The China Post
Date: September 13, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Monday said it would throw its weight behind the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) if the latter initiated a no-confidence vote of the Cabinet, at Tuesday’s legislative session.

“Reflecting on the performance of this Cabinet thus far, bringing up a no-confidence motion is timely,” KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said during a press conference, citing Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) declining approval ratings.

According to “big data surveys,” with over 400,000 samples collected over a period of three and a half months, the KMT claims that 40 percent of those polled were deeply dissatisfied with Lin’s governance, with only 17 percent indicating “extreme approval.” Another 43 percent of respondents did not indicate approval or disapproval of the Cabinet.

Chiang argued that disapproval of the government was tied to policy “flip flops” and a failure in crisis management.

He also indicated that DPP legislators and old guard pan-green officials were dissatisfied with Lin.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 12, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Tang Prize Foundation said Saturday that it will organize a series of talks in September to highlight the topic of sustainable development, and the life and work of Arthur H. Rosenfeld, who won the Tang Prize in sustainable development this year.

Ashok Gadgil, a scientist and professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will give two lectures on the topic Sept. 24 and 28, respectively, the foundation said.

The first lecture will be at Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei and the second at National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, the foundation said.

Gadgil, who studied at the graduate level under Rosenfeld, will accept the Tang Prize on Rosenfeld’s behalf at the award ceremony on Sept. 25, as the 90-year-old laureate will not be able to travel to Taiwan due to his age and health, according to the foundation.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-11
By: Central News Agency

Some 700 kilograms of trash and kitchen waste was removed last week from an area near the Siangyang Cabin on the Jiaming Lake trail in Taitung County, one of the main habitats of the Formosan black bear, the cleanup organizers said Sunday.

The cleanup last Thursday and Friday was part of an effort to prevent the endemic species of bear from encroaching on areas of human habitation, the Taitung Forest District Office said.

The office said it also hosted a series of seminars during the summer to inform people about what to do if they encounter a bear and how to discourage foraging bears.

During the two-day mountain cleanup, 30 volunteers collected 700 kg of trash and food scraps in the vicinity of the Siangyang Cabin, where several sightings of the Formosan black bear have been reported in recent years, the office said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2016
By: Wang Han-ping and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Concern over the aging population of farmers has prompted the Let It Be organization to introduce a “helper” system that was prevalent in farming villages of old, hoping to solve the shortage of labor.

The organization is best-known for its promotion of natural agricultural techniques in Tainan’s Houbi District (後壁), and its helper system involves farmers working in neighbors’ fields.

The method helps to relieve the burden on farmers who usually work alone, Let It Be said, adding that the method is also more productive.

Three of the eight members of the organization’s management team under the Khao-Kwan Foundation’s Tainan branch have been working fields larger than 1 hectare, it said, adding that starting next year, its members hope to average 1 hectare per person.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 12, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI–The magistrate of Changhua County in central Taiwan has opened his arms to Chinese travelers, saying Wednesday that he welcomes their visits.

Wei Ming-ku said the recent sharp drop in the number of Chinese visitors to Taiwan has not affected the tourism sector in his county, because Changhua attracts more tourists for its cultural attractions than for its natural beauty.

Most Chinese visitors to Taiwan prefer tours to the scenic Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County and Alishan in Chiayi County, Wei said, noting that the foreigners who visit Changhua’s tourist attractions, such as Lukang Township, come mostly from Japan.

“Our mountains are not as high as theirs (foreign visitors), and the sea water is not so clear as theirs. Tours in Changhua County are all culture oriented,” Wei said. As a result, the decline in the number of Chinese tourists has posed relatively little impact on his county, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 11, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday rejected an allegation by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) that he made under-the-table deals with Radium Life Tech Co officials.

Fai yesterday said that Ko on Jan. 18 met with Radium’s top managers at a restaurant on Taipei’s Dunhua S Road, adding that the meeting could be linked to the firm’s acceptance of a ruling handed in an arbitration hearing, which ordered the company to pay the city government a NT$3.35 billion (US$106.2 million) settlement over land it undervalued for the MeHAS City housing project.

Fai said the sum was less than one-third the amount Ko had initially asked for — NT$11.3 billion — and less than 50 percent of the NT$7.6 billion that former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) had demanded.

He said the two sides could have reached a deal to settle the case “the easy way.”

Fai said that Ko raised legal fees from NT$15 million to NT$22 million when he increased the costs on the indemnification from NT$7.6 billion to NT$11.3 billion.     [FULL  STORY]