Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/16
By Flor Wang, CNA staff writer

Hong Kong’s political and social environment has undergone dramatic changes since its return to Chinese rule in 1997, changes that have left many there thinking about emigrating from the former British territory to an overseas haven.

Hong Kong’s Security Bureau estimates that between 6,900 and 10,300 people have applied to emigrate a year between 2005 and 2016, with the United States, Australia and Canada the three most popular destinations during that time.

But in recent years, interest in another much closer destination has gained steam among Hong Kong residents seeking a fresh start outside the “special administrative area” whose luster as a world-class city is slowly fading away.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2018
By: Cho Yi-chun, Yang Ya-min and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

A number of businesses have released dog-related products and decorations for the

Year of the Dog in the Chinese zodiac, which began yesterday.

For Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taipei, the business opportunities for zodiac-related products are unlimited.

Especially since dogs are “man’s best friend,” dog-related products are the most popular and diverse among Chinese zodiac figures and sell best, the company said.

The Federation Cynologique Internationale in June 2015 officially recognized the Taiwanese native hunting dog as the “Taiwan dog,” the company said.

In honor of the first Year of the Dog since that, the company is exhibiting artist Huang Po-jen’s (黃柏仁) The Dog’s Notes (狗札記) sculpture series and it also invited graphic designer Neil Tien (田修銓) to design dog-shaped coin banks.

With entertainer Mickey Huang (黃子佼) as chief curator, the department store chain’s Year of the Dog lighting exhibition features dog sculptures decorated by more than 50 entertainers, designers, illustrators, artists and brands, the company said.
[FULL  STORY]

Channel News Asia
Date: 15 Feb 2018

TAIPEI: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wished “friends” in China a happy Lunar New

Year on Thursday (Feb 15), drawing a surprisingly warm reaction from Chinese state media which is more used to disparaging her as a dangerous separatist.

Taiwan is one of China’s most sensitive issues and a potentially dangerous military flashpoint. China considers the self-ruled island its sacred territory and a wayward province and it has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.

China has become increasingly hostile to Taiwan since Tsai, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won election in 2016, believing she wants to push for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China.    [FULL  STORY]

TECO offices around the world release statement encouraging allies and partners to support Taiwan’s bid to join the WHO

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/15
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO) around the world are coordinating a diplomatic campaign to lobby for international support with the aim of securing an official invitation to participate in the 2018 World Health Assembly.

In a press release made public on Feb. 15, Taiwan is calling on its allies and supporters across the globe to help persuade the WHO into accepting Taiwan into the organization.

The statement emphasizes that it is not only in the interest of Taiwan’s population of over 23 million people see their country admitted to the international organization, but that it is in the interest of regional health security and international cooperation as well.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 16, 2018
By: Chou Yan-yu and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taipei-based nutritionists and other experts are urging the public to make health-

conscious food choices during the Lunar New Year holiday.

People should avoid consuming large amounts of meat or seafood, and choose mushrooms, vegetables, fruits and other fiber-rich ingredients in their Lunar New Year dishes, Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital nutrition department director Wei Pin-hui (魏賓慧) said.

Calorie intake can be reduced by steaming or boiling food, she said.

People should select ingredients that are in season and locally grown, limit their consumption of processed foods and eat more vegetables than meat, said Yang Ling-ling (楊玲玲), an honorary professor at Taipei Medical University’s Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy and a member of Taipei’s food safety committee.    [FULL  STORY]

BBC News
Date: Feb 13, 2018
By: News from Elsewhere……as found by BBC Monitoring

According to the Taiwan News website, the first of some 40 pedestrian signs featuring a

new “couple” design has been unveiled today at an official ceremony in southern Pingtung County.

The new street crossings feature the animated red man kneeling down to propose to his girlfriend, and the green man holding his girlfriend’s hand and crossing the road.

Image copyrightFTV NEWSImage captionPedestrians should not propose to their significant other in the middle of the road
The design plans were given a limited trial in December by the Pingtung County Police Bureau. They confirmed the same month their intentions to roll out the design across the county in 2018 to make the existing 18-year-old traffic lights “more attractive”.

Pingtung’s county mayor Pen Men-an told Taiwan News today that the new design “emphasise Pingtung is a county filled with love”.    [FULL  STORY]

New viewing platform built on Alishan to witness the spectacular ‘cloud waterfall’

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A new viewing pavilion has been built in the Alishan

Recreation Area to view the area’s famous “cloud waterfall” and other spectacular natural phenomenon, reported CNA.

At the 40 kilometer mark of the Alishan Highway, also known as Provincial Highway 18, new facilities have been installed for hikers to observe the area’s famous “cloud waterfall” and ecology, including parking lots, event squares and sightseeing platforms. There are now two new trails in the area as well, including a trail for tourists and another for more intrepid hikers.

Ma Whei-da (馬惠達), director of the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration, told CNA that there is a firebug trail between the bamboo forest and the woods with a gentle gradient. During the rainy season, mycena chlorophos (螢光菇), a type of glowing mushroom, can be seen in the area at night. There is also a small pond around the forest square in which frogs can be seen.     [FULL  STORY]