Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/30
By: Chen Chih-chung, Wang Hung-kuo, Liu Jian-bang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) said Thursday he would

shoulder full responsibility for the controversy arising from the ministry’s adjustments to the senior high school history curriculum guidelines after a student protester opposed to the revisions allegedly committed suicide earlier that day.

On his 20th birthday, Lin Kuan-hua (林冠華), a student at Juang Jing Vocational High School in New Taipei before dropping out of the school in June, was found dead by emergency workers summoned by his mother Thursday morning, according to the New Taipei Fire Department.

He apparently had locked himself in a room and committed suicide by burning charcoal to generate a lethal dose of carbon monoxide fumes.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-30
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) urged the public Wednesday to take precautions

against dengue fever, as the number of cases of the mosquito-borne disease is escalating quickly in the tropical south of the island.

Taiwan has reported 85 indigenous dengue fever cases during the week of July 21-27, compared with 38 in the previous week, according to the CDC.

The bulk of the reported cases were in Tainan municipality, which alone accounted for 78 new cases, while neighboring Kaohsiung reported six cases during the same period, the CDC said.

Taiwan has seen 216 indigenous dengue fever cases since May, with the ongoing hot and humid weather likely to increase the number, the agency warned.

The threat from abroad is increasing as well, the CDC said, adding that Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia have recorded more cases this year than usual.     [FULL  STORY]

SAFETY PASS?Seven inspectors are suspected of accepting Formosa Fun Coast entrance tickets, hotel vouchers and gift checks in exchange for safety approval

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 30, 2015
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Seven New Taipei City inspectors are being investigated over allegations they received bribes

from the proprietors of the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in exchange for a safety inspection pass, which prosecutors said might have been a contributing factor to the June 27 powder explosion disaster at the site.

The seven officials were yesterday summoned for questioning at Taipei’s Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office to verify the details of the safety inspection conducted at the water park on June 18 — 10 days before the explosion and the resulting fire that injured 495 people.

Prosecutors are looking into possible charges of corruption, dereliction of duty and receiving improper benefits, amid allegations that each inspector received water park entrance tickets and hotel vouchers, in addition to about NT$20,000 in gift coupons.     [FULL  STORY]

Nearly 60 years after his presidency ended, Taiwan still likes Ike. Here’s why.

The Diplomat
Date: July 29, 2015
By: Shannon Tiezzi

The quest to fund a new memorial for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower has received a

boost from an unexpected source. Taiwan pledged to donate $1 million toward the memorial, which will be located in the new Eisenhower Square park, to the west of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Organizers aim to raise $20 million in private funds, which they hope will help encourage Congress to appropriate funds for the memorial.

Though Eisenhower is highly regarded by presidential historians (in a 2014 survey by the Washington Post, he ranked seventh on the list of top-rated presidents), he cuts a far smaller figure in the public imagination. The fact that the Eisenhower Memorial is still struggling to find donations is a case in point. As Ross Douthat put it in a 2012 New York Times op-ed, “It’s not that Americans don’t like Eisenhower or think fondly of his service to their country… But he is not nearly as beloved as many of his mid-century contemporaries.”

So why, then, is Taiwan donating $1 million to the memorial of a president Americans seem underwhelmed by?

The key lies in Eisenhower’s unique role in U.S.-Taiwan relations. When Eisenhower took office in January 1953, the Korean War was drawing to a close. That meant new uncertainty for Taiwan. Originally, then-President Harry Truman had declared a military nonintervention policy for Taiwan, effectively signaling that should the newly-formed People’s Republic of China launch a full-scale invasion, the United States would not interfere. That policy changed with the advent of the Korean War, which brought the U.S. and the PRC into conflict. Truman deployed the U.S. Seventh Fleet to the Taiwan Straits to signal new U.S. opposition to a PRC military strike against the island.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-07-29
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A study by the Nutrition Foundation of Taiwan (NFT) showed that the impact of constipation

on nutritional and growth status is especially evident in children, reports said Wednesday.

