Page Two

Matsu’s Tungchu Tao Lighthouse stands tests of time

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Tungchu Tao Lighthouse in Matsu is a national historic building, the first

A 30-meter-long windbreak wall connecting the lighthouse and an office annex at the Tungchu Tao Lighthouse on Matsu is pictured on Friday. Photo: CNA

A 30-meter-long windbreak wall connecting the lighthouse and an office annex at the Tungchu Tao Lighthouse on Matsu is pictured on Friday.
Photo: CNA

granite lighthouse built in Taiwan, which has survived the shifts of contemporary history.
The tower is located on Dongju, one of the islets of the Matsu archipelago about 25km off the coast of China.

It was constructed in 1872 during the Qing Dynasty, based on a commerce and navigation agreement signed by the Qing administration and Great Britain following China’s defeat in the Opium Wars.

The lighthouse was designated a grade two historic building by the Ministry of the Interior in 1988.

The Tungchu Tao Lighthouse is the only one built of stone that is open to visitors.

Lighthouse director Chang Wei-lun (張維倫) said that during the late Qing Dynasty, customs offices were largely staffed at senior levels by foreigners, mainly Britons.

As a result, a British company was responsible for the construction and design of the lighthouse, and a foreigner continued to serve as the director of the lighthouse until 1949, Chang said.     [FULL  STORY]

Six dangerous buildings in Tainan being torn down

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The authorities in Tainan City hoped that the

A total of 63 buildings in the country had been declared as damaged by the quake to an extensive degree. One of the most dangerous ones was a 10-story building housing a branch of the King’s Town Bank in Tainan’s Hsinhua District.

A total of 63 buildings in the country had been declared as damaged by the quake to an extensive degree. One of the most dangerous ones was a 10-story building housing a branch of the King’s Town Bank in Tainan’s Hsinhua District.

demolition of six out of 63 buildings described as dangerous following the earthquake would be completed by February 15, reports said Saturday.
The 6.4-magnitude tremor on February 6 caused 115 fatalities recorded by Saturday noon, with two people still missing, and dozens of buildings damaged.

A total of 63 buildings in the city had been slapped with a “red label,” indicating they were so severely damaged they were unfit for usage unless they underwent structural strengthening, or they might have to be razed to the ground. A further 61 buildings in Tainan received a “yellow label,” which meant they could only be used again after a thorough review by experts.     [FULL  STORY]

Valentine Day consumers to spend average NT$4,216 each

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/13
By: Chiu Po-sheng and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) The last of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday on

(CNA file photo)

(CNA file photo)

Sunday happens to be Valentine’s Day, and Taiwanese in relationships plan to spend an average of NT$4,216 (US$127.6) each to celebrate their romance, according to the findings of a survey released Saturday.

Nearly 70 percent of people in relationships said they will celebrate the occasion mainly by enjoying a big dinner together, going to the movies or exchanging gifts, according to yes123 Jobs, an online job-search company.

While 68.3 percent of them — higher than 65.2 percent recorded in a similar survey last year — plan to mark the occasion, 14.8 percent said they will not do anything special, and another 16.9 percent said they would love to celebrate but cannot because they are geographically separated from their partners or one or both of them have to work.

For those lucky enough to be able to celebrate, 63.9 percent said they will sit down for a big meal together, 35.1 percent said they will go to the cinema, 34 percent said they will exchange gifts, flowers, books or Valentine’s cards.     [FULL  STORY]

Tainan reports on buildings at risk in earthquakes

THREAT LEVELS:In the aftermath of last Saturday’s magnitude 6.4 earthquake, city governments have sent engineers and architects to rate the safety of buildings

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 14, 2016
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Following the casualties suffered in Tainan during last Saturday’s earthquake, the Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency yesterday provided the Executive Yuan with the latest data on potentially dangerous buildings throughout the city.

The municipality was the hardest hit by the magnitude 6.4 earthquake, of which the epicenter was in Kaohsiung’s Meinong Township (美濃). One hundred and fourteen bodies have been found in a collapsed Tainan building complex.

The municipality has mobilized a team of engineers and architects to survey the city and tag potentially dangerous buildings, marking at least 340 buildings at risk in the event of another earthquake.

Of these 340, only 319 have been completely surveyed, with 48 found to be highly threatened buildings and 45 threatened buildings.     [FULL  STORY]

‘Travel’ the most wanted gift on Valentine’s Day: survey

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-12
By: Chia Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

With Valentine’s Day approaching, an online shopping site revealed its latest 6734941survey of the most wanted gifts on Valentine’s Day among Taiwanese people, with “travel package” topping the list as the best gift.

