Chu said that thinking about saving people first is just the basic responsibility of being a medic

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/10
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A nurse who bravely rescued an injured driver on a national highway in March was seen again rushing to an accident scene near the hospital she works to administer first aid to an injured woman in a traffic accident that involved a motorcycle and a truck on Thursday.

The accident happened around 10:40 a.m. on the highway in front of the Tainan Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. A 73-year-old woman surnamed Lee was lying on the ground and both of her legs were bleeding.

Shortly after the accident happened, a passerby went into the hospital to seek help. On-duty head nurse Lai Yu-ting responded to the scene immediately. Hospital nurse Chu Yi-ching, who was on vacation but took the time to sort data in the office, rushed afterward to the scene upon learning what happened. Together both nurses examined Lee’s injuries and administered first aid before helping move her into an ambulance.

The scene of the two nurses working together to help the woman was recorded by passersby, who praised them for their warm hearts and compassion.    [FULL  STORY]

KIN:A Social Democratic Party lawyer said he supports equal marriage rights after he had to make medical arrangements for his wife when she was injured overseas

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 11, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Married couples yesterday called for same-sex marriage legislation at a Legislative Yuan news

conference, as same-sex marriage supporters broaden communication with society as they lobby for passage of a bill.

“Even though same-sex marriage legislation has been referred to the legislative committee for a review, we still see many people opposing same-sex marriage in the name of protecting families, but there are a lot of parents who hold different views,” said Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association research associate Lu Hsin-chieh (呂欣潔), who hosted yesterday’s news conference.

Lu also announced plans to film online commercials in favor of same-sex marriage featuring heterosexual couples.

“We hope to use more stories and experiences to communicate with society. Not with the group of people who are strongly opposed to same-sex marriage, but with those in the middle who may not understand homosexual issues,” she said, while adding that none of yesterday’s group of parents wore masks over their mouths to hide their identity, unlike most of the parents and children who rallied against same-sex marriage outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 11, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen met with Edwin Feulner, a top adviser to U.S. President-

elect Donald Trump in October, government officials disclosed Thursday.

Foreign Minister David Lee told lawmakers at a legislative session that Tsai had met with a “top aide” to Trump during his visit to Taiwan.

While Lee declined to name the aide in question, describing it as “inappropriate,” he did say that he had dined with the adviser to the president-elect and that he had known him for “more than 30 years.”

The Presidential Office later clarified that the aide was Feulner, founder of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

According to a Presidential Office press release, Tsai met with Feulner in the Presidential Office on Oct. 13, together with several members of a delegation from a U.S. think tank.    [FULL  STORY]

Buddhist nuns seen driving sports cars and drinking beer while a monk is spotted perusing pornographic DVDs

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/08
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Over the past week, netizens have posted a series of images and videos on the popular Taiwanese

Facebook group Baoliao Commune and the bulletin board website PTT showing Buddhist nuns and monks seemingly breaking every vow in the book, including driving an ostentatious sports car, wearing designer jewelry, drinking beer, eating meat, shoplifting and perusing porn.

A nun, who netizens have nicknamed “Chanel Bhikkhuni,” was spotted speeding away in a Toyota 86 sports car that even had an aftermarket spoiler added on the back. Spoilers are usually added to improve the aerodynamics and maintain stability of a car at high velocities, so this nun has got a need for speed.

A bhikkhuni is a fully ordained female monastic in the Buddhist religion. In Taiwan, Buddhist nuns are usually subject to Vinaya or a set of 348 rules, which normally include bans on eating meat, drinking alcohol, sensual misconduct, and generally prescribe an ascetic lifestyle with material possessions kept to a bare minimum.  [FULL  STORY]

J. Michael Cole’s plan for Taiwan to increase its chances of surviving a possible U.S. retrenchment from Asia under President Trump.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/11/10
By: J. Michael Cole

The election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States on November 9 is expected to bring

change — how drastic remains to be seen — to different aspects of U.S. policy, both domestically and internationally. Largely the result of mounting discontent with the U.S. political establishment, Trump’s successful campaign also tapped into a growing segment of American voters who want a U.S. global disengagement.

For U.S. allies worldwide, a possible winding down of the U.S. security umbrella, which has ensured stability in Europe and the Asia Pacific over the past 70 years, will be a source of apprehension. Vulnerable frontier states like Taiwan, whose continued existence as a free, liberal-democratic country next to authoritarian, expansionist and revisionist China is largely predicated on continued U.S. political support and military assistance.

Although the notion that President Trump would undo the entire alliance system that has been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy since the end of World War II is probably far fetched (among other things his transition team and government system will comprise individuals who are very much in favour of continuing support for U.S. allies) there no doubt exists a possibility that the White House may be inclined to decrease its assistance to small states that are perceived as security freeloaders—in other words, allies that are not pulling their weight in ensuring their own defense due to the expectation that the U.S. would step in should their survival be threatened. Additionally, such perceptions fuel perceptions in a segment of the American public that their country could be unnecessarily dragged into a conflict with a major regional power (e.g., Russia, China, Iran) by a small state whose survival is not of strategic interest of the U.S. Rather than risk such an outcome, the logic goes, the U.S. should abandon those small states to their fate and perhaps get a “grand bargain” with challengers in the process.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/09
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) The emission of fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) has increased in Taiwan over the past three years, with construction activities and paved road emissions the main culprit, according the latest Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) data.

An average of 77,182 metric tons of PM2.5 per annum was emitted over the past three years, representing an increase of 3,327 tons, or 4.5 percent compared with the EPA’s previous calculation of air pollutant emission levels in 2013.

However, there was a drop of 24.6 percent in the overall emission of air pollutants, according to the EPA data released on Nov. 1.

The agency on Wednesday blamed the increase in hazardous PM2.5 emissions on construction activities and paved road emissions, which were found to be responsible for more than 40 percent of PM2.5 emissions.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 10, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Regardless of who wins the US presidency, Taiwan must keep up its efforts to secure friendly support

in the US Congress, which is crucial for the nation, former representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) said yesterday before the polls concluded, while several academics dismissed concern over the US “saying goodbye to Taiwan” in the near future.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-affiliated National Policy Foundation held a news conference on the US elections’ impact on the Asia-Pacific region’s prospects, which was scheduled to start at 9:30am, but was repeatedly delayed, because “it is too early to tell,” said former KMT legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), convener of the foundation’s national security team and one of the commentators.

The panel acknowledged that there was a chance, despite predictions by mainstream media, that Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump could win, but said it would make no difference to what Taiwan needs to do to maintain good bilateral relations.

“The task for Taiwan remains the same, which is to secure the support we have in the US Congress,” Shen said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 10, 2016
By: Kuan-lin Liu

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered congratulations to U.S. President-elect

Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence on their victory yesterday.

In a statement issued by the Presidential Office, Tsai congratulated Trump on being elected 45th president of the United States.

Tsai emphasized the importance of U.S.-Taiwan relations, saying the U.S. was the world’s most important democratic nation and Taiwan’s most solid ally.

Tsai expressed her optimism about working with the Trump administration to maintain the peace and stability of the Asia Pacific.

Also in the statement were special thanks to U.S. President Barack Obama for his administration’s support of Taiwan throughout the last eight years.

Tsai sent a congratulatory letter via the Foreign Ministry immediately after Trump’s victory announcement. In the letter, she highlighted the two nations’ shared values of freedom, democracy and human rights, as well as their history of close cooperation.    [FULL  STORY]