The China Post
Date: February 23, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Seasonal northeasterly winds and the continental air mass will

increase in strength today, as the Central Weather Bureau forecasts drizzly and colder temperatures for Northern Taiwan and the northeast coast.

Temperatures are set to drop drastically today, going as low as 14 degrees Celsius in northern Taiwan and 11 C along the coast and in open spaces.

In central and Southern Taiwan, which has seen days of balmy weather in the past week, could see temperature drop to 15 to 17 C, too.

A large daily temperature difference is forecasted, as the weather bureau advised people to bring thicker coats and umbrellas in case of a chilly breeze at night.
[FULL  STORY]

Government warnings that Taiwanese fraudsters will end up in a Chinese prison appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/02/21
By: ZiQing Low

More than 200 Taiwanese will be deported to China from Spain, just months after

warnings were issued by the government.

Following similar cases where Taiwanese citizens who committed telecommunications fraud in Kenya, Malaysia and the Philippines were extradited to China, the Spanish government agreed to deport 269 individuals arrested in Spain for phone scams — 218 Taiwanese nationals and 51 Chinese — to China on Feb. 17, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reports. It is understood to be the largest single group of Taiwanese fraud supsects to be extradited to China.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Wu Chih-chung (吳志中) met with Spain’s representative to Taiwan José Luis Echaniz on Feb. 20 to ask that the Taiwanese offenders be extradited to Taiwan, Taiwan’s China Times reports.
[FULL  STORY]

Over 7 million people in northern Taiwan could be affected in the event the Tatun volcanoes erupted

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/21
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A researcher at Academia Sinica has discovered a magma

chamber beneath a large swath of New Taipei, signifying that the Tatun volcano group (TVG) in the area could be active, though there are no signs of an imminent eruption.

Lin Cheng-horng (林正洪), a researcher at the Academia Sinica’s Institute of Earth Sciences, has concluded in a study published in the journal Nature that there is a magma chamber 20 kilometers beneath the Wanli and Jingshan districts of New Taipei.

He reached his conclusion late last year after analyzing data from 40 seismic monitoring stations positioned around the TVG over the course of three years.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/21
By: Huang Ya-chuan and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) The Water Resources Agency (WRA) decided Tuesday to implement first-stage water restrictions in Hsinchu, Taoyuan and New Taipei’s Linkou, Banqiao and Xinzhuang districts with effect from March 1.

Most of the areas are served by Shimen Reservoir, which is below 55 percent of its capacity due to low rainfall, according to the WRA.

At a meeting Tuesday, the WRA said that under the government’s color-coded monitoring system, the water supply to those areas was flashing a yellow light, which signaled the need for first-stage water restrictions.

That means the tap water pressure in those areas will be reduced during off-peak hours, according to the WRA.    [FULL  STORY]

800 HEROES:Hundreds of veterans vowed to stage daily protests for three months, while a lawmaker questioned the loyalty of retired generals who consort with Beijing

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 22, 2017
By: Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Hundreds of veterans yesterday rallied outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to protest

proposed pension cuts, vowing to stage daily marches for the next three months if the government does not abandon its plans.

An estimated 1,500 people participated in the demonstration, called “Marching for the Rights of 800 Heroes,” including military veterans and members of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) branch.

“800 Heroes” refers to the Chinese soldiers who defended the Sihang Warehouse against Japanese troops in October and November 1937 in the Battle of Shanghai. The battle is considered one of the most heroic and symbolic events in the Republic of China (ROC) Army’s history.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 22, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

In a public hearing held by the Transportation Ministry, bus association representative

Jiang Chi-hsin (江其興) denied that so-called “assembled vehicles” — in which foreign chassis are furnished with local parts — were to blame for a bus crash that killed 33 people last week.

Jiang, a representative of the National Joint Association of Bus for Tourist of the R.O.C. (全國遊覽車工會), said that the practice of assembling vehicles was “not a problem.”

He claimed that Taiwan had a history of producing large vehicles and had received international recognition.

“Many renowned brands from the west and Japan assemble their vehicles,” Jiang said.

He said it wasn’t right for the local bus industry to be slandered by misinformed criticism about assembled vehicles.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/20
By: Chen Wei-ting and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) In a major change to the existing regulatory framework, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Monday announced plans to impose strict limits on the hours tour bus drivers are legally allowed to work.

The ministry said drivers on day trip tours that run from early morning to late in the evening must share the workload.

Vice Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said the government will “impose rigorous regulations on day trip tours to ensure travel safety.”

The new regulations will come into effect before the Feb. 25-28 holiday, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

POLICIES QUESTIONED:Public opinion is almost evenly divided over the government’s ability to implement pension reforms, but almost half doubt its push for judicial reforms

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 21, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the Cabinet have regained some public approval,

the latest poll by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed, with a bump of more than 7 percentage points.

It is the first time that their approval ratings have gone up since the administration took office in May last year.

The poll, released yesterday, found that 41.5 percent of respondents approved of Tsai, up from 33.8 percent last month, while the number of those who disapproved of her fell from 54.4 percent last month to 41.3 percent.

“The rebound in Tsai’s approval rating is a surprising turn, and might be caused by an NT$800 billion [US$25.97 billion] infrastructure proposal, the Cabinet reshuffle and the pension reform drive,” foundation chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) told a news conference in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]