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DPP welcomes exchanges with Chinese cities

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-19
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Democratic Progressive Party is willing to collaborate and forge closer city-to-city

DPP welcomes exchanges with Chinese cities. Central News Agency

ties following the wrap up of the two-day Shanghai-Taipei City Forum, an exchange of discussions held between Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je and the mayor of Shanghai, according to DDP Spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng on Wednesday.

When asked about the DPP’s view on the details of discussion held between the two mayors, Cheng refused to comment, however saying the party will respect whatever decision Ko makes.

According to Taipei City government spokesperson Sydney Lin, Ko lauded the event as a “completely successful forum,” which enabled both parties to deal with various issues facing the two cities.

Though the latest round of the two-city forum was not finalized until August 8, officials of the two cities managed to sign four memoranda of understanding, including mutual acceptance of the each other’s electronic IC cards. [FULL STORY]

Typhoon Goni could strengthen: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/19
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Typhoon Goni could pick up strength on its approach to Taiwan as

(From the Central Weather Bureau website)

it soaks up more energy from the sea, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Wednesday.

The region Goni is passing through is rich in warm ocean waters, and the heat stored in the ocean is a powerful trigger for cyclone development, said Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典), director of the CWB forecast center.

On its current path, Goni could come closest to Taiwan over the weekend after changing its current westerly direction to a more northerly path Friday, moving up along Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWB data showed.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Goni was some 1,150 kilometers east-southeast of Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, moving at a speed of 21 kilometers per hour in a westerly direction, according to the bureau. [FULL STORY]

Magic moment: Illusionist Lu Chen transforms into a father

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-19
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Renowned Taiwanese magician Lu Chen’s wife gave birth to a baby boy Sunday at a

Lu Chen and Wang Xiyi. (Internet photo)

hospital in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, according to local media reports.

The illusionist shared a wedding photo on Weibo in May, announcing his marriage to model Wang Xiyi and later confirming his wife’s pregnancy in a media interview.

Wang Xiyi is also a third-generation member of the Family Li Imperial Cuisine restaurant dynasty, a high-end restaurant chain known for its recipes for imperial dishes from the Qing Dynasty.

Lu’s agent said the couple will hold wedding ceremonies in both Taiwan and China sometime after Wang recuperates from giving birth.

Soong denies trying to steal other parties’ vote brokers

‘OLD FRIENDS’:Soong said that the vote brokers had campaigned for him as governor, as he drew on his vast network of municipal political contacts from that time

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 20, 2015
By: Liu Wan-chun and Yu Hsueh-lan / Staff reporters

People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday denied

People First Party presidential candidate James Soong yesterday chats with a 90-year-old former Tainan city councilor as he visits the city to stump for votes. Photo: CNA

that his recent string of visits to local dignitaries across the nation was aimed at bringing vote brokers for other parties into his fold, saying he was just trying “to catch up with some of his old friends.”

“These people served as the vote brokers in my campaign for Taiwan provincial governor [in 1994.] So technically, I am not bringing them into my fold, but rather bringing them back,” Soong said as he paid visits to former Tainan city council speakers, including Lien Ching-tai (連清泰) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Li He-shun (李和順) of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union.

The politician also visited former Tainan county commissioner Lee Ya-chiao (李雅樵) of the KMT and the mother of former Tainan city council speaker Chou Ching-wen (周清文).

Soong was fervently greeted by local residents, among whom were former township councilors and borough wardens. [FULL STORY]

Vietnam to send workers to Taiwan for nursing, fishing jobs after ban lifted

Thanh Nien News
Date: August 18, 2015

Vietnam labor authorities have announced a list of 61 businesses qualified to send

Vietnam has selected 14 businesses to provide fishers to Taiwan. Photo credit: Saigon Times Online

workers to Taiwan for home nursing and fishing jobs.

A source from the Department of Overseas Labor at the labor ministry said it has selected 47 businesses to provide nurses who will take care of sick and old people at homes and 14 others to provide workers for near-shore fishing.

Taiwanese agencies will look into the list before labor contracts are signed.

