The other English newspaper - The China Post

The other English newspaper that I can get in Tainan is the China Post(but I think there is a third English newspaper in Taipei).

It also has a free website at:

www.chinapost.com.tw

I get both papers on the weekends and they both are 20 pages long and cover the same issues. I think that the Taipei Times is more of the opposition paper and the China Post is more the government paper. Both papers have a parent paper in Chinese and the local stories are taken from the Chinese version. The Taiwanese local stories have to be translated into English so there is a slight delay between when the story comes out on the TV/radio and in the newspaper.

The current ruling party, the KMT, is more friendly to Mainland China. The opposition, the DPP, is more for Taiwan independence. I'm for the DPP.

World/US news feed like Reuters, WSJ and NYTimes are current.

Below is a sensational story from the China Post of 1/29/2011. This doesn't happen very often but just trying to image the event is exciting.


Police rescue 16 underage girls from triad-operated bar

The China Post news staff -- New Taipei City prosecutors yesterday rescued 16 underage girls from two drinking establishments operated by the United Bamboo Gang of Taiwan's triad society, where the girls were reportedly forced to undress while they drank with gang members and perform other sexual acts.

The ad-hoc investigations team arrested 10 members of the “Bear division” of the Bamboo Gang, including deputy chief operator of bars, Tung Chin-wen, and impounded large amounts of ketamine and the club drug “Ecstasy.”

The New Taipei investigative teams made surprise visits to two establishments “Kai-wo” and “Shangri-la” in the Chungshan district early yesterday morning, their presence literally eliciting screams among the unclothed patrons and uniformed female waitresses, who had been engaged in debauched revelry.

Some naked male patrons had to scramble for clothes and failing to find their own, used the women's g-strings and gauzy lingerie to cover up, local media reported.

Many of the working females were discovered to be underage. Some bore bruises on their arms after admitting that they had endured physical beatings from attempts to run away.

Prosecutors also raided many documents detailing each female's measurements and the coded services she was willing to perform, with prices ranging from NT$1,000-NT$2,000.

Tung, 35, the Bear division's deputy chief, was in charge of recruiting delinquent female students from middle school, offering them drugs and accommodation. Once the girls were hooked on the drugs, he would demand that they pay back their rent and other utilities by forcing them to “sign contracts” and perform sexual services at the establishments.

According to police reports, many girls tried to run away, only to be dragged back by gang members and held in a small room, where they were beaten until they agreed to continue working. Some girls fell pregnant during the sex work and were forced to undergo abortions, often resuming their services shortly after.