Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-10
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

Following the National Day festivities early Monday morning, the official National Day banquet was held at the Taipei Guesthouse later that day. The banquet featured culturally and geographically diverse dishes to delight the palates of visiting foreign dignitaries and ambassadors. On top of the enticing delicacies, Taiwanese folk arts and handicrafts were presented next to the buffet including dough sculptures and straw-plaited items.

To welcome representatives from around the world as well as diplomatic allies, the banquet was divided into six pavilions featuring Taiwanese night market snacks, Hakka and indigenous cuisine, Southeast Asian cuisine, Northeast Asian cuisine, and DingTaiFeng’s most acclaimed dishes including Xiaolongbao.

The Southeast Asian pavilion was first introduced to the banquet under Tsai government’s New Southward Policy initiative, according to people familiar with the matter.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/10
By: Pei Shen, Wu Yi-ning, Wu Chia-sheng, Chang Hsin-wei, Chang Jung-hsiang and Kay Liu

The Republic of China holds celebrations around the country for the Oct. 10 National Day, including an annual parade in front of the Presidential Office.

Baseball player Chen Chin-feng (in suit).

Baseball player Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒), the first Taiwanese to appear in Major League Baseball games in the United States, who recently retired, was invited to sing the national anthem with an elementary school baseball team.

The baseball theme was also incorporated in the performance of a military marching band, members of which adopted batter poses during their annual participation in the event.

Under the theme of “great to have you,” this year’s celebrations highlighted the disaster relief forces of the country, showcasing their equipment, as well as the personnel on the ground and in the air.

The theme was also printed on a commemorative towel for this year’s National Day, which was shown several times by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and guests during the celebrations. [FULL  STORY & MORE PHOTOS]

The China Post
Date: October 11, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s pro-independence and mainland-leaning camps used the Presidential

Pro-independence activists, demanding that a referendum be held to decide Taiwan’s future, rally some 100 meters from the square outside the Presidential Office where National Day celebrations were held Monday, Oct. 10. (Photo: Morgan Lin, The China Post)

Office’s National Day event to promote their causes Monday, as President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to maintain the cross-strait status quo and called for reopening talks with China.

Waving large flags and banners reading “Taiwan independence” and “One Taiwan, one China,” dozens of pro-independence activists rallied outside the square where Tsai delivered her first National Day address since taking office in May.

“Let us stage a referendum to decide whether Taiwan should become a new nation,” shouted the activists, who were barred by a heavy police cordon from demonstrating near the square.

“We elected her all because we thought she would stand by us to fight for independence,” said one activist, who declined to give his name.

On the other side of the rally, an equally large crowd of pro-China activists unfurled a large banner calling for the government to stop all activities aimed at splitting Taiwan from the mainland.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/09
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) Days of heavy rain in eastern Taiwan due to the peripheral effects of Tropical

A section of the Provincial Highway No. 9 in Taitung County. (Photo courtesy of the Directorate General of Highways)

Storm Aere have forced a railway line and roads to close.

Railway services on the South Link Line between southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung and eastern Taiwan’s Taitung were suspended early Sunday as a mudslide washed away more than 20 meters of the roadbed in a section of the rail line between Taitung’s Taimali and Zhiben.

The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) estimated that service would not resume until after midnight.

Meanwhile, the section of Provincial Highway No. 9 between Taitung’s Xianglan and Daniao was closed at 7 p.m. Sunday due to rock falls, while restricted access was allowed at the 97.1-kilometer mark of Provincial Highway No. 7, according to the Directorate General of Highways.     [FULL  STORY]