Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/23
By: Lu Hsin-hui and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) praised Taiwan’s Armed Forces on Monday for performing well in response to China’s move to sail its aircraft carrier battle group through the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese aircraft carrier “Liaoning” and accompanying ships passed through the Taiwan Strait on Jan. 11, prompting Taiwan’s Air Force and other military branches to closely monitor the battle group’s movements.

During a luncheon with military officers and servicemen and women at the Ministry of National Defense, Tsai lauded the members of Taiwan’s armed forces for handling the tense situation well at a time when she was visiting some of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Central America.

“Your brilliant performance in defending our national security has boosted the people’s confidence in our Armed Forces,” Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-01-23

President Tsai Ing-wen has affirmed the military’s handling of China’s recent sea

maneuvers. Tsai was speaking Monday while attending a Lunar New Year party organized by the defense ministry.

The president was referring to the Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which passed by Taiwan in late December.

Tsai praised the military for doing a good job ensuring Taiwan’s national security since her administration took office eight months ago.

“During that period, in particular, [we saw] the efforts made by the air force to safeguard Taiwan’s airspace and the proper responses made by all the armed services when the Liaoning was sailing to the west of the midline of the Taiwan Strait. Their distinguished performance has led to more public confidence in the military,” said Tsai.

The president also called on the military to continue pushing for reforms, adding that she shares in both the honors and shortcomings of the troops.   [SOURCE]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/23
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–A Chinese man biked more than 2,000 kilometers across a

large area of China in 15 days to arrive on Sunday just in time to be with his girlfriend on her birthday, according to a Chinese media outlet.

Chengdu Business Daily reported that a 27-year-old man surnamed Kuo works for a bicycle shop in Beijing. In August last year, he got acquainted with a woman surnamed Chiang on the Internet, and later they became boyfriend and girlfriend, the daily reported.

Kuo said his girlfriend is fond of walking as a way of travel and has taken a bike trip along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, and that both share the same hobbies, according to the daily.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/23
By: Yeh Tzu-kang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) This year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival, to be held in Yunlin County’s Huwei and Beigang townships from Feb. 7-19, will showcase the cultures of new immigrants as well as traditional Taiwanese glove puppetry which originated in this southern Taiwan county, according to the organizers on Monday.

Hosting the festival for the first time in its 28-year history, the county will display 3,000 lanterns in the two areas which cover more than 50 hectares — the largest number of lamps and display area ever, county government officials said.

The main area will be in Huwei’s Yunlin Agriculture Expo Park, where there will be a trial run on Feb. 8, lasting until Feb. 10, before the official launch on Feb. 11. Lanterns will be turned on at the Beigang site on Feb. 7.    [FULL  STORY]

In an interview with ‘Taipei Times’ reporter Stacy Hsu, Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation Representative Dmitrii Polianskii, who assumed the Taipei post in January last year, expressed the hope that ties between Russians and Taiwanese would become closer, saying that both sides have a lot to offer each other

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 24, 2017

Taipei Times (TT): Taiwanese generally have a poor knowledge of Russia. After serving as Moscow’s representative to Taipei for nearly a year, how do you propose to improve this?

Dmitrii Polianskii: Actually, in today’s world it is not a problem to get information about a certain country. Twenty years ago people were supposed to go to a library to learn something before traveling to a certain place. Now there are a lot of online resources and our small world has become much closer.   [INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

The China Post
Date: January 24, 2017
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — 2017 is the year of rooster, lasting from the first day of Lunar New Year on Jan. 28, 2017 until Feb. 15, 2018.

But the rooster, which comes between the monkey and the dog in the Chinese zodiac calendar, had a hard time making it into the 12-year cycle.

According to ancient folklore, long ago, the Jade Emperor — the supreme deity of Taoism — set out to select 12 animals to be his guards.

But the combative King Rooster was initially ruled out for failing to make a significant contribution to mankind — a key standard set by the Emperor.   [FULL STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A letter from a Chinese tourist has touched the heart of Chou Yung-hui, director-general of Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau.

Rave reviews from Chinese tourists about Taiwan’s beautiful landscapes and friendly people used to be abundant, but after a horrific tour bus fire in July last year that killed 24 Chinese tourists, such reviews have become a rare sight as the political relationship across the Taiwan Strait chilled. Twenty-one of the 24 Chinese visitors who died in the inferno were from Dalian, Liaoning Province.

However, the letter to the Tourism Bureau written by a Chinese visitor from Dalian in December of

last year is especially heartwarming to all people who have been working hard to promote tourism in Taiwan.

Chou said that he still felt very sorry mentioning the bus accident, adding that the government has taken measures to rectify problems related to the tour bus and tourism industries. He said on Saturday he was especially moved by the letter sent from the Chinese city that suffered the heaviest casualties caused by the accident.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/22
By: Wu Hsin-yun and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) The government will be responsible for the “final injection” to the labor

pension fund, and it will not go broke, the Ministry of Labor said Sunday.

Responding to concerns expressed at the national conference on pension reform held at the Presidential Office that day, the ministry made it a point that “there will absolutely be no possibility that young people today will not be able to receive their pensions down the road.”

To ensure the labor pension will be sustainable, said the ministry, the government has proposed only “minor adjustments” to the current system, as well as “regular reviews” of how things will proceed when the proposed reforms are put into effect.

Under the government’s draft amendments to the labor insurance law, workers will be required to pay 0.5 percent more in insurance premiums each year for five years in a row before the new measure — if approved by the Legislature — is reviewed for its effects.    [FULL  STORY]