Page Three

Chinese tourist visits slide by 32.41% year-on-year in August

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02016/09/20
By: Chen Wei-ting and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) Taiwan saw the number of visiting Chinese tourists plummet by 32.41 percent in

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

August compared with the same period of last year, according to Tourism Bureau data released Tuesday, increasing concerns about more serious contraction of the market sector.

According to the statistics, Taiwan recorded 248,538 visits from Chinese nationals, down from 367,736 last year.

The decline is more pronounced in the segment of group tourists, which accounted for only 73,380 Chinese visits in August, a 54.96 percent year-on-year drop.

The situation is worrisome for local tour operators, as many of them rely heavily on the Chinese market.     [FULL  STORY]

ICAO participation necessary: minister of transportation

Taipei Ties
Date: Sep 21, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a necessity, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said in a statement to the international community, adding that aviation safety affairs and other challenges must be tackled through close cooperation among all nations.

The statement highlighting the urgency and importance of Taiwan’s presence at the ICAO Assembly was reported in major publications around the world on Monday.
As of yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was yet to receive an invitation to attend the ICAO Assembly, which is to begin on Tuesday next week at the organization’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada.

Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said in a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan that the ministry would be able to determine whether the nation is able to attend by Friday.

The nation attended the ICAO Assembly in 2013 as a guest for the first time since it lost its UN seat in 1971.     [FULL  STORY]

3 holidays ‘likely to remain this year’

The China Post
Date: September 21, 2016
By Yuan-Ming Chiao

Teacher’s Day, Taiwan Retrocession Day and the Birthday of Chiang Kai-shek are very likely to remain

Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Lin Shu-fen gestures while questioning Premier Lin Chuan at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Tuesday, Sept. 20. (Yuan-Ming Chiao, The China Post)

Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Lin Shu-fen gestures while questioning Premier Lin Chuan at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Tuesday, Sept. 20. (Yuan-Ming Chiao, The China Post)

public holidays this year despite the central government’s order to scrap them, an opposition lawmaker said Tuesday.

The government had ordered the cancellation of the holidays, which fall on Sept. 28, Oct. 25 and Oct. 31, respectively, as part of a package of labor policy adjustments.

Kuomintang lawmaker Wang Yu-min said Tuesday it was “all but certain” that the three public holidays would stand this year because the legislation needed to cancel them would not be completed in time.

Wang said that the “flash mob” holidays — set to be “here this year and gone the next”— was a sign of an “incomprehensive government policy.”

The fate of this year’s other “canceled” holidays — Sun Yat-sen’s Birthday (Nov. 12) and Constitution Day (Dec. 25) — remains uncertain.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan extends funding for scholarship program in Pacific countries

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/19
By: Kay Liu

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) The Taiwanese government donated US$500,000 to the Pacific Islands Forum

(Photo courtesy of Taiwan's representative office in Fiji)

(Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s representative office in Fiji)

(PIF) in Fiji Monday to fund a joint scholarship program for higher education for citizens in the region.

The new fund to the Taiwan/Republic of China-PIF Scholarship is an example of Taiwan’s partnership with the region, where Taiwan has provided aid, said Taiwan’s representative to Fiji, Jeffrey Kau (高泉金).

Kau said at the donation ceremony in Fiji that Taiwan has offered assistance through agricultural, medical and development projects to countries in the Pacific for many years and has seen positive results.

PIF Deputy Secretary-General Andie Fong Toy accepted the fund on behalf of the 16-member organization, and pointed out that a total of 78 citizens from the region have completed their studies funded by the scholarship program established in 2001.    [FULL  STORY]

First hat tossed in ring for Taipei’s 2018 mayoral race

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 20, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday encouraged anyone willing to serve Taipei residents to run in the 2018 municipal elections, after former Control Yuan member Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光) became the first person to say he would run for mayor.

Ger, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and professor at National Taiwan University, announced his bid on Sunday in Los Angeles.

