Amy Qin discovers the unique texture known as ‘Q’ that’s highly sought after in Taiwanese cuisine, from fish balls to bubble milk tea

Independent
Date: November 3, 2018

As dusk falls at Lehua Night Market, the fluorescent lights flicker on and the hungry customers start trickling in, anxious for a taste of the local delicacies that give this island its reputation as one of Asia’s finest culinary capitals.

Neatly arranged pyramids of plump fish balls. Bowls brimming with tapioca pearls bathed in lightly sweetened syrup. Sizzling oyster omelettes, hot off the griddle. Deep-fried sweet potato puffs, still dripping with oil.

Take a bite of any of these dishes and you’ll discover a unique texture. But how exactly do you describe that perfectly calibrated “mouthfeel” so sought after by local cooks and eaters alike?    [SOURCE]

Woman lost camera in Tainan in January 2017

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Police at the Huaping Precinct in Tainan City looked up in surprise recently when they received a letter from New York.

After they opened it, they found out it was an American woman named Saya thanking them for finding the camera she had lost during a visit to Taiwan early last year, the Central News Agency reported.

The traveler included a sticker of the New York Police Department with her letter, addressed to the precinct’s “Director Chen.”

“A very belated thank you for finding and sending my camera when I lost it in Tainan (in January 2017)!” the letter started.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/03
By: Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) A person living with mild cognitive impairment should take

advantage of the available treatments, and continue to lead their normal lives such as attending social activities, and even work, secretary general of the Taiwan Alzheimer Disease Association (TADA) Tang Li-yu (湯麗玉) said Saturday.

There are roughly 270,000 people in Taiwan currently with dementia and almost half of them suffer from mild cognitive impairment to the early stages of dementia, Tang said.

There should be no reason as to why they cannot continue to contribute to society, she added.

Tsang Tao-cheng (臧道正), who operates the Youmoutoohana Coffee shop in Taipei, said he totally supports helping people with early-onset dementia search for ways to utilize their abilities.    [FULL  STORY]

SECURITY GAP: Interpol could not reach its goal of ensuring ‘the widest possible mutual assistance between’ police if it continues to reject Taiwan’s potential, UK lawmakers said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 04, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA, LONDON

The British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group in a statement on Friday voiced its

support for Taiwan’s bid to participate in Interpol as an observer.

In the joint statement, UK Member of Parliament Nigel Evans and House of Lords deputy speaker Dennis Rogan called on Interpol to invite Taiwan to attend the Interpol General Assembly from Nov. 18 to Nov. 21 in Dubai as an observer.

“As the cochairs of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, we have for many years supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations, where Taiwan can make concrete contributions, including Interpol,” Evans and Rogan said.

Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) Commissioner Tsai Tsan-po (蔡蒼柏) in September sent a letter to Interpol requesting that the CIB be allowed to participate as an observer at the general assembly and in the organization’s activities.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 02 November, 2018
By: Jake Chen

President Tsai Ing-wen said Friday that the government will not monitor the public’s use

of social media outlets such as Facebook.

Tsai said Taiwan is a democratic country with freedom of speech. She said the core objective of national security in Taiwan is to protect the rights of citizens.

The president is herself an active user of Facebook. She said she receives messages daily, whether of encouragement, criticism or contributions to public discourse. Tsai said she welcomed them all, whether they came from members of the public in Taiwan or people who have “jumped the wall.” This is a reference to people in Mainland China who have circumvented their government’s block on sites such as Facebook.

At the same time, the president said the government takes seriously the issue of malicious agents who seek to disrupt the country’s democratic institutions through spreading false information.    [FULL  STORY]

Susie Chiang Su-hui says Beijing’s picking and choosing ‘is of no use’
Hong Kong visits by high-profile Taiwanese to culture forum stymied by visas

South China Morning Post 
Date: 02 November, 2018
By: Kristin Huang

Beijing’s efforts to allow Taiwanese greater access to opportunities on mainland China are in danger of backfiring, according to Taiwan’s former envoy to Hong Kong.

Susie Chiang Su-hui, honorary chairwoman of the Taiwan Business Association in Hong Kong, said that if Beijing continued to pick and choose applicants based on their political affiliations and squeezed out those who do not suit Beijing, the measures would be self-defeating.

“The government has spent lots of money, which in Taiwanese eyes is of no use and may even backfire,” Chiang said.

In February, Beijing introduced measures it said were designed to give Taiwanese companies and individuals more and easier access to the mainland.    [FULL  STORY]

Nighttime photo of Taipei’s futuristic-looking Agora Garden Tower

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/02
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An American-Canadian marketing manager took this photo of Agora Garden Tower (陶朱隱園) in Taipei’s Xinyi District looking highly futuristic and a bit alien.

The photographer, 30-year-old Adam Woolhether (吳亞當), who works as a global marketing manager for AsiaYo.com, captured the image in Taipei’s Xinyi District on Oct. 27. On Oct. 29, Woolhether posted the image on Reddit with the title “See the PROOF that ALIENS have landed amongst us in Taipei?” where it soon received 104 upvotes and 17 comments.

As for Woolhether’s inspiration for taking the photo, “I love futuristic architecture that has an alien-like feel to it. They did a great job with this building.”

Agora Garden Tower, also known as Tao Zhu Yin Yuan Tower, is a sustainable building created by Belgian architect named Vincent Callebaut, whose inspired for the tower was the shape of the double helix structure of DNA. After his firm Vincent Callebaut Architectures was awarded the bid to create the building in 2010, Callebaut decided to erect a structure that was “like an inhabited tree,” that could create a green urban landmark for the city with a minimal carbon footprint.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/02
By: Elaine Hou and Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) A satellite event of the 2018 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), a

conference on human rights, political freedom and democracy, will be held in Taiwan for the first time on Nov. 10, the event organizer said Friday.

According to a New York-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) news release, OFF has evolved from an annual flagship event in Oslo to include satellite events around the world, including New York, Johannesburg, Mexico City, and now, Taiwan.

Speakers at the first-ever Oslo Freedom Forum in Taiwan will include Cambodian human rights activist and exiled opposition politician Mu Sochua, North Korean defector and activist Ji Seong-ho, Vietnamese pop star and political activist Mai Khoi, Egyptian actor, model, and LGBT rights activist Omar Sharif Jr., and several others.

Thor Halvorssen, a Venezuela-based human rights activist who established the foundation, said he was honored that the event will be held in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]