THREAT LEVELS:In the aftermath of last Saturday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake, city governments have sent engineers and architects to rate the safety of buildings

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2016
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Following the casualties suffered in Tainan during last Saturday’s earthquake, the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency yesterday provided the Executive Yuan with the latest data on potentially dangerous buildings throughout the city.

The municipality was the hardest hit by the magnitude 6.4 earthquake, of which the epicenter was in Kaohsiung’s Meinong Township (美濃). One hundred and fourteen bodies have been found in a collapsed Tainan building complex.

The municipality has mobilized a team of engineers and architects to survey the city and tag potentially dangerous buildings, marking at least 340 buildings at risk in the event of another earthquake.

Of these 340, only 319 have been completely surveyed, with 48 found to be highly threatened buildings and 45 threatened buildings.

The Kaohsiung City Government also designated two engineers to determine its threat level in the event of an earthquake, with only 14 at-risk buildings reported.     [FULL  STORY]

OVERKILL:Using sophisticated Black Hawk helicopters in search-and-rescue missions is akin to using a Ferrari as a taxi, former minister of the interior Lee Hong-yuan said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

Controversy continues over the search-and-rescue Black Hawk helicopters scheduled to enter service next month, reflecting broader divisions over Taiwan’s procurement of arms from the US.

Fifteen of the 60 UH-60M Black Hawks ordered from the US in 2010 are scheduled to be “lent” to the Ministry of the Interior’s National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) by the military.

Speaking at a Taichung airbase exhibit showcasing the first three helicopters to arrive from the US, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) praised the aircraft for having the power to push the nation’s search-and-rescue boundaries to the peaks of its highest mountains and to the farthest reaches of its territorial waters.

“Jade Mountain [玉山] is more than 3,900m high, but we will be able to fly up to 5,000m,” he said, referring to the nation’s highest mountain. “Our rescue diameter will encompass all of our territorial air space, providing protection to the outlying islands and fishing boats within our waters.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-12
By: Central News Agency

The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday that water service in the earthquake-devastated areas of Tainan City is set to resume in the evening, ahead of schedule on Saturday morning.

The restoration of the water supply should provide relief to some 30,000 households, whose water pipelines were damaged by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6, according to the National Fire Agency.

The water will be sent via a 1 kilometer temporary pipeline above the ground to affected areas, which will connect with other intact underground pipelines, the ministry explained.     [SOURCE]

TANGIBLE SUPPORT:The US has nearly doubled the number of its security cooperation events to help Taiwan improve its self-defense capabilities, a US official said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2016
By: William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

The US remains committed to supporting Taiwan’s “confidence and dignity” through increased participation in the international community and enhanced security, a senior Washington official said on Thursday.

“Our efforts at supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities extend beyond arms sales,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asia Susan Thornton said.

“We support Taiwan’s capacity-building efforts through visits, maintenance programs and exchanges,” she told a US congressional hearing on the future of US-Taiwan relations.

The hearing, called by the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, turned almost testy at times as members quizzed Thornton on Taiwan’s trade deficit with the US, on Taipei’s possible entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and arms sales.

She repeatedly refused to discuss defense deals in the open hearing, but promised to give more details in a classified briefing for subcommittee members which was scheduled for later in the day.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-11
By: Central News Agency

The former head of Taitung County’s Tourism Department who initiated the Taiwan International Balloon Fiesta in 2011, won a “model civil servant” award in late 2015.

In addition to Chen Shu-hui, the honor was awarded to five other civil servants and four teams of government employees by the Ministry of Civil Service last December.

After Chen assumed the position as head of Taitung’s Tourism Department in 2010, she began looking for an event to promote her southeastern county, which is famous for its beaches along the Pacific, mountainous scenery and indigenous tribal cultures.

Chen was reminded of the charm of hot air ballooning she experienced during a trip to Australia and New Zealand and thought the county’s climate and geography is suitable for the sport.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 12, 2016
By: Staff Writer, with CNA

The Presidential Office Building has grown in popularity among Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan.

Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) opened Taiwan to Chinese tourists in July 2008, two months after assuming office, the number of Chinese visitors to the building, located on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei, increased from 5,965 in 2008 to 44,353 in 2012.

Between January and November last year, the building attracted 127,144 visitors, 44,471 of whom were from China, far higher than the 8,171 visitors from Japan and the 1,470 from Hong Kong and Macau, according to Presidential Office data.

Many members of Chinese tour groups told her after visiting the building that they wanted to come back when they travel to Taiwan as independent tourists in the future, so that they can appreciate the beauty of the building at a slower pace, volunteer tour guide Ko Chiao-mei said.

The building is open to visitors from 9am to noon every day from Monday to Friday, free of charge.     [SOURCE]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A temporary exhibition on the history of Taipei’s North Gate (北門) has been launched by the city government as part of its plan to rejuvenate the western part of the nation’s capital.

Exhibition visitors can observe the demolition of the 750-meter overpass next to the gate, which stretched from Zhongxiao W Road near Taipei Railway Station to the Zhongxiao Bridge (忠孝橋) and connected downtown Taipei to New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重).

The demolition work began on Sunday and had been scheduled to be completed in one week, but the work has been going so well that it could be completed by tomorrow, city officials said.

The exhibition, which is to run through Feb. 22, features historic photographs of the North Gate and the 39-year-old overpass.

The gate was built in 1882 and is the only one of the city’s five gates that has retained its original look. It is a designated national historic building.     [FULL  STORY]