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4 killed, 3 rescued in Taoyuan fire

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-17
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) Four people were killed, including a two-month-old baby, and three others 6774683rescued in a fire that broke out in a two-story house in Chungli District, Taoyuan City Sunday evening.

Firefighters said they got a report at 7:10 p.m. and arrived at the scene 10 minutes later to find several people trapped inside the second-floor rooms of the reinforced concrete house.

Rescue workers broke into the burning house, guiding two males and one female into safety but failing to rescue four others — a 36- year-old woman, a four-year-old boy, a seven-year-old girl and a baby girl who was just two moths old. All four were pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital.

The firefighters were able to contain the fire at 7:28 p.m. and fully extinguished it four minutes later, Toayuan Fire Department said.    [SOURCE]

Taipei library expands services through convenience stores

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/17
By: Chu Tze-wei and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) The Taipei Public Library, which curates more than 7 million volumes, increased 40356439its services to the national level Monday by allowing its members to collect and return borrowed books at nearly 10,000 convenience stores around Taiwan.

The library said the new service is an expansion of a simple book-return program it initiated in February 2015 in cooperation with FamilyMart, one of the largest convenience store chains in Taiwan.

Following the service of allowing its members to return books through FamilyMart, it further allied with the 7-Eleven and Hi-Life convenience store chains and expanded the service to the degree that when members register online to borrow materials from the library, they can collect them at any designated convenience store in the country.

The service, however, is not free. Users must have a library card, must register online as a convenience store service user, and must pay a deposit of NT$200 (US$6.29), according to the library.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT groups in Ma era won bids worth NT$170m

PATRONAGE POSTS?The DPP said Parasite Control Organization chairs and directors were appointed from among officials of the previous government

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 18, 2016
By: Cheng Hung-ta and Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporters

Four foundations affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secured government tenders

Former president Ma Ying-jeou speaks at the World Peace Conference at the Grand Hotel in Taipei on Oct. 8. Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times

Former president Ma Ying-jeou speaks at the World Peace Conference at the Grand Hotel in Taipei on Oct. 8. Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times

worth NT$170 million (US$5.35 million at current exchange rates) during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) terms, prompting legislators to accuse the previous administration of channeling public money into private hands and using political influence for private gain.

The National Policy Foundation, the Chinese Youth Peace Corps, the Chang Ching Charity Foundation and the Parasite Control Organization won several government tenders and contracts between 2008 and this year while they were directly or indirectly funded by the KMT, according to public data compiled by the Judicial Yuan.

KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) also chairs the National Policy Foundation — a KMT think tank — as well as the Chinese Youth Peace Corps and the Chang Ching Charity Foundation, the data showed.

The Parasite Control Organization assigned former government officials as chairperson and director in patronage appointments, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said.     [FULL  STORY]

Hundreds protest forced evictions in Kaohsiung

The China Post
Date: October 18, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Social activists and local residents subject to expropriation surrounded Kaohsiung

Hundreds of protesters congregate outside the Kaohsiung City Council, bashing the city government for neglecting marginal voices, on Monday, Oct. 17. Demonstrators accused city mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of "conspiring and manipulation in a democracy," calling for a face-to-face meeting with her over recent disputes involving the city's urban renewal and land expropriation projects. (CNA)

Hundreds of protesters congregate outside the Kaohsiung City Council, bashing the city government for neglecting marginal voices, on Monday, Oct. 17. Demonstrators accused city mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of “conspiring and manipulation in a democracy,” calling for a face-to-face meeting with her over recent disputes involving the city’s urban renewal and land expropriation projects.
(CNA)

City Council on Monday demanding land justice and housing rights.

More than 200 demonstrators from approximately 20 self-help civic groups protested outside the Kaohsiung City Council building on Monday morning, calling for a face-to-face meeting with Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu.

Demonstrators accused the city government of being reckless and dictatorial in their execution of urban renewal and infrastructure construction projects.

They invited Chen to a public debate over recent disputed land expropriation projects.

“She (Chen) refuses to sit down and speak with us altogether, and then she goes tearing down houses one by one, threatening individuals so as to achieve what they want,” demonstrators said.

Meanwhile, Chen was inside the council building as councilors bombarded her with questions over land expropriation and urban renewal matters.     [FULL  STORY]

Typhoon Sarika to affect Taiwan from Sunday night, Tropical Storm Haima on the way

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said on Sunday that Typhoon Sarika will move through Luzon 6774663Island in the Philippines and enter the South China Sea in the next couple of days and its outer fringe will begin to affect Taiwan from Sunday night, causing China Airlines (CAL) to change its flights to and from Manila.

