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Abuse of topical steroids common in Taiwan: dermatologists

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/16
By: Lung Pei-ning and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) The Taiwanese Dermatological Association (TDA) 201601160005t0001said Friday that a lack of regulation on topical steroids in Taiwan has led to widespread abuse of the medicine in Taiwan.

Since a reporting system was established by the association, hospitals around the country have reported more than 500 cases of topical steroid abuse within a month, TDA President Yang Chih-hsun (楊志勛) said.

In most of those cases, patients bought topical steroids at pharmacies to treat skin diseases without first consulting doctors, which worsened their problems, Yang said.     [FULL  STORY]

Flag-Waiving Teen Pop Star Unites Fractious Taiwan

ABC News
Date: Jan 16, 2016
By: christopher bodeen, associated press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese politicians came out in support Saturday of 201601140024t0001a teenage pop star who was forced to apologize for waving the island’s national flag on a South Korean television program, reigniting the complex issue of national identity on a day when voters are electing a new independence-leaning president and national legislature.

Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou and candidates from the ruling and opposition parties united behind 16-year-old Chou Tzu-yu — whose stage name is Tzuyu. She posted an online video on Friday in which she bowed and said she had “always been proud to be Chinese.”

The apology came after her South Korean management company said it was curtailing her commercial activities on the Chinese mainland, apparently in response to online commentary in China accusing her of supporting Taiwan independence. The company worried about offending China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to all expressions of the island’s independent identity, including its flag and anthem.     [FULL  STORY]

Watch: Teenage pop star’s humiliating apology to China for waving Taiwan flag

The Washington Post
Date: January 16, 2016
By: Simon Denyer and Xu Jing TAIPEI – She is a 16-year-old singer from Taiwan, who performs with a South Korea girl band.

But on Saturday Chou Tzu-yu became the center of a political storm, after she forced to make a humiliating apology to China for daring to hold Taiwan’s flag on Korean television.

The controversy has engulfed social media in Taiwan on the day that the island went to the polls to elect a new president, and has brought the issues of Taiwan’s national identity and its unequal relationship with China back to center stage.

Taiwan opposition leader heading for victory in historic poll

Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou and next president Tsai Ing-wen united in support of the singer.     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai Ing-wen elected Taiwan’s first female president

BBC News
January 16, 2016

Tsai Ing-wen has been elected Taiwan’s first female president.

Ms Tsai, 59, leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that wants Clipboard01independence from China.

In her victory speech, she vowed to preserve the status quo in relations with China, adding Beijing must respect Taiwan’s democracy and both sides must ensure there are no provocations.

China sees the island as a breakaway province – which it has threatened to take back by force if necessary.

In her speech, Ms Tsai hailed a “new era” in Taiwan and pledged to co-operate with other political parties on major issues.

The will of the Taiwanese people would be the basis for relations with China, Ms Tsai said.     [FULL  STORY]

ELECTIONS: DPP secures absolute majority in Legislative Yuan

AT-LARGE:The New Power Party was a surprise winner in the party vote, joining the DPP, KMT and PFP as the only parties to surpass the 5-percentage-point threshold

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 17, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday won an absolute

Graphic: Constance Chou and June Hsu, Taipei Times

Graphic: Constance Chou and June Hsu, Taipei Times

majority in the 113-seat legislature for the first time, with 60 percent of its regional legislative candidates winning in their respective electoral districts and securing more than 44 percent of the vote.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has lost the 64-seat majority it won in 2012, retaining 35 seats in the legislature.

The newly formed New Power Party (NPP) had spectacular success, winning all three districts where it fielded regional legislative candidates and crossing the 5-percentage-point threshold to be awarded legislator-at-large seats.

The most attention-grabbing legislators-elect are the NPP’s Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) and Freddy Lim (林昶佐), as well as the DPP’s Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Hualien County, who had all been predicted to have tough battles in traditional KMT strongholds.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP wins all legislative districts in southern and eastern Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

According to Central Election Commission’s statistics, opposition 30220175Democratic Progressive Party has won in all legislative electoral districts in souther and eastern Taiwan, beating ruling KMT’s in every district.

The DPP has a complete victory over the KMT in Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County in southern Taiwan and in Yilan County, Hualian County and Taitung County in eastern Taiwan. Hualien and Taitung have traditionally been KMT’s strongholds.

Earlier Eric Chu, the presidential candidate and chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying that the party has lost the presidential and legislative elections, which is “an unprecedented big change” for the party. Chu also announced to resign as KMT chairman.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen declares victory in presidential race

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/16
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential 30220175candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday declared victory in Taiwan’s presidential election, before the final ballot count was announced.

As of 8:50 p.m., Tsai had 6.74 million votes or 56.2 percent against 3.71 million or 30.9 percent for her main rival, Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the ruling Kuomintang, according to local media.      [FULL  STORY]

KMT’s Eric Chu concedes defeat

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/16
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Eric Chu (朱立倫), presidential candidate of the ruling 201601160021t0001Kuomintang (KMT), conceded defeat in Saturday’s presidential election and announced his resignation as KMT chairman.

Chu offered his congratulations to his main rival, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, for winning the election.

Popular KTV chain in Taiwan to delete songs by Huang An

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-16
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

KTV aficionados wishing to request songs or records by Taiwanese singer 6729160Huang An are expected to go home disappointed as his labels will be removed from the music library indefinitely, according to popular KTV chain Melody KTV on Saturday.

The company made the announcement on its Facebook page stating that it is rebooting its system for an inventory refresh.

“In order to maintain system integrity, and to make up for more storage space, songs and records by Huang An will be permanently deleted from the music library effective January 18, 2016,” it quoted.     [FULL  STORY]

Talent firm seems to cave in to ‘one China’ pressure

MCCARTHYISM:Singer Chou Tzu-yu’s management said it ‘deeply regretted’ false rumors she was pro-independence, and said that she adhered to the ‘one China’ principle

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 16, 2016
By: Staff Writer, with CNA

JYP Entertainment, the South Korean management company of Chou Tzu-downloadyu (周子瑜), also known as Tzuyu, the only Taiwanese member of South Korean girl group TWICE, has seemingly capitulated to Chinese pressure as it quietly on its Web site changed Chou’s birthplace from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei.”

While the Web site continued to show all the original nationalities of other group members in English, such as “Korea” and “Japan,” only Chou’s was written in simplified Chinese characters, listing her birthplace as “Chinese Taipei.”
JYP Entertainment previously changed the slot “nationality” to “birthplace” in Chou’s profile.

The controversy arose after 16-year-old Chou appeared recently on the South Korean variety show My Little Television holding a Republic of China (ROC) flag.
Chou was criticized by Taiwanese singer Huang An (黃安), who is based in China and has gained an online following there partly because of his strong stance against Taiwanese independence.     [FULL  STORY]