Page Two

Security reshuffle before elections

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2015
By: Lo Tien-pin  /  Staff reporter

Two top national security officials — Military Police commander Lieutenant General Wu Ying-ping (吳應平) and the National Security Bureau’s Special Service Center deputy commander, Lieutenant General Hsu Chang (許昌) — will be leaving their posts less than four months before the presidential and legislative elections, a government source said.

Wu is to reach the legal age of retirement by the end of the year, and since it would coincide with the peak time for security assignments related to the Jan. 16 elections, the government has arranged for his early retirement at the end of the month to minimize its impact on national security, the source said.

The source added that given Wu’s excellent contribution as Military Police commander over the past three-and-a-half years, he is to be assigned to another post after retirement.

The source did not specify what the new appointment would be.

The source added that to find somebody who can fill the vacancy and “get on the job as soon as possible,” Hsu is considered to be the best candidate.     [FULL  STORY]

4,000 Wulai residents to be evacuated as typhoon nears

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-28
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

New Taipei Mayor Eric Chu urged residents in the Wulai district of the greater Taipei area

Wulai residents evacuate as typhoon nears. Central News Agency

Wulai residents evacuate as typhoon nears. Central News Agency

to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Dujuan prepares to make landfall later this evening, reports said Monday.

The government expects an estimated 3,919 residents to leave the Wulai area by the end of the day to seek shelter with families and friends, according to the Central Disaster Prevention and Response Council.

The mayor was at the disaster prevention center for a debriefing on the ongoing evacuation efforts in Wulai, as well as contingency plans should a disaster occur.

The government has also set up a temporary shelter at the Fu-Shan Community Center for residents of Wulai should they have no place to go, reports said.

In early August, Wulai was seriously impacted during Typhoon Soudelor, as people living in the area were cut off from the rest of the country due to landslides that have blocked its only road access.     [FULL  STORY]

Typhoon Dujuan’s center leaves Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/29
By: Bear Lee

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) The center of Typhoon Dujuan left Taiwan at 1:00 a.m Tuesday from Fangyuan Township of the western Taiwan county of Changhua, the Central Weather Bureau said.

However, most parts of Taiwan will continue to experience rain and strong wind brought by Dujuan as the island is still under its influence, it said.

After a three-hour stay in Taiwan, Dujuan has weakened and its radius narrowed as a result of the geographical impact of the island.

The bureau said that as the typhoon is moving northwest and then west-northwest, it is expected to hit the offshore island of Penghu soon although it will continue to weaken.     [FULL  STORY]

KMT facing a potential split: sources

PRO-LOCALIZATION:Local heavweights are said to be planning to form a splinter group — the Taiwan KMT Alliance — due to dissatisfaction over Hung’s dismal ratings

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 29, 2015
By: Lin Liang-sheng and Peng Hsien-chun  /  Staff reporters

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could face yet another crisis other than its dismal presidential campaign, as a group of pro-localization members are allegedly planning to form a splinter group to force KMT headquarters to respond directly to their calls for a change of candidate.

According to people familiar with the matter, the plan to establish a new party — which would be called the “Taiwan Chinese Nationalist Party Alliance” (台灣國民黨聯盟) — is spearheaded by several influential local members, including senior presidential adviser Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) and former Yunlin County commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味).

Their primary goal is to compel the party’s leaders to take more proactive measures to address the KMT’s predicament in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, the sources said, hinting at the removal of Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) as the KMT’s presidential candidate.

If KMT headquarters fail to take action, they might inspire a bigger wave of defections than the one seen in previous months, they said.     [FULL  STORY]

Haiti thanks Taiwan for help in building health center

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-27
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Haiti has expressed heartfelt appreciation toward Taiwan for helping to build a health

Peter Hwang, second row third left, and Florence Guillaume, 2nd row center, with local residents set to benefit from the new health center. (Photo/ROC embassy in Haiti)

Peter Hwang, second row third left, and Florence Guillaume, 2nd row center, with local residents set to benefit from the new health center. (Photo/ROC embassy in Haiti)

center in a remote area to meet the basic medical needs of 10,000 local residents.

Peter Hwang, Taiwan’s ambassador to Haiti, and Florence Guillaume, the Haitian minister of public health and population, co-presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of the center at Dufresnay in the suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.

Hwang said that on his way to Dufresnay, which took him on over two hours of bumpy roads, he could feel the urgent need for the health center among local residents.

