The China Post
Date: October 6, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The army on Wednesday called off a planned test fire of a patriot missile defense

system, after spotting a mainland Chinese coast guard vessel off the southeast shore of the outlying Orchid Island (蘭嶼).

The test had to be suspended to prevent revealing important tactical information, said the Ministry of National Defense (MND, 國防部).

The armed forces scheduled a drill off the Taitung coast to be held from Oct. 3 to 7.

The highlight of the military exercise was the firing of the Tien Kung-II air defense missile system from Jihui Fish Port (基翬漁港), which was to be intercepted by a patriot missile launched from Pingtung’s Jioupeng Military Base (九鵬基地).

The ministry said the high-precision weapons drill was among the most important exercises staged each year, and they completed all test fire missions and training Wednesday, despite the frequent interference of typhoons over the period.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 5, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A daily nutritional breakfast will be made available for children living in rural areas in

Keelung and Hsinchu on behalf of donations from the Breeze Charity Foundation.

The charity program aims to help children living in financially disadvantaged families, a statement released by the foundation said.

Paul Liao, chairman of leading shopping mall operator Breeze Group, was born in Keelung and say the city holds special meaning for him.

Since 2015, the Breeze Charity Foundation has been backing the World Peace Organization’s program to save hungry children by “adopting” 100 school children in Keelung and providing them with breakfast money.

Breeze Charity Foundation had expanded the program to provide for 168 disadvantaged Keelung school children and indigenous children living in rural communities in Hsinchu for a year.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-04
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Have trouble with your short-term memory? A Taiwanese study suggests that chicken essence will cure it.

A Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital-led study found that drinking essence of chicken for a certain period of time could help improve our short-term memory and work efficiency.

A total of 102 people, aged between 20 and 65 and who have to handle high amounts of pressure during work, participated in the test, according to Hu Chaur-jong, the leading researcher and vice president of Taipei Medical University. Each participant was given one bottle of 70 ml chicken essence per day, and for two weeks.

The team observed participants’ performance on the tests of concentration, mental alertness, long-term memory, and short-term memory before and after drinking chicken essence. The result was said to show an obvious enhancement in short-term memory especially for those working under pressure and being in low spirits. “The essence of chicken contains brain-friendly peptide and that might help,” Dr. Hu said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/04
By: Sabine Cheng and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Former National Palace Museum (NPM) director Feng Ming-chu (馮明珠) said on

Tuesday that she has resigned from her position as an adviser to Beijing’s Palace Museum in the wake of allegations that she might have violated the nation’s revolving door regulations and restrictions on public officials traveling to China.

Upon being informed of her decision the National Palace Museum said it “respects Feng’s decision.”

Feng indicated that one of the reasons for her resignation was a comment by incumbent NPM Director Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) that it was “inappropriate” for her to serve as an adviser to the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Feng said on Tuesday that she has worked in the field of culture for 38 years and is open to sharing her experience with museums around the world. She also noted that her position at the Palace Museum was as an adviser and a matter of academic exchange, involving no administrative responsibilities, salary or stipulations on period of employment.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 5, 2016
By: Dimitri Bruyas

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taipei Fine Arts Museum (臺北市立美術館) is currently hosting a five-month artistic

program interweaving exhibitions, performances, screenings, symposiums, readings, conferences and workshops in collaborations with various cultural and educational institutions from Taiwan for the Taipei Biennial 2016 (臺北雙年展).

Titled “Gestures and Archives of the Present, Genealogies of the Future” (當下檔案‧未來系譜：雙年展新語), the international event explores the museum’s role in encouraging knowledge through research and multi-disciplinary practices in light of current cultural paradigm shifts.

To this extent, guest curator Corinne Diserens has gathered more than 80 artists who will commit to “perform the archives, perform the architecture (and) perform the retrospective” through exhibitions, artistic experimentations, films, debates, performances and conferences aimed at better understanding our present and its implications for our future.

With the production, co-production, and presentation of a large number of new artwork, films and performances from Taiwanese, Southeast/East Asian, and international artists, the biennial has become a major actor in supporting contemporary art in Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

Don’t hold your breath for a breakthrough in President Tsai’s cross-Strait policy on National Day.

Op-Ed
The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/03
By: J. Michael Cole

As Oct. 10 approaches, a growing chorus of voices has argued that Taiwan’s National Day will be some

sort of “deadline” for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to deliver something palatable to Beijing.

The notion that Double Ten marks a point in cross-Strait relations, beyond which President Tsai’s refusal to acknowledge the so-called 1992 consensus and “one China” would prompt further punitive measures by China, has been around for a while. Chinese participants at various conferences and other settings have mentioned it, followed, often quietly in small circles, by a number of Western academics with “insider” knowledge.

The problem with all this, however, is that it is highly unlikely that such a deadline ever existed in the first place. Instead, the notion was planted as a “meme” by pseudo-Chinese academics with close ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda organs and intelligence agencies. By dint of repetition and circular corroboration — a key sign of united front at work — the notion took a life of its own and became accepted gospel, regurgitated by academics, the media, and government officials. They have created “facts” out of nothing, and expectations where none should have existed.     [FULL  STORY]