CAL said Saturday that Taipei-Manila and Manila-Taipei flights C1701 and C1702 scheduled for Sunday will be canceled, while Kaohsiung- Manila and Manila-Kaohsiung flights C1711 and C1712 Sunday will be delayed until 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Monday, respectively.

The CWB said the center of Typhoon Sarika is located about 710 km south-southeast of Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. The CWB said it expected the outer cloud bands of the storm to affect Taiwan from Sunday night to Tuesday and bring occasional heavy rains to eastern Taiwan and Hengchun Peninsula.     [FULL  STORY]

Typhoon Haima to impact Taiwan from Oct. 20: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/16
By: Chen Wei-ting and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) Storm Haima, which was upgraded to a typhoon on Sunday afternoon, could 16784519begin to impact weather in Taiwan on Oct. 20, bringing strong winds and rain to eastern, southern and mountainous areas in northern parts of the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

As of 2 p.m. on Sunday, Haima was about 2,370 kilometers south-southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour in a northwesterly direction, CWB data showed.

With a radius of 150 kilometers, The storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of 119 kph, with gusts of up to 155 kph, according to the CWB.

Haima could be at its closest to Taiwan between Oct. 20-21 as it passes through the Bashi Channel, forecasters said.     [FULL  STORY]

Lin to host meeting on southbound plan

MEETING OF THE MINDS:Friday’s day-long get-together is aimed at giving the premier an overview of potential problems facing the government’s new policy

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 17, 2016
By: Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporter

Premier Lin Chuan (林全) has called together dozens of high-level officials for a day-long meeting at the end of this week to discuss President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “new southbound policy,” which has been dogged by concerns over a perceived lack of a concrete plan and unclear divisions of responsibility.

According to an Executive Yuan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, following the conclusion of the legislature’s plenary session tomorrow, Lin will shift his focus to the planning and execution of the new southbound policy, which was officially announced by the Executive Yuan last month.

Those set to attend Friday’s meeting are Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) and Executive Yuan spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), the official said.

The gathering of high-level Executive Yuan members underscores the government’s emphasis on its southbound policy, the official said.     [FULL  STORY]

Tsai says Taichung’s new rail station to usher in prosperity

The China Post
Date: October 17, 2016
By: Sun Hsin Hsuan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taichung on Sunday inaugurated its elevated railway station shortly after it shut its ground-level station, which had witnessed a century of the city’s history.

The new railway station will become the foundation of Taichung’s next century, President Tsai Ing-wen said at the inauguration.

The first-ever train to run on the new elevated railway arrived at 6:28 a.m. Sunday, and the Taiwan Railways Administration held a ceremony to mark the opening of the station at noon.

The ceremony was attended by Tsai, Transportation Minister Ho Chen Tan and other governmental officials.

Tsai said she hoped the new train station would bolster tourism and economic activity in the area, bringing prosperity back to the center of Taichung.

The elevation of Taichung’s railway system is part of a nationwide project that began under former Premier Yu Shyi-kun.     [FULL  STORY]

Hung to meet KMT lawmakers over ‘one China’

The China Post
Date: October 16, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu will meet with party lawmakers later this week to discuss a key difference over the “one China” concept ahead of her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a leading KMT legislator disclosed Saturday.

Legislator Liao Kuo-tung, convener of the KMT’s legislative caucus, said the party’s lawmakers asked to meet with the chairwoman to see how she would explain the difference between “one China, different interpretations,” and “one China, same interpretation.”

“One China, different interpretations” is the KMT’s long-standing definition of the so-called “1992 Consensus.”

Last year on the presidential campaign trail, Hung proposed the controversial “same interpretation” version, which many believe caused her to be replaced as the party’s presidential candidate.     [FULL  STORY]

Patriot missiles to be stationed in Linkou

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-15
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The military has chosen Linkou in New Taipei City as the location for its 3332613final Patriot missile base, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported Saturday.

The original plan had designed nine bases for the United States-made interceptor missiles spread over the north, center and south of the country.

Near the capital, the military had chosen the Taipei City district of Nangang and the New Taipei City districts of Wanli and Xindian to station the missiles, but according to the latest thinking, the north coast area of Wanli would be abandoned in favor of Linkou, reports said.

Taiwan spent NT$179.1 billion (US$5.64 billion) on purchasing six Patriot PAC-3 sets of missiles and on upgrading its existing three Patriot PAC-2 projectiles to the same level as the PAC-3, according to the United Daily News.     [FULL  STORY]