The China Post
Date: October 24, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taiwanese sailor has been released after being held captive by Somali pirates for

over four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA, 外交部) confirmed on Sunday.

According to local media, MOFA said it had ordered Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa to dispatch an official to Kenya as soon as possible to help Shen Jui-chang (沈瑞章) return home to his family.

The ministry said it had immediately attempted to rescue Shen when it was informed of his 2012 abduction, reaching out to various international anti-piracy groups, including Oceans Beyond Piracy, as well as the Omani government and other countries.

Responding to whether the pirates received ransom money in return for the crew’s release, MOFA said the owner of the hijacked ship had paid some money toward a ransom. More is believed to have come from private charitable donations, the ministry said.

Shen, the chief engineer of the Omani-flagged fishing vessel Naham 3, was one of 26 Asian hostages seized after the ship was hijacked.    [FULL  STORY]

‘BARGAINING CHIP’:The ‘Mingpao’ said Beijing would see intervention by Taiwan in a Hong Kong affair as a precursor to collaboration among independence groups

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 23, 2016
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

The Hong Kong government on Friday issued a statement calling on Taiwan to refrain from interfering in

the territory’s internal affairs.

The statement, delivered by a government spokesman at a press conference, was apparently issued in response to comments by Mainland Affairs Council spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), who said the council would be closely following Hong Kong politics to see whether the legislative seats of Sixtus “Baggio” Leung (梁頌恆) and Yau Wai-ching (游蕙禎) would be declared invalid.

Leung and Yau refused to state the oath correctly — in essence refusing to pledge allegiance to the People’s Republic of China — at their inauguration as legislators, and the secretary-general of the Hong Kong Legislative Council refused to accept their oaths.

Leung and Yau’s action is seen as being part of a pro-Hong Kong independence stance.

The Hong Kong government spokesperson on Friday said that “since the [Hong Kong’s] return [to China], the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong has been given great autonomy under the Basic Law, fully embodying the success of the ‘one country, two systems’ approach.”    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 23, 2016
By: CNA

The front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is seen in Taipei on Saturday, Oct. 22. Activists draped over the monument two long black fabric banners urging the government to “reveal the truth of slaughters (by late President Chiang Kai-shek)” and to “Tear down the symbolic building of (Chiang’s) authoritarian rule and settle past injustices.” The banners were hung by members of the pro-independence Taiwan Republic Campaign office early Saturday and were quickly taken down.    [FULL  STORY]

Joshua Samuel Brown will be heading back to Taiwan in January 2017 to begin on his fourteenth book, a hybrid travelogue/guidebook titled, ‘Formosa Moon for Things Asian Press.’

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/22
By: Steven Crook

American travel writer Joshua Samuel Brown has covered places as far away as Belize and Singapore for

Lonely Planet – one of the largest travel guide book publisher in the world – but Taiwan has long held a special place in his heart. He will be heading back to Taiwan in January 2017 to begin on his fourteenth book, a hybrid travelogue/guidebook titled, “Formosa Moon for Things Asian Press.”

When did you first arrive in Taiwan? And did you have any particular expectations about the place?

That was 1994, and the only expectations I had came from watching the film “Eat Drink Man Woman” at the Little Theater in Rochester, New York. So basically: “Great food, bad traffic!” I had spent some time at the Taiwan trade office in New York City looking through copies of the China Post and China Times [now called Taiwan News] – this was before the Internet – so knew I could get a job teaching English. And that is what I did, pretty much off the plane.

You have been to about 25 countries, so you have seen a lot. Is there anything truly unique to Taiwan?    [FULL  STORY]

What’s on and hot this weekend in Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/21
By: Hsu Chia-yu

Movies
■ Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (神隱任務：永不回頭) / Action, Thriller / PG-6 / Trailer
Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is returning to the headquarters of his old military unit. Upon his arrival, Reacher learns that Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who has been working with him solving cases, has been accused of espionage, and Reacher has to uncover the truth behind a government conspiracy to clear both their names.
“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is directed by Edward Zwick. A sequel to the 2012 film “Jack Reacher,” the film stars Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Heusinger, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh and Holt McCallany.

■ Your Name (你的名字) / Japanese Animation, Science Fiction, Fantasy / G / Trailer
Mitsuha Miyamizu is a high school student in the rural countryside of Japan. Taki Tachibana is a teenager living in Tokyo. As a comet approaches Earth, their dreams and lives start getting entangled. One day Mitsuha wakes up as Taki, and Taki wakes up as Mitsuha, and     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/21
By: Chen Che-fon and Lilian Wu

Kaohsiung, Oct. 21 (CNA) A man who threatened to blow up Kaohsiung International Airport was arrested

upon his return to Kaohsiung from Tianjin on Friday.

The man, identified only by his surname Su, posted a notice on the Facebook account of a Taiwan-Japan exchange forum saying that all personnel of the Kaohsiung International Airport should pay attention.

The notice, which tried to give the impression it was written by a Japanese citizen because it bore a Japanese name, said that he would bring a bomb in to blow up the airport.

“The bodies of the people around the airport will also be blown to pieces. I’m a third grader in primary school,” the posted notice said.

Police found that Su was the person who had allegedly posted the bomb threat, two hours after he put the notice on the Facebook account. Officers visited his home at Fengshan District in Kaohsiung and realized he had gone to Tianjin on a tour with his mother.     [FULL  STORY]