Without the Cultural Revolution, Taiwan preserves many aspects of old China

McClatchyDC
Date:  December 8, 2015
By Stuart Leavenworth, BEITOU, Taiwan

Aspects of modern bohemianism apparent also at resorts like Beitou, near

Taipei

Hiking, soaking, eating, practicing your Chinese – it can all be done in Taiwan

There’s a simple trick to meeting people in Taiwan – just look lost. Pull out a map on a street corner, or stare befuddledly at your smartphone, and sure enough, someone will stop and ask if you need help.

It happened so many times during a recent week in Taiwan that it became a running joke. These offers of assistance almost inevitably led to extended conversations with our good Samaritans in a fumbling mix of English and Chinese. They were intrigued to know where we were from and what we thought of their home, a place the Portuguese named “Isla Formosa,” or beautiful island.

For more than a century, Taiwan has been known as a generous welcomer of outsiders, and the tradition continues. Possibly because their future is so precarious – living on land claimed by China, with a democratic government unrecognized by most of the world’s nations – the Taiwanese take great pride in greeting people and showing off their culture.

Beitou, an old village absorbed into Taipei, the country’s capital, is a fine place to experience Taiwan’s warmth. It bubbles straight out of the ground. Just a 30-minute subway ride from the center of downtown Taipei, Beitou is the epicenter of hot springs on an island steaming with geothermal activity. You can pay top dollar to visit a luxury resort, or just take your shoes off and soak your feet in one of the brooks that tumble down the hillsides.

NPR
Date:  December 8, 2015
By: Elise Hu

Taiwan’s millennials are known as the “strawberry generation,” and it’s not a

compliment.

In their own eyes, the millennials are helping to turn the capital city Taipei into something hipper, a place that embraces creativity and innovation. Some have gone as far as calling the city Taiwan’s answer to Portland, Ore.

But an older generation of Taiwanese, who helped fuel the country’s export-driven economy, sees the youngsters as soft and easily bruised. Hence, the “strawberry generation,” a disparaging way of saying they don’t work hard. You know, like their parents did.

But that’s not what Jimmy Yang thinks. He has a spacious, two-story independent bar, restaurant and coffee shop called Woolloomooloo, and that’s where you’ll find him on most nights.      [FULL  STORY]

NO WAY BACK?Employees of Global Mobile are unhappy that the NCC refused to extend the company’s license and auctioned its spectrum to another telecom

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 09, 2015
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

About a dozen employees of Global Mobile (全球一動), a Worldwide Interoperability Microwave

Access (WiMAX) service provider, yesterday accused the National Communications Commission (NCC) of selling the spectrum the company currently uses to another telecom on the cheap in an auction, adding that the firm would not cease operations and fight the commission until the end.

The protest occurred a day after the commission auctioned the frequency spectrum for the use by a telecom using fourth-generation long-term evolution technology.

The D6 frequency block was sold to Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) for NT$2.18 billion (US$65.99 million).

The protest also occurred just two days before Global Mobile’s license expires tomorrow. The commission rejected the firm’s license renewal application last month.

The commission also reassigned the phone numbers currently used by Global Mobile subscribers to FET to ensure that subscribers’ interests were protected.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/07
By: Wei Shu and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) An explosion erupted at a plant belonging to Chang Chun Petrochemical Co. (長春石化) Monday, leaving one worker dead and another injured.

The accident occurred at around 11 a.m. during an acrylic manufacturing process, according to officials at the plant.

Su Shih-kuang (蘇士光), executive vice president of Chang Chun Group, said all production lines at the plant have been suspended after the accident and the plant’s management is investigating the cause behind the explosion.     [FULL STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-07
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A sand scandal is brewing in Changhua, with concerns that low-quality concrete has been

used in the construction of many of the country’s public buildings – putting them at risk of collapse, reports said Monday.

The Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office has been carrying out inspections after sources suggested that a number of excavation companies in central Taiwan have been using sea sand in lieu of river sand and selling them to construction companies nationwide.

Sea sand, if used in reinforced concrete production, can severely reduce the structure’s durability because of steel corrosion occurring at much higher rates than normal, a risk that building tenants are exposed to on a day-to-day basis.     [FULL  STORY]