Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/11
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) The number of reported cases of bush typhus has been rising rapidly recently,

and one death has been recorded, the Centers for Disease Control said, warning against bites by mites that cause the illness.

The CDC said a female visitor had died after being bitten by mites on Orchid Island, becoming the first bush typhus fatality in Taiwan this year.

The woman developed chills and a fever at the end of April and sought treatment in early May but showed no signs of improvement, the CDC said. She received emergency treatment on May 7, but died two days later, it said.

As of June 5, the number of bush typhus cases in Taiwan had reached 117, with Taitung County reporting 27, Hualien County 24 and the offshore Penghu County 20, the highest numbers nationwide, the CDC said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/10
By: Wu Che-hao and CNA intern Lauren Hung

Taipei, June 10 (CNA) The Changhua County government has established an agricultural service

group to recruit 113 jobless people to be trained as farmers to help address the labor shortage in the agricultural sector, the government said Thursday.

The county is facing a big gap between the demand and supply of labor willing to work in agriculture because of the difficult nature of the work, and the county’s farmers’ association and unions are collaborating to encourage youth and the unemployed to take part in the project.

Official statistics indicate that less than 10 percent of the

working population was involved in agriculture, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry in the county in 2015.

Facing a long-term shortage of workers, dairy farming, rice farming, vegetable planting and flower planting are getting by with the support of own families or temporary workers, but the county would like to see more people get involved.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/09
By: Tyson Lu and Kay Liu

A forest rebuilt by the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute in Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan,

has attracted several animal species, some of which have been captured by motion-activated cameras placed in the area.
Formosan macaques. (Courtesy of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute)
The rebuilding of the forest, formerly a logging ground dating back to the 1970s, began in 1991, and the institute chose to plant endemic plant species between the Taiwania cypress trees to create biodiversity.
Taiwan serow. (Courtesy of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute)
The motion-activated cameras, set up in Taitung’s Taimali and Jinfong townships, have recorded more than 10 species, proving that the forest rebuilding has been a success.     [FULL  STORY]

SOURCES QUESTIONED:How could a party that relies solely on contributions, dues and subsidies accumulate NT$20 billion in assets, DPP Legislator Wellington Koo asked

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 10, 2016
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Abraham Gerber / Staff reporters

The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) claim of being unfairly targeted by draft legislation on “illicit

party assets” drew criticism from pan-green lawmakers, as tensions flared following the passage of the bill to cross-caucus negotiations on Wednesday.

“‘Starting an uprising’ should be about justice and the public, but the KMT is prepared to do that to protect its unjustly acquired assets,” New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said on Wednesday, referring to KMT Administration and Management Committee deputy director Lee Fu-chuan’s (李福軒) remark that the KMT is prepared to “lead an uprising” if the draft bill leaves the party “naked and shoeless.”

The draft bill would create a commission under the Executive Yuan to investigate the assets of all parties established before the end of the Martial Law era, deeming “illicit” any asset that the parties cannot prove was acquired using party dues and subsidies, donations or other legal sources of revenue.

“It is strange that one of the KMT’s slogans is ‘today party assets, tomorrow family assets,’ because there is no connection between the two. Is the KMT suggesting that some of the party assets had been transferred to some people’s families?” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wellington Koo (顧立雄) asked, brushing off the KMT’s claim that it had already cleared its balance sheet of “illicit assets.”     [FULL  STORY]

Why you need to know: Despite pressure from local residents, National Taiwan University respected the decision by a group of students not to remove an ‘erotic’ photo at a recent exhibition.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/08
By: Olivia Yang

Following complaints by nearby residents, the organizers of a photo exhibition raising awareness of

female body hair issues were asked last month to remove a photo showing pubic hair. Despite the pressure, school authorities did not force them to do so.

Twelve students from National Taiwan University (NTU) enrolled in a feminism course were asked a while ago to identify and try to change a current gender issue. After conducting a survey, the students found that “female body hair” was a problem for most people and decided to delve into the phenomenon through a photo exhibition. The team also launched a Facebook fan page, “Imagination of Hairless Women” (對女性的無毛想像), and issued a call for photos of women showing their body hair.

In an interview with The News Lens International, the Imagination of Hairless Women explained its approach.      [FULL  STORY]