• Executive with Nan Hai Development says company is ready to sue over loss of multibillion-dollar scheme on national security grounds
• Taipei court has begun considering appeal and decision expected in two to four weeks

South China Morning Post
Date: 17 Nov, 2019
By: Lawrence Chung  

Nan Hai Corp successfully bid for the project only to have the deal halted by Taiwan’s Investment Commission on national security grounds. Photo: MVRDV

Nan Hai Corporation successfully bid for the Taipei Twin Towers project – via its wholly owned subsidiary Nan Hai Development in partnership with Malaysian property developer Malton Berhad – last year only to have the deal halted in June by Taiwan’s Investment Commission on national security grounds.

Yang Shu-ling, a spokeswoman for the commission, said at the time that the parent company’s financial statements showed that more than half of its board members were from mainland China and that the bulk of the subsidiary’s operations and staff were based there.

She said that because the project was located near Taipei railway station – a hub for the city’s bus and train links – “the project cannot be carried out by a group with such a close connection with China, which would easily sway the decisions of the company”.    [FULL  STORY]

Revitalization of site will restore some of Taiwan's few remaining complexes from Japanese colonial era

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/17
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Historic Jiji Camphor Branch Office Buildings. (Ministry of Culture photo)

The project to restore the buildings will run from 2019 through 2023, with a budget of NT$199.5 million (US$6.5 million), of which NT$159.6 million comes from a subsidy provided by the MOC. “In the future, the local character of the site will be shaped through civic participation and dialogue” in order to “drive local cultural industries and bring joint prosperity,” the statement read.

Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said that the revitalization of the site will restore some of Taiwan's few surviving and most intact Japanese-era dormitories and office complexes.

The project will restore all 11 buildings on the site, which cover an area of over 3,300 square meters and are located in the heart of Jiji. This means that “There are a number of possibilities for reuse after the restoration is complete,” the MOC said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/17
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faces a challenge in maintaining

DPP candidate Wang Ting-yu (left) in District 6; former KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (right)

Tainan has been controlled for decades by the DPP, and the party has won every legislative seat contested there since 2008. All five seats representing the city are currently in DPP hands.

With Taiwan's electoral map redistricted ahead of the 2020 polls, Tainan will have six seats up for grabs on Jan. 11, 2020, and the outlook for the DPP may not be as rosy as in the recent past.

The ruling party is still rebounding from a resounding defeat in nationwide elections for local government offices in November 2018.    [FULL  ASTORY]

• Racial discrimination prompted ethnic Chinese to flee Indonesia in the 1950s and 1960s
• Many opted for Taiwan over communist-led mainland China – and not just because of politics

South China Morning Post
Date: 16 Nov, 2019
By: Randy Mulyanto  

An anti-Chinese demonstration in Jakarta, 1967. Photo: AFP

They are a reminder of the Chinese civil war, which ended in 1949 with the creation of the People’s Republic of China. The seat of government of the ROC, Taiwan

’s official name, was relocated to Taipei after the nationalists lost to the communists.Around this time, anti-Chinese sentiment began building in Indonesia, prompting some pro-nationalist ethnic Chinese Indonesians to move to Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s.One such “returnee” was Lee Hui Ying, 81, who left Indonesia in 1960 with four siblings due to the pai hua, or anti-Chinese sentiment, that swept the Southeast Asian nation following discriminatory rhetoric and policies by the government.        [FULL  STORY]

New Taipei City applies to join Powering Past Coal Alliance

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/16
By: Sally Jensen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Linkou (林口) coal-fired power plant, New Taipei City. Flickr photo.

Scholars from fellow island nations the U.K. and Japan were invited to the 2019 Towards the Sustainable and Energy Transformation Forum hosted by New Taipei City Government on Thursday. Hsieh announced that the city will submit its application to the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), becoming the first city in Taiwan to officially join and committing to being coal-free by 2023.

The move has been praised by PPCA founders Canada and the UK. The application documents will be formally submitted to the alliance’s headquarters in the near future, and it is hoped that by joining, New Taipei City will encourage more cities to come on board.

The PPCA is a global alliance of national and local governments, businesses, and organizations working to accelerate the transition away from the unabated generation of coal power. Launched at the COP23 climate summit in 2017, it now has 91 members.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/16
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 16 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文, right) and former Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德)

The announcement is expected at a press conference scheduled for Sunday morning in Taipei.

Both Tsai and Lai on Saturday attended the inauguration of Tsai's Kaohsiung campaign headquarters, vowing to defend the country's sovereignty and reject the "one country, two systems" principle, formulated by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) in the early 1980s.

The principle suggests there is only one China, but distinct regions such as Hong Kong and Macau can provisionally retain their own economic and administrative systems.    [FULL  STORY]

PRICE OF BEAUTY: Two sisters experienced botulism poisoning after possibly being injected with excessive doses or faulty products at an unlicensed clinic in Taipei

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 17, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The nation’s first case of poisoning caused by a botulinum toxin injection was reported by

Yang Chen-chang, director of clinical toxicology and occupational medicine at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, speaks at a forum i n Taipei yesterday about intoxication caused by botox injections.
Photo: CNA

Yang, TVGH clinical toxicology and occupational medicine department director, disclosed the case during a lecture on botulism poisoning related to cosmetic procedures at this year’s International Conference for Poison Control and Research Development.

The case involved two sisters in their 50s who received botulinum toxin injections in June at an unlicensed workshop that used botulinum toxin products from an unknown source, resulting in botulism poisoning five days later.

The older sister suffered from unclear speech, a hoarse voice and difficulty swallowing after getting multiple injections in the face. However, she was not diagnosed with botulism poisoning when she sought treatment at a clinic, so her condition worsened, and she began experiencing weakness in her limbs and also required feeding through a nasogastric tube.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 15 November, 2019
By: Paula Chao

“Mask — Beauty of the Spirits”

The masks are being shown in an exhibit called “Mask — Beauty of the Spirits”. This is a special traveling exhibit that began touring the world in 2008. Its showing in Taiwan is being jointly sponsored by the Musée du quai Branly and the southern branch of Taiwan’s National Palace Museum.    [FULL  STORY]

DPP legislator predicts imminent announcement

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Ex-Premier Lai (center) with legislator Liu Shyh-fang (first right). (CNA photo)

Recent media reports suggested she would reveal her pick on November 14, but the event did not occur. In the meantime, all other presidential contenders announced their vice-presidential partners for the January 11, 2020 election.

Accompanying Lai on a visit to a retirement home in Kaohsiung Friday, legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said that “everybody’s expectation” would not be empty but would be met within 48 hours, the Liberty Times reported.

Reacting to her words, the former premier was more cautious, emphasizing that choosing a vice-presidential candidate was the prerogative of the president. Lai was unwilling to reveal whether he had discussed the matter with President Tsai, according to the Liberty Times.
[FULL  STORY]