SILVER STARS:Chen Yu-wei won silver in the men’s taolu, while Chen Yi-ying did so in women’s taolu and the rhythmic gymnastics team in the group competition

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 29, 2017
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

A minor case of heat stroke yesterday did not deter Chan Jung-jan (詹詠然) as she and

her sister Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) won a much-anticipated gold medal in women’s doubles, beating Thai opponents Varatchaya and Varunya Wongteanchai in two straight sets.

The Chan sisters took the first set 6-1 in less than one hour, breaking their opponents’ serves in the fourth and sixth games.

However, Chan Jung-jan called for medical treatment during the break between the first and second sets, and medical staff sought to reduce her body temperature.

Despite an apparent decline in strength, Chan Jung-jan and her sister worked together to break the Thai sisters’ serves in the second game of the second set.

Though both kept their serves after the second game, the Wongteanchais’ relentless attack and defense paid off when they broke the Chans’ serve in the eighth game and kept their own serve at the ninth game, to take a 5-4 lead.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 28, 2017
By: The China Post

The closing ceremony for the 2017 Summer Universiade is slated for Aug. 30. In light

of the protest that occurred during the opening ceremony, in which local activists prevented many athletes from entering the stadium to represent their countries, the Taipei City Police Department said they had strengthened their security protocols for the closing ceremony and expanded the jurisdiction area for the event. Designated “opinion expression” areas will be available to those who want to protest during the event. Taipei Police Department Deputy Commissioner Lin Shun-chia said that if activist groups decide to disturb the ceremony, local officers will strictly enforce the law.

Ahead of the closing ceremony on Wednesday, Lin held a press conference regarding event security, joined by the police chiefs from the seven jurisdictions surrounding the venue of the closing ceremony. The Taipei City Police Department said officers from the seven jurisdictions had already provided security at 319 competitions, ensuring the safety of around 29,411 people. For the closing ceremony, some 6,000 officers will be deployed to provide security. In addition, the jurisdiction area for the event will be expanded and security measures will be strengthened.    [FULL  STORY]

STIRRING TROUBLE:One lawmaker said the party would launch hunger strikes and block the legislature’s rostrum, and the DPP ‘could forget about’ passing any budgets

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 28, 2017
By: Chen Yu-fu, Yang Chun-hui and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Following mounting pressure from the party’s base, a faction of Chinese Nationalist

Party (KMT) lawmakers favoring confrontation on the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program have prevailed over those who favor compromise, sources within the KMT said.

As a result, it is increasingly likely that conflict in the Legislative Yuan will intensify in the coming days, after negotiations about the program broke down on Friday, they said.

During internal discussions, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) proposed to engage in a hunger strike — a motion that was seconded by KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗), the sources said.

After the legislature on July 5 passed the Act on the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (前瞻基礎建設特別條例) during the legislature’s first provisional session, KMT supporters expressed their anger and disappointment with the KMT caucus’ 34 lawmakers by flooding their social media accounts, they said.
[FULL STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-08-27

Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration is continuing to conduct tests on the nation’s

eggs in an effort to prevent consumers from eating eggs tainted with insecticide. So far, authorities have removed from the shelves about one million eggs containing an excessive amount of the insecticide Fipronil.

This latest food scandal came to light after the Council of Agriculture decided to conduct spot tests following a recent tainted egg scare in Europe. Of 45 samples, three were found to contain Fipronil residue of up to 153 ppb, which is 30 times the amount deemed safe by the EU. Authorities say that it is dangerous to eat just one and a half eggs with those levels of the insecticide.

As of last Friday, agriculture officials have identified 44 egg farms which have turned out tainted eggs. They then went to stores to track down and destroy eggs that originated at those farms.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/27
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—All hiking trails in Yangmingshan National Park have their own merits, but one stands out for its shadiness, easiness, and popularity, and that’s Erziping Trail.

In the afternoon of August 25, I parked my car near the entrance of the Erziping Trail, which is also accessible by Bus 108 that tours around Yangmingshan National Park, and began my journey to visit Xiangtian Pond via Erziping Trail.

