Page Three

Wi-Fi coming to HSR trains by August

The China Post
Date: February 11, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Passengers aboard high-speed rail (HSR) trains will be able to use

This undated file photo shows a Taiwan High Speed Rail train stopped at a platform in Hsinchu. (Alan Fong, The China Post)

Wi-Fi before the 2017 Summer Universiade opens in mid-August in Taipei, state-run Chunghwa Telecom said Friday.

The telecom’s president, Hsieh Chi-mao, said his company was conducting a trial run on some HSR carriages as part of an Airport MRT and HSR 4G/Wi-Fi network services project, adding that it would roll out across all trains in June at the earliest.

Hsieh said that while 4G Wi-Fi was already available on the Airport MRT system, Chunghwa Telecom was working closely with Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. to test the Wi-Fi on HSR trains.

Trial Run Underway

Hsieh said the 4G stations along the HSR were under joint construction by all telecom firms and that enhancing network service quality inside tunnels in Northern Taiwan was a priority.    [FULL  STORY]

Menstrual cups approved by FDA and soon be available in Taiwan

Menstrual cups will be available online and in stores in Taiwan on February 17th earliest.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After 20 months of waiting, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally approved the reusable menstrual cup products and it will be available online and in stores in Taiwan on February 17th earliest.

The menstrual cup is classified as second-grade medical equipment by the FDA in Taiwan, which can only be sold by businesses that are licensed to sell medical equipment, and factories need to obtain a GMP certification to manufacture the product.

A 34-year-old entrepreneur Vanessa Tseng raised a crowdfunding campaign for Taiwan’s first domestically-made menstrual cup “Formoonsa Cup”. She said that she came up with the Formoonsa Cup project when she noticed that Taiwanese women have a very limited choice of menstrual products, and they cannot purchase the menstrual cup online and can only buy them for self-use if they purchase them overseas due to the current ban.    [FULL  STORY]

Former head of ROC Air Force Chen Hsing-ling dies

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Lu Hsin-hui, Sophia Yeh and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Chen Hsing-ling (陳燊齡), commander in chief of the Republic of

Chen Hsing-ling (陳燊齡, front left) Photo courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

China (ROC) Air Force from 1986-1989, died in Taipei on Thursday, he was 92.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) offered her sincere condolences at Chen’s passing, according to the Presidential Office.

Chen, born in Beijing in 1924 and dedicated himself to learning to be a pilot during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), a goal he achieved in 1945.

Chen took part in battles between the ROC military and the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army in Northeast, North and East China during the Chinese civil war from 1946-1949.  [FULL  STORY]

Annette Lu unveils referendum plans

Taipei Times
Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) announced plans to reduce social division

Former vice president Annette Lu at a news conference in Taipei yesterday holds a tie to promote a referendum to make Taiwan politically neutral. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

along political and ethnic lines, while pushing for a date change of Youth Day in recognition of the Sunflower movement as part of her push for a referendum to make Taiwan a neutral country.

Lu is collecting signatures to launch a referendum in October on the issue of neutrality and announced a series of events to gain support for the initiative.

Rallies are to be held across Taiwan from April to July to boost support for the referendum initiative, with the aim of holding a vote in conjunction with mayoral elections next year to boost voter turnout.

Lu called on the legislature to speed up amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to lower signature thresholds to enable a referendum, but added that a minimum threshold should be retained to prevent abuse of the system.   [FULL  STORY]

Lawmakers urge more fines to avert ‘Taiwan stray crisis’

The China Post
Date: February 10, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

Lawmakers on Thursday pushed to raise the maximum penalty for pet owners who

A stray dog awaits adoption at the public animal shelter in Zhonghe on Feb. 2. (Photo courtesy of the Zhonghe Public Animal Shelter )

abandon their animals, following the recent implementation of a policy banning animal euthanasia that could see Taiwan’s stray crisis deepen.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Lin Chun-Hsien (林俊憲) said that the Animal Protection Act be should amended to raise the punishments for those who abandon pets to between NT$100,000 and NT$300,000, up from the current NT$30,000-NT$150,000.

