Some of Taipei’s more esoteric food traditions are quickly disappearing, but the temple and surrounds offer an unmissable opportunity to slurp braised intestines and other old school treats.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/04/30
By: Olivia Contini

The story of Taipei’s rise to become Taiwan’s capital city begins in the Dadaocheng (大稻埕) neighborhood.

Seated on the banks of the Tamsui River, it was the city’s first trade hub from the mid-1800s. Walking down Dihua Street (迪化街), the oldest street in the district, is like walking through the past. The building facades are immaculately maintained, and reflect the foreign influence on the architecture – a stunning mix of European Baroque and Japanese Colonial style with the odd traditional Taiwanese carving of tigers and dragons. This iconic architecture marks Dadaocheng out from other areas of the city.

Dadaocheng is unique in that the area’s history has been preserved while allowing modernity to flourish in a near perfect balance. If you visit Dihua Street in the run up to the Lunar Festival you will be greeted with a sea of customers frantically buying traditional dry goods from the shops that line the street to stock their cupboards for the New Year celebrations. From tea, herbs and spices, to nuts, dried fruit and unmistakably odorous dried fish, these old-school outlets are a sensuous treat.

However, the conservation of these historical buildings hasn’t stopped a wave of hipster coffee shops and craft boutiques crowding in. Entering one of these traditionally tall and thin buildings allows you to simultaneously enjoy the vintage feel of the past while tucking in to a flat white or immaculately sculptured cappacino. Dadaocheng is fast fusing its historical roots with cool modernity.    [FULL  STORY]

 

The blaze at Taoyuan factory is considered to be the second greatest loss of life for firefighters in the country in 11 years

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/30
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The aftermath of Saturday’s (April 28) fatal blaze at a factory in

northern Taiwan has inflicted damage to the surrounding environment and air quality, including aquatic life in a nearby river.

The surrounding areas of Taoyuan’s Pingzhen District has been affected with toxic spills, carbon dioxide, and fire-fighting water waste after a fire broke out at Chin-Poon Industrial factory on Saturday, according to Liberty Times.

On April 30, photos of several dead fish were captured at the Dakengxi and Laojiexi rivers in Pingzhen District. They were later posted on Facebook by a group called “I am Pingzhenese” with the caption saying that people were attempting to catch the fish but could not because the water was too shallow, causing the fish to be stuck on the shore or stranded in the gravel. The fish will likely putrify over the coming days.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/30
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Ko Lin 

Taipei, April 30 (CNA) Efforts have been made to contact the families of migrant workers who died in a huge fire at a factory in Taoyuan late Saturday, and will offer them assistance in matters related to the tragedy, Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said Monday.

Hsu said she had instructed the Taoyuan City government’s Department of Labor to immediately contact the families of the two Thai victims and to offer them all possible assistance.

Asked if their deaths are being classed as an occupational accident, Hsu told reporters that the matter can be clarified only after an investigation into the cause of fire is completed.

The fatal blaze broke out at a factory owned by Chin Poon Industrial Co., a printed circuit board manufacturer, which resulted in the deaths of five firemen and two Thai migrant workers.    [SOURCE]

HIGH DEMAND: The military is in talks with the US to buy tanks and authorize their construction or assembly in Taiwan, with the assessment to be finished by year end

Taipei Times
Date: May 01, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Officials are evaluating the possibility of procuring M1A2 tanks, but the nation also hopes

to build some of the tanks domestically, Minister of National Defense Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday.

Yen made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, which was scheduled to review the potential effects of proposed pension reform on military personnel once the plan is implemented in July.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) asked if the ministry has a new plan for its tanks, given the new challenges posed by a strategic shift to focus on asymmetric warfare.

While the demand for tanks is high, as they are key in winning decisive littoral battles, the military and the US are in the process of assessing the possibility of a deal, Yen said, adding that the government has not yet made an official purchase request.
[FULL  STORY]

CCTV+
Date: Apr 29, 2018

A fire at a printed circuit board manufacturer in Taoyuan City of China’s Taiwan Saturday night killed five firemen and two foreign workers, said the city’s fire department Sunday. The department said that the two foreign workers killed in the fire were two men from Thailand, and their identities are yet to be disclosed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.    [SOURCE]

CNN
Date: April 29, 2018
By Brad Lendon and Susannah Cullinane, CNN

(CNN)China’s military put out a strong message on Taiwan on Saturday, vowing to “safeguard the territory of our motherland.”
The People’s Liberation Army air force released a video and series of commemorative envelopes showing recent Chinese air force missions around the island, which Beijing views as a breakaway province.
“It is the sacred duty of any PLA pilot to safeguard the territory of our motherland,” reads the text on the envelopes, which feature pictures of PLA warplanes and pilots on flights near Taiwan.

State-run news agency Xinhua reported Saturday that the images were taken by China’s PLA pilots during missions around Taiwan that began April 18.    [FULL  STORY]

The leaders expressed concern and offered sympathy and condolences over the loss of the firefighters in the line of duty and for the migrant workers

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/04/29
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) have

expressed condolences to the families of the victims killed in a fire that broke out at a factory in Taoyuan City Saturday night, which left seven dead, including five firefighters and two Thai migrant workers, and have directed relevant government agencies to do their best in relief efforts.

Shortly after hearing of the incident, Lai expressed concern and offered sympathy and condolences over the loss of the five firefighters in the line of duty, while directing relevant authorities to spare no effort to treat the injured, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said in a statement issued Sunday.

As of 7:31 a.m., the seven victims had been confirmed killed and another seven firemen were injured as rescue efforts continued, according to the Executive Yuan’s office of disaster management.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/29
By: Wu Jui-chi, Lu Kang-chun, Bian Chin-feng and Shih Hsiu-chuan 

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) A massive inferno raged inside a printed circuit board manufacturing facility in Taoyuan City Saturday night, killing five firemen and two migrant workers, while injuring seven other firefighters, the city’s fire department said Sunday.

The department said that seven firefighters lost contact with their team after they raced to battle the blaze that broke out at Chin Poon Industrial (敬鵬工廠) factory at around 9 p.m. Saturday to rescue several migrant workers believed to be trapped inside.

However, five of the firemen were found killed later. Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who was on site to coordinate firefighting and relief efforts, told reporters the five firemen were killed because they were trapped underneath heavy machinery that made them unable to escape the fire.    [FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
April 28, 2018

The Chinese PLA Air Force conducted a round of training flights around Taiwan on Thursday after US B-52 bombers flew near the coastline of Guangdong in southern China. Chinese government officials said the military exercises were meant as a warning to pro-independence advocates in Taiwan.  [SOURCE]