The island’s president is milking murder case that led to the ill-fated extradition bill for all it’s worth, even rejecting the return of the suspect for political gain

South China Morning Post
Date: 21 Oct, 2019
By: Alex Lo  

A man wanted for murder is no longer wanted in Taiwan. The government of President Tsai Ing-wen has decided to play politics rather than render justice.

It has decided that Hong Kong murder suspect Chan Tong-kai is more useful staying in his own city, which has been tearing itself apart over a proposed extradition law, now withdrawn, that was triggered by his case. This is despite Chan having volunteered to return to Taiwan to face possible murder charges.

Who can blame Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party colleagues? Chan’s case has been a godsend. Widely assumed to be a spent force and having to resign as party chairwoman after the DPP’s extensive defeats in city and county elections last November, the murder case has completely revived her fortune as she becomes the front runner in the presidential race in January.

Taiwan rejects Hong Kong murder suspect’s surrender offer

The unrest in Hong Kong – triggered by the murder case and now more than four months old with no sign of calming down – is being cited as proof that “one country, two systems” doesn’t work for the city, and will fare even worse for the island. And it has thrown her election rivals from the Kuomintang – which at least notionally supports unification – into disarray.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai accused of making anonymous donation to LSE Taiwan Studies Program in exchange for doctoral degree

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/21
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The website Taiwan People News on Monday (Oct. 21) published an

article promoting the incredible claim that President Tsai Ing-wen paid off officials at the London School of Economics (LSE) in order to obtain her Ph.D. dissertation.

In an awkward explanation of events, columnist Cao Changqing (曹長青) suggests that Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is responsible for an anonymous donation of GB£480,000 (NT$19 million) made to the LSE Taiwan Research Program and received by Professor Shi Fang-long (施芳瓏). According to Cao’s theory, this was a donation made in New Taiwan Dollars that somehow helped Tsai obtain her doctorate degree or possibly a phony dissertation from the university.

However, according to the financial disclosure statement from LSE, the donation in question was delivered over the course of seven years, from 2007 to 2014, probably in installments. It was made long after Tsai received her Ph.D. degree from LSE in 1984 and many years after she began working as a professor in Taiwan. Furthermore, Tsai took office in 2016, and her dissertation only became a topic of speculation in 2019.

The new accusation about an anonymous payment for some allegedly nefarious assistance from LSE appears to be in response to the letter from LSE confirming the authenticity of Tsai’s degree and dissertation as well as the president making a print copy of her thesis available at the National Taiwan Library.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/21
By: Wu Jui-chi and Ko Lin

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) A total of 1,453 frozen chickens from a slaughterhouse in Taoyuan have been

destroyed after they were confirmed to be infected with the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus, the city's Animal Protection Office said Monday.

The case of abnormal chicken deaths was reported at the site in Bade District last Friday.

After receiving the report, officials arrived at the scene to collect tissue samples from the animals, and they ordered the carcasses to be frozen until tests were completed, the office said in a statement.

According to the Taoyuan office, the chickens originated from a poultry farm in Chiayi County.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 22, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff Reporter

The Taipei City Government yesterday announced that six sightseeing spots in the city have earned

the Muslim Friendly Environment Certificate.

The Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said its survey on foreign visitors’ consumption behaviors and tendencies while visiting Taipei showed that the most popular sightseeing spots among Muslim visitors are the Ximending (西門町) shopping area, Taipei 101 in Xinyi District (信義) and the historic Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area in Datong District (大同).

Many Muslim visitors recognized Taipei’s environmental hygiene, cross-language communication and friendliness, but some visitors said that they hoped there would be more prayer rooms and Muslim-friendly sights or hotels in the city, the department added.

After holding two discussion sessions in July that provided guidance to hotels or sightseeing spots interested in improving their facilities, 28 hotels and six tourist sites received the Muslim Friendly Environment Certificate yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

Some 28.9 million participated in the live stream via Dior's official account on Weibo, Huawei, TikTok and Tencent's WeChat.

