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Six highways may be controlled for icy conditions

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-21
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s Directorate General of Highways Thursday said it may control six sections of highways to cope with possible frozen surface conditions brought about by the cold weather forecast to impact Taiwan from Saturday.

As low temperatures are forecast across Taiwan for four days starting from Saturday, mountain areas higher than 1,000 meter above sea level are said to have chances of snow during this period.

The DGH said after overall assessment it has marked six sections of highways that may need to be controlled for icy road conditions: Provincial Highway No.7 (the Northern Cross-Country Highway) from 47K to 66K, Provincial Highway No.7 Jia from 30K to 50K, Provincial Highway No.8 (the Central Cross-Island Highway) from 109K to 132K, Provincial Highway 14 Jia (Hehuanshan Highway) from 18K to 41K, Provincial Highway No. 21 (the New Central Cross-Island Highway ) from 110K to 145K, and Provincial Highway18 (Alishan Highway) from 76K to 88K. [FULL STORY]

In wake of Taiwan elections, Chinese TV reports PLA live-fire drill

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/21
By: Feng Chao, Elaine Hou and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) A state-run television network in China reported

(Captured from the CNTV website)

Wednesday that a live-fire drill had been conducted recently by the Chinese military off China’s southeast coast, the first report of a military exercise following Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections last week.

The China Central Television (CCTV) report came after Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), chairwoman of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won a landslide victory in Taiwan’s presidential election and her party also gained a legislative majority, winning 68 seats in the 113-member Legislature.

In the report, CCTV said the 31st Group Army, a military formation of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) based in the southeastern city of Xiamen, had conducted a large-scale live-fire landing drill off Southeast China. [FULL STORY]

China dismisses aides as dispute grows over Taiwan singer

Big News Network
Date: 20th January, 2016
By: UPI

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China dismissed two aides in charge of cross-strait relations in the wake of a landslide election in Taiwan – as controversy grew over a Taiwanese member of a South Korean pop group forced to issue a public apology for displaying a Taiwanese flag on Korean television.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party stated on its website Tuesday two officials from separate Taiwan affairs bureaus were under investigation for “severe violation of discipline,” South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Beijing did not go into the specifics of their alleged violations, but the charges could be related to bribery or corruption. One of the suspects, identified as Dai, was the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office in the Chinese province of Fujian. Hong Kong press reported Dai worked with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Chinese leader’s term in Fujian Province. [FULL STORY]

TV host of ‘Taiwan Taste’ dies in suspected suicide

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/20
By: Liu Chien-pan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) Jack Luck, a co-host of “Taiwan Taste” TV show on

The Faceboon page of Jack Luck.

Fox TV’s Chinese channel, died Wednesday after he was found hanging from a rope at his home in Taipei.

The Australian-Korean was discovered by his brother’s girlfriend at his residence, who then called the police for help. Luck was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police suspected that Luck hanged himself with a length of rope, according to an initial probe. A note was found at the scene, police said.

Freddy Lim: Meet Taiwan’s new rock’n’roll lawmaker

Ponytail-sporting ‘black metal’ singer defies the odds to win seat in parliament

The Independent
Date: January 20, 2016
By: Adam Sherwin

With his leather trousers, ponytail and facial tattoos, Freddy Lim certainly

Freddy Lim at an election rally in Taipei Getty Images

cuts a dash among Taiwan’s legislators.

The frontman of Asia’s leading “black metal” band has just won a seat in Parliament following an election which swept pro-democracy candidates to power.

Standing for the New Power Party, Mr Lim, the lead singer with Chthonic, defeated Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member of parliament Lin Yu-fang, who had held his seat for two decades.

Mr Lim, who wears facial corpse-paint depicting the “eight generals of hell” in Taoist lore on stage, intends to combine the band’s international festival appearances with his legislative duties.

