Taipei Times
Date:  Oct 20, 2015

On Oct. 4 nearly 100 people boarded a prison bus and that took them into

People watch a glove puppet performance at Yunlin Second Prison on Oct. 4.
民眾十月四日在雲林第二監獄看掌中劇團表演。
Photos: Huang Shu-li, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者黃淑莉

Yunlin Second Prison, but it turns out that they were actually there to watch and enjoy glove puppetry and lion dance performances.

As a way of passing on traditional culture, eight years ago Yunlin Second Prison engaged the services of husband and wife Mao Kuo-tsung and Chen Yi-chen from the Ming-Shi-Jie Hand Puppet Troupe to be tutors at the prison. Yunlin Second Prison’s chief warden Wu Cheng-hung says that the tuition in glove puppetry was extremely effective and the language and behavior of many members of the troupe has showed a marked improvement. Later on, the prison also established a lion dance and drumming class.     [FULL  STORY]

(From the Central Weather Bureau website)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/19
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) A magnitude 5.2 earthquake jolted northern and northeastern Taiwan at 10:17 a.m. Monday, according to the Central Weather Bureau. No immediate injuries were reported.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located at sea about 28.1 kilometers east of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 17.4 km, bureau officials said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-19
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A top Chinese general said Saturday that China’s newly

Chinese general dismisses S.China Sea concerns. Associated Press

created islands in the disputed South China Sea are intended mainly to aid shipping and dismissed concerns that Beijing is seeking to strengthen its control over the strategically vital region.

General Fan Changlong’s remarks came as expectations grow that the U.S. might directly challenge Chinese claims in the South China Sea by sailing a Navy ship inside the 12-nautical mile (21-kilometer) territorial limit surrounding one of the man-made islands.

Concerns have been growing over the rapid appearance of islands created by piling sand atop reefs and atolls controlled by China, which is now adding, harbors, air strips and large buildings. The U.S. and others have called on Beijing to halt those projects, saying they are destabilizing an increasingly militarized region.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/18
By: Chiu Chun-ching and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) A Taiwanese woman who gave birth on a Los

Photo courtesy of a witness

Angeles-bound plane earlier this month was sent home by United States authorities late Saturday, but it is not known why she was deported, Taiwan’s aviation police said Sunday.

The woman did not violate the immigration law of the Republic of China (Taiwan) by giving birth during a flight, but further investigation is required to determine why the U.S. denied her entry, according to Aviation Police Bureau officer Chen Hsiu-tzu (陳秀子).

On arrival in Taiwan Saturday night, the woman told the aviation police that her baby girl was being taken care of by a friend in the U.S., but she declined to speak to reporters.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-18
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

A string of 18 earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 3.5 to 4.5 that shook

A Central Weather Bureau employee shows recent seismic readings, Oct. 16. (Photo/Yang Chao-yuan)

Taiwan between midnight and early afternoon Friday represented a normal release of tectonic energy, and was not necessarily the precursor to a major earthquake, a seismologist said Friday.

Central Weather Bureau Seismology Center director Kuo Kai-wen explained that the earthquakes occurred north-northeast of the east coast city of Hualien when the Philippine plate collided with the Eurasian plate. He said there is no need for panic because such activity is just the normal release of stress built up during the collision between plates.

He added that it is not rare to have a string of more than a dozen earthquakes in 24 hours. On June 15, 2012, for instance, a string of 66 earthquakes took place in the region, he added.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/18
By: Yang Sz-ruei and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) A proposal to make English the second official

English course at an elementary school in New Taipei. CNA file photo

language in Taiwan was discussed at a conference Sunday in Tainan, the city that is leading the push.

“English is part of national power,” Chen Chao-ming (陳超明), a chair professor at Shih Chien University, said at the conference, which was organized by the Tainan-based Flomo Education Foundation.

English proficiency in Taiwan is not just an educational problem, but an important asset for the country’s future development, Chen said.     [FULL  STORY]