CROSSING A LINE:A source said one of the demands had already been rejected and the others were not raised during three-party talks that took place last month

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 01, 2017
By: Yang Chun-hui and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Demands by the National Women’s League that the government halt all investigations

into its assets and affiliated organizations are its “unilateral opinions and wishes” that have already been rejected or are unlikely to be agreed to, an Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee member said yesterday.

The push-back by the league has also “crossed the committee’s red line,” the source said.

On Monday last week, the league filed a list of demands following a joint statement that outlined an agreement reached during negotiations between the committee, the Ministry of the Interior and the league. That statement — dubbed the ministry’s “three principles” — was supposed to provide a roadmap to resolve the league’s alleged mishandling of taxpayer-funded money given to the league between 1955 and 1989.

The statement said the league was to “donate” NT$31.2 billion (US$1.03 billion) of its assets to the government; “disband” by merging with a subsidiary, the Social Welfare Foundation; and allow public oversight of the Social Welfare Foundation and its two other subsidiaries, the Foundation for the Hearing Impaired and Hua Hsing Children’s Home.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 31, 2017
By: The China Post with Strait Times/ANN

TAIPEI – The Universiade-themed interior design featured in some Taipei Metro trains

have attracted attention of foreign media.

“Fancy a “swim” or a game of basketball in the Taipei Metro?” The Singapore-based Strait Times asked in its report of the ad.

“Now you can – thanks to the help of some realistic 3D artwork that has transformed a six-car subway train into six different sporting venues,” the newpaper report. “There is a swimming pool, a football pitch, a baseball diamond, a basketball court, a running track and a field for throwing sports.”

The car with the swimming pool venue, which looks like a real water surface, has proven to be the most popular with commuters and tourists on social media, Strait Times said.

Several commuters, decked out in swim gear, have also been spotted taking advantage of the Instagram-worthy photo opportunities, the paper continued.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-30

Typhoon Nesat may have left Taiwan but another storm is set to bring heavy rain to the

south of the island. Tropical Storm Haitang was just off Taiwan’s southern tip as of Sunday afternoon.

Residents of the country’s southern counties have been advised to stay on alert. Forecasters have predicted however that the storm’s strength is likely to be reduced by the terrain.

President Tsai Ing-wen posted on her Facebook on Sunday, urging the public and emergency responders to remain alert.
{FULL  STORY]

Police are searching for four men in connection with the incident, which took place in a hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui this week  

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/30
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese man was duped out of NT$3 million (US$100,000) with fake gold granules in his hotel room in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

This is said to be the third such case in Tsim Sha Shui district over the past three months. Three Hongkongers were scammed out of HK$1.63 million in total in another two cases in May and June this year.

Crime squad from the Yau Tsim district is investigating whether the three cases were .carried out by the same gang.

It is understood that swindlers posing as gold traders find their victims online by offering gold bars or granules for a relatively cheaper or bargain price. [FULL  STORY]

Focus Tiwan
Date: 2017/07/30
By: Yang Su-min and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau lifted sea and land warnings for

Typhoon Nesat at 2:30 p.m. Sunday after it was downgraded to a tropical storm around noon and its radius left Taiwan proper and its offshore islands.

Nesat swept across the country the previous night, leaving 109 people injured and 570,979 households without power around Taiwan, according to data from the Central Emergency Operation Center.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, power had been restored to 482,728 households, with 88,251 still suffering power outages, including around 80,000 households in Yilan County and 6,000 in New Taipei.

Others still without power were in Hsinchu City, Pingtung County, Miaoli County, Taipei and Taitung County.    [FULL  STORY]

An introduction to routes to almost all parts of the island.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/07/30
By: By Steven Crook, Taiwan Business TOPICS Magazine

Taiwan has more than 41,400 kilometers of freeways, expressways, highways, and

urban and local roads. Despite the popularity of cars (ownership reached 322 vehicles per 1,000 people in 2014) and especially motorcycles (676 per 1,000 residents), much of Taiwan is served by regular public buses. For visitors and expatriates who find local driving styles unnerving, or who lack confidence when it comes to navigation, the bus network offers dozens of interesting options.

On commuter routes in Greater Taipei, buses do get crowded. Elsewhere, the chances you can snag a window seat to better enjoy the views are usually excellent. Each year, more and more buses display their destination in English as well as Chinese. All buses are air-conditioned; the prohibition on eating and drinking while aboard city buses in Taipei, Kaohsiung, and some other places does not apply on long-distance services. However, on some routes – notably the 6506 and 6739 – the vehicles are too small to have onboard restrooms. The 6506 also has the most expensive fare of the routes described in this article – NT$564 if you stay on from beginning to end.

It is possible to travel by bus from within 700 meters of Fugui Cape, Taiwan’s northernmost point, to 1 kilometer or so from the monument that marks the island’s southernmost point, near Eluanbi Lighthouse in Kenting National Park. With a bit of luck, the trip can be done in under nine hours with just three transfers.
[FULL  STORY]

Southern Taiwan was first to suffer from Typhoon Nesat before it landed in the northeast.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/29
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Thousands of residents were evacuated from several parts of

southern Taiwan Saturday as Typhoon Nesat raged across the island.

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said that Typhoon Nesat landed in Suao Township of Yilan County at 7:10 p.m., bringing a great amount of rain and strong winds to the area.

Pouring rain started to strike southern Taiwan early Saturday, with several areas reported to have been flooded in Pingtung County, where rainfall had accumulated to over 1,000 millimeters by 5 p.m.

By 3 p.m., five buses carrying 55 passengers were reported to have broken and stranded on the streets of Linbian Township in Pingtung County until the fire brigades set out with lifeboats joined by military trucks evacuated all the passengers.

By 6 p.m., …..[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/29
By: Tou Kai-hsiang and Romulo Huang

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) Taipei Metro announced on Saturday night the suspension of its

services on elevated rail sections beginning from about 11 p.m. until a new adjustment to be announced depending on weather conditions due to strong wind brought by Typhoon Nesat that made landfall at 7:10 p.m. at Su’ao in northeastern county of Yilan.

The metro’s elevated rail sections are the Wenhu Line, the section between Yuanshan and Tamsui stations on the Tamsui-Xinyi Line, Xinbeitou and Xiaobitan.

Meanwhile, the services on the underground sections of the rapid public transit system will continue but its headway of services will be adjusted in accordance with the weather conditions.    [SOURCE]

APOLITICALCooperation on healthcare and medicine transcends party politics, which the US has proven with its bill to promote Taiwan to the WHO, the foreign ministry said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 30, 2017
By: Lu Yi-hsuan, Nadia Tsao and Jake Chung / Staff reporters in Washington, with staff writer

US support for Taiwan to participate in next year’s World Health Assembly (WHA)

meeting as an observer must be met with supporting action by the Taiwanese government, former Ministry of Health and Welfare representative to Geneva Chang Wu-hsiu (張武修) said.

Chang’s comments referred to the support of other subcommittee members regarding a bill introduced by US Representative Ted Yoho, who chairs the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. The bill was unanimously passed on Thursday.

The bill aims to improve the US strategy for promoting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, and instructs the US secretary of state to report on the US
Department of State’s efforts to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the WHA.
Yoho said international health concerns should not be limited to national borders, and it was unfortunate that China has taken a shortsighted view and barred Taiwan from participating in international organizations.
[FULL  STORY]