Page Two

Quake response approval at 82%

OVERWHELMING: The Taiwan NextGen Foundation poll found that more than 82 percent of respondents approved of the government’s response to the earthquake

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

More than 80 percent of the public approved of the government’s emergency response

The results of an opinion poll on the government’s emergency response and disaster relief measures following the earthquake in Hualien on Tuesday last week are displayed on a screen yesterday at a news conference in Taipei organized by the Taiwan NextGen Foundation (formerly known as the Taiwan Style Foundation).  Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times

and disaster relief measures following the Feb. 6 earthquake in Hualien, with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) approval rating passing 50 percent, the results of a poll conducted by the Taiwan NextGen Foundation (formerly known as the Taiwan Style Foundation) showed yesterday.

The government’s emergency response following the earthquake that caused the deaths of 16 people, with one missing and presumed dead, was swift, according to 80.3 percent of the respondents, with only 9.6 percent saying that the response was slow.

An overwhelming 82.9 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the government’s search-and-rescue and disaster relief measures, while only 9.1 percent were dissatisfied.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan quake toll at 17 as rescuers call off search for victims

Excavators brought in to recover bodies of last two victims

South China Morning Post 
Date: 11 February, 2018
By: Agence France-Presse 

Thousands of emergency workers had combed through rubble at the foot of the 12-storey Yun Men Tsui Ti apartment block since the quake struck the eastern county of Hualien late on Tuesday.

It was left leaning at around a 50-degree angle by the quake, complicating rescue efforts due to fears of an imminent collapse.

Hualien county chief Fu Kun-chi said the last two victims were pinned under heavy pillars that could not be removed without risking a total collapse of the building, and the rescue was called off with the consent of their relatives.    [FULL  STORY]

Taichung mayor heads to Israel for International Mayors Conference

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-11

The mayor of the central city of Taichung, Lin Chia-lung, is traveling to Israel to attend

The mayor of the central city of Taichung, Lin Chia-lung (right), prepares to travel to Israel. (CNA photo provided by the Taichung City Government)

the 32nd International Mayors Conference in Jerusalem.

During his trip, Lin will meet with the mayors of cities around the world. He will also meet with the mayors of the Israeli cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lin’s itinerary includes a stop in Jerusalem’s Old City, where he will learn about the district’s experience developing tourism, as well as visits to local high tech companies.

Lin plans to use his trip to promote this year’s world flora expo in Taichung and to raise Taichung’s international visibility.    [SOURCE]

Contemporary indigenous music exhibition opens in southern Taiwan

The temporary exhibit, being held at Taitung National Museum of Prehistory opened Friday, Feb. 9

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/02/11
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Contemporary Indigenous Music Exhibition opened at

(Image from Taitung National Museum of Prehistory)

Taitung’s National Museum of Prehistory on Friday, Feb. 9.

The exhibition is entitled “The Solace of Music: Shared Memories of Contemporary Taiwanese Indigenous Songs” and will run until March 8.

The exhibition provides a unique collection of musical records, posters and other items charting the development of indigenous music and musicians from the colonial period to the present day.

The exhibition is an excellent opportunity to learn about the recent historical experience of Taiwan’s indigenous communities through their music.    [FULL  STORY]

Black Hawk chopper search operation to continue until Feb. 14

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/11
By: Huang Li-yun and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) The search for a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter will continue

CNA file photo

until Feb. 14, the National Search and Rescue Center said Sunday, despite the apparent location of a signal from the flight’s black box.

Aircraft will make two flights daily from the National Airborne Service Corps to search from the air, while Navy and coast guard ships continue to search at sea, the center said in a statement.

The search will continue until Wednesday night, the center said.

