Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-31
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A year-end free luncheon took place in the public plaza in front of the Presidential Office on Sunday ahead of the Chinese New Year, serving a menu of dishes Taiwanese typically associate with family get-togethers to more than 23,000 socially disadvantaged people.

The annual feast was first organized in 1996 by the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation and its two sister groups, the Jen’an and Huashan foundations..

After having invited low- and middle- income households, homeless people, people over 65 years old living alone, single mothers and high-risk households, the social welfare groups treated a total of some 40,000 people to a free luncheon around the country Sunday.

President Ma Ying-jeou and Vice President Wu Den-yih attended the Taipei charity luncheon to show their concern for the underprivileged.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/31
By: Chiang Chun-liang and Kay Liu

Taipei, Jan. 31 (CNA) The Chiayi City Fire Bureau warned Sunday

about snakes slithering into people’s homes to hibernate after two cobras were caught in a single day a day earlier.

The bureau said it was called into a residence Saturday evening after the owner found skin shed by a snake while cleaning ahead of the Lunar New Year.

A cobra was found in the basement and caught by the firemen, whose unit had just answered a call around noon that day to deal with another cobra in a kitchen of a different home in the area.

As the weather has cooled, snakes will try to find spots to hibernate, the bureau said.     [FULL  STORY]

It was his dream to make alcohol like the winemakers of California’s Sonoma Valley, and one day, Brett Tieman of 23 Brewing Company finally got the chance — but in Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 30, 2016
By: Dana Ter / Staff reporter

While touring California’s Sonoma Valley years ago, Brett Tieman felt a

mix of envy and reverence for the vineyard owners.

“Their job is to make alcohol. That’s just crazy,” Tieman says.

Tieman says this while taking a swig of his brewery’s citrusy IPA at the Corner Office near Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei. Just a couple of days ago, he was overseeing the entire operation from milling to fermentation at his contract brewery in Hsinchu.

When Tieman first visited Taiwan in 2003, he remembers drinking mainly Taiwan Beer, Heineken and Carlsberg. He said it was disappointing since he considers himself to be the type of traveler who prefers to visit restaurants and bars rather than museums. Despite this, however, he fell in love with Taiwan during several short trips here with his wife. Eventually, the couple decided to uproot from New York.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/30
By: Tai Ya-chen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The Republic of China (Taiwan) has held Taiping

Island, the largest island in the Spratly Islands, for more than 60 years and has never had a military conflict with another country in the South China Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday.

Taiwan has also never obstructed the freedom of other countries to navigate in the South China Sea’s waters or to fly over the area in accordance with the international law, the ministry said.

The ministry’s remarks came after the USS Curtis Wilbur, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island Saturday afternoon Taiwan time.

Triton Island is part of the Paracel Islands, an archipelago claimed by Taiwan, China and Vietnam.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 30, 2016

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou’s Jan. 28 visit to Taiping Island in the

South China Sea reaffirms the government’s commitment to upholding national sovereignty and establishing a legacy of peacemaking, according to international media reports.

Ma’s trip to the largest naturally formed island in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands, 1,600 kilometers south of Taiwan, was the second by an ROC president after Chen Shui-bian in 2008.

During his stay, the president lauded Coast Guard Administration personnel stationed on Taiping Island for safeguarding the ROC territory, while strengthening the nation’s role as an international peacemaker and provider of humanitarian aid.     [FULL  STORY]

RAMIFICATIONS:The head of the victims’ legal team said the lawsuit would proceed, as it might affect their ability to ask for compensation from others responsible

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 31, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

The organizer of the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast

(八仙海岸) water park on June 27 last year, which ended in disaster after colored powder that was sprayed in the air exploded and triggered an inferno, yesterday said that victims might not receive compensation even if they win a lawsuit against him and his companies, because he cannot afford to pay the total being demanded.
The NT$21 billion (US$624.1 million) lawsuit against Lu Chung-chi (呂忠吉) and his companies was filed at Taipei’s Shilin District Court on Friday after 432 victims and their families were consulted to determine the total compensation they were to seek, said Luo Bing-cheng (羅秉成), who is heading a team of lawyers from the Legal Aid Foundation, which is handling the case.
The class-action lawsuit is to run parallel to criminal proceedings against Lu and his two registered companies, Color Play Co (玩色創意) and Juipo International Marketing Co (瑞博國際整合行銷), which were involved in the organization, promotion and ticket sales for the event.
“There were victims who have died, while others sustained burns and other injuries to various extents. The circumstances were different for each of the victims. Our foundation has provided them with guidelines and conditions to serve as a basis for financial compensation, Luo said.     [FULL  STORY]