SOCIAL MEDIA:The president’s Lunar New Year greetings in English and Japanese angered some Chinese netizens, who said that she should have stuck to using Mandarin

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 29, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Lunar New Year messages from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Twitter yesterday

sparked a war of words between Taiwanese and Chinese netizens.

“From the people of Taiwan, we wish everyone a bright and prosperous Year of the Rooster,” Tsai wrote in separate messages in English and Japanese to Internet and social media users.

Her messages drew a torrent of criticism from Chinese netizens, with some leaving vitriolic comments that accused Tsai of pandering to Japan and the US by favoring Japanese and English over Chinese.

Saying that the Japanese do not celebrate the Lunar New Year, a number of the Chinese critics accused Tsai of “selling out to Japan,” while others referenced the oppression perpetrated by the Japanese government during the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 28, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Devotees packed temples across the country to pray for prosperity

and well-being on Saturday, the first day of the lunar calendar — and the Year of the Rooster.

Among the most crowded places of worship were Nantou County’s Zihnan Temple (紫南宮), where an estimated 50,000 worshippers lined up for more than seven kilometers for the chance to receive a golden egg containing cash or even gold.

The giveaway is an annual tradition for the Jhushan Township (竹山) temple, which this year prepared 2,000 of the eggs.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/01/27
By: Matthew Fulco

The drink of choice is usually Japanese whiskey, sometimes in innovative cocktails.

Nestled deep in the labyrinthine lanes east of AnHe Road, a luminescent sign in the shape of a target glows red, white, and blue. Look closer and you’ll see that the sign indicates the entrance to a partially hidden bar. Push open the heavy glass door, walk straight in, and the first thing that will strike you is the buzz. The long wooden bar is packed with patrons chatting with the smartly clad bartenders, who effortlessly mix French 75s, Sazaracs, Sidecars, and other classic Prohibition-era cocktails.

The patrons converse with the bartenders as if they’re old friends. There are nods of understanding, handshakes, and the occasional high five followed by a shot. A number of the patrons keep whiskey bottles with their names on them on the shelves in the bar – a Japanese custom – from which they pour a drink or two before moving on to something new.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/27
By: Taiwan News

The International Exhibition for Young Inventors (IEYI) was held here in Taipei on Sunday January 22, 2017.

A gold medal was awarded to the team from Taipei American School (TAS) for an invention for safe walking for the visually handicapped.

The gold medal was selected from over 200 projects locally, and the winning team will represent Taiwan this October during the international competition to be held in Nagoya, Japan.

The winning team started this project about six months ago with conception, overall design, and product realization.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/27
By: Wang Shwu-fen, Liu Shih-yi and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 27 (CNA) Hundreds of railway workers protested in Taipei on Friday, shouting slogans and accusing the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) of forcing employees to work overtime during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Members of the Taiwan Railway Union, which is mostly comprised of train station staff, said the morning protest was their response to the TRA’s refusal to negotiate shift readjustments to prevent overtime.

The took part in the protest instead of going to work at the busiest time of year for the nation’s transportation systems, when most people return home for the Chinese New Year.    [FULL  STORY]

HANDS-ON:Aside from teaching students how to take care of chickens, the birds also have a calming effect on kids and make them more sociable, a principal said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 28, 2017
By: Lin Hsiao-yun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter with staff writer

As the nation welcomes the Year of the Rooster, Dashan Elementary School principal

Hsu Ching-hung (徐慶宏) talked about teaching students about life and nature by raising chickens on campus.

Hsu, who is also the deputy convener of the nature education section of the Miaoli County Government’s public education advisory group, said he started using chicken-raising as an educational aid when he received a donation of live chickens from a professor of medical biotechnology when he was the principal at Daping Elementary School in Miaoli.

Hsu said he knew nothing about raising chickens at the time, but learned how to do so together with his students.    [FULL STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 27, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Forcing overseas Taiwanese to get involved in the cross-strait

showdown was “unethical and unnecessary,” the Overseas Community Affairs Council minister said Friday.

“What happens across the strait should be decided by the people (living) on both sides,” Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興) said when asked how the council was trying to foster solidarity in the Taiwanese diaspora in the face of recent Chinese efforts to limit Taiwan’s international space.

Asking overseas compatriots to pick sides in the matter was pointless, Wu said.

Legally, overseas Taiwanese are foreign nationals, so “why should they get involved in the dispute (between Taiwan and China)?” he asked.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 26, 2017

The Center of Biomedical Industry Innovation Program was launched Jan. 25 by Vice

President Chen Chien-jen in Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan, representing a milestone in Republic of China (Taiwan) government efforts to further develop the country’s potential-laden sectors of the 21st century and beyond.

Chen said during the launch ceremony that the center will help build Taiwan into a biomedical R&D hub in the Asia-Pacific while enhancing the country’s economic competitiveness and contributing to the health of people around the world.

Biomedicine is a care-based industry focused on promoting well-being, he said. It is hoped that the new drugs and vaccines developed by Taiwan firms will help prevent and cure diseases, as well as provide quality care for the body and mind, the vice president added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/26
By: Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 26 (CNA) Taiwan government officials on Thursday warned that Lunar New

Year traffic on the country’s freeways is likely to more congested this year than in previous years because the holiday is shorter.

Jaw Shing-hau (趙興華), director general of Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau, said the heaviest congestion can be expected Jan. 29-31 as people travel to different parts of the country for family reunions.

During the comparatively short six-day holiday, Jan. 27 to Feb. 1, the biggest day for family reunions will be Jan. 29, which means very heavy traffic on the freeways, he said.

On Jan. 30 and 31, people are likely to be traveling around the country, enjoying the holiday, which will also result in traffic jams, Jaw said.    [FULL  STORY]