One man’s hand-sculpted collection of colorful masks representing a host of gruesome spirits. 

Jiufen Old Street, nestled in the mountains northeast of Taipei City, is often claimed to be the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece, “Spirited Away.” While that may not be entirely correct, there are plenty of spirits housed in one building in this warren-like complex of charming lanes and staircases.

Tucked away up Shuqi Road (really just a staircase leading from the bustling Jishan Street alley), surrounded by restaurants and lanterns, you’ll find a creepy but colorful collection of masks hanging around a doorway. The door leads to sculptor Wu Jyh Chyang’s museum of over 1,500 self-made ghost masks, chillingly titled the “Painful Life Mask Exhibition.”

The masks depict a wide variety of disfigured creatures, seemingly attempting to warn us of the indulgences that have led to their gruesome deaths.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/24
By: Liu Kuan-ting and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, March 24 (CNA) Several city councilors have reiterated demands from a day earlier for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to reveal what he and Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong discussed Friday, saying it was a basic responsibility of a government official.

Han met with Wang Zhimin (王志民), the director of the Chinese Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LOCPG HK), at the liaison office Friday evening and was invited to a dinner reception by Wang.

The meeting was not included in the itinerary of Han’s seven-day tour of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Xiamen that began Friday put out by Han’s office prior to the trip, and it was harshly criticized by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday.

DPP officials, including President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), branded the LOCPG HK as a symbol of China’s imposition of the “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong, and questioned whether Han was helping China promote the system for Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

WOMEN’S PLIGHT: Gilda Banugan of Migrante International said domestic workers are at risk because the Labor Standards Act does not apply to them

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

Dozens of women from the Philippines and Indonesia yesterday rallied at Taipei Railway

Station as part of the One Billion Rising campaign to end gender-based violence and exploitation of domestic workers.

The event, which featured a dance performance in the station’s main hall, was to raise awareness about female migrant workers who experience sexual, mental or physical violence, said Gilda Banugan, chairwoman of Migrante International’s Taiwan chapter.

It is the seventh year that migrant groups have held the event in Taiwan as part of the global campaign launched by US playwright and activist Eve Ensler on Valentine’s Day in 2012, Banugan said.

According to the campaign’s Web site, the “one billion” refers to statistics that show one in three women worldwide, or 1 billion, will be beaten or raped in their lifetime.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei’s political elites no longer heed warnings from their own military. This is why Washington should care.

The National Interest
March 19, 2019
By: Wendell Minnick

TAIPEI—Taiwan is not Israel. The frontline islands of Kinmen and Matsu are not the “frontline.” The Air Force’s IDF, the Indigenous Defense Fighter, is locally called the “I Don’t Fly” fighter.

There is a large-scale masquerade ball on the island of Taiwan; a façade that will quickly crumble when the first arrows are drawn from the enemy’s quiver.

Washington policymakers need an entire rethink on the island’s defense posture.

Living here for twenty years and having been on every military base on the island too many times to count, paradox and irony have become cliché, if not horrifying.

Not to crow, but I have been on Dongyin, Erhtan and Tatan islands; the U.S. signal intelligence antenna farm at Pingtun Li; and inside the underground airbase in Chiashan Mountain in Hualien.    [FULL  STORY]

RT News
Date: 23 Mar, 2019

Beijing has warned the US against selling F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, urging Washington to respect its sovereignty when it comes to the One China policy, to avoid seriously damaging bilateral relations.

“China resolutely opposes US arms sales to Taiwan, and this position remains consistent and firm,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump was contemplating selling more than 60 F-16 units to Taipei.

Stressing that arms sales to the island will “seriously damage” the Sino-American ties, Beijing urged the US to “stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan.”
[FULL  STORY]

Hong Kong Free Press
Date: 23 March 2019
By: AFP

Visiting Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has pledged a tourism boost and gifted a coast guard vessel to the remote Pacific microstate of Palau, as she works to check a push for regional influence by rival China.

Tsai arrived in Palau on Thursday to kick off her second official visit to the Pacific, amid growing concerns over Beijing’s attempt to lure away Taipei’s few remaining diplomatic allies.

Her overtures this week included a pledge to increase flights to the tiny island state, which is struggling to boost tourism after cutting back on charter flights from mainland China.

Tsai said national carrier China Airlines would add a fourth weekly flight to Palau to bolster the local tourism industry, which has been dominated by visitors from mainland China.    [FULL  STORY]

Cruise Industry News
Date: March 23, 2019

At the Port of Kaohsiung, the Pier 2-10 area has been revamped and open to the public since last December as the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) looks to diversify and expand beyond its core business.

Former warehouses have been turned into creative venues for leisure and recreation for cruise guests at the waterfront.

“The distinct ocean atmosphere along with creative industries are highlighted to transform the old port area into a sustainable and innovative port,” according to a statement. “The new business model has successfully transformed the old port area, diversified the port functions and further increased the sustainability of the port.”

The port is also looking forward to be a first-time homeport operation from Dream Cruises later this year as the premium brand is set to sail a four-day cruise roundtrip from Kaohsiung to Okinawa and Ishigaki Island.

By next January, a new cruise terminal will be open for mega ships in Kaohsiung, able to accommodate the latest Oasis- and Global-class vessels, TIPC said in a statement.

At the port of Keelung, the bustling cruise hub is planning for a renovated passenger terminal to be completed later this year to handle the increasing volume of cruise guests.  A new landmark building for exhibitions and a hotel is also underway in the port area.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News    
Date: 2019/03/23 
By: Taiwan Today,Agencies

The third annual Taiwan-Japan indigenous handicraft exhibition kicked off March 21 in New Taipei City, underscoring government efforts to strengthen cultural exchanges between local tribes and overseas counterparts.

Co-organized by the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples, the show runs through April 30 at the Hbun Indigenous Lifestyle gallery and store in the city’s Tamsui District. It features items by artisans from Taiwan’s Atayal, Paiwan and Tao tribes and Japan’s Ainu indigenous people, such as boats, clothes and knives.

According to CIP Deputy Minister Calivat Gadu, handicrafts represent a shared language for promoting cross-cultural communication between Taiwan’s and Japan’s indigenous communities. The theme of this year’s show, Life Wisdom of Mother Nature, also spotlights the shared belief in respect for the environment among tribes on both sides, he added.

Mamoru Kaizawa, head of the Ainu association in Nibutani district of Hokkaido’s Biratori town, expressed his gratitude to the CIP for staging the exhibition. The event has helped deepen people-to-people connections between indigenous artisans in Taiwan and Japan, he said.    [FULL  STORY]