NEW YEAR WISHES: This year’s set features three designs, including one of a golden dog to symbolize the departure of the old and the arrival of good fortune

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 18, 2018
By: Chen Yi-chia  /  Staff reporter

While many look forward to the Lunar New Year holiday as a time for feasting and gift-

giving, philatelists welcome its advent as a chance to collect Chunghwa Post’s annual Chinese zodiac stamp collection, with this year’s issue celebrating the Year of the Dog.

“It has become a trend for countries around the world to roll out stamps featuring the year’s Chinese zodiac sign,” Chunghwa Post stamp collection division director Chien Liang-lin (簡良璘) said.

Aside from Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, where the Chinese zodiac signs are deeply rooted in their culture, culturally diverse nations like the US, Canada and France have also printed stamps depicting the animal signs, Chien said.

In Taiwan, the first Chinese zodiac-themed stamp set was issued in 1968, which was the Year of the Rooster.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-16

Vice President Chen Chien-jen visited victims of the recent earthquake in Hualien on

Friday on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen. President Tsai wanted to express her concern for the victims and how they were doing on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Victims have already left shelters to stay at hotels or hostels. On the first day of the New Year, Vice President Chen paid a visit and brought a meal of sticky rice to many quake victims, one by one.    [FULL  STORY]

Since 2014, the award has been encouraging these foreign-born groups to express themselves in their mother tongues, an effort that has also allowed the Taiwanese people to learn more about these cultures and stories.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/16
By: GlobalVoices 全球之聲

In Taiwan, the population of foreign workers and immigrants has been on the rise in

recent years and constitutes a significant part of Taiwanese society. The total population in Taiwan is about 23 million;the aboriginal population makes up about 2.3 percent of the total and there are also about 720,000 foreign workers serving in the industrial and service sectors in Taiwan. A majority of these workers are from Southeast Asian countries, mainly Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Over the past 20 years, the number of spouses from Southeast Asia and their children that are settling in Taiwan has grown in size to around 200,000.

Since 2014, the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants has been encouraging these foreign-born groups to express themselves in their mother tongues, an effort that has also allowed the Taiwanese people to learn more about these cultures and stories.
[FULL  STORY]

The 21 year old college student was the first to plant her incense at the Dajia Renn Lann Temple

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/16
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –In order to have the extra auspicious distinction of being the

very first member of the public to place their incense stick into a temple’s grand ceremonial incense burner, people rushed into temples throughout Taiwan at the stroke of 11:00 p.m, when the Year of the Dog officially began.

It’s been reported that the very first person throughout Taiwan to officially place their incense in the burner, and thus receive their blessings for the year, was a 21 year old college student at the Dajia Renn Lann Temple (大甲鎮瀾宮) in Changhua County.

Petitioners began crowding outside temples throughout the islands on the evening of Feb. 15, the Lunar New Year’s Eve waiting for the chance to wish for the first blessings of the New Year.

At Dajia Renn Lann Temple, the Temple administrators and members first completed their own private ceremonies, and once finished, opened their doors to the waiting public. It has become a tradition for members of the public to rush in and grab a stick of incense as quickly as possible to get the first bit of luck the new year has to offer.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/16
By: Huang Hsu-sheng and Flor Wang

Taipei, Feb. 16 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday visited Yuhuang Temple in Pingtung City, where she greeted other worshipers and distributed red envelopes in celebration of the Lunar New Year of the Dog.

When Tsai arrived at the temple in southern Taiwan, more than 1,000 people were already waiting in long lines to welcome her.

She was accompanied by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), Pingtung County Magistrate Pan Men-an (潘孟安) and several legislators of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Asked whether she was planning to proceed to her hometown of Fengkang in Pingtung County, Tsai said she would return there sometime after the Lunar New Year holiday when the traffic would be less congested.    [FULL  STORY]

SYMBOLISM: The ministry defended the nation’s sovereignty and democratic values after a US official said it was not US policy to display the ROC flag on its Web sites

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reiterated that Taiwan’s status as an

independent, sovereign state is a fact and the “status quo,” after a high-level US Department of State official said the removal of the Republic of China (ROC) flag from several US government Web sites was in line with Washington’s policy.

Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the government would continue to maintain this “status quo” and defend the nation’s democratic values and way of life.

However, Lee said Taiwan-US ties have progressed significantly over the past years thanks to the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, expressing confidence that bilateral relations would only grow stronger.

Lee made the remarks one day after US Senator Marco Rubio asked Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary at the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, if she was aware of the disappearance of the ROC flag from the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Web site last month.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-15

President Tsai Ing-wen has shared her greetings for the Lunar New Year via a short

video released on her Facebook page on Thursday.

In the video, filmed at the Presidential Office building, Tsai began with a brief New Year greeting. She then offered her condolences to the people of Hualien, in eastern Taiwan, which suffered a powerful earthquake a little over a week ago. The quake resulted in 17 deaths and 285 injuries. Tsai thanked all of the military personnel and members of the public who contributed to the relief efforts. She then encouraged the people of Taiwan to stay strong and united in order to pull through this difficult time.    [FULL  STORY]

Above all, don’t bother filming them on your phone.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/15
By: If Lin

Are you setting off fireworks this year? Behind the dazzling displays of fireworks, there are many hidden principles of chemistry and physics. Here are the five most common types of fireworks in Taiwan:

Firecrackers

Firecrackers are just some gunpowder sealed tightly in a thick paper roll. After the gunpowder ignites, it generates heat and quickly explodes into a ball of gas. Because the paper roll is tightly sealed, the gas breaks the paper roll and creates a loud sound.

In recent years, due to environmental considerations, there have been improvements to firecrackers so that they produce fewer sparks and scraps of paper.   [FULL  STORY]

600 kilograms of ecstasy, with a street value of NT$3 billion was seized in Jan. with a suspect arrested this week

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/15
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) — Some 600 kilograms of ecstasy, with a street value of NT$3 billion

(about US$100 million), was seized in Taipei last month and the main suspect was arrested this week, the Investigation Bureau said Wednesday.

The drug bust, which was a record second-grade drug haul in Taiwan, was carried out by investigators based on a tipoff received in December 2017 that a drug trafficking ring was preparing to smuggle in a large shipment of ecstasy from China around the Lunar New Year holiday, the bureau said.

After screening thousands of customs clearance documents, a task force led by Keelung prosecutors and customs officers found 977 parcels of narcotics, weighing 600 kilograms in total, hidden in three containers that purportedly contained clothing, according to the bureau.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/15
By: CNA correspondent and S.C. Chang

Washington, Feb. 14 (CNA) A senior American military officer said in the United States

Congress on Wednesday that the U.S. will continue to help Taiwan defend itself and that any attempt by China to force Taiwan into unification must be deemed unacceptable.

Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), said Taiwan’s open economy and prosperous, free, and democratic society “reflect the shared values between Taiwan and the U.S.”

While the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, “we maintain a substantive and robust relationship with the people of Taiwan based on the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979,” Harris said in a hearing of the House Armed Forces Committee.
[FULL  STORY]