Air gun shooting in Taipei Zhongzheng Sports Centers provides for an enjoyable indoor activity for those seeking to escape the summer heat, but if you’re looking for an adrenaline rush, it’s best to hold out for the real guns

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 05, 2015
By: Dana Ter  /  Staff reporter

The first gun I shot was a .22 long rifle outside a friend’s cabin in Copemish, Michigan. A

beginner’s gun. Terrified by the thought that I was holding in my hand a machine that was designed to kill people, I repeated my friend’s instructions over and over in my head — lean my right shoulder blade into the butt of the rifle, position my left foot in front of my right foot, squint my left eye, focus my right eye on the target, rest my right index finger on the trigger.

Bang! Once the bullet left the barrel, my fear was suddenly replaced by elation. It didn’t matter that I was way off target — I had just shot a rifle.

Ever since that day a few years ago, I’ve been hooked. While I’m far from being a sharp shooter, I’m addicted to the feeling I get when my finger pulls the trigger, unleashing a torpedoing bullet along with a deafening noise that makes my heart skip a beat.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-03
By: CNA

Four Vietnamese nationals detained by the National Immigration Agency for illegal stays in Taiwan, escaped from the Yilan detention center in the country’s northeast on Sunday, triggering a manhunt operation by police and other authorities.

The escape was discovered in the early hours of the day when the detention center personnel running a routine headcount realized that four inmates were missing from a room, according to the detention center.

All four of the escapees are from Vietnam, the center said, noting that the detainees managed to loosen screws on the iron bars of a room window, then crawled from the window out to the eaves of the facility’s kitchen on the first floor before jumping down to the ground, the center said.

The Yilan detention center is run by the immigration agency to detain foreigners arrested for illegal stays in Taiwan before their deportation.  [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/03
By: Tai Ya-chen and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the ruling Kuomintang’s presidential candidate,

told a senior American official Monday that the 1992 consensus is the most important pillar for maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait.

Meeting Kin Moy, director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) Taipei Office, at the KMT headquarters in Taipei, Hung addressed the issue of peace across the Taiwan Strait — an issue that she said is one of the priority concerns of the United States.

The 1992 consensus is a tacit understanding between Taipei and Beijing reached in Hong Kong in 1992 that there is only one China, with each side free to interpret what “one China” means.

This consensus is the most important pillar for maintaining peace across the strait, Hung said, adding that “if the pillar turned unstable, the house would be in danger of collapse.”     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-03
By: CNA

Hideki Makihara, member of Japan’s House of Representatives and acting chief of the Youth

Division of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), will lead a delegation to visit Taiwan on Aug. 17, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

Makihara, 44, will exchange views with local political heavyweights on relations between the two countries and among Taiwan’s political parties.

Shinjiro Koizumi, a son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, visited Taiwan in 2013 when he was chief of LDP’s Youth Division at the time.

LDP’s Youth Division is composed of party members who are under 45.     [FULL  STORY]

THE LONGEST TUNNEL:The tortuous east coast road improvements are set to reduce travel time and increase safety, with sections set to be completed by the end of the year

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 04, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The highly anticipated Suhua Highway improvement project achieved a major milestone

yesterday when construction of a section of the longest tunnel along the coastal highway was completed.

Finishing the 1.4km section at the center of the southbound section of the 7.9km Kuanyin Tunnel is likely to speed up work in the tunnel, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Engineers accessed the center of the tunnel from the side via an old railway tunnel and can now access equipment that can drill to both ends of the tunnel fairly quickly, officials said.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Jian-yu (陳建宇) said the ministry expects to wrap up construction of the southbound section the tunnel in June next year, while the northbound section is due to be completed by the end of this year.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-03
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan’s proposal for Beijing to allow international flights from mainland China to make

transit stops in Taiwan remains in limbo, as Taiwan’s top China policymaker said Sunday that talks with the Chinese side on the issue are still underway.

Asked about the progress of the talks, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) replied that “the two sides are still negotiating and communicating with each other actively on the issue, “hoping they can reach a consensus and strike a deal to begin the service as soon as possible.”

The remarks cast uncertainty over the implementation of an agreement reached between MAC chief Hsia Li-yan and his Chinese counterpart, Taiwan Affairs Office head Zhang Zhijun, during their meeting in Kinmen in May that transit stops in Taiwan will begin in mid-2015.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-02
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Heads from several institutions across Taiwan urged students to return to classes while

calling for the Ministry of Education (MOE) to speed up negotiation processes in a bid to resolve the curriculum dispute, reports said Sunday.

Samuel Chang, president of the Chung Yuan Christian University in Taoyuan County, has signed a petition along with other school presidents calling for the end of the student manifestation, including Tatung University’s Her Ming-guo, Lee Tien-rein, Michael Chen, Ku Chia-heng, and among several others.

During a press conference held in Taipei on Sunday morning, the school representatives said although they are able to feel the students’ grievances, they however urged them to express their anger in a more rational way, as their overreactions may impact future society, including Taiwan’s economic competitiveness.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/02
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Christie Chen

Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) The Taiwanese government is preparing to relax regulations to make it

easier for foreign volunteers and street artists to participate in events and perform in Taiwan, according to the National Development Council (NDC).

The council convened a meeting on July 31 with officials from the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of the Interior and National Communications Commission (NCC) to discuss ways to create a friendlier environment for foreigners in Taiwan.

NDC said officials reached a consensus on several issues, such as allowing foreign volunteers to join charity events, and allowing foreign street artists who have been certified by local governments to perform in the country, without having to apply for a work permit.

The NCC will also revise regulations by the end of this year to allow foreigners to apply for mobile phones and other telecommunications services with the option of choosing either their passports or Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) as their first identification document, according to the council. However, they will still be required to present a second identification document.     [FULL  STORY]