Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-03-25    

Lee Kuan Yew is held aloft by People’s Action Party supporters after winning the legislative

assembly general election in Singapore, June 3, 1959. Lee served as prime minister from 1959, when Singapore gained self-government from Britain, until 1990. He continued to hold cabinet positions until 2011. (File photo/CFP)

The legacy of the late Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, is how he led the city state to become a leading economic power in Asia.

Lee also played an ambiguous and secretive role in relations across the Taiwan Strait. Singapore hosted the historic meeting between Koo Chen-fu from Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and Wang Daohan from China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits in 1993, the first high-level talks between the two sides after decades of hostility.

Lee continued interactions with leaders in Taiwan and China after he left office, and traveled to Taiwan to meet former president Chen Shui-bian in 2000 and President Ma Ying-jeou in 2011.     [FULL  STORY]

OUT OF LEFT FIELD:The new party’s two candidates for districts in Taipei are set to take on conservative male incumbents, with a platform of social and rights issues

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2015
By: Lii Wen  /  Staff writer

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) — a center-left political party set to be launched on

Sunday — yesterday announced its plans to field two prominent social activists for next year’s legislative elections: gay rights advocate Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) and anti-death-penalty activist Miao Po-ya (苗博雅).

The two candidates — both openly lesbian — are to face off against incumbent male contenders from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), prompting the SDP to brand their campaign as “a showdown between girls and uncles.

Lu plans to enter the race for Taipei’s Xinyi (信義) and Songshan (松山) districts against the KMT’s Alex Fai (費鴻泰), while Miao is to go up against the KMT’s Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) in Taipei’s Wenshan (文山) and southern Zhongzheng (中正) districts.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 24, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

Members of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday staged an egg-tossing demonstration outside the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) building in Taipei, protesting the council’s acceptance of China’s decision to start using the controversial M503 flight route and urging the council to suspend cross-strait talks.

In the rain, protesters mobilized by the TSU held up signs accusing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and MAC Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) of treason.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/03/23
By: Lin Chang-shun and Ted Chen

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Diamond Cafe, a newly opened restaurant in high-rent eastern Taipei

catering specifically to families with children, sparked controversy on Monday with a picture of its “Nanny Meal” that it was later forced to withdraw.

The Nanny Meal, offered for NT$199, was targeted at foreign caregivers accompanying families for a meal at the upscale restaurant, made clear by the meal’s literal Chinese name — “Foreign Helper Meal.”

Posted by the restaurant on its Facebook page, the picture sparked the ire of Taiwan’s Internet community, which accused the restaurant of discriminating against foreign migrant workers.

They were also upset that the meal for caregivers cost less than a “Children’s Meal” priced at NT$299.     [FULL  STORY]

BUSTED RAPID TRANSIT:The ‘optimized, dedicated bus lanes’ plan blends two proposals from a team tasked with reviewing the troubled Bus Rapid Transit

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 24, 2015
By: Su Ching-feng  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

The problem-plagued Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Taichung, launched in July last year,

is to be abolished after Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday announced that the BRT lanes would be replaced with “optimized, dedicated bus lanes” starting on July 8.

Lin made the announcement at a city administration meeting.

He declined to describe the move as the “abortion” of the system, instead calling the city’s existing system “stillborn,” as BRT buses do not possess exclusive road rights or priority traffic signals, and the BRT traffic control center cannot communicate directly with the buses while they are on the road or at its stations.     [FULL  STORY]