Radio Taiwan International
Date: 15 December, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

PIngtung County mobilizes 1,200 people to physically move a temple[/caption] What happens when a newly renovated temple is found to be on illegal ground? The people who run the temple didn’t want to tear it down and rebuild it again. So  they decided to mobilize over a thousand people to physically move the building! 

The Fu-An Temple in Pingtung County has been around since the Japanese occupation period and it just got a facelift last year. But new urban planning left the temple in the middle of a three-way junction. The building had to be moved 40 meters to be safe. 

Residents in the area actually thought they could move the 1,200-ton building by mustering 1,200 people to move it physically. First, the structure had to be lifted 1.5 meters upward and then placed on rollers. Then construction workers had to place eight strong ropes under the building for people to hold on to and then pull the heavy structure over the rollers. All this work took one week to prepare.     [FULL  STORY]

While Biden has historically not supported Taiwan’s independence, his voting record and statements on China, as well as his national security team, should reassure Taipei that the US will stand by the island

South China Morning Post
Date: 16 Dec, 2020
By: Derek Grossman

OPINION

It is an open secret that Taiwan is one of US President Donald Trump’s biggest fans

Under his administration, US-Taiwan relations have strengthened in virtually every respect, and even in the always sensitive domain of security cooperation.That is why his loss to Joe Biden in the presidential election is causing thinly veiled heartburn in Taipei. But concerns that the incoming Biden administration might rethink Taiwan policy in favour of better relations with China are probably misguided, judging from Biden’s own pronouncements and the national security team he has assembled thus far.

Regarding Biden himself, it is important to remember that as a senator on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1979, he voted in favour of passing the Taiwan Relations Act, which, to this day, stands at the heart of US security cooperation with the island.

Fast forward to this spring, when Biden penned an important op-ed titled “Why America Must Lead Again”. Although Taiwan went unmentioned, Biden argued that “the United States does need to get tough with China” by “build[ing] a united front of US allies and partners to confront China’s abusive behaviours”.    [FULL  STORY]

Homemade Chinese nuclear power plant in Fujian automatically shuts down after incident

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/15
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Chinese government is denying there were any radiation leaks from its new homegrown nuclear power plant after it "automatically shut down" following an incident involving the main steam line.

On Nov. 27, the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant, which is based on China's first domestically developed nuclear reactor design, Hualong One (華龍一號), powered up and connected to the national grid. According to China's state-run media, all technical indicators of the unit met design requirements and were in good condition when the nuclear reactor went online.

However, hk01 on Tuesday (Dec. 15) reported that China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment on its website recently released a notice from the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) at the beginning of December stating that during an inspection of the stream extraction system at Unit 5 of the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant on Oct. 27, oscillations in the main steam line triggered an automatic shutdown of the unit.

The NNSA described the shutdown as a "Level 0 operational incident" and claimed that it did not cause any radioactive release. It also denied that it caused any adverse effects on personnel and environmental safety.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/15/2020
By: Lee Hsien-feng and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) A popular Hualien County mochi chain store is looking for a customer who was issued with a uniform invoice by one of its cashiers earlier this week, who mistakenly typed the figure for NT$54 (US$1.92) as NT$4 million and five dollars.

The cashier serving at a Tzen's Mochi store at a freeway rest stop in Su'ao, Yilan County, sold three mochi — sweet sticky rice balls — with peanut filling for NT$54 at 3:57 p.m. on Sunday, but mistakenly issued the invoice for NT$4 million and five dollars, the company said on Tuesday.

Upon discovering the mistake, the cashier burst into tears and hoped in desperation that the invoice could be retrieved, said Chang Shu-hua (張淑華), an operational executive at Tzen's Mochi, because the invoice for NT$4 million and five dollars means it would cost the company nearly NT$200,000 in business tax if the mistake went unreported.

Although it has sought assistance from the national freeway police, the company hopes the customer, who was described as a woman dressed in red based on CCTV footage, will return the mistaken invoice with the serial number GY19229840 so that the mistake can be rectified, Chang said.    [FULL  STORY]

DEVELOPMENT: Taiwan has the determination and capability to build its own ships, the president said, adding that it could also export military components

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 16, 2020
By: Staff writer, with Reuters and CNA

Taiwan might become a supplier of weapons to Western democracies, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, praising the nation’s improving weapons design ability as she launched an advanced, missile-laden warship and commissioned a new minelayer.

Tsai has made boosting the defense of the nation a priority in the face of a growing military challenge from Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

While the nation’s air force has benefited from big-ticket imported items such as new and upgraded F-16s, the navy is Tsai’s next focus, with submarines in production and the first of a fleet of highly maneuverable stealth corvettes launched yesterday.

The new Tuo Chiang-class corvettes, a prototype of which is already in operation, have been dubbed “aircraft carrier killers” by the navy, due to their complement of anti-ship missiles. They can also carry Sky Sword anti-aircraft missiles.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 15 December, 2020
By: Andrew Ryan

A couple from Baguio City in the Philippines, who came here for in vitro fertilization was successful in conceiving twins. But with the Philippines recording the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in Asia, they were reluctant to return to their country to give birth. Now, after an extended stay, they've given birth to a healthy set of twins and are preparing to return home.

