains. Pingtung has many well-preserved and secluded old trails to choose from, and visitors are encouraged to experience the natural beauty and serenity of a guided hike for themselves.

With the picturesque Lake of Tears (哭泣湖) and surrounding fields of spectacular white ginger lilies, the scenic wetlands of the Dongyuan tribe form an earthly paradise, ideal for simply wandering and admiring the view.

For the protection of the fragile local ecosystem, safety, and respect to the customs and land rights of the indigenous tribes, visitors are highly recommended to enter this area under the guidance of a local docent.    [FULL  STORY]

American Express Live the World website kowtows to Beijing by listing Taiwan as part of China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/06
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — American Express has joined the growing list of corporations to kowtow to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by changing the listing for Taiwan on its Live the World website to "Taiwan, China."

On its Live the World discounts website for card-holding international travelers, American Express suddenly and inexplicably changed its listing for Taiwan to "Taiwan, China" on its homepage. The change appears to have taken place over the weekend (Nov. 2-3), according to a regular user of the site, who spoke to Taiwan News on condition of anonymity.

The American Express card-holder said he has used the website for over two years, and this was the first time Taiwan was erroneously listed as being part of China. The change appears to be deliberate and systematic as "China" now appears next to all "Taiwan" entries on the Live the World website.

The main corporate website for American Express still lists Taiwan as a country at the bottom right-hand corner of the homepage. However, once one clicks on the "Change Country" link, it lists Taiwan under "Greater China," with "China" again placed next to Taiwan after a comma.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/06
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said Tuesday that Taiwan's exclusion from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is contrary to the spirit of the organization and "defies common sense."

Speaking at a dinner for the participants in an international aviation safety conference in Taipei, Christensen said Taiwan is an important member of the global aviation community.

Its main gateway, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, served 46.5 million passengers in 2018 and is ranked 11th in terms of global passengers and fifth for cargo volume, Christensen said, citing data given by Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).

"Taiwan's civil aviation authority has consistently maintained the highest safety standards and remains a critical partner for the United States in ensuring airline safety for travelers in the region," Christensen said at the dinner for the participants in the first International Air Safety Summit hosted by Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

CONTRADICTION: The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate’s NT$70m house purchase when unemployed does not tally with his projected image, the DPP said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 07, 2019
By Wu Shu-wei and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential

candidate, reportedly purchased a house in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) for more than NT$70 million (US$2.3 million at the current exchange rate) in 2011, which contradicts his campaign image as an “everyman,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday.

Details of the property purchase were exposed yesterday by the Chinese-language Next Magazine.

Han on Monday uploaded to Facebook a video of himself doing laundry and on Thursday last week he used a public washroom at a Taoyuan gas station, which KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said demonstrated the mayor’s “charm.”

Han’s campaign team are attempting to portray the mayor as an everyday person, media reports have said.    [FULL  STORY]