Taipei Times
Date: Jun 03, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Aboriginal protesters were evicted from their campsite on Ketagalan Boulevard in

Taipei yesterday following repeated conflicts with the police over blocking road lanes during their 100-day occupation.

More than 100 police officers arrived at the site during yesterday’s torrential rains, surrounding protesters’ tents with metal roadblocks before forcing protestors outside, spending several hours methodically demolishing the site.

A handful of demonstrators affiliated with the Aboriginal Transitional Justice Classroom have been occupying the strip of road facing the Presidential Office Building since February to protest newly announced guidelines for demarcating the “traditional areas” within which Aboriginal communities would be able to reject further development.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-01

Premier Lin Chuan is asking heads of government agencies to visit cities and

counties islandwide to explain the government’s infrastructure project. Lin was speaking Thursday at a Cabinet meeting.

Lin’s comments came after President Tsai Ing-wen had demanded Cabinet ministers actively defend the project. The project has come under fire for possible negative impact on the environment with some questioning its economic benefits.

The government is planning to spend up to NT$890 billion (US$29.6 billion) on the project over eight years. It will focus on five areas: green energy, water management, the rail network, digital development, and urban and rural development.

Now that the legislature is not in session, Lin said ministers should make inspection tours islandwide more often to let the public understand the importance of the project.    [FULL  STORY]

A Chinese tourist in a Guizhou cave casually kicks over a stalagmite that could be up to 100 million years old

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/01
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Video of Chinese tourist kicking stalagmite posted by 梨視頻 on Weibo.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Chinese tourist in a cave in Guizhou was captured on video Monday deliberately kicking an ancient stalagmite until it broke off, before he casually walked away.

At the height of Dragon Boat Festival, a time when Chinese celebrate 5,000 years of history, a Chinese tourist in Tongren Nine-Dragon Cave in China’s Guizhou Province is captured on video kicking an ancient stalagmite (at least twice the age of China) three times until he successfully breaks it off its base.

After achieving his goal of destroying the priceless natural treasure, the tourist then gets his friend’s attention and points at his new trophy, before going on his merry way.

Depending on many factors, a stalagmite of the size destroyed by the man could be at least 10,000 years old if not tens of millions of years old, said experts on the scene. Local authorities are investigating the incident.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/01
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elaine Hou

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) Military police officers responsible for maintaining security around the Presidential Office and the Presidential Residence have been given new uniforms that would allow them to move more easily and quickly, the military said Thursday.

The members of the 211st and 332nd military police battalions are now wearing a close-fitting dark blue shirt and pants, a black cap, a black vest that says MP on the front, and a black belt with a handgun holster.

It is a change from the uniform they had been wearing since 2007, which essentially comprised black slacks and loose, long light green shirts.    [FULL  STORY]

‘MAD DOGS’:’Taiwan Go’ host Liao Hsiao-chun said it was unfortunate that Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san did not take questions after threatening a libel lawsuit

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 02, 2017
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) at a news conference in Taipei yesterday

likened detractors to “mad dogs barking in the street” as he denied allegations of improper influence to help his wife return to work as a district court judge.

His three accusers must issue public apologies within five days or he would file libel lawsuits, Chiu said, adding that the situation arose because of irresponsible reports that “fabricated most of the information.”

Chiu’s statements came one day after pundits on Taiwan Go, a political talk show produced by Sanlih E-Television, accused Chiu of improper influence in 2011.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 1, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu, The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Dell’s Andy Rhodes, vice president of Internet of Things Solutions,

might just be the first person who has ever described internet of things (IoT) architecture as an octopus.

In Rhodes’ analogy, the octopus’s suckers on its tentacles are the sensors that collect information, the small brain that resides in each of the eight tentacles are the gateway processing the information, and the brain in the octopus’s head is the cloud.

“That’s the thing with IoT,” he said.

The sensors collect information that are locally processed at the gateway before being sent onto the cloud, all of which work together and never independently of each other, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-31

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says he is determined to attend next year’s World

Health Assembly (WHA).

The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. After several years attending as an observer, Taiwan was not invited to this year’s WHA due to obstruction from China. But Chen led a Taiwanese delegation to Geneva to protest Taiwan’s exclusion and hold meetings with representatives of other countries on the sidelines of the event.

On Wednesday, Chen delivered a report on the group’s achievements at the legislature. The Taiwanese group held 59 bilateral meetings in Geneva. Topics discussed included the prevention of infectious diseases, long-term care, universal healthcare and food safety. In addition to sharing experience, representatives of Taiwan and other countries also discussed future cooperation.    [FULL  STORY]

May and June are the best months to see the wild azalea flowers on Hehuanshan

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/01
By: Weedy Tan, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The months of May and June are the best months to see

the wild azalea flowers (玉山杜鵑花) in the mountainous area of Taiwan and Hehuanshan East Peak (合歡山東峰) is the favorite mountain most Taiwanese choose to see the azalea flowers in bloom.

Hehuanshan East Peak is a 3,421-meter-high mountain in the central part of Taiwan and is number 35 on the “Top 100 Mountains of Taiwan” list. The list includes only the most beautiful, unique, and dangerous mountains worth hiking with heights of over 3,000 meters.

Hehuanshan East Peak is accessible from Highway number 14 that passes through Puli (埔里), Qingjing Farm (清境農場), Wuling (武嶺), Hehuanshan (合歡山), and all the way to the famous Taroko Gorge (太魯閣). Highway 14 is a narrow, winding, dangerous and difficult road. It gets clogged during winter when locals travel up to the mountain to see the rare snowfalls that occur only on high altitude mountains in subtropical Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]