Taiwan News
Date: 2015-07-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je said Friday that police had not followed

standard operating procedures when arresting three reporters at a student protest against the Ministry of Education.

A total of 33 people, including 11 students, had been arrested after protesters against changes in high-school curriculum guidelines entered the Ministry of Education building Thursday evening.

Even though the three journalists had identified themselves and told police they were covering the protest, they were still taken away by officers as defendants for unauthorized entering of the MOE, provoking a dispute about their rights.

Ko said the city’s police chief had told him his officers had not followed standard operating procedures, but the MOE had called them in to respond to a situation and they had arrested people caught in the act. Police had handed over the arrested protesters and the journalists to prosecutors, who would have to shoulder responsibility for further developments.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/24
By: P.N. Lung and Flor Wang

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) A group of U.S. medical experts have offered high praise for Taiwan’s treatment of people who were severely burned when colored powder ignited at a concert at a New Taipei water park late last month, an official said Friday.

Wang Tsung-hsi (王宗曦), director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Department of Medical Affairs, said the U.S. burn experts from Johns Hopkins used such terms as “amazing” and “extremely great” to describe the work of Taiwanese medical teams after visiting 12 local hospitals over the past week.

According to Wang, the U.S. experts shared their experience with local doctors, including techniques related to grafting scrotal skin on patients and the use of cadaver skin and blood plasma.

Health Minister Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) appreciated the efforts of the U.S. specialists during their stay in Taiwan, saying that both sides treasured this valuable opportunity to exchange views and clinical experience on treating burns.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-24
By: CNA

Kaohsiung began a week-long test of the country’s first light rail system on Tuesday with an

eye toward holding a passenger trial run in the second half of August, the southern Taiwan city’s Mass Rapid Transit Bureau said.

The tests, being conducted to prepare for an initial review by the municipal government, will have trams run every half hour for seven days between the C1 and C4 stops.

Once the system passes its initial review, the city can apply for a final review and approval by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications before opening the light rail system to the public, according to the bureau.

The light rail line is set to run on a circular route around the city with a total of 37 stops. Construction has been divided into two phases.

The first 8.7-kilometer phase, which includes the four stops currently being tested, consists of 14 stops and is expected to be completed in June next year, the bureau said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 25, 2015
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan  /  Staff reporter

Former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) assertion that the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚

台) belong to Japan and not Taiwan amounts to “an act that humiliates the nation and forfeits its sovereignty,” Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday.

Chen made the remarks yesterday after Lee reiterated his long-held view that sovereignty over the disputed islands in the East China Sea lies with Japan while answering questions at a meeting with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Thursday.

According to media reports, Lee referred to the islands by their Japanese name, the Senkaku Islands, and not as the Diaoyutai Islands, the designation used in Taiwan. The islands are also claimed by China as the Diaoyu Archipelago.

“In the past, I have repeatedly said that the Senakaku Islands are part of the territory of Japan, not of Taiwan,” Lee was reported as having said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/23
By: Kuo Chu-chen and Lauren Hung

Pingtung, July 23 (CNA) The National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA) in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, was ranked as the 4th best in Asia this year on the international travel website TripAdvisor.

The National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium moved up one notch from last year in the Traveler’s Choice Awards on the website and was picked as the best among all the aquariums in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

It is the second year in a row that the NMMBA has been named among TripAdvisor’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards, which are granted to less than 1 percent of the tourist sites listed on the website.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-23
By: CNA

The average global temperature in the first six months of 2015 was the highest ever recorded

for that period, and the trend is likely to continue for the rest of the year, according to a recent report issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In June, the average global temperature was 16.33 degrees Celsius, the highest on record for that month, and there is a good chance that the 2015 temperature will rise beyond the yearly average, the report said.

In the first half of 2015, the land and sea-surface temperatures were 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average and 0.09 degrees higher than the previous annual record in 2010, according to the NOAA.

Commenting on the report, two Taiwanese climate scientists said Wednesday that global warming is essentially irreversible.

Cheng Ming-dean, director of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau forecast center, said average global temperatures have continued to rise, mainly due to increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions and changes in the Earth’s climate.     [FULL  STORY]

DEBT TRAP:The DPP chairperson promised to pull the nation out of debt if it returns to power through strict budget reviews and by seeking foreign investments

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 24, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

The financial problems that the Miaoli County Government is facing is a warning to the entire

nation, Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, vowing to lead the nation out of a debt trap if she is elected president.

Greeted by hundreds of supporters and accompanied by DPP county councilors, Tsai attended several rallies around the county to stump for the party’s legislative candidates, criticizing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, while promising that her party would do a better job.

“Miaoli County owes a record-high debt of more than NT$60 billion [US$1.9 billion], but the debt did not bring anything positive to the county, but only overinvestment and overdevelopment,” Tsai told the crowd. “The county government spent a lot of money on fireworks and concerts for the world’s top tenors; it failed to use taxpayers’ money effectively.”     [FULL  STORY]