Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/11
By: Ku Chuan and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty

arrived in Taiwan Sunday on a week-long visit that will last until Dec. 16, AIT said in statement Monday.

This is Moriarty’s third trip to Taiwan since his appointment as AIT chairman in October 2016, it said.

While in Taiwan, he will meet with a number of senior political and business figures, according to AIT, which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 11, 2017.
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Despite living in a nation overshadowed by ethnic divides and a long-lived, corrupt ruling

party that cracks down on activists, representatives of the Malaysia-based Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) showed themselves unfazed, saying that they are convinced that people’s dream for a clean electoral system can transcend racial lines and survive despite a culture of fear of authorities.

“When this coalition was formed, civic society was not really directly involved,” Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said in an interview with the Taipei Times in Taipei on Saturday.

A coalition of 93 NGOs dedicated to pushing for clean elections and electoral reforms, Bersih 2.0 is the recipient of this year’s Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, which is awarded by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.    [FULL  STORY]

The Voice of America
Date: December 08, 2017
By: Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — Legislation in Taiwan that opens a probe into the heavy-handed rule of former

strongman Chiang Kai-shek stands to distance Taiwanese people from their political rival China.

Parliament on Tuesday passed a bill that obligates the government to dig up archives from the era of Chiang’s deadly suppression of dissent after he moved his Nationalist government from China to Taiwan in the 1940s.

The Act on Promoting Transitional Justice calls further for restoring the reputations of those persecuted and advises the removal of tributes to China such as statues and street names, legislators said.

Seeking clarity of the past

Legislators were able to approve the transitional justice act because the ruling Democratic Progressive Party has controlled parliament as well as the presidency since May 2016, the first time ever that the Nationalist didn’t dominate one or both.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-09

Premier William Lai has traveled to Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan to drum up

support for the government’s infrastructure and long-term care plans.

Lai’s trip Saturday is the latest in a series he has made around Taiwan in an effort to get public opinion behind several key planks of the Tsai administration’s domestic policy.

During an event at a local temple, Lai said that the government infrastructure plan aims to resolve problems with Taiwan’s basic infrastructure while also boosting the economy. Lai said the government’s long-term care plan for the elderly, meanwhile, seeks to keep citizens over 65 healthy so that they can continue contributing to society.

Lai also told his audience that he was happy to visit Yilan because of the county’s long line of figures important for their contributions to Taiwan’s democracy.    [FULL  STORY]

Indian students from National Tsing Hua University are organizing Indian cultural night with Indian dance and food 

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/12/09
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Students of National Tsing Hua University are organizing an

Indian cultural night with traditional Indian folk dances and delicious Indian food.

The event is called the ‘Great Indian Utsav 2017’ and will be held on December 16 in the NTHU auditorium at 6 pm. The event is organized by the Indian students of NTHU.

“We are organizing this event to celebrate the rich traditions of India and also to help our Taiwanese friends learn more about Indian culture. We want to use the event as a platform to show our rapidly spreading culture and its diversity to our Taiwanese friends and hope that they enjoy the event and get to know us a bit more. Indian culture has been embraced in all parts of the world with people from all walks of life enjoying Indian food and dance numbers. We just want to spread happiness and share our rich heritage with the people of Taiwan,” said Saurav Bhattacharya, a Ph.D candidate and one of the co-organizers of the event.

“We will express our culture through the richness of Indian food that is loved by all. We will arrange for Indian folk dancers and music performances to showcase the traditions of different states in India followed by a spectacular performance by a Japanese sitar player. We also have a number of our Taiwanese friends who will put on dance performances on Indian songs. We will arrange for a special Yoga performance that will tell the story of the beginning of Yoga in India,” continued Saurav.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/09
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) An exhibition kicked off at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Saturday, encouraging the public to re-imagine and re-interpret the space, as part of a government-led effort to push transitional justice.

The exhibition, titled “Imagine: Transitional Justice,” displays photos and videos by artists and architects that depict their vision of the hall and how it could be used in the future. The displays also feature artists’ interpretations of the era of the late Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

Among the displays are two photo collages by artist Chen Ching-yao (陳擎耀), each showing a different interpretation of the Chiang family dynamics.

The first collage depicts a formal portrait, with Chiang standing in the middle flanked by his family members.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 10, 2017
By: Lee Li-fa and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Pingtung County police are inviting bidders for a contract to produce creatively

designed crosswalks and traffic lights that would lighten up the wait for pedestrians, it said, adding that it hopes such crossings could be introduced by the end of next year.

In the new design, the crossing signal display, pole and crosswalks are all in sync with the traffic light. The crosswalks and pole are to both be green when it is safe to walk, and begin to flash as the traffic light inches toward red, the station said earlier this month in a statement.

When the traffic light is red, the pole is to flash red, but the crosswalk is to stay green, it added.

In addition to the flashy digital effects, the green or red man on pedestrian crossings signals would be replaced, the station said.

The little green men on Taiwan’s traffic lights have over the years become animated and now walk, gradually picking up speed when the traffic light is about to change.
[FULL  STORY]

A striking music video featuring a lesbian couple by self-described ‘heavy punk’ band ChiKNUP puts viewers in a minority’s shoes.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/07
By: Darice D. Chang

Jayko (小摳) is a striking platinum-headed figure among a sea of long-haired black metal

band tee-wearing concertgoers crowded around the entrance of Little Place for Performances (小地方展演空間), a tiny concert venue off the corner of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei’s Zhongzheng district. She is joined by just one other band member, Cubic (兔王) – a stocky male. Together they form ChicKNUP.

It is an unlikely location for a live house – floating amidst government buildings, memorials, and the cold urban sprawl that surrounds Taipei Main Station.

The concert is organized by Raven Skull, a young black metal band, and the lineup includes a variety of genres. The air is thick with cigarette smoke despite the recent air pollution warnings, and Jayko leads us to the side, by a Louisa Coffee outlet.
[FULL  STORY]