One of Southern Taiwan’s main tourist attractions is languishing for a lack of infrastructure funds.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/01/22
By: Eryk Smith

In the late-1990s, I hopped on my “New City Nobleman” 150cc Kymco motorcycle and

began a ride over Taiwan Provincial Highway 20 (also called the Southern Cross-Island Highway or 南橫公路). I had a map, but little common sense.

Long on confidence and short on research, I wasn’t aware the highest point of Route 20 is more than 2,700 meters above sea level, and I was woefully unprepared. One item glaringly missing? Gloves. Operating a clutch bike on top of a mountain in February requires fingers that are not frozen solid. By the time I made it to that highest point – the Yakou Tunnel – I was in pretty bad shape. Kind locals offered me gloves and warm rice wine, and the next morning I sputtered my way down into Taitung County (台東).    [FULL  STORY]

Gay men will be permitted to donate blood under the new rules

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/22
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Gay men in Taiwan will be permitted to donate blood under new rules set to be implemented in May by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW).

According to the MOHW, the Blood Consultative Committee recommend lifting the lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men, replacing it with a policy barring donations from men who have had sex with another man within five years of the planned donation.

According to the current “blood donor deferral policy,” gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, as groups at high-risk of being HIV or AIDS positive, as well as those who have a record of a malignant tumors, or those with leukemia, are banned from donating blood for life.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/22
By: Huang Li-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) ordered two tankers,

believed to be linked to a Taiwanese company accused of selling oil to North Korea in violation of United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang, out of its waters after inspecting the vessels and finding no evidence of criminality, the CGA said in a statement issued Monday.

South Korea seized the Lighthouse Winmore, a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker chartered by Billions Bunker Group Corp., registered in the Marshal Islands, for allegedly transferring 600 tons of refined oil to a North Korean ship on Oct. 19, 2017 in violation of U.N. sanctions, according to foreign news wire reports.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Maritime and Port Bureau placed the Palau-registered Billions No. 18 (now renamed Kings Way) and Billions No. 88 (renamed Twins Bull) on the country’s no entry list and watch list on Jan. 9 in response to the company’s alleged sanctions violations.    [FULL  STORY]

‘UNFRIENDLY’: Nearly three-quarters of respondents disagreed with China’s view that it did not need to consult Taiwan about the new routes, amid safety concerns

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 23, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Nearly 86 percent of Taiwanese support the government’s call for cross-strait talks over

aviation safety following Beijing’s unilateral opening of four new routes, a survey by the Cross-Strait Policy Association found.

The poll also showed that 63.4 percent of respondents back the government’s decision to reject Chinese airlines’ requests for additional flights during the Lunar New Year holiday due to potential safety risks posed by the launch of these routes.

Beijing on Jan. 4 launched the four routes — the M503, W121, W122 and W123 — without prior negotiations with Taiwan.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration （CAA） last week said that it would not approve requests for additional flights during the Lunar New Year filed by China Eastern Airlines （中國東方航空） and Xiamen Air （廈門航空）, which have continued to use the new routes, despite repeated warnings from Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: January 20, 2018
By: Phillip Charlier

A 21 year-old man died after he was trapped in his burning car, while his passenger managed to climb out of the mangled wreck before it went up in flames. The driver of another car involved in the accident also survived.

At around 2:00 am this morning, January 20, the driver of a silver BMW was traveling at high speed on Huanhe Road in Tucheng District when he attempted to overtake a white Ford sedan.

It was raining at the time, and according to police preliminary investigations, the BMW driver pulled out into the left lane, then side-swiped the Ford as he pulled back into the right lane, sending the two cars sliding into an expressway support column.
[FULL  STORY]

China has ratcheted up the pressure on Taiwan, an island democracy that it views as a breakaway province, by deploying a new tool: civilian airliners. Photo: THE NEW YORK

Today Online
Date: 21 January 2018 

TAIPEI (Taiwan) — China has ratcheted up the pressure on Taiwan, an island

democracy that it views as a breakaway province, by deploying a new tool: civilian airliners.

