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Madonna arrives in Taiwan for her Rebel Heart Tour

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-02
By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Pop signer Madonna Louise Ciccone, 57, arrived in Taipei by 6732962private jet on Monday night for her Rebel Heart Tour’s first stop in Asia, which includes two performances on Thursday and Saturday nights at the Taipei Arena.

Coming to Taipei for the first time, Madonna said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, “We are coming to get you TAI-PEI!!”

Media reports said Madonna lowered the car window and waved to reporters on her way to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where she is said to be staying.     [FULL  STORY]

Magnitude 6.8 earthquake shakes northeastern Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/02
By: Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter 201602020033t0001Scale occurred off the coast of northeastern Taiwan at 10:19 p.m. Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau reported shortly after the temblor.

The quake’s epicenter was located at sea about 185.4 kilometers east of Keelung City Hall in northern Taiwan at a depth of 212.7 km, the bureau said.

The strongest tremors, which had an intensity of 3 on Taiwan’s 0-7 seismic intensity scale, were felt in Nan’ao in Yilan County and Yenliao in Hualian County.

Taichung, Nantou County, Taitung County and Hsinchu County recorded an intensity of 2, while an intensity of 1 was reported in Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan, the bureau said.

Taiwan’s cross-strait transit stop trial gets underway

Taiwan Today
Date: February 2, 2016

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport welcomed Feb.1 its first

A staffer from Taoyuan City-based China Airlines welcomes Feb. 1 a mainland Chinese family of transit passengers on the first day of the cross-strait trial program. (Courtesy of China Airlines Co. Ltd.)

A staffer from Taoyuan City-based China Airlines welcomes Feb. 1 a mainland Chinese family of transit passengers on the first day of the cross-strait trial program. (Courtesy of China Airlines Co. Ltd.)

mainland Chinese transit passengers as part of cross-strait trial program launched the same day by the ROC government.

The first two of the eight travelers arrived from the southeastern city of Nanchang on China Eastern Airlines Fight 2047 and took Taiwan China Airlines’ connecting Flight 835 to Bangkok. The remainder touched down in two batches from Chongqing and Kunming, respectively, en route to Bangkok and Los Angeles later the same day.

Chou Jih-shine, vice chairman of Taipei City-based Straits Exchange Foundation, said the arrivals were the first phase of a limited trial approved by Taiwan and mainland China.     [FULL  STORY]

Year of the Monkey comes to Dadaocheng

The Lunar New Market in Dihua Street is back with decorations, candy and even wine, though some are not too happy with the commercialization of the yearly tradition

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 03, 2016
By: Dana Ter / Staff reporter

It’s 11am on a weekday and my plans to beat the crowds are

An incense burner sits outside of the Xia Hai City God Temple in Dadaocheng so passersby can light an incense stick and make a wish. Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times

An incense burner sits outside of the Xia Hai City God Temple in Dadaocheng so passersby can light an incense stick and make a wish. Photo: Dana Ter, Taipei Times

thwarted. In a lane filled with jostling tourists, shrieking school children and smiling vendors handing out free samples of candy, preserved snacks and gooey delicacies on skewers, I spot a good-looking young man in his twenties with glasses and a shy smile holding a tray of plastic cups. I smell red wine. Finally, something worth sampling.

He pours me a small cup of sweet grape wine from Changhua County and I immediately down it. The wine, which boasts a deep maroon hue, is thick, rich and extremely sweet. Once the initial sweetness dissolves on the palate, the warm grape flavor becomes highly discernible, leaving behind a pungent aftertaste.

After a couple more samples of other wines, I purchase a bottle of the first sweet grape wine I sampled, thank the man and continue walking down the street. A couple of meters away, I spot another young man handing out free samples in a cup.

“Is that wine?” I ask.     [FULL  STORY]

Mercury could drop to 9 degrees on Chinese New Year’s Eve: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/02
By: Wang Shu-fen and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) Temperatures are likely to drop to 9 degrees

Taipei, Monday.

Taipei, Monday.

Celsius in northern Taiwan on Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve on Feb. 7 due to a strong cold front, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Tuesday.

The cold front will arrive on Feb. 5 and remain over Taiwan until Feb. 8, the bureau said.

The chilly weather brought by the cold front will be exacerbated by radiative cooling — the radiation of heat from the ground at night — the bureau said.     [FULL  STORY]

New Taipei adds international flavor to century-old harbor cleansing festival

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-01
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Devotees are seen taking the local deities and making a running 6732719charge off the harbor dock in last year’s Yehliu Cleansing of the Harbor Festival.

