Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-12

Two C-130 air force planes transported the remains of beloved Taiwanese director Chi Po-lin back to

Taipei on Monday. The 52-year-old director and two others – assistant Chen Kuan-chi and pilot Chang Chi-kuang – perished in a helicopter accident on Saturday in Hualien, eastern Taiwan.

Some 50 members of the air force’s ceremonial guard and others were on hand to greet the planes when they landed at Taipei’s Songshan Airport at just before 9am on Monday. They formed to lines, saluting to the coffins as they were rolled off the plane and onto hearses.

The Air Force Command Headquarters said that it wanted to honor Chi for his long-term support for the air force and for helping boost morale. By helping transport Chi and his team back to Taipei, the air force said they were in effect giving them one last look at Taiwan from above.

Chi is best known for his 2013 documentary “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above”, which featured stunning aerial cinematography showing not only the beauty of Taiwan, but the looming environmental concerns. The surprise box office hit is lauded with sparking a renewed interest in environmental issues in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taipei City’s Animal Protection Office (APO) inaugurated the city’s second dog

park at Wenshan District on Saturday.

Located right across from Taipei Zoo and adjacent to a large parking lot, the new facility is named “Wanxing Dog Area” (萬興狗活動區) and sits inside Wanxing Borough’s Daonan Left Bank Riverside Park.

According to APO Director Yen I-feng (嚴一峯), the dog park comprises two zones: an area spanning 1,277 square meters for large dogs and another space covering 484.56 square meters for small canine breeds. The two zones total 1,761.56 square meters. Enclosed by railings and fences, the area allows dogs to roam freely and away from human activities and road traffic.

Located on the bank of the Jingmei River, the facility has beautiful scene and is very suitable for dog owners to bring their pets for a run, Yen said.

Not only does the facility boast an area twice the size of Huashan Dog Park; it also comes equipped with amenities such as toilets, wash basins, and dog waste bags. Residents are encouraged to bring their furry companions to the new recreational destination, which is accessible through both public transportation and vehicles.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/12
By Huang Li-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 12 (CNA) Electricity consumption in Taiwan on Monday hit its highest peak of the year,

triggering a low reserve warning, as daytime highs surged above 35 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country, state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said.

Electricity consumption peaked at 34.59 million kilowatts at 1:43 p.m. Wednesday, with the operating reserve margin falling to 3.52 percent, or 1.22 million kilowatts, as high temperatures hit most areas of the country.

The peak electricity consumption on Monday was about 600,000 KW more than the utility expected, said Cheng You-tsai (鄭有財), an official in Taipower’s Department of System Operations.

The low reserve level triggered the fifth orange power warning light for this month.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 13, 2017
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

The Yunlin County Government yesterday extended Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s (台塑石化) permits

for its coal-fired boilers, upsetting environmentalists’ hopes of reducing air pollution in the county.

On Saturday, the Anti-Air Pollution Alliance and other groups marched in the county’s Douliou City (斗六), urging the county government not to extend the 12 permits at the company’s naphtha cracker plant in the county’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) that expired on Sunday.

More than a thousand people attended the march, alliance spokesperson Chiang Yiao-hsian (蔣耀賢) said.

However, the Yunlin County Environmental Protection Bureau decided to extend the company’s 12 permits, as well as one that was set to expire next month.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 12, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Central Weather Bureau on Monday afternoon issued a heavy rain warning for

14 cities and counties, saying people living in eastern Taiwan and in mountainous areas in the western half of the island should watch out for sudden downpours, lightening and strong gusts.

There would be risks of falling rocks and mudslides in mountainous areas, the bureau warned.

The areas covered in the warning are: New Taipei, Yilan, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Taitung and Pingtung.

Plum rain expected on Wednesday

The Central Weather Bureau also warned Monday that a plum rain front is expected to arrive in Taiwan on Wednesday, dumping heavy rain on the entire country,    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
2017-06-11

The Central Weather Bureau has issued extremely heavy rain warnings for four

cities and counties, and heavy rain warnings for another ten. (CNA photo)
The Central Weather Bureau says that the second tropical storm of the season has formed in the South China Sea. Forecasters said Sunday that Tropical Storm Merbok is not likely to have a direct impact on Taiwan.

Meteorologists say, though, that the weather system is likely to bring precipitation to central and southern Taiwan in the form of scattered showers.

The bureau is also predicting that a convergence of weather storms will bring torrential rains which could affect Taiwan for the next seven days.   [FULL  STORY]

Between 6:30 pm and 10 pm today, the top of the Taipei 101 building will display the documentary’s Chinese title in lights, to pay tribute to the respected film director…

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/11
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI（Taiwan News） – A light display of the title of the highly-acclaimed documentary “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above”(看見台灣) will be lit on the top of Taipei 101 Sunday evening, to pay tribute to its director, Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), who died in a helicopter crash in Taiwan’s Hualien County yesterday, the company announced today.

Saturday at 11:56 am, a helicopter carrying three people was reported to have crashed in the mountains near the Hualien coastal town of Fengbin, with later reports saying that the craft had been on a filming mission.

The documentary maker was one of the three people killed in the tragic crash, aged 52, while two others were his assistant Chen Kuan-chi (陳冠齊), and Pilot Chang Chih-kuang (張志光).

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/11
By: K. J. Lo, C. W. Hsu, L. Y. Chao and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) Classmates and teachers of young photographer Chen

Kuan-chi (陳冠齊), who worked as an assistant to filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), posted remembrance notes, pictures and clips on social media on Sunday, following a helicopter crash in Hualien County that killed both men and their pilot the previous day.

Chen, 25, a graduate from the Department of English at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien County, was an enthusiastic participant in social and political affairs including the anti-nuclear, student and gender equality movements.

One of Chen’s short clips, titled “In 2013, how have you been?” (2013年,你過得好嗎?) which included pictures and clips of various protests and movements during that year, is being circulated online.    [FULL  STORY]