Radio Taiwan Intenatinal
Date: 02 January, 2020
By: Paula Chao
 

Happy New Year from all of us at Taiwan Insider! Today we’re bringing you 10 great ideas from Taiwan for the coming year, including an innovative way to combat mosquitos, an app that can help you disconnect from your cell phone, and even a fun way to burn twice as many calories as running! So join us, armed with these great ideas, as we head towards a greener, smarter, more inclusive future!    [SOURCE]

 

Breitbart
Date: 2 Jan 20201
By: Frances Mart7el

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen urged China to co-exist with a sovereign Taiwan and warned the world that “One Country, Two Systems” – the policy that applies to Hong Kong and Beijing has attempted to impose on Taiwan – is simply not viable in remarks Wednesday.

Tsai’s New Year’s Day speech acknowledged tensions with China in anticipation of the island nation’s presidential election on January 11. It occurred shortly before the head of the nation’s military, Chief of General Staff Shen Yi-ming, died along with several other senior military officials in a Black Hawk helicopter crash of unknown cause.

Tsai’s government recently passed a law to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from meddling in the upcoming elections after months of threats of violence from dictator Xi Jinping.

“China must face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence, … respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy, and handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on a basis of equality,” Tsai said on Wednesday, urging the Communist Party to stop seeing Taiwan as a rogue province. According to the Taipei Times, Tsai insisted that “China must recognize the existence of the Republic of China; respect the values of democracy and freedom Taiwan’s 23 million people hold dear; resolve cross-strait differences in a peaceful and equitable manner; and engage in negotiations with the government of Taiwan or an institution with a mandate from the government”:
[FULL  STORY]

CEC compared Chang's failure to turn in attested PhD diploma to getting caught riding motorcycle without helmet

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT presidential nominee Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) running mate, former premier Simon Chang (張善政), recently joined the ranks of those whose Ph.D. diploma authenticity has been called into question.

Chang on Thursday (Jan. 2) accused the Central Election Commission (CEC) of making an illogical analogy regarding his failure to submit an attested Ph.D. diploma to the CEC, TVBS News reported.

The CEC had said that Chang’s failure to turn in an attested diploma was akin to a person who got caught riding a motorcycle without wearing a helmet asking police to give them time to go home and get one, according to the report. The commission added that Chang was trying to shift the blame to the government agency for not giving him time to prepare his diploma.

In response, the former Ma Ying-jeou administration premier slammed the CEC, saying the analogy was illogical and ridiculous, according to TVBS News. "I feel the government, the whole national machine, is turning against us,” Chang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/02
By: Yu Hsiang, Yeh Su-Ping and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) The three candidates running for president in Taiwan's Jan. 11 election announced Thursday they would temporarily suspend their campaigns, after eight armed forces members, including Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), were killed in a helicopter crash earlier that day.

President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it would observe a period of mourning by suspending all campaign activities from Thursday through Saturday.

In a separate statement, Tsai said she had traveled to Yilan on Taiwan's eastern coast to oversee recovery efforts at the crash site, and had ordered the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to begin an investigation into cause of the accident.

As a sign of mourning, national flags at military installations around the country will be flown at half-mast for three days, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 January, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Last sunset of 2019 seen at Tainan's salt fields[/caption] People who flocked to a salt field in Tainan were treated to a magnificent view of the final sunset of 2019. Many people in Taiwan like to bid farewell to a year by watching the sun go down on the final day of the year.

Now that's dedication.

Mothership
Date: January 1, 2019
By: Kayla Wong 

One of Taiwan presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu’s supporters has paid NT$1 million (S$44,825) for his jacket at a charity auction held on Saturday, Dec. 28, World Journal reported.

Felt happy as Han zipped up the jacket personally for her

Along with a second jacket that was put up for auction, the woman, surnamed Hsieh, had paid NT$1.4 million (S$62,745) in total.

Hsieh traveled from Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s third largest city where Han is the mayor, to Taipei for the charity auction.

The retired teacher told Liberty Times she felt happy that Han had personally zipped up the jacket for her.    [FULL  STORY]

Hunger and cold thought to be responsible

Taiwan News
Date: .2020/01/01
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In Miaoli County, the new year began Wednesday (Jan. 1) with the find of a dead leopard cat near a school, possibly a victim of hunger and cold weather.

Last year, the region recorded at least 22 deaths of leopard cats, often after being hit by cars while crossing roads.

Ironically, the first death for 2020 was reported by a local politician, Lai Mao-hsien (韓茂賢), who was quoted last year as saying that the number of animal deaths was the result of too many leopard cats in the region.

The latest dead animal was found Wednesday morning near the athletic track of a primary school in Sanyi Township, CNA reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/01
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Jan. 1 (CNA) Two restaurants in New Taipei were fined Wednesday for using disposable tableware, on the first day of the new regulations against that practice, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.

The new rules, which pertain to dine-in service at restaurants in shopping malls, were announced last August and took effect at the start of the new year.

In a statement, the EPA said it carried out an inspection Wednesday of more than 100 businesses nationwide and issued fines against two restaurants in New Taipei that were found to be in violation of the new regulations, which prohibit the use of disposable tableware for diners at shopping mall food courts.

One of the restaurants was in Mitsui Outlet Park in the city's Linkou District, and other in St. Ignatius Plaza in Luzhou District, the EPA said, but it did not disclose how much they had been fined.
[FULL  STORY]