LIN I-HSIUNG:The party said it would seek out Lin for ‘threatening’ the Ma administration by staging a hunger strike to oppose the power plant’s construction

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 11, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The New Party yesterday said it would launch a petition for a referendum asking the

public whether it is willing to shoulder the cost of suspending construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) because of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) hardline stance against nuclear energy.

“The inconveniences caused by sporadic power outages and Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) ordering of central government agencies to turn off air-conditioners over the past week pale in comparison to the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which would cost the public NT$283.8 billion [US$9.36 billion] if left unused,” New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung (王炳忠) told a news conference in Taipei.

The figure is based on Taiwan Power Co’s estimate of the suspended plant’s construction cost.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 10, 2017
By: The China Post with Business

A “Garbage War” raging for the better part of a year is finally dying down in Yunlin,

with 30,000 tons of waste piled in the Central Taiwan county now being gradually sent to incinerators in other counties and cities.

But it was only Yunlin’s most recent trash trouble, which has continually arisen over the past three years.

Lin Cheng-jou, head of the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau, sighs and explains: “The problem with garbage is like an amoeba: it breaks out every once in a while in a new form. Even now, we’ve only given it a temporary fix.”

There are currently 24 waste incinerators operating in Taiwan, capable of processing 6.5 million tons of garbage every year. The country produces around 4.3 million tons of waste annually, so these incinerators should be more than enough to handle it all.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-08-08

The education minister, Pan Wen-chung, has rejected accusations that the government is

trying to remove Chinese culture from its social studies curriculum guidelines. Pan was speaking Tuesday.

Pan said the guidelines on social studies have been reviewed by the National Academy for Educational Research. To seek public opinion, the academy is planning to hold 22 hearings from September. It will then submit the guidelines to the education ministry for approval.

Pan said the guidelines aim to introduce Taiwanese history, Chinese history and world history by focusing on specific topics, without any ideas of de-Sinicization.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/08
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A driver and one of his passengers in Taiwan decided to tie the knot this year after a long-term relationship following a surprising encounter.

Wan Hung-wei (阮宏緯), was the driver of a Yuanlin Bus’ charter bus that bused students of National Yuanlin Home-Economics and Commercial Vocational Senior High School to and from school.

Huang Chu-ling (黃筑翎), who was attending the school in Chunghua County at the time, took Wan’s bus from time to time. Huang said she thought the driver was very talkative but agreeable because he would sometimes answer the requests of other students on the bus to play pop music.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/08
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Tuesday Taiwan is committed to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and must play a “more proactive” role there.

In an interconnected world, “Taiwan must play an even more proactive role in the region to help shape its growth,” Tsai said in a speech at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei.

Part of the commitment, the president said, is in the area of security because maintaining regional order benefits all countries in the region.

Tsai said one security threat in the Asia-Pacific region is North Korea, and Taiwan has helped implement economic sanctions against Pyongyang, and “has stepped up investigations into money laundering and shipments going to North Korea.” She did not elaborate.    [FULL  STORY]

TAIPEI GATHERINGS:The president gave the opening address to the Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue forum, while a former US vice president spoke at a private luncheon

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 09, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday told an international forum in Taipei that her

administration is committed to maintaining the “status quo” in cross-strait relations and regional stability, while former US vice president Dick Cheney told a separate gathering that the cross-strait “status quo” was vital to maintaining peace in the region.

To ensure regional stability and growth, Taiwan has to play “a more proactive role” in the region while building strong trade, defense and people-to-people relationships with its neighbors, Tsai said in her opening speech to the Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue.

The New Southbound Policy was launched to connect with ASEAN and South Asian countries and address the long-term bilateral and multilateral need to closely integrate Taiwan into the region, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 8, 2017
By: The China Post

Unplanned power outages have been reported in Northern Taiwan, most recently this

morning at an Executive Yuan office building in New Taipei City.

The power went out for five minutes at the Executive Yuan’s Xin Zhuang United Office Building at 11:09 a.m. on Tuesday.

Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has determined that the outage was caused by the electricity infrastructure in the building itself and not in Taipower’s system, Executive Yuan deputy spokeswoman Chang Hsiu-chen (張秀禎) said on Tuesday.

The day before, when temperatures soared to the highest yet in 2017, an estimated 17,000 households in Xinzhuang and Taishan of New Taipei saw their fuse blow three times in rapid succession.    [FULL  STORY]

Air balloon festivals in Hsinchu and Taitung brought joy and entertainment to visitors over the last weekend

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/07
By: Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As fate would have it, Taiwan’s twin typhoons a week ago,

led to twin hot air balloon festivals this past weekend, with Hsinchu and Taitung both hosting their climatic display of dirigibles over the same time frame.

The hot air balloon festival in Taitung concluded on Aug 6. The 38-day event attracted around 480,000 people, according to Taitung County government.

The festival kicked off on June 30 in Taitung County Museum. Night glow shows took place at different times and locations around Taitung.

All told, the event generated NT$960 million (US$31.79 million) in revenue, an increase of 37.2% compared to last year.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/07
By: Ku Chuan and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday reiterated that

islands in the South China Sea are part of Republic of China (Taiwan) territory and that the country should not be excluded from talks on a dispute resolution mechanism in the region.

It is beyond doubt that the ROC enjoys rights to these islands and their surrounding waters based on international and maritime law, the ministry said in a statement, a day after foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries and China adopted a negotiating framework for a code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea.

Taiwan was not invited to the ASEAN ministerial meeting in Manila where the framework was developed, and it fears being left out of any negotiations on the issue because of China’s relentless effort to suppress it internationally.  [FULL  STORY]