SUMMING UP:Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia touted his achievements in the past year, which has pundits speculating on his professional future under Tsai

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 16, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) yesterday

downplayed rumors that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is planning to keep him in his current post after her inauguration on May 20 due to his good performance.

“I have my own career plans and my duty is to do my job well before May 20,” Hsia said in response to media questions about whether he is interested in retaining his post under the administration of Tsai, who headed the council between 2000 and 2004.

“I have my own plans for the future,” Hsia said, without elaborating.
Hsia, who took over the ministerial post from Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) in February last year, made the remarks on the sidelines of an exchange event with China-based Taiwanese businesspeople in Taipei yesterday morning.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-15
By: Ko Lin, cTaiwan News, Staff Writer

Traffic conditions at the intersection between Zhonghua Road and Zhongxiao West Road remained smooth on the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday, reports said Monday.

“A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulder,” Taipei Department of Transportation Commissioner Chung Hui-yu said, responding to the local media that average speed of motor traffic managed to maintain at 20km/h during the morning rush hour.

Last weekend, the Taipei city government urged motorists who commute via the newly demolished overpass to Zhongxiao Bridge to allow themselves additional travel time during workdays in anticipation of traffic congestion.

The city government had originally planned to close off the roads around the overpass, but decided to reopen them two days earlier because the demolition work was completed ahead of schedule.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/15
By: Chen Wei-ting and Jay Chen

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) The weather on the first working day after a mostly

warm and pleasant nine-day Chinese New Year holiday is dominated by a cold wave that will peak late Monday and early Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau said.

A clear drop in temperatures will not only be seen in the north but also in central and southern Taiwan, where the lows are expected to dip to 10 and 12 degrees Celsius, respectively, the bureau said.

On early Monday morning, a low of 7.7 degrees was recorded in Tamsui, New Taipei City, and temperatures below 8 degrees are expected in northern Taiwan early Tuesday, the bureau said.

The good news is that rain will taper off later Monday, with chances of sunshine around the country, it said, adding that temperatures are expected to rise gradually. Temperatures in all parts of Taiwan could hover around 20 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday.

Another cold air mass could reach Taiwan in the weekend although its intensity is yet unknown, the bureau said.     [SOURCE]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-14
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan has seen a record number of female diplomats this year, with nine of the nation’s diplomatic missions are headed by women diplomats, the most at any one time in Taiwan’s diplomatic history, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

At present, MOFA has women representatives in Germany, Austria, Finland, Norway, Melbourne (Australia), New York (U.S.), Edinburgh (U.K.), Toronto (Canada), and to the World Trade Organization in Switzerland, the ministry said.

MOFA regulations stipulate that officials working in the ministry must work in foreign embassies or missions after serving in Taiwan for three to five years. They have to serve abroad for at least six years and then wait for the next transfer.

“A few decades ago, female diplomats were regarded as anomalies,” Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin said, adding that he hopes women can play a greater role in the Foreign Service in the coming future.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/14
By: Tien Yu-pin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Feb. 14 (CNA) A couple from Yilan won a kissing competition held in conjunction with Valentine’s Day Sunday, walking away with a pair of Apple watches.

The couple, identified only by their surname of Yang, beat their rivals by kissing non-stop for more than 32 minutes. They have been married for four years and have a 3-year-old child.

Yang said they did not practice very much for the competition, but gained some experience from a kissing competition two days ago in which they placed third.

The non-stop kissing competition, now in its fifth year, was held at the Breeze Taipei Station store with 15 couples participating.

As the participants had to have their four lips completely together without one second of break, while the male had to hug the female in a “bridal style,” which requires the man to lift his partner bodily off the ground and hold her in that position. It was actually a strenuous test of physical strength and endurance.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-14
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Premier Simon Chang said on Sunday the government will publicize areas in Taiwan that have greater potential for soil liquefaction in a month’s time.
Soil liquefaction has become a concern after the Feb. 6 earthquake that hit southern Taiwan and left 114 people confirmed dead.

The Binjiang Street, which No. 1 National Highway passes through, used to be an area prone to soil liquefaction, but by applying advance civil engineering technology to squeeze out the underlying water and improve the soil quality, the liquefaction problem of the area has improved, Chang said. “So technology is not a problem,” he added.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic Affairs had a meeting on Sunday morning and decided to publicize areas with greater potential for soil liquefaction within a month, Chang said, adding that the MOI will also come up with measures to caution people living in these areas and follow up with the problem.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/14
By: Eva Feng and S.C. Chang

Shanghai, Feb. 14 (CNA) A Buddhist temple in Shanghai held a dharma session Sunday to pray for the peace of souls of those killed in a magnitude-6.4 earthquake that hit southern Taiwan Feb. 6.

Yu Fo (Jade Buddha) Temple (玉佛禪寺) also donated 500,000 yuan (NT$2.5 million, US$75,600) to help the bereaved families rebuild their life.

The temple’s Abbot Jue Xing, who is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, led a group of monks to pray for the victims and extend their best wishes for the survivors.

On behalf of the Taiwanese victims and their families, Hu Hsing-chung (胡興中), vice president of the Shanghai Association of Taiwan, thanked Jue Xing for his goodwill and kind efforts.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-14
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The number of tourists from China has increased significantly during the Lunar New Year holiday, reports said Sunday.

According to statistics provided by the Tourism Bureau, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the island has reached 45,000 over the past week, a rise of 9.9 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Macau also welcomed the largest number of visitors from China, which saw more than 900,000 mainlanders crossing the border into the former Portuguese colony over the last seven days, a rise of 4.9 percent from the same period last year, while accounting for 73.25 percent of the total number of inbound tourists.

On the other hand, Hong Kong also witnessed a tally of 2.27 million inbound tourists over the last week, among which the number of people from China alone accounted for 744,000, a drop of 11.65 percent from the same period in 2015.    [FULL  STORY]