Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/03
By: Sabine Cheng and Christie Chen

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Alfonso Wong (王家禧), the creator of the popular comic strip “Old Master Q” (老夫

子), died at the age of 93 in the United States on Jan. 1, OMQ ZMedia Ltd., the company that promotes Wong’s comics, announced in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

Wong, who was born in Tianjin, China and later moved to Hong Kong and the United States, is best known for his humorous comic strip, which many in Hong Kong and the Chinese-speaking world grew up reading.

Wong began drawing his iconic “Old Master Q” in 1963. The comic strip features the protagonist Old Master Q, a witty and idiosyncratic character who dresses in traditional Chinese attire, his best friends Big Potato and Mr. Chin, the antagonist Mr. Chiu and Old Master Q’s love interest Miss Chan.

The comic strip portrays the everyday lives of Chinese people.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 04, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee forfeited the right to appeal a court ruling that

suspended the committee’s order to transfer the properties of two holding companies to the state, saying the ruling acknowledges the affiliation of the two companies with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

The committee in November last year identified Central Investment Co (中央投資公司) and Hsinyutai Co (欣裕台股份有限公司) as KMT-affiliated organizations, ordering that their assets, valued at about NT$15.6 billion (US$483.8 million at the current exchange rate), should be transferred to the state, as they were founded with illegally obtained assets.

However, the Taipei High Administrative Court last month suspended the transfer, as it could cause irreparable damage to the KMT and the companies should they win a legal battle against the committee over the status of the two companies and the disposition of their assets.

The committee yesterday said it decided to give up its right to appeal, as the verdict validated the committee’s identification of the stakes the KMT holds in the two companies as ill-gotten assets, which would prevent them from being transferred or appropriated.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 4, 2017
By: Angela Wu, Pessy Lee and Angela Chu, Special to The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Reading on electronic devices may be convenient, but nothing can replicate the feeling

of curling up with a book. To bring back the delight of reading books, EP-BOOKS (益品書屋) revolutionized the concept of traditional bookstores, opening doors in July 2015. The China Post had the pleasure of visiting the bookstore and chatting with chairman Steve Day (戴勝益). Here is an edited version of the conversation:

The China Post: With a background managing restaurant chains, how did you make the change from leading the Wowprime Group (王品集團) to opening a bookstore?

Steve Day: The motivation behind this bookstore was to bring back the simple pleasure of reading and to create a stress-free reading environment. It was also the chance for me to do something with what I love the most. I was always a bookworm and I majored in Chinese Literature in university. Opening a bookstore where everyone could enjoy reading has been my dream since then. Even when I was working at Wowprime, I did not forget that this was what I wanted to do ultimately in life.

The China Post: EP-BOOKS is unlike any other bookstore in Taiwan, can you share with us where the idea for it emerged from?    [FULL  STORY]

Transportation ministry considering the feasibility of closing Taipei’s Songshan Airport and moving flights to Taoyuan

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/02
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Jan. 2 — Taiwan’s transportation ministry has commissioned a feasibility study into whether

Songshan Airport in Taipei should be closed and its flights moved the country’s main international airport in Taoyuan.

The study is focused on “technical” issues, such as whether Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport should be categorized as a dedicated international airport or one that accommodates both international and domestic flights, and also the impact of expanding its services, the ministry said.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the study is being carried out by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and Taoyuan International Airport Corp. and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/02
By: Elaine Hou and Claudia Liu

Taipei, Jan. 2 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense confirmed Monday that it may reorganize the air

defense missile command, which is currently under the ministry’s jurisdiction, but said it would not be related to a stalled program to cut the size of the military.

The ministry was responding to a report in the Chinese-language United Evening News on Monday saying that the Air Defense Missile Command will be put under the Air Force Command in March, the first reorganization of the military since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016.

The air defense missile command was formed in 2012 under a directive issued by then Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), according to the report.

Missiles under the command’s authority include the locally developed Tien Kung-series missiles and Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) cruise missiles, as well as the Hawk and Patriot PAC-3 missiles purchased from the United States, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/01
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Film producer of documentary Wansei Back Home Chen Hsuan-ju, also known by her Japanese name Mika Tanaka released a statement Sunday admitting that she lied about her identity of being Japan born Taiwanese and the descendant of Wansei.

Chairman of Yuan-Liou Publishing Wang Jung-Wen told United Daily Sunday that Tanaka came visiting and apologized over the fake identity incident, saying that the Wansei grandmother she claimed before was actually a nice lady she came across near Kaohsiung train station when she was in high school.

The statement also indicated that the nice lady surnamed Tanaka treated Mika Tanaka like her own granddaughter and provided her tuition for studying aboard in France and America.

According to the report, when asked why faking about her identity, Mika Tanaka confessed that one lie led to another.    [FULL  STORY]