The New York Times
Date: Oct. 27, 20180
By: Chris Horton

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A year ago, participants in Taipei’s annual gay pride parade — the biggest event of its kind in East Asia — had a lot to celebrate.

Taiwan’s constitutional court had given the government until May 2019 to legalize same-sex marriage, ruling that the civil code’s definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. If the government didn’t meet the deadline, the court said, same-sex marriage would simply become legal automatically.

That deadline is now barely half a year away. But the democratic island will hold referendums on same-sex marriage on Nov. 24, and many of the estimated 137,000 marchers at the pride parade on Saturday expressed both frustration at the lack of progress and cautious optimism for their cause.

Many activists in Taiwan are bitterly disappointed with President Tsai Ing-wen, who has done little since last year’s court ruling to push lawmakers to pass marriage equality legislation. And conservative groups have gotten two referendums opposing same-sex marriage onto the ballot for local elections on Nov. 24, which many activists fear could undo what, for some, had seemed like a clear victory. Two referendum items in support of same-sex marriage are also on the ballot.    [FULL  STORY]

Filmmaker Valerie Soe shares her experience of tracing Taiwan’s history through the eyes of thousands of hormone-heightened college kids.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/27
By: David Green

Have you heard of the Taiwan Love Boat?

Launched in 1967 by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) and the China Youth Corps, the program has run for almost half a century and is one of the longest-running summer camps in the world, hosting anywhere from a few hundred to more than a thousand Chinese and Taiwanese diaspora college kids each year.

The aim was to educate participants on the customs, culture, history and language of Taiwan, and strengthen interpersonal links between Taiwan and the rest of the world,.

But for the teenage and 20-somethings involved, the Love Boat provided space to indulge in a more romantic form of ‘cultural exploration.’

YouTube clips of past trips present a heady mix of cultural weirdness, drunken antics, and even a slave auction, but dodgy behavior aside, Love Boat alumni invariably treasure fond memories of their time aboard Taiwan’s most infamous land cruise.   [FULL  STORY]

 

Two days of treatment should resolve the problem: expert

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/27
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Friday was admitted to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a kidney stone, according to media reports.

He had initially been expected to return home Saturday morning, but a new bout of pain led doctors to extend his stay at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung, the Apple Daily reported.

Chen was sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption, but as his health quickly deteriorated, he was released on medical parole in 2015 after serving six years of his jail term.

His latest bout of medical problems started on Friday morning, when he felt a strong pain around his stomach, followed by vomiting and a fever, according to the Apple Daily.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/27
By: Chen Wei-ting and Chi Jo-yao

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) The weather in northern Taiwan will turn dry and cool Saturday as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen and areas from Chiayi northward could see temperatures falling to 16 degrees Celsius at night, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

Sunny to partly cloudy skies with sporadic showers are expected around the country as northeasterly winds bring dry air southward, with daytime highs forecast at 23-25 degrees in northern and northeastern Taiwan, 26-27 degrees in the east and 30-31 degrees in the central and southern parts of the island, CWB forecaster Cheng Chuan-fang (程川芳) said.

However, the mercury will drop sharply at night to 16-18 degrees in central and northern Taiwan and 19-22 degrees in other regions, Cheng said, adding that big differences in daytime and nighttime temperatures of more than 10 degrees are expected.
[FULL  STORY]

‘GREATEST PARTY EVER’: The European representative to Taiwan praised the nation’s efforts to improve LGBT rights, but said that more concrete steps are needed

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 28, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Nearly 140,000 people from home and abroad yesterday marched through the streets of

Taipei in support of better protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, calling on Taiwanese voters to “vote for equality” in the five LGBT-related referendums tied to next month’s local elections.

Taipei’s skies were filled with rainbow flags, as participants departed from Ketagalan Boulevard at 2:30pm and headed in three different directions, before congregating back on the boulevard.

According to the rally’s organizers, Taiwan LGBT Pride, the march, now in its 16th year, attracted about 137,000 people, up from last year’s 123,000.

Due to the annual parade’s growing popularity in Asia and the world, there has been increasing racial, age and occupational diversity among the participants, the organizers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-10-26

President Tsai Ing-wen met with the top ten outstanding young persons in Taiwan at the

Presidential Office on Thursday.

