Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-01
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Chinese intelligence officer Zhen Xiaojiang was sentenced to four

years in prison Tuesday for having recruited serving and retired Taiwanese military officers to provide secret information to the communist country.

The Taipei District Court verdicts, which also covered several of the officers implicated in the spy ring, can still be appealed.

Zhen was a rare case of a Chinese national being arrested in Taiwan for spying, after he spent years recruiting local officers and paying them with holidays in Southeast Asia during which they were able to pass on information to other Chinese intelligence officials, prosecutors said.

Hsu Nai-chuan, a retired Army major general who once ran for Kinmen County magistrate, was sentenced to three years in prison. Both Zhen and Hsu were still detained at the time of the verdict.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/01
By: Lawrence Chiu and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Former Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) has told Chinese

President Xi Jinping (習近平) that all parties concerned should attach importance to a peace initiative broached by Taiwan to resolve disputes in East Asia, Lien’s spokesman said Tuesday.

Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭), a former KMT vice secretary-general who is acting as Lien’s spokesman during an ongoing visit to China, noted that during a meeting with Xi in Beijing earlier in the day, Lien asserted that the East China Sea Peace Initiative broached by Taiwan is worth the attention of all parties concerned.

President Ma Ying-jeou proposed the peace initiative Aug. 5, 2012 to address territorial disputes over the Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 02, 2015

August 20 was Qixi Festival — Lovers’ Day. Taichung City Government’s Health Bureau has

been promoting safe sex for more than three years by placing condom vending machines in 24 locations in the city, including parks, schools and saunas. Taichung Park, the city’s best-known dating venue, has won the best-seller championship three years in a row. It sold nearly 3,000 condoms between January and July this year. The bureau rushed to replenish stocks before Lovers’ Day, while reminding the public to practice safe sex for contraception and personal health.

Taichung’s top 10 condom-selling locations are Taichung Park, Chung Shan Medical University, Yingcai Park, Jhongjheng Park, Honghuagong Sauna, Health Park, National Chin-yi University of Technology, Chonglun Park, Fusing Park and Jiushe Park — seven parks, two universities and one sauna altogether.

Taichung City Government has placed 36 condom vending machines in eight parks, 13 universities, two saunas and one hot spring resort. Between January and July this year, 16,568 condoms were sold. Taichung Park has ranked number one every year. It has sold 2,854 condoms this year, far ahead of the runner-up, Chung Shan Medical University, which sold 1,456 condoms this year, about half the sales volume of the champion. Yingcai Park, which took third place, sold 1,360 condoms.     [FULL  STORY]

Shanghaiist
Date: Aug 31, 2015
By Daniel Cunningham

Hundreds of young women in Taiwan have been uploading pictures of themselves online wearing DIY swimsuits made from convenience store plastic bags. The homemade one-piece has taken off, with imitators from all walks of life now posting selfies modeling little plastic bag outfits.

The trend appeared to have kicked off in a Facebook group called 爆料公社. Some commenters praised the girls as environmental ambassadors drawing attention to the amount of plastic bags we consume, whereas others said they are just trying to show off their bods.

Zheng-xing, a 27-year-old nightclub owner, was one of the first fellows to uploaded a selfie wearing a Carrefour bag. He didn’t expect much from the trend, but wanted to encourage more girls to join in.

Thanks to social networking communities like this, Taiwan’s free soft porn culture is growing. Take a peek at the new Taipei ‘Easycards’ (for public transport) featuring Taiwanese schoolboys’ favourite Japanese AV star and warm-hearted charity promoter, Yui Hatano.

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/31
By: P.Y. Hsiao and Lillian Lin

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) The Nantou District Court sentenced former Nantou Magistrate Lee

Chao-ching (李朝卿) to a 30-year jail term and deprived him of his civil rights for 10 years Monday for taking kickbacks from contractors while he was in office from December 2005 through November 2012.

The court pointed out in the verdict that Lee and his brother-in-law Chien Jui-chi (簡瑞祺), together with several of Lee’s subordinates handling civil engineering projects, had taken kickbacks and bribes from contractors with an accumulated amount exceeding NT$19 million (US$584,130).

Lee was first elected Nantou magistrate in 2005, and he succeeded in getting a second term in 2009.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/31
By: S.H. Lu and Flor Wang

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) Judging from China’s military investment and modernization in recent years, China would probably invade Taiwan under certain circumstances, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report submitted to the Legislative Yuan on Monday.

In its 2015 report on China’s military power, the MND assessed that China might invade Taiwan in some critical situations, which could include a declaration of Taiwan independence or moves by the country toward de-jure independence. Other scenarios also include massive civil unrest, Taiwan obtaining nuclear weapons, or foreign troops being deployed in Taiwan.

Delays by Taiwan over cross-Taiwan Strait talks on peaceful unification or foreign intervention in Taiwan’s internal affairs could also prompt China to invade Taiwan, the MND assessed.     [FULL  STORY]

The island, which lies a 90-minute flight away, offers lower costs and an abundance of space

Gulf News
Date: August 31, 2015
By: AFP

TAIPEI: Squeezed by soaring rents, cramped living conditions, and unease over their city’s

political future, increasing numbers of Hong Kongers are leaving to seek a better life in neighbouring Taiwan.

The island, which lies a 90-minute flight away, offers lower costs and an abundance of space — a rarity in Hong Kong, one of the world’s most densely populated cities.

Carlos Cheung, 28, moved to Taiwan’s central Taichung City last year to run a noodle shop there.

He says being a food vendor in Hong Kong would have been impossible, with a closet-sized space costing 10 times his current monthly rent of HK$10,000 ($1,300,Dh4,771).

“How many skewers of fish balls or ‘fried three treasures’ would I have had to sell?” said Cheung, referring to common Hong Kong street snacks.

The former luxury watch salesman was able to emigrate as a spouse to his Taiwanese wife.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/31
By: Yiu Kai-hsiang and Jay Chen

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) A man said to be around 30 was being treated at a hospital in Taipei Monday morning after he reportedly set himself on fire in front of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall complex earlier in the day, police said.

The police gave little information about the matter, except to say that the man was an ordinary citizen with an unremarkable background.

According to local media reports, the man apparently doused himself in a flammable liquid at about 2:25 a.m., set himself alight and ran toward the main archway on the west side of the complex, which consists of a plaza framed by a grand memorial to late President Chiang Kai-shek, the National Theater and the National Concert Hall.     [FULL  STORY]