Want China Times
Date: 2015-03-31
By: Tung Chen-yuan

China has not said that the annual Taipei-Shanghai forum will be suspended if Taipei mayor Ko

Wen-je continues to reject the 1992 Consensus, and Beijing should not ask Ko to change his stance.

There were never political preconditions set for the Taipei-Shanghai forum or for other cross-strait exchanges involving local governments in Taiwan. If the Taipei-Shanghai forum is suspended because of Ko’s political views, exchanges between local governments in China and Taiwan will be impacted as a result since a majority of Taiwan’s county magistrates and city mayors represent the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which does not recognize the 1992 Consensus.     [FULL  STORY]

PROFIT OVER SECURITY?Protesters called for the resignations of Premier Mao Chi-kuo and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia over a ‘deal with the devil’

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 31, 2015
By: Lii Wen  /  Staff reporter

Several groups yesterday rallied outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei, accusing the

government of conceding to Beijing on the controversial M503 flight route in exchange for easing regulations on Chinese air passengers making transit stops in Taiwan.

Beijing launched its first flights using the new M503 route — which runs close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait — on Sunday.

Led by Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強), the protesters accused the government of engaging in a “deal with the devil,” saying that the M503 route would threaten Taiwan’s national security.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/03/30
By: Liao Jen-kai and Christie Chen

Taipei, March 30 (CNA) A shootout between police and drug suspects on Monday evening in Zhubei in Hsinchu County has left one suspect dead and two policemen injured, according to authorities.

Accompanied by Coast Guard officials, several police officers from Taichung were attempting to arrest a 40-year-old man wanted for drug violations in Zhubei when the man and his accomplice fired gunshots at the police, according to law enforcement officials.

The man, surnamed Hung, was hit by a bullet in the exchange but still tried to escape by jumping out of the building he was in. He was then taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 31, 2015

“I am so happy to learn that my second-grade elementary school teacher is still alive!” says

Yang Tusheng, who lives in Taichung’s Wuri District. Two days ago, his classmate Yang Hantsung’s son, Yang Penjung, gave him a letter and pictures sent by their Japanese teacher, Ms Takagi, who is a centenarian. He said with great delight, “My teacher has reached 106 years old. I must personally write a letter to her, telling her what it has been like for us over the past 80 years.”

Yang Tusheng is already 90 years old, but is still in good shape and has a good memory. “Ms Takagi was our second-grade homeroom teacher in the elementary school. She was a very diligent teacher. Although her father was a police officer, many very senior students would naughtily cut her skirt apart, using scissors.”     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-03-30
By: Staff Reporter

There is nothing to read into Chinese president Xi Jinping’s five-minute meeting with Taiwan’s

former vice president Vincent Siew on Sunday — unless, of course, you try to read something into it, says the overseas edition of the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

Despite a media buildup, Xi and Siew, attending in his capacity as the honorary chairman of the Taipei-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, spoke for only five minutes on the sidelines of the opening day of Boao Forum for Asia, held annually on China’s southern island province of Hainan.

Sources familiar with the meeting said Xi and Siew exchanged ideas on regional development, the role of Taiwan in the process and the country’s interest in joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) proposed by Beijing to provide finance to infrastructure projects in Asia     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/03/28
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, March 28 (CNA) A total lunar eclipse will take place in Taiwan on April 4, producing the most visible “blood moon” since the one seen in October 2014, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said Saturday.

It said the eclipse will begin before the moon rises at 6:04 p.m. on April 4 and last until around 8:45 p.m.

The moon will appear copper as it becomes fully obscured by the Earth’s shadow between 7:54 p.m. and 8:06 pm., the museum said, adding that the 12-minute-long episode will also be the shortest of its kind in Taiwan over the 21st century.     [FULL  STORY]

UNRELATED:The chairperson also rejected speculation that DPP Secretary-General Joseph Wu’s US trip was related to her visit, the date of which has not been decided

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 30, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

In response to China’s insistence on recognition of “one China” as a precondition for entry into the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reiterated the party’s stance on defending Taiwan’s sovereignty.

“This is an issue that crops up whenever we attempt to join any international organization or institution,” Tsai said in response to reporters’ requests for comments on China’s requirements for Taiwan’s participation in the AIIB. “We will find ways to maximize our national interests while defending our position when seeking to enter international organizations.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/03/29
By: Claudia Liu and S.C. Chang

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九） will “absolutely not shirk

responsibility” if his former staff at Taipei City government were found to have been involved in irregularities in connection with a land development project in Xidian, New Taipei, his spokesman said Sunday.

Charles Chen （陳以信）said Ma, a former mayor of Taipei City, had delegated some decision making power to his deputies in regard to the on-going controversy over the BOT project in which the city government was suspected of having made too huge a concession to partner Radium Life Tech Co. （日勝生）in building a mass rapid transit trains maintenance center in suburban Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-03-29
By: CNA

China has made a big deal of its “Belt and Road” program, but Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs

Council (MAC) has warned against Beijing’s initiative.

The MAC said recently the initiative involves several elements, and the government will closely follow its development and the countries participating to assess its impact on Taiwan’s politics and economy.

The MAC said that if Taiwanese businesspeople wanted to join the initiative, they would have to understand the government’s views and policy on the initiative and weigh related political and economic risks resulting from the initiative.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 30, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff Reporter

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and other groups yesterday protested at the Martyrs’ Shrine

in Taipei, condemning what it called the government’s silence as China’s M503 flight route entered service.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended an annual spring memorial service under tightened security as protesters held signs urging the government to protest to China over the air route.

Protesters mobilized by the TSU showed up about 100m from the main entrance to the Martyrs’ Shrine almost immediately after the presidential convoy drove into the complex.     [FULL  STORY]