The China Post
Date: October 25, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

New American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty has arrived in the country on his first

trip since being appointed, the AIT announced Monday.

He will meet Taiwan government officials and other leaders to exchange views on subjects of mutual interest to the United States and Taiwan, the AIT said in a statement. The AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.

Moriarty arrived on Sunday, and his trip is scheduled to end this coming Saturday.

In a separate statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the visit by Moriarty, who took over the AIT chair post last month following the retirement of Raymond Burghardt. It also congratulated him on his new position.

During his stay in Taipei, the AIT chief will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and exchange views with her on various issues concerning bilateral relations, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 24, 2016
By: Dimitri Bruyas

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Italy has always been a synonym for “good food,” offering an unmistakable explosion of

flavors, scents and aromas. Aside from having pizza and spaghetti, the Mediterranean country also proposes an immense variety of different regional dishes and recipes which are presented at Bencotto At Mandarin Oriental, Taipei.

The newly appointed chef de cuisine, Loris Pistillo, recently unveiled “A Classic Traditional Affair of Italian Gastronomy,” which brings a brand-new traditional trattoria-style Italian cuisine with authentic recipes from nonna (grandmother in Italian) to Taipei.

Gifted with an innate flair and skills, Chef Loris delivers homemade recipes that combine the rich culinary heritage with contemporary Italian cuisine for an upscale dining experience.

Classic Take on Authentic Italian Cuisine

Originally from Milan, Italy, Loris is also committed to bringing you Italian dishes that incorporate contemporary touches and local ingredients. He pays unfailing attention to detail and cooks each dish with a heartwarming sensibility, which is the essence of Italian cuisine. Aiming to make you feel as if you were in Italy, he stays true to Italian flavors by preserving the original taste and form of the ingredients.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-23
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

OhBear, “Director” of the Tourism Bureau’s Super Task Force, popped up at Taipei Main Station Friday to interact with fans and visitors in the station to promote the new check-in location－a public Cuckoo Clock in the station’s lobby.

OhBear immediately became a pleasant surprise, with visitors taking pictures with Ohbear and receiving souvenirs. Visitors flooded into the lobby to see the clock striking the hours to melody of “Diu diu tong”, a traditional Taiwanese children’s song.

The new art installation is meant to become a new check-in location for passengers who travel to Taipei, and was jointly built by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) and Breeze Center Corp. The automatic toy train starts on every hour to background music from 6a.m. to 12a.m. every day. The toy train on the clock is a replica of Steam Locomotive LDK58, and was handcrafted by a Japanese team, according to the TRA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/23
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) The PHILATAIPEI 2016 World Stamp Championship Exhibition, under the theme of comics and anime on its third day, was a big hit among young audiences Sunday, who enjoyed the combination of philately and anime.

Some of the people thronging the expo said they were impressed by a series of events designed to rejuvenate the image of postal services using comics and anime, including an illustration contest, a mini anime, comic and games concert, and a cosplay party.

Checking the details of the winning anime design offerings inspired by postal services, 13-year-old twins Hsu An-hua (徐安驊) and Hsu Yi-hua (徐宜驊) from Taoyuan said they had seen nothing like this before.

The display is an eye-opener, said the girls, adding that since they draw comics as a hobby themselves, they found many interesting ideas from the designs.     [FULL  STORY]

UNFAIR:The cancelation of seven holidays would make student workers unable to earn the overtime pay they deserve, a member of the Labor Struggle group said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Nearly 100 students demonstrated in front of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) headquarters in

Taipei yesterday, accusing the party of reneging on its campaign promises by seeking to cancel seven national holidays, a move they said would hurt the rights of part-time student workers.

Students from 59 organizations and unions marched from the legislative and executive branch buildings to the DPP headquarters to protest a draft amendment to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), which would implement a five-day workweek with one regular day off and one flexible rest day and reduce the number of national holidays from 19 to 12.

The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests after the amendment passed a first reading at the Legislative Yuan earlier this month.

They placed a liver-shaped papier-mache sculpture in front of the DPP’s headquarters and set off a firecracker inside the prop to symbolize how the amendment could damage workers’ health.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 24, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Kuomintang (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said there must be a

communication channel between both sides of the strait and that an upcoming meet with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would serve as one.

Hau made the remarks to Taiwan press before delivering a speech at the KMT’s Fengshan office in the Kaohsiung at the invitation of office head Huang Po-lin.

KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu will lead a party delegation to attend the 11th KMT-CPC forum in early November to discuss peaceful cross-strait development.

She is slated to meet her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who is also China’s president.

Hau said that although the KMT, unlike the CCP, was now an opposition party, it was imperative for the KMT to convey the voices of people in Taiwan and present concrete measures for promoting peaceful cross-strait development at the forum.    [FULL  STORY]

Massive investment in solar and wind power will be needed if Taiwan is to phase out nuclear energy at the same time as meeting its carbon abatement commitments.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/22
By: Timothy Ferry

The “Energiewende” – energy transformation – of Germany’s power supply has vaulted that industrial

giant to the forefront of global renewable energy development. Anxiety about nuclear energy in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, as well as concerns with global warming and energy security, led Germany in 1991 to enact the Feed-in Act, the world’s first national Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) employed to stimulate investment in alternative energy.

Germany now generates some 30% of its total electricity from renewable energies, including solar, wind, biofuels, and hydro. It is also a leader in the manufacture, design, R&D, and installation of renewable energy facilities, and its renewable energy policies serve as reference for the rest of the world.

Taiwan is now on the path towards its own Energiewende that is in some ways even more ambitious than Germany’s.    [FULL  STORY]