The department said Taiwan officially opened its labor market again to Vietnam in early June, lifting a 10-year-old ban due to a high number of workers overstaying their visas.
It said the business candidates are those that have not been caught in any violations.
Taiwan received 5,717 Vietnamese workers in July, or nearly half of the total number of Vietnamese workers going abroad during the month. [FULL STORY]

Airport MRT unable to open by end of 2015: transportation minister

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/18
By: Wang Shu-fen and Christie Chen

Kaohsiung, Aug. 18 (CNA) A rapid transit line connecting Taiwan’s main airport and the greater Taipei area will be unable to open by the end of this year as previously scheduled, Transportation Minister Chen Jian-yu (陳建宇) said Tuesday.

The exact opening date will be decided after a meeting by a team of scholars and experts at the end of August, Chen told reporters Tuesday while inspecting transportation construction projects in southern Taiwan.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said last year that the Taoyuan International Airport MRT will become operational by the end of 2015.

But the minister said the project has been experiencing software design glitches that have contributed to the instability of the line’s signaling system and will not be ready by the end of the year. [FULL STORY]

Health authorities unveil rapid dengue tester

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-18
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Patients suspected of contracting dengue fever will no longer have to wait a day to know

Health authorities unveil rapid dengue tester. Central News Agency

their test results, as health authorities have imported new batches of rapid test kits to be distributed across medical facilities in southern Taiwan, reports said Tuesday.

Similar in appearance to a pregnancy tester, the dengue analyzer uses only a single drop of blood sample taken from a suspected patient, and test results will be shown anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes.

According to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (TCDC), health authorities in Kaohsiung and Tainan will each receive 1,500 testers to be distributed amongst hospitals in their respective areas. [FULL STORY]

Taiwanese tour groups undeterred in wake of Bangkok bombing

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-18
By: CNA

Taiwanese tour groups are still heading to Thailand despite the deadly explosion that

Tourists at the Siam Skytrain station in Bangkok, Aug. 17. (Photo/Xinhua)

occurred near a religious shrine in Bangkok late Monday, Tourism Bureau official Chen Chiung-hua said Tuesday.

According to the bureau’s latest figures, there were 14 Taiwanese tour groups consisting of 275 individuals in Thailand as of Tuesday.

Chen said the blast did not appear to be having any immediate effect on tour groups leaving for Thailand, but the bureau will continue to monitor the number of tour groups and individuals leaving for the Southeast Asian country over the next week.

Tour groups from Kaohsiung will leave for Bangkok as planned, Shen Pen-li, a representative of the Kaohsiung Association Of Travel Agencies, said Tuesday. [FULL STORY]

President Ma expresses regret over Abe speech

Japanese Liberal Democratic Party Legislator Hideki Makihara, left, scratches his head as President Ma Ying-jeou addresses a delegation from the party in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 19, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday expressed regret that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not apologize over the “comfort women” issue in Abe’s statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Ma said during a meeting with a delegation from the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan that Abe mentioned words such as “aggression,” “colonial rule,” “calmly reflect upon,” “repentance” and “apology.”

Abe twice mentioned that “there were women behind the battlefields whose honor and dignity were severely injured,” Ma said.

“Regrettably, he did not offer an apology over the comfort woman issue,” Ma said. [FULL STORY]

Taipei 101 to ring in 2016 with longer fireworks display

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/18
By: Lin Meng-ju and Christie Chen

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Taipei 101 will ring in 2016 with a fireworks display that is longer

(Graphic courtesy of Taipei 101)

than the previous year and focuses on the theme of nature, Taiwan’s tallest skyscraper announced Tuesday.

The 2016 fireworks spectacular is expected to be 20 to 50 seconds longer than the 218-second show in 2015, Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said. It is estimated to cost NT$45 million (US$1.38 million).

“Nature is Future” will be the theme of the 2016 display, and images of fish, flowers and plants will be shown for the first time, Liu said.

Taiwan is surrounded by ocean and has a rich and diverse ecological environment, Liu said, adding that the Taipei 101 tower hopes to raise more awareness of environmental protection through its fireworks display. [FULL STORY]

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