Page Three

Survey shows significant gap between Chu, Tsai

‘DIRTY TRICKS’:The KMT chairman said that once his campaign got under way, the DPP started to take action through lawsuits and mudslinging to avoid a fair contest

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 25, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was trailing his Democratic

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu shakes hands with supporters in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Chen Wei-tsung, Taipei Times

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu shakes hands with supporters in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Chen Wei-tsung, Taipei Times

Progressive Party (DPP) counterpart by 18 percentage points, the latest survey conducted by the Chinese-language China Times regarding support for presidential candidates published yesterday showed.

The results showed that 38.9 percent of respondents said they would vote for DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), 21.8 percent for Chu and 8.8 percent for People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).

If a “pan-blue integration” were to occur, meaning that Soong withdraws from the race, both Tsai and Chu’s support would increase, with respondents supporting Tsai rising to 45.7 percent and Chu to 27 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Beef Noodle Soup is Taiwan’s National Dish

Beef noodle soup is more than simply a delightful dish. It is also a reflection of Taiwan’s vibrant and diverse society. Since its emergence in the mid-20th century, this uniquely Taiwanese fare has become central to the nation’s dynamic food culture. Indeed, there are now more than 30,000 beef noodle soup shops throughout the country. This video explores the intriguing history of beef noodle soup. It also introduces the major varieties of the soup, as well as the assortment of garnishes that people eat with this mouth-watering dish.

Climate change aggravates El Niño, threatens global agriculture output

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-23
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

2015 tropical cyclone season is supercharged due to the combined impact of

Global warming threatens agriculture output. Associated Press

Global warming threatens agriculture output. Associated Press

natural climate cycles, global warming and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The records of 21 hurricanes and typhoons have shattered the previous records. The Central Weather Bureau just released a warning for the upcoming typhoon number 26. On October 21, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their research data which stated September 2015 was the warmest such month for Planet Earth since such data began in 1880. El Niño only worsens the effect of global warming on various countries.

El Niño, an irregular periodic climate change caused by variations in sea surface temperature over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, provided storms and typhoon with a sufficient amount of fuel in the form of warm ocean waters across the tropical Pacific. A research scientist at Colorado State University Philip Klotzbach said that the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), an index that measures both a storm’s intensity and its lifespan, has indicated that the index across parts of the Pacific is off the charts. El Niño of the year 2015 is believed to be the strongest ever recorded.     [FULL  STORY]

Fisheries Agency punishes Taiwanese vessel for shark-finning

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/23
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Lee Mei-yu

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency on Friday suspended the license of the fishing boat Shuen De Ching (順得慶) No. 888 for eight months after finding its crew guilty of illegal shark-finning.

Following an investigation, the Pingtung-registered vessel was fined NT$150,000 (US$4,623) and its load of shark fins was confiscated, while the captain’s fishermen’s service book — a type fishing license — was suspended for eight months, according to the bureau.

It added that the number of fish they found on board the vessel was not in line with the number that the boat operators had recorded.     [FULL  STORY]

Kaohsiung redoubling dengue control efforts after 5,000th case

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-23
By: CNA

Disease control efforts against dengue fever will be elevated in the southern city of Kaohsiung, where more than 5,000 cases have been reported since May 1, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.

As of the previous day, the city had reported 5,072 cases, an increase of 162 cases from a day earlier.

Nationwide, 26,353 cases had been reported, including 20,823 cases in neighboring Tainan, where the mosquito-borne disease has been centered this year.

More disease control efforts are needed in Kaohsiung as the outbreak there intensifies, while Tainan has begun to see the outbreak subside, the CDC said.     [FULL  STORY]

New NPP candidates will not seek election

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Any new legislative district candidates announced by the New Power Party (NPP) will not actively campaign for their own election, NPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday, saying that there were not enough open legislative districts available for the party to run 10 competitive legislative candidates.

“The registration of our second wave of candidates will be to fulfill legal requirements. The candidates will not campaign for votes for themselves in the districts, instead helping the NPP gain more votes on the party ballot. Specifically, the candidates will not establish personal campaign offices and will not have their own personal campaign promotional materials,” Huang said.

