Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/10
By: Tyson Lu, Chen Wei-ting and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) The South-Link Railway Line between Taimali (太麻里) and Zhiben (知本) in Taitung County reopened at 2 p.m. on Monday, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said.

Service on the 98.2 kilometer-long rail line from Fangliao in Pingtung County to Taitung City was disrupted three times during the three-day National Day holiday due to torrential rains brought by the outer periphery of Tropical Storm Aere.

Service on the rail line was disrupted for about three hours on Saturday morning after a Tzuchiang express train ran into a three-meter high and 10 meter-long mudslide on the Zhiben-to-Taimali section.

The rail line was disrupted in the same section again on Sunday morning after landslides eroded the line’s roadbed and persistent rain made repair work difficult. Repairs were finished on Sunday evening and service was restarted on Monday morning.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 11, 2016
By: Yang Chun-hui / Staff reporter

The National Day ceremony yesterday was marked by scattered protests, with both pro-independence

and pro-unification advocates condemning the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s observation of the day.

“Taiwan is Taiwan,” shouted Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) members protesting outside the ceremony site, calling for the rejection of the “Republic of China’s” National Day.

National Day has nothing to do with Taiwan because it marks the anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising, which culminated in the founding of the Republic of China, TSU Department of Youth Affairs director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) said, adding that the day should only be celebrated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which traces its roots to the uprising, rather than by Taiwan as a whole.

The TSU members also handed out stickers stating that “Taiwan is Taiwan,” and advocating that “Taiwan” and not “Chinese Taipei” should be used to refer to the nation in international competitions.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 11, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen gave her first National Day speech on Monday, placing the

emphasis on domestic reforms and calling for cross-strait talks but warning that Taiwan would not give in to Chinese pressure.

In her speech, titled “Forging Ahead: Achieving Reforms to Make the Country Great,” Tsai followed the pattern of her inaugural speech, leading with domestic issues before delving into international and cross-strait topics.

Tsai, speaking outside the Presidential Office, first addressed the plight of the nation’s youth, saying they faced prohibitive housing costs and other economic challenges.

“This is the first time that all of us in this country can sit down together, and truly reflect on what sort of country we wish to leave to our young generation. We must not let this opportunity slip from our grasp. The power to decide is in the hands of this generation.”

Reaffirming her administration’s social housing policy, she said, “Our goal is clear: to create quality job opportunities for our young people, and to elevate their salaries.”     [FULL  STORY]

‘Taipei’s hosting of Nuit Blanche seems like a half-hearted, commercialized attempt to make Taipei look like an artistic city when the actual creative centers of the city are at risk.’

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/09
By: Brian Hioe

Taipei’s much vaunted Nuit Blanche arts festival took place on Oct. 1 to mixed reactions. Nuit Blanche

is an arts festival which is held yearly in cities across the world. This was Taipei’s first time holding the event, making it the second Asian city to do so, with the first being Kyoto in 2015.

However, the event was, overall, a half-hearted one. Despite Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) advertising the event as an all-night arts party which would go until 6 am, seeing as the motto of Nuit Blanche is “No one sleeps tonight,” most events ended before midnight. The event was also marred by poor crowd control, with a notable lack of sufficient traffic police for the large crowds it drew. With no roads closed off for the event, crowds massed on the sidewalks, with 7/11s becoming a particular traffic hazard because of the swarms of individuals gathered around them.

Neither was the event as large-scale an arts event as was advertised. Given that the event consisted largely of light projections onto the Beimen gate and Dadaocheng buildings, some installation art, and scattered performances, the area designated for the event did not need to be so large, encompassing the north half of the 228 Memorial Park and running the length of Chongqing South Road up to Beimen. The event felt somewhat like a badly designed scavenger hunt as participants wandered across this vast amount of space looking for the next installation.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-09
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Even though a tropical storm, named Songda, formed in the Pacific, will not approach Taiwan, another storm Aere is expected to continue bringing rain to much of the island during the three-day National Day weekend, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast on Sunday.

Songda was situated about 3,500 kilometers east of Eluanbi, Taiwan’s southernmost point, Saturday night. The CWB predicted the storm to head north and miss Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the out fringes of tropical Aere, which centered about 300 km west of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan Sunday morning, will continue to bring rain to Taiwan in the next few days, but its influence will gradually weakened, according to the CWB.

On Sunday and Monday, parts of the north and east could experience heavy rainfall as the first cool front of the autumn moves into Taiwan, and occasional rain may also occur in central and southern areas, the CWB said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/09

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) Taichung Prison authorities on Sunday rejected former President Chen Shui-bian’s

(陳水扁) request to attend the celebration of the Republic of China’s National Day in Taipei on Oct. 10.

The former president has been on medical parole at his Kaohsiung residence since January 2015 while serving a 20-year prison term for multiple convictions on corruption charges.

After a meeting on Sunday afternoon, Taichung Prison said it would not approve Chen’s application because the state of Chen’s illness is complicated, and long-distance travel would not be good for his health.

It was also concerned that the appropriate conditions for his care would not be available and said that attending the National Day ceremony, which is a public event and has multiple variables, went beyond the requirements for improving Chen’s condition.

The Presidential Office said it “respects” the Taichung Prison’s “decision.”    [FULL  STORY]

TAIWAN FOCUS:The president’s Double Ten National Day speech is set to focus on domestic policies, such as promoting reform and transitional justice, a source said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 10, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reiterated her pledges to maintain cross-strait peace and

Taiwan’s democratic system as she prepared to deliver her first Double Ten National Day speech today that is expected to be closely watched by China.

Tsai made the remarks in a speech at an event organized by the Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission at the Taipei Arena yesterday afternoon. The event was attended by Taiwanese expats, as well as Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Bih-jaw (林碧炤) and Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).

“More than four months have passed since we last met on the day of my inauguration in May. During this period, not one day has gone by that I have not remembered my promises to you, which are to take care of Taiwan and make it better,” Tsai said.
Tsai said that since taking office, her administration has encountered numerous challenges, some of which were unexpected, while others are structural problems that have accumulated over time.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 9, 2016
By: CNA

Emergency personnel use a crane to rescue a 61-year-old man surnamed Lin in Hualien County’s Zhouxi Township on Saturday morning, Oct. 8. Lin, who had left home to feed his chickens, was stranded overnight after heavy rain caused the river to swell, submerging the bridge.    [SOURCE]