CHU’S THREE REFORMS:The KMT chairman said that he would push for neutrality in the speakership, increasing parliament efficiency and improving transparency

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 29, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee yesterday passed a

motion to lift a self-imposed term limit on legislator-at-large seats for legislative speakers, opening the door for Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) potential re-election for a fourth term.

The proposal, jointly submitted by five committee members, was passed with the signatures of 29 of the 39 members, without being put to a vote at a routine meeting of the committee in Taipei.

The motion recommends an amendment be made to Article 2 of the KMT’s regulations on nominations for legislators-at-large and overseas legislators, which stipulates that KMT legislators-at-large are generally allowed to serve one term, but those with special contributions to the party are eligible for re-election.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-27
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

As a Greenpeace survey has found, air pollution in 80% of Chinese cities has exceeded

The hazardous PM2.5 from China is coming. Central News Agency

national standard from January to September in 2015. Unfortunately, the offshore wind is set to aggravate the air quality in Taiwan over the next few days.

In recent years, the foul air pollution in China has contributed to a large portion of Taiwan’s air pollution. According to CEO and founder of WeatherRisk Explore Inc Peng Chi-ming the impact of air pollution from China will loom over Taiwan and reaches its peak on October 28. Environmental Protection Administration statistics show the average density of fine particle 2.5 (PM2.5) is high between October and December. Taiwan will face similar polluted air quality in the upcoming months because China encounters high atmospheric pressure masses in winter, which prevent air pollution from dispersing and blown to Taiwan by seasonal winds.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/27
By: Su Lung-chi, Wang Hung-kuo and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) A Hong Kong businessman who had been abducted in Xidian, New

Two suspects arrested in Yunlin.

Taipei was rescued in Yunlin, central Taiwan, late Tuesday, police said.

Wong Kwan, chairman of Pearl Oriental Oil Ltd. of Hong Kong who was suspected of involvement in fraud and money laundering in Hong Kong, was adducted in Taiwan Sept. 20, according to police.

Wong is now safe in a hospital in Yunlin County following a police operation to rescue him, a New Taipei police officer told CNA.

Police investigators have arrested 12 suspects. More details will be made public as police kept probing the case, they said.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-27
By: CNA

The Republic of China (Taiwan) government on Tuesday called on all sides not to raise

China’s new lighthouse on Huayang (Cuarteron) reef, Oct. 9. (Photo/Xinhua)

tensions in the region and to resolve disputes in a peaceful way as an American warship sailed into disputed waters in the South China Sea amid protests from China.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that Taiwan is fully prepared to open dialogue with all sides with the goal of turning the South China Sea into “a sea of peace and cooperation.”

A ministry spokeswoman also reiterated the ROC’s position that it holds sovereignty over four island chains in the South China Sea, including the Spratlys, and their surrounding waters.

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 28, 2015

Hsu Ta-hang, a marketing officer at the Renan Social Welfare Foundation’s head office in

Wang I-wen, first left, Hsu Ta-hang, first right, and two companions give a musical performance in Keelung’s bus station on Oct. 16. to raise money for the homeless
王怡文（左一）、許大行（右一）及兩名同伴十月十六日在基隆公車站為街友募款而唱。
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者林欣漢

Taipei’s Shilin District, feels that fundraising has been pretty difficult in recent years, so for two years running he has ridden his scooter around Taiwan, busking by singing and playing guitar along the way and urging the public to donate money for the homeless. Wang I-wen, a female university student who agrees with Hsu’s idea, also joined him on the tour. This was her first time to be away from Taipei on a scooter and take the challenge of singing on the streets, but she says it has been totally worth it.

Hsu and Wang were also accompanied by two salarymen, Wang A-fan and Tai Chun-ying. The four zealous youths set off on their journey from Sanchong on Oct. 10 with a box for people to donate receipts, along with sleeping bags and a guitar. They sang their way counterclockwise around the island by riding scooters and arrived at Keelung on the morning of Oct. 16. Chou Chih-hsiung, a volunteer at the foundation’s Keelung branch, also joined the group, whose efforts have captured the public’s attention.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/26
By: Lung Pei-ning and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 26 (CNA) An online survey has found that 81 percent of Taiwanese women are not satisfied with their breasts, while 60 percent think that D-cup “teardrop-shaped” breasts are the most ideal.

The results were collected from 1,021 participants in a survey conducted by plastic surgeon Huang Wen-chi (黃雯琪) between Sept. 15-Oct. 15, who also found that the top three Taiwanese actresses who have the most envied breasts are Puff Kuo (郭雪芙), Amber An (安心亞) and Lin Chi-ling (林志玲).

Many of the survey respondents said that all three of the actresses have beautiful breasts that also appear natural.

Huang, meanwhile, suggested that women should consult a doctor before considering plastic surgery on their breasts, adding that such surgery is not appropriate for women aged below 22, those suffering from infections, pregnant women or breast cancer patients.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-26
By: CNA

HTC has teamed up with Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) to produce encrypted

The NSB’s Yang Kuo-chiang shows one of HTC’s encrypted phones at the Legislative Yuan, Oct. 22. (Photo/Yao Chih-ping)

phones that ensure the communications of senior officials are protected against spying.

NSB director-general Yang Kuo-chiang said in his report to the Legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Oct. 22 the encrypted HTC phones have been used by the president, vice president and senior officials at national security and military agencies since April.

The third-generation encrypted phone looks similar to the HTC Butterfly flagship handset but runs an NSB-designed encrypted chip, with the phone’s GPS function removed to avoid being tracked by China’s homegrown Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), Yang said.

“Our encrypted phone is definitely secure,” Yang said in response to some lawmakers’ concerns that China can monitor mobile phones in Taiwan through apps connected to Beidou.     [FULL  STORY]

SAFETY FIRST:New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Hou You-yi said that ensuring the safety of residents is more important than building a facility to store spent fuel rods

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 27, 2015
By: Chen Wei-tsung, Lai Hsiao-tung and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

Citing concerns over security measures, the New Taipei City Government yesterday said

A model of a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District seen in this undated photograph provided by the Atomic Energy Council. Photo: Courtesy of the Atomic Energy Council

it is holding on to Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) application to build a dry-storage facility to store spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants.

According to a report published yesterday in the Chinese-language Apple Daily, Taipower’s application to set up a dry-storage facility for spent fuel rods from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in the city’s Wanli District (萬里) faces further scrutiny.

The city government said that there could be no nuclear power without nuclear safety, the report said, adding that the city government has returned the application’s environmental conservation reports on concerns over security and the facility’s resistance to seismic activity.     [FULL  STORY]