Page Three

Traffic restrictions announced around the Presidential Office Building

Upcoming National Day holiday preparations to cause traffic restrictions in Taipei

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/09/30
By Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taipei city police announced on Friday that measures to

Image Flickr

control the traffic around the Presidential Office Building will be in place from October 2 to October 11 for the upcoming Double Ten National Day.

The main streets that will see traffic restrictions include Boai Road, Zhongxiao East Road, Huaining Street, and Aiguo West Road and the time when traffic will be most strictly limited will be from October 2-5 from 11 pm to 4 am.

During this time the military parade and other performance rehearsals will take place.

According to reports from the Central News Agency, LED installations will be put up on Ketagalan Boulevard on October 2, which indicates traffic limits will also be imposed in the area on the same day from 12 am and will likely be carried on till 6 am on October 5.    [FULL  STORY]

Vatican official visits Tzu Chi Foundation in Hualien

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/30
By: Lee Shien-feng and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Sept. 30 (CNA) Cardinal Peter Turkson of the Vatican visited the Buddhist

Image taken from PIxabay

Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation headquarters in Hualien County Saturday, where he spoke with founder and Dharma Master Cheng Yen (證嚴) about issues relating to environmentalism.

According to a press release from Tzu Chi, Turkson made a special stop at the foundation during his stay in Taiwan for the 14th World Congress of the Apostleship of the Sea.

Turkson thanked Tzu Chi for its relief efforts in the Republic of Sierra Leone in the wake of a landslide in August, which included not only providing aid to victims but also helping with the reconstruction of a local church.

The cardinal expressed his gratitude and blessings, saying that he looks forward to contributing to humanity with Tzu Chi.    [FULL  STORY]

Lawmakers take aim at CUPP finances

PARTY OF WOLVES:DPP legislator Kuan Bi-ling said that the way the pro-unification party is run was ‘completely consistent with the activities of criminal organizations’

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 01, 2017
By: Tseng Wei-chen and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) might be obtaining funds from the Chinese government through Strategic Sports (韜略運動器材), a company based in Dongguan in China’s Guangdong Province, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.

Among its board members, the company lists Chang Wei (張瑋) and Chang Hsun (張珣), sons of CUPP founder and former leader of the Bamboo Union gang Chang An-le (張安樂), Chen said.

Personal and anonymous donations to the party last year accounted for NT$2.34 million and NT$90,000 (US$77,215 and US$2,970) respectively, he said, adding that the party received no membership fees or government subsidies.

“Where did the funds for its operational costs come from?” he said.

Chang An-le, who is also known as the “White Wolf,” has companies in Hong Kong and China under the Taolue (“Strategy”) Group (韜略集團), the logo of which is the CUPP party logo, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

No China intervention in Taiwanese society: Yeh

Radio Taiwan Internartional
Date; 2017-09-29

Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong says the government does not allow China to interfere in Taiwanese society. Yeh was speaking Friday in an interview.

Yeh’s comments come after a media report said two major triad gangs in Taiwan are funded and controlled by China. Some gangsters who support unification with China were recently involved in a clash with pro-independence supporters. The clash left two college students slightly injured.

Yeh talked about the government’s stance.    [FULL  STORY]

Haitian student sings Taiwanese songs to the top [VIDEO]

A Haitian exchange student has sung his way to the top spot on ‘Top Singers’ with Taiwanese dialect songs

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/09/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Haitian exchange student has sung his way to fame in Taiwan by mastering songs in the difficult Taiwanese dialect (台語), reported CNA.

Stuart-Venly Burocher, whose Chinese name is Pi No-hsu (畢諾煦) and stage name is “Tooly,” is an exchange student at National Chengchi University, having earned a scholarship to study in Taiwan from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nearly two years ago.

Burocher has long had a passion for singing, having won the national high school singing championship in Haiti, and he continued this passion by entering similar contests once he started his studies in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Cabinet urged to quickly propose gay marriage draft bill

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/29
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Christie Chen 

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) Gay rights groups in Taiwan on Friday urged the Executive Yuan to respond to a Constitutional Court ruling in May that ruled in favor of gay marriage and quickly propose a draft bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the country.

At a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan, gay marriage advocate Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) said although Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has expressed support for same-sex marriage, a same-sex marriage bill is nowhere to be seen on his Cabinet’s list of priorities.

Noting that the Constitutional Court has asked Taiwan’s authorities to determine the formality for achieving the “equal protection of the freedom of marriage,” Lu urged the Executive Yuan to fulfill its responsibility and propose a draft bill in response to the court’s ruling.    [FULL  STORY]

Ministry inks deal for 285 sets of Mk44 chain guns

DEFENSE:The 285 sets, which are to be installed on Clouded Leopard vehicles, offer greater precision and durability, the defense ministry said

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 30, 2017
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwan has signed a deal with US company Orbital ATK for the purchase of 285 sets of Mk44 30mm chain guns, which are to be installed on domestically manufactured Clouded Leopard armored vehicles, Ministry of National Defense officials said yesterday.

Shipments of the Mk44 chain guns, which cost NT$3.4 billion (US$112 million), will begin arriving soon, the ministry said.

The Mk44 chain gun’s design decreases vibration and it has lower recoil, greater precision and higher durability, the ministry said.

The Mk44 is capable of shooting on the move and is outfitted with charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras, it added.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC picks Tainan for its 3nm fab

The China Post 
Date: September 29, 2017

Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry TSMC announced it will build its cutting-edge

Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry TSMC announced it will build its cutting-edge semiconductor fabrication plant in Tainan, ending speculation that it might skip Taiwan and invest in the U.S.

semiconductor fabrication plant in Tainan, ending speculation that it might skip Taiwan and invest in the U.S.

“Following careful evaluation, the Company’s planned advanced 3nm fab will be located in the Tainan Science Park to fully leverage the company’s existing cluster advantage and the benefit of a comprehensive supply chain,” the company said in a statement released Friday.

The announcement came ahead of schedule, ending worries that TSMC, one of Taiwan’s biggest firms and employers, might establish the fab in the U.S. due to the potential gap in Taiwan’s water and power supply.    [FULL  STORY]

US reaffirms its One China policy

Radio Taiwan Internartional
Date: 2017-09-28

The United States will continue to stand by its One China policy. That’s according to Grace Choi, spokesperson for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the US Department of State.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Taiwan’s premier, William Lai, said that Taiwan is a sovereign state and that it does not fall under Mainland China’s administration.

In an email response to Taiwanese reporters’ questions on Thursday, Choi said the United States stands by its One China policy and will continue to honor its agreements with both Beijing and Taipei. Choi also said the US encourages the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to seek peaceful solutions to their differences.
[FULL  STORY]

Taichung students spring special surprise for Teachers’ Day

A day before Teachers’ Day, Taichung high school students surprised their instructors with special gifts

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/09/28
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Students at Taichung Municipal Chungming Senior High

Image posted by 陳建銘 on Chungming Senior High Facebook page.

School made a variety of creative thank you cards and gifts on the eve of teachers’ day, surprising and greatly moving their instructors.

Yesterday, on the eve of Teacher’s Day in Taiwan, which is held every Sept. 28, the high school’s administrators and students collaborated on holding a special gathering of all faculty and students under the guise of a routine meeting. It was during this assembly that the students surprised their teachers with a deluge of gifts, causing many instructors to be visibly moved.

Some stuck cards to cookies or inside pomelos, while others made cookie backpacks and strung cards together to form necklaces to show their appreciation to their teachers. The instructors were then asked to carry the cookie backpacks and card necklaces.     [FULL  STORY]