Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/16
By: Lilian Wu and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) More than 20 earthquakes rocked Taiwan Wednesday, with two of

them measuring over 5.0 on the Richter scale, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said. No serious damage or injuries were reported.

The two biggest temblors — magnitude 5.6 and 5.5 — occurred at 3:37 a.m. and 9:09 p.m., respectively, according to the CWB’s data.

The one at 9:09 p.m., along with 20 smaller ones that ranged from magnitude 3.6 to 4.8, were the aftershocks of the magnitude 5.6 earthquake, said Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋), director of the bureau’s seismology center.

He said there was no need to panic as frequent earthquakes in eastern Taiwan are normal and occur there in clusters at least once or twice a month.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-16
By: CNA

The Republic of China Air Force will participate in a drill with a European country next

year, a local newspaper reported Tuesday, calling it a breakthrough in Taiwan’s military cooperation with Europe.

Asked to confirm the report, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Major General Luo Shou-he said Taiwan would welcome any moves that help boost military exchanges with foreign countries and can bolster the country’s combat capabilities. “But we will not comment on any related details,” he said.

The report in Tuesday’s edition of the Chinese-language Liberty Times cited an unnamed military official as saying that the Air Force will send a team to “a European country” next year to participate as an observer in a national-level air force exercise in that country.     [FULL  STORY]

CHAIN REACTION:The main magnitude 5.6 earthquake was preceded by a foreshock which was recorded at 1:56am, and aftershocks continued into the evening

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 17, 2015
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said a magnitude 5.6 earthquake that happened early

yesterday morning was caused by the Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasian Plate moving against each other.

Data recorded by the bureau showed that the hypocenter of the quake, which occurred at 3:37am, was about 37km northeast of Hualien County at a depth of 15.3km.

The earthquake generated a local intensity of 5 in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) and Hualien County’s Heping Township (和平).

A local intensity of 3 was recorded in Taipei and New Taipei City.

The bureau’s statistics showed that a total of 19 earthquakes were recorded between 12:31am and 2:30pm. Seven of them were felt nationwide and 12 of them were local earthquakes.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-15
By: Staff Reporter

China must be patient and show “major power wisdom” in international affairs before it can

rise to the top of the world, says People’s Liberation Army Air Force major-general Qiao Liang.

The 60-year-old Qiao, best known for co-authoring the book Unrestricted Warfare, made the comments in a recent article published by the Oriental Outlook, a weekly magazine published by the official Xinhua news agency.

Qiao said it is important for the Chinese people to recognize what their country’s “core interests” are, adding that there are only two: ensuring that the governing status of the Communist Party remains unshakable and acknowledging that the road to the rise of the Chinese people cannot be interrupted. China’s territorial interests in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and even Taiwan, are not part of the equation, he added.

Qiao wrote that Taiwan has not been involved in China’s reforms and opening up policies over the last 30 years and that all the credit in modernizing the country (in other words, the mainland) must go to the leaders of the Communist Party.     [FULL  STORY]

This is one of five videos produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ROC’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945).

The New York Times
Date September 15, 2015
By: Austin Ramzy  4:31 am September 15, 2015 4:31 am

The incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan has risen sharply in recent days, pushing the

number of cases since May close to 10,000, the country’s Centers for Disease Control reported on Tuesday. The government announced on Monday that it was creating a central command office to combat the rapid increase in the disease, which has been concentrated in the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung.

The recent increase follows the worst summer for dengue fever in more than a decade on the island. Taiwan had more than 4,000 dengue cases from May 1 through August, the highest number for the period since systematic record keeping began in 2003, the Central News Agency reported. The cases have more than doubled since Sept. 1.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that causes fever, headaches, nausea, and joint and muscle pain. In severe cases, it can lead to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by severe bleeding and circulatory system failures. It is particularly dangerous for children and can lead to death, though with proper medical care, less than 1 percent of cases cause fatalities, according to the World Health Organization.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/16
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) A magnitude 5.6 earthquake jolted eastern Taiwan at 3:37 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Central Weather Bureau. No immediate injuries were reported.

The earthquake’s epicenter was located at sea about 37.2 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall at a depth of 15.3 km, bureau officials said.

The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Nanao Township in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County and Heping Township in Hualien, where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s 7-tiered intensity scale.

The earthquake also measured an intensity of 4 in Yilan City, while many districts in the greater Taipei area could feel temblors at an intensity of 3.     [FULL  STORY]

INJURED PROTESTERS:Attorneys said they are seeking restitution of about NT$10.06 million from the Taipei City Government on behalf of 30 alleged victims of violence

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 16, 2015
By: Hsiao Ting-fang  /  Staff reporter

Attorneys volunteering to represent people who participated in the Sunflower movement

protests last year against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement yesterday submitted a petition to the Taipei City Government asking for state compensation on behalf of 30 alleged victims of state violence.

Taipei Deputy Commissioner of Legal Affairs Lin Shu-hua (林淑華) accepted the petition on behalf of the city government.

Last month, Lin Ming-hui (林明慧) won a lawsuit accusing the state of violence after he sustained a head injury after being apprehended by police officers in a protest in front of the Executive Yuan on March 24 last year.

Lin Ming-hui had filed an administrative lawsuit against the Executive Yuan, the Taipei City Government, the National Police Agency and the Taipei Police Department for violating the Act Governing the Use of Police Weapons (警械使用條例).     [FULL  STORY]