Page Three

Senior care stations across Taiwan to be set up in 4 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Department of Health and Welfare said it will establish 2,529 “lane and alley” long-term 6770704day care stations across Taiwan to provide the elderly temporary care, aiming to increase the current service coverage of 35 percent to more than 50 percent.

The 10-year long-term care 2.0 version is one of several important policies of President Tsai Ing-wen.

At a press conference on Monday morning, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Pau-ching announced three main points regarding long-term care for the elderly, which include extending service from the current eight categories to 17, extending service coverage to four additional groups of people, as well as localized care.

Lu said that the current 10-year long-term care for the elderly began in 2007, and during the eight years of enforcement, the government has spent more than NT$30 billion, but the public has felt it is not very helpful, and only about 170,000 senior citizens have received the service, which converts to a service coverage of only 35 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Prosecutors request permission to detain 3 ATM heist suspects

Focus Taiwan
Date; 2016/07/18
By: Yu Kai-hsiang, Lu Hsin-hui and S.C. Chang

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) Taipei District prosecutors on Monday filed a motion with a local court 201607180025t0001to detain three East European suspects involved in an automatic teller machine theft of more than NT$83 million (US$2.6 million).

After four hours of questioning, the prosecutors said they were seeking the detention of Latvian Andrejs Peregudovs on charges of fraud and offenses against computer security.

Two others arrested a day earlier — Romanian Mihail Colibaba and Moldovan Niklae Penkov — were also charged with fraud and offenses against computer security.

All three should be detained out of concern they will flee the country and collude in destroying evidence related to their roles in the international computer fraud ring, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office argued.     [FULL  STORY]

Netizens apologize to ‘almighty China’ as part of contest

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2016
By: AFP, TAIPEI

Taiwanese have launched a sarcastic “Say sorry to China” contest on social media after a Chinese filmmaker replaced a local actor for allegedly supporting Taiwanese independence.

The contest on Facebook has attracted more than 24,000 followers and 6,000 posts since Saturday, organizers said.

Netizens have been apologizing to Beijing for a wide variety of reasons — from calling Taiwan a country to eating Japanese food and using iPhones.

“I suggest everybody say sorry to almighty China before dinner every night. We should all thank the Chinese for giving us food and letting us know China’s greatness,” read one scathing post.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP eyes extraordinary session for 3 bills

The China Post
Date: July 19, 2016
By: Stephanie Chao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus passed a motion Monday to seek an extraordinary legislative session to clear three contested bills, with legislation targeting ill-gotten party assets to top the agenda.

The session, proposed to begin Friday and last a week, would also review this year’s state-owned business budget as well as Labor Standards Act amendments that would give workers one fixed day off and one flexible rest day (一例一休).

The news was grudgingly received by Kuomintang (KMT) caucus leader Lin Te-fu, who said the DPP’s majority made it “impossible to evade the issue.” KMT lawmakers would consider the situation and come to a conclusion at their next caucus meeting on how to handle the party asset bill, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

One of every eight marriages in Taiwan were ‘transnational’ in H1

The China Post
Date: July 18, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — A total of 74,802 couples in Taiwan tied the knot in the first half of this year, with 13.1 percent of them between a Taiwanese and a person from another country, the Ministry of the Interior said in a report released Sunday.

The number of marriages registered in the first six months was down by 4,407 from the same period of 2015, the report said.

There were 9,791 transnational marriages between Taiwanese citizens and foreign nationals during that time, down by 174 from the same period last year.

The report showed that 44.9 percent of the cross-border marriages involved unions between Taiwanese and spouses from China, Hong Kong and Macau, while 31.8 percent were between Taiwanese and spouses from Southeast Asia.     [FULL  STORY]

Culinary architects Bompas & Parr hold creative cuisine exhibition in Taipei

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-17
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Sausage ice cream made from sausage meat with lard and peanuts, topped with crispy pig skin plate

The London-based culinary architects Bompas & Parr (Sam Bompas and Harry Parr) are holding a creative cuisine exhibition, reviving the image of sausage, the Taiwanese traditional food that can be found at night markets across Taiwan, at the Taiwan Design Center in Taipei from July 16 to August 13.

The exhibition “Sausage Social” features the world’s first sausage-focus menu, inviting participants to experience different perspectives in Taiwanese and England’s street food as well as their shared passion and inspiration.

Sausage ice cream made from sausage meat with lard and peanuts, topped with crispy pig skin plate

According to Sam and Harry, sausage has existed in all global cultures, presenting a perfect tool for innovation, design, and culinary experience. To exemplify their point, the duo crafted 10 dishes, turning the sausage into different types of food, which include desserts, soup, and even drink.

