Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-21
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Rail fans and farmers let out sighs of amazement as they saw the first Hello Kitty Taroko Express train speeding past picturesque paddy fields along the verdant East Rift Valley on Monday.

The first Taiwan Railways Administration’s Hello Kitty painted train set off from Shulin Station at 10:38 AM on Monday for a journey to Taitung City.

The train came into the Taitung County part of the East Rift Valley around 2 PM and was greeted by rail fans who had been waiting at the Chihshang bridge, the Yuemei bridge, and the entrance of the Shanli tunnel to watch the train pass by.

Famers stopped work to waive to the colorful train as it whizzed past paddy fields that were covered with newly planted rice seedlings.

At 3:04 PM the cutely painted train pulled into Taitung Station, the destination, to the roar of Hello Kitty fans and rail fans who had been waiting on the platforms.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/21
By: Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) A strong cold air mass from southern China will arrive in Taiwan March 24, bringing temperatures down sharply over the weekend, with the mercury likely to dip to 9-10 degrees Celsius in northern parts of the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Monday.

With a cloud system continuing to move eastward toward Taiwan, occasional showers could be seen around the country, with northern and central Taiwan expected to receive significant rainfall, the CWB forecast, adding that the rainy weather will continue through March 26.

All parts of the country could see brief showers, but temperatures will vary only slightly Tuesday and Wednesday before they begin to drop in the latter half of the week, according to the CWB.

Temperatures throughout the country are expected to rebound slightly and the rain will ease up March 27, the CWB said.      [SOURCE]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Wang Chien-ming turned in mixed results as a starting pitcher for the Royals in the final game of the Big League Weekend exhibition series at the Alamodome on Sunday as the Rangers topped the Royals, 13-6

Wang struck out the side in the first inning with movement and location as a commentator said of his performance.

But Wang experienced trouble in the next, yielding three hits, including a two-run homer to Robinson Chirinos that cleared the modest right-field wall.

In his previous four outings, he held opponents to one earned run on six hits over six innings, with five strikeouts.

“[Wang] threw fine,” Royals manager Ned Yost was quoted as saying by MLB.com. “He had three strikeouts, that’s more than breezing through it. Then the second inning, we made an error and then a little a fly ball that probably wouldn’t have been 20 feet from the warning track goes out for a two-run homer.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/20
By: Chen Chia-lun and S.C. Chang

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Former Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) will

lead Taiwan’s 33-member delegation to the Boao Forum for Asia that is kicking off in China March 22, and none in the delegation will serve as Cabinet members in the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration to be sworn in on May 20, said an executive of the Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation Sunday.

Siew will meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) on March 24 and attend a dinner party hosted by Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), China’s Taiwan affairs minister that evening, said Chen Te-sheng (陳德昇), executive director of the foundation which organized the visit.

Siew will be representing Taiwan in his capacity as honorary chairman of the foundation, Chen said, noting Siew will give a press conference on his meeting with Li after the dinner party.

All members in the Taiwanese delegation are economics and financial experts and specialists, and none of whom will be “quasi-officials” who will serve in Taiwan’s next government to be led by Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-19
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Visiting former president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, said Saturday

during a speech in Taipei that it is unavoidable for Taiwan to face the “China factor”, adding that the best way to do so is through communication.

On Thursday, Kwasniewski met with President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, during which the two talked about Taiwan-Europe relations, industrial policies, democratic transition, ethnic reconciliation, and other critical issues, according to media reports. The two also exchanged views on transitional justice and economic restructuring.

While Poland and Taiwan are distant from each other in terms of location, Kwasniewski said, he has observed a great similarity between the two nations in terms of geopolitical situations and the experience of democratic transition.

Kwasniewski, who served as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005, arrived in Taiwan Sunday for a tour at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.     [SOURCE]

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Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/19
By: Hsieh Chia-chen, Chiu Chun-ching and Elaine Hou

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) returned to Taiwan Saturday from a trip that took him to two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Central America.

This trip was fruitful, which also played a vital role in consolidating Taiwan’s relations with its diplomatic allies, Ma said at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport upon his arrival. He also thanked the two allies for their warm welcome.

After wrapping up a visit to Belize and Guatemala, Ma made a transit stop in Los Angeles before departing back to Taiwan.

During the stop in Los Angeles, Ma had conversations with several U.S. government officials and congressmen over the phone.

In their conversations, U.S. Deputy Secretary Antony Blinken lauded Ma’s efforts to promote relations with the U.S. during his two four-year terms, and hoped that the good relations will continue under Taiwan’s new government, according to a government source.     [FULL  STORY]

CONSTITUTIONAL:The former deputy legislative speaker said it is a politician’s job to warn of the consequences of independence and straying from the ‘status quo’

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 20, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀

柱) yesterday said it was “heart-wrenching” to see that more than half of Taiwan’s youth lean toward independence, while rival Apollo Chen (陳學聖) called for a “grand debate” with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on transitional justice next year.

The KMT held the second policy presentation for its four chairperson candidates yesterday.

Cross-strait relations, the KMT’s “historical value,” as opposed to transitional justice, and party assets were some of the topics discussed.

Hung cited a recent survey conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News that found 36 percent of people in the nation support Taiwanese independence — with 19 percent supporting immediate independence and 17 percent supporting independence after first maintaining the “status quo” — and among those aged between 20 and 29, more than 50 percent support independence, with 29 percent supporting immediate independence and 25 percent supporting eventual independence.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-18
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taoyuan International Airport dropped three places from the same survey last year.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was ranked the World’s 20th Best Airport by Skytrax, a global airline review and rating agency.

The 2016 World Airport Awards are based on a survey of 13.25 million customer nominations across 106 nationalities of air travelers and covered 550 airports worldwide.

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport dropped three places from the same survey last year.

Singapore’s Changi Airport, on the other hand, topped the list for the fourth consecutive year, and marked the seventh time it picked up the title as the World’s Best Airport.

The top ten airports this year, according to the ranking, were Singapore Changi Airport, Incheon International Airport in South Korea, Munich Airport, Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, Hong Kong International Airport, Chubu Centrair Nagoya, Zurich Airport, London Heathrow Airport, Kansai International Airport, and Hamad International Airport in Qatar.     [FULL  STORY]