The renovation project of Yangmingshan Qianshan Park (前山公園) in Taipei has received the Honorable Mention of the IFLA Asia-Pac Landscape Architecture Awards 2017 in the Parks and Open Space Category.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–The renovation project of Yangmingshan Qianshan Park (前山公園) in Taipei has received the Honorable Mention of the IFLA Asia-Pac Landscape Architecture Awards 2017 in the Parks and Open Space Category in Bangkok, Thailand.

Qianshan Park, which boasts a plethora of ecological resources and hot spring characteristics, used to suffer from damage to its environment because of outdated facilities. Following a renovation implemented by the Parks and Street Lights Office (PSLO), the park has been restored to its original charisma as a recreational venue that prides itself in possessing both natural landscape and gardens with humanistic elements, PSLO Director Huang Li-yuan (黃立遠) said in a statement on Monday.

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) is an organization representing the landscape architectural profession globally. IFLA currently represents 76 national associations from Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, and a newly emerging region in the Middle East. Taiwan is one of the 14 members of IFLA Asia-Pacific.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/30
By: Kuan Jui-pin and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Nov. 30 (CNA) An Indonesian migrant caretaker expressed her appreciation on

Thursday for the excellent health care services in Taiwan, without which she would likely have died from cancer and its related complications.

Amy, a 31-year-old Indonesian caretaker, has been working at a home in Miaoli County for over two years.

On Nov. 3, her employer rushed her to the county’s Da Chien General Hospital when she showed signs of renal edema, or swelling of her kidneys.

Doctors found that she had stage 3 cervical cancer, with a 7-centimeter tumor that pressed against her pelvis, therefore blocking her ureter.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 01, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The Cabinet yesterday promised to present a draft amendment to the Mining Act (礦業法)

next week, amid protests by environmental and Aboriginal groups over its delay.

Following the death of environmentalist and documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) in June, calls for the government to revise the act have surged.

The Cabinet in September promised to finalize and submit a draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan in October, but failed to do so.

Environmental and Aboriginal groups yesterday called a press conference condemning the delay, with the government approving a 20-year extension to Asia Cement Corp’s mining rights in Hualien County’s Sincheng Township (新城) and turning a blind eye to a local protest against the mining operation since Thursday last week.    [FULL  STORY]

The National Interest
Date: November 29, 2017
By: Rowan Allport

It is clear to Taiwan that it can’t match mainland China’s military might. As a result, the country is increasingly relying on an asymmetric approach to close the gap. But Taipei’s plan to focus significant resources on building up the country’s submarine fleet probably isn’t the best way forward.

Taiwan’s latest quadrennial defense review, released in March 2017, departed little from previous versions in its basic strategy. The review highlighted the increasing capabilities of mainland China’s forces and the need for countermeasures to ‘achieve resolute defense through multi-domain deterrence’ by ‘adopting innovative/asymmetric means’.

Recommended: This Video Shows What Happens if Washington, D.C. Is Attacked with Nuclear Weapons    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-29

Taiwan’s legislature passed an act on Tuesday that will establish a national human rights

museum.

The museum will include sites where political prisoners were held during Taiwan’s period under authoritarian rule, which lasted from the 1940’s to the end of martial law in 1987. The culture ministry will administer the museum.

On Wednesday, Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun said the act is a sign that the government is facing up to the human rights abuses of Taiwan’s past. However, Cheng said, the museum represents just one step on the road to transitional justice. She said full-scale transitional justice would include restoring historical truth, rehabilitation and compensation for victims, and dismantling the symbols of authoritarianism.

Cheng said she hopes the legislature will quickly pass a statute which would provide a legal basis for promoting transitional justice. Cheng said that would cover things like transforming Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which commemorates the leader who oversaw most of the authoritarian period in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Andre Chiang was trained under Michelin-starred chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel at Le Jardin des Sens

Taiwan News  
Date: 2017/11/29
By: Taiwan Today,Agencies

Taiwan-born restaurateur Andre Chiang was listed among the world’s top 100 chefs for

2018 in a list published Nov. 26 by French magazine Le Chef.

