According to AirBnb, Taiwan is a very popular travel destination for Chinese millenials

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/06
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Editor

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan is the most popular international destination during the Lunar New Year for Chinese users of the AirBnb accommodation booking application, according to recent data from the company.

For young Chinese travelers this year, Taiwan outshone other countries in the region as the most attractive international destination. Other popular international destinations for young Chinese travelers were Bangkok, Thailand and Osaka, Japan.

As of 2017, AirBnB entered the Chinese market and, according to reservations made for this year’s Lunar New Year holidays, 80 percent of their user base consists of persons born in the 1980s or 1990s, and otherwise known as millennials.

The data suggests that Taiwan is an increasingly attractive destination for young Chinese vacationers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/06
By: Lee Shien-feng and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Feb. 6 (CNA) An earthquake that struck the city of Hualien on Feb. 6, 2018, claiming the lives of 17 people and causing the partial collapse of four buildings, left many of the survivors traumatized and homeless.

A year later, some continue to struggle to rebuild their lives, waiting for more permanent housing promised by the government on which construction only recently began after a long delay.

The magnitude 6 temblor struck Hualien at 11:50 p.m., leading to the partial destruction of the Marshal Hotel (統帥飯店), the Yun Men Tsui Ti (雲門翠堤) commercial and residential complex, and the Platinum Twin Star (白金雙星大樓) and the Wu-ju-wu-shu (吾居吾宿大樓) residential buildings.

The three residential buildings that partially collapsed had a total of 195 residential units, and for some of the people that owned them, the disaster is still with them as their lives remain in limbo.    [FULL  STORY]

CREATIVE VISIONS: Several designers wanted to preserve elements of Chinese and Taiwanese culture, while a dog’s water bowl proved helpful to another

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 07, 2019
By: Wu Po-hsuan  /  Staff reporter

Despite the increasingly digitalization of the world, a number of winners of last year’s Golden Pin Design Awards share a love of reading paper, and are embracing a return to handwriting and physical books.

Muwu Design Studio (目物設計工作室) owner Kao Peng-hisang (高鵬翔), whose book The Typesetting Master’s Table (老師傅的排版桌) won the Best Design of the Year, said he had created the book as a way of preserving unique local culture.

Worried that typesetting of Chinese characters would become a lost art, he had studied its history, which can be traced back to the late Qing dynasty, when Western missionaries used the technology to publish Bibles, he said.

His book not only explains the technology and methods of traditional typesetting, but also provides a typesetting toolkit that includes lead characters, tweezers and ink.
[FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post 
Date: 05 February, 2019 
By: Kinling Lo

• Propaganda film leaves little to the imagination as images of military aircraft are set against shots of Taiwanese landmarks
• Soundtrack calls for ‘Brothers and sisters’ to ‘return [and] reunite’

Beijing has released a “goodwill” Lunar New Year video message to the people of Taiwan that juxtaposes scenes of daily life in the self-ruled island with shots of fighter jets and bombers from the People’s Liberation Army taking part in exercises.

The film, titled My Fighting Eagles Fly Around Formosa – an old name for Taiwan, was published on social media by the PLA Air Force Airborne Corps on Sunday with a note saying it was to celebrate the new year, which fell on Tuesday.

The 3½-minute propaganda film released on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, leaves little to the imagination as it superimposes the official badge of the air force against a shot of Taiwan’s iconic skyscraper Taipei 101, once the world’s tallest building.

Despite the footage of H-6 bombers and J-20 stealth fighters, the film’s official message speaks of reunification and brotherhood. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.

The lyrics of the song that accompanies the images call for “Brothers and sisters” from Taiwan to “return [and] reunite”.    [FULL  STORY]

The competition nominees were announced Tuesday

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/05
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —Two Taiwanese photographers have been nominated in this year’s Sony World Photography Awards.

