The rebuilt home for the hippos at the Taipei Zoo opened on Oct. 21, giving the giant mammals a more spacious and comfortable environment to live and enabling visitors to observe their underwater activities

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The rebuilt home for the hippos at the Taipei Zoo opened on

Oct. 21, giving the giant mammals a more spacious and comfortable environment to live and enabling visitors to observe their underwater activities, according to the zoo.

Delivering his remarks at the inauguration of the new facility, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said the construction of the new habitat for the hippos has taken into consideration of comfort and livability for the animals, and therefore water changes and purification as well as access to ventilation and sunlight were identified as important factors in building the new facility.
Currently, the zoo has 15 hippos (five males and 10 females) and nine pygmy hippos (2 males and 7 females). As hippos are very territorial, they are apt to fight each other to defend their territories. Therefore, the zoo said the new hippo facility is twice as big as the original one, which was 1,500 square meters in area, the zoo said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/22
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) For Taiwan “independence is unnecessary” and also “impossible

to achieve,” said former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) Sunday in reply to a reporter’s question about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) recent comments on Bejing’s Taiwan policy.

Xi reiterated the “one China” principle and “1992 consensus” at the opening of the 19th national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Oct. 18. He said China would not sit idly by if “any person, organization or political party tried to split any territory from China at any time in any form.”

However, the Chinese leader noted that Taiwan’s existing social systems and the way the people of Taiwan live will be respected.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 23, 2017
By: Chien Hui-ju  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

Huang Kuo-chang, second left, make fishball soup, a traditional Yilan dish, at the

opening ceremony of the party’s chapter in Yilan County yesterday.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The New Power Party (NPP) is to nominate candidates for next year’s city and county councilor elections by the end of this year, and is to focus on the six special municipalities.

The list of candidates for the six special municipalities might include candidates for Yunlin County and Hsinchu, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said during an opening ceremony of the party’s Yilan chapter, its 10th local office.

The party is also planning to field its own candidates for other cities and counties to reform the nation’s political landscape, Huang said.

Huang praised Yilan as a sacred place for Taiwan’s democracy, having given birth to revered political figures such as former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), former Yilan County commissioner Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).    [FULL  STORY]

INQUIRER.net
Date: October 22, 2017
By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas – Reporter / @PathRoxasINQ

Several international flights to or from Japan and Taiwan were cancelled Sunday due

to Supertyphoon “Lan” (local name Typhoon “Paolo”), the Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) announced.

Paolo exited the Philippine area of responsibility Sunday morning as it headed towards Japan.

The following Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific flights between Japan and Manila and Cebu, and Taiwan to Manila were cancelled:    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internationl
Date: 2017-10-21

Premier William Lai says a plan to cut property taxes on hotels will only be able to

move forward with support from local governments.

The plan seeks to boost the tourism industry through cuts to the land and housing taxes hotels must pay. The central government has finished with the administrative procedures needed to put the plan in action, and Lai has given the plan his approval.

However, on Saturday, Lai said the Cabinet must work to gain the support of local government heads because local governments receive the taxes that are to be cut. Lai said that the central government must secure the support of local officials in order for the tax cut plan to succeed. He said he understands the importance of informing local officials about the plan because of his own experience in local government. Lai served as mayor of the southern city of Tainan before taking over as premier in September.
[SOURCE]

Some fans are so passionate about the puppet characters that they cosplay them with the same customs, hair, and make-up.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/21
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – It is hard to imagine a group of people from various

backgrounds who had gathered together in Chiayi City out of enthusiasm for Taiwanese glove puppetry would shoot this traditional art form to fame within just few years, but SammadhiTang Creative Puppet Troupe, with their devotion to puppet making and manipulation, has already amassed a huge fan base around the world.

Walking around the exhibition room currently held in an old house in Twatutia (or Dadaocheng，大稻埕), visitors are welcomed to touch the exquisitely handmade puppets gently and even hold them if they have enough strength.

A puppet usually weighs more than 10 kilometers, and puppeteers have to hold it over their shoulder in order to let it appear on stage.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/21
By: Tzeng Yi-shiuan and Isabel Wang

Paris, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taipei Representative Office in France signed a memorandum of

understanding (MOU) on Friday with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), establishing the first Taiwan Studies Program in the country.

The program will be set up at EHESS and provide several courses and seminars focused on the transformation of Taiwan society and national identity until 2020, said the office.

One semester will include a weekly 2-hour class, offer 12 study credits and can be attended by students enrolled in the master’s and doctoral degree at EHESS.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 22, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday denied

allegations that his party is planning to send representatives to Beijing to discuss the possibility of holding the KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) annual cross-strait forum in December.

Wu on the sidelines of a public forum in Taipei rejected allegations that the mission of the representatives is to discuss the date for this year’s forum and the possibility of a meeting between Wu and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

“We have to consider that the CCP is holding its 19th National Congress and is next month to participate in the APEC summit in Vietnam, which Xi is scheduled to attend. Afterward, US President Donald Trump is also slated to make a state visit to China,” Wu said.

Wu said that the timing of the forum is not his main concern, as it could be held any time that suits both parties.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-19

President Tsai Ing-wen says she hopes new graduates of Taiwan’s international

military class will help deepen collaboration with other nations.

National Defense University in Taoyuan has a dedicated program for training entry-level officers for other countries. On Thursday, Tsai met the program’s latest graduates and gave an address.

She said the program, in existence for 46 years, has been an important platform for promoting military exchanges between Taiwan and other nations. She said five of the program’s alumni have served as presidents and prime ministers, and over 80 have served as heads of government departments. She said she hopes the new graduates will continue to promote Taiwan’s cooperation with other nations.    [FULL  STORY]

The current budget proposal includes a number of measures to try and boost Taiwan’s low birth rate, but are they focusing on the right areas?

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/19
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

The low birth rate in Taiwan is a source of great concern to its politicians and in recent

days have drawn attention to some of the interesting policy ideas they have conjured up to address it.

The number of babies being born in Taiwan has declined steadily in recent years. The country currently sits in the bottom three or four in the Global Rankings, depending on which measure you look at. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior (內政部), numbers continued to drop in the first seven months of this year, with just 110,379 babies being born in Taiwan; a six percent decline on the same period in 2016.

The reasons for this declining birth rate are very much open for discussion. When releasing the statistics for this year, Wanda Chang (張琬宜), director of the Department of Household Registration Affairs claimed it was “the result of fewer marriages and of people choosing to get married when they are older.”    [FULL  STORY]