The China Post
Date: September 26, 2017

A high-pressure system over the Pacific has continued to bring hot weather to Taiwan

on Tuesday, when the mercury reached 37.1 degrees Celsius in Taipei, making it the hottest autumn day in the city so far this year.

It was the third highest post-September temperature on record for the city, only behind the 37.8 degrees and 37.4 degrees recorded in September 2014. Meanwhile, the weather station in Matsu recorded the highest temperature (36.6 degrees) since its establishment in 2003.

Chang Cheng-chuan, a meteorologist at the Central Weather Bureau, said that Taiwan will continue to experience high temperatures due to the continued influence of the high-pressure system until Thursday evening when the autumn’s first cold front is expected to reach Taiwan, lowering daytime temperatures by 4 to 5 degrees.
[SOURCE

Radio Taiwan International
Date; 2017-09-25

The 2017 International Environmental Partnership Conference kicked off in Taipei on

Monday. Officials from the US, the UK, Germany, the EU, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore have come to share their innovative approaches to environmental issues.

Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the foreign ministry and the United States’ EPA launched the International Environmental Partnership (IEP) in 2014. The partnership allowed Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy nations, which include those in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and other nations to come together and strive for a better global environment.

EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan said this cooperation has enabled Taiwan to share its experience in mercury pollution prevention and electronic waste recycling management with New Southbound policy nations. The government also has plans to share its environmental protection auditing practices with the US, Thailand, and Vietnam.    [FULL  STORY]

The completion and opening of operations of the AIT New Office Compound occurs in a rather precipitous political climate in East Asia
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/09/25
By Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

In June 2009, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) publicly announced that it had

selected a site and begun development on a new location in Taipei’s Neihu district. The site was to be completed in 3 phases, and originally, many had hoped the compound would be finished as early as 2015.

Now it appears after some delay, and quite a bit of speculation about the number and nature of facilities to be housed at the new 6.5 hectare site, the new AIT facility is likely to be opening its doors in the coming months. The project has been referred to as the AIT NOC (New Office Compound) by the state department and those involved with its development.

Although there has been no public announcement on move-in dates from Washington DC or the current AIT (located in central Taipei’s Da’an District), the AIT began seeking moving coordinators for the shift to the new location in November last year, with an expected start date for the work in Summer 2017.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/25
By: Wang Shu-fen and Y.F. Low 

Kaohsiung, Sept. 25 (CNA) Taiwan will set up a NT$100 billion (US$3.31 billion) fund
to finance Taiwan’s public construction cooperation with diplomatic allies and nations covered by the New Southbound Policy, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Monday.

The fund, similar to “official development assistance” provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, will make it easier for Taiwanese companies to engage in overseas construction projects and bid for business globally, Tsai said at an annual meeting of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce (WTCC) in this southern Taiwan port city.

As long as the government works hand in hand with the private sector, Taiwan’s influence will reach far and wide, she said, without providing any details of how the fund will work.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Sep 26, 2017
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The government will raise the salaries of soldiers in chemical warfare, engineering

and communications units, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said during her review of the 99th Marine Brigade yesterday.

If a plan by the Ministry of National Defense to give bonuses to combat troops is approved by the Executive Yuan, military personnel in other branches might also receive extra pay, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The ministry does not know whether the Executive Yuan, which is evaluating the plan, will accept it in part or as a whole, the official added.

The proposal would affect 29,995 personnel serving in drone-equipped aviation units, the 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion and other units, the official said.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 25, 2017

President Tsai Ing-wen called for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to

push for constitutional reforms in voting rights and human rights as well as other issues at the party’s national convention on Sunday.

In a thinly-veiled rebuttal to a petition by DPP members calling on her to pardon former President Chen Shui-bian, Tsai said that while the DPP is a democratic organization with many internal debates, the party “should not forget that we should be debating on values and routes (for future policies), not personal benefits.” Tsai, who doubles as the chairwoman of the DPP, said that Taiwanese people have owed the party nothing and warned the party not to start unnecessary troubles.

Some 500 signatories, including all of the local government chiefs of the party and over 86 percent of its lawmakers, supported the petition for Chen’s pardon. An attempt by the organizer of the petition to have the issue discussed at the national convention failed after the party decided to discuss it at the central executive committee meeting later.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-24

Thai police have arrested three Taiwanese nationals in Thailand on suspicion of

involvement in telecom fraud.

The three entered Thailand on tourist visas. They then headed to a shopping mall in northeastern Thailand, where they withdrew cash from bank ATMs in what Thai police say was a telecom fraud operation.

Thai police launched an investigation acting on tip-offs from seniors who were reportedly targets of the fraud in Thailand. The police then discovered surveillance footage of the three Taiwanese making withdrawals from ATMs. Thai police arrested the three suspects on Friday, seizing 500,000 Thai baht (about US$15,000) along with 34 ATM cards, 20 bankbooks and 20 mobile phones.    [FULL  STORY]

The Chinese name of “忘憂谷” literally means “the valley of forgetting about worries.” But there’s some truth in it as visitors are often so overwhelmed by the magic-like sea views around this place that they have no time to worry about other things.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/09/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–The Wangyou Valley Trail (忘憂谷步道) is one of the most

scenic trails in northern Taiwan. The Chinese name of “忘憂谷” literally means “the valley of forgetting about worries.” But there’s some truth in it as visitors are often so overwhelmed by the magic-like sea views around this place that they have no time to worry about other things.

I drove westbound on the coastal Provincial Highway No. 2 on Saturday (Sep. 23) afternoon and visited the Elephant Trunk Rock at the back of Shen’ao Fishing Port (深澳漁港) as a side trip. It’s an impressive rock formed by sea erosion that looks like a giant elephant. The entrance to the rock is located at the far right corner of the fishing port. Once passing the entrance, keep walking along the seaside for about six or seven minutes to the famous rock.

After taking a few photos, I headed for Badouzi, where the Wangyou Valley Trail is located, just a couple of kilometers from Shen’ao.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/24

Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) Squarely facing the rise of China rather than fanning anti-

Chinese sentiment is the best way to deal with Beijing, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Sunday as she presided over the annual Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) national congress in Taipei.

President Tsai, who serves concurrently as chairperson of the ruling DPP, noted that all countries around the globe, including Taiwan, have to face the rise of China with caution.

“Neither fanning anti-China sentiment nor kowtowing to Beijing is a proper approach in the face of Beijing’s rise,” she noted in her address to the congress held at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

“We need to come up with a new approach to interact with the other side of the Taiwan Strait while upholding the sense of ‘being masters of the land’ and the nation’s sovereignty,” she said, adding that this is the crucial mission facing the DPP right now.    [FULL  STORY]