Front Page

City to demolish Keelung-Xinyi pedestrian skywalk by 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-10
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei City’s Public Works Department presented its proposed draft to have

City to demolish Keelung-Xinyi skywalk by 2017.

City to demolish Keelung-Xinyi skywalk by 2017.

the Keelung-Xinyi pedestrian skywalk dismantled by 2017, reports said Sunday.

If passed by the review board, the decision to have the overpass torn down will begin next year at the latest.

This L-shaped pedestrian bridge sits near the intersection of Xinyi Road and Keelung Road, which is a popular location for photographers to take photos of Taipei 101, especially at night.

The 20-year-old public infrastructure has also been a hotspot for aficionados during the annual Taipei 101 New Year’s fireworks display, the department said.     [FULL  STORY]

Students move to boost youth voter turnout

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/10
By: Hsu Chi-wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 10 (CNA) With only one week before the Jan. 16 presidential and 52314384 201601100012t0001legislative elections, several university student associations announced Sunday they will jointly launch a movement to encourage political participation by leasing buses to transport young students to return home to vote.

The Central Election Commission estimates that 18.8 million people in Taiwan will be eligible to vote in the coming elections and 1.29 million of them will be first-time voters — accounting for 6.8 percent of total voters.

Given that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) won over his main opponent Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by a mere margin of 6 percentage points in the 2012 race, the 6.8 percent of first-time voters could certainly swing the results, said Chen Chia-ching (陳佳菁), the president of the National Yang-Ming University Student Association.

Therefore, several university student associations around Taiwan have decided to lease buses to transport students studying in other cities to return home to vote by offering them tickets at preferential prices.     [FULL  STORY]

Thieves make off with bank machine in Tainan robbery

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 11, 2016
By: Wu Chun-feng  /  Staff reporter

An ATM containing about NT$4 million (US$199,399) was taken before dawn

A space in a wall is left where an ATM was after it was stolen from a King’s Town Bank branch in Tainan’s Rende District yesterday. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times, from a police photo

A space in a wall is left where an ATM was after it was stolen from a King’s Town Bank branch in Tainan’s Rende District yesterday. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times, from a police photo

yesterday from a King’s Town Bank (京城銀行) branch in Tainan’s Rende District (仁德).

The theft occurred at 3:57am at the bank on Chungshan Road, police said, adding that they had been called by security guards who had been alerted by an alarm and arrived at the bank to find the ATM missing.

A preliminary police investigation found the machine had not been attached to the building, but was a standalone placement, so the thieves were able to simply cut the wiring and remove it.

It only took about seven minutes for the thieves to remove the machine, police said.     [FULL  STORY]

NPP stages evening rally

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The New Power Party, a group gathering many

(Photo credit: New Power Party Facebook page)

(Photo credit: New Power Party Facebook page)

activists from the Sunflower Movement, staged its major election rally next to the Legislative Yuan it once occupied Saturday evening, a week from the January 16 elections.

Several of its legislative candidates, including party chairman Huang Kuo-chang in New Taipei City and rock singer Freddy Lim in Taipei City, have obtained the support of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party. However, in Hsinchu City, its candidate Chiu Hsien-chih has been embroiled in a sometimes bitter campaign against the DPP’s top lawmaker, Ker Chien-ming, who according to observers might be the next legislative speaker.

The NPP, often described as the new “third force” in Taiwan politics, has scheduled a major rally for Taipei City Saturday evening.

Taiwan’s 2015 births second highest in decade

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/09
By: Tai Ya-chen and Elaine Hou

Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) A total of 213,598 new born babies were registered in 477874362015, the second highest number of births in Taiwan over the past decade, the Ministry of the Interior said Saturday.

The figure was 3,215 more than the number in 2014. It was also the second highest births in Taiwan in a decade, behind only the 229,481 births registered in 2012, the ministry said.

In addition to an increase in new born babies, Taiwan also saw more marriages in 2015, when the government registered a total of 154,346 new married couples, compared with 149,287 in 2014, the ministry said.