The nominees of the international photography competition were announced Tuesday. Taiwanese photographers Ace Wu (吳永森) and Kuo Tzu-yang (郭子揚) both earned nominations in separate categories of the “Open” competition, and now sit among some of the best photographers in the world.

Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most prestigious international photography championships. It constitutes four separate competitions, namely: Professional, Open, Youth and Student.

The list of nominees participating in the Open competition—in which Wu and Kuo entered—was announced Tuesday alongside the list of those entering the Youth Competition.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/05
By: Tang Sheng-yang and Y.F. Low 

Taipei, Feb. 5 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received a death threat on her official Facebook page on Tuesday, the first day of the Year of the Pig.

The threat was made by an apparent pro-China visitor in a message reading: “New Year’s wish: Behead Tsai Ing-wen, unify China.”

In response, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said the act may have violated the Criminal Code and that police have launched an investigation to identify the visitor.
[SOURCE]

PRECAUTION: Health agencies and experts advised the public to avoid overeating or staying up too late, which might lead to health complications for some people

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 06, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan and Tsai Shu-yuan  /  Staff reporters

Influenza and gastroenteritis were among last year’s top 10 causes of people visiting

doctors during and after the Lunar New Year holiday, the National Health Insurance Administration said yesterday, urging people to look after their health.

In the week following last year’s holiday, more than 1.7 million people sought treatment for influenza, while 316,161 people went to hospitals because of gastroenteritis, agency data showed.

They were also the top two illnesses causing 3,000 to 6,000 people per day to seek emergency treatment during the holiday over the past three years, the data showed.

Lower back pain, high blood pressure, allergies, soft tissue diseases, diabetes with complications, eye inflammation, upper respiratory tract infection and diabetes without complications rounded out the top 10 diseases, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]

Island’s president says her commitment to democracy may not be understood in some places

South China Morning Post 
Date: 04 February, 2019

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took a swipe at mainland China’s lack of freedom in a

message to mark the start of the Lunar New Year on Tuesday, saying she hoped ethnic Chinese all over the world could experience the “blessing” of democracy.

Self-governed Taiwan is China’s most sensitive issue and is claimed by Beijing as its territory under its one-China policy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stepped up pressure on the island since Tsai, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, became president in 2016.

He kicked off 2019 with a speech reiterating that Beijing reserved the right to use force to bring Taiwan under its control, although it would strive for peaceful “reunification”.
[FULL  STORY]

At least 6,000 homeless people and the poor will be sitting shoulder to shoulder around the tables to enjoy the free feast together in the cold winter

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/04
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Lunar New Year’s Eve, families will be gathering from far and wide to tuck into a sumptuous reunion dinner—although this humble tradition is often not enjoyed by everyone.

A 79-year-old Gua-bao (刈包) vendor took to the streets ahead of and during the Lunar New Year holiday again this year, however, to set tables and ensure around 6,000 homeless people will get to enjoy a feast of delicious dishes.

Liao Jung-chi (廖榮吉) began hosting outdoor “reunion dinners” for the homeless and poor in 1985, and continued to do so each year after receiving funding from others; although funds have dwindled amid the prolonged period of slow economic growth.

Liao told media that the number of tables hit a record high of one thousand in 2013, when the event was held at a riverside parking lot over a period of four days.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/04
By: Wu Jui-chi and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) Taoyuan’s Department of Labor will launch an investigation next week into allegations that Apple supplier Career Technology (嘉聯益) forced 200 full-time employees to sign voluntary resignation papers before the Lunar New Year.

Employees at Career Technology reported that operations at the company’s factory in Guanyin have been shut down for more than two weeks and that 200 employees were forced to sign a voluntary termination of employment form so that the company could avoid paying severance.

The city’s Labor Department said it received a report from the company saying it had laid off 36 and 23 workers, respectively, on Jan. 29 and Jan. 31.

Career Technology, which supplies flexible printed circuit-boards (FPCB) for iPhone antennas, said there had to be a misunderstanding, according to the department.
[FULL  STORY]