The call came as a controversial no-kill policy took effect this week, banning the putting down of animals nationwide except for those diagnosed with an incurable disease.

While the policy has received popular approbation, animal rights groups have warned that the stray animal problem is likely to worsen without comprehensive measures to support the policy.    [FULL  STORY]

MAC calls for peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-08

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday that Taiwan and Mainland China should seek a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues.

The MAC statement comes after a report in Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun stating that senior officials in Beijing are considering an amendment to China’s Anti-Secession Law. The revision, according to the newspaper, will give Beijing the option of using force against Taiwan if it allows a foreign government to interfere in cross-strait ties.

The MAC has declined to comment on the Japanese news article, but says that Taiwan’s stance has always been to maintain its democracy and the cross-strait status quo. The office says that threats are not helpful to the peaceful cross-strait interaction.

The MAC says that both sides share a responsibility to ensure the peaceful development of cross-strait ties and the well-being of people across the Taiwan Strait. It also says both sides should work together to resolve differences through dialogue and use forward thinking to find areas where both sides can cooperate.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese people mispronounced Mentholatum for decades

Taiwanese people have mispronounced and given various nicknames to the medical ointment brand Mentholatum for 23 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/09
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A netizen’s question about how people in Taiwan pronounce

Iconic Mentholatum packaging featuring the “Litte Nurse.”(By Wikimedia Commons)

the medical ointment brand Mentholatum showed most have mispronounced the name for 23 years, and the chosen pronunciation of the balm even reveals a person’s age, reported Eastern Broadcasting.

On a popular Taiwanese Facebook group, a netizen posted an innocuous question asking people’s preferred pronunciation of Mentholatum out of five different options—Miansulidamu (面速力達母), Mentholatum (曼秀雷敦), Miansuodang (免縮蕩), Little Nurse (小護士), or another name.

The majority of people preferred the wrong name Miansulidamu, Little Nurse polled in second, and Miansuodang third. The correct name Mentholatum was the least used.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan recruiting 10 e-sports alternative servicemen (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/08
By: Lo Kuang-jen, Esme Jiang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) The Ministry of Culture said Wednesday that it is accepting

(CNA file photo)

applications for 10 alternative national conscription spots aimed at cultivating e-sports talent in the country.

The ministry said it is offering five such spots to people born in or before 1993 and another five to those born in or after 1994. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 24.

To be eligible, applicants need to meet at least one of the following requirements:

— Having won a bronze, silver or gold medal in an Olympic Committee-sanctioned e-sports game;    [FULL  STORY]

Snow falls on Hehuan Mountain

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/08
By: Hsiao Po-yang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Many people across Taiwan were excited at a weather report

(Photo courtesy of Chen Wei-cheng)

forecasting snow fall on Hehuan Mountain on Wednesday night, with a strong cold air mass expected to hit Taiwan the following day.

Chen Wei-cheng said he and friends had come all the way from Taoyuan, arrived at the mountain at about 4:00pm and waited almost five hours before seeing snow for the first time in his life.

Highway authorities announced road closures on Provincial Highway 14-A from Tsuifeng (18km mark) to Dayuling (41km mark) beginning at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday until 7:00 a.m. Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

DPP moves toward expelling Taipei city councilor Tung

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 09, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Standing Committee yesterday

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yan is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: CNA

recommended expelling Taipei City Councilor Tung Chung-yan (童仲彥) for damaging the party’s reputation amid accusations domestic violence and infidelity against him.

It forwarded the recommendation to the DPP Central Evaluation Committee, which is to meet on Feb. 22, DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said.

“The review was swift, with committee members unanimously agreeing on the expulsion proposal,” Wang said.

If Tung is expelled, he would be barred from the party for five years. If he were later allowed to rejoin the party, he would not be allowed to participate in public or party elections for two years.    [FULL  STORY]