NFT’s research gathered information collected from 1,210 families in Taiwan whose children are aged 6 to 12. In its study, it found that children with bowel problems tend to be 3.05 centimeters shorter than those that were free from constipation. Meanwhile, children belonging to the 12 year-old age group have also been found to be 5.72 centimeters shorter on average.

According to NFT Chief Executive Wu Ying-rong, there is at least a subset of children whose appetite and oral intake is negatively affected by constipation, and that resolution of the constipation promotes better appetite and improved growth.

Wu defined constipation as hard stools, difficult defecation, or frequency of defecation less than three times in a week.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/29
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elaine Hou

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) China’s maritime police are scheduled to hold a live-fire drill in waters

off the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen Thursday, a move that Taiwan said it has been aware of and will follow closely.

The Chinese maritime police will hold the live-fire exercise in an area off Xiamen from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, according to a notice issued Tuesday on the website of China’s Maritime Safety Administration, warning ships against entering the area and urging nearby boats to exercise caution.

Asked about issue, Taiwan’s military said Wednesday that it has been aware of the planed drill and will continue to monitor developments regarding the exercise.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-29
By: CNA

The medium and long range ballistic missiles deployed by China may target other countries

but still threaten Taiwan, Major General Luo Shou-he, spokesperson for Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, said Tuesday.

“Although China’s medium- and long-range ballistic missiles are aimed at other countries, they still pose a threat to Taiwan. We hope Taiwan’s people understand this, even if China’s short-range missiles are the biggest threat to Taiwan,” Luo said after a ministry news briefing.

Luo was responding to an 8,000-word report published by the People’s Liberation Army Daily on Monday detailing the strategic missile forces under China’s Second Artillery Corps.

He described the report as an attempt to intimidate Taiwan’s people psychologically. “This was not conducive to cross-strait harmony and will even provoke resentment among Taiwan’s people,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

SAFETY PASS?Seven inspectors are suspected of accepting Formosa Fun Coast entrance tickets, hotel vouchers and gift checks in exchange for safety approval

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 30, 2015
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Seven New Taipei City inspectors are being investigated over allegations they received bribes

from the proprietors of the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in exchange for a safety inspection pass, which prosecutors said could be a contributing factor to the June 27 powder explosion disaster at the site.

The seven officials were yesterday summoned for questioning at Taipei’s Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office to verify the details of the safety inspection conducted at the water park on June 18 — 10 days before the explosion and the resulting fire that injured 495 people.

Prosecutors are looking into possible charges of corruption, dereliction of duty and receiving improper benefits, amid allegations that each inspector received water park entrance tickets and hotel vouchers, in addition to about NT$20,000 in gift coupons.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/28
By: Y. Lin Wei and Flor Wang

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) A civic group staged a protest at the Ministry of Labor Tuesday over its plan to allow more foreign caregivers to provide home care for local people aged over 85 suffering from mild disabilities.

Citing concerns over the measure’s potential impact on the employment of middle-aged and second-time local job seekers, mostly females, a representative of the Universal Care Policy Alliance urged the ministry to give second thoughts to the policy, which is said to take effect in August.

The ministry has forecast that the measure will allow some more 35,000 foreign caregivers to enter Taiwan, which has provoked discontent among local long-term care groups.     [FULL  STORY]

China Daily
Date: 2015-07-28

Hopes that another panda cub would soon be born in Taiwan were dashed when experts

determined that signs of pregnancy displayed by a giant panda at Taipei Zoo appear to have been faked by the animal in order to secure better conditions during the summer.

Yuan Yuan, one of a pair given to Taiwan as gifts by the Chinese mainland in December 2008 had shown signs of pregnancy such as loss of appetite, thickening of the uterus and increased fecal progesterone concentration since June 11.

But panda experts flown from the mainland determined through ultrasound checks that Yuan Yuan was not pregnant, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

The 11-year-old had been artificially inseminated on March 26 and 27 when she was on heat, according to a zoo spokesman.     [FULL  STORY]