Page Two

Kinmen holds half-marathon to promote tourism

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-21

Some 1,600 runners converged on the outlying Taiwanese island of Kinmen on Sunday for a half-marathon.

First place in the men’s division went to Ho Chin-ping, who finished the 21.1-kilometer race in 1 hour 17 minutes and 32 seconds. The women’s title went to Fang Yun-ju, who finished with a time of 1:52:23.

Sunday’s event also included a 10-km fun run. It was the latest in a series of races aimed at boosting tourism in Kinmen’s five townships.

The final run in the series is scheduled for Nov. 26 in Jinsha Township. The county government says that after seeing participation growing from one race to the next, it is considering making the circuit an annual event.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s new immigrants celebrate Dragon Boat Festival in Taipei

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/21
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) held a Dragon

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) held a Dragon Boat Festival that combined performances and rice dumpling DIY activities for new immigrant in Taipei.

Boat Festival that combined performances and rice dumpling DIY activities for new immigrants in Taipei on May 21.

The NIA organized the event to facilitate new immigrants’ integration with local culture and to celebrate upcoming Dragon Boat Festival.

The event began with a performance of “rice dumpling dance” by a group of immigrant women. They danced to the tune of Taiwanese song “Rice Dumplings (Sio Ba-zang)” (燒肉粽).    [FULL  STORY]

Two FAT flights canceled after workers call in sick

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/21
By: Chen Ting-wei and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) FAT Taiwan Inc., one of Taiwan’s smaller airlines, canceled two morning flights between Taipei and Kinmen on Sunday after nine employees called in sick, but the airline would not say if the action amounted to a protest by the workers.

Flight FE065 flight from Taipei Songshan Airport to Kinmen scheduled to depart at 8:30 a.m had to be canceled because of a staff scheduling problem after nine people took sick or menstrual leave in accordance with company regulations, the airline said.

Consequently, return flight FE066 from Kinmen to Taipei, scheduled to take off at 10:10 a.m., was also canceled, the company said, noting that all of its other flights would operate as usual.    [FULL  STORY]

Wu stresses ‘1992 consensus’ in Xi reply

HONORIFICS:Chinese President Xi Jinping used a non-honorific ‘you’ to refer to the new KMT chairman, whereas his letter to Hung Hsiu-chu used the honorific form

Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2017
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has stressed the so-called “1992 consensus” in his first interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a congratulatory letter to Wu 90 minutes after the KMT announced the result of chairperson election on Saturday evening.

Sources said that prior to receiving the letter, the KMT was worried it would not be sent, as Beijing reportedly disapproved of the former vice president due to his emphasis of the “different interpretations” element of the “1992 consensus” and his statement that the KMT should not mention unification.

The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said that he made up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
[FULL  STORY]

Premier vows to continue leading Taiwan forward

The China Post
Date: May 21, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Premier Lin Chuan (林全) on Saturday reaffirmed his commitment to solve problems for Taiwan and pledged to continue to lead the country forward.

In a Facebook post marking his first anniversary in office, Lin said the government has been following an economic development policy that focuses on innovation, employment and distribution since its inauguration on May 20 last year.

“I’ve said that I took the office of premier only to solve problems,” Lin said.

Lin said he has traveled to various counties and cities around the country over the past year to collect their opinions and has overcome many barriers that have impeded the implementation of related plans.    [FULL  STORY]

Lin Fei-fan: Don’t Let The People Down Again

The News Lens
Date: 2017/05/19
By: Lin Fei-fan

Lin Fei-fan, one of the student leaders in the 2014 protest that drew half a million

Photo Credit: Reuters/達志影像

people to the streets of Taipei, writes about the mounting dissatisfaction with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her government as well as the hypocrisy of the international community.

As President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) marks the first anniversary of her inauguration, three different protests are happening in Taiwan: an occupation in front of the Presidential Office by indigenous people pursuing the return of their traditional territories, which has lasted more than 85 days; a just-concluded protest led by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Lin Yi-Hsiung (林義雄) urging the amendment of the Referendum Act, held over two weeks in front of the DPP’s headquarters; and, an action against the controversial “Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program,” which would see taxpayers pay NT$880 billion (US$29 billion) for new infrastructure projects across the nation.    [FULL  STORY]

French magazine misnames Taiwan pop star Jolin Tsai

“Numéro” names her as “Lydia Teen”

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A French style magazine published a picture of Taiwanese

Jolin Tsai in photo, center (photo from Facebook).

pop star Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) in its latest edition, but the caption identified her as “Lydia Teen,” the singer said on her Facebook page Saturday.

“Numéro” magazine published a series of black-and-white photographs of celebrities attending the recent Milan Fashion Week, and one of the pictures, showing a man and a woman in T-shirts, bore a caption naming them as Jeremy Scott and Lydia Teen. Scott is the designer of the fashion label Moschino, but Teen was easily recognizable as Tsai.

On her Facebook page, the Taiwanese singer laughed off the mistake, saying she had become an all-new celebrity in France with a “sexy new artist’s name.”

The magazine caption was brought to her attention in a private message from a hairdresser, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s health minister arrives in Geneva; to protest WHA exclusion

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/20
By: Tai Ya-chen, Tang Pei-chun and Elaine Hou

Geneva, May 20 (CNA) Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) arrived in Geneva on Saturday and hopes to meet with officials from countries participating in the World Health Assembly (WHA) while protesting to China over Taiwan’s exclusion from this year’s event.

Shortly after their arrival, Chen and his delegation were scheduled to hold meetings finalizing details of Taiwan’s strategy to have its voice heard, and visit the Palace of Nations, the venue of the annual WHA meeting, later in the day.

Taiwan had hoped to attend this year’s WHA in Geneva from May 22-31 as an observer, as it had done the past eight years, but it did not receive an invitation from the World Health Organization (WHO) because of China’s opposition.
[FULL  STORY]

Most Taiwanese support ‘status quo’ peace: MAC

Taipei Times
Date: May 21, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

More than 70 percent of respondents in an opinion poll support the government’s efforts to maintain the cross-strait “status quo” based on the pursuit of peace and stability, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.

MAC Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) announced the survey results at a news conference on Thursday, adding that 83.9 percent of respondents believed that maintaining positive bilateral exchanges was a shared responsibility between Taiwan and China, and that both should refrain from non-peaceful or intimidating words or deeds.

Of the respondents, 83 percent said that faced with the new situation, China should adopt a new mindset, demonstrate goodwill and flexibility to jointly maintain bilateral peace and stability.

The survey also showed that 71.8 percent of those polled thought China should seek cooperation with Taiwan, while 71.9 percent agreed with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that cross-strait relations could not be decided unilaterally and both nations needed to demonstrate goodwill to promote good relations.
[FULL  STORY]

President urges Beijing to respect Taiwanese public opinion

The China Post
Date: May 20, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday urged Beijing to “correctly understand” the meaning of last year’s presidential election in Taiwan and what she described as the “good will” demonstrated repeatedly by Taiwan over the past year.

“This is a new era, because the Taiwanese people say so,” said Tsai, who led her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party back to power with a vote share of 56 percent in the Jan. 16, 2016 poll, defeating her main rival Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the then-ruling Kuomintang, who garnered 31 percent.

“The old questions should be let go to give way to new ones. The new issue is how the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can jointly maintain cross-strait peace and prosperity,” she said during a meeting with a delegation of overseas Chinese media representatives on the eve of her first anniversary in office.

She reiterated that maintaining the status quo of cross-strait relations is the policy followed by her administration and that the commitments she has made in this regard remain unchanged.    [FULL  STORY]