Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/08
By: Tang Pei-chun and Joseph Yeh

Brussels, March 7 (CNA) Manneken-Pis, the symbol of the city of Brussels, was dressed

Manneken-Pis, the symbol of the city of Brussels, was dressed Wednesday in traditional Taiwanese Hakka clothing (photo courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Wednesday in traditional Taiwanese Hakka clothing to promote the nation’s cultural diversity to the Belgian people and the world.

In a ceremony held at Brussels City Hall, Taiwan’s representative to the EU and Belgium Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) gave the Hakka outfit to a representative of the non-profit association “The Friends of Manneken-Pis,” an organization founded in 1954 that is responsible for choosing new clothing for the iconic sculpture from among the hundreds of submissions received from around the world.

The outfit, consisting of a wide-sleeved upper garment and pants, was used to dress the famous bronze sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain’s basin.

In a later ceremony to unveil the sculpture wearing its new dress, Tseng, who is himself Hakka, said he felt extremely emotional to witness the historic moment bringing Taiwan’s Hakka culture to the world stage.    [FULL  STORY]

AmCham members positive over future but urge more action on labor flexibility and policy coordination.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/07
By: David Green

Credit: Depositphotos

The AmCham 2018 Business Climate Survey, released March 7, paints a largely positive outlook on Taiwan’s economy and the prospects for the future but called for further revisions to labor policy and improved coordination between government and industry on policymaking.

Albert Chang, Managing Director of McKinsey & Co. in Taiwan and the 2018 AmCham Taipei Chairman, said the purpose of the paper was to lay out a framework for Taiwan to continue to be a destination for investment from US companies of the like being accepted by Google, Cisco, Microsoft and McKinsey & Co, the latter of which is in the process of building an Industry of Things hub on the island.

He said the chamber aims to secure 10 more instances of the kind of investment recently carried by those companies, with Microsoft’s January announcement that it will invest NT $ 1 billion (US $ 33 million) to create an artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R & D ) hub in Taiwan a lead example.    [FULL  STORY]

People are recommended to take public transportation to Alishan

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/07
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The 2018 Cherry Blossoms Festival will take place in one of

Cherry blossoms in front of Alishan. (Image from @alishan.fans FB page)

Taiwan’s most famous tourist attractions, Alishan in the southwest, from March 15 to April 10.

In order to welcome a large number of tourists traveling to the mountain area, the Chiayi County Bus Service Administration will operate additional buses and offer 20 round-trips daily during the flower season. During peak time, the bus will come in every 30 minutes. Meanwhile, eight high-speed rail trips from Chiayi station to Alishan will be opened up daily.

The bus service administration recommended people to take public transportation to Alishan in order to avoid traffic congestion. People are advised to purchase high-speed rail tickets to the destination at convenient stores in advance.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
2018/03/07 14:25:06
By: Chang Ming-hsiao and Kuan-lin Liu 

Taipei, March 7 (CNA) A 62-year-old woman has given birth naturally without the need for a Caesarean (c-section) and set a record in the process.

With the help of artificial insemination, the woman, surnamed Wu (吳), was able to get pregnant again after having delivered her first child, a daughter, 36 years ago, said Hsiao Sheng-wen (蕭勝文), head of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynecology Department.

She delivered her baby at the end of February, tying the record for the oldest woman ever to give birth in Taiwan, according to records kept by National Taiwan University Hospital.

At a press conference to announce the news, Hsiao said that Wu and her husband decided to have another baby after she retired and had more free time on her hands.
[FULL  STORY]

INFIGHTING: Kuan Bi-ling said that she was the target of criticism caused by conflicts between factions in the party, but highlighted the remarkable support she received

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 08, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday emerged

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai yesterday hugs a supporter in Kaohsiung after winning the party’s primary for the Kaohsiung mayoral election. Photo: Ke Yu-hao, Taipei Times

victorious in the party’s Kaohsiung mayoral election primary opinion polls, beating his rivals by a wide margin.

According to the results of telephone polls released by DPP headquarters, Chen held a double-digit lead over his rivals, DPP legislators Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) and Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲).

Chen, a member of DPP Chairperson and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) faction, garnered approval ratings surpassing 35 percent in all three opinion polls — one by DPP headquarters and two conducted by survey companies — for an average rating of 35.9 percent.

Chao, the runner-up, had an average approval rating of 14.4 percent, followed by Lin’s 11.2 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Xindian First Public Cemetery is the last flat-land cemetery left in the Taipei basin, but is in the process of being demolished.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/06
By: James X. Morris

Researchers conducting an informal audit at Xindian First Public Cemetery in Taiwan’s

James X Morris

New Taipei City have uncovered important archaeological artifacts which help build a biography of Xindian District’s Qing Dynasty and Japanese period residents.

The audit occurs at a critical time for the cemetery, which is in the process of being exhumed and bulldozed to make room for a controversial urban renewal project. Protests, formal complaints to Taiwan’s central government, and the possible loss of protected stones have all contributed to a temporary moratorium on demolition.

Newly discovered are texts dating to the Qing Dynasty and the earliest settlers of the Taipei Basin, written and inscribed on the inner lids of ossuary jars (clay jars that contain the remains of the deceased) that have been exhumed by the city’s demolition contractors.    [FULL  STORY]

Northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County jolted by a magnitude 4.8 temblor 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/06
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A magnitude 4.8 earthquake rattled northeastern Taiwan’s

CWB map of earthquake in Yilan.

Yilan County at 5:42 p.m. today (March 6), according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the quake was located 9.1 kilometers east of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 87.2 kilometers, reported the CWB.    [FULL  STORY]