CONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRED: The resignation is obligatory before the first session of the new legislature. Su Tseng-chang will continue to serve as Executive Yuan head

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 14, 2020
By: Hsieh Chun-ling  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) led his Cabinet in resigning en masse yesterday evening, weeks

earlier than required by the Constitution, following Saturday’s elections that saw President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) win re-election and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) retain its legislative majority.

However, Su will continue to serve as premier after the president earlier in the day asked him to remain in his post, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said.

Tsai met with Su in the Presidential Office at noon, and asked him to continue to serve as head of the Executive Yuan to maintain stability, and Su agreed, Chang said.

Tsai had told a news conference on Saturday night that she expected to keep her executive team for her second term to maintain a level of stability amid rapidly changing domestic and international situations.    [FULL  STORY]

Foreign Ministry spokesman says Beijing will continue opposing Taiwan's independence

Anadolu Agency
Date: 12.01.2020
By: Islamuddin Sajid

China on Sunday condemned Tsai Ing-wen's victory speech after she won Taiwan's presidential election by a landslide and called out Beijing for threatening the island nation.

"We hope and believe that the international community will continue adhering to the one-China principle, understand and support the just cause of Chinese people to oppose the secessionist activities for 'Taiwan independence' and realize national reunification," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

Tsai Ing-wen won a second term on Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

Maritime Bulletine
Date: January 12, 2020
By: Mikhail Voytenko

General cargo ship TAI GANG contacted CSBC shipbuilding Corporation dock at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, early in the morning Jan 6, while leaving the port. Accident was caused by steering failure. Both dock and ship’s bow were damaged, TAI GANG reportedly sustained underwater hull breaches. The ship was towed to berth, she remained at Kaohsiung until Jan 9. On Jan 9 she left Kaohsiung, bound for Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. On Jan 12 she reached Quanzhou outer anchorage and was anchored.

Probably because of accident, ship’s AIS was faulty, at least during Jan 9-11, showing 30 knots speed and wrongly positioning the ship.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese pollster says Tsai's landslide victory due to "monstrous Han phenomenon" that created fear among large portion of electorate

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A pollster claims to have analyzed why Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won her reelection with a record-breaking 8.17 million votes in the 2020 presidential election, beating her major rival, the Kuomingtang’s (KMT) Han Kuo-yu, by 2.64 million votes.

You Ying-lung (游盈隆), an opinion poll expert and chairman of the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation, said in a Facebook post on Monday that the opposition KMT party should have been able to win both the presidential and legislative elections following its landslide victory in the 2018 local elections, which saw the party win 15 mayoral and county commissioner seats out of 22.

Before 2018's local elections, 13 cities and counties in Taiwan were governed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayors and commissioners, but after the elections, that number shrank to only six.

You said that Han had been a jobless middle-aged man for many years before he swept onto Taiwan’s political scene by winning the Kaohsiung mayoral race in 2018 and becoming the KMT’s presidential candidate in 2019.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/12/2020

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's public vote counting system is one of the most powerful and unique aspects of its democracy, an American scholar said after observing the presidential and legislative elections Saturday.

"It's completely transparent, low tech, open and inspires confidence," Kharis Templeman, a research scholar at Stanford University and program manager of the Taiwan Democracy and Security Project, told CNA in a telephone interview.

"I believe that the whole world can learn something from Taiwan's elections," he said.

Taiwan's vote counting process, in which the poll workers hold up each ballot and call out the name of the candidate selected, is open to the public.    [FULL  STORY]

CONGRATULATED:AIT  Director Brent Christensen said the US and Taiwan are bound by shared values, while Japan’s Mitsuo Ohashi stressed the importance of bilateral ties

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 13, 2020
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met separately with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)

Director Brent Christensen and Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi, expressing the hope to improve bilateral ties with the two countries.

Christensen congratulated Tsai on behalf of the US government on her re-election, saying that the US and Taiwan are close partners bound by shared democratic values, and would continue to improve bilateral exchanges.

Saturday’s “election serves as a reminder that the United States and Taiwan are not just partners; we are members of the same community of democracies, bonded by our shared values,” he added.

Tsai said that “democracy and freedom are indeed Taiwan’s most precious assets, as well as the foundation for the long-standing, firm Taiwan-US partnership.”    [FULL STORY]

Taiwan’s ruling party continues to extend lead in KMT presidential candidate's 'hometown'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/11
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kaohsiung city mayor and Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) continues to trail the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by a significant margin of votes.

Meanwhile, DPP legislative candidates are also leading in all eight of the city's constituencies. As of 6:30 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 11), Han had received little more than 2 million votes, 1 million less than Tsai.    [FULL  STORY]

The Daily Mail
Date: 11 January 2020
By: AFP

The United States congratulated Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen for her re-election Saturday, hailing it as a demonstration of the self-ruled island's "robust democratic system."

The US State Department issued a statement praising Tsai shortly after final results showed her winning by a landslide in what was widely seen as a blow to China.

The US statement praised Tsai for developing a strong partnership with Washington and for her "commitment to maintaining cross-Strait stability in the face of unrelenting pressure."

"Under her leadership, we hope Taiwan will continue to serve as a shining example for countries that strive for democracy, prosperity, and a better path for their people," it said.    [FULL  STORY]

He congratulates Tsai Ing-wen on re-election and advises her to make bold policy decisions

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/11
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter\\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — "Saturday's election is a referendum on how Taiwanese people answer to China," said a former U.S. deputy national security adviser on the day of the island nation's presidential and legislative elections. "They do not believe the communist regime will peacefully coexist with a free society and the answer to 'one country, two systems' is, 'No.'"

Steve Yates, who offered advice to former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney from 2001 to 2005 and is now a commentator on FOX News, led a delegation of Washington-based media experts to Taiwan this week to gain insight into the country's vibrant and competitive democratic system. The team visited campaign headquarters and took part in the carnival-like Kuomintang (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaign rallies between Wednesday (Jan. 8) and Friday (Jan. 10).

Speaking of his observations on the campaign rallies, Yates said the delegation was impressed with how colorful and entertaining they were. He also said popular participation in the election process was a measure of how Taiwanese people value their freedom and democracy.

Five hours into the vote counting on Jan. 11, incumbent Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won 57 percent with over 8 million votes. Yates said Tsai garnered more votes than the previous presidential election in 2016 and gained a competitive edge due to external factors.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/11/2020
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday maintained its majority in the Legislature, giving it a clear path to maintaining complete control of the government for the next four years.

The DPP won 61 seats, compared with the 68 it won in 2016, giving it a cushion of four seats about the 57 seats needed to claim a majority in the 113-seat Legislature, according to estimates.

While the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) won 38 seats, three more than four years ago, the DPP will have ideologically aligned smaller parties and independents it can count on if it needs additional votes on legislation.

The New Power Party kept its presence with three seats and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party took one seat, and four of the five independents are also part of the pan-green (pro-DPP) camp.
[FULL  STORY]