To the annoyance of the US, usually dependable allies like Britain, France, and Australia

Taiwan’s premier will have to find another name for his country.(AP/Wally Santana)

have signed on as founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-driven alternative to the World Bank. Not so for another American ally: China has rejected Taiwan’s bid to join as a founding member.

The sticking point? What to call Taiwan if it were accepted.

China-Taiwan naming diplomacy is complicated. Taiwan’s official name is the “Republic of China,” and it has been since it split with the mainland after the Chinese Civil War. For China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province, that name is unacceptable. That’s why Taiwan is usually referred to as “Chinese Taipei” or “Taipei, China” in international venues like the Olympics.

Calling it simply “Taiwan” is also off-limits as, in China’s mind, it appears to elevate the island to nation-state status.

What’s odd in the case of the AIIB is that Taiwanese officials claim that they were rejected despite saying they were willing to be called “Chinese Taipei.” We don’t know what name Taiwan attempted to apply under, and after its rejection, Taiwan said that it would reapply as an “ordinary member” instead of a founding one. It may be the case that Taiwan attempted a more controversial name the first time around.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/14
By: Lung Pei-ning and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said Tuesday that its cancer statistics have been wrongly recorded since 2010, with the number of people with cancer having since then been mistakenly recorded as the incidence rates of cancer.

According to the rankings of cancer incidence rates for 2012, the 10 most common cancers in Taiwan are breast cancer, followed by colon, liver, lung, prostate, oral, uterine, gastric, thyroid and skin cancer, in that order, according to the new, corrected statistics.

Compared with statistics for 2010 and 2011, the ranking for uterine cancer moved up one place to the seventh-most common cancer in 2012, while cervical cancer dropped from 9th to 11th, and thyroid cancer made the top 10 list for the first time.    [FULL  STORY]

JOINT EFFORT:Six local governments in central and southern Taiwan are teaming up to combat PM2.5 air pollution, which they said respects no borders

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2015
By: Chen Wei-han  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Six cities and counties in central and southern Taiwan yesterday jointly pledged to ban the

Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung, third right, and five other local government officials from southern and central Taiwan sign a collaborative agreement in Yunlin County yesterday banning the combustion of bituminous coal and petroleum coke. Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei Times

burning of petroleum coke and coal in a bid to combat air pollution and reduce PM2.5 emissions.

PM2.5 is an indicator of airborne particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less — small enough to penetrate deep into human lungs.

The six local governments making the pledge on regional air pollution control are Yunlin and Chiayi counties, as well as Chiayi, Tainan, Taichung and Chunghua.

At the event held in Yunlin yesterday, Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) said that the PM2.5 density over central and southern Taiwan is the highest in the nation, adding that 40 percent of the PM2.5 pollutants in Yunlin are transported from outside the county.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-04-14

In his new book Reflection High in the Cloud, Chu Yun-han of Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s

Representatives from 21 countries sign an MOU on the establishment of the AIIB at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2014. (File photo/CNS)

foremost research institution, points to the critical importance for Taiwan in coping with the burgeoning non-Western world headed by China, which has eclipsed the global order dominated by Western nations. The viewpoint highlights the urgent need for Taiwan to discard a number of old concepts and take action, including participation in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

For the sake of Taiwan’s development, membership of the AIIB will bring benefits that outweigh potential side effects by far. The AIIB will become a vital platform funding the economic development of Asia and membership for Taiwan, even though founding membership now seems impossible, will increase the country’s international visibility and clout, paving the way for it to take part in other international economic bodies. In addition, AIIB membership will facilitate Taiwan’s effort to join the integration of the Asian economy, which may become a key growth driver of the global economy.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/14
By: Ku Chuan, Huang Li-yun and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) The computer on the desk of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) secretary was hacked recently and investigators have traced the perpetrator to China, a Taipei city government official said Tuesday.

Lee Wei-bin (李維斌), the city’s information technology commissioner, told the City Council that a hacker installed a Trojan malware program into the secretary’s computer in early April and used it to request personal information about all city advisers from another department.

Department officials alerted Ko’s secretary about the suspicious letter of request, which confirmed that the secretary made no such request, Lee said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/12
By Sunrise Huang and Flor Wang CNA staff writers

Visitors to this day care center for indigenous community seniors in Xizhi District, New Taipei

Seniors from indigenous community hone creativity

are immediately attracted by the colorful and glittering owls made by its members.

NaMuh, or Chang Kuang-an (張廣安) in Chinese, from the Bunun community, is one of the artistically inclined seniors at the center.

“Although my eyesight is poor and the task requires extreme attention and skill, I feel fulfilled and happy every time I finish an owl,” said the 73-year-old NaMuh. “Time flies when I create owls at the center.”     [FULL  STORY]

‘NO OYSTERS’:DPP legislators said the government proposal would not ensure meaningful autonomy for the nation’s 16 recognized Aboriginal communities

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2015
By: Lii Wen  /  Staff reporter

A government proposal for establishing autonomous rule for the nation’s Aboriginal peoples

Members of Aboriginal groups, including the Indigenous Youth Front, demonstrate outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday while the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee discusses the draft Provisional Act on Autonomous Rule for Indigenous Peoples inside. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

yesterday came under heavy criticism from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, who said the proposal failed to ensure “true autonomy.”

Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Mayaw Dongi fended off comments from DPP legislators about the draft provisional act on autonomous rule for indigenous peoples (原住民族自治暫行條例) during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei.

“Your oyster omelet seems to be devoid of oysters,” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said, adding that the draft act failed to provide adequate authority to the proposed new autonomous agencies.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/13
By: Claudia Liu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Former National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General King

CNA file photo

Pu-tsung (金溥聰) on Monday attributed China’s rejection of a proposed meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) last year to Ma’s insistence on holding the meeting at the APEC summit.

Ma’s insistence that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing last year would be the best venue for a meeting between him and Xi was based on the concept that APEC’s membership is not predicated on the notion of sovereign nation states, but rather economic identities, according to King.

However, China rejected Ma’s proposal because Beijing was dissatisfied with Ma’s offer to meet with Xi at an international forum, King said in a radio interview.     [FULL  STORY]