Erziping Trail is Taiwan’s first accessible outdoor trail, and the total distance of is 1.8 km. The round-trip walk takes about 80 minutes. The path, which is flat, is divided into the pavement part and the gravel part. As an avid runner, I like to run whenever possible. So it just took me less than 15 minutes to reach the end of the trail, which is an open terrain with a couple of ponds that nurture a variety of aquatic plants and frogs.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/27

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) The following is the latest medal table for the top 10 countries:

1. Japan — 28 gold, 19 silver, 26 bronze (total: 73)

2. S. Korea — 27 gold, 18 silver, 26 bronze (71)

3. Taiwan — 17 gold, 26 silver, 20 bronze (63)

4. Russia — 16 gold, 24 silver, 31 bronze (71)

5. United States — 14 gold, 15 silver, 12 bronze (41)

6. N. Korea — 12 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze (19)

7. Ukraine — 10 gold, 9 silver, 9 bronze (28)

8. Italy — 9 gold, 6 silver, 16 bronze (31)

9. Germany — 7 gold, 6 silver, 11 bronze (24)

10. Poland — 6 gold, 8 silver, 9 bronze (23)

*As of 10:20 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27   [SOURCE]

HIGH STAKES:Some stakeholders believe Taiwan could function as an equipment manufacturer, while others work to realize the dream of locally developed vehicles

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 28, 2017
By: Lee Hsin-Yin / Staff writer, with CNA

It may be 3am, but 55-year-old Ou Hsiu-chu (歐秀珠), warden of Zhuan Borough (住安)

in Taipei’s Daan District (大安), is wide awake, scribbling notes and taking photographs of an orange-and-white vehicle the size of a minivan easing its way down an exclusive bus lane on Xinyi Road in Taipei.

She is monitoring the first tests of a driverless bus by Taipei authorities in her borough. The French-made vehicle only carries up to 12 passengers and operates at a tortoise-like 10kph, and Ou is not totally sold.

“I am not sure about driverless buses for now because I have not seen enough evidence that shows they are safe under less controlled circumstances,” Ou said after taking a five-minute test ride at the city’s invitation.

However, the tests did demonstrate the vehicle’s ability to accurately detect environmental conditions on a Taipei street — a breakthrough in Taiwan’s push for smart vehicle development.    [FULL  STORY]

How are the religious incense sticks made?

The News Lens
Date: 2017/08/26

In July, an Environment Protection Administration (EPA) initiative to reduce the use of incense and “ghost money” to minimize airborne pollutants has given rise to Internet rumors that the government plans to draft a new “religious associations act” and phase out the practice of burning incense.

As rumors spread that the government may ban the burning of incense, thousands of temple representatives and worshipers took to the streets, surrounding the Presidential Office in Taipei on July 23 to vent their dissatisfaction.

Lin Mao-hsien (林茂賢), an associate professor of Taiwanese languages and literature at National Taichung University of Education who specializes in folklore research, says “Through the rituals, people pray for good fortune and inner peace,” and “without doing so, people will feel unable to connect with the gods.”
Improving the quality of incense and ghost money so that they can be sold for better prices could be one solution to keeping the temple culture alive while promoting environmental protection, Lin suggested.

Whether to ban the incense sticks or not is for political debate but the making of these religious symbols is an art of its own, worthy of attention – from fragrant oils to spice powder, The News Lens walkthroughs the essential steps with these illustrations.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese airlines cancel several Sunday flights

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/26
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Less than a week after Typhoon Hato, flights between Taiwan

and Hong Kong are again being disrupted due to bad weather, this time in the shape of Tropical Storm Pakhar.

While the latest storm is not expected to impact Taiwan much beyond rainy weather in the southeast of the island, it is forcing the cancellation of flights scheduled for Sunday.

Taiwan’s main carrier, China Airlines (CAL, 華航), was cancelling flights CI641, CI642, CI903 and CI904 between Hong Kong and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, flights CI933 and CI934 between the former British territory and Kaohsiung, and flight CI7868 from Hong Kong to Tainan.

CAL said it was rescheduling flights CI601, CI602, CI909 and CI910 between Hong Kong and Taoyuan, flights CI585 and CI586 between Shenzhen in China and Kaohsiung, and flight CI680 from Jakarta to Taoyuan, which makes a stop in Hong Kong.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/26

Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) The following is the latest medal table for the top 10 countries:

1. S. Korea — 26 gold, 17 silver, 24 bronze (total: 67)

2. Japan — 25 gold, 16 silver, 22 bronze (63)

3. Taiwan — 17 gold, 22 silver, 14 bronze (53)

4. Russia — 15 gold, 21 silver, 31 bronze (67)

5. United States — 12 gold, 14 silver, 12 bronze (38)

6. N. Korea — 10 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze (16)

7. Ukraine — 9 gold, 9 silver, 9 bronze (27)

8. Italy — 8 gold, 5 silver, 15 bronze (28)

9. Poland — 5 gold, 7 silver, 6 bronze (18)

10. Germany — 4 gold, 5 silver, 10 bronze (19)

*As of 10:25 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26    [SOURCE]