President Tsai Ing-wen shakes hands with young men and women who have been named the country’s ten most outstanding young persons in 2018.

This year’s top ten have made outstanding contribution in different fields. They include award-winning chef Tang Yu-ning, who promotes Taiwanese gourmet dishes in Singapore, assistant professor Lu You-rong, who has made important progress in nanotechnology research, professor Wu Chia-lin, who developed a new treatment for dementia, and psychiatrist Chu Hsin-yih, who has earned the professional certifications from both Taiwan and China.

Tsai praised the award recipients and said she is very happy to see talented young people achieve their goals and serve as examples for others.    [SOURCE]

Filmmaker Valerie Soe shares her experience of tracing Taiwan’s history through the eyes of thousands of hormone-heightened college kids.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/27
By: David Green

Have you heard of the Taiwan Love Boat?

Launched in 1967 by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) and the China Youth Corps, the program has run for almost half a century and is one of the longest-running summer camps in the world, hosting anywhere from a few hundred to more than a thousand Chinese and Taiwanese diaspora college kids each year.

The aim was to educate participants on the customs, culture, history and language of Taiwan, and strengthen interpersonal links between Taiwan and the rest of the world,.

But for the teenage and 20-somethings involved, the Love Boat provided space to indulge in a more romantic form of ‘cultural exploration.’

YouTube clips of past trips present a heady mix of cultural weirdness, drunken antics, and even a slave auction, but dodgy behavior aside, Love Boat alumni invariably treasure fond memories of their time aboard Taiwan’s most infamous land cruise.
[FULL  STORY]

Goodall told an audience who was overwhelmed seeing her in person: “Without tears in your eyes, there’ll be no rainbow in your heart”

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/10/26
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – World-class primatologist and ethologist Jane Goodall delivered an address in Taipei on Oct. 26 before a packed auditorium of several hundred, who appeared profoundly inspired and sometimes driven to tears by her heartfelt speech and witty remarks.

Born in 1934, Goodall embarked on the study of chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960, a passion that has been developed into care for a broader spectrum of species, and the environment as a whole, that spans more than half a century.

“I came as a scientist, and left as an activist,” she recounted, describing how she was determined to fight for chimpanzees after attending a conference in 1986, where she learned the miserable life of the often abused and misunderstood, with some being lifelong encaged animals, in Africa, who are as intelligent as human beings.

A girl from a poor family who had undergone adversity when the Second World War broke out, Goodall shared with the audience how she never gave up, respecting the full support given by her mother in the quest of her lifelong passion – the love towards animals staring with chimpanzees in Gombe of Tanzania.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/26
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) Over 8,300 kilograms of dioxin-contaminated Chinese mitten crabs,

also known as hairy crabs, that were imported from China have been sold in markets in New Taipei and Yilan County without approval, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday.

The tainted hairy crabs, a prized seasonal delicacy which were stored in the importers’ warehouses, were shipped to an aquatic farm, named “Hsiao Ching Kuei Aquafarm (蕭清桂養殖場), in Yilan and “I Ta Seafood Co. Ltd (奕大海產有限公司)” in New Taipei, FDA Northern Center Deputy Director Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智) said when asked about the agency’s progress in investigating the matter.

The FDA revealed on Wednesday that three batches of hairy crabs imported from Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces by two companies weighing a total of around 15,000 kg were already being sold to distributors before the results of safety tests at the border were completed.    [FULL  STORY]

DRIVER’S STATEMENT: Yu Chen-chung wrote that he had not recovered from his injuries, but was cooperating with investigators and had described his actions

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 27, 2018
By: Chien Li-chung and Chang Yi-chen  /  Staff reporters

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it would investigate the procedures

the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) used to bid for and assess Puyuma Express trains eight years ago.

Prosecutors do not rule out forgery charges being laid, the office said amid its investigation of the derailment of Puyuma Express Train No. 6432 in Yilan County on Sunday.

The train left the tracks as it was passing Sinma (新馬) Railway Station, killing 18 people and injuring nearly 200.

The TRA has said speed played a role, after the driver switched off the automatic train protection (ATP) controls without informing dispatchers.    [FULL  STORY]