According to its survey on shopping behavior of people in Taiwan, Rakuten Inc., the largest e-commerce site in Japan, found that 48 percent of Taiwanese respondents would like to receive a travel package as their Valentine’s Day gift, and 33 percent of them would prefer dining arrangements or smart devices.

Meanwhile, only eight percent of the respondents chose flowers as the best gift on Valentine’s Day, a traditional gift usually associated with romance.

The survey also showed that nearly 60 percent of the respondents have a hard time picking Valentine’s Day gift, while 44 percent of the people surveyed said they worry that the gifts they pick do not meet the expectations of their partners.     [FULL  STORY]

Flu outbreak peaks during Lunar New Year holiday

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/12
By Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) The influenza outbreak climbed to its peak in Taiwan

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, with the number of flu-related emergency room visits reaching 10,200 on Feb. 9, the day following Lunar New Year’s Day, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in a statement Friday.

The daily outbreak, however, has since declined to around 5,000 cases by Thursday, close to the level before the beginning of the nine-day traditional holiday on Feb. 6, the CDC statement said.

According to data compiled by the CDC, from Feb. 6-11, a total of 43 new severe flu cases were confirmed, down from the 76 confirmed severe flu cases, including three deaths, reported between Feb. 2-5.

The Feb. 6-11 figure was also lower than the average of 60 severe flu cases per week before the Lunar New Year holiday, the CDC data shows.     [FULL  STORY]

Prosecutors search developer’s residence; assets frozen

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2016
By: Huang Wen-huang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Prosecutors from the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday searched the residence of property developer Lin Ming-hui (林明輝) as part of an ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex on Saturday last week, while the Tainan District Court approved a request to freeze some of the assets of Lin and two other men.

Lin accompanied the search team, which was looking for documents regarding the complex in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康).

He was chairman of the board of the now-defunct Weiguan Construction Co (維冠建設), which built the massive complex.

Lin and architects Chang Kui-pao (張魁寶) and Cheng Chin-kui (鄭進貴) were detained on Tuesday night.

The prosecutors’ office said the investigation is focusing on allegations that the company skimped on materials and arbitrarily changed designs.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan expels 4 trespassing Chinese fishing boats

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/12
By: Sunrise Huang and Romulo Huang

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s coast guard recently expelled four Chinese fishing boats caught trespassing and poaching in the country’s territorial waters, near Wuqiu in outlying Kimen County, the Maritime Patrol Directorate General (MPDG) of the Coast Guard Administration said Friday.

The MPDG launched a major crackdown against trespassing Chinese fishing boats after being informed of a certain number of Chinese fishing boats trespassing and poaching in waters off Wuqiu by local residents on Feb. 10, it said.

The Chinese fishing vessels were apparently taking advantage of the Chinese New Year holiday Feb. 6-14, when they believed Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies would be relatively more lax during the Lunar New Year celebrations, to operate illegally in the country’s territorial waters, MPDG officers pointed out.     [FULL  STORY]

Defending Taiwan seen as crucial

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2016
By: William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON

Washington’s need to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack is greater today than it was 30 years ago, a leading US military strategist said on Tuesday.

“Taiwan is everything we preach about — it is what we want other countries to be,” said Thomas McNaugher, director of studies at Georgetown University’s Center for Security Studies.

Invading Taiwan would be an “extremely dicey” operation, McNaugher told an Atlantic Council discussion titled “Conflict in the Taiwan Strait?”

Amphibious assaults are very tough and China does not have any particular experience in that area, he said.

Rather than a direct attack, Beijing might try a blockade if it decided to force unification, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Library use up in Taipei in 2015

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-11
By: Central News Agency

Libraries are continuing to draw users in Taipei, even in an age where information is instantly available at the press of a button.

Taiwan’s capital actually saw an increase in the number of books lent out in 2015, with Taipei residents on average checking out 5.1 books per year from libraries, according to data from the Taipei Public Library released Jan. 30.

The total number of titles borrowed was 12.98 million, up from 12.79 million in 2014.

Women represented the majority, accounting for 7.19 million, or 55.39 percent, of the books borrowed in 2015. Female readers seemed more active than their male counterparts, but this is not surprising if the gender ratio of library cardholders is similar to the population of Taipei, which is 52.11 percent female.

In terms of age, the most studious demographic was men and women aged 41-50, who checked out 3.46 million titles, followed by men and women aged 31-40 with 2.76 million titles, and young students from grade 1-9 with 1.52 million titles. People under 30 made up a small fraction of library users, likely because of Taiwan’s lowering birth rate over the past three decades.     [FULL  STORY]