The China Post
Date: October 17, 2016
By: CNA

Firefighters arrive to put out a Taoyuan fire that claimed four lives last night. Rescuers were alerted at 7:10 p.m. of a blaze in a two-story residential building in Zhongli District, with many reportedly trapped. Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control within 20 minutes and to rescue three people, but a family of four could not be resuscitated: two children, an infant and a 36-year-old believed to be their mother. The cause of the fire was under investigation as of press time.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-15
By: Maggie Huang, Staff Writer

A nostalgic 1920s costume parade took place Saturday afternoon in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area, leading everyone into the once prosperous alleys and streets of the historical neighborhood. Participants dressed up in old fashioned clothing, harking back to the streets of 1920s Dadaocheng nearly a century ago.

As part of the Tua-Tiu-Tiann International Festival of Arts (TTTIFA), the 1920s Costume Parade featured vintage fashion of the 1920s, with performances along the parade route, as if a massive time capsule was being opened.

Dadaocheng was the most prosperous commercial district in 1920s Taiwan, and it was also the base and birthplace of the New Culture Movement.

The theme of this year’s TTTIFA is “Roaring All The Way.” As the 1920s is known as the “Roaring 20s,” organizers said they regarded the period as a spectacular one that challenged traditional ideologies and nourished a flourishing arts movement.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/16
By: Kuan Jui-ping and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) A 101-year-old man captured the spotlight on Sunday from 7,800 runners at an

international marathon after crossing the finishing line in the 9-km run.

This was the eighth time Kuo Ting-hu (郭庭虎) from Taoyuan has taken part in the Far Eastern New Century Classic Marathon event in Hsinchu County, having participated in each of the past seven years.

His son Kuo Sen （郭森）said his father gets up at 4:00 a.m. almost very morning to go running whatever the weather.

The son said about 10 years ago, he found out his father was interested in running so they both registered to take part in the event in what was then Taipei County — now New Taipei City.     [FULL  STORY]

BIZARRE:A source from the representative office in Tokyo said transferring title deeds is costly, but a Japanese realtor disputed the claim, saying the fees are minimal

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 17, 2016
By: Chang Mao-sen and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter in TOKYO, with staff writer

The properties used by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Japan are

registered under the name of Ma Chi-chuang (馬紀壯), a former Taiwanese diplomat who died 18 years ago, Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said, urging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the issue to avoid complications.

The properties consist of an office compound and a residence with a combined floor size of 5,634m2 on a 3,069m2 plot in Tokyo’s Shirokanedai District, Hsieh said, adding that they were purchased by the Taiwanese government, but registered under Ma’s name.
Their ownership has not changed hands even though there have been eight representatives since Ma, Hsieh added.

“Ma passed away a long time ago and his possession of office properties in Japan is likely to cause problems. I suggest that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should authorize the office to register its properties under an entity with an appropriate name,” Hsieh said.

The plots are estimated to have a market value of ￥10.8 billion (US$103.6 million) and the structures are worth about ￥5 billion, sources said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 17, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

China Airlines (CAL) said Sunday that it would file criminal and civil lawsuits against the Taoyuan

Flight Attendants Union for organizing a demonstration Friday in which protesters threw eggs at its Taipei headquarters.

In a statement released Sunday, CAL said it would take legal action against the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union in order to defend the company’s “reputation and the rights of the customers.”

On Friday, hundreds of protesters — mainly flight attendants and supporters — pelted the airline’s headquarters with eggs, accusing CAL of failing to honor an agreement on working conditions.

CAL on Sunday said the egg pelting was illegal and “out of order.”

The airlines said the achievements of the company were the result of its 12,000 employees and their predecessors.

“Its substantial development and the rights of all employees should not be jeopardized by a minority of individuals,” according to the statement.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/15
By: Chen Wei-ting, Lin Hsing-meng and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) A tropical depression located east of Guam on Saturday strengthened into a

tropical storm, named Haima, and is expected to affect Taiwan next Thursday and Friday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, Haima was 2,800 kilometers away from Taiwan, moving in a west-northwesterly direction toward the Philippines’ Luzon Island or the Bashi Channel, the bureau’s data showed.

The CWB forecast that Haima will affect Taiwan’s weather next Thursday and Friday, when it will be the closest to the island.

Also Saturday, the bureau issued a heavy rain alert for Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung cities and Yilan and Hualien counties due to strengthening northeast winds.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 16, 2016
By: Aaron Tu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A contract has reportedly been signed with US arms importer Wolf Performance Ammunition for

Taiwanese-made T91 upper receivers, or “uppers,” ammunition and other parts for the assult rifle to be sold in the US, according to a report on the Firearm Blog.

While the Ministry of National Defense declined to comment on the issue, Wolf Ammunition posted several test-fire videos on YouTube and other video platforms of the uppers attached to various lower receivers.

The T91 carbine was researched and manufactured by the ministry’s Armaments Bureau and has been standard issue for the Taiwanese Army.

One thousand initial sets of the uppers are to be delivered to Wolf Ammunition over the next few years, with subsequent sales pending the popularity of the Wolf A1 carbine in the US, sources said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 16, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — About 5,000 protesters from the Formosa Plastics Group rallied outside the

headquarters of Changhua County Government on Saturday, demanding it renew a license for a plant suspended over pollution concerns.

The demonstrators, rallying in support of the suspended Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corporation (FCFC) plant in the central county, displayed placards reading, “Renew the license immediately” and “Resume work immediately.”

They said they wanted a “win-win” solution protecting both the environment and their labor rights.

The protesters claimed that the county government sided with environmentalists and blamed Changhua’s air pollution problems all on the FCFC plant.

They demanded that the county’s magistrate, Wei Ming-ku, talk to them face-to-face.

However, Wei was attending other activities elsewhere, according to reports.

The magistrate, in an article published previously, called on the FCFC to seize the present opportunity to turn itself into a “green energy center” in the area.

It was the third protest that FCFC employees and their families have staged since the Changhua government rejected the plant’s application to renew a license for its coal-fired boilers in late September. The plant has now stopped production without the license.     [FULL  STORY]

MONOPOLY:Power generators must sell to Taipower for distribution under the draft amendment, unless a ‘renewable’ energy company builds its own distribution network

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 15, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Academics yesterday criticized the Executive Yuan’s policy stance on a draft amendment to the

Electricity Act (電業法) as a “great” setback for the government’s policy to liberalize the nation’s electricity industry.

“The government’s stance represents a policy U-turn, because Taipower [Taiwan Power Co (台電)] would still monopolize the industry,” said Kimmie Wang (王京明), research fellow at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research’s (中華經濟研究院) Center for Energy and Environmental Research.

The proposed amendment would make no difference to liberalizing the industry, because non-renewable energy firms are still not allowed to enter the market to compete with Taipower, he said.

Wang’s criticism came after the Executive Yuan on Thursday outlined the draft amendment.     [FULL  STORY]