“Professor Ger and I go way back. Before he had the idea [of running for mayor], he discussed the matter with me. Of course I strongly encourage every outstanding talent willing to be at the service of Taipei [to run for mayor],” Hau said in a statement.

Hau, who was mayor from 2006 to 2014, said he believed it was good for a potential candidate to prepare early for an election so they can familiarize themselves with city affairs and give voters time to get to know them.
‘
The position of mayor is extremely important and candidates should not rely on intensive media coverage in the last few months of a campaign for publicity, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP ‘drawing battle lines for election’

The China Post
Date: September 20, 2016
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The latest Cabinet reshuffle, which has seen Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung named Cabinet spokesman, has been viewed as an attempt to build support for a Taipei City mayoral campaign and as a bid to rekindle public support for Premier Lin Chuan.

Taipei City Councilor Wang Hong-wei told reporters that Hsu’s appointment reflected the DPP’s plans to draw battle lines for the 2018 nationwide mayoral and magisterial elections.

It has also been viewed as a move to reinvigorate Lin’s sinking opinion polls by weeding out poor-performing officials.

The speculation follows the release of an Executive Yuan statement Sunday, which stipulated that Cabinet spokesman Tung Chen-yuan would be replaced by Hsu on Oct. 1. Tung will instead serve as National Security Council adviser.     [FULL  STORY]

More than 8,000 visit exhibition at Presidential Office

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 19, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Presidential Office Building yesterday opened its doors to more than 8,000 visitors to an exhibition

Visitors to the Presidential Office Building wait outside the building yesterday, on the first day the premises are open to the public since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

Visitors to the Presidential Office Building wait outside the building yesterday, on the first day the premises are open to the public since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

organized by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

The exhibition, titled “Power to the People,” is comprised of seven sections, with one featuring significant social movements that have taken place on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building over the past two decades, including the 1989 funeral of late democracy movement pioneer Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), the 2013 protest against nuclear power and the 2014 demonstration against the government’s attempt to rush through the cross-strait trade in services agreement.

Featuring the social movements signals the Tsai administration’s willingness to welcome different voices and opinions into the Presidential Office, which has traditionally been regarded as a less tolerant government agency.

A total of 8,098 people visited the exhibition yesterday, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.     [FULL  STORY]

Oil spill

The China Post
Date: September 19, 2016
By: CNA

p15bOil spills from fishing vessels stranded on the shores of Siziwan (西子灣) in Kaohsiung, seen in this photo provided by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Sunday, Sept. 18. Taiwan International Ports Corporation said the first stage of environment restoration efforts had been completed on Sunday. The remaining oil will likely be cleaned up within the next few days.     [SOURCE]

Presidential Office opens to public

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-18
By: Central News Agency

The Presidential Office opened its new permanent exhibition on Sunday, the first time a section of the office building has been open to public since the new government took office on May 20.

The new exhibition with the theme of “Power to the People” opened in the office’s renovated permanent exhibition space during a ceremony hosted by Lin Bih-jaw, secretary general of the Presidential Office.

Although the office building was set to open at 9 a.m., visitors lined up around 7 a.m. to enter the building.

As of 10 a.m., the number of visitors has breached the 1,000 mark.     [FULL  STORY]

World’s largest single-entity coral falls

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/18
By: Tyson Lu and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) The world’s largest single-entity, small-pores coral known to locals as “Big 201609180015t0001Mushroom” in the sea near Ludao (Green Island) off Taitung County has fallen, a diving coach said Sunday.

Yu Ming-hung (俞明宏) said he had worried that the two consecutive typhoons over the past week might do something terrible to the coral, and “now my bad dream has come true.”

Yu dived into the sea to take a look earlier Sunday as soon as Typhoon Malakas had left Taiwan, following Meranti which battered the southeastern county and nearby Pingtung and Kaohsiung badly last Wednesday.

He said the 1,000-year-old coral, whose “root” had grown on the 18-meter-deep seabed since Sung Dynasty to be 10 meters tall, was pummeled flat by 15-meter waves brought by Strong Typhoon Meranti.     [FULL  STORY]