Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/09
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) All three people who were on a trainer aircraft that went missing

Monday afternoon were rescued about an hour after the accident, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said.

Two flight trainees and an instructor on the Diamond Aircraft DA40NG plane, which belongs to the Taitung-based Apex Flight Academy, were rescued at 6:22 p.m., said Clark Lin (林俊良), director of the CAA’s Flight Standards Division.

The aircraft, which took off from Taitung Airport at 4:20 p.m. en route to Kaohsiung for a cross-country training, lost contact with flight controllers at 5:07 p.m. while flying over the sea about 11 nautical miles southwest of Kaohsiung International Airport, Lin said.

A CAA mission control center quickly informed nearby airports, the National Airborne Service Corps, the Coast Guard Administration and other groups to put together a rescue team, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Foreign Bried
Date: July 9, 2018
By: John Milo

Panamanian and Chinese officials will launch the first round of trade negotiations in

Panama City today with the aim of eventually inking a free trade agreement. The talks come one year after Panama switched diplomatic recognition China to Taiwan.

China is Panama’s second largest source of imports, the second biggest user of the Panama Canal and the largest supplier of goods to the Colon free trade zone. For Panama, Beijing would significantly increase exports in aluminium scrap, coffee, crustaceans and wood as well as further Chinese investment in the country through projects like the Panama cruise ship port, worth $165 million.

The template for China is clear—switch allegiances and you will be rewarded; key examples include Costa Rica and Dominican Republic. The threat of a Nicaraguan canal backed by Chinese investment is likely to have forced the issue for Panama. That rival canal’s future is now uncertain. Expect further economic sweeteners to other countries in the region, like Haiti, Honduras and Paraguay.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/08
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan)—If there is one place in Taiwan where you can indulge yourself in the joys of exploring both the mountains and the sea, where you can enjoy quietness and relaxation, and where you can engage in lots of adventure activities, it must be Nanao Township in Taiwan’s northeastern county of Yilan.

I embarked on my getaway to Nanao around 1 p.m. on Friday (July 6). I took National Highway No. 5 because it was the quickest way to get to Yilan County from Taipei. At the end of the national highway, I took the Suhua Highway (Provincial Highway No. 9). Since a couple of sections under the Suhua Highway Improvement Project were completed and open to the traffic not long ago, travel from Taipei to Yilan and Hualien has been a lot easier and quicker. It takes about two hours to get to Nanao from Taipei.

Nanao, located in the southeast of Yilan County, is geologically formed by the alluvial plain of three rivers (Nanaou River, Nanao North River and Nanao South River), and the town is surrounded by high mountains on the north, west and south sides, with the east side bordering the Pacific Ocean with a 8-kilometer-long beautiful mixed sand and pebble beach.

The first thing I did after arriving in Nanaou was to have shaved ice at an ice shop called Jianhua Ice Shop (建華冰店), a traditional ice shop on the main street (Provincial Highway No. 9) that sells really delicious shaved ice. I chose the mulberry ice from a great many choices.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/08
By: Huang Li-yun and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, July 8 (CNA) A senior Cabinet official resigned from his post Sunday after he was

found allegedly taking photos of a woman’s legs with his mobile phone at a Taipei MRT station a day earlier.

In a statement, Deputy Minister Chiou Jiunn-rong (邱俊榮) of the National Development Council (NDC), issued an apology over the incident, which he previously termed an honest mistake as he accidently took the photos of “a view of the woman’s back” while he was trying to call one of his friends at the MRT Ximen Station a day earlier.

He said he immediately deleted the photos and apologized to the lady in question.

But since the incident has already caused controversy and affected the operation of the Cabinet, Chiou said he tendered his resignation, pending a further probe.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/07/07
By:  Central News Agency

The annual Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival opened Saturday in the northeastern county, offering a variety of water games and do-it-yourself activities for families and children.

One of the main highlights this year is the Flying Fish Pirate Ship, a 50-meter long, nine-meter tall structure that features a 50-meter water slide, said Yilan Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lee Chih-yung.

Another attraction is the Water Volcano, where children get to climb up obstacles and then slide down into a swimming pool, Lee said.

Besides the water-related fun, there are also more subtle games such as indoor mazes and interactive exhibitions for people of all ages, according to the cultural affairs bureau.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/07
By: Chen Wei-ting and Hsu Hsiao-ling

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) A Central Weather Bureau forecaster said Saturday that Super Typhoon Maria could hit Taiwan directly and that the chances of sea and land warnings being issued are high due to a constantly strengthening Pacific anticyclone.

Yen Tseng-hsi (顏增璽) said that the typhoon is forecast to hit northern Taiwan either Tuesday evening or Wednesday, and that the sea and land warnings will probably be issued Monday evening.    [FULL  STORY]