Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former vice-presidential candidate Jennifer Wang did not break any laws by buying and selling about a dozen military apartments, prosecutors said Friday, officially closing her case.

During the race for the January 16 presidential election, Wang faced allegations she had violated the law by buying apartments originally designed for low-income military families and then reselling them at the profit. The case came into the open shortly after Kuomintang presidential candidate Eric Liluan Chu picked the former labor minister as his running mate.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/29
By: Yu Kai-hsiang and Kay Liu

Taipei’s Floriculture Experiment Center recently opened a 10-day display of camellias on Yangmingshan for the annual flower festival in the mountainous area in the northern part of the city.

This year’s Yangmingshan Flower Festival will run from Jan. 30 to March 20 and cover the Lunar New Year and Feb. 28 Peace Day holidays.

Camellia displayed outdoor is covered in the recent snow.
The camellia display gathers over 10,000 of the flowering shrub in 71 varieties and is held as a prelude to the annual festival.

According to the city government, 20 to 30 percent of the Taiwan cherry trees in the area have begun flowering, and are expected to be in full bloom in hot pink around the Lunar New Year holiday before mid-February.       [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 29, 2016

An office charged with enhancing public communication on Taiwan’s

bid for accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership was launched in Taipei City Jan. 27 by the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs.

At the inauguration ceremony for the TPP Communication Projects Office, MOEA Minister Deng Chen-chung reiterated the importance of reaching a public consensus on the issue as the trade accord will have wide-ranging impacts on Taiwan.

“The 12 founding members of the TPP comprise 36 percent of global gross domestic product,” Deng said. “Membership in the trade pact is imperative to Taiwan as these economies account for about US$100 billion of the country’s total exports.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 30, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the protracted

four-month interim period between the presidential election and the presidential handover, saying the issue must be resolved by a legal amendment, as no other country has such a long interval between the two dates.

“I think that the late handover date must be resolved. Which other country in the world has to go through such a long wait for the presidential handover?” he said in Osaka, Japan, in response to media queries.

Asked whether Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should try to solve the issue during her first term in office, Ko said: “The sooner it is solved, the better. The establishment of a system should not be based on personal interests, but on long-term national development.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Editorial
Date: 2016-01-28
By: Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The impact of the January 16 political earthquake is still letting itself be felt, with the replacement of the premier and the confusion surrounding the Kuomintang’s choice of a new chairperson who will have to function as leader of the opposition.

As the new Legislative Yuan prepares to take office on February 1, most of the attention is still focusing on its scores of relatively unknown newcomers, with guards learning to know the new faces that are allowed inside to work.

Once it is clear who will be the new speaker and deputy speaker, the work will have to begin in earnest, even though a period of uncertainty is still likely until President-elect Tsai Ing-wen and her Cabinet are sworn in on May 20.

Once that hurdle has been cleared, the new administration will have a ream of reform plans to turn into reality. The hopes of the public have been as high as the disappointment with the eight years of President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration, which brought everything from rock-bottom economic growth to a widening gap between rich and poor.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/01/28
By: Han Ting-ting and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 28 (CNA) Virtual reality (VR) is dominating the 2016 Taipei Game Show, which kicked off on Thursday and will run through Feb. 2, according to the organizer Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北電腦公會).

The annual Taipei Game Show has focused on the computer or electronic games industry in the Asia Pacific region and has attracted plenty of attention from potential buyers from all over the world, the organizer said.

The VR segment of the trade show had been widely reported on by the local media even before the exhibition began, with many local consumers eager to attend the event to experience VR devices displayed there.

On the first day of the show, only business visitors were allowed to come in since the exhibition highlighted business-to- business devices, gaming software, gaming consoles and VR products provided by 221 exhibitors from 22 countries.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: January 28, 2016

President Ma Ying-jeou’s Jan. 28 visit to Taiping Island (Itu Aba)

underscores the commitment of the ROC government to protecting the nation’s territorial rights and maritime interests in the South China Sea, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Situated 1,600 kilometers south of Kaohsiung City, Taiping is the largest naturally formed island of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands. Ma is expected to greet the personnel stationed on Taiping while inspecting the island’s infrastructure development.

MOFA Minister David Y. L. Lin said the visit is a timely gesture highlighting the importance of regional peace and stability, and it is appropriate for the president to offer local residents glad tidings ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

“The Taiping outing is in keeping with the spirit of President Ma’s South China Sea Peace Initiative, which upholds the longstanding principles of safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity and promoting joint exploration and development.”

Proposed in May 2015, the initiative sets an example for resolving regional disputes by peaceful means. Its significance is especially salient given recent territorial claims by neighboring countries and territories in the region.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-01-28
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Presidential Office announced Thursday that President Ma Ying-jeou will hold an international press conference later in the evening to brief reporters on his trip to Taiping Island.

The press conference will be held at 7 p.m. in Taipei after Ma returns in the afternoon from the island in the South China Sea.

Ma left Taipei in the wee hours of the morning for the southern county of Pingtung, where he boarded an Air Force C-130 for the 1,600-kilometer trip to Taiping Island.

The visit by Ma has been seen as part of his effort to reinforce Taiwan’s     [FULL  STORY]