Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 November, 2018

A graphic design from Taiwan has won silver at the International Chinese Zodiac Design Competition. Bowls and utensils come together to form the head of a pig to symbolize the Year of the Pig, the theme of the competition.

The annual competition, hosted by the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), is in its fifth year. The theme this year, the Year of the Pig, is the zodiac sign for the upcoming year on the lunar calendar.    [FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/01
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Police in Taipei say they are still seeking the whereabouts of a man who attacked the head of the city’s Department of Labor on Wednesday.

Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) was attacked with a steel bar while she was sitting at her desk.

According to Lai’s secretary, the suspect hit the labor official in the head several times before running out of the building.

Lai was hospitalized for treatment after suffering several facial injuries.

The suspect was caught on closed circuit television leaving city hall following the attack and has been named as Lee Ming-yen (李明彥).    [FULL  STORY]

In an exclusive interview with Taiwan News, Jane Goodall speaks about conservation efforts and ecological practices in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/01
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – World renowned primatologist and anthropologist Dr Jane Goodall is currently on a short tour of Taiwan, where she sat down with Taiwan News on Oct. 31 to discuss conservation efforts and how society can become more ecologically conscious.

During her visit, Goodall advocated hope in a speech in Taipei, participated in work done by the Jane Goodall Institute of Taiwan and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots youth program, and met with friends including I-Mei Foods CEO Luis Ko (高志明).

When asked about environmental conservation in Taiwan, Goodall said that it has “changed a lot” since her first visit to Taiwan in 1996. She mentioned that at the time, the “mad race for development” was damaging Taiwan’s environment, but there were signs of a forthcoming change for the better

Since then, Jane and the Goodall Institute of Taiwan have contributed to a range of animal conservation projects, like those in support of the black-faced spoonbill, pheasant-tailed jacana, Formosan Sika Deer, and Formosan landlocked salmon. The goal of many of these projects is to bring the animals back from from their pathway towards extinction.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/01
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Thursday identified illegal

remittances of money from outside Taiwan and the spreading of falsehoods as two tactics being adopted to influence the outcome of the elections later this month.

He instructed related authorities to ensure the fairness, integrity and security of the electoral process.

Lai made the remarks at a weekly Cabinet meeting where preparations for the combined “nine-in-one” elections and 10 referendums on Nov. 24 were discussed, the Executive Yuan said in a statement.

At the meeting, both the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the National Police Agency (NPA) presented briefings about cases currently being investigated relating to suspected vote-buying, campaign violence, gang involvement, underground election related gambling, dissemination of misinformation and illegal remittances, according to their reports which were made available to reporters.    [FULL  STORY]

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: A Cabinet representative appeared in court to defend the premier’s appointment of a new chair of the justice commission, after a KMT complaint

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2018
By: Lee Hsin-fang, Wen Yu-te and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Transitional Justice Commission is considering donating statues of Chiang Kai-shek

(蔣介石) to willing communities, repurposing them as art or replacing them with statues of locally born people, commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) said on Wednesday.

There is more than one way to deal with authoritarian symbols such as statues of Chiang Kai-shek and former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), she said.

That could mean removing them, replacing them with statues of local historical or literary figures, converting them into installation art or giving them to former military dependents’ villages that might be interested in “adopting” them, she said.

While removing the statues would be an option, it would not be the only one, she said.
[FULL  STORY]

Over the years, a group of people originally from the eastern county of Hualien have returned to reinvent their rural neighborhood. As in other places around Taiwan, rural areas have declined due to an aging population and the exodus of young people to big cities.

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 2018-10-31

Fuli is a quiet, idyllic village in Hualien County. The beautiful scenery and the rice paddies give visitors a sense of peace, but the place is little known to the outside world.

On grassland surrounded by mountains, young children practice dances for the annual Fuli Harvest Music Festival.

The festival is organized by Chung Yu-un, a young man who has been working to reinvent his home so that more people will be able to enjoy its beauty.

When Chung first held the festival two years ago, only two to three bands and 20 booths took part in the event. This year 10 bands and 60 booths were invited. Chung said Fuli, with the highest concentration of organic farming, boasts a lot of organic products.
[FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/31
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Taiwan Deputy Defense Minister Chang Guan-chung (張冠群), speaking at the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Maryland, said Taiwan’s national defense will be built on a “dual-development platform” that focuses on the development of indigenous systems and foreign arms sales.

The statement comes after U.S.-Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers announced that Washington will likely approve another round of arms sales to Taiwan by the end of this year.

However, Hammond-Chambers is playing down the significance of that comment, saying his prediction is “not based on hard evidence” that Washington could announce such a sale in the coming couple of months.

Han Kuang military drill simulating China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invading Taiwan.
Chang said Taiwan is moving towards a self-reliant defense, but will still seek the participation of foreign companies to “develop sub-systems and critical modules through market mechanisms.”    [FULL  STORY]

Situation could be avoided by patience and communication: Susan Thornton

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan Strait was the most likely place to become a flashpoint for a conflict between the United States and China, but patience and communication could avoid it, said Susan Thornton, a former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

She was speaking at a Brookings Institution panel discussion about whether it was possible to reconcile the long-term interests of the U.S. and China, the Liberty Times reported.

Thornton said it was possible for the two nations to handle their differences, even though the Taiwan issue was the topic most likely to function as a flashpoint.

While the island had for a long time been the most sensitive matter in U.S.-China relations, it was sufficient for the three sides to show restraint and fully communicate in order to avoid such a situation, Thornton reportedly said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/31
By: Elaine Hou and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) Uruguay has decided to allow Taiwanese travelers visa-free entry for

stays of up to 90 days, which makes it the 169th country or territory across the world to offer that status to Republic of China (Taiwan) passport holders, the Ministry of Foreign affairs (MOFA) said Wednesday.

The Uruguayan government agreed on Oct. 19 to include Taiwan in its visa-waiver program but did not make an official announcement until Oct. 29 after it had completed all the necessary procedures, including informing the International Air Transport Association (IATA), MOFA said.    [FULL  STORY]