China Global Television Network
Date: 05-Jan-2020
By: Tom Fowdy

Editor's note: Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain, and the U.S. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Next week marks the Taiwan leadership election. Incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Tsai Ing-wen faces off against mayor of Kaohsiung and Kuomintang (KMT)'s candidate, Han Kuo-yu. 

The election is expected to be interpreted as a pivotal point in the island's relationship with the Chinese mainland, with Tsai pushing for greater separation and Han arguing for the benefit of closer ties.

In doing so, the DPP leader has sought to weaponize fear of China to boost her own electoral prospects and make it harder for opponents to argue for reconciliation with the Chinese mainland.

Since the summer of 2019, she has played upon the impacts of Hong Kong protests and persistent negative coverage of the Chinese mainland by the Western mainstream media. This has already given her the upper hand. However, it hasn't been enough.    [FULL  STORY]

The5 Sydney Morning Herald
Date: January 5, 2020
By: Julie Szego

One morning last month, I found myself in a dimly-lit lecture theatre in Taipei. The building, housing the

Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a think tank that briefs Taiwan’s government, sits in a military compound. Facing the audience was a long table of eight experts –  seven men in ties and dark suits and one woman.

The mood was sombre. Winter was setting in. And in this besieged democracy of 23 million, it’s also election season.

In the lead-up to presidential elections on January 11, Beijing is cranking up the pressure on Taiwan’s voters to unseat President Tsai Ing-wen and the Democratic Progressive Party, whose campaign pitch emphasises the island’s sovereignty.

One of the institute’s panellists, Dr Che-Chuan Lee, reflected on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s more overt bullying measures: excluding the island from multilateral forums and turning seven of Taipei’s diplomatic allies to Beijing, so that now only 15 states formally recognise Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

More than 20 sniffer Labrador puppies up for adoption by families living between Changhua and Hsinchu

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/05
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Finance's (MOF) Customs Administration is currently looking for host families who live between Changhua and Hsinchu Counties to adopt approximately 20 Labrador sniffer puppies.

According to the MOF, five female sniffer dogs owned by the Taiwanese government recently gave birth to puppies, and volunteers are needed since their original caretakers do not have enough space to accommodate them. The dogs of each litter have the same coloring — cream, black, white, or brown — and are to be trained as future sniffer dogs.

The MOF said that households with medium to large yards are encouraged to apply and that all the puppies' breeding expenses will be provided by the government. When host families are traveling away from home, the puppies can also be temporarily kept at training centers, where they will receive professional care, reported CNA.

Since the puppies' monthly training will take place in Taichung, applicants must reside between Hsinchu and Changhua in order to avoid expensive commutes. The MOF officials also pointed out that raising a sniffer puppy is different from raising a normal pet because it has to be independent and cannot grow too attached to its owners.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/05

Political parties were all out on campaign trail around Taiwan in a last-ditch scramble for votes on the final Sunday before the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.

The three presidential candidates resumed campaign activities Sunday following a three-day break after eight armed forces members, including Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), were killed in a helicopter crash Thursday.

President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is running for re-election, traveled to Nantou, Yunlin, Tainan, Taoyuan and New Taipei to drum up voter support.

Meanwhile, the Kuomintang's Han Kuo-yu went to Taoyuan, New Taipei and Taipei, while James Soong of the People First Party focused his efforts on Taichung, Changhua.    [FULL  STORY]

University of Nottingham
Taiwan Studies Programme
Date: 4 January 2020
By: Chun-yi Lee.

This article was originally published by ISPI and can be found here.

On 11 January 2020, Taiwanese voters will head to the ballot box and elect their next president. This short essay will explain why we should pay attention to this election and will particularly focus on Taiwan’s receding populism. My observation is that populism follows on from economic anxiety—a phenomenon that is faced by most democracies in Europe and the United States. Taiwan is no exception, but in January, Taiwan’s populist candidate will probably not be victorious. This is due to the immediate threat faced by Taiwan – in other words, the ‘China factor’.

There are three parties and candidates registered for the 2020 presidential election: the incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen (from the Democratic Progressive Party or DPP); Han Kuo-yu, from the Kuomintang (KMT); and James Soong, from the People First Party. But the ‘real’ competition is between Tsai (DPP) and Han (KMT), which I will examine here. Following this, I will explain why Han, as a populist figure in Taiwan, won a landslide victory in Kaohsiung’s 2018 mayoral election, and why, since joining the presidential election campaign in 2019, his popularity has not superseded that of Tsai.

Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, and Han’s victory there in 2018 ended two decades of DPP governance. The main reasons Han won included his focus on boosting Kaohsiung’s economy, and speaking in a language that ‘people understood’. For example, he planned to build a Disneyland theme park, and pursued closer relations with China, selling goods and vegetables there and promoting his pineapple politics. Han indicated that he only sought to promote business with China and would not touch thorny political issues, strongly supporting the 1992 consensus. His approach was very much in tune with what Beijing wanted; so long as Taiwan’s leader acknowledged the 1992 consensus, China would warmly welcome Taiwanese products.    [FULL  STORY]

The Straits Times
Date: June 3, 2019
By: Katherine Wei, Taiwan Correspondent

TAIPEI – With a presidential election just a week away, Taiwan's government, together with local media, researchers and hackers, are stepping up efforts to quash a deluge of fake news – much of which is believed to be coming from China.

On Tuesday (Dec 31), Taiwan's legislature passed a number of amendments to the Criminal Code to regulate the spreading of misinformation, raising the penalty from under two years behind bars and a fine of NT$1,000 (S$45) to up to NT$200,000 in fines and the same prison time – heavier if the misinformation is spread online or via television, radio or other media.

The problem is considered especially acute in Taiwan.

Along with Latvia, Taiwan has been ranked as the place most affected by foreign online disinformation campaigns in the world in 2019 by the V-Dem Institute, a data analysis centre hosted at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden's Department of Political Science.    [FULL  STORY]

NextShark
Date: January 4, 2020

When Abigail Hing Wen was sent to Taiwan for a six-week-long summer program to learn Mandarin and more about her heritage, she did not expect the wild and crazy nights of friendship and romance.

Wen, who also works in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist, captures the journey of self-discovery in her debut novel, “Loveboat, Taipei”.

The Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour in Taiwan, aka the “Love Boat” program named in honor of the 1970s sitcom, offered Chinese Americans and Canadians aged 18 to 23 language classes in the mornings as well as activities in subjects like calligraphy, ink painting, dancing, martial arts, learning Chinese musical instruments, and sightseeing around Taipei, according to SCMP.

Although the “study tours” were advertised as a cultural enrichment program, it became popular for being a great place to find romance.    [FULL  STORY]

Unruly passenger at first refused to return to his seat before landing at Taoyuan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – EVA Air said it would sue a passenger on flight from Hong Kong who threw a plate on the floor and injured a crew member, reports said Saturday (Jan. 4).

Just before flight BR 868 was coming in for landing at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Friday (Jan. 3), the pilot made his regular announcements for passengers, EVA Air said in a statement. However, one passenger flung a plate on the floor and lef6t his seat.

As two flight attendants tried to persuade him to return to his seat, he refused, and in the ensuing scuffle, one crew member’s right hand was injured. It was only after a senior staff member intervened that the passenger returned to his seat, CNA reported.

After the pilot learned about the incident, he alerted ground staff, and the airport police took the passenger away for questioning. He was later described as a man around 80 years of age, the Liberty Times reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/04
By: Elaine Hou, Shen Ju-feng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) People lined up Saturday at a memorial service in Taipei to show their respects to eight military officers who died in a fatal helicopter crash two days earlier.

They gathered at the Taipei Guest House for the eight victims, including Chief of the General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), expressing sorrow for the deaths.

Running between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., the memorial service will continue into Sunday.

Before the service opened, a group of people, both citizens and military personnel, waited in front of the venue to attend the service.    [FULL  STORY]

CHOPPER TRAGEDY: Mechanical failure can be ruled out as the cause of the crash only once a flight recorder card is decoded by the Black Hawk’s US manufacturer

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2020
By: Huang Hsin-po, Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA

A UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter that crashed on Thursday, killing eight military officers including the

chief of the general staff, is unlikely to have gone down due to mechanical failure or weather, a Taiwan Transportation Safety Board official said yesterday.

Based on a preliminary investigation of the helicopter’s two flight data recorders, mechanical failure could be 80 percent ruled out as the cause, while weather, including elements such as turbulence and wind shear, could be 80 to 90 percent excluded, the official said.

However, the flight recorders contain a memory card that can only be decoded by the aircraft’s US-based manufacturer, they said.

The card is to be sent to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, as it contains important data about the helicopter’s mechanical systems and its operational handling, the bureau said.    [FULL  STORY]