Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/05
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elaine Hou

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) The Control Yuan, the country’s top government watchdog body,

decided Thursday to censure the Ministry of Health and Welfare for its poor management of food scares last year that involved edible oil products.

Control Yuan member Bau Tzong-ho (包宗和) said the public is very concerned about food safety issues and that the Control Yuan should identify those who should be held responsible in the case in which the lard and beef tallow imported by local food company Ting Hsin Oil & Fat Industrial Company from the Vietnam-based Dai Hanh Phuc Co. were actually oil intended for animal feed and not for human consumption.

When the scandal first surfaced in early October 2014, the health ministry failed to give an order to pull all the problematic products off shelves immediately, as a precautionary measure, although it already had an official document from Vietnam that proved that the oil products were questionable, according to the Control Yuan.

The ministry, instead, took a couple of days carrying out its own tests to find out whether oil intended for animal feed was used in the products — which Control Yuan members found unnecessary — and ordered all the questionable products to be recalled 18 days later.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 5, 2015

Ma discusses upcoming top-level cross-strait meetingPresident Ma Ying-jeou fields

questions from members of the press Nov. 5 at the Presidential Office concerning his upcoming meeting with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Singapore. (CNA)

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Nov. 5 that his upcoming meeting with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping will help advance the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait.

“As cross-strait ties have progressed smoothly, the conditions are ripe for the meeting,” the president said. “The milestone event is the first step in normalizing exchanges between leaders from both sides.”

Ma made the remarks during a press conference at the Presidential Office. Scheduled for Nov. 7 in Singapore, the first top-level meeting between the two sides in 66 years will include discussions on a range of topics spanning economic links, peace and Taiwan’s international space, as well as issues concerning the well-being of people on both sides.

Other than the president, Taiwan’s delegation will comprise Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia and Deputy Minister Wu Mei-hung, National Security Council Secretary-General Kao Hua-chu and National Security Advisor Chiu Kun-hsuan, as well as Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan and Deputy Secretary-General Hsiao Hsu-tsen.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 06, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday demonstrated in front of the Presidential

Office Building to protest President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), accusing him of breaking away from the institutionalized cross-strait negotiation system, while vowing to launch a recall campaign.

Joined by dozens of taxis, protesters held placards condemning Ma for his decision to meet with Xi in Singapore tomorrow and calling on Ma to resign.

TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said Ma’s rushed decision to meet with Xi has breached the institutionalized mechanism on cross-strait exchanges.

“When the historical cross-strait negotiations between the Taiwan’s then-Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and China’s then-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵) took place in Singapore in 1993, I was Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister and Ma was my deputy,” Huang told the crowd. “The preparations for the meeting took a long time, with one preparatory meeting after another, while what to talk about and what would be the main objectives were clearly set.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Solidarity Union legislators left a meeting with

government officials about the summit between President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese leader Xi Jinping while party supporters allegedly threw smoke bombs outside the Presidential Office, reports said Wednesday.

The overnight announcement of the Ma-Xi summit, scheduled for Saturday in Singapore, has triggered condemnation from opposition parties.

When Premier Mao Chi-kuo visited the Legislative Yuan for the second time Wednesday, in the company of Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia, the three TSU lawmakers left the meeting after eight minutes, allegedly in protest against the absence of Presidential Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan. He reportedly arrived later, after the TSU had already left.

Hsia told the legislators inside that the meeting between Ma and Xi at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore at 3 p.m. Saturday would not include political negotiations or the signing of any agreements.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/04
By: Lin Meng-ju and Christie Chen

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) The 2016 New Year’s fireworks display at the Taipei 101 building will

not only be the longest one ever at the skyscraper, it might also be the last.

Due to difficulties finding sponsors and growing concerns about the environmental impact of fireworks, the Taipei 101 company has been discussing the idea of replacing the fireworks with light-emitting diode (LED) displays in the future, Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said Wednesday.

The 2016 fireworks display will last 238 seconds, and is estimated to cost NT$45 million (US$1.4 million). A total of 30,000 rounds of fireworks are expected to be set off at the Taipei 101 skyscraper, starting at midnight Dec. 31.

“Nature is Future” will be the theme of the 2016 display, and images of fish, flowers and plants will be depicted for the first time to raise awareness of environmental protection.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: November 4, 2015

The winners of the Taiwan Architecture Award were named Nov. 2 by Taipei City-based

Taiwan Architects Association, highlighting the growing focus on innovative green construction practices across the nation.

Chosen from 201 submissions, the winning projects were praised for combining environmentally friendly materials and building methods with captivating design concepts.

The top honor went to Yunlin Agricultural Ecological Park by D.Z. Architects and Associates. Structures at the site, including the entrance, restaurant and pavilion, were built with local Moso bamboo, which is light, flexible and strong, and has a life span of 30 to 50 years. Due to the use of this material, carbon emissions produced in the construction process were a mere 2 percent of the average for a steel building.

Kung Shu-chan, head of the Graduate Institute of Architecture at National Chiao Tung University and a judge for the award, said the project earned the prize for its groundbreaking approach to environmental sustainability. “Although bamboo structures are not yet prevalent, the buildings at the site reveal the material revolution taking place in the industry.”     [FULL  STORY]