TC Locke renounced his American nationality in 1994 and took Taiwanese citizenship. His recently-released memoir in English recounts the two years he spent as a conscript in the Taiwanese army

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 27, 2015
By: Bradley Winterton  /  Contributing reporter

A barbarian at the gate was a foreigner or other outsider at an ancient walled city’s

Barbarian at the gate: From the American Suburbs to the Taiwanese Army, by TC Locke

gates, threatening to enter. Attila outside Rome comes to mind, but the phrase has become proverbial and can refer to any imminent threat. The ancient Chinese saw all foreigners as barbarians, and TC Locke, a left-handed man born on Christmas Day in the US, has said he sees himself in the phrase. Most unusually, in 1994 he renounced his American nationality and took Taiwanese citizenship. Subsequently he had to do military service, at that time two years, and this book is an account of that experience. Whether he was a threat to anyone, however, is a matter of opinion, making the book’s title, Barbarian at the Gate, for the most part ironic.

The book was originally published in Chinese in 2003, but this English version, seemingly not a literal translation, dates from last year. Locke opted for the then new Camphor Press after feeling his Chinese book hadn’t been promoted very energetically by its big-time publisher.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/26
By: Ku Chuan, Bill Lin and Maria Tsai

Taipei Aug. 26 (CNA) A giraffe named Niu Niu and her calf both died during delivery at Taipei Zoo on Tuesday night, zoo spokesman Tsao Hsien-shao (曹先紹) said Wednesday.

The veterinarians at the zoo had performed a caesarean section on the giraffe because they suspected that there were several abnormalities, including a wrong fetal position, Tsao said.

However, neither the mother nor the calf survived, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-26
By: CNA

More than 200,000 people have expressed the wish to have an up-close look at Taiwan’s

An Apache helicopter during a rehearsal ahead of a military display in Hsinchu, June 23. (File photo/Chen Yi-cheng)

most advanced helicopter, the AH-64E Apache, after the country’s Ministry of National Defense announced putting the helicopters on public display, prompting the military to give a press conference defining regulations for public exhibitions.

The Apache helicopters became a heated topic in early April when Lt Col Lao Nai-cheng, deputy head of a helicopter squadron in Taoyuan under the Army Special Forces 601 Brigade, was found to have taken friends, including TV celebrity Janet Lee, on a tour of a restricted area at the brigade’s headquarters, where the Apache helicopters are housed.

Not only the military top brass, but also Premier Mao Chi-kuo had to apologize for the incident, which reflected serious security breaches and violations of regulations.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 27, 2015
By Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Veteran political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday rebutted allegations of financial

Veteran political activist Shih Ming-te yesterday holds a news conference in Taipei to discuss how donations to the “red shirt” movement were used. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

impropriety during the 2006 anti-corruption “red shirts” against then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), as his lawsuit against former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tainan City councilor Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) opened at the Taiwan High Court yesterday.

Shih, accompanied by his wife, Chen Chia-chun (陳嘉君), held a news conference in front of the court building, at which they showed stacks of receipts and accounting documents, which Shih said he planned to present as evidence.

“I have managed the public’s donations scrupulously,” Shih said.

In response to accusations by Wang and others critics that he had profited personally from the donations, he said: “People can kill me, but they must not denigrate my integrity.”     [FULL  STORY]