The China Post
Date: October 22, 2016
By: The China Post news staff and CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Two sets of Chinese stamps said to be among the rarest and most expensive in the

Chinese world are being displayed at the 2016 World Stamp Championship Exhibition (PHILATAIPEI), which opened in Taipei on Friday.

One of them is a block of four Qing Dynasty red revenue stamps overprinted with the small words of “one dollar” and used as postage stamps.

Once dubbed the “most expensive Chinese stamps in the Eastern Hemisphere,” the block of four stamps was originally kept by stamp designer Robert Alexis de Villard and then his wife after his death in 1904.

The stamps, believed to be the only remaining block of four of their kind, are now owned by Shanghai stamp collector Ding Jingsong (丁勁松).

Ho Huei-ching (何輝慶), a stamp expert and former professor at National Taiwan University, said that after the stamps were printed, authorities thought the “one dollar” value printed on the stamp was too small to read, so they scrapped the original version and reprinted a new version with the words “one dollar” made bigger.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: October 20, 2016

A short film about Pine Garden, a Japanese colonial era (1895-1945) building in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien

County, claimed the awards for best TV program and best documentary at the 2016 ART&TUR International Tourism Film Festival Oct. 19-22 in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

“Passing through the Pine Garden” explores the history of the landmark as well as the surrounding ecological environment and related cultural attractions, such as the Japanese colonial era Keishuin building, Hualien County Stone Sculptural Museum and Railway Culture Park. Judges particularly praised the film’s innovative use of animation to examine the building’s connection to kamikaze pilots, who would gather at the structure one day before embarking on suicide missions.

Pine Garden was constructed on high ground overlooking the Meilun River in Hualien City in 1942, serving as a military command center until the end of the Japanese colonial period three years later. Renowned for its combination of both Baroque and Japanese architectural styles, the structure was designated a historic site in 2000 by the county government.

A popular tourist attraction, Pine Garden also functions as a platform for international cultural exchanges, hosting annual events such as the Pacific Poetry Festival.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government’s Council of Indigenous Peoples decided to abandon plans to attend a fair in the Chinese city of Hangzhou after organizers wanted to replace the term “indigenous peoples” with “minorities,” reports said Wednesday.

A group of ten indigenous business people from the creative sector were to have joined the delegation Wednesday to attend the 10th edition of a cultural creativity fair in Hangzhou until October 24.

However, on October 14, they received news from a Taiwanese business association that the fair organizers were demanding that all inscriptions, posters and documents during the event use the Mandarin Chinese term for “minorities” instead of “indigenous peoples.”

The Council said it had continued indirect contacts with the fair organizers to discuss the name, but the latter had insisted that in China, the name “minorities” should be used, and that the term “indigenous peoples” should not be read anywhere during the event.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/20
By: Wang Shu-fen and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) introduced a new train schedule on Thursday, eliminating 40 of its 930 daily train services and cutting back on the travel distance of 46 others.

All the eliminated routes were operated during off-peak hours, with less than 30 percent passenger occupancy, TRA said.

Despite the reduction in train services, TRA said it will still operate four trains per hour during peak hours for regional commuting and two per hour off-peak.

Meanwhile, TRA introduced two new Tzu Chiang express trains between Shulin, New Taipei and Taitung in southeastern Taiwan on Friday and Sunday. The travel time will be four hours.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: October 18, 2016

Environmental Protection Administration Minister Lee Ying-yuan published an op-ed in media outlets

around the world Oct. 13-16 highlighting Taiwan’s efforts to tackle global warming and calling on the international community to support its meaningful participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Titled “Taiwan seeks to join fight against global warming,” Lee’s article was carried or reported on by several newspapers in the Philippines including The Manila Times. It was also run by media outlets in New Zealand, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Solomon Islands.

“As a member of the international community, Taiwan cannot be a mere spectator to this problem and must come up with feasible solutions to live up to the name of Formosa, ‘beautiful island,’” the minister wrote.

Lee cited the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act, which was passed by the Legislative Yuan and took effect in July 2015, as a major example of the nation’s measures to address climate change. “Taiwan is among only a few countries in the world that have written into law a target for reducing greenhouse emissions,” he continued.

Highlighting the government’s efforts to promote renewable energy and the circular economy, the minister expressed Taiwan’s desire to work with friendly nations on fostering sustainable growth. “We are willing to share our environmental protection experiences and contribute to international efforts.”.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Huang Chiao-wen, Yu Hsiao-han and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Tuesday that it is mulling the idea of building a facility for interim storage for nuclear waste, and said the possibility of building an undersea site to store such waste permanently cannot be ruled out.

Taipower said it is taking stock of the approach of other countries that use nuclear energy, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, which have built surface facilities for interim storage before establishing final disposal sites for permanent storage.

It said that it is planning to invest NT$80 billion (US$2.54 billion) to construct a surface facility on an uninhabited or sparsely populated island for interim storage to enhance monitoring efficiency.

The company sent an assessment report on the feasibility of building an interim storage site to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) at the end of September.    [FULL  STORY]