Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/13
By: Wu Che-hao and Y.F. Low

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Investigators said Tuesday they have uncovered a case in which a tea farmer is importing cheaper tea from Vietnam and marketing it as Taiwanese tea at much higher prices to consumers.

The tea farmer from Nantou County, identified by his surname Lai, has been referred to prosecutors as a key suspect in the case on possible fraud charges, according to Investigation Bureau’s Nantou office.

An investigation by the office found that Lai imported 5,418 kilograms of tea from Vietnam in 2015 at a price of NT$600 per kg and then got local tea cooperative members to enter it as locally-grown premium oolong tea in a competition held in the county’s Lugu Township.

It turned out that about 50 percent of the tea provided by Lai earned awards in the competition, and the prize-winning tea was then sold at between NT$1,667 and NT$4,667 per kg, the office said.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 13, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — “Taipei in Motion”– have you seen this 1 minute, 38 second commercial? Last year’s

wave of Universiade promotional films were homely and tainted by plagiarism allegations, turning Taipei City into a target for criticism. With the latest film, designer Liu Keng-ming (劉耕名) has offered some saving grace.

Inside BITO’s production studio, there is a wall, and built into the wall is a very long window. Just outside are Taipei City’s storied buildings, streets and roads. The global climate has been volatile in the past few years, with plum rain arriving late this June and sending water down like a bomb. Heavy rain rumbled from the skies, falling to the ground and forming countless rivulets and then reversing course and sputtering back toward the sky, so that the whole city became wet and raucous.

The rain is like a waterfall along the long window of the studio. Creative Director Liu, holding his head in his hands and staring intently outside, said, “This city is like a big aquarium.” It’s just an idle thought. Since we still need to take photographs of him, he takes care to change into a good-looking pair of shoes. Striking a fine pose, he looks back at the camera in the photographer’s hands and continues to turn over the matter with us: “To smile or not to smile? What would come off as more professional?”
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/12
By: Cli Square, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–A group of enterprise executives, legislators, scholars, professors and civil

group representatives held a press conference in Taipei on June 9 to urge the government to speed up the passage of four bills related to the establishment of a Cabinet-level “Government Chief Information Officer (CIO)” position that will ensure that coordinated and inter-ministerial construction of information infrastructure will not be interrupted by personnel changes.

The attendees of the press conference includes I-Mei Foods CEO Luis Ko (高志明), Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如) , members of more than 100 professors who signed a petition calling on passage of the bills, and members of a civil group whose mission is to promote legislation of information bills.

In October 2012, a mission-oriented “Government CIO” position held concurrently by a deputy minister was established to serve many purposes pertaining to government information, including serving as the coordinator of the central government’s inter-ministerial information development, serving as the contact person regarding government information issues, formulating more clear-cut e-services directions for different ministries, and avoiding waste of resources by cutting down redundant information system establishments among ministries.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/12
By: Wang Shu-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 12 (CNA) Some flights scheduled for Monday and Tuesday between Taiwan and Hong

Kong have been canceled or postponed as Tropical Storm Merbok is forecast to hit Hong Kong at around midnight on Monday.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, announced Monday it will cancel its Taipei-Hong Kong flight CX403 for Tuesday, while postponing flight CX465 to 9:50 a.m. and flight CX407 to 10:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s China Airlines said it will cancel its flights CI923/924 and CI927/928 between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Hong Kong, flight AE1831/1832 between Taichung and Hong Kong and flight CI937/938 between Kaohsiung and Hong Kong for Tuesday.

Taipei-based EVA Airways’ Taoyuan-Hong Kong flight BR827 for Monday was also canceled, while its Kong Kong-Taoyuan flight BR828 on Tuesday will be called off as well.    [SOURCE]

The China Post
Date: June 12, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — An automated law-enforcement system installed in the Hsuehshan Tunnel on

Freeway No. 5 will be formally inaugurated on June 15, targeting vehicles that are speeding, traveling below the minimum speed limit of 70 kilometers per hour, or changing lanes in the tunnel, freeway authorities said Monday.

The system in the 12.9 kilometer-long tunnel connecting Taipei and Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan, is expected to effectively stem violations by motorists and reduce traffic accidents, according to officials of the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau.

The officials expressed high expectations of the system’s ability to nail motorists who drive below the minimum speed limit under normal traffic conditions. They said cracking down on speed limit violations will help improve traffic safety and efficiency in the tunnel.

Hsuehshan Tunnel, the key part of Freeway No. 5, has long been blamed as the culprit of notorious traffic congestion on the freeway. The congestion is most common on weekends when people travel from metropolitan areas in the west to Yilan, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

Discovering the stories along Taiwan’s rivers and where to visit during summer.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/06/11
By: Steven Crook

Taiwan is very mountainous and gets plenty of rain, so it’s no surprise the island is

cleaved with short, fast rivers. The longest waterway is the 186 km-long Zhuoshui (the name means “turbid water”). Only four other rivers are more than 100 km in length.

For centuries these waterways hindered north-to-south journeys. Few permanent bridges were built in Taiwan until the Japanese colonial occupation from 1895 to 1945. Each autumn, after the typhoons in summer, temporary bridges made of wood and bamboo were assembled. Where there was no bridge and the waters were too deep to ford, a thick section of bamboo with a strap attached sometimes served as a flotation aid. As recently as the late 19th century, Western travelers were reporting that by far the best way of getting from Takao (as Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan was then known) to Taipei was by sailboat.

The vessels crossing the Taiwan Strait during the Qing Dynasty (which controlled Taiwan until 1895) were tiny by modern standards. Because they were flat-bottomed, they could make their way several kilometers up-river. At inland neighborhoods like Taipei’s Wanhua, riverside docks were always busy as immigrants from China arrived, while tea, camphor and other products were loaded for export.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/11
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) has announced the launch of the Summer Formosa Steam Locomotive Trip in 2017, with the inaugural voyage being scheduled to run from Yuli Station to Taitung Station in eastern Taiwan on June 24, stopping at Dongli, Chishang and Shanli stations.

Since the launch of the steam locomotive trip in 2014, this activity has drawn much attention from the public every year, according to the TRA. The trip for this year features a ceremony for the sistership establishment between the Taiwan’s steam locomotive queen, CT273, and the steam locomotive of JR West, SL Yamaguchigou (C571), the TRA said. This ceremony is scheduled to take place at Yuli station. The TRA said that it welcomes passengers to join this event to witness this historic moment and the glamour of the steam locomotive running along Taiwan’s east coast.

As before, CT273 steam locomotive mobilizing five air-conditioned cars will be used to serve this year’s Summer Formosa Steam Locomotive Trip, according to the TRA. The inaugural voyage is scheduled on June 24, and the other two trips are arranged on July 8, the TRA said, adding that ticket reservation is available on-line on May 16. Please visit the website for more details. To book tickets, please visit here.    [FULL  STORY]