A day earlier, the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) under the Executive Yuan located the black box signal 2 nautical miles from Lanyu, an island off Taitung County, southeastern Taiwan, close to where the Black Hawk disappeared from the radar.    [FULL  STORY]

Cabinet sends NT$929m for Hualien relief efforts

DONATIONS: The central government did not give NT$20 billion to Tainan after an earthquake in 2016 and the city raised the money through its own means, William Lai said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 12, 2018
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporter

The Cabinet has sent more than NT$929 million (US$31.74 million) to the Hualien

Premier William Lai, third left, accompanied by Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi, second left, greets rescue workers at the site of the eathquake-damaged Yun Men Tsui Ti building in Hualien yesterday.  Photo: CNA

County Government to be used in disaster relief and restoration work in the wake of a deadly earthquake that struck the county on Feb. 6, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during a visit to Hualien.

The Cabinet said that NT$300 million came from central tax revenue, NT$500 million from a special fund for the county government and NT$129 million from a fund for local administrative units of the county government.

Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said that former premier Simon Chang’s (張善政) government sent NT$20 billion to the Tainan City Government following a major earthquake in 2016 that killed 116 people, while the city government also received NT$4.3 billion in donations.    [FULL  STORY]

Ask Dr. Scott: Taiwan newspaper article details country’s battle against tobacco

The Daily Republic
Date: Jan 10, 2018
By Scott Anderson

While boarding a flight from Singapore to Taiwan, I recently picked up a complimentary copy of the Taipei Times. Taiwan is considered part of China under the “One China Policy,” as embraced by the United States.

The island maintains an edgy relationship, however, with the People’s Republic, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province.

The local newspaper, in addition to covering politics, contained a sophisticated analysis of cigarette smoking in Asia, titled, “Tobacco Must be Strictly Controlled.” It was authored by Wen-Chi Pan, of the National Health Research Institutes, and Wayne Gao, of Taipei Medical University.

I learned about the universal and culture-specific issues relative to this concern.

Protests demanding less air pollution apparently crop up in Taiwan, prompted by fear of lung cancer. Most Taiwanese women who contract this malignancy are non-smokers, perhaps contributing to the air quality concerns.    [FULL  STORY]

Yet another cold front arrives in Taiwan

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-02-10

Temperatures around Taiwan plunged late on Saturday with the arrival of yet another cold front.

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said that daytime temperatures were expected to hit 18-22 degrees in the north, and even up to 28 degrees in some areas of the south. But it said the cold surge was likely to send temperatures to as low as 7-9 degrees Celsius in northern, northeastern and central Taiwan. The eastern and southern parts of Taiwan were looking at a drop in temperatures to about 10-13 degrees.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, Indonesian police bust amphetamine smuggling gang

The bust took place in Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, on Friday

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/02/10
By:  Central News Agency

JAKARTA (CNA) — A joint effort by Taiwanese and Indonesian police resulted in the

Photo of the seized shipment of amphetamines (By Central News Agency)

arrest of four Taiwan nationals attempting to smuggle amphetamine onto Batam Island, in Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, on Friday.

Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Indonesian police began monitoring suspicious vessels in the surrounding seas and sharing intel on their activities following a major drug bust in Indonesia in July 2017.

In that instance, Taiwan helped Indonesia crack the case, resulting in the seizure of one metric ton of amphetamine being smuggled into the Southeast Asian country from China.

It was this joint monitoring that led the Indonesian Navy to spot a suspicious looking vessel on Friday that turned out to be disguised as a Taiwanese fishing vessel called the Sunrise Glory.
[FULL  STORY]

Chinese family’s ill-fated trip ends in rubble of Hualien quake

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/02/10
By: Lee Hsien-feng, Kuo Chi-hsun and Lee Hsin-Yin 

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) A Chinese family of five who are believed to have died in the Hualien earthquake only checked into the hotel devastated in the earthquake after a car accident and a last minute change of plan, according to police and others who met them.

The free independent tourists, who checked into Room 201 at Beauty Inn located in the partially-collapsed Yun Men Tsui Ti commercial and residential complex in downtown Hualien, remained officially missing as rescue efforts in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquake in Hualien County entered the fourth day.

The family’s ill-fated trip to Taiwan encountered its first problem when they headed to Hualien on Feb. 5, but were involved in an traffic accident on leaving Kenting in southern Taiwan, according to a Pingtung County police station.   [FULL  STORY]