The Gospel Herald
Date: May 20, 2015
By: Isaiah Narciso

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin has been playing in the NBA for five

Photo: Reuters

seasons. Now he is reflecting on how his Asian-American background has affected his basketball career.

In an exclusive interview conducted by Tim Lau of Asia Blog, Lin was asked what advice he would give to himself about playing professional-level basketball. He was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA.

“If I could give advice to myself, I would tell myself, number one, to have fun and enjoy each moment,” Lin said. “Playing in the NBA was always a dream of mine, but when I finally made it, I was so obsessed with holding on to it, making the most of it and rising [up] the ranks that I didn’t take enough time to cherish each day. That’s what I try to do more of these days.”

Lin added that other advice to would include being “confident” and finding a way to “believe in yourself.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/21
By: Milly Lin and Ted Chen

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) A two-decade plan to supply Kinmen with water from Jinjiang City in China’s Fujian province may finally come to fruition following a high-level meeting between heads of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 陸委會) and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO, 國台辦) slated to take place on May 23.

Taiwan’s Water Resources Agency said that consensus on building the water pipeline have been reached, and that the final details of the agreement may be ironed out in an upcoming meeting between MAC chief Hsia Li-yan (夏立言) and his counterpart TAO chief Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in Kinmen this weekend, paving the way for the inking of an contract to begin constructions.

The Executive Yuan in 2014 devised a plan for Kinmen to import water from Fujian by building a 16.9 km pipeline at a cost of NT$1.35 billion (US$44 million) . The project is expected to take one and a half years to be completed and bring in 150,000 tonnes of water annually, with the amount to be expanded to 340,000 tonnes eventually.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber  /  Staff reporter

Farglory Land Development Co (遠雄建設) brushed off his and the city’s requests for

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je talks to the press in Taipei on Wednesday, calling on Farglory Land Development Co to suspend construction of the Taipei Dome, behave like a responsible company and take seriously problems highlighted by Taipei City Government. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

details on Taipei Dome construction safety plans, providing only perfunctory answers, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Wednesday.

“From start to finish [Farglory] has been extremely arrogant,” Ko said, adding that the firm’s “shoot me” attitude was “unacceptable.”

The mayor said he was “anxious” about potential damage to the historic Songshan Tobacco Factory adjacent to the Dome site and that Farglory should act in a “responsible” manner.

When the city asked Farglory to explain how it was trying to minimize potential damage to the Songshan site during construction of the Dome, the company submitted a 300-page report on how it would repair the Songshan site after the Dome was completed, making him wonder if the firm had even paid attention to the city’s questions, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-21
By: Staff Reporter

China is seekking to create its own version of the Maldives in the disputed Paracel

A tourist has a dip off Yagong island in the Paracels, April 23, 2015. (Photo/Xinhua)

Islands in the South China Sea, reports Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily.

To boost local tourism, China has already begun a series of constructions on several islands and reefs in the Crescent Group of the Paracels, which are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

According to mainland reports, Drummond island will have a new rescue center, a fishermen settlement and infrastructure to provide wireless internet. Various types of machinery and construction equipment have already been transported to the island along with dozens of workers, reports added.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/05/20
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 20 (CNA) More than 4,700 couples registered their marriage throughout Taiwan on Taiwan’s “I Love You” day Wednesday, May 20, a date that is considered auspicious for couples to tie the knot.

In the Mandarin language, the pronunciation of the words for 520 is similar to the sound of “I love you 我愛你.”

The Ministry of the Interior (MIO) said that as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, 4,766 marriages had been registered for the day throughout Taiwan, 892 of which were in in New Taipei City, 603 in Taichung, 566 in Kaohsiung, 564 in Taipei, and 466 in Taoyuan City.

The total number was expected to rise as some household registration offices had extended their business hours to 8 p.m.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-05-20
By: CNA

Taiwan’s president, Ma Ying-jeou, said Wednesday that he has worked hard to

Ma Ying-jeou addresses a press conference held to mark the seventh anniversary of his taking office, May 20. (Photo/CNA)

lay a solid foundation for the nation and hoped that future leaders will move along the direction that has been established.

Describing his goals during his time in office as “a prosperous Taiwan, peaceful cross-strait relations and friendly ties with the international community,” Ma said he has worked hard to build a solid foundation for achieving these goals over the past seven years.

“Through the concerted efforts of the government and the people, we have established the direction for the nation’s development,” Ma said in a speech at the Presidential Office marking his seventh anniversary in office. “No matter who will lead the nation, that person should continue the direction,” he said.

He made particular mention of the results of his government in achieving cross-strait peace, which he said “has not come easily and should be cherished and maintained.”     [FULL  STORY]

‘SECURITIZATION’ THREAT:With Beijing now seeing Taiwan as a national security issue, academics said a turning point has been reached in cross-strait relations

Taipei Times
Date: May 21, 2015
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan  /  Staff reporter

The inclusion of Taiwan in China’s pending National Security Law means that

Institute for National Policy Research president Tien Hung-mao, left, speaks yesterday at a seminar on cross-strait relations hosted by the Chang Yung-fa Foundation in Taipei. Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

China sees Taiwan as a major national security concern rather than as an internal affair or an issue of nationalism, suggesting that the issue is not up for compromise, academics told a forum hosted by the Chang Yung-fa Foundation in Taipei yesterday.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last year expounded his outlook on Chinese national security, aiming to achieve the objectives in “eight dimensions and four stages,” China’s National People’s Congress began revising China’s National Security Law.

Article 11 of the law reportedly stipulates that protection of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is an obligation for all Chinese people, including the people of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and that no division is to be tolerated.     [FULL  STORY]