WWD
Date: October 20, 2019
By: Tianwei Zhang

SHANGHAI — Despite being called out for excluding the disputed region of Taiwan in a map during one of its campus recruitment events, Dior managed to bring its spring 2020 collection to Shanghai on Saturday.

On top of that, Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of the couture house, presented 14 exclusive looks for China. The limited capsule is inspired by Rosa Mutabilis, a kind of rose native to Southwest China in Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan provinces, and Monte Verità, an avant-garde artistic community that was founded in the early 20th century in Switzerland.

The set of the Shanghai show was an extension of the Paris concept. The grand hall of the Shanghai exhibition center was filled with trees and plants sourced locally by the landscape and urbanism collective Coloco, while ballet dancer Sébastien Bertaud choreographed a special performance for Shanghai.

The show was broadcast via Dior’s official account on Weibo, Huawei, TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat, using 360-degree virtual reality technology. Some 28.9 million people followed the live stream. Brand ambassadors such as Jing Tian, Arthur Chen, Huang Xuan attended the show.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s allies call for inclusiveness at 88th Interpol General Assembly

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/20
By: Alex Watson , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The annual International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) General

Assembly, which Taiwan has not been a party to since China joined the body, came to a close on Friday (Oct. 18) in Santiago, Chile.

In a press release, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) stated that allies Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Paraguay, Nauru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines had sent letters to the President of Interpol, Kim Jong Yang, calling for Taiwan’s participation as an observer.

In support of Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan and the German Institute Taipei have on social media both expressed that "politicizing law enforcement helps criminals," CNA reported.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/20
By: Tsai Chih-ming and Emerson Lim

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Fifteen local and foreign couples affirmed their love at a "marriage ceremony"

held under a Sacred Tree in the romantic setting of a national park 2,200 meters above sea level Sunday, the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration announced that day.

The couples, from Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the United States, exchanged vows or reaffirmed their love, with a 2300-year-old divine tree bearing witness, Ma Hui-ta (馬惠達), director of the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration said.

The tree, considered sacred due to its age, is one of the many attractions in the national park area of Alishan, a mountain in Central Taiwan.

Among the couples, Li Su-yueh (李素月), who has been married to her husband for 43 years, told CNA that they came to have the honeymoon they never went on four decades ago.

Li and her husband hugged each other when the master of ceremonies asked the grooms to kiss their brides. The exchange was also witnessed by the couple's daughter who plans to marry later this year.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2019
By: Lin Ching-lun and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A petition to list Yilan County’s Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島) as a county-level cultural

heritage site was accepted on Wednesday, the county government said on Saturday, adding that the outcome would be decided within six months.

The petition was launched by former Turtle Island resident Chien Ying-chun (簡英俊), who said he wanted to preserve history and his childhood memories.

Records show that the island was first inhabited by people during the mid-1800s, and at its peak, was home to about 700 people.

Yilan County Government negotiated the relocation of the island’s inhabitants in 1974 and the Ministry of National Defense closed it off for military purposes.    [FULL  STORY]

Hualien's Shangang Port whale-watching structure to undergo demolition

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/19
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — People who enjoy spotting humpback whales in Hualien will have to go to a new location to board their boats, according to a report by CNA.

Whale-watching makes up a major part of the tourism industry in Hualien, with peak whale-watching season falling between April and October. At present, there are four whale-watching companies and six whale-watching boats stationed at Hualien Shangang’s North Pier, which accommodates nearly 200,000 tourists every year.

However, in June this year, Hualien’s whale-watching wharf was identified by technicians as a dangerous structure, having been in disrepair for a long time. Its earthquake resistance was deemed inadequate, which poses a serious risk since earthquakes occur frequently in Hualien.

Hualien Port Branch Company, which has leased the whale-watching wharf since 1991, has considered safety recommendations and decided to end use of the structure and dismantle it. Whale-watching companies and enthusiasts will have to pursue their passion at a new pier while the port company conducts the demolition.    [FULL  STORY]