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Taiwan’s Apaches to be displayed on open day in Kaohsiung

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-14
By: CNA

People interested in seeing Taiwan’s most advanced attack helicopter, the

An Apache helicopter fires a rocket during a drill in southern Taiwan, Aug. 27. (Photo courtesy of Ministry of National Defense)

An Apache helicopter fires a rocket during a drill in southern Taiwan, Aug. 27. (Photo courtesy of Ministry of National Defense)

AH-64E Apache, will have a chance to do so later this month, when the military will hold an open day at one of its bases, the country’s Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday.

The helicopters will be among the military aircraft, equipment and vehicles to be put on display Oct. 24 at Tsoying Naval Base in the southern city of Kaohsiung for public viewing, according to ministry spokesperson Major General Luo Shou-he.

In addition to the Apaches, visitors will get a glimpse of the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter recently acquired from the United States, he said. Some of the Navy’s vessels will be opened to the public for a tour, he added.

Demonstrations of combat skills will also be staged on the open day, Luo said.

The event is one of five open days at different military bases this year in an effort to strengthen exchanges between the military and the public.     [FULL  STORY]

Transit stops not tied to Chinese overflights of Strait

Taipei Times
Date:  Oct 15, 2015
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Jian-yu (陳建宇) reiterated yesterday that allowing Chinese tourists to board transit flights in Taiwan and improving the efficiency of cross-strait flight operations are separate issues to be discussed in cross-strait negotiations.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is standing firm on this position, he told lawmakers on the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津).

There have been media reports that Beijing intends to allow Chinese tourists to transit through Taiwan on their way to a third country — in exchange for Taipei’s permission to allow Chinese airlines to fly over the midline of the Taiwan Strait.

Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) has said that the government would give up the opportunity of boosting transit passenger numbers in the nation’s airports rather than allow Chinese airlines to fly across the midline of the Strait.     [FULL  STORY]

Former advisor Wu Li-pei launches a memoir

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-13
By: Sophia Yang, Sara Yu – Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Wu Li-pei, the former advisor to the then-president Chen Shui-bian, has

Former advisor Wu Li-pei launches a memoir. Taiwan News

Former advisor Wu Li-pei launches a memoir. Taiwan News

launched a memoir covering his years in Taiwan as a young and poor bank teller, and in the United States as a remarkable banker with a myriad of accomplishments, who returned home and became an influencer in Taiwan’s politics and history.

To this day, Wu’s story has been widely shared on social media for his legendary life story, who was born in a rich family but his father lost most of fortune for some reasons associated with the Taiwan 228 incident. Wu’s family was traumatized by terror and grief since then.

In his early 20s, Wu was enlightened by his NTU professor and classmates in the field of politics. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the National Taiwan University (NTU), he took a teaching job for one year, and then moved on to become a bank teller at the Chang Hwa Bank (CHB) for seven years.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan develops kit for detection of passion fruit viruses

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/13
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Taiwan has made a breakthrough in agricultural 18753825research by developing a test for viruses that affect the seedlings of passion fruit, a tropical crop that generates substantial annual revenues each year.

The two test kits can detect at least six strains of passion fruit virus and can thus halve the time normally spent checking the health of seedlings, Tsay Jyh-rong (蔡志榮), deputy director-general of the Taiwan Agriculture Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture, said Tuesday.

By detecting passion fruit viruses during the crop’s planting season, farmers will be able to grow healthy plants and obtain better harvests, Tsay said.

He said the technique for producing the virus test kits can be passed on to local seedling breeders for commercialization.     [FULL  STORY]

Replacing Hung Hsiu-chu could backfire for KMT

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-13
By: Wang Kun-yi and Staff Reporter

The reports circulating since last week that Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang is

Hung Hsiu-chu attends the ROC National Day ceremony in Taipei, Oct. 10. (File photo/Liu Tsung-lung)

Hung Hsiu-chu attends the ROC National Day ceremony in Taipei, Oct. 10. (File photo/Liu Tsung-lung)

moving to replace its presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu appear to be accurate. Hung’s previous determination to stay the distance seems to have folded and the KMT is expected to name its chair Eric Chu as its replacement nomination to boost its sagging campaign at a special party congress on Oct. 17.

It is doubtful whether the strategy will turn the party’s dire situation around before January’s presidential and legislative elections, however.

Since the KMT’s drubbing in the local elections last November, morale has been low and the party’s senior — for which read, male — figures showed themselves unwilling to step forward to run in what looked like a losing battle to retain the presidency. Hung, previously a fringe figure despite holding the deputy speakership of the legislature, was the almost the only person to put themself forward for the nomination and was officially selected as the KMT candidate in accordance with procedures, to the surprise of many.