The century-old Yehliu Cleansing of the Harbor Festival, a three-day event to kick off Feb. 20 (Jan. 13 in the lunar calendar), will have an international flavor this year as more foreigners have registered to participate in its Feb. 21 “sea jumping” activity. The festival will take place at Yehliu’s Baoan Temple, Wanli District, New Taipei City.

The annual ritual sees believers jump into the sea to cleanse themselves of bad luck and get blessing from local deities.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP’s Su Jia-chyuan elected legislative speaker (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/01
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang, Sophia Yeh, Jay Chen and Kay Liu

Taipei, Feb. 1 (CNA) Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) of the Democratic

New Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (center).

New Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (center).

Progressive Party (DPP) was elected Monday as speaker of the Legislative Yuan on its opening day, garnering 74 votes from the 113 lawmakers.

With his election, Su has become the first DPP member to preside over Taiwan’s lawmaking body, where his party has 68 seats and the support of the only independent lawmaker, Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇).

Su thanked the caucuses of his party and the New Power Party (NPP) for their backing in the speaker election.

The NPP, which was only established a year ago, controls five seats and is the third-largest party in the newly sworn-in Legislature.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s 1st DPP-controlled Legislature sworn in

Taiwan Today
Date: February 1, 2016

The ROC Legislative Yuan commenced its ninth term Feb. 1 in Taipei

All 113 members of the ninth ROC Legislative Yuan assemble for a group photo Feb. 1 in Taipei City. (CNA)

All 113 members of the ninth ROC Legislative Yuan assemble for a group photo Feb. 1 in Taipei City. (CNA)

City, with the Democratic Progressive Party enjoying a majority in the lawmaking body for the first time in the nation’s history.

Opening day saw Su Jia-chyuan, legislator at large and former minister of the interior, elected president of the Legislative Yuan. He is the first DPP lawmaker to hold the post, bringing the curtain down on Wang Jin-pyng of the Kuomintang’s record 17 years in the job. Su’s running mate Tsai Chi-chang was elected vice president.

The DPP took 68 out of 113 seats on offer in the Jan. 16 Legislative elections, relegating the KMT to main opposition party status with 35.

After his election, Su said he would immediately resign from the DPP’s Central Standing Committee and cease all party-related activities. This is in accordance with ROC President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s pledge to engineer legislative reform and avoid possible conflict of interest in the speaker’s role.    [FULL  STORY]

New lawmakers walk red carpet for new session

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 02, 2016
By: Su Fang-ho, Chuang Meng-hsuan and Lin Liang-sheng / Staff reporters

The first session of the ninth legislature convened yesterday, with 113

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying, left, wearing traditional Aboriginal clothes, walks along a red carpet at the entrance to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ying, left, wearing traditional Aboriginal clothes, walks along a red carpet at the entrance to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

newly elected and re-elected lawmakers reporting for duty at the Legislative Yuan.

Many legislators waited at the Legislative Yuan’s front door before it opened at 8am to be the first to report for work, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) and Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀).

First to arrive was DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬), who entered the Legislative Yuan via a side door without walking the red carpet lined with police officers and reporters.

Cheng said he had not intended to be the first legislator to report for duty.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Bans Junk Food Marketing To Kids

China Topix
Date: Jan 31, 2016
By: Mia Ren

Promoting junk foods in Taiwan is no longer allowed, the Food and

Authorities in Taiwan are limiting the advertisement of junk foods during children shows to cut down the rate of obesity among children in the country.(Photo : Photo by Christopher Jue/Getty Images) Read more: http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/75899/20160131/taiwan-bans-junk-food-marketing-to-kids.htm#ixzz3ysnLevW1

Authorities in Taiwan are limiting the advertisement of junk foods during children shows to cut down the rate of obesity among children in the country.(Photo : Photo by Christopher Jue/Getty Images)
Read more: http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/75899/20160131/taiwan-bans-junk-food-marketing-to-kids.htm#ixzz3ysnLevW1

Drug Administration said.

The Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation says that snacks, candies, beverages, frozen treats, and fast-food with trans fat, saturated fat, sodium, or added sugar that exceed regulation standards will be covered.

Trans fat should not be more than 30 percent of the total daily calorie intake, saturated fat should not exceed 10 percent, sodium not more than 400mg per serving, and added sugar should not be more than 10 percent.

Effective on January 1, advertisements on children’s channels, including those that offer free toys, are prohibited to broadcast between 5 pm to 9 pm.

“Advertising of food products considered unhealthy for children are allowed to be aired in time slots when children are less likely to be watching television or on other channels, such as news channels, less often watched by children alone,” said FDA spokesperson Chih Lan-hui.     [FULL  STORY]