Tree to bar to goldTaiwan’s high-end, tree-to-bar chocolate has burst on to the international scene in the past few years, but what makes it so special? Zeng Zhi-yuan (曾志元) “talks” to his cacao beans and compares the fermenting process to devotedly caring for a child. A TAIWANESE FLAVOR? But ultimately, he says up to 80 percent of the final product’s flavor profile comes from the fermenting process. “It’s why the bean doesn’t stand out, but also why it’s special.”Hsu also speaks of the evenly-hybridized nature of Taiwan cacao.

KMT boycotts Straits Forum ‘as party’ON THEIR OWN: The KMT has decided not to participate as a party at this year’s forum, and if any members do go, they would not be representing the party, Alicia Wang saidBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced that it would not send a delegation “as a political party” to this year’s Straits Forum, after a Chinese TV program described the planned visit to the annual meeting as “suing for peace.”The 12th forum is scheduled to open in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. On Tuesday last week, the KMT announced that former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would lead the party’s delegation to the forum, with KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) as deputy head. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Mainland Affairs Department director Tso Chen-dong announces at a news conference in Taipei yesterday that the party will not be sending representatives to the Straits Forum. Asked if any KMT members would attend the forum, Wang said the forum is a non-governmental exchange event and KMT members could attend it in their personal capacity. If people who had tentatively been included in the planned KMT delegation did attend, it would be their personal decision and they would not be representing the KMT, the party said.

Body of camper caught in flash flood foundBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporter, with CNARescuers on Monday recovered the body of a man who disappeared in a flash flood that swept away two tents near Lishi Creek (栗栖溪) in Nantou County’s Renai Township (仁愛) on Sunday. Rescuers in Nantou County yesterday carry the body of a 53-year-old man who died in a flash flood along Lishi Creek in Renai Township on Sunday. State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday said that its initial investigation showed that faulty insulation around communication cables likely caused a short-circuit that opened the No. 6 floodgate at Nantou Shuili Taguan Power Plant (大觀電廠), upstream of the Lishi Creek, at 4:12am on Sunday. 6 floodgate opened for unexplained reasons again at 5:08am, but the operator discovered the incident “within one minute” and shut the gate again with minimal flooding, Taipower said.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is also the CECC’s spokesman, said that the worker, in her 20s, arrived in Taiwan on Thursday last week. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Twelve passengers who sat near her on the flight to Taiwan have been placed under home isolation, he said. The CECC would contact Philippine authorities to identify the contacts and place them in isolation upon their arrival in Taiwan, Chuang added. Chen was asked about a specialist’s remark that the government should focus investments on only one or two vaccine developers to accelerate the local development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Policies needed to support publishing, legislators sayBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) and Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), as well as representatives from the publishing industry, yesterday called on the culture and finance ministries to support the publishing industry with better policies, as the number of new books published in the nation continues to fall. “Reading is a symbol of the national power of a country,” Chiud told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chiu Chih-wei, left, and Kao Chia-yu attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government to do more to support the publishing industry. She said that while the publishing industry had initially been excited about the Ministry of Culture’s “Arts FUN Go” (藝FUN券) voucher program, due to the vouchers’ wide range of uses, only a portion has gone to the publishing industry. Steve Wu (吳政鴻), president of the New Taipei City Publishers Association, said that the publishing industry has seen about a 20 to 30 percent drop in sales this year, citing the association’s estimates.

Chang Kun-sheng (張錕盛), a law professor and secretary-general of the Taiwan Administrative Law Association, said that it is time to draft a new constitution. The ROC Constitution was adopted during a National Constituent Assembly meeting in Nanjing shortly after World War II and before the Chinese Civil War had fully erupted, Chang said. Taiwan Administrative Law Association secretary-general Chang Kun-sheng speaks at a public hearing convened by the Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei yesterday. “As Taiwan was only apportioned 18 representatives for that meeting, we really have to question this 1946 ROC Constitution, whether it has any legally binding power over the people of Taiwan,” Chang said. The ROC Constitution has no legitimacy for Taiwanese, Chang said.

A baby sea turtle is pictured on Dawan Beach in Pingtung County’s Kenting area on Saturday. The five turtle species commonly seen off Taiwan’s coastlines are the green sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle and leatherback sea turtle, the officials said. In 2017, a nest of 27 newly hatched green sea turtles was discovered in Pingtung County’s Kenting (墾丁). It urged local residents and tourists to avoid beaches where sea turtles nest from 8pm to 5am the next day, and to refrain from using artificial light sources near the beaches, which disturb nesting sea turtles. The agency encouraged the public to call the toll-free coast guard hotline (118) if they find an injured or lost sea turtle.

Ministry statistics show that there are more than 60,000 certified nurse assistants in the nation, with an employment rate of more than 70 percent. Chou Tao-chun (周道君), an official at the ninistry’s Long-term Care Services Division, said that the demand for long-term care is expected to grow in the next 10 years, and despite advances in care technology and people’s health awareness, the existing long-term care model might at some point become overwhelmed. However, the rapidly growing number of certified nurse assistants would be enough to meet the current long-term care demand, he said. More than 60,000 certified nurse assistants were in June employed in communities and at facilities, which is about 2.1 times the number three years ago, Chou said. While some experts have suggested that nurse assistants be examined by a national-level agency, the ministry said this was unlikely to be implemented, as it might conflict with current nursing certificates and endanger the jobs of nurse assistants.

