NO SHOWS:Caucus convener Liao Kuo-tung said the KMT is simply following the precedent set by the DPP’s caucus during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s terms in office

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 10, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter, with CNA

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said that it would not attend today’s Double Ten

National Day celebrations, but shrugged off any link between its decision and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration’s ongoing hunt for the KMT’s ill-gotten assets.

“The KMT caucus has decided not to attend tomorrow’s Double Ten National Day ceremony since the DPP caucus was absent from such events when the KMT was in power,” KMT caucus convener Liao Kuo-tung (廖國棟) said.

Asked whether the decision was prompted by efforts by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to recover the KMT’s ill-gotten assets, Liao said: “Why would it have anything to do with party assets?”

The decision is primarily due to the DPP’s disrespect of minority parties and its absence from previous Double Ten National Day celebrations, Liao said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 10, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh and Alan Fong

TAIPEI, Taiwan — In her first National Day address as head of state, Tsai Ing-wen will vow to lead

Taiwan “steadily forward” to “be great due to reforms,” the Presidential Office spokesman said Sunday.

The president’s speech will be delivered in three parts: major policies and plans for the nation, a statement on Taiwan’s participation in international community, and a reiteration of her stance and goodwill toward Beijing, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang said.

In the first section of her address, the president will discuss policies aimed at relieving stress for the young generation, such as measures on social housing, pension reform, child care and elderly care.

She will also highlight business policies designed to create jobs (the “5+2 industry policy”) and to build a healthier democracy (namely her transitional justice policies).

According to Huang, the president will stress that this is “the first time we will sit down to think about what we should do for the next generation of people in Taiwan — what kind of nation we are going to leave them.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-08
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Environmental Protection Administration on Saturday hammered on the

fact that a certain level of consensus had been reached about a chemical plant in Changhua County following talks between the county government and the operator.

The talks, Friday at the EPA in Taipei, were widely described as a failure because County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku and the Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corporation had not reached an agreement.

Basing itself on environmental grounds, the county had refused to extend operating licenses for three power generators at the Changhua City plant beyond September 29, which the company, an affiliate of the influential Formosa Plastics Group, said would lead to the closure of the entire factory and a massive loss of local jobs.

According to Saturday’s EPA statement, Changhua County and Formosa Chemicals had agreed that protection of the environment should be strengthened, the law should be respected, and the rights of workers should be safeguarded. Friday’s talks could not be described as a failure, while saying secret deals were being negotiated or the environment was being sold out was also completely wrong, the EPA said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/08
By: Yang Shu-min and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Taipei 101, Taiwan’s landmark skyscraper, will flash the three colors — red, blue and white — of the national flag on its outer walls for three days beginning Saturday in celebration of the Double Ten National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Taipei Financial Center Corp., which operates the Taipei 101, said the light show will start at sunset until 10 p.m. during the Oct. 8 to 10 period.    [SOURCE]

BIGGER AND SMARTER:Taiwan needs to foster interoperability with US and Japanese forces and utilize new technologies to challenge Chinese dominance, a US academic said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 09, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Vanderbilt University Center for US-Japan Studies and Cooperation director James Auer yesterday said

that if “the credibility of using Taiwanese, Japanese and American resolve when challenged by China is not clearly demonstrated, Beijing may get overconfident and attempt to achieve its hegemonic goals militarily.”

At a symposium hosted in Taipei by the Taiwan National Security Institute to discuss the South China Sea dispute and Asian-Pacific peace and security, Auer said the seamless navy-to-navy cooperation between the US and Japan during the Cold War resulted in a victory in the Pacific by deterrence.

“The victory was made possible because, despite the huge numbers of Soviet submarines, the US and Japanese navies maintained control of the seas of the western Pacific,” he added.

“The post-Cold War question for Tokyo and Washington is, in my opinion, whether the Japanese and US navies can similarly deter China from aggressive acts of war as they did vis-a-vis the Soviet Pacific Fleet in the 1980s; a related question is: How can Taiwan most meaningfully and most cost effectively provide for its self-defense?” Auer said.     [FULL STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 9, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taipei Main Station has a new landmark: an innovative art installation dubbed the

“do-do” clock (嘟嘟鐘) set up by the Breeze Group (微風集團).

Breeze Group Chairman Henry Liao (廖鎮漢), officials from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and renowned musician Eric Chen (陳子鴻) attended the inauguration ceremony on Friday.

Breeze Group has maintained a presence in Taipei Main Station for nine years.

To celebrate Breeze Taipei Station, Breeze Group presented a document of gratitude to Taiwan Railways Administration, which in return gave a paperweight symbolize “everlasting friendship” between the two parties.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/07
By: Hsu Chia-yu

What’s on and hot this weekend in Taiwan.

Movies
.■ The Girl on The Train (列車上的女孩) / Mystery, Thriller / PG-15 / Trailer
Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt), an alcoholic and divorcee, becomes involved in a missing person case after she witnesses a crime on her daily train commute.
“The Girl on the Train” is based on Paula Hawkin’s novel and is directed by Tate Taylor. The film stars Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, and Luke Evans.

■ Operation Mekong (湄公河行動) / Action / R-18 / Trailer
Two Chinese commercial vessels are ambushed while traveling through the Golden Triangle area of the Mekong River, leaving the 13 people on the vessels dead and 900,000 methamphetamine pills recovered at the scene. Upon discovery, the Chinese government sends a team to uncover the truth.
Inspired by true events, “Operation Mekong” is a Hong Kong action film directed by Dante Lam (林超賢), starring Zhang Hanyu (張涵予) and Eddie Pong (彭于晏).     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-07
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News

The National Museum of History(NMH) is looking to draw people to its collection by holding an event called PokeThis, which introduces the public to its collection by linking the artifacts and relics with Pokemon monsters.

The 12 selected artifacts are categorized by their looks, culture background, and types of the monsters. The museum connects each of the collection with a specific Pokemon monster, as an interesting introduction to the relics, inviting Pokemon Go players to visit the galleries and get to know more about its collection.

Pokémon Go, the mobile app released in August 2016, allows players to catch cartoon monsters on their smart phones, using the real world landscape seen through the cell phone as backdrop. Many of the art museums around the world are seizing the opportunity to attract gamers there.

The event will start from Oct 8th to November 6th, and the NMH will also set the lure module to attract Pokémon at the Pokestop in the museum on weekends at 10 and 12 o’clock in the morning, and 3 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/07
By: Yang Shu-min and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) The claims for compensation faced by the owner of a container ship that ran aground off Taiwan’s northern coast earlier this year could set a record high, the Fisheries Agency said Friday.

Shortly after the ship, the “T.S. Taipei” (德翔台北) of T.S. Lines Co. (德翔海運) ran aground off Shimen, New Taipei on March 10, it cracked and eventually broke into two, leaking heavy oil and fuel into the sea.

The agency commissioned two National Taiwan Ocean University professors — Cheng Sha-yen (鄭學淵) and Ou Ching-hsiewn (歐慶賢) — to assess the scope of the damage the leak caused to marine life and fishermen.

Cheng said their study found that over 40 percent of fish larvae in the surrounding waters were gone and that the losses and cost of rehabilitating the waters could be in the tens of millions of Taiwan dollars.    [FULL  STORY]