The China Post
Date: February 5, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The 2017 Taiwan Lantern Festival will run from Feb. 11-19 in the southern county of

Yunlin along with a variety of celebrative events around the island.

Organizers said they hoped to grant revelers a memorable and joyful Lantern Festival on the 15th day of first month of the new year.

Once rated by American television channel Discovery as “one of the world’s most celebrated festivals,” the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival will see its main lantern area located at the Agriculture Expo Park near the Yunlin High-speed Railway Station, with other venues spread out around the Beigang Chao-Tian Temple, a famous temple worshiping the goddess Matsu.

Eco-friendly Visual Feast

The theme of this year’s main lantern is decorated with 19,000 colorful high-performance LED lights, giving visitors an eco-friendly and brilliant visual feast.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: February 03, 2017

Taiwan was recently named by U.K.-based travel guidebook publisher Rough Guides as

one of the top 10 countries to visit in 2017, earning plaudits for its varied attractions, vibrant nightlife and unique cultural landscape.

One of only two Asian countries included on the list along with India, Taiwan was lauded by Rough Guides for its relaxing hot springs, modern architecture and ancient temples. The publisher also noted that visitors can quickly travel between Taiwan’s ities and diverse natural environments, ranging from soaring forests and mountains to sunny sub-tropical shores, on the cutting-edge high-speed rail network.

“Taiwan is only just beginning to garner the attention it has always deserved. Cosmopolitan Taipei was named World Design Capital last year, highlighting its pioneering creative scene, new wave cafes and all-round sophisticated city life, while the country’s cuisine and night markets remain world renowned,” the company said.
[FULL  STORY]

A list of bars in in Taipei that will be broadcasting the Super Bowl live on TV

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News) — If you think you can simply switch on the TV in Taiwan and see

the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons square off in Super Bowl LI this Monday morning, you’ll be in for a rude awakening, the local TV sports stations only broadcast banal baseball babble, tedious tennis tournaments, and glum golf games, so why not be social and watch real American football with other expats at some of Taipei’s best known bars.

If you are new to real football, here are some tips on how to sound like you know what you are talking about.

Brass Monkey

Doors open at Brass Monkey at 6 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6, and a replay will be shown at 7 p.m. on Monday night. The game will be shown live from kickoff at 7:30 a.m. and will include American commercials.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 04, 2017
By: Tseng Wei-chen and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The nation participates in 12 governmental or non-governmental international

organizations using the name “Taiwan” or the “Republic of China (ROC),” or about one-third of a total of 37 organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ records show.
In an effort to limit Taiwan’s international space, the Chinese government routinely pressures these organizations to refer to the nation using names other than the “ROC” or “Taiwan,” such as “Chinese Taipei” or the “Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” the records show.

In 2000, the Asian Development Bank, on Beijing’s entreaty, switched from using the “ROC” to “Taipei, China” — a move that Taipei continues to protest at the annual meeting.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: February 4, 2017
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

Employees of Taiwan’s railway administration said they would protest at the

Presidential Office next Thursday against what they considered unjust punishment for not working over the Lunar New Year holiday.

About 200 staff who walked off work between Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 received letters from the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) for absenteeism, the Taiwan Railway Union (台鐵產業工會) said, adding that some of the workers could be fired.

Railway employees have maintained that they were only taking days off that were protected by law.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-02-02

The transportation minister, Ho Chen Tan, says a group of railway workers who were

absent from work on Lunar New Year’s Eve could be fired.

Around 200 railway employees skipped work on January 27, the start of Taiwan’s busiest travel season, amid a dispute with the Taiwan Railways Administration.

The Taiwan Railway Union had been pushing for members to get vacation time during the first days of the Lunar New Year. The union said this was in accordance with a recent revision to Taiwan’s labor law. The revision gives all employees the right to one day off per week plus one “negotiable” day off that can be traded for overtime pay.

Ho Chen Tan said Thursday however that railway workers are considered a special category under the law. He said railway workers’ vacation rights are covered under separate regulations. He said the staff would have had these laws explained to them when they applied for their jobs.    [SOURCE]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/02
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Lunar New Year is an occasion to meet relatives and old friends and celebrate a

new beginning with them, no matter under which sign the new year resorts.

In any event, the Year of the Rooster looks like not being an easy time for Taiwan. The first clearly inauspicious signs came from the stock market, which atypically ended its opening session with a fall, even if only by 0.2 percent, for the first time in three years.

A survey pertained to show that consumer confidence was the lowest in four years, with all six sub-indexes falling, especially the one related to the job market. Nevertheless, that particular sub-index was still the only one indicating optimism, but barely.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/02

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) The Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT line, which began

trial runs with passengers on Thursday, seems “stable and comfortable,” Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said, after two trips on the train.

Cheng took the first train from the airport to Taipei in the morning then made the return trip in the afternoon, along with Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.

While some passengers on the trial runs complained about the train stopping abruptly on winding sections of the line, Cheng said the ride was “stable and comfortable” compared with other MRT lines and that the complaints had been few.   [FULL  STORY]