Taipei Times
Date: Feb 20, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) and Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔), members of a “third force” political party

— meaning they are not part of the pan-green or pan-blue camps — have thrown their hats in the ring for year-end Taipei city councilor election, with both saying they are open to the idea of teaming up with other third-force party candidates to minimize the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) hold on Taipei.

Despite being defeated in 2016’s legislative elections, when they ran for seats in Taipei, both have remained active in public affairs, with Miao being a political columnist for Chinese-language newspaper the Apple Daily and a talk show host and political commentator on Yahoo TV, and Lu as a former director at Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chia-hui’s (蘇巧慧) office and the convener for the same-sex union advocacy group Marriage Equality General Platform.

For the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24, Miao and Lu have been nominated by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) — a center-left political party founded by veteran social campaigners after the 2014 Sunflower movement — to run for city councilor candidates in Taipei’s Daan (大安)-Wenshan (文山) and Songshan (松山)-Xinyi (信義) constituencies respectively.

Daan-Wenshan is widely viewed as a KMT stronghold, with the pan-blue camp occupying eight out of 12 city councilor seats in the constituency before the death of then-Taipei city councilor Lee Hsin (李新) last year.    [FULL  STORY]

The Los Angeles Times
Date: Feb 18, 2018
By: Christopher Reynolds

On a three-day visit to Taipei, capital of Taiwan, Christopher Reynolds ate his way through a teeming night market, zipped to the observation deck of a 101-story skyscraper, inspected treasures at the National Palace Museum and released a flaming lantern into a stormy sky.

I stood between two vendors, my belly full of blow-torched beef cubes and sweet potato balls. My neck was wet from rain. The air was thick with scents of fish, fowl and the sizzling, steaming contents of food carts.

My universe was in perfect balance.

Why? Because to my right, one vendor was hawking exotic fruits that looked like festive balloons, and to my left, another was hawking festive balloons that looked like exotic fruits.

Taiwan and its capital, Taipei, are complicated, but I have some strong sensory memories from the four days I spent in the city in the fall.     [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-18

Taiwan’s government agencies are set to collectively contribute to a fund for childcare

subsidies. This is part of the Cabinet’s response to the nation’s low birth rate.

Premier William Lai says he has planned to implement, by September of this year, new policies that will provide government subsidies for each newborn infant.

The government’s budgeting and statistics office says the policies, would require a fund of NT$36 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) based on the average number of new infants born each year. About NT$30 billion of that (US$ 10 billion) must come from the central government. Officials say that various government agencies will contribute to the fund, and that they will not use the federal reserve.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/18
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) While there are still two days to go for the Lunar New Year

holiday, many people decided to return early from their family reunions, which caused traffic jams Sunday afternoon, according to the Freeway Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
At around 1 p.m., the southbound section from Hukuo to Hsinchu and the northbound section from Daya to Taichung on Freeway No. 1 saw heavy traffic, with vehicles traveling at only 30 kilometers per hour, the bureau said.

In addition, traffic jams also hit Freeway No. 5 as cars moving in both directions into the Hsuehshan Tunnel ran at just 25-30 kph, according to data released by the bureau. The bureau said traffic fines will not be imposed on vehicles traveling below the mandated speed limit.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/18
By: Su Lung-chi, Yeh Tzu-kang, Su Mu-tsun, Wu Tse-hao and Frances 
Huang 

Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrapped up her Lunar New Year holiday temple tour Sunday after visiting 18 temples in 17 counties and cities around Taiwan in three days, according to the Presidential Office.

Tsai embarked on her tour on Friday, the first day of the Year of the Dog on the lunar calendar, to pray for good luck for the people of Taiwan and distribute well-wishing red envelopes to the public.

In Taiwan, many people, in particular Buddhists and Taoists, tend to visit temples during the Lunar New Year holiday to express their piety and sincerity, in the hope of being blessed in the new year.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 19, 2018
By: William Hetherington  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Taipei Zoo hopes to work with schools and government agencies to increase public

awareness of wildlife protection, spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said.

One of the nation’s most popular attractions, the zoo, established in 1914, draws about 3 million visitors every year, Tsao said.

Tsao recalled a statement made by former Wildlife Conservation Society president William Conway, who told the annual meeting of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums in New York in 2005 that it is crucial for zoos around the world to transition from being “living museums” to being conservationist institutions.

Tsao said he has long been hoping to promote such an idea, “because conservation is a value that zoos can provide.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-17

Premier William Lai has outlined the government’s priorities for the new lunar year.

On Saturday, the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lai traveled to the southern city of

Tainan, where he served as mayor before accepting the post of premier. There, he celebrated the New Year by handing out red envelopes to members of the public and traveling to a temple to pray.

During his visit, Lai said that the government’s chief responsibility this year will be to develop the economy and strengthen Taiwan. Lai said that in the past, the government focused on the north of Taiwan and paid less attention to the south. In addition to balancing its focus between north and south, Lai said the government must now work to balance Taiwan as whole.
[FULL  STORY]

China may be ahead in the mobile payment game, but these countries are starting to catch up.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/17
By: Edwin Yapp

While some New Year traditions have evolved over the years, one constant remains

timeless – the age-old practice of giving and receiving of hongbaos (red packets).

The mechanism for doing so is evolving as innovative companies follow the success of WeChat in China by pushing the idea of giving hongbaos digitally instead of stuffing physical red packets full of cash. Expect tech startups across the region to promote these types of rewards as they attempt to push boundaries in cashless payments and mobile wallets.

The ultimate goal isn’t to give away money, but to displace cash altogether by giving consumers an easier way to make financial transactions on a daily basis.

They also offer more value-added services, including ties to loyalty cards, transferring and receiving money between users and bank accounts, and splitting bills, to name just a few.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s president became the first to begin a Lunar New Year tour in the south-east as she offered solidarity with Hualien and positive thoughts on the economy and cross-straits relations in her New Year’s Address

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/17
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) broke with tradition

yesterday by becoming the first President to start their New Year’s tour of the country in Taitung.

The President will be traveling across the country over the next three days to hand out red envelopes. And she became the first President to begin the tour in the south-east of the country, with Taitung’s Tianhou Temple () her first stop.

A large crowd estimated at more than 4,000 queued to receive New Year’s greetings from the President along with a red envelope. The envelopes, which each contain a single NT$1 coin, are meant to symbolize good fortune for the year ahead.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/17
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) Partly cloudy and warm weather will continue Sunday through probably the following day, although a new cold front is forecast to hit Taiwan the day after that, weathermen said Saturday.

Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒), a forecaster at the Central Weather Bureau, said that as the northeasterly wind mitigates, Sunday and Monday could be partly cloudy, with temperatures ranging between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius.

On Tuesday, however, the seasonal wind is expected to strengthen, bringing with it a cold air mass and the possibility of rain that will affect the northern and eastern parts of the country, he said.    [FULL  STORY]