Page Three

Chinese businessman dies in fall from hotel window

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 22, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A Chinese businessman died in Taipei early yesterday morning when he fell from the window of his 15th-floor hotel room, city police said.

The man, identified as Jia Libin (賈利賓), managing director of Shanghai-based COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation Co, was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

Police told reporters that they received a report about the incident at about 2am and rushed to the scene, where Jia was found on the pavement outside a hotel in Songshan District (松山).

He had no pulse, was not breathing and appeared to have sustained multiple fractures, police said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News: Hualien Ex-Commissioner Paid Journalists for Positive Press

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/20
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Credit: Fu Kun-chi / Facebook

The National Communications Commission said reporters who allegedly submitted bids to write propaganda for Hualien County violated journalistic ethics and should be investigated by the media itself.

The statement comes after Mirror Media reported that former Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) invited bids for jobs to prepare written or video propaganda pieces about the county’s policies.

The bidding allegedly involved 25 deals and the Hualien County government paid between NT$140,000 and NT$280,000 (US$4,540-$9,075) to reporters there who worked several news organizations.

The news organizations involved include Taiwan Television (TTV), China Television, Sanlih E-Television, ETTV, Era News, Formosa Television, CTi TV, Hakka TV, TVBS, Taiwan Indigenous Television (TITV), the Keng Shen Daily and United Daily News.
[FULL  STORY]

Indigenous Sweety & Warrior to present free musicals in Hualien, Taiwan Dec 22 – 23

“We use body expressions to transfer our emotions to the audience”

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Indigenous Sweety & Warrior rehearses on a local beach for the 2018 annual show (photo from 花蓮縣原住民甜心勇士學院 Facebook page)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Indigenous Sweety & Warrior, a Hualien-based indigenous performance group, will present their 2018 annual exhibition in musical form at Hualien County Taiwan Indigenous Museum on the nights of the coming weekend, according to a recent news release posted on Hualien Tourist Service Network.

The 2018 annual exhibition titled “The Vow” is “different from other indigenous musicals that you’ve seen before. The script, choreography and soundtrack are all created by our team members,” the group said on its Facebook page.

“We use body expressions to transfer our emotions to the audience. The audience can expect to experience more than just the traditional Amis ceremonies.”

The public are invited to come and enjoy “the brand-new aural and visual delights,” the group added.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei 101 New Year’s Eve fireworks, LED show to feature 9 themes

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/20
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Ko Lin

A graphic simulation of the Taipei 101 New Year fireworks/Photo courtesy of Taipei 101

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) An animated LED light show will be held alongside the annual Taipei 101 New year’s Eve fireworks this year, featuring nine themes that will showcase some of Taiwan’s attractions and achievements, the organizers said Thursday.

According to Taipei Financial Center Corp., which manages the skyscraper, the themes will be cuisine and night markets, people and professions, geography and environment, medical expertise, technology and contract manufacturing, fruit kingdom, freedom and democracy, religion, and tolerance.

Angela Chang (張振亞), president of Taipei 101, said the cuisine theme will include images of some of Taiwan’s signature food and drink such as chicken fillets and bubble milk tea.

The animated light show will be projected onto the exterior of Taipei 101 from the 35th to the 90th floors, using an LED lighting system called the T-Pad, the organizers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Travel subsidy to go nationwide

CAPITAL COMPLAINS: Legislator Cheng Pao-ching said that it was unreasonable to exclude Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu City because of their hotel occupancy rates

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 21, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu City are to be included in the Tourism Bureau’s winter domestic travel subsidy program next month in compliance with a resolution passed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday, the bureau said, adding that the budget for the program would be increased from NT$980 million (US$31.8 million) to NT$1.3 billion.

The bureau is to subsidize tour groups and independent travelers, regardless of where they visit, it said.

It previously excluded independent travelers to the three cities from receiving the subsidy on the grounds that average hotel occupancy rates in the three cities in the past three years were above 50 percent.

