BORDER SECURITY:Defending his policy, US President Donald Trump said senators should focus on fighting Islamic State instead of always looking to start ‘World War III’

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 31, 2017
By: Bloomberg

US green card holders from the predominantly Muslim Middle East countries covered

by an executive order on travel will not be stopped from returning to the US, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said, as criticism mounted over US President Donald Trump’s action.

Trump defended Friday’s order, which halted entry to the US from seven countries for 90 days, after judges blocked parts of the plan and companies, lawmakers and foreign leaders weighed in.

Senators from Trump’s own party, notably John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, in a sharply worded joint statement, suggested the action had been too broad and potentially damaging to the US.

“In applying the provisions of the president’s executive order, I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest,” Kelly said in a statement. “Absent the receipt of significant derogatory information indicating a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor in our case-by-case determinations.”  [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 30, 2017
by: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A man and a woman waited for hours at two places of worship in

central and southern Taiwan to be the first to receive a “good fortune” red envelope from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday.

The woman, who identified herself by her family name Yeh, said she was the first in line at Chao Tien Temple in Beigang Township, Yunlin County because she wanted to receive the symbolic blessing from Taiwan’s first female president.

To get her spot at the head of the line of 10,000-people, Yeh said she arrived at 9:00 a.m and waited two hours before the arrival of Tsai and her entourage. “It was worth it,” she told the media.

Yeh wasn’t the only one keen to be at the head of a line to receive the symbolic blessing from Tsai.    [FULL STORY]

Taiwan has a long history of growing a wide variety of mushrooms, and was once a major exporter.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/01/29
By: ParrotTalks 關閉

We eat too much of what is bad for us, experts say, and not nearly enough fruits and

vegetables. But one positive trend is visible in some parts of the world: People are eating more mushrooms than they did a generation or two ago.

That is good news from a nutrition perspective because many types of mushroom contain vitamins (especially B1, B2, B3, and B6) as well as iron, selenium, and other minerals. They are rich in antioxidants that can survive cooking, and there is some evidence mushrooms have cancer-fighting properties.

Global mushroom cultivation grew tenfold between 1981 and 2002. Since the mid-1960s, annual per capita mushroom consumption in the United States has risen from 0.7 lbs to 3.7 lbs. In recent years, fresh mushrooms account for three-quarters of this total.    [FULL STORY]

The spring-like weather enjoyed over the first couple days of the Lunar New Year will give way to colder temperatures

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/29
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei, Taiwan — The balmy weather that has been seen since the start of the Lunar

New Year will give way to much cooler temperatures and wetter conditions in the coming days, said the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) on Sunday.

Daytime highs in the north could dip by up to 8 degrees Celsius, while highs in central, southern and eastern Taiwan may drop by 2-4 degrees, according to the CWB.

Northern and Central Taiwan will see lows around 14 to 15 degrees, while the south will drop to around 16.  [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/29
By: S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 29 (CNA) Trains were running normally Sunday, a busy holiday as married

daughters visit their parents on the second day of the Lunar New Year, despite a walkout by more than 200 Taiwan Railway Union members in protest over overwork, staff shortfalls and management’s failure to heed their demands.

Another 200 union members also refused to show up for work a day earlier, Lunar New Year’s Day, after talks between union and management broke down over measures to relieve workloads and increase staff and benefits.

However, enough staff were mobilized to show up for work after Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) Director-General Lu Chieh-shen (鹿潔身) urged employees to “jointly maintain the TRA’s good tradition” of providing services to the public during the busiest time of the year.    [FULL  STORY]

AWOL?The TRA cannot compel people to work on national holidays and mark them as absent without leave, a labor union said, calling it interference with union actions

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 30, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Employees who refused to work during the Lunar New Year holiday to protest working

conditions will face disciplinary action for interfering with holiday operations, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said yesterday.

More than 5,000 employees remained at their posts to maintain smooth railway operations during the holidays, but striking employees, who did not apply for leave, should be punished in fairness to those who reported for work, the agency said.

Striking workers will be deemed absent without leave and may be subject to additional punishment pending a review by a disciplinary board after the holidays, it said.

A workers’ union said that hundreds of members took mass leave to protest the agency’s refusal to hire more employees to ease the burden on staff.

The agency estimated that about 200 workers have taken unapproved leave every day since Friday, while the union’s estimate was 500 to 600 people per day.

The strike has caused confusion at some stations, with ticketing and station operations being stalled at stations in Taipei, Taoyuan and Hualien due to understaffing.  [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 29, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said on Sunday that

Taiwanese visitors to the United States entering under the Taiwan-U.S. visa waiver would not be affected by a recent change in US immigration policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order banning restricting immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The ban also suspends the “visa interview waiver program.”

AIT spokesperson Sonia Urbom stressed that the “visa interview waiver program” is not the same as the “visa waiver program” overseen by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, adding that conditions relating to the latter would not change.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-01-28

President Tsai Ing-wen has given New Year’s greetings to the public during a visit to

Taipei’s Jiao Hsiou Temple on Saturday.

At a ceremony held during her visit, the temple prayed for peace, prosperity, economic health, and freedom for Taiwan. Tsai also participated in a ceremony unveiling a new plaque for the temple. More than a hundred people visiting the temple lined up to receive a lucky red envelope and a New Year’s greeting from the president.

Meanwhile, long lines also prepared to receive red envelopes from Vice President Chen Chien-jen at Taipei’s Holy Family Catholic Church. Chen, a practicing Catholic, attended a Lunar New Year mass at the church where he prayed for peace, prosperity, and social stability in the coming year.

2017 is also a Fire Rooster Year

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/28
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Happy Lunar New Year and welcome to the Year of the

Rooster! Expect a question from your friends why rooster, but do you know how to answer? Here we did a little research about everything you need to know about the Year of the Rooster.

The Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao (生肖), is a cycle of 12 signs represented by an animal in each year. The 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac signs starts with rat, followed by ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig in order. The rooster ranks tenth out of the 12 animals, and 2017 is the Year of the Rooster. People born in 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 and 2029 are roosters.

According to China Highlights, 2017 is also a Fire Rooster Year. In Chinese astrology, each zodiac year is not only associated with an animal sign but also one of the Five Elements that comprises the five energetic forces making up all living things – Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Both the Chinese zodiac sign and the Five Elements shape the astrology of the year and the scheme makes a combination of Fire Rooster for 2017. Element-sign combinations recur every 60 years.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/28
By: Wang Shwu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) All of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) trains ran on schedule on Lunar New Year’s Eve despite a temporary shortfall in manpower caused by protests by rail union members, the TRA said Saturday.

Instead of going to work on Friday, hundreds of railway workers attended a protest initiated by the Taiwan Railway Union, which is comprised mostly of train station staff, to bash the TRA for forcing employees to work overtime during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The protesters argued that they had the right to have a holiday break just like everybody else and should not be forced to work overtime against their will.   [FULL  STORY]