Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/13
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Taiwan will continue to seek support from the international

community for its bid to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Monday.

“Taiwan will not be absent in the prevention of global warming and climate change,” MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said, echoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) statement on climate diplomacy when she took office in May last year.

Lee was reacting to the inability of Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) head Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) to enter the venue of this year’s climate change conference due to objections from China.

The 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held at the UNFCCC Secretariat headquarters in Bonn from Nov. 6 to 17.    [FULL  STORY]

MISUNDERSTANDING:A Cabinet official said today’s announcement would not be a draft proposal as reported, but a set of principles for revising the pension system

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 14, 2017
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

About 1,000 retired military personnel yesterday gathered in front of the Executive Yuan

in Taipei to call on Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) to negotiate a pension reform proposal with them before announcing it.

The Presidential Office’s Pension Reform Committee was expected to announce a proposal to reform military pensions at a news conference today, officials with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.

The 800 Heroes group of veterans opposed to pension reform responded by announcing it would stage a protest yesterday to demand an explanation from Lin.

In a meeting at the Executive Yuan on May 11, Lin said he would communicate with veterans before submitting a reform proposal to the Cabinet and the Ministry of National Defense, said 800 Heroes operational commander Wu Chi-liang (吳其樑), a retired army lieutenant general.  [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: November 13, 2017
By: Lin Yu-li and Flor Wang

BONN, Germany, (CNA) – Taiwan ranks seventh in terms of countries most severely

impacted by climate change, according to an annual report released by Germanwatch at the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in the German city of Bonn.

Germanwatch is a non-profit, non-governmental development and environmental organization which lobbies for sustainable global development.

Published on Nov. 9, the Global Climate Risk Index 2018 analyses the extent to which countries have been affected by the impact of weather-related loss events like storms, floods and heat waves. Data from 1997-2016 was the basis of the determination.

In January 2016, Taiwan was hit by a rare wave of low temperatures and later slammed by six tropical storms and typhoons, Germanwatch pointed out.    [FULL  STORY]

Straits Times
Date: Nov 12, 2017

TOKYO (Bloomberg) – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting with a

Taiwanese politician on Sunday (Nov 12), hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned him not to break with past consensus on what Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Abe held a 30-minute meeting with James Soong, head of the People First Party on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang, Vietnam, according to Japan’s foreign ministry. After the meeting, the prime minister left for summits in the Philippines.

The meeting risks criticism from China even as Abe says he wants deeper cooperation on the threat from North Korea.

In a summit with Xi the previous night, Abe received no clear response to a proposal that he visit China next year to mark the 40th anniversary of a friendship treaty.
[FULL  STORY]

As the winter season approaches, the tea plums are quietly blooming at the Floriculture Experiment Center at Yangmingshan

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—As the winter season approaches, the tea plums are quietly

blooming at the Floriculture Experiment Center at Yangmingshan, and floral enthusiasts who would like to emerge themselves in a sea of red, white, and pink flowers are encouraged to visit the center to enjoy the wonderful sight.

Tea plums and camellias both belong to the same group, according to Taipei’s Parks and Street Lights Office. The most significant difference between the two is the way the petals drop off. Tea plum flowers shed their petals one petal at a time, whereas the entire camellia flower falls to the ground in its entirety. Many photographers will choose to include the beautiful sight of a carpet of flower petals in their photo shoot.

Center Director Song Fu-hua reminds tourists that massive blooming is expected to take place around mid-November. The flower season for tea plums is expected to last until December.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/11/12
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao 

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Taiwan will hold a ceremony in December to commission 12 military aircraft acquired from the United States to boost its anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the Air Force said Sunday.

In a statement, the Air Force said it has taken full delivery of the 12 P-3C Orion aircraft, which are equipped with torpedoes and depth bombs designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear submarines and high-performance surface ships.

The 12 American-made P-3Cs will replace a fleet of 11 S-2T anti-submarine aircraft that has been in service for more than 40 years, the Air Force said.

The 12 aircraft, along with relevant equipment and services, were procured from the U.S. for US$1.9 billion in 2007, after a six-year delay that stemmed from political infighting in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Three prominent women speak on the problems faced by women in Tibet’s government-in-exile and address the history and progress of gender equality in Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/11/11
By: Darice D. Chang

Is Gender an Issue?

This question brought a trio of women in power together in Taipei, and while it can’t be

said that the event brought attendees any closer to an answer, a discussion that ranged across the status of women’s leadership in the Tibetan Central Government, history and contemporary issues around women in politics, and a unique perspective from non-traditional females, certainly made for compelling listening.

Tibetan Central Administration Information Secretary Dhardon Sharling, Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Yu Meinu (尤美女) and civil activist Miao Poya (苗博雅) took center stage at the Nov. 6 panel event, hosted by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan. “No one has to introduce themselves,” said organizer Lin Hsinyi (林欣怡) of the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT) . “We may have some friends from China for whom it may be inconvenient.” Despite the somewhat ominous start, the mood was light. Most in attendance were of related backgrounds — employed at NGO’s, Tibetans living in Taiwan, scholars and their kin.   [FULL  STORY]

James Soong was spotted shaking hands with Donald Trump, and with Vladimir Putin

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/11/11
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Economic Leader’s Meeting was held on Saturday in Da Nang, Vietnam, with Taiwan’s envoy James Soong (宋楚瑜) spotted shaking hands with the U.S. President Donald Trump and the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The Central News Agency reported that President of Vietnam Trần Đại Quang welcomed each leader and representative of the APEC economies at the entrance of today’s meeting hall, and later walked into the hall with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin.

Soong showed up later in a dark suit with a purple necktie. Once he entered the hall, he greeted and shook hands with Putin and then Trump.

Soong was seated in between Prime Minister of Thailand Prayuth Chan-ocha and the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, report said.    [FULL  STORY]