The number of registered marriages in 2015 was the third highest in 10 years, it added.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT says turnout shows new vigor

THREE PROCESSIONS:The rally was divided into three parts, with Ma Ying-jeou, Eric Chu and Jennifer Wang leading the way, while US pork imports were a focus

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 10, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Tens of thousands of supporters of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)

President Ma Ying-jeou, center wearing dark glasses, leads a rally of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

President Ma Ying-jeou, center wearing dark glasses, leads a rally of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

yesterday took to Taipei’s streets to drum up support for KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) and legislative candidates in a march calling for the stability of Taiwan.

Waving the Republic of China (ROC) national flags and Chu’s “One Taiwan” campaign flags, party supporters joined several KMT heavyweights in a rally that included three processions setting out between 2pm and 2:30pm.

The march organizer said that about 200,000 people attended the rally, but the Taipei City Police Department estimated the number of participants at 67,000.

The first procession, dubbed “the power of hope,” was led by Chu, his running mate, Jennifer Wang (王如玄), and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). It started from the front gate of National Taiwan University.     [FULL  STORY]

‘Foreign bride’ from Cambodia to make history in Taiwan vote

Part-HKG-Hkg10242337-1-1-0

Lin Li-chan poses for photo after a meeting at the Education Ministry in Taipei (AFP Photo/Sam Yeh

Yahoo News
January 8, 2016
By: Amber Wang, AFP

Taipei (AFP) – A woman derided as a “foreign bride” after her cash-strapped Cambodian family married her off through a broker is set to make history at Taiwan’s elections next week.

Lin Li-chan is running for lawmaker in the parliamentary vote — held alongside the presidential election — and is expected to win, making her the island’s first “new immigrant” legislator.

The term refers to those who came to Taiwan after the first wave of migration from China post-1949, when the island split from the mainland following a civil war.     [FULL  STORY]

South Korea detects MERS virus mutation

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-08
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

South Korean government said Friday that the Middle East Respiratory

South Korea detects MERS virus mutation.

South Korea detects MERS virus mutation.

Syndrome (MERS) virus that spread through the country last year underwent a mutation that could have affected its ability to infect people and the fatality rate.
South Korean government said Friday that the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus that spread through the country last year underwent a mutation that could have affected its ability to infect people and the fatality rate.

MERS, a strain of coronavirus that causes a viral respiratory illness, was first reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012, and has since spread to several other countries, with South Korea being the only country outside the Middle East that has had most confirmed cases.     [FULL  STORY]

MOEA proposes additional Taiwan e-commerce measures

Taiwan Today
Date: January 8, 2016

Taiwan is set to become a hub of Internet-based business activity under a raft

Taiwan’s e-commerce sector is set for a major boost as the country strives to become a leading hub for Internet-based business activities. (Courtesy of the Executive Yuan)

Taiwan’s e-commerce sector is set for a major boost as the country strives to become a leading hub for Internet-based business activities. (Courtesy of the Executive Yuan)

of e-commerce promotion measures proposed Jan. 7 by the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The undertaking, which includes industry and cross-disciplinary talent cultivation strategies, targets eight sectors for strategic promotion. These are agricultural e-commerce, digital learning and publishing, Internet banking, as well as online gaming, tourism, retailing, and video and new media.

Following a Cabinet presentation of the measures, Premier Mao Chi-kuo said they will be supported by regulatory revisions enabling enhanced coordination of interministerial efforts and resources.

“All relevant agencies have been directed to focus on the e-commercialization of Taiwan’s industry sector, infrastructure building and internationalization of the local online business,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Traffic lights on freeway stay after successful trial runs

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/08
By: Chen Wei-ting, Worthy Shen and Kay Liu

Taipei, Jan. 8 (CNA) Traffic lights set up at the mid-point of the freeway 19068103between Taipei and Yilan are here to stay, the National Freeway Bureau said Thursday.

The traffic lights at the 30.5-kilometer mark on the northbound lanes of Freeway No. 5 were introduced in December as part of a scheme to give priority to buses during periods of traffic congestion and to encourage the use of public transportation, the bureau said.

The scheme allows buses to use the shoulder of the freeway before the exit to Yilan’s Toucheng Township and return to the main lanes, where vehicles stopped by the traffic lights must give way.     [FULL  STORY]