Local government officials and hoteliers criticized the policy as it was.
[FULL  STORY]

Investigators Looking for Source of Dead Birds

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2018-12-19

Chiayi agriculture officials are trying to find where over a dozen dead
chickens came from.

16 dead birds were discovered in the county’s Shenkeng village.

Cleanup grews have disinfected the area where the dead birds were found out
of concerns that they could have carried bird flu.

The bodies are being tested for the disease.

The officials are looking for whoever dumped the chickens, as they can be
fined up to $1 million NT for improperly disposing of dead poultry.

A similar case involving a dead pig is being investigated in Yilan.

Authorities there are urging calm while they wait for a report on the cause
of death to come out.    [FULL  STORY]

US senators, Washington Post columnist blast Beijing for meddling in Taiwan elections

Formosa News
Date: 2018/12/19

Six American senators have signed a letter asking the Trump administration to look into Chinese meddling in Taiwan’s latest elections. The letter, which was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calls for Washington to prevent similar Chinese interference in the future. A Washington Post columnist has also raised a red flag over Taiwan’s elections, saying that China is working toward replacing Taiwan’s leader~ with someone they can more easily control.

The propagation of fake news by Chinese troll armies to influence elections is treated as a national security issue for Taiwan. Six U.S. senators, including Cory Gardner and Marco Rubio, recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Pompeo. The letter asked Washington to work with Taiwan on investigating China’s meddling in the latest election. It also urged swift action to deter future Chinese interference.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan claims over 300 Taiwanese fishing boats violated Japanese fisheries in 2018

The number reported by the Japanese Coast Guard is three time higher than the number in 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/19
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Dioayu Islands (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In the past year the number of Taiwanese fishing vessels reportedly trespassing in Japanese fisheries has increased threefold over the number reported in 2017.

Japanese authorities have already lodged a protest with the Taiwanese government over the increase in fishing vessels claimed to have violated the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries agreement, which was recently updated this year.

Japanese Coast Guard reports that Taiwanese vessels violated Japan’s EEZ 310 times so far in 2018, as compared to only 96 times in 2017.

According to a report at UDN, most of the violations reported by Japan involve fishing vessels intruding into the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around the islands of Okinawa Prefecture, and the Dioayu Islands, which Japan calls the “Senkaku Islands.”    [FULL  STORY]

Twin-city forum to focus on economic issues: Taipei mayor

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/19
By: Liang Pei-chih, Miu Tsung-han and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) The twin-city forum between Taipei and Shanghai that opens in Taipei on Thursday will focus on economic issues and showcase the concept of a circular economy as its theme, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Wednesday.

The two-day forum, which has been held annually by the two cities since 2010, has sparked controversy because of China’s aggressive suppression of Taiwan in the international community, but Ko said that as long as the forum concentrates on economics rather than politics, it was unlikely to trigger disputes.

Ko was responding to comments by Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), head of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top agency in charge of relations with China, who said earlier Wednesday he hoped the forum would not create political problems.

Chen said city exchanges across the Taiwan Strait are consistent with MAC policies and he therefore looked forward to seeing the forum between Taipei and Shanghai proceed smoothly and yield positive results.    [FULL  STORY]

Police raid alleged gun factory in Taoyuan

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Police on Monday seized a stockpile of illegal guns and ammunition, and

Firearms, ammunition and manufacturing equipment are displayed yesterday after a team from the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s First Investigation Corps raided a house in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District.  Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times

arrested a man on suspicion of running a firearm factory in Taoyuan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau announced yesterday.

The bureau coordinated with Taipei and Taoyuan police to conduct the raid on a rented house in Yangmei District (楊梅).

“The factory was in the basement and is quite a sophisticated operation, with assorted machinery for modifying and producing firearms,” said Captain Su Li-tsung (蘇立琮) of the bureau’s First Investigation Corps.

The suspect is a 52-year-old mechanic named Tai Kuo-chang (戴國璋), who has a criminal record for embezzlement and burglary, Su said.    [FULL  STORY]