The China Post
Date: December 6, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Taipei 101 skyscraper has raised the funds needed to hold its renowned annual fireworks show, Minister of Finance Sheu Yu-jer said Monday.

Speaking at a hearing held by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Yuan, Sheu said the company has raised the NT$45 million (US$1.41 million) needed to cover the budget for the New Year’s fireworks show.

The government is the largest shareholder of Taipei Financial Center Corp. (TFCC), which operates Taipei 101, with a 44.35 percent stake.

On behalf of the largest shareholder of Taipei 101, Sheu said the Tourism Bureau will contribute up to NT$20 million, as it has in the past, while the business sector has pledged to provide the rest of the funding.

Taipei 101 also spent NT$45 million on its New Year’s fireworks show last year, which lasted 238 seconds and involved a total of 30,000 fireworks.    [FULL  STORY]

The politically sensitive phone call drew derision from China, its media as well as a flood of comments by Taiwanese netizens

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/04
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

In another move flouting diplomatic conventions since he won the Nov. 8 election, U.S. President-

elect Donald Trump accepted a phone call from the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, an act that has drawn irate responses from China, its state newspaper as well as a flurry of comments from Taiwanese social media users.

In an initial comment apparently meant to downplay the call, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday that the contact between Taiwan’s president and Trump was “just a small trick by Taiwan.”

Washington has followed a so-called “one China” policy since 1979, when it switched diplomatic tie from the government in Taiwan to the communist government on the mainland. Under that policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as representing China but retains unofficial ties with Taiwan. It’s believed that since then no U.S. presidents has ever accepted a phone call from a Taiwanese leader until Trump.

Reacting to the phone calls, The Global Times,which is owned by the Communist Party of China mouthpiece the People’s Daily, published a report that says Taiwan will have to pay a price for whatever it does to “break away from the status quo.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/04
By: Hsiao Po-yang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) Changhua County held a garden party on Sunday to promote the idea that the

proceeds of public lotteries can be used to fund welfare programs for people with disabilities.

In conjunction with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities which falls on Dec. 3, the county government sponsored a “lottery image promotion” party at Erlin High School, which was attended by County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hung Tsung-yi (洪宗熠) and local business leaders.

Wei said the local government raises NT$700 million a year through public lotteries and the money has been used to buy two tour buses dedicated to taking people with disabilities on sightseeing trips and 72 small buses that provide up to 10,000 rides to the physically and mentally challenged per month.

County officials said in addition to transportation services, lottery proceeds have also been used to fund social aid, as well as welfare programs for children and youth, women and seniors.   [FULL  STORY]

‘CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM’:Taiwan-US ties would be freed from China’s obstructionism if US president-elect Donald Trump can withstand Beijing’s pressure, an academic said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 05, 2016
By: Lu Yi-hsuan / Staff reporter

The telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump

has continued to spark debate in Taiwan, with some expressing optimism over the creation of a new model of interaction for Taipei and Washington, while others voiced concerns over a possible return to cross-strait diplomatic rows.

The 10-minute call between Tsai and Trump on Friday evening demonstrated that Trump’s team attaches importance to Taiwan, National Chung Hsing University Graduate Institute of International Politics professor Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said.

“The call could address the long-term absence of high-level dialogue and interactions between Taiwan and the US… If the Trump camp can withstand inevitable pressure from Beijing over the matter, a new interaction model could be created for Taipei-Washington ties,” Tsai Ming-yen said.

Expressing “cautious optimism” over Taiwan-US relations, Tsai Ming-yen said there have only been routine interactions at lower levels between the two sides.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Edward White

The conversation, which took place on Friday, is thought to be the first time a president or president-

elect of the United States has directly talked to the leader of Taiwan since 1979.

Taiwan’s main opposition party has questioned the value of the historic phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
The conversation, which took at 11 p.m. on Friday (Taiwan time), is thought to be the first time a president or president-elect of the United States has directly contacted the leader of Taiwan since 1979, when formal diplomatic ties between the United States and China were established. The call marks a major break with convention, as China has for decades blocked formal diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan.

Eric Huang (黃裕鈞), the Director of International Affairs Department of The Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT), says that the opposition hopes that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “will implement foreign policies that consider regional and cross-Strait political relations, and have our country’s benefit as the primary strategic consideration, rather than engage in events that merely offer foreign policy public relations value.”    [FULL  STORY]

The news met with an awkward silence in Chinese media

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump confirmed a brief phone conversation with “the President of

Taiwan” in a twitter feed Friday, which is known as the first of its kind since the country severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979. China’s foreign minister reacted to news of the call at noon Saturday, saying it’s nothing but “a small trick by Taiwan” and “is not going to change the longstanding one-China policy acknowledged by international society.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi continued to say that “the one-China policy has been the cornerstone of a healthy U.S.-China relation,” and hopes it won’t be interfered with or damaged after the call.

Trump’s Twitter feed has once again made headlines, on which he thanked “the President of Taiwan” for a phone call to congratulate him for winning the presidency on Friday.

The phone call was said to have been initiated by Taipei. The brief 10-minute phone conversation is also the first of its kind since the U.S. severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan on January 1, 1979, when the country changed its diplomatic recognition of China from Taipei to Beijing.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/03
By: Chu Tse-wei and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei City government started to demolish Terminal B of Taipei West Bus Station on Nov. 1 and is set to demolish Terminal A on Nov. 15, in accordance with an urban renewal plan for the western area of Taiwan’s capital.

Kuo-kuang Motor Transport employees in uniform got together to take commemorative pictures on Oct. 29, prior to the moving of the transport company’s services to nearby locations the following day.

A foreign backpacker was seen asking for directions for where to take a bus in Taipei West Bus Station on Oct. 30.

The West Bus Station was first set up for passenger service in 1953, four years after the Republic of China government was defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist Party of China and moved its capital from Nanjing to Taipei.   [FULL  STORY]