Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–A skywalk in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County(花蓮豐濱天空步道) that allows

visitors to overlook the Pacific Ocean under their feet opened on July 1 (Saturday), attracting many tourists to try out the first such skywalk in eastern Taiwan.

The entrance of the 150-meter skywalk, which construction began three years ago, is located beside the southern entrance of Xinfeng Tunnel (新豐隧道) at kilometer mark 41.5 on Provincial Highway 11, also known as Hualien-Taitung Coastal Highway, in Fengbin Township.

The skywalk was built from an old narrow trail constructed during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) that traversed the face of cliffs connecting Jiqi Village and Xinshe Village on the Pacific Ocean shore.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/02
By: Liu Li-jung and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Taiwanese cities and counties that currently offer sex-same partnership

registration will also begin to accept applications from other areas from Monday, according to the Ministry of the Interior (MOI).

As of July 2, 18 cities and counties in Taiwan allow gay residents to list their partners in city household registration records, MOI official Chai Lan-ping (翟蘭萍) said Sunday.

So far, only four cities and counties have yet to introduce same-sex partnership registration — Hualien, Taitung, Yunlin and Penghu counties, Chai said.

But from Monday, gay couples from non-complying areas will be able to seek same-sex partnership registry in other cities and counties.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 2, 2017
By: Kuan-lin Liu, Special to The China Post

Q: Why is divorce expensive? A: Because it’s worth it.
Jokes aside, a divorces has the potential to be expensive if you don’t play your cards right.

Shawn Fan, attorney-at-law at Wong & Co. Law Offices, says there are three main parts of a divorce: the dissolution of the marriage, property distribution and, if there are children involved, custody arrangement.

According to Fan, given the frequency of divorces nowadays, the dissolution of marriage is quite straightforward in Taiwan — as long as the breakup is consensual.

In the case of a consensual divorce, all else that’s really required is that at least two people “bare witnesses to the divorce,” Fan said.

These witnesses do not necessarily need to be one person per party — if one party can provide two witnesses, then that would suffice as well. However, the lawyer did note that these witnesses should know the parties involved and be familiar with their marriage.    [FULL  STORY]

Officials dispute Xi’s claim that the “one country, two system” rule implemented in Hong Kong 20 years ago has been successful.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/01
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After China’s leader Xi Jinping said today that the “one country, two

systems” rule implemented in Hong Kong had served to realize and preserve the unification of China, Taiwanese officials called for more democracy and autonomy for Hong Kong.

In a lengthy speech made at Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥)’s swearing-in ceremony as the fifth chief executive since Hong Kong was handed over to China by Britain in 1997, the Chinese leader reassured the success of the “one country, two systems” rule implemented two decades ago as serving the interests of the country as well as its people.

“Any activities endangering the country’s sovereignty, challenging the central government and Hong Kong Basic Law, a semi-constitution subordinate to the Chinese constitution, or committing an act of sabotage against the mainland are crossing the red line and utterly intolerable,” said Xi.

Alex Huang (黃重諺), spokesman for the Presidential Office, said that the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities should view the Hong Kong people’s demand for free speech, free gathering and independent jurisdiction with a positive and open mind.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/01
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) A man lost nearly NT$100,000 (US$3,291) after he was caught attempting to bring 54 cartons of cigarettes into Taiwan, Taipei Customs officers said Saturday.

The man, 33, surnamed Chen, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from Osaka and was found to have carried 54 cartons of Seven Stars cigarettes in his luggage.

According to customs declaration regulations, each passenger is only allowed one carton of cigarettes (which is usually 10 packs, with 20 cigarettes per pack). Additional cartons will be confiscated and the violator fined NT$500 for each one, meaning that Chen will have to pay a fine of NT$26,500 in addition to his loss of the cigarettes.    [FULL STORY]

TIT-FOR-TAT:The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Nigeria Trade Office in Taiwan would be forcibly relocated in response to the forced eviction of diplomats in Abuja

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The Nigeria Trade Office in Taiwan will be forced to relocate outside Taipei following the forced

eviction of Taiwanese diplomats from the nation’s trade mission in Nigeria’s capital, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The Nigerian government on Friday sent 25 armed police officers to seal off the Taiwanese office and force remaining personnel to leave, the ministry said, adding that the personnel left after protesting the move.

The ministry said it had lodged a solemn protest, calling on the Nigerian government to cease taking extreme measures and immediately withdraw police to allow the case to be handled through rational discussion.

The Nigerian government in January announced during a visit by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) that Taiwan would be forced to shut down its office in Abuja and relocate it to Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and financial center.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Eleanor Wang (王珮玲) yesterday said there was no physical confrontation, but declined to specify what ministry personnel were doing at the site.

The trade mission was closed in April following a formal Nigerian government ultimatum on March 31, which also resulted in the withdrawal of Representative Chao Chia-pao (趙家寶).    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 1, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The U.S. announcement of arms sales worth US$1.42 billion to Taiwan should ease

doubts about the stability of relations between Taiwan and the United States, Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), an executive board member of Taiwan Thinktank, said Friday.

The package — covering MK-48 torpedoes, high-speed anti-radiation missiles, and standoff precision-guided missiles — will enhance Taiwan’s anti-air, anti-sea and early warning capabilities, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.

It was the first arms sale to Taiwan announced by Washington since Donald Trump took office as U.S. president on Jan. 20.

Lai, whose think tank is closely aligned with the governing Democratic Progressive Party, said the deal reflected the stable relations between Taiwan and the U.S. but should not be seen as representing an upgrade of the relationship because it was based on Taiwan’s needs.

The announcement, however, “does quash a lot of speculation” over the stability of bilateral relations amid concerns of horse trading between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in the wake of the U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue in Washington held earlier this month in Washington, Lai argued.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-30

The defense ministry says US arms sales to Taiwan will help maintain cross-strait peace. Ministry

spokesperson Chen Chung-chi made the statement Friday.

It is expected that a bill governing the latest arms package will take effect a month after it is reviewed and approved by Congress.

Chen said the arms sales are crucial to long-term regional peace.

“The [arms sales] are the basis of maintaining regional stability. We must emphasize that they help strengthen the self-defense capabilities of the Republic of China and maintain cross-strait peace as well. Therefore, the defense ministry would like to express its sincere appreciation to the decision made by the US,” said Chen.

The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.    [FULL  STORY]

Incident related to co-pilot’s private debts: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/30 19:47
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China has arrested the co-pilot of Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry

Gou’s (郭台銘) private jet over a personal debt problem unrelated to the tycoon, reports said Friday.

Gou was recently listed by Forbes as Taiwan’s second-wealthiest business leader. His group, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (鴻海精密工業), is one of the world’s largest contract electronics makers, in particular for Apple Inc. products, while last year he took control of Japan’s Sharp Corporation and this year he tried but failed so far to buy Toshiba’s memory chip unit.

His Gulfstream G650 was supposed to take off from Shenzhen in Guangdong Province at 10 p.m. Thursday, but as co-pilot Chiu Shih-ming (邱世明) entered the airport, he was apprehended by border agents of the Public Security Bureau (公安), reports said. The agents reportedly said that the man was under investigation for economic crimes.

According to Taiwanese media reports, Chiu’s personal debt problems were at the origin of the incident, and neither Gou nor his companies were in any way involved or affected. The private jet was spotted at Taipei Songshan Airport Friday afternoon, according to local media.    [FULL  STORY]