Page Three

Round off 2016 with season’s delights

The China Post
Date: December 19, 2016
By: Angela Chu

With Christmas around the corner, New Year’s Eve is not far behind. For those who have not made up their mind on how to spend the holidays, here is a quick guide to last-minute shopping and plans for meals and gatherings.

Beyond Plaza

Christmas is in the air: Are you behind on your holiday shopping? Beyond Plaza’s (比漾廣場) Christmas market is here to save the day. Make a purchase over NT$10,000 and receive a Chef (掌廚) thermos; buy over NT$25,000 and get a Tatung (大同) multi-functional cooker. Aside from shopping, the Christmas market also offers a festive atmosphere, featuring music performances from elementary schools, games and activities on Dec. 23 and 24.

► www.beyondplaza.com.tw

TGIF Fridays

TGI Fridays

Start the celebrations and get into the holiday spirit with TGI Friday’s Christmas and New Year’s seven-course party package, which features the restaurant’s signature dishes: a half rack of double glazed baby back ribs with chicken fingers, boneless short ribs with fish and chips, double glazed roasted chicken with fried shrimp and more. Reserve a table now at its Taipei Xinyi and Miramar locations for a casual and fun night out with loved ones between Dec. 13, 2016 and Jan. 9, 2017.

► www.tgifridays.com.tw2

[FULL  STORY]

Three injured in escalator accident at Banqiao MRT Station

Three women were injured when an idle escalator crowded with people suddenly started moving

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/19
By: Central News Agency

Taipei — Three women were injured at Banqiao train station in New Taipei late

MRT staff and rescue personnel attending to injured from escalator accident.

Saturday when an idle escalator crowded with people suddenly started moving, causing people on the way down to trip and slam into people in front of them.

The injured included a 63-year-old Taiwanese and a 27-year-old Vietnamese who both suffered lacerations on their scalps. The other person hurt was a 35-year-old woman who sprained her ankle, the New Taipei Fire Department said.

The three were rushed to two nearby hospitals to be treated.

According to the Fire Department’s initial findings, the station, which also connects to high-speed rail and Taipei Metro lines, was crowded at the time of the accident with people who had just attended an outdoor Christmas concert outside New Taipei City Hall.   [FULL  STORY]

FAT wants to take over TransAsia

Airline is willing to take on 1,000 staff from TransAsia

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Far Eastern Air Transport said Saturday it was interested in taking over defunct TransAsia Airways, including all its routes and 1,000 of its staff.

The surprise November 22 announcement by TransAsia management that it was ceasing operations amid mounting financial troubles provoked an angry response from personnel as well as an investigation into alleged insider trading.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration decided to allow China Airlines to fly TransAsia’s routes until the end of the next Lunar New Year holiday before reallocating them to other airlines.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News Encyclopedia: One China policy

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2016-12-17

Washington’s “One China” policy has been in place for decades since the United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 under then President Jimmy Carter. Under the policy, the US maintains formal diplomatic ties with China rather than Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China considers an inseparable part of its territory.

According to Beijing, there is only one China in the world. Beijing says that Taiwan, which it calls a renegade province, must eventually reunify with the motherland. China has also made it clear that it does not rule out the possibility of taking back Taiwan by force should the island declare independence.

The “One China” policy has long been espoused by both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Under the policy, Washington has maintained unofficial ties with Taiwan. As a result, Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington DC is called the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US”.    [FULL  STORY]

Military denies Yushan in China bomber picture

Peak likely to be Mount Beidawu in Southern Taiwan: experts

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of National Defense on Saturday denied that the mountain featuring in a picture of a Chinese Air Force bomber was Taiwan’s tallest peak, Yushan or Jade Mountain.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force published a picture on its official Sina Weibo account Friday of a Xi’an H-6K cruise missile bomber clearly marked with a communist red star and flying above the clouds. In the background, two mountain peaks appear above the cloud cover.

While the posting did not mention any location for the picture, Chinese media speculated it could be Taiwan’s Yushan or Mount Beidawu, on the border between Pingtung and Taitung counties.

A Chinese website wrote that a third peak had been hidden in the picture by the tail of the aircraft, which would make Mount Beidawu the more likely location for the snap, which was reportedly taken on December 10.    [FULL  STORY]

Taichung touts work in neutering cats, dogs

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/17
By: Hau Hsueh-chin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) To reduce the number of stray dogs and cats in the city, Taichung authorities said they have spayed and neutered more than 1,500 dogs and cats this year in its three-in-one campaign.

