Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – People First Party Chairman James Soong fell far behind

Kuomintang presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu in a poll released by the Apple Daily Wednesday, though Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen maintained a commanding lead.

On Tuesday, independent Shih Ming-te announced he was giving up an attempt to run in the January 16 presidential election because he found it impossible to collect the necessary 269,000 endorsements.

If the election were held Thursday, Tsai would receive 44.18 percent of the vote, a significant jump from 35.67 percent in an Apple Daily poll one month earlier, the newspaper reported.

Hung only dropped slightly more than 1 percent over the past month, from 29.68 percent to 28.49 percent. During the period, she retreated from public sight, giving fuel to rumors that she might give up or be replaced by the KMT. After a few days, she appeared in public again and resumed her campaign activities, denying all the rumors.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/16
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch arrived in Taiwan Wednesday on a three-day visit to advance trade relations between Taiwan and her state, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During her visit, Kleefisch is scheduled to call on officials in the ministries of economic and foreign affairs and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the ministry said in a statement.

Kleefisch, who is in Taiwan for the time in her capacity as Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor, is also expected to visit the King Car Group (金車) and the Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Group (永豐餘) to explore business opportunities, the ministry said.

As Wisconsin’s “jobs ambassador,” Kleefisch is responsible for creating job opportunities in her state and improving its economic development.     [FULL  STORY]

VALUABLE:The candidate pledged that, if elected, she plans to make agriculture contribute to social stability, as well as attractive to work in to the younger generation

Taipein Times
Date: Sep 17, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei City Farmers’ Association, which is traditionally supportive of the Chinese

Nationalist Party (KMT), yesterday openly welcomed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a move that might be seen as a sign that the organization is switching its support.

Walking into a conference room at the association’s headquarters, Tsai received a warm welcome from local DPP city councilors and association officials, who chanted slogans supporting Tsai in the election.

At a brief meeting on the needs of the agricultural sector, Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co chairman Chuang Lung-yen (莊龍彥), who campaigned for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), sat in the front row with Tsai.

Other attendees included association chief executive director Su Kuang-cheng (蘇光正), who presented Tsai with a gift of locally grown Pouchong tea (包種茶) and said she “will definitely win the election with a high number of votes.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/15
By: Wang Shu-fen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The NASA — A Human Adventure exhibition will be held in Taiwan in May 2016 to present 300 space objects, including moon landers and equipment used during the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, a Taiwanese event organizer said Tuesday.

Since 2012, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has held the exhibition in Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand and Sweden and plans a display in South Korea from Dec.5, 2015-Feb.14, 2016.

Taiwan is the eighth stop of the exhibition around the world and the fourth in Asia. The show is expected to be held at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall from May 30-Sept.30, 2016, according to Jades Integrate Co., Ltd., which is organizing the Taiwanese leg of the exhibition.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-15
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

A zoo in southern Taiwan said Sunday it has reached an agreement with a zoo in China to

exchange a pair of Formosan sika deer for two giant pandas.

The Shoushan Zoo in Kaohsiung will give two of its sika deer to the Chengdu Zoo in southwest China’s Sichuan province, said Chuang Hsuan-chih, director of the zoo.

In return, the Chinese zoo will gift two of its pandas to Shoushan Zoo, Chuang said.

The exchange is expected to enrich the diversity of species at Shoushan Zoo, which has been seeking to do so but has been limited by its funding and space.

The zoo, which attracts around 1 million visitors each year, said it is hoping to attract private investment to expand the zoo complex.

Shoushan Zoo expects it will be at least two years before the exchange can take place, due to the complex process and paperwork.

Taipei Zoo received two pandas from China in 2008, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. The pair produced a cub in 2013 named Yuan Zai, which has become the zoo’s star attraction.

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-15
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwanese tourists traveling Japan’s southwestern main island of Kyushu were declared

safe after Mount Aso, the country’s biggest active volcano, erupted again on Monday, according to Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau.

The bureau said it contacted several local travel agencies and found out that their tour groups in Kyushu had no choice but to opt against trips to the volcano, one of the most popular scenic spots and hiking areas on the island.

Though the actual rim of the volcano has been closed to visitors over the past six months, nearby areas were still open before the eruption, the bureau said.

Japanese authorities expanded the controlled area to a radius of 1 kilometer from the peak after the eruption occurred, and tour groups originally intending to take the scenic ropeway to go near the volcano had to change their schedules.

Lion Travel said the company had 78 tourists in three tour groups traveling in the affected area, and two of them had the volcano on their itineraries Monday.     [FULL  STORY]