Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The sand sculpture exhibition of the annual Salt & Sand Sculpture Art Festival held in Taiwan’s southwest coast was moved from the traditional site, a beach, into a community with many 3D wall murals, and the relocation has proved to be a good move as a great many visitors have come to appreciate the double charm of the sand sculpture and the 3D wall murals, according to media reports.

Hsu Zhen-neng (徐振能), director of Southwest Coast National Scenic Area Administration, which organized the Salt & Sand Sculpture Art Festival, told reporters that when this year’s sand sculpture was moved into the Ma Sha Gou 3D Painting Village (馬沙溝3D彩繪村) in Jiangjun District (將軍區), Tainan, many visitors had come to visit the display even before the festival officially opened on July 15, the reports said.

Chen Chi-chung (陳啟宗), a store manager in the Ma Sha Gou community, said the community association had since July 7 rolled out multiple great value tour packages, which bring visitors to watch the salt sculpture, the sand sculpture, and the 3D paintings and to taste roasted oysters and special flavored cuisine.  These packages have helped sales for local stores a lot, he added, according to the reports.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/15
By: Wang Chao-yu and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, July 15 (CNA) The annual Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival has set up a special exhibition this year showcasing Slovakia, with the centerpiece a streetscape from the central European nation’s capital of Bratislava.

The replicas of popular bronze statues in Bratislava’s old town district, including one of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, decorate the exhibition hall in Yilan County’s Dongshan River Water Park to give visitors the feeling of being in Slovakia.

Martin Podstavek, head of the Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said the Ahoj! Friendship Castle of Slovakia exhibition, which features folk furnishings and handicrafts from his country, was the largest of its kind in Taiwan and East Asia.

On Sunday, exhibition curator Pavel Holik, dressed in a traditional costume, performed a musical tune at the show using a fujara, a 1.6-meter-long wooden flute that is a traditional musical instrument in the country.
[FULL  STORY]

Multiple cultural activities kicked off Saturday leading up to the grand birthday celebration of the Taoist deity Lord Guan on August 4

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/07/15
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAOYUAN (Taiwan News) — The Daxi Daxi Festival, a series of cultural activities celebrating traditional folk beliefs with contemporary design and art kicked off Saturday at Taoyuan City’s Daxi Old Street. The festival will last three weeks leading up to the grand temple parade, which honors the birthday of the Taoist deity Lord Guan (Guan Gong) between August 4 and 5.

Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the birthday celebration of the Lord Guan of the Pu Ji Temple has had a significant meaning for local people over the past century, and it is as important as the celebration of the Lunar New Year.

Crowds gather in front of the Pu Ji Temple shortly before the opening ceremony (Taiwan News)

The celebration of the Lord Guan has always come with a temple parade with ‘Din Tao’ clubs, formed by local people to give various performances. Some of the clubs have people disguised as Taoist deities, either with dramatic makeups or in character costumes, while others are music groups performing with eastern music instruments.

There are also people carrying the statue of the most important deity in a temple, such as the Lord Guan of the Pu Ji Temple, in the procession, while others shoot off fireworks constantly throughout the parade.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/14
By: Chen Wei-ting, Tyson Lu and William Yen

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck northeastern Taiwan at 7:46 p.m. Saturday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

No damage or casualties were immediately reported.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 18.8 kilometers south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 70.3 km, the bureau’s website showed.

The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Yilan’s Nan’ao Township, Taipei’s Xinyi District and Taoyuan and Zhongli districts in Taoyuan City, where it measured 2 on Taiwan’s 7-level intensity scale.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 15, 2018
By: Huang Chien-hao  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) team yesterday interviewed 42

shortlisted candidates who applied to work for Ko’s re-election campaign ahead of the Nov. 24 Taipei mayoral election.

The candidates were selected from 1,839 applicants who responded to an open call by Ko’s team and were interviewed in groups and individually yesterday.

The team initially received about 900 applications, but that number increased to 1,839 after the team released an online short film titled A Day in the Life of the Mayor’s Aide on Thursday last week, Ko campaign office employee Ke Yu-an (柯昱安) said.

Ke attributed the increase in the number of applicants to the film, saying it induced more people to identify with the mayor’s ideals.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date:2018-07-13

The economics minister, Shen Jong-chin, says trade war between the

United States and China will have little impact on Taiwan. Shen was speaking on Friday.

Shen’s comments came two days after the Trump administration announced its third wave of tariffs on Chinese products. Washington is planning to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese products worth US$200 billion.

The products on the latest tariff list involve the mechanics industry and wafer production. These are two industries where Taiwan is concerned about a possible impact. Shen talked about the government’s preliminary review.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/07/13
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Premier William Lai has countered claims from the opposition Kuomintang

(KMT) party suggesting the government’s Cabinet reshuffle aims only to help the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) win more seats in the November local elections and ignores ongoing problems affecting Taiwan.

Lai said the decision to replace four Cabinet ministers was made because the outgoing members were seeking to leave and because the government is now seeking to put into practice policy decisions made since coming to power in 2016.

The reshuffle sees Interior Minister Yeh Chun-Jung, Minister of Justice, Chiu Tai-san, Transport Minister Ho Chen Tan, and Finance Minister Sheu Yu-jer all replaced.

Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung will take over as Interior Minister, Investigation Bureau Director-General Tsai Ching-hsiang is being appointed Justice Minister.    [FULL  STORY]