The China Post
Date: February 27, 2017
By: By James Lo

Starbucks opened its first branch in Taiwan in Tienmu, Taipei on March. 28, 1998. A joint

venture between Starbucks’ U.S. parent company and Uni-President (統一企業), with the latter acting as the local operating management company, the coffeehouse chain has been serving Taiwan with coffees ranging from espressos to caramel macchiatos for almost 20 years.

It seems like only yesterday when Starbucks was all the hype in Taiwan, with its popularity and aggressive expansion leaving local coffee companies like Mr. Brown with no choice but to up their game and model their restaurants after Starbucks just to survive.

And survive they did, with local competitors rising to success, and going as far as gaining their very own cult followings. “Cama (Café) is cheaper and better (than Starbucks) anyway,” said local resident Francis Maginn.   [FULL  STORY]

CKS souvenirs and song will be removed

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/25 15:14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As the 70th anniversary of the 228 Incident approaches, the

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂) will stop selling souvenirs and stop broadcasting a song honoring the late president, Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said Saturday.

On Tuesday, commemorative activities will take place marking the 228 Incident, in which between 18,000 and 28,000 Taiwanese were killed following a 1947 uprising against Chiang’s Kuomintang government.

In a sign of transitional justice, Cheng said she would push for legal amendments which would end the sale of souvenirs honoring Chiang’s authoritarian rule, while a song in his memory would no longer be played at the daily opening and closing of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus TYaiwan
Date: 2017/02/25
By: Lu Kang-chun and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) To reduce food waste and help the needy, the Hsinchu City government has launched a “communal refrigerator” program that allows retailers to share excess food with others.

Under the program, food donated by retailers such as supermarkets and bakeries are collected and stored in the communal refrigerators, which are open to people who need it, the city’s Department of Social Affairs said.

The main goals of the program are “sharing your excess food” and “taking the food you need,” the department said.

The first group of such refrigerators was launched in the Minfu community in the north district Friday.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 26, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu

Vin sometimes eats dogfood for money — but that’s not the only way he differs from

your average millennial.

Dogfood tester is one of three part-time gigs the 25-year-old does to get by, the others being mixologist and caretaker for poisonous pets.

Since graduating from college, he has never had a full-time job. Nor, he says, has he ever felt like he needed one.

“The money from part-time jobs has been enough. I will eventually get a full-time job that offers more stability,” he says. “When the timing is right.”

In the meantime, he’s using his smorgasbord of occupations “to make certain what I am passionate about.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-24

The Legislature has approved the nomination of Lee Yi-yang for vice president of the

Examination Yuan. Lee is a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

One of the five branches of the government, the Examination Yuan is tasked with all national exams and is responsible for managing the nation’s civil service.

The DPP’s legislative majority saw Lee confirmed despite a boycott from the legislative caucus of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

Lee served as interior minister from 2006 to 2008 during Chen Shui-bian’s second term as president. He was nominated by President Tsai Ing-wen.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News interviews Korean tourists for their take on the taxi assults, traveling in Taiwan, and Kim Jong Nam

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/24
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Korean tourists visiting Taipei’s Yongkang Street (永康街) were

interviewed on Feb. 24 to get their take on the recent rape of Korean tourists by a Taiwanese taxi driver and the mysterious death of Kim Jong-nam.

A suspect named Chan reportedly admitted he injected powerful tranquilizers into strawberry drinks and then administered them to three South Korean women traveling in his taxi on January 12. He let the third one out, but took the two unconscious women in his cab to an isolated alley where he raped one of them, according to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office.

Kim Jong Nam, the outcast half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was apparently assassinated by two women, possibly using a VX nerve agent, while at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The motive behind the killing is still uncertain, though there has been speculation his younger half brother, Kim Jong Un, may have ordered the hit.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/23
By: Yang Su-min, Huang Kuo-fang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 23 (CNA) A nationwide ban on the slaughter and transportation of poultry will be lifted Friday, as the avian flu outbreak in Taiwan has effectively been brought under control, Agriculture Minister Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) said Thursday.

The government issued the ban Feb. 17 in an effort to contain the spread of bird flu, particularly the highly pathogenic H5N6 virus. Other virus strains identified on Taiwan farms have been the H5N6, N5N2 and H5N8, according to the COA.

Lin said the poultry ban was lifted because the outbreak had slowed down in the past week.    [FULL  STORY]