Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/17
By: Yang Shu-min and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) A Taiwanese research team banded a Chinese

crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini) juvenile in July, hoping to track its migration flyway and learn more about the “mythical bird” that roosts in three groups of islands off the southeastern coast of China from May to August.

It is the first successful banding of a Chinese crested tern in Taiwan, and the first ever in the world, said Hsia Jung-sheng (夏榮生), a conservation official of the Forestry Bureau under the Council of Agriculture.

The rare species nests in Taiwan’s Matsu Islands and Jiushan and Wuzhishan islands in China’s Zhejiang Province from May to August, thus locals consider it a summer migratory bird.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 17, 2015

Winners of the annual Mobileheroes Awards were honored Dec. 16 in Taipei

City, underscoring ROC government efforts promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among the youth of Taiwan.

Organized by the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, this year’s competition saw 345 teams contest four categories and cash prizes totaling more than NT$3 million (US$91,047).

Locally based startup ChaseWind won gold in the category of smart city applications and services for its innovative sports sunglasses. The eyewear utilizes 3-D and see-through technologies to display crucial information such as angular velocity, cadence and heartbeat rates for cyclists.

Sky Sentry, a team of students from National Cheng Kung University and Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, swept the field in the category of Internet of Things and wearable devices.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 18, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said that 136 Taiwanese

products included in the WTO’s expanded tariff-reduction program for information technology products would benefit after the program takes effect on July 1 next year.

“Joining the expanded ITA would help Taiwanese manufacturers save a lot on tariff costs,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) told a press conference, referring to the Information Technology Agreement.

The ministry’s remarks came after the WTO’s ministerial meeting on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya, concluded negotiations on the expanded ITA. Members agreed to remove duties on 201 information technology products — valued at US$1.3 trillion — within seven years after the accord takes effect.

The ministry said the 136 products — or 68 percent of the 201 products — would have a direct impact on the interests of Taiwanese manufacturers, helping them save an estimated US$820 million in annual tariff expenses.

Taiwanese exports of LED backlight modules could save US$233.9 million in costs per year once the duties are removed, Industrial Development Bureau Deputy Director-General Leu Jang-hwa (呂正華) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-17
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The first batch of three UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters used for Search

and Rescue missions were delivered to Taiwan at the port of Kaohsiung, according to Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Thursday.

The helicopters will be assembled and put through ground and air testing before being commissioned to Taichung’s Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in March next year, the ministry said.

The military has already taken three deliveries of UH-60M Black Hawks for the nation’s Army since December last year. Among the 60 helicopters ordered from the United States, 15 will be consigned to search and rescue operations during disaster relief, it said.

The Taiwanese variant of the UH-60Ms feature night vision capability, including FLIR (Forward looking infrared) cameras to facilitate operations for missing persons in Taiwan’s mountainous regions.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen said

Wednesday that the KMT had gone overboard by attacking her with properties not under her name, warning her opponents of legal responsibility.

To extend the land speculation allegation against Tsai that had continued for a few days, former KMT legislator Chiu Yi and two KMT lawmakers on Tuesday accused Tsai, her brother and seafood restaurant chain Hai Pa Wang president Chuang Jung-te of speculations in buying and selling land plots in Taipei’s Songshan Districts back in the 90’s.

On Wednesday Chiu told a press conference that Tsai and her partners bought and sold 5 more land plots in Songshan than the ones mentioned one day earlier.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/16
By: Hsu Chih-wei and Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) A Taiwanese-born Nobel laureate threw his weight behind renewable energy Wednesday and predicted that solar power will be cheaper than coal or nuclear power within five years.

Nuclear power should have been weeded out a long time ago, but people have yet to figure out a way to store solar power — something that could change in 20 or 30 years when technology allows solar energy to be stored and sold on the international market, Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) predicted.

Taiwan needs to cooperate with international society because it is impossible for a small and highly populated country like Taiwan to be self-sufficient in energy, Lee said at a press conference held by National Taiwan University’s Risk Society and Policy Research Center to release a survey on Taiwanese people’s attitudes toward climate change.

Lee, a former president of the International Council for Science, noted that Taiwan produces a lot of solar power panels and LED products each year for export, but seldom uses them domestically.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 16, 2015

An Apple Inc. R&D lab targeting advanced display technologies for

next-generation mobile devices is mulling expanded operations in Taiwan, according to Hsinchu Science Park Bureau Dec. 15.

Currently employing 50 engineers at its facility in Taoyuan City, mostly from AU Optronics Corp. of Taiwan and Qualcomm Inc. of the U.S., the American consumer electronics giant is anticipated as doubling this number going forward.

HSPB Director-General Tu Chi-hsiang said he is pleased to see Apple continue strengthening its operations in Taiwan. “This is testament to the country’s critical role in the global information and communications technology industry supply chain over the last 30 years.

“Leveraging Taiwan’s world-leading display talents and technologies, we look forward to taking this partnership to the next level and furthering the nation’s headway in this field.”     [FULL  STORY]

FAST-TRACK?The DPP said it supports reform, but it would be better for the next legislature to review the bills as it would be more representative of public opinion.

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 17, 2015
By: Alison Hsiao  /  Staff reporter

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday expressed his

disappointment after cross-party negotiations on legislative reforms broke down, dimming hopes that they would be passed before the current legislative session ends tomorrow.

Wang released a statement after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus nixed a proposal to have the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-initiated reform bills placed directly on the legislative agenda for second and third readings, sidestepping the first reading and committee review, so they could clear the floor before tomorrow.

In the statement, Wang said that despite a clear consensus on the direction of reform, such as the Legislative Yuan’s right to investigate and hold hearings, and four cross-caucus negotiations having been called on the matter, it is regrettable that “certain party caucuses” did not agree with the proposal to pass the reform bills before the session ends.     [FULL

  STORY]