Earlier this month, China announced that it has opened a new air route that will allow its commercial airliners to fly northward up the center of the narrow strait separating it from Taiwan, which sits 100 miles off China’s coast.

Taiwan immediately criticised the new route, calling it a security and safety risk because it runs close to air space used by Taiwanese airliners and military aircraft.

China says the new air corridor, called M503, is needed to alleviate congestion in China’s already overcrowded skies. Taiwan has called the move a provocation aimed putting additional pressure on the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whose party has advocated independence for Taiwan, a self-governing island of 23 million residents.    [FULL  STORY]

A total of 734 items estimated at NT$1 million was recovered

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/21
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A group of Vietnamese tourists were arrested on grounds of

theft and shoplifting when it came to the attention of city officials that places the group had visited had lodged complaints about lost or missing goods.

On Jan. 15, a store in Taipei Main Station, realized that 107 item were missing upon checking their inventory, and lodged a complaint at the police station. After investigation and scrutiny of video footage captured by the store’s CCTV camera, the officials came to the conclusion that a group of Vietnamese tourists who had visited the store on Jan. 12 were the culprits.

Upon further investigation of the group and their tour details it came to light that they had also visited a store in Ximending on the Jan. 13, where another report of 295 missing items were reported, followed by 332 items stolen from a store the group visited in Taichung.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/21
By Shih Hsiu-chuan 

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) Cabin crew of Taiwanese airline EVA Airways (長榮航空) staged a sit-in Sunday to demand that the management revise duty time rules to prevent overwork among crew members, especially for the six flights considered to be the “most exhausting” shifts.

The protest came after the management of the carrier and the Ministry of Labor gave only “dismissive responses” to demands to address the issues of overwork made since August by the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU), of which 58 percent of its flight attendants, or 2,700 people, are members.

As EVA Airways reported a record-high revenue of NT$163.5 billion (US$5.52 billion) in 2017, it should be able to afford the extra cost of crew members staying one more night at a flight’s destination point so they can get sufficient rest before the next period of duty, said Cheng Ya-ling (鄭雅菱), a leader of the TFAU.    [FULL  STORY]

CHOPPER ROTATION: The army plans to phase out its Bell UH-1H helicopters by the end of the year, even though there are not enough Black Hawks to replace them

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 22, 2018
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

The nation’s second squadron of Apache attack helicopters is likely to enter service

later this year after the first squadron was commissioned last year by the Army Aviation and Special Forces Command, an army officer said yesterday.

After undergoing rigorous testing, the second Apache combat team is expected to be commissioned in the middle of this year, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The launch of the first squadron has shown that the Apache helicopters are combat-ready, while the formation of the additional squadron means it has full combat and defense capabilities, he said.

The command’s 601st Brigade has been training personnel and upgrading its equipment since 2013, the command said, adding that after more than two years of training, one of the two Apache squadrons was commissioned in June last year and has since then contributed greatly to improving the army’s combat capability:
[FULL  STORY].

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-20

Minister without Portfolio John Deng has called for strengthened cooperation with the

US in regions covered under the New Southbound Policy.

Under the New Southbound Policy, Taiwan seeks closer ties with the countries of South and Southeast Asia, as well as with Australia and New Zealand. Directing the policy is one of Deng’s responsibilities.

Deng was speaking Friday to an audience at the Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies during an event featuring a new report on the policy.

Deng outlined the purpose of the New Southbound Policy, its achievements over the past year, and the government’s ongoing efforts to further the policy. Deng said that the policy’s spirit of openness and cooperation aligns with the vision of the US Indo-Pacific strategy.

Deng said that Taiwan is willing and able to cooperate with the US on playing a more active role in regions covered under the New Southbound Policy.     [SOURCE]