FEATURE: Fulfilling the departed’s basic needsBy Lee Hui-chou and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerYang Hsien-chang (楊憲璋) is the third-generation head of his family’s traditional zhizha (紙紮) workshop in Kaohsiung. Yang said he originally wanted to be a pastry chef, but he had grown up watching zhizha being made. The images of two servants stand on the balcony of a zhizha house in an undated photograph. Yang said his workshop could meet any request, with the only difference being the quality of the product and the time required to make it. “It is like real-estate purchases in real life, you have to include the land for them to have the house on,” Yang said.

COVID-19 ruled out in quarantine deathCAUSE UNDER INVESTIGATION: The Taipei resident, a diabetic, had been quarantining at her younger brother’s home after returning on Aug. 30 from a business trip to ChinaBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterA woman under home quarantine who was found dead in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃) on Saturday afternoon did not have COVID-19, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The woman, in her 50s, was put under home quarantine after she arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport from China on Aug. 30, Kaohsiung Department of Health Director-General Huang Chih-chung (黃志中) said. Kaohsiung Department of Health Director-General Huang Chih-chung speaks to reporters in the city yesterday. Photo: Fang Chih-hsien, Taipei TimesThe woman, a healthcare professional and Taipei resident, was allowed to quarantine at her younger brother’s home, as she was able to have a separate room and bathroom, he said. The woman’s body was taken to a city funeral home morgue, where a forensic scientist yesterday morning collected specimens to test for COVID-19.

DISPLAY OF PATRIOTISMThis reconstructed sign in Dalin Township’s Wanguo Theater reminds moviegoers to stand during the national anthem. The movement’s cultural committee in 1953 reiterated that all movie theaters needed to play the national anthem and that all audience members needed to stand up and stand still for its entire duration. By 1954, it appears that the national anthem had become a universal practice in all movie theaters across Taiwan. “Every citizen must support their country and love their flag and national anthem,” the article quoted the GIO as saying. The GIO stood its ground, arguing that the US also requires people to stand for its national anthem before sports matches.

KMT mulls boycotting forum over CCTV newsBy Chen Yun / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is considering boycotting the annual cross-Taiwan Strait Forum unless China Central Television (CCTV) apologizes and offers an explanation for a headline suggesting that the party was “suing for peace,” a senior KMT official said yesterday. The KMT had on Tuesday announced that former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) would lead a KMT delegation to the forum, which is to open on Saturday in Xiamen, China. A senior party official said that Chiang, Wang and KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) would make a decision soon. The KMT would seek an apology from Li and might not send a delegation to the forum if Li does not apologize, they added. “However, if Wang wants to participate [in the forum] in his personal capacity, then the KMT could not say no,” the official said.

Designers fuse reality, fantasy in miniature worldsAFP, TAIPEIFrom a bucolic rural grocery shop to fictional battlefields and robot warrior bases, artisans are meticulously handcrafting miniature worlds that fuse reality and fantasy. In his youth, Cheng studied illustrations in Japan, where miniatures and dioramas have long been popular. Hikari Yang, 39, started making miniatures at a time in her life when she was feeling low. Making the miniature from scratch provides a release of the stress in their busy lives,” Yang said. One custom order Chen received from a government agency was to recreate a miniature traditional Sediq home.

KMT calls for support of referendum on US pork‘TAKE CHARGE’: Calling the president a ‘dictator,’ former president Ma Ying-jeou said that 60 percent of Taiwanese opposed importing US pork containing ractopamineBy Chen Yun and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday began a nationwide drive to drum up support for its proposed referendum to ban imports of US meat products containing ractopamine. While attending events in Taipei and New Taipei City, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) wore a shirt featuring a pink skull and the text “no ractopamine pork” in Chinese characters. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Saturday last week unveiled the ministry’s residue limits for US pork containing the additive, which are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1 next year. Chiang said that the KMT would submit a petition for a referendum to prevent the importation of US pork as a response to Tsai’s use of an executive order to lift the ban. Out of 197 countries worldwide, 160 do not use ractopamine,” Ma said.

Vaccine acquisition plans are going smoothly: CECCSEEKING WHISTLE-BLOWERS: Minister Chen Shih-chung said people would always find ways around the rules for mask suppliers, so consumers must be alertBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTaiwan is pursuing several avenues to acquire COVID-19 vaccines when they become available, while local development of vaccines is going smoothly, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks to reporters on the sidelines of a forum at National Taiwan University in Taipei yesterday. “The local development of vaccines is going very smoothly, which looks hopeful,” Chen said, adding that it used to take a long time, even up to 10 years, to get a vaccine to market. Meanwhile, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, yesterday said that the baby of a Filipina who tested positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine in Taiwan tested negative. The woman was tested again for COVID-19 upon arrival, as Taiwan requires for everyone arriving from the Philippines, and the test was negative.