Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/13
By: Cheng Che-fon, Stanley Chueng and Elaine Hou

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The liver of a Hong Kong woman who was

pronounced brain dead has been successfully transplanted into a Taiwanese patient, the hospital that performed the transplant surgery in Taiwan said Wednesday.

The organ was donated to a patient in Taiwan because there was no suitable recipient in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority said Tuesday.

After the Hong Kong Hospital Authority obtained the consent of the donor’s family and the approval of Hong Kong health authorities, the liver was delivered to a Taiwanese medical team at Hong Kong International Airport later Tuesday.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 13, 2016

An ROC presidential election roundtable involving local

academics and representatives of Taiwan’s three main political parties took place Jan. 12 in Taipei City.

Organized by International Community Radio Taipei, the one-day event addressed key issues shaping the Jan. 16 race for the nation’s top job. It also provided the opportunity for members of the international media and foreigners residing in Taiwan to better understand the policy platforms of the three candidates and implications of possible results.

Eric Huang, international spokesman for the campaign of ruling Kuomintang candidate Eric Chu, said the KMT chairman is gaining momentum in the contest despite his late start.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/12
By: Emerson Lim and Lilian Wu

Manila, Jan. 12 (CNA) Philippine law enforcement authorities, acting on

information supplied by Taiwan, raided a warehouse Tuesday that had been turned into a narcotics-producing plant in the suburbs of Manila.

During the raid in Valenzuela, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group also seized a large quantity of drug processing equipment, raw materials and around 36 kilograms of amphetamine with a street value of around 144 million pesos (US$3.03 million).

According to initial reports, law enforcement officers arrested two Chinese people and were tracking down other suspects who had gone on the run.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 12, 2016

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Jan. 11 that he expects

Taiwan-developed defense equipment to continue playing a significant role in facilitating disaster relief operations while upholding national security.

“Emergency response and rescue are increasingly important as a core mission of the ROC military in recent years,” Ma said. “The armed forces are taking the lead in coordinating cross-sector support during disasters such as Typhoon Morakot of 2009, the Kaohsiung gas explosions of 2014 and Typhoon Soudelor of last year.

“In light of this development, we look forward to further advances in Taiwan’s homegrown military equipment R&D, thus strengthening the nation’s disaster relief capability and combat readiness.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The 2016 Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival will kick off on Feb. 11 at

Jingtong Elementary School, followed by festivities on Feb. 14 at Pingxi Junior High School and on Feb. 22 at Shifen Sky Lantern Square.

The second leg of festivities at Pingxi Junior High School, which falls on the night of Valentine’s Day, will culminate with the setting off of a special giant lantern bearing a thousand couples’ finger prints.

New Taipei City’s Tourism and Travel Department has selected several romantic places to collect the finger prints, including the lantern-style Tourist Police Station at Jingtong, Jing Tong Railway Story House, Shihfen Railway Gallery, TRA Houtong Station, Starry Paradise in Keelung City, and TRA Hexing Station in Hsinchu County.     [FULL  STORY]