Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/06
By: Huang Li-yun and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) Police authorities in Taiwan were busy Sunday trying to clarify a comment a day earlier suggesting that Taiwan would enforce an anti-mask law similar to the one being carried out in Hong Kong to deter widespread protests.

Taiwan's police will not forbid all participants in public assemblies from wearing masks and will only check on a select few based on tips or intelligence, said National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) on Sunday.

Article 14 of the Assembly and Parade Act stipulates that related authorities "shall put necessary restrictions" on "any disguising that might make personal identification difficult," Chen said, in effect prohibiting the use of masks.

It does not mean, however, that police will ban every assembly participant from wearing a mask or another disguise, Chen explained.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 07, 2019
By: Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Several groups have called on Taiwanese to join a demonstration against Hong Kong’s new ban on

masks by wearing masks to school or work today.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) on Friday announced a ban on wearing masks at public assemblies.

Under the ban, which took effect on Saturday, offenders could face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to HK$25,000 (US$3,189).

The ban is “similar to having martial law in Hong Kong,” the groups — including the Hong Kong Outlanders and the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy — wrote on Facebook.    [FULL  STORY]

• The description of Taiwan changes from 'state in East Asia' to 'province in China'
• Hong Kong protests page was changed at least 65 times in a single day 
• Almost 1,600 biased edits were found across 22 politically sensitive articles

The Daily Mail
Date: 5 October 2019
By Isabella Nikolic for Mail Online

Hundreds of recently uncovered Chinese edits to Taiwan's Wikipedia page have revealed the country's attempts to claim ownership of the state. 

Within the space of a single day, the description of Taiwan will change from 'a state in East Asia' to 'a province in the People's Republic of China', umpteen times. 

And the mysterious Wikipedia edits haven't only affected Taiwan. 

The page for the Hong Kong protests was changed 65 times in one day. Page writers kept disagreeing whether the people were protesters or rioters.     [FULL  STORY]

Can America stop them?

The National Interest
Date: October 5, 2019  
By: Michael Peck

Key point: China's military has been significantly upgraded.

China has improved its capabilities to invade Taiwan, according to U.S. intelligence.

And while Taiwan is also boosting its military capacity, it’s not enough to compensate for growing Chinese strength, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) 2019 report to Congress on Chinese military power.

“The PLA continues to prepare for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait to deter, and if necessary, compel Taiwan to abandon moves toward independence,” DIA warned. “The PLA also is likely preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the mainland by force, while simultaneously deterring, delaying, or denying any third-party intervention on Taiwan’s behalf.”

The Chinese army is reorganizing into more powerful and flexible combined arms brigades, as well as creating air assault brigades and expanded helicopter forces. The Chinese air force’s airborne troops have practiced long-range assaults and raids.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese-Canadian actor Eddie Peng disappoints fans with 70th birthday greeting for Communist China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/05
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese-Canadian actor Eddie Peng (彭于晏) angered Taiwanese fans after sharing a postcard congratulating Communist China on its 70th anniversary on Tuesday (Oct. 1).

On Tuesday, Peng shared a post from the People's Daily wishing Communist China a "Happy Birthday" for its 70 years of rule. He wrote, "Happy Birthday, wishing prosperity, add oil, add oil, add oil, proud!"

He then shared a similar post from CTTV on his Instagram post. However, he did not write a comment and it seemed to be more of an understated response tailored for his overseas audience.

Many Taiwanese fans were enraged and vented their frustration with caustic comments on his Instagram page:

"Renminbi is really fragrant, you don't even want your own country."   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/05
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) A 34-year-old woman in New Taipei was recently treated for an indigenous case of chikungunya fever, the first in the city's Banqiao District this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Saturday in a statement.

The woman, who had not traveled abroad recently, began experiencing symptoms including headaches, fever, joint pain and nausea on Sept. 28 and was later diagnosed with the virus after seeking medical attention, the CDC said.

Investigators suspect she may have contracted the mosquito-borne virus on a recent hike at Guoqiang Ridge Trail (國強嶺步道) