A Taiwan LGBT activist and same-sex marriage campaigner reflects on a day he will never forget.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/05/25
By: Jay Lin

It was a Wednesday that started like any other: send the kids to infant daycare and then

head to work. I had instinctively blocked the significance of this day out of my thoughts. It was too important to obsess over it, and it would be too devastating if my hopes were ruthlessly dashed.

I arrived at the rally around 3:15 p.m. to meet up with my colleagues who were there earlier to register people for our LightUp project. I immediately met some friends who were all walking in the same direction toward the rally. Everyone had “eager anticipation” written on their nervous, smiley faces. We understood that the live broadcast by the Grand Justices would either turn these smiles even bigger or into frowns.

A colleague came to tell me that a local television station wanted to interview me. I obliged. My response to the interviewer was competing with the energetic speeches on stage by the hosts of the rally. Suddenly, their voices disappeared and I could hear an officious voice, indicating immediately that the Opinion from the Court was being announced.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/25
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan featured on the world stage twice within a week, the first time with an action that

was unsuccessful but nevertheless attracted much attention, and the second time with an event which was heard around the world.

Following the failure of the World Health Organization to send an invitation to Taiwan to attend the annual World Health Assembly, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) nevertheless still decided to travel to Geneva to defend the country’s case. While unlike nine previous occasions, Taiwan was not allowed to attend proceedings, the minister’s strategy cannot be described as a failure, since it drew public attention and several major powers with official ties to China still dared to defend Taiwan.

However, the second event of the week ended on a positive note and helped the country to receive even more favorable and more widespread international media coverage, proving those wrong who say that only bad news gets reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/25
By: Wang Shu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) A project to build a third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will get off the ground Friday and is scheduled to be completed in 2020, the airport company said Thursday.

The new terminal is expected to service up to 45 million passengers a year, more than the combined 35 million capacity of Terminals 1 and 2, Taoyuan Airport Corporation (TAC) said.

It said work on the foundation of the new terminal will start Friday and the next phase of the NT$74.6 billion (US$2.47 billion) project will begin before March 2018.

Terminal 3 will have 21 departure gates and will be ready for full service in 2021, the year after the construction is completed, TAC said.    [FULL  STORY]

LOW PROFILE:A statement by a task force involved with Lee Ming-che’s rescue said his family members were asked to ‘lay low’ if they want China to release him

Taipei Times
Date: May 26, 2017
By: Chung Li-hua / Staff reporter

Lee Ching-yu’s (李凈瑜) trip to the US last week to seek help in freeing her husband,

human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), was arranged by US non-governmental organization (NGO) China Aid, a statement released yesterday by a task force involved with the rescue efforts said.

Lee Ming-che was detained after entering Zhuhai, China, from Macau on March 19. He used to work for the Democratic Progressive Party and is a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, as well as a volunteer at the NGO Covenant Watch.

Lee Ching-yu on Thursday last week testified at a US House of Representatives committee hearing about her husband’s detention.

Chinese-language Next Magazine this week reported that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sent aids to help arrange Lee Ching-yu’s US visit.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/05/24
By: Olivia Yang

Moments before and after Taiwan’s top court rules in favor of gay marriage.

A top Taiwan court ruled in favor of

gay marriage today, in a landmark ruling that paves the way for the country to become the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex unions. The Constitutional Court Court said Taiwan’s Civil Code, which says an agreement to marry could only be made between a man and a woman, “violated” the constitution’s guarantees of freedom of marriage and people’s equality. It gave Taiwan’s government two years to implement the ruling.

[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–As the Dragon Boat Festival is drawing near, sales of the

leaf-wrapped sticky rice dumplings (zongzi in Mandarin) sell like hot cakes, but how long should they be steamed before they can be enjoyed?

Su Hsiu-yueh (蘇秀悅), a nutritionist from Taipei Medical University Hospital, said small rice dumplings purchased from a market should be steamed for at least 20 minutes and bigger ones for about 40 minutes to ensure they are heated sufficiently. She warned that improperly stored or insufficiently heated rice dumplings can cause diarrhea.

As for the calorie content of rice dumplings, Su said there are 400-450 calories in 120-150 grams of rice dumpling, and 600-800 calories in a 250-gram rice dumpling.

Rice dumplings containing such healthy ingredients as raw cereals, pumpkin and turmeric powder are good choices, she said. As most rice dumplings contain pork, it is better to ask whether the pork used is lean meat or fatty meat before buying to avoid eating too much animal fat, she added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/24
By: Huang Ya-juan and Lilian Wu

Taipei, May 24 (CNA) Taiwan is going to promote another of its popular local street food, braised pork on rice (滷肉飯), following the success in marketing beef noodles, a dish that has been heavily promoted.

The Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Economic Affairs will sponsor the Taiwan braised pork on rice festival, inviting between 50 and 100 shops famous for the dish to take part in the festival.

The officials said that to project the image of Taiwan as a “country of delicacies,” it has targeted the street food for promotion, based on being included as one of Taiwan’s best foods by such international media as CNN and its attraction from many tourists.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: May 24, 2017
By: Taipei, CNA

All three branches of Taiwan’s military took part in a drill Tuesday to test the

country’s defense capability against a simulated attack by China, in the second stage of this year’s Han Kuang series of military exercises, according to the military.

During the drill, F-16 jets, which took off from bases in Hualien and Chiayi, flew a route that simulated an attack by China on Taiwan proper, the military said.

In response, ground forces from the three branches of Taiwan’s military were deployed in the joint operations with the aim of testing the country’s defense capabilities, the military said.    [FULL  STORY]