Taiwan News
Date: 2015-07-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and its 13

local leaders called on the Ministry of Education Friday not to take legal action against protesters who occupied the ministry for a short time the night before.

Police arrested 33 people, including three reporters, as they removed them from the ministry and from Minister Wu Se-hwa’s office Friday morning. The protesters opposed changes to high-school curriculum guidelines which they say had come about in an undemocratic manner and had been too pro-China.

At a news conference Friday morning, Wu announced that the ministry had no other way but to take legal action against the occupiers for entering its building illegally.

In the evening, Tsai and the DPP’s 13 city mayors and county magistrates issued a joint statement saying they did not want to see high-school students harmed any further and calling on the MOE to apologize to the public instead of suing the protesters.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 25, 2015
By: Chen Yen-ting and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A tourist in Kenting’s Sheding Nature Park suffered minor injuries last week after a Formosan

sika deer being chased by a dog ran straight into him, causing a cut that required stitches, the Kenting National Park Administrative Office said.

It was the first time a human has ever been injured by a deer at the park, rather than the other way around.

Footage of the event shows the excitement of the man seeing a Formosan sika deer running quickly turning into fear when the deer turned toward the people.

The injured person was a second-year junior-high school student on a family trip to Kenting.

The boy’s mother said that the family trip had been difficult to schedule and it was annoying that she had to take her child to the hospital for stitches.

The office said that previous incidents involving Formosan sika Deer usually saw the deers being hit by cars.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/23
By: Ku Chuan and Jay Chen

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taipei City’s mass wedding will be open to same-sex couples for the

first time in October, the city government announced Thursday.

On June 17, the Taipei City government began to allow same-sex couples to register their marriage and so far 11 same-sex couples have completed their registration, according to the city’s Department of Civil Affairs.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/23
By: W.T. Chen and Lillian Lin

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau announced Wednesday that with effect from Oct. 1, travel agencies will be required to purchase visitor medical insurance for Chinese tour groups to cover unexpected illness, injuries or death.

The bureau said it is tightening its regulations because unpaid medical bills racked up by Chinese visitors to Taiwan over the past few years have reached an estimated NT$100 million.

Under the new regulations pertaining to travel permits for visitors from mainland China, all tour groups must be covered by visitor medical insurance, at a minimum of NT$500,000 (approximately US$16,000) for injuries or illness and NT$2 million (approximately US$64,800) for death-related expenses.

Currently, travel agencies are only required to purchase liability insurance of NT$2 million for each member of their tour groups.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-23
By: Samuel Hui

The history of the Flying Tigers has become Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou’s secret weapon

in his diplomatic struggle against both mainland China and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party to win the support of the United States.

On his way back to Taiwan after visiting Dominica, Haiti and Nicaragua, Ma met Harold Javitt, a former fighter pilot of the US 14th Air Force, at Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California on July 17. The president wanted to express his gratitude to the American airmen who served in China’s war of resistance against Japan, a fighter group known as the Flying Tigers.

Javitt and his family members had been invited to participate in Taiwan’s military parade held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan. Ma’s visit to Yanks Air Museum was a part of the ROC government’s campaign to fight for the interpretation of history that runs counter to claims by the mainland People’s Republic of China. Beijing has always claimed that the Communist Party of China was the mainstay in the war of resistance against Japan.

During the war, the Communist Party of China’s two guerrilla forces — the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army — did rescue dozens of American airmen who were shot down by the Japanese in their mission against targets in occupied China. However, the pilots of the ROC Air Force who served under Claire Lee Chennault’s Chinese American Composite Wing took the brunt of the campaign when they launched an air war against Japan with their American counterparts.     [FULL  STORY]

PRESERVE HISTORY:The Chiayi City Government’s plan to sell the old city hall site has locals offering suggestions for how to preserve the building that they say is of value

Taipei Times
Date:  Jul 24, 2015
By: Ting Wei-chieh, Wang Shan-yan and Chen Wei-han  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Chiayi City Government’s plan to demolish an old city hall and auction the site has drawn

criticism due to the historical value of the building.

The city government said the old city hall is scheduled for demolition next month and it expects to auction the 1,360 ping (4,496m2) plot by the end of December.

The land sale is expected to add about NT$1 billion (US$31.8 million) to the government’s coffers.

The city government said it held five auctions for the plot since 2003, but was unable to attract bids.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-07-23
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Drones weighing 25 kilogram or more will fall under the supervision

of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the government decided Thursday.

A special meeting on the subject was held after an unmanned flying vehicle which slammed into Taipei 101 on Tuesday turned out to have been operated by a Chinese tourist.

The European Union and the United States also used 25 kg as a limit between different types of drones to determine the authorities, CAA Director-General Lin Tyh-ming said.

Users and operators of the heavier unmanned vehicles would need certification and registration permits for their drones from the CAA, he said. Tougher restrictions on where they could fly would also be introduced soon, according to the CAA.     [FULL  STORY]