Laura and her husband are celebrating the first month anniversary of the birth of their twins.

“We decided to come to Taiwan for IVF because we wanted to have our own babies,” she says.

They arrived in Taiwan in March, and Laura was able to get pregnant via in vitro fertilization. But by then, the pandemic in the Philippines had taken a turn for the worse. They postponed their return home, worried about the risk of infection and eventually gave birth in Taiwan by way of Cesarean section. 

 “It was because of COVID-19, and we also wanted to deliver our babies here,” says Laura. The plan is to return to the Philippines on January 7.     [FULL  STORY]

Its excellence in the computer chip market puts it at the center of the battle for global technological supremacy.

The New York Times
Date:Dec. 14, 2020
By Ruchir Sharma

Opinion

A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company office in Tainan, Taiwan.Credit…An Rong Xu for The New York Times

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union perpetually threatened to spark conflict in nations all over the world, including battles over the control of a vast array of natural and industrial resources. The new Cold War, between the United States and China, is increasingly focused on access to just one industry in one place: computer chips made in Taiwan.

Over the past year, Taiwan has taken a lead in the race to build thinner, faster and more powerful chips, or semiconductors. Its fastest chips are the critical building blocks of rapidly evolving digital industries like artificial intelligence and high-speed computing. The thinnest chips will be powering the coming “internet of things,” in which homes, cars, appliances and even clothes will connect to smartphones and voice-activated speakers over 5G networks.

As of now, any country looking to dominate the digital future has to buy these superfast, ultrathin chips from either Taiwan or South Korea. And Taiwan has the edge in both technology and market power. It is a small island of just 24 million people, but it is at the center of the battle for global technological supremacy. Pound for pound, it is the most important place in the world. As the Cold War between China and the United States intensifies, that importance will only continue to grow.    [FULL  STORY]

Russian woman allowed to see son one day after publicizing her case on Taiwan News

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/14
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Russian woman was finally able to see her son on Friday (Dec. 11) after his Taiwanese grandparents allegedly abducted him for over a week.

The 24-year-old victim, Anna Kuznetsova, alleges that the 38-year-old father of her son, surnamed Miaw, and his family, conspired to deceive her into signing the papers under false pretenses and without an English translation or legal counsel before kidnapping her child. After Taiwan News reported on her plight last week, Kuznetsova says that she received an enormous outpouring of support from readers and that she was finally able to see her son on Friday (Dec. 11).

Kuznetsova last saw her son on Dec. 3, when the Taiwanese grandparents took him on an unannounced "trip." It was not until that day she realized a Chinese-language document she had signed in January was actually adoption papers, and her desperate legal battle to regain custody of her son began.

After bringing her case to the public on Dec. 10, Kuznetsova says that she received many phone calls and emails from Taiwanese and foreign residents offering assistance. She told Taiwan News that she was shocked when Miaw messaged her on Friday and said she could pick up her son from kindergarten that day.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/14/2020
By: Yang Su-min, Chen Wei-ting, and Chiang Yi-ching

The four products are found to have excessive levels of cadmium in a news conference held by the Consumers' Foundation on Monday. CNA photo Dec.14, 2020

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Four out of 20 rice-based baby foods that were randomly selected for testing were found to contain higher than permitted levels of cadmium, the Consumers' Foundation said Monday.

The products — 11 rice-based powders and nine rice cakes — were randomly chosen from online retailers and stores in Taipei and New Taipei in July, the foundation's head Terry Huang (黃怡騰) said at a press conference.

Four of the products, a rice-based powder produced by Yifeng Food and rice cakes made by Open Seeds, Want Want and Sanlea, were found to have cadmium levels of 0.05 to 0.3 parts per million (ppm), higher than the permitted level of 0.04 ppm, said Ling Young-chien (凌永健), the foundation's head of product testing.

All four products were labeled as made in Taiwan, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

LIKE-MINDED PARTNERS: The two nations are partners in a regional bond project to raise funds to help create sustainable livelihoods for women in Southeast Asia

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 15, 2020
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwan and the US have teamed up to take part in the Women’s Livelihood Bond 3 (WLB3) initiative — a collaboration that American Institute in Taiwan Director William Christensen yesterday touted as “a testament to the United States’ and Taiwan’s commitment to the shared value of promoting women’s development and prosperity.”

The partnership was announced at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Executive Yuan Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) Secretary-General Timothy Hsiang (項恬毅) joining Christensen.

Created by the Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the Women’s Livelihood Bond Series is a series of debt securities to empower women in Southeast Asia by creating sustainable livelihoods, officials said at the event.

.WLB3 — the third tranche in the US$150 million four-part initiative — would assist 175,000 to 185,000 female entrepreneurs and socioeconomically disadvantaged women in Indonesia, India, Cambodia and the Philippines by financing loans, marketing and production and living expenses, they said.    [FULL  STORY]