“Friendly parties” should not be nervous when the list comes out because the party will not seek to “break solidarity” with or “undercut” their candidates, he said.

The additional district candidates could be viewed as a “stopgap” because under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), parties are required to nominate at least 10 to be eligible to receive at-large legislative seats based on the general party ballot, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan has nowhere to run in face of climate change

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-22
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan is a small island country with 23 million inhabitants, threatened by climate change. Global warming concerns have become an important new challenge in Taiwan. Although Taiwan handed in the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) autonomously, the island country is barred from the UN’s climate change talk due to diplomatic isolation. Taiwan pledged to reduce its 2030 carbon emissions by 50 percent, thus making the target 20 percent lower than the 2005 level, which is 214 million tons. Despite China’s aggressive opposition, Taiwan is determined to participate in the 2015 Paris Accord for no one should left behind.

On October 16, British Office in Taiwan and Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE) organized a roundtable discussion on International Climate Dialogue beyond the 2015 Paris Accord. The discussion was aimed to bring out concrete dialogue with a political-economic perspective. Speakers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carbon Trust (Asia), the French Office in Taiwan, AIT Economic Section, and the German Office in Taipei contributed their ideas to the conference.     [FULL  STORY]

‘Honored’ to attend WWII events in Taiwan: late U.S. doctor’s children

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/22
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Descendants of a late American physician who helped

'Honored' to attend WWII events in Taiwan: late U.S. doctor's children

‘Honored’ to attend WWII events in Taiwan: late U.S. doctor’s children

save many Chinese civilians during World War II said they were “honored” to visit Taiwan to attend commemorative events marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.

Robert O. Wilson’s two daughters Elizabeth Wilson Hissing and Marjorie Wilson Massey Garrett and his son Robert O. Wilson Jr., arrived in Taiwan earlier Thursday on a visit that will last until Oct. 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“We feel so honored that my father is being commemorated,” said Garrett, 73, during a news conference with the local media in Taipei.

“Because of him, we are sitting here right now,” she said, describing the U.S. physician as “an amazing father.”

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-22
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

A legislative committee in Taiwan adopted a resolution on Wednesday to

Lin Yu-fang. (File photo/China Times)

Lin Yu-fang. (File photo/China Times)

freeze some of the country’s financial aid to the Dominican Republic amid frustration over local efforts to solve the murder of a Taiwanese diplomat in Santo Domingo more than three years ago.

Legislator Lin Yu-fang of the ruling Kuomintang submitted the resolution to freeze NT$20 million (about US$600,000) of the budgeted aid while his Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee was screening next year’s foreign ministry budget.

Lin said the move was intended to get the Caribbean country’s attention because the murder of Julia Ou remains unsolved. Ou was an overseas compatriot affairs official at Taiwan’s embassy in Santo Domingo who was found stabbed to death in her apartment in April 2012.     [FULL  STORY]

Bureau needs to enhance tourism efforts: legislators

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 22, 2015
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Lawmakers on the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee yesterday

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin yesterday questions the Tourism Bureau’s inviting of a Japanese actor to be the endorser of Taiwan’s tourism industry at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-jin yesterday questions the Tourism Bureau’s inviting of a Japanese actor to be the endorser of Taiwan’s tourism industry at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

voiced concern that the nation has been over-reliant on revenue brought by Chinese tourists, saying that the Tourism Bureau needs to improve travel quality for all visitors and enhance its tourism campaigns.

The issue arose as committee members were scheduled to review the bureau’s budget for the next fiscal year at yesterday’s meeting.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said that mainland Chinese tourists accounted for 40 percent of total visitor numbers this year, up from 5 percent in 2008, while the percentage of visitors from Hong Kong and Macau dropped from 24 percent to 18 percent.

Japan was once the nation’s largest source of foreign tourists, but that market has declined from 38 percent to 15 percent, she said.     [FULL  STORY]