The election ended seven decades of KMT dominance, handing control to the pro-independence Democratic Progress Party (DPP). Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP’s candidate, will become Taiwan’s first female president, sealing the historic transfer of power, which has raised tensions with China. One of five New Power Party legislators elected to the new parliament, Mr Lim capitalised on his popularity among the nation’s youth by staging a 20,000-capacity concert in Taipei’s landmark Liberty Square on Boxing Day. [FULL STORY]

TSU sacks entire staff

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan Solidarity Union will sack its entire staff following its defeat in last weekend’s elections, reports said Wednesday.

The small pro-independence party lost all its three seats at the Legislative Yuan since its at-large list of candidates failed to reach the threshold of 5 percent. In addition, it also stayed below the minimum of 3.5 percent to receive government subsidies.

TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia and former lawmaker Cheng Chen-lung held talks Wednesday, reaching the conclusion that for the moment being, all staff members should be laid off, leaving an eventual future chairman the room to start from the bottom up, reports said. [FULL STORY]

Tsai’s Facebook page flooded with messages from China, again

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/21
By: Sophia Yeh and Kay Liu

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) The Facebook page of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was flooded with over 20,000 messages likely from Chinese Internet users, who voiced their opposition against Taiwan’s independence, in three hours Wednesday.

Since Wednesday afternoon, several netizens posted the Communist Party of China’s socialist values of eight honors and eight shames, which start with “it is an honor to love the motherland, a shame to endanger it,” in simplified Chinese used in the mainland on Tsai’s Facebook page.

There are also messages ridiculing or criticizing the pursuit of Taiwan’s independence that is part of the platform of Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tens of DPP heavyweight proposed a freeze in the platform’s clause about Taiwan’s independence in 2014. [FULL STORY]

Ma reaffirms value of South China Sea Peace Initiative

Taiwan Today
Date: January 20, 2016

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou reiterated the significance of his South

President Ma Ying-jeou explains the importance of regional cooperation during a South China Sea international conference Jan. 19 in Taipei City. (CNA)

China Sea Peace Initiative Jan. 19 in Taipei City, calling on all countries and territories in the region to promote peace through collaboration.

“Taiwan’s successful peacemaking experiences in the East China Sea are helping it take the lead in advancing prosperity and stability through this initiative,” Ma said.

“We remain steadfast in fostering coordination and cooperation among all relevant parties by advocating the principles of exercising restraint in pursing peace and reciprocity, while promoting joint exploration and development of resources.”

The president made the remarks during his opening address at the International Symposium on the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in the South China Sea. [FULL STORY]

Legislative speaker to be neutral: DPP

FREETHINKING SPEAKER:The DPP said the decreased influence of a party over the legislative speaker would serve to guarantee the viability of the political system

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 21, 2016
By: Chen Hui-ping, Aaron Tu and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The first Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Standing

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, and vice president-elect Chen Chien-jen yesterday talk to the media in Taipei after attending the Democratic Progressive Party’s first Central Standing Committee meeting since Saturday’s elections. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

Committee meeting chaired by president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday affirmed that the new legislative speaker would remain neutral and not be at the whim of the party.

“The legislative speaker will not attend party events, will not hold positions within the party and will not be present in negotiations between political parties,” DPP spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) told a post-meeting press conference.

Specifically, the person holding the position would not attend party events, the DPP Central Standing Committee meetings, national congress meetings, parades and social activism events otherwise hosted by the party and cannot stump for the party nominees in elections, Juan said.

The individual would not hold any position in the party and would refrain from attending bipartisan negotiations in the legislature, or between the legislature and the Executive Yuan, unless their presence is mandated under the Constitution or is otherwise approved by the president, Juan said. [FULL STORY]

Senior China official dealing with Taiwan probed for graft

Reuters
Date: 19/01
By: Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie

BEIJING (Reuters) – A deputy head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office is

Gong Qinggai

being investigated for suspected “serious discipline violations”, the ruling Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog said on Tuesday, using the normal euphemism for corruption.

The brief statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection gave no other details of the probe into Gong Qinggai.

Taiwan is a highly sensitive issue for Beijing.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan, which voted in a new president and parliament on Saturday, a wayward province, to be brought under Beijing’s control by force if needed. Defeated Nationalist forces fled there in 1949 at the end of a civil war. [FULL STORY]

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