All three candidates vow to protect Taiwan's democracy while criticising their opponents

Straits Times
Date: Dec 29, 2019
By: Katherine Wei Taiwan Correspondent In Taipei

Taiwan's three presidential candidates did not hold back in denouncing one another in the final TV debate before the Jan 11 elections, with much of the criticism focusing on how they might handle Taiwan-China relations.

After personal remarks by each of the candidates, it was the turn of the journalists to ask questions. The candidates discussed China, expanding diplomatic ties, boosting the economy, defence policies and sustainability.

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu said he would not abandon his supporters if elected and that he planned to spend half of his time in the southern city. The presidential office is in Taipei, in the north.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/29
By: William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) With 2020 just around the corner, countdown parties and firework displays have been organized around the country to celebrate the end of the year and to create a festive cheer to embrace the incoming year.

At the various New Year's Eve parties, celebrities, singers and dancers will perform across the country to join crowds in counting down the arrival of 2020 and bringing the decade to a close.

Starting in the capital, the 2020 Taipei New Year's Eve Party and the Taipei 101 fireworks display at Taipei City Hall Square will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and will be headlined by Golden Melody Award winners rapper Leo Wang (LEO王) and R&B crooner ØZI (陳奕凡).

This year's Taipei 101 fireworks display will have approximately 16,000 rounds and run for 300 seconds, in combination with animations on the building's giant T-Pad wall, which is made up of 140,000 LED bulbs and covers the exterior from the 35th to the 90th floor.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 30, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Academia Historica is to publish a compilation of historical materials related to late democracy

activist Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), including documents that link Chen’s case to the Kaohsiung Incident, the academy’s curator said.

The records, for which historians previously had to apply for access to view, became available in book form, as well as digitally, starting yesterday, curator Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深) said.

The academy’s role as presidential record-keeper gave it a particular responsibility to publish the materials, which include interrogation transcripts and briefings that were provided to former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), Chen Yi-shen said.

One of the records’ most important functions, he said, would be to strengthen the historical connection between Chen Wen-chen’s mysterious death in 1981 and the government’s crackdown on a demonstration organized by the Kaohsiung-based political journal Formosa Magazine two years earlier in what came to be known as the Kaohsiung Incident.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 28, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Chinese-born American bioengineer Fung Yuan-cheng (馮元楨), considered the “father of

modern biomechanics,” died on Dec. 15 at 100 years old, an obituary released on Friday last week by the University of California, San Diego said.

Born in 1919, Fung, who was also called Bert, obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at National Central University (then located in China and later reinstated in Taiwan), before earning a doctorate in aeronautics in 1948 from the California Institute of Technology, where he was an assistant professor and researcher for 20 years.

In 1966, Fung joined the University of California, San Diego, where he cofounded its bioengineering program and recruited Chien Shu (錢煦), a renowned physiologist and bioengineer, as a lecturer.

Chien, who is president of the Biomedical Engineering Society, has said that Fung applied the principles of fluid mechanics to biomedical engineering, and adopted a more precise and realistic way of thinking about human health.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 26 December, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Premier Su Tseng-chang says it’s imperative that lawmakers push a proposed anti-infiltration bill through the legislature. His comments came Thursday during a Cabinet meeting.

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is planning to push the draft bill through the legislature by the end of the year. The bill is aimed at curbing Chinese infiltration into Taiwan.

Su said Taiwan is not the only country threatened by the rise of China; other countries have raised the alarm too. Su said the United States, Britain and Australia have all introduced legislation to curb Chinese infiltration.

Su said Taiwan is on the front lines when it comes to coping with Chinese aggression. Therefore, he said, the anti-infiltration bill is crucial to Taiwan’s national security and the well-being of its people.    [FULL  STORY]

50 tons of timber worth over $3.3 million were seized in an operation targeting a gang trafficking wood from protected trees, the latest assault on Taiwan’s hated “mountain rats.”

The Diplomat
Date: December 26, 2019
By Nick Aspinwall

Taiwan authorities said Tuesday they had made 22 arrests and seized timber worth over NT$100 million (US$3.32 million) in a December 19 raid targeting a vast illegal logging ring.

Authorities on the island have long fought forest poachers, known colloquially as “mountain rats,” who traverse the mountains searching for the coveted wood of endangered trees. The wood is then sold to artists and shopkeepers who craft it into wooden sculptures sold to Taiwanese buyers and a sizable contingent of foreign tourists, especially Chinese nationals.

The illegal logging bust announced Tuesday is one of the largest ever in Taiwan, according to Chiayi County chief prosecutor Miao Cho-jan.

A special team composed of officials from Chiayi County, Nantou County, and Kaohsiung’s Qiaotou District, along with Taiwan’s Forestry Bureau, organized the raids after the Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office was tipped to the gang’s operations six months ago, according to prosecutors from the three areas.    [FULL  STORY]

Liulanglu Trail connects Reifang and Jiufen in New Taipei

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/26
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The historic mining town of Jiufen in New Taipei is a major tourist destination, but not many tourists likely know that several historic trails link Jiufen with neighboring towns such as Ruifang, Houtong, and Mudan.

The Liulanglu Trail connects Reifang and Jiufen. The 1.6-kilometer trail was originally part of the Tamsui-Kavalan Trails, a historic trail network connecting Taipei and Yilan County dating back about 200 years to the Qing Dynasty.

The trail was transformed into a rail trolley route for transporting materials between Ruifang and Jiufen in 1931 during the mining era. After highways adjacent to the trolley route were built, the route became deserted and was later rebuilt into Liulanglu Trail.

The trail consists mainly of paved stairs and is flanked by thick trees. The trail goes through two antiquated tunnels, which makes the hike more interesting.    [FULL  STORY]