The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/14

Yilan County in northern Taiwan plans to start promoting gender-neutral public restrooms at scenic attractions next summer, reports Liberty Times. The county government says the move is to boost the user-friendliness of public facilities, but there have been mixed responses towards its decision. Some say it shows a great improvement in gender equality, while others doubt its safety and hope the government will consider it further.

There are currently 18 scenic attractions under the jurisdiction of the Yilan County Government and they attract over 5 million tourists a year in total. [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/14
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Google Taiwan just released its annual “2016 Year in Search” in which the popular mobile game Pokemon GO took the crown in overall trending searches at Google Taiwan, while U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s first female president Tsai Ing-wen led the list of the most trending politicians thanks to the elections.

The 2016 list was a year full of surprises, with many historic and unforgettable moments from Brexit and the massive terrorist attacks in Europe to Trump’s election win that kept us searching. Google Taiwan revealed the most trending Chinese language keyword searches of the year on Wednesday. To start diving into the top trending terms of the year, check out the list below:

1. Pokemon GO (entertainment – mobile game)
2. Rio Olympics (sports)
3. U.S. election (politics)
4. Descendants of the Sun (entertainment – South Korean drama)
5. Typhoon (weather)
6. iPhone 7 (technology)
7. Your Name (entertainment – Japanese animation movie)
8. Train to Busan (entertainment – South Korean movie)
9. KO One (entertainment – Taiwanese drama)
10. Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart (entertainment – South Korean drama)
    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/14
By: Emerson Lin and Ko Lin

Manila, Dec. 14 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday donated 5 million pesos (US$100,568) and food supplies to the Philippines for relief and reconstruction in Cagayan province, which was battered by a super typhoon in October.

Gary Lin (林松煥), Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines, handed over the donation to Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba at a ceremony in the Cagayan Provincial government square.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation donated 2,300 sacks of rice, each weighing 20 kilograms, to families affected by Super Typhoon Haima, which killed dozens of people and caused agricultural damage of about US$140 million in Cagayan province.

At the donation ceremony, Lin said Taiwanese fishing vessels often stop in Cagayan for supplies and maintenance and they usually receive friendly assistance from the people there.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 15, 2016
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwan should stay clear of potential confrontation between the US and China, Chinese Nationalist

Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said yesterday, calling on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to be cautious in pursuing relations with US president-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Chan made the call at a meeting of the KMT Central Standing Committee at the party’s headquarters in Taipei following a presentation about the Taiwan-US-Chinese relationship in the wake of the Dec. 2 telephone call Tsai made to Trump.

The presentation was given by Chinese Culture University political science professor Edward Chen (陳一新).

Chan said the major and sudden shifts in international politics recently showed the KMT is the “guarantor of peaceful cross-strait development,” without whom Taiwan’s survival “would have been in doubt.”

Chan also issued a three-point statement, which he said represented the KMT’s view of recent events.

“The Democratic Progressive Party government should not lose its head in chasing perceived opportunities. Instead, it should take a cautious and risk-aware approach by prioritizing the well-being of Taiwanese. It must not be dragged into a confrontation between the US and China, and it should not rely on a minority’s ideology or wishful thinking; otherwise it will entrap Taiwan in danger,” the statement said.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/13

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus will not issue a directive on whether the Civil

Code should be amended to allow same-sex marriage or if a separate bill should be drafted, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said on Dec. 12, reports Taipei Times.

Ker also said that while the DPP, as a whole, supports same-sex marriage, there are supporters of both amending the Civil Code and drafting a separate law within the party. Ker made the comments in a radio interview, where he also denied rumors that he was averse to homosexuality, reports Taipei Times.

More than 200,000 Taiwanese gathered outside the Presidential Office building on Dec. 10 to call on the government to enact marriage equality legislation, as amendments to the Civil Code are being stalled amidst anti-LGBT protests.    [SOURCE]

The department said the county will ensure privacy to make women feel secured when going to men’s bathrooms

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Yilan County Government said it will begin promoting gender-neutral public restrooms at all tourist

attractions in the country next year (photo source: Wikipedia)

Yilan County Government said on Tuesday that it will begin promoting gender-neutral public restrooms at all tourist attractions in the county next year to make the space more flexible and accessible to all people.
Yilan County’s Business and Tourism Department said the gender-neutral public restrooms policy will first be carried out by adjusting existing gender-specific public restrooms. When not impacting the utilization of men’s bathrooms, women are allowed to use men’s bathrooms when nature calls, the department said.

The county will improve the existing traffic flows in men’s bathrooms and ensure privacy to make women feel secured when going to men’s bathrooms, according to the department.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/13
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Taipei Rapid Transit Corp. President B.C. Yen (顏邦傑) said Tuesday that a

plan to issue a NT$2,500 (US$78.6) monthly unlimited use pass for Taipei’s mass rapid transit system will not be implemented Jan. 1 next year as scheduled.

“The plan for a MRT monthly pass has been cancelled,” Yen said, adding that 60-percent discounts for early commuters on the MRT line serving Neihu District will also be scrapped after a three-month pilot run that began in August.

Meanwhile, Taipei City government deputy spokeswoman Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆) also confirmed that the monthly pass project has been postponed until a more concrete plan can be designed by the city’s Department of Transportation.

The initiative was aimed at encouraging greater use of public transportation and cutting costs for less privileged workers who have to commute from suburban areas to the city center, but the plan has been criticized by city councilors and daily commuters for its high price tag.     [SOURCE]

The China Post
Date: December 14, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–A giant spiral tube slide which allows visitors to slide from the top to the bottom in 16

seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 82kph, was unveiled on Tuesday at the National Science and Technology Museum in Kaohsiung.

The slide, which stands 27 meters in height and 63 meters in length, is the tallest in Asia and the third tallest in the world, according to the museum.

The slide was a highlight at the permanent adventure playground show at the museum.

A university student Chuang Ya-ping (莊雅萍) said the slide was especially scary because of the speed one reached, while another visitor, Huang Po-wei (黃柏維), said he felt dizzy after going on the slide.

Chen Shiunn-shyung (陳訓祥), director-general of the museum, said the slide was being used not only to attract visitors but also to introduce basic scientific knowledge on such things as free falling, centrifugal force, friction and centripetal force.

owever, visitors under 130 centimeters, those who weigh more than 150 kilograms, pregnant women and people with cardiovascular disease are prohibited from going on the slide, Chen said.    [SOURCE]