The city’s Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office expressed its appreciation to veterinarians and environmental protection groups that have joined the campaign, which is aimed at spaying and neutering cats and dogs, as well as registering and vaccinating them.

The office also urged the public to support the concept of “adopting, not abandoning” animals and asked pet owners to shoulder more responsibility so that the city can reach the goal of zero animals put to death and zero stray animals in the city.    [FULL  STORY]

Obama gives ‘one China’ thoughts

US President Barack Obama on Friday gave one of his most detailed comments to date on US relations with China and Taiwan, saying the ‘status quo,’ although not completely satisfactory, ‘has kept the peace and allowed the Taiwanese to be a pretty successful economy and a people who have a high degree of self-determination.’ The US president also warned of the dangers of ‘upending’ the ‘status quo,’ calling on US president-elect Donald Trump to be fully briefed and think it through before taking a different approach. Obama made the comments at a year-end news conference, likely his last before handing over the presidency to Trump on Jan. 20. The following is the full text of the question and the president’s answer according to a transcript provided by the White House Office of the Press Secretary

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 18, 2016
By: Staff Writer, with CNA

Q: Your successor spoke by phone with the president of Taiwan the other day and

US President Barack Obama speaks on Friday at a year-end news conference held in the White House in Washington. PHOTO: AFP

declared subsequently that he wasn’t sure why the United States needed to be bound by the ‘one China’ policy. He suggested it could be used as a bargaining chip perhaps to get better terms on a trade deal or more cooperation on North Korea.

There’s already evidence that tensions between the two sides have increased a bit, and just today, [Friday] the Chinese have evidently seized an underwater drone in the South China Sea.

Do you agree, as some do, that our China policy could use a fresh set of eyes? And what’s the big deal about having a short phone call with the president of Taiwan? Or do you worry that these types of unorthodox approaches are setting us on a collision course with perhaps our biggest geopolitical adversary?    [FULL  STORY]

KMT lawmaker calls on President Tsai to ‘stay alert’ as cross-strait tensions heighten

The China Pos
Date: December 18, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) on Saturday urged the government of President Tsai Ing-wen to stay alert in the face of lingering cross-strait tensions.

“Relevant national security and defense authorities must take note 3of information released by the PLA air force through its microblog and assess what it means by posting photos like that,” Lee told the China Post.

She said the recent phone call between Tsai and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has increased uncertainty between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Though Trump’s comments on U.S.-Taiwan-China relations should still be considered remarks from a private citizen before his inauguration on Jan. 20, Lee said it’s necessary for the Tsai administration to maintain a stable and low-key approach to bilateral relations.    [FULL  STORY]

Animal rights concerns as Taiwan forges ahead on no-kill policy

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/16

The implementation of a “no-kill” policy at public animal shelters in Taiwan will begin

Photo Credit:Reuters/達志影像

next year as scheduled, despite twelve cities and counties warning that they would be unable to comply, the Council of Agriculture Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said yesterday, CNA reports.

Overcrowded public shelters have made it hard to avoid euthanizing stray animals, but Tsao said shelters that faced difficulties would receive assistance from the central government. So far, only New Taipei City, Kaohsiung County and Taitung County have successfully ended the practice of euthanasia at public shelters in these areas.

The Animal Protection Act was amended in February 2015 to end the practice of putting down animals held at public shelters for more than 12 days and is scheduled to start on Feb. 4, 2017. Animals Taiwan board member Liza Milne criticized the policy, which she says might lead to outbreaks of highly contagious diseases like parvovirus and distemper. “The gradual steps that lead up to being a no-kill country have not been taken,” said Milne.    [FULL  STORY]

Court sides with KMT in assets battle

Assets committee can appeal

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/16 17:15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Kuomintang scored a temporary victory in its battle with

BCC Chairman Jaw Shaw-kong(By Central News Agency)

the Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee Friday as a court ruled that the transfer of shares in two companies to the state should be suspended.

Appeals were still possible.

The Committee, which was set up by the government, said Central Investment Co. and Hsinyutai Co. were KMT affiliate organizations which should be transferred to the nation.

The main opposition party took the case to court, and on Friday the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that the issue should be dealt with as an emergency. It decided that allowing the transfer of shares to take place could cause near-irreparable harm, so it should be halted.2    [FULL  STORY]