BULLYING: The CCP has been accusing Taiwan of trying to gain independence to divert attention from its incompetence in resolving its own affairs, the MAC said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 12, 2019
By: Chung Li-hua  /  Staff reporter

As Taiwanese have unequivocally rejected the “one country, two systems” formula that China has

proposed for it, the Chinese government should stop embarrassing itself by harassing Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.

The council issued the statement in response to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), which criticized President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Double Ten National Day address as an attempt to “vilify the ‘one country, two systems’ policy, thereby stoking anti-China sentiment.”

Tsai’s address “exposed the Democratic Progressive Party administration’s pro-Taiwanese independence nature, which runs counter to the overall interests of the Zhonghua minzu [ethnic Chinese groups],” TAO spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said earlier yesterday.

The speech “smacks of confrontational thinking and animosity” and was an attempt to belittle “one country, two systems” to stoke anti-China sentiment, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 October, 2019
By: Paula Chao
 

Fireworks, a parade, and speeches mark the National Day celebrations. Learn about Taiwan’s current and past national day flags, and why National Day is celebrated on October 10!
{FULL  STORY]

 

On Taiwan's National Day, let us examine 5 common myths about the island — and debunk them all.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/10/10
By: Jennifer Gunther

In the wake of the machismo display of military might on China’s national day last week, Taiwan’s national day celebrations today might feel slightly overshadowed.

While it is unlikely that Taiwan will be rolling out any intercontinental ballistic missiles for the world to gawp at, firework displays and modest wavings of the national Republic of China (ROC) flag are scheduled to take place in major cities. The celebrations will be accompanied by President Tsai Ing-wen’s morning speech, which might feature a moderate, but firm criticism of China.

For the rest of the world following the unrest in Hong Kong online, it may come as a shock that Taiwan’s president would dare to risk expressing anti-China sentiment in public, or to even acknowledge Taiwan’s National Day at all.

This highlights some of the world’s most common misconceptions about Taiwan and its people. These mistakes are not only insulting to many Taiwanese, but they can also become dangerous when consistently reiterated on the global stage.    [FULL  STORY]

Attendance belies speculation that Indian govt. would bar officials from attending

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/10
By: Liao, Jo-Luen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Indian government dignitaries and scholars alike attended a National Day of Taiwan dinner party held by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) at New Delhi's Hyatt Regency Delhi on October 9 — the eve before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India for his 2nd informal summit with Indian President Narendra Modi.

Despite speculation that Indian officials would be restricted from participating considering the timing of the event, many still arrived unhindered, according to CNA. Attendees included MPs of the Indian People's Party and its national spokesperson, Meenakshi Lekhi, as well as ambassadors from Germany, Paraguay, and other countries.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/10
By Yeh Su-ping and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) American Senator Ted Cruz on Thursday attended Taiwan's Double Ten National Day celebrations in Taipei and later met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for one-on-one discussions.

In the meeting at the Presidential Office, Cruz said Taiwan is "a powerful demonstration that freedom works," and that is why "the Communist government in China fears so deeply Taiwan's success."

Cruz, a Republican from Texas who sits on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, said the ongoing protests in Hong Kong highlighted the value of freedom of democracy.

"At this time, when the eyes of the world are focused on Hong Kong and the brutal repression of Hong Kong, the stakes of fighting for democracy and fighting for freedom are that much more important, and that is what Taiwan rightly symbolizes for the world," Cruz said.
[FULL  STORY]

TAIWANESE PRIDE: No totalitarian nation can stop free and democratic Taiwan from establishing new friendships, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 11, 2019
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter, with CNAP

resident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday in her Double Ten National Day address rejected the

“one country, two systems” model proposed by Beijing as the future of cross-strait relations, while highlighting freedom, democracy and sovereignty.

“The overwhelming consensus among Taiwan’s 23 million people is our rejection of ‘one country, two systems,’ regardless of party affiliation or political position,” Tsai said at the ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

There would be no space for the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) if that framework were to be imposed on Taiwan, Tsai said, citing the violence in Hong Kong as an example.

As Taiwan’s president, standing up to protect the nation’s sovereignty is not a provocation to China, but a fundamental responsibility, she said, urging the public to stand with her in defending freedom and democracy.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 October, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen called Wednesday for Taiwan and friendly nations to work together for regional stability and common values. Tsai was speaking while receiving US State Department official Sandra Oudkirk.

Tsai said that she hopes that Taiwan and the US can have more cooperation together under the APEC framework.    [FULL  STORY]

Cultural taboo and inadequate government policy make it incredibly difficult to conserve Taiwan’s Green Sea Turtles.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/10/09
By Dr. Liu Tzu-ming

Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) have long been classified as a globally endangered species due to human disturbances. The turtles are hunted for their meat, eggs, and shells, and their reproduction suffers from the effects of habitat degradation and fragmentation. Artificial light sources hinder the turtles’ return to land for egg laying and interferes with young hatchlings’ movement towards the sea, thereby increasing their mortality rate.

Many conservation measures, such as ecotourism, have been implemented to protect green sea turtles but not all are successful. Some successful international models of conservation were implemented in Taiwan, but the results were not as positive as expected. We find that the conflict of cultural beliefs regarding green sea turtles and the government’s conservation grants scheme is key to this failure.

Green sea turtles are distributed across the northern, eastern, and southern areas of Taiwan, as well as on Lanyu Island and Penghu Islands. However, because of long-term excessive poaching, combined with habitat destruction caused by construction projects, their nesting habitat is limited in Wangan (Penghu Islands) and Lanyu islands.    [FULL  STORY]

No appeals were filed against June verdict by Scottish court

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As prosecutors have not appealed against a June court decision, British

businessman Zain Dean will not be extradited to Taiwan to serve the remainder of his four-year prison sentence for killing a newspaper delivery man in a drunk driving accident.

A Scottish court ruled against extradition last June 6, but appeals were still possible. However, the Ministry of Justice told the Central News Agency Wednesday (October 9) that no appeals had been filed, making the June decision definitive.

The high-profile case started in Taipei in March 2010, with the death of a 31-year-old motorcyclist hit by Dean’s car. The businessman later claimed someone else had been driving, but the court did not accept his version of events and sentenced him to four years in jail in July 2017.

However, the following month, he used a passport supplied by a friend to flee the country and eventually surfaced again in Scotland.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/09
By: Chiang Chin-yeh and Chiang Yi-ching

Maryland, U.S., Oct. 8 (CNA) Taiwan needs to devote sufficient resources toward its defense, especially

in cost-effective systems that leverage Taiwan's strengths and can help deter China, a U.S. official said at the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Maryland on Monday.

David Helvey, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, said in a speech at the forum that the goal is to create a "distributed, maneuverable, and decentralized force", which he described as "large numbers of small things."

This force should be able to "operate in a degraded electromagnetic environment and under a barrage of missile and air attacks," Helvey said.

The systems best suited to Taiwan's island geography, he suggested, would be highly-mobile coastal defense cruise missiles, short-range air defense, naval mines, small fast-attack craft, mobile artillery, and advanced surveillance assets.    [FULL  STORY]