Meat shot, combining the Western ‘Shots’ culture and Shaohsing rice wine

The notable creative cuisine includes Meat Shots, which makes roasted bacon into a small wineglass to hold Shaosing rice wine and can be consumed with the wine, and the sausage ice cream made from sausage meat with lard, to bring out a whole new experience of a sausage meal.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei temperature soars to 38.2 degrees Sunday

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/17
By: Wang Shu-fen, Wu Hsin-yun, Yu Kai-hsiang and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) The temperature in Taipei hit 38.2 degrees Celsius at 12:35 p.m. on

Taipei, Saturday.

Taipei, Saturday.

Sunday, making it the hottest day in the city so far in July and the second hottest day of the year, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

On Saturday, Taipei recorded a July high of 37.7 degrees at 1:01 p.m. and the temperature was still at 31.2 degrees at 10:15 p.m., according to the bureau.

Taipei’s highest temperature this year was 38.7 degrees on the afternoon of June 1, setting a record for June in the city’s recorded history and coming in as the third hottest on record since the Taipei Weather Station was set up in 1896.

Temperatures in Taiwan rarely reached 38 degrees in the past, in part because it is an island, but the threshold has been breached more frequently in recent years, said Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典), director of the bureau’s Weather Forecast Center, on Sunday.     [FULL  STORY]

Extra legislative session planned for next month

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 18, 2016
By: Yang Chun-hui / Staff reporter

Only one extra legislative session might be called next month, although party caucuses had initially planned to call two sessions after the legislative session ended on Friday, with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus saying that it would make reviewing a draft bill regulating ill-gotten party assets its top priority in the extra session.

The legislature failed to pass the draft bill on Friday due to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ obstruction of proceedings.

While opinions are mixed among DPP legislators about the change of plan regarding the number and date of extra sessions, New Power Party (NPP) lawmakers said they think the extra legislative session should be held this month so that the draft bill dealing with ill-gotten party assets can be taken care of as soon as possible.

DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said he talked with KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Friday evening, adding that their preliminary decision is to hold one extra legislative session from Aug. 8 to Aug. 19, and hopefully to have the drafted amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) pass its third reading by Sept. 28.     [FULL  STORY]

Fresh & Aged unveils flavorful steaks

The China Post
Date: July 18, 2016
By Coral H. Wang, Jill Huang and Tiffany Ma, Special to The China Post

A steakhouse is, in many cases, the go-to venue for anyone who desires an authentic dining

Chef Chen Chong-Guang and his team have conquered the challenge of Taiwan's humid environment in the process of dry-aged beef. (Courtesy of Fresh & Aged Italian Steak House)

Chef Chen Chong-Guang and his team have conquered the challenge of Taiwan’s humid environment in the process of dry-aged beef. (Courtesy of Fresh & Aged Italian Steak House)

experience. Yet among all the steakhouses scattered around the country, how can one differentiate itself from the others? Chef Chen Chong-Guang (陳重光), father of dry-aged steak in Taiwan, brings a luxurious and sensational option to the local culinary scene with Fresh & Aged Italian Steak House (美福西餐廳).

Located in Neihu District, the upscale restaurant is the leading steakhouse utilizing the dry-aged method in Taiwan, for the humid environment of the island is not suitable for dry-aging beef. However, with 10 years of experience, Chef Chen has managed to surmount environmental obstacles, presenting Taiwanese gourmands with exquisite 100-day dry-aged beef. “We use U.S. prime beef as our ingredient, with the help of customized equipment to compensate for the environmental barriers. The more days dry-aged beef sits, the more flavorful it becomes,” Chen said.

What is so special about dry-aged beef, you may ask. Through the method of dry-aging, the beef is not only kept juicy but also preserved with optimal tenderness. Roasted at a high temperature, the steak’s exterior becomes deliciously crispy. There is no better dish than Fresh & Aged’s dry-aged steak. Let your knife gently slice through a cut of the steak, watch the savory juice ooze out of the tender flesh and feel your mouth water.    [FULL  STORY]

Gov’t may report 15th month of export drops

The China Post
Date: July 17, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwan is expected to report a year-on-year decline in export orders for June despite signs of that orders placed to Taiwanese electronics makers have started to pick up again, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Saturday.

The expected decline in June largely reflects a relatively high comparison base of US$36.6 billion seen in the same month last year and would be the 15th consecutive month in which export orders fall, the longest sustained slump in Taiwan’s history, the MOEA said.

The previous record was 12 consecutive months of declines in orders during 2008 and 2009, when a financial crisis hit the global economy.

In May, Taiwan’s export orders fell 5.8 percent from a year earlier to US$33.73 billion due to a fall in Taiwan’s major outbound sales categories, including information/communication devices, electronics and precision equipment, base metal, petrochemical and machinery products, amid weak global demand.     [FULL  STORY]