As Hung would be running against Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, international media were quick to celebrate the prospect of two women contesting the presidential election, viewing it as a mark of progressiveness that Taiwan would be guaranteed to see its first female head of state inaugurated next year. But cynics viewing a perceived culture of male chauvinism within the KMT speculated that Hung’s nomination came in part because none of the party’s heavyweights were willing to face the likely possibility of losing the presidential race to a woman.     [FULL  STORY]

Hung dismisses reports of NT$500m offer to quit

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 14, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday brushed off a rumor that she demanded NT$500 million (US$15.3 million) from party headquarters in exchange for withdrawing from the race.

When asked about the NT$500 million rumor, which Hung herself brought up at a KMT rally on Monday night, the deputy legislative speaker said: “[I brought it up] because there are people who keep spreading similar rumors about tradeoffs.”

Hung on Monday rebuked as a joke a rumor that she asked for NT$500 million in exchange for her withdrawal, calling it a serious offense and an insult to her integrity.

“Am I only worth NT$500 million? It is way too little,” Hung said

She asked KMT legislator-at-large Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍), who was also at the event, to put a price on her, and answered her own question by saying: “Priceless.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan planning to set standard for chocolate

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-12
By: By Lung Pei-ning and Elizabeth Hsu, Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s food authorities are planning to set a clear-cut definition for chocolate, so that no product can be described as chocolate if it does not match the proposed definition.

There are currently no national standards for chocolate in Taiwan, Hsueh Fu-chin, a deputy division chief at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said Monday. “There is no definition from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), or from the FDA.” However, there is a wide spectrum of chocolate products in the Taiwan market, and chocolate is a favorite among teenagers and children, Hsueh said while trying to explain to the media why it is necessary to set standards for chocolate.

According to the definition set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, chocolate (in some regions also named bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate or “chocolat fondant”) shall contain, on a dry matter basis, not less than 35 percent total cocoa solids, of which not less than 18 percent shall be cocoa butter and not less than 14 percent fat-free cocoa solids.     [FULL  STORY]

MOFA issues yellow travel advisory to Turkey

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/12
By: Tai Ya-chen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday issued a 201510120028t0001yellow travel advisory to Turkey after over 100 people were killed in bombings during a rally for peace in the capital Ankara on Oct. 10.

The ministry called on Taiwanese nationals planning travel to Turkey to re-assess whether they should go and take safety precautions if they decide in the end to travel there.

The ministry has devised a four-color travel advisory system, with red the highest followed by orange, yellow and gray.

What lies behind reported US plan for arms sale to Taiwan?

Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-12
By: Sun Yang-ming

The US-Taiwan Business Council recently divulged that the US government

A Black Hawk helicopter Taiwan bought from the US takes part in a display to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, June 23. (Photo/CNA)

A Black Hawk helicopter Taiwan bought from the US takes part in a display to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, June 23. (Photo/CNA)

may sell an arms package to Taiwan, which would be the last of the Obama administration. If the report is true, the sale would create friction between China and the United States.

At a press conference on Sept. 25 during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US, he and President Obama both reiterated their commitment to the “one China” policy, in accordance with the Three Communiques issued in 1972 by the two countries.

However, less than a month after the press conference, the report of planned US arms sales to Taiwan has emerged.

At the press conference, Obama said Xi shared his views in terms of how he could move forward in a step-by-step way that would preserve Chinese unity.     [FULL  STORY]

Book reveals 57 personal accounts of White Terror

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 13, 2015
By: Yang Yuan-ting and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Long Night’s Journey (走過長夜), an anthology of the accounts of 57

Relatives of victims of political repression share their family stories at a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday to launch of a new book on the White Terror. Photo courtesy of the Preparatory Office of the National Human Rights Museum

Relatives of victims of political repression share their family stories at a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday to launch of a new book on the White Terror. Photo courtesy of the Preparatory Office of the National Human Rights Museum

Taiwanese political prisoners and victims of state repression during the White Terror era, was released yesterday by the Preparatory Office of National Human Rights Museum.

The White Terror era describes the suppression of political dissidents and public discussion of the 228 Incident under martial law from May 19, 1949, to July 15, 1987.

At a press conference held to introduce the collection, four family members of White Terror era victims shared their stories.

Political prisoner Wu Yih-min’s (吳逸民) daughter, Wu Wen-hui (吳文慧), said her father was a National Taiwan University economics student when he was of convicted of anti-government activity by the then-National Security Bureau and imprisoned for 13 years.      [FULL  STORY]