Taiwan will donate US$100,000 to build the center, which will include an examination room, a counseling room, a delivery room and a pharmacy among others, to cater to the basic medical needs of the suburb’s 10,000 residents.

Guillaume said that transportation in Durfresnay is not convenient and health conditions there are comparatively inferior to other places and she expressed appreciation for the ROC government’s assistance with the construction of the valuable medical facility.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP campaigns move north, targeting Hakka voters

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-27
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, who is also the head of Democratic Progressive Party’s

DPP campaigns move north, targeting Hakka voters. Central News Agency

DPP campaigns move north, targeting Hakka voters. Central News Agency

presidential campaign headquarters, announced the party’s plan to concentrate its campaign efforts in northern Taiwan, reports said Sunday.

“We are moving the frontline of the 2016 elections to northern Taiwan as part of our drive to gain supports from potential Hakka voters,” Chen explained.

During the 2012 presidential election, DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen had lost nearly 190,000 votes in Taoyuan, a loss which the party said it was going to make up for next year.

As a traditional stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the DPP is ready to target northern support in the remainder of the presidential campaign, Chen said.     [FULL  STORY]

Bon Jovi’s Taipei concert on Monday canceled due to typhoon

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/27
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) American music legend Bon Jovi arrived in Taiwan for the first time 201509270030t0001in 20 years on Sunday, only to find that the first of its two concerts in Taipei has been called off due to a typhoon.

Live Nation Taiwan, the local promoter of the concerts, announced Sunday night that the rock band’s concert at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall on Monday has been canceled because of Typhoon Dujuan, which is expected to make landfall on northern Taiwan Monday night.

The concert on Tuesday will proceed as scheduled at the Nangang Exhibition Hall, Live Nation Taiwan said.

Those who purchased tickets to the Monday concert can try to exchange their tickets for ones to the Tuesday concert, or get a refund, it said.     [FULL  STORY]

The Way We Were wins Golden Bell for best TV series

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-27
By: CNA

The Way We Were, a 16-episode series about a love story that spans 16 summers, won

The cast of The Way We Were accept the award for best television series, Sept. 27. (Photo/CNA)

The cast of The Way We Were accept the award for best television series, Sept. 27. (Photo/CNA)

the 50th Golden Bell Awards for best television series Saturday in Taipei.

Presented by TVBS, the romance drama series centers on the fate of a girl and a boy from the summer of 1998. The pair met in college and went on to marry different people, but fate keeps bringing them back to each other.

The series was praised for using character modeling, transformation of Taiwan’s landscape and changes in characters’ personalities to show 16 years of changes in the Taiwanese society.

“Thank you judges for your affirmation,” Ruby Lin, the co-producer and female lead of the TV series, said in her acceptance speech.

She also thanked TVBS for giving her production team room for creative freedom.     [FULL  STORY]

Hung says polls show close race

ETERNAL OPTIMIST:The KMT presidential candidate said that her mood was not affected by ‘outside disturbances’ and that she has ‘always remained confident’

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 28, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu and supporters from the overseas business community wave flags at the KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu and supporters from the overseas business community wave flags at the KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

expressed confidence that she would secure victory in next year’s presidential race, saying her campaign’s polls showed her support rating trailing that of her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by only a small margin.

Hung made the remarks at an event at KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday morning attended by several Taiwanese businesspeople based overseas who support the deputy legislative speaker.

“The media have assumed that my opponent [Tsai] could win the election lying down,” Hung said.

“Despite this, I am confident and do not believe their assumptions are necessarily aligned with reality, as internal polls conducted by my campaign team suggest the two of us are closely matched,” she said.

Hung said on the sidelines of the event that the polls indicated the support ratings of all three candidates have shown some ups and downs.     [FULL  STORY]

Dengue fever cases near 17,000 level in Taiwan: CDC

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-26
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) The number of dengue fever infections reported in Taiwan since May has reached 16,658, an increase of 584 cases from the previous day, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Saturday.

As of Friday, the southern Taiwan city of Tainan, which has seen the bulk of the outbreak, had recorded 14,444 cases. Kaohsiung City further south had seen 1,952 cases, the CDC said.

Since May 1, there have been 42 confirmed dengue deaths in Taiwan, the CDC said. It added that 12,983 patients have recovered from the mosquito-borne disease, while 47 are currently being treated in intensive care units. (By Lee Hsin-Yin)