Asia One
Date: Sep 9, 2015
By: Henry TsaI

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Two active US Marines, a man and a woman, were released after

questioning by the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office after alleged intimidation crimes on Sunday.

One of the Marines staying in a Chiayi hotel asked hotel staff to forward a note to his friend who was staying in the same hotel on Sunday morning. The note reportedly stated “the bomber is about to board on airplane, be sure to monitor.”Stunned staff reported to police immediately and the two marines were intercepted and arrested on Sunday afternoon. Explaining that the note was intended as a joke, the two were released, according to police. It is reported that the pair are lovers stationed in Okinawa and enjoy role-playing games.

However, the size of note was an unusual seven pages, and the content was enormously sensitive. Due to concerns, prosecutors have had police inform the National Security Bureau (NSB) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office.     [FULL  STORY]

Support for presidential nominee Hung Hsiu-chu has been poor, with the DPP’s candidate taking a comfortable lead.

Channel NewsAsia
Date: 09 Sep 2015
By: Victoria Jen, Channel NewsAsia’s Taiwan Correspondent

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) could face its worst defeat in the presidential

election next January, with its presidential nominee’s chances of making her way into office looking slim.

Polls show its rival, the Democratic Progress Party (DPP), remains ahead in the race with a comfortable lead. Public support for KMT presidential nominee Hung Hsiu-chu has been trailing behind her DPP rival Tsai Ing-wen by double digits.

Even her own party members do not seem to be lending her much support, with few seen rallying at her campaign.

“Even as deputy legislative speaker, she has not helped other lawmakers in gaining political benefits. So there’s little incentive for others to help her,” said National Chengchi University research fellow Yen Chen-shen.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 10, 2015
By: William Lowther  /  Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will have Taiwan at the “top of his agenda” during a

state visit to the US later this month, former National Security Council deputy secretary-general Parris Chang (張旭成) told a Washington conference on Tuesday.

Chang said that Xi had been “discredited” by China’s recent economic crisis and that he needed a “big win” in Washington to regain face and restore his leadership authority at home.

“For this reason, he is going to press US President Barack Obama hard on the Taiwan issue,” Chang said. “He will pressure Obama to terminate arms sales to Taiwan.”     [FULL  STORY]

Foster’s Daily Democrat
Date: Sep. 9, 2015
By: HOLLY RAMER, The Associated Press

CONCORD — A man who was severely burned in an explosion at a water park in Taiwan

has returned home to New Hampshire, where his recovery so far has surprised doctors and family alike.

Alex Haas, 27, who had been teaching in Taipei, suffered burns on about 90 percent of his body when a flammable powder blew up over a stage at the water park on June 27. Media in Taiwan have reported that 11 people died and more than 500 were injured.

Haas’ cousin, Melanie Tamposi, said he returned to his parents’ home in Mont Vernon last weekend after a brief stay at Massachusetts General Hospital. The next step will be lots of physical therapy, but doctors so far are impressed by his progress, she said.

“He has a lot of mobility in places they thought would take a lot longer to regain,” she said.

Tamposi says she has been amazed not just by her cousin’s strength but also by the outpouring of community support that has surrounded the family since his injury. She and her sister set up a page on the crowdfunding site gofundme.com, which has raised more than $100,000, and others have reached out with encouraging words or to share inspiring stories of those who have overcome similar obstacles.     [FULL  STORY]

Aggression might be forgiven but will never be forgotten

The Washington Post
Date:  September 8, 2015
By: Lyushun Shen

Wednesday marks exactly the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender to Generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek’s government in 1945. While Americans think first of Pearl Harbor, full-scale war between Chiang Kai-shek’s China and Japan began in July 1937. Madame Chiang told the U.S. Congress in February 1943: “Let us not forget that during the first four-and-a-half years of total aggression China has borne Japan’s sadistic fury unaided and alone.” Despite tremendous hardship and huge human life costs, the Republic of China (ROC) government under Chiang Kai-shek’s leadership contributed greatly to the final victory of the Allied Powers. To say the least, ROC armed forces defeated dozens of enemy divisions, tied down 1 million Japanese troops in China who otherwise would have freely attacked Allied forces in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Today’s ROC in Taiwan is the direct and legitimate successor to the government of Chiang Kai-shek, who died in Taiwan in 1975 as the ROC president, and we proudly fly the same flag. Under this flag, together with the Stars and Stripes, Union Jack and Soviet Red Flag, our last generation finally won a common victory over Japanese militarism. We therefore consider it is both our right and obligation to honor the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II, just like any other Allied country.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-09
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) advised the public Wednesday to use only

government-approved mosquito repellents containing DEET (diethyltoluamide) for prevention against the ongoing dengue fever epidemic in Taiwan.

“Repellents containing DEET can provide longer hours of protection against insect bites,” an official from the EPA said.

The agency also pointed out that for direct application on the skin, use only DEET repellents certified with a Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) logo, whereas when used on your surrounding quarters (window screens, mosquito nettings, tents), there are EPA-approved DEET repellents specific for those kinds of uses.

In order to assist consumers purchase the right types of DEET repellents owing to their variety of choices available on the market today, the agency said it will include those approved for use with imprinted logos pertaining to “For skin use” or “For non-skin applications.”     [FULL  STORY]

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

Tsai Ing-wen, the presidential candidate of Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive

Party and the party’s chair, said Tuesday that she may attend the year’s National Day celebrations.

Tsai, who has not attended the Double Ten National Day celebrations during President Ma Ying-jeou’s seven years in office, said she has received an invitation from Wang Jin-pyng, legislative speaker and head of the preparatory committee for the Double Ten celebrations, to attend the event.

She said that she has checked her schedule for October, and believes “some of the itinerary could be adjusted.”

“The goal is still to have the opportunity to attend this year’s National Day celebrations,” she said.     [FULL  STORY]

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

The number of dengue fever cases since May 1 has risen to 6,872 on Wednesday, up markedly by 560 from Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The number in Tainan increased by 483 in a single day to 6,069, while Kaohsiung had 702 cases, up from Monday’s 635, an indication that the spread of the mosquito-borne disease has not showed signs of abating in southern Taiwan, CDC data showed.

Meanwhile, the death toll resulting from dengue fever has also increased to 36, with 34 in Tainan and two in Kaohsiung, the CDC reported.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 09, 2015
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The Yunlin County Government yesterday said it would seek a constitutional interpretation on

its ban on burning petroleum coke and coal, which was rejected by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) on Monday, which said the county government lacked jurisdiction.

To fight air pollution, the county government announced the ban in June to prohibit the burning of petroleum coke from June next year and coal from June 2017.

The EPA on Monday rejected the plans, saying they involved national energy policies and regulations that fall within the jurisdiction of the central government according to the Energy Administration Act (能源管理法) and the Local Government Act (地方制度法).

The county government rejected the EPA’s ruling, citing a clause of the Local Government Act that stipulates the invalidation of a bylaw due to contradiction of its superior laws should be declared by the Executive Yuan and other authorities, not the EPA.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The issue of courtesy payments to former President Lee Teng-hui will

be on the agenda of the Legislative Yuan next week, according to a committee decision made Tuesday.

The former head of state infuriated Kuomintang legislators last month by repeating his long-standing claim that the disputed Diaoyutai Islands belong to Japan, and not to Taiwan. The group of uninhabited rocks, known in Japan as Senkaku, form part of Yilan County, according to Taipei, while China also lays claim to them.

The push to rescind the payments grew even louder when Lee said that during World War Two, Taiwanese people did not offer resistance against Japan because it was their motherland.

A proposal by KMT legislator Lu Hsueh-chang to end the payments to Lee was listed as the 13th item Tuesday for the new session of the Legislative Yuan, which begins on September 15.     [FULL  STORY]