Taiwan English News
Date: December 14, 2019 
By: Phillip Charlier  \

Seven people died and three were injured after a deliberately lit fire engulfed a building housing members of a Buddhist sect in Tainan City in the early hours of the morning today, December 14.

The Tainan City Fire Department received reports of the fire in the rural Yujing District at around 1:20am. Eleven fire appliances and 21 personnel were dispatched to the three-storey building housing 46 members of a Buddhist commune.

The fire was brought under control at around 3:15, and after firefighters entered the building, 6 burned corpses were found on the second floor. A female was also found OHCA and was declared dead after arrival at the hospital.

Three injuries were reported, including two men who jumped from a second-floor window, and one firefighter who broke his arm after falling from the second floor while clearing debris.
[FULL  STORY]

A 21-year-old suspect claimed to set the blaze

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/14
By:  Central News Agency\

Seven people were killed in a suspected arson attack on an apartment complex in Tainan City's Yujing District early Saturday.

The fire was reported at around 1 a.m. at the three-story building, which was used as a retreat for followers of the Yi Kuan Tao religious sect, according to the southern city's Fire Bureau.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/14
By: Elaine Hou and Emerson Lim

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Nauru President Lionel Aingimea, who is currently in Taiwan for his first foreign

Nauru President Lionel Aingimea[/caption]visit after assuming office in August, reaffirmed Nauru-Taiwan relations on Saturday amid ongoing Chinese expansion in the South Pacific region.

Aingimea arrived in Taiwan on Friday for a five-day state visit, his third to Taiwan and first as president.

In an exclusive interview with the CNA on Saturday, Aingimea said bilateral relations are significant and reiterated that he sees Taiwan as family, which he also told Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) during a welcome banquet Friday.

"When you start using words like family, it takes it up to a different level, a level that ensures that when things happen within family, family sticks together," Aingimea said.    [FULL  STORY]

MOVE LIKE WATER: Hundreds of protesters called on the government to install systems to treat wastewater and handle industrial runoff entering the Toucian River

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 15, 2019
By: Huang Mei-chu and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A group of about 300 protesters yesterday gathered at “tofu rocks” along Hsinchu County’s Toucian

River (頭前溪) to demand clean drinking water for the county’s residents.

The protesters stood on the riverbank to form the Chinese character for the word “water” (水, shui), and captured the scene using a drone.

A group of local environmental activists tested water and demonstrated the effects of water-borne parasites on water quality.

Event organizers invited local politicians from across party lines to participate, saying that water quality was everyone’s concern.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 December, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

President Tsai Ing-wen has welcomed Nauruan President Lionel Aingimea to Taiwan. The island nation of Nauru is one of Taiwan’s four diplomatic allies in the South Pacific.

During a welcome ceremony Friday, President Tsai said that Taiwan and Nauru have a firm friendship.    [FULL  STORY]

Deep-fried stinky tofu, a common street food hated by many Westerners, is loved by Nauru's new president

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/13
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — For the first time in a century, Taiwan's street food dish stinky tofu was served at a state banquet at the Presidential Office Building as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received Nauruan President Lionel Aingimea.

Across Taiwan, deep-fried stinky tofu is a common street food that Westerners either love or hate. The fermented dish has a strong acrid odor and was named by a travel website as one of the ten smelliest foods in the world, though it was voted the most popular snack in Taiwan according to a government survey.

President Tsai hosted a state banquet at noon on Friday (Dec. 13) at the century-old Presidential Office Building for President Aingimea of the Republic of Nauru, one of Taiwan's Pacific allies. She warmly welcomed Aingimea, who is on his first state trip to Taiwan since taking office.

Aingimea first tried Taiwanese stinky tofu during a transit stop in late September, and at their Friday morning meeting, he is said to have told Tsai that the dish is "unforgettable."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/13
By: Flor Wang and Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Some groups or fan pages supporting Kuomintang presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) were found to have been removed by Facebook after some netizens tried to enter the pages unsuccessfully on Friday.

According to some Internet users, they were unable to log into some Han fan's Facebook groups and fan pages, including one that has 155,443 members.

The page was found to be completely blank with only a notice saying: Sorry, this content isn't available right now.

According to Facebook, 118 Taiwan-based fan pages, 99 public groups and 51 accounts used to administer these pages and groups were taken off its platform on Friday.    [FULL  STORY]

UPS AND DOWNS: After Far Eastern Air announced on Thursday that it was ceasing operations, its chairman said they would restart, drawing a backlash from critics

Taipei Times
Date: Dec: 14, 2019
By: Lo chi, Chien Hui-ju and Dennis Xie  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

Chung Hua Premium Tourism Development Association chairman Lee Chi-yueh (李奇嶽) yesterday

called on the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to establish a surety system to better protect consumers’ rights.

The call came after the Thursday announcement by Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT) that it would end all flight operations starting yesterday, due to financial difficulties, although yesterday, FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) said that promised funding would allow the airline to restart operations.

The CAA is not listening to the rising demand for a surety system and its inaction was a dereliction of duty, Lee said, adding that the airline has not learned any lessons from previous cases, such as the dissolution of TransAsia Airways, EVA and China Airlines strikes, and now the abrupt flight suspensions from FAT.

“Why would consumers ever want to fly with an airline that announces flight suspensions one minute and in the next says they will restart?” Taiwan Aviation Education Development Association chairman Wang Cheng-kuang (王正光) said, adding that the incident is a blow to FAT’s reputation.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 12 December, 2019
By: Paula Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen is calling on supporters to cast their votes for her on Election Day, as she fights

for a second term. Tsai was speaking Thursday in a livestream introduced by her campaign office.

To boost public support and confidence in her administration, Tsai said she will spend the next 30 days talking about her vision of the future. She also said she will highlight the achievements of her four years in office in a clearer, more concrete, and more thorough way. Tsai said she has no plans to waste time on political rhetoric.
[FULL  STORY]