The China Post
Date: July 31, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI – Tropical storms Nesat and Haitang left more than 131 people injured and one

missing in Taiwan as of 11 a.m. Monday, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.

Human injury from the storms was worst in Taipei, where there were 54 casualties, followed by Yilan County (52 injured), Taichung (11) and Taoyuan (10).

Some of the casualties were struck by flying debris or hurt in scooter accidents, while others slipped and fell.

One person has gone missing and a search is underway near National Freeway No. 3 in Pingtung County’s Nancho Township.

Flooding from the twin storms is concentrated in Tainan and Pingtung. The Water Resources Agency set up stormwater pump stations at 280 flooded sites and drainage is ongoing at 203.    [FULL  STORY]

Former members of the massive religious group are speaking out about high fees, harassment, and the leader’s spurious claims.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/07/31
By: ZiQing Low

Followers of a self-proclaimed Buddhist guru in Taiwan are handing over tens of millions of dollars in membership fees and donations to his organization each year, former members of the sect have told The News Lens.

Master Miaochan (妙禪師父), founder of Rulaizong (如來宗), is netting yearly membership proceeds of NT$72 million (US$2.4 million), coupled with monthly donations of as much as NT$86 million (US$2.8 million), the former members say.

The organization, which claims to practice Zen Buddhism, was founded by Miaochan in 2004 and is understood to have about 80,000 followers across Taiwan. Followers of Miaochan credit anything good that happens in their lives — from job promotions to finding love — to the protection and blessing of their master. They claim the leader’s healing powers include curing people who have suffered strokes and those diagnosed with early-stage cancer.

Members pay NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 (US$33 to US$66) in monthly fees to the organization. The leader claims the contributions will help him bring salvation to his believers and the donations are collected at their 24 large-scale prayer sessions held each month. It is at these prayer sessions where Miaochan makes appearances, and members are encouraged to attend at least one session every month.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s agriculture takes a NT$176 million beating from twin Typhoons Nesart and Haitang

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/31
By: Keoni Everington,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s agricultural sector has suffered an estimated NT$176

million (US$5,800,000) in losses after Typhoons Nesat and Haitang barreled through the island within less than 24 hours of each other, announced the Council of Agriculture (COA) on Monday.

Yilan bore the brunt of the punishment from Typhoon Nesat as the storm suddenly turned north after initially following a course for landfall in southern or eastern Taiwan, with an estimated NT$117.18 million in damages, some 67 percent of total losses nationwide, according COA numbers released at 11 a.m. Monday. The crops hardest hit in Yilan included onions, bananas, and guavas.

Pingtung County took the second hardest toll with losses of NT$41.71 million, or 24 percent of total nationwide damages, when it took a double hit of torrential rain from both storms in less than 24 hours. In third place was Hualien County with NT$6.04 million in losses (3 percent) and New Taipei City in fourth place with NT$3.88 million in damages (2 percent), the COA said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/31
By: Sophia Yeh, Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The government has taken a decision to shut down all the air

conditioners in its offices for two hours a day in a bid to conserve electricity in the wake of two storms that damaged the country’s power supply over the weekend, the Cabinet said Monday.

Typhoon Nesat and Tropical Storm Haitang brought down a transmission tower, operated by the independent power producer Ho-Ping Power Co. (和平電力) in Hualien County, which has reduced supply by 1.3 million kilowatts (kW), said Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇).

In an effort to conserve power over the next two weeks while the tower is being repaired, the air conditioners in all government buildings will be turned off from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. each workday, Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]

POWER DOWN:The government is urging the public, businesses and public venues to save more power, as the electricity supply could flash red by Thursday or Friday

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 01, 2017
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter

The government has ruled out reactivating suspended nuclear power plants to alleviate

tightening electricity supplies due to storm damage, Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) said yesterday.

Typhoon Nesat and Tropical Storm Haitang brought down a Hualien County transmission tower, operated by the independent Ho-Ping Power Co (和平電力), which has reduced supply by 1.3 million kilowatts (kW), or about 4 percent of operating reserve, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said.

The nation’s power supply could flash a “red” warning — indicating that reserve capacity is less than 900,000kW — by Thursday or Friday because of the damage. Replacement capacity from other power plants is not expected in time, Taipower said.

Reactivating two suspended nuclear power plants takes considerable time and is not viable as an immediate solution, Lee said at a news conference in Taipei with Energy Bureau and Taipower officials.    [FULL  STORY]

The Star
Date: 2017/07/31
By: Jermyn Chow

TAIPEI: The bearded deity Guan Yu, flanked by other deities who represent

righteousness, brotherhood and victory in war, presides over worshippers who kneel before his altar at the Xingtian Temple.

But devotees at the prayer grounds in the heart of Taipei’s Zhongshan district do not pay respects to the Taoist God of War in the traditional way, which is by lighting joss sticks or burning paper offerings.

Instead, they clasp their hands and bow their heads to pray.

Only temple helpers are allowed to light environmentally-friendly joss sticks that emit less smoke for a daily blessing ritual.

“People come here to pray for better lives and good health… it would be counterproductive for them to be breathing in smoke and ash that can harm their bodies,” said temple elder Wu Yueh-yu, who spearheaded the move to stop devotees from lighting joss sticks in 2014.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-31

The government has denied that its foreign aid programs are a form of “dollar

diplomacy.” That was the word from Presidential Office Spokesperson Sidney Lin on Monday.

Lin was referring to a Belizean report that Taiwan has promised to offer Belize US$60 million in aid. The report said US$40 million will be paid over four years and that the rest of US$20 million are donations.

Lin said the government’s foreign aid policy has been in place for years and that all programs are carried out in line with the law.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 31, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI – Tropical storms Nesat and Haitang left more than 131 people injured and one

missing in Taiwan as of 11 a.m. Monday, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.

Human injury from the storms was worst in Taipei, where there were 54 casualties, followed by Yilan County (52 injured), Taichung (11) and Taoyuan (10).

Some of the casualties were struck by flying debris or hurt in scooter accidents, while others slipped and fell.

One person has gone missing and a search is underway near National Freeway No. 3 in Pingtung County’s Nancho Township.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/31
By: Wang Shu-fen, Kuo Chih-hsuan and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The southwesterly air flow brought by Tropical Storm Haitang have caused heavy rainfall in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung, where 5,137 people had been evacuated as of Monday morning.

Mountainous areas of Kaohsiung have received nearly 400 millimeters of rain over the past 24 hours, while Nanzih, Hunei and Alian districts are the worst-hit low-lying areas.

Meanwhile, 98 mudslide warnings have been issued, leading to forced-evacuations of residents in Maolin District, where 382 mm of rainfall had been recorded as of 7 a.m., the highest in the city.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/31
By:  Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A total of 22 Taiwanese were detained in massive raids

conducted by Indonesian policemen to wipe out an international telecom fraud ring operating throughout Indonesia.

After a few months of tracking, Indonesian National Police launched the raids in several locations such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Batam and other locations to arrest members of the telecom fraud group on the evening of July 29.

Among the suspects, there were 12 men holding Taiwanese passports captured in Surabaya and another 10 Taiwanese nationals who were found at the high-end Benoa Community on Bali Island on Saturday evening, according to Tornagogo Sihombing, Task Commander of Indonesian National Police. In addition to the Taiwanese nationals, 17 men captured in the raids were found to be Chinese citizens.    [FULL  STORY]