Michelin-starred Chiang was included in the Paris-based magazine’s rankings for the fourth consecutive year, alongside other chefs who demonstrate international leadership and exemplify the values of the profession, according to the publication. Over 550 Michelin two- and three-starred chefs around the world voted, choosing from among their peers those who have created the most unique and outstanding cuisine, Le Chef said.

This year’s list was dominated by chefs from Europe, with 41 from France, including Michel Troisgros, whose three-star Michelin restaurant is located in Ouches, northwest of Lyon. A total of 11 chefs from Japan were also featured, with Seiji Yamamoto making the top 10 for his Nihonryori Ryugin establishment in Tokyo.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/29
By: Tang Pei-chun and William Yen

Brussels, Nov. 29 (CNA) Taiwanese academic Shih Chih-jen (施智仁) has become the

first Asian to receive Switzerland’s most prestigious chemistry award, Taiwan’s representative office in the European country said Wednesday.

Shih, an assistant professor at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich, was awarded the Ruzicka-Preis on Tuesday for his research and development of the highest purest form of the green light-emitting diode, the office said.

The Ruzicka-Preis is an annual prize awarded to a researcher under the age of 40 for an outstanding piece of published work in the field of chemistry, carried out in Switzerland or by a Swiss researcher abroad, according to ETH Zurich’s website.

The award was named after ETH Zurich Professor Leopold Ruzicka, the 1939 winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 30, 2017
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer

The results of a poll conducted by the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum show Taipei Mayor

Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in the lead in next year’s Taipei mayoral elections.

The results were announced yesterday at a news conference by the forum’s chief executive Hsieh Ming-hui (謝明輝), director-general Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國) and Chinese Culture University professor Yang Tai-sun (楊泰順).

While Ko had a significant lead over other potential candidates, his advantage is not insurmountable, Pang said.

In the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) has the best chance of winning against Ko, trailing by only 5.8 percent, Pang said, adding that the poll showed 42.7 percent support for Ko and 36.9 percent support for Ting in a one-on-one scenario.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-11-28

Premier William Lai has expressed confidence that communication with the public will win

support for revising a controversial amendment to Taiwan’s labor law.

The amendment, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, guarantees employees one fixed day off per week. The amendment also gives employees one negotiable day off. Employees who choose to work on their negotiable day off are entitled to overtime pay. Employers and workers alike have criticized the amendment for reasons including its complexity and lack of flexibility, as well as for bringing higher labor costs.

Analysts say dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the labor law is the main factor behind Lai’s sinking approval rating, which recently fell below 50% for the first time.    [FULL  STORY]

Actor Chris Wu has come under attack from both Chinese and Taiwanese netizens

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/28
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese celebrity became a target for criticism from both

Chinese and Taiwanese netizens due to his support for Sunflower Movement three years ago as he became a brand ambassador for Chinese smartphone producer Oppo.

Chris Wu, also known as Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), won an Asian Television Award for Best Actor in 2012.

The uproar started after he recently announced on his Facebook page that he would serve as the new brand ambassador for China’s Oppo. However, his participation in the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement was brought up by internet users and led to questions about whether he was against trade pacts with China or not. The Sunflower Movement was a reaction against the then-Kuomintang government’s efforts to rush through a trade agreement with China without sufficient debate.

Wu’s Facebook post triggered debates on social media. “Is that a Chinese brand? Didn’t you oppose cross-strait  trade?” Taiwanese netizens asked.  “No need to pull him down, he is already gone with the renminbi”, a reference to the Chinese currency. “He is only against cross-strait trade, not against Chinese money!,” others commented. Meanwhile, in China, Wu was also attacked by internet users, saying: “How shameless he is! He smashed Chinese pots but still eats China food!”    [FULL  STORY]