Taiwan Today
Date: February 24, 2017

Minister of Foreign Affairs David Tawei Lee met with around 200 representatives from

130 local nongovernmental organizations at a tea reception Feb. 22 at Taipei Guest House in the capital city, pledging to continue close collaboration with the NGOs in expanding Taiwan’s international presence.

Speaking at the event, Lee said the unique political status of the Republic of China (Taiwan) limits the nation’s participation in the international community. Therefore, NGOs can assist the government in expanding Taiwan’s global presence, he added.

The minister pointed out that since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May of last year, she has repeatedly stressed the importance of the partnership between the government and NGOs. She also expressed her hopes for the enhancement of the ROC’s diplomatic efforts through such organizations, as well as think tanks and other groups.    [FULL  STORY]

Home to Taiwan’s only active volcano is open again to tourists

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/01
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Turtle Island (龜山島), an islet 10 kilometers off the coast of the

northeastern Taiwanese town of Toucheng in Yilan County, will open to limited numbers of the public today, after having closed for three months for environmental protection, according to the Tourism Bureau.

The island, which gained its name for its shape reminiscent of a floating turtle, is 3.3 kilometers wide and 1.7 kilometers long, comprises a total area of 2.85 square kilometers in size, and is 401 meters above sea level at its highest point.

Having last erupted in 1785, it is the only known active volcano in Taiwan and was first inhabited by fishermen from Fujian in 1853. The entire civilian population was relocated in 1977 and the island served as a military base until 2000, when it was opened up for tourism.    [FULL  STORY]

‘PERSECUTION’ COMPLEX:The KMT chairperson said that the DPP government is trying to demonize Chiang Kai-shek and lay the groundwork for independence

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 02, 2017
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter, with CNA

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱)

yesterday called the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) effort to remove symbols of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from public spaces “an effort to ‘de-Republic of China [ROC]-ize’ and ‘desinicize’” Taiwan.

The KMT government had paid compensations, apologized, erected monuments and launched foundations about the 228 Incident when it was in power because “it believed in social harmony through understanding the historical truth, learning the lesson and letting go of the hatred,” she said.

“Sadly, the DPP government has continued to cash in on the Incident like it did [when it first came to power in 2000], and what it did for electoral gains in the name of truth-seeking now has become political persecution in the name of transitional justice,” she said.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 2, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

A water park where an explosion of flammable dust killed 15 people and

injured almost 500 others in 2015 could reopen after a court on Wednesday overturned a government order that had suspended its license.

The Tourism Bureau, which ordered the Formosa Fun Coast water park to suspend business following the accident, said it could appeal against the verdict handed down by the Taipei Administrative High Court.

The accident occurred at a concert on the evening of June 29, 2015 when colored powder was sprayed and accidentally ignited, creating balls of fire that engulfed hundreds of young party-goers.   [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/02/28, Culture
By: James Baron

In 1986 the Taiwan leader was granted his own effigy in Paraguay’s capital. But what of Taiwan’s expats in Paraguay today?

There aren’t many options if you’re bookless in Asunción, but the dusty old store halfway up Silvio Pettirossi is a real treat. Among Spanish translations of Jules Roy and propaganda materials featuring images of the late dictator General Alfredo Stroessner, I find a small blue pamphlet.

Published by the World Anticommunist League (WACL) – now known as the World League for Freedom and Democracy – it is titled “Industria de Los Comunistas Chinos en 1979.” Even if my Spanish language skills weren’t so limited, I wouldn’t be all that interested in the contents: annual increases in bicycle and fertilizer production, to take just one page. But the booklet is a reminder of just how tight the relationship between Taiwan and Paraguay was during El Stronato, as Stroessner’s 35-year reign was known.
[FULL  STORY]

Government officials promised to step up inspections to prevent human trafficking

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/02/28
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Labor Affairs Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government announced on Tuesday that it will fine Chan Shen Country Food Co., Ltd. tofu factory NT$1.2 million for holding migrant workers against their will. The bureau will also fine the brokerage company NT$500,000 for forcing the migrants to work illegally.

“The case is typical human trafficking, and the employer should be severely punished for mistreating migrant workers,” said an official of the Labor Affairs Bureau.

Kaohsiung police raided a dried tofu factory and rescued four migrant workers who had been locked inside on the second floor of the factory for up to 14 years and forced to work 15 hours every day.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/02/28
By: Worthy Shen and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Turtle Island, an islet off the east coast of northeastern Yilan

County, will be reopened to tourists on Wednesday after its annual three-month closure for environmental protection reasons, the Tourism Bureau said on Tuesday.

The island, located about 10 kilometers east of Wushih Harbor in Yilan County is 2.841 square kilometers in size and administered by Toucheng Township, which promotes the island as a tourist destination and natural conservation area. It is closed to tourists from December to February.

The island, also known as Guishan Island, became the site of a military base in 1977 when local residents, consisting mainly of fishermen, were relocated to Taiwan proper. The island was officially designated a maritime ecological park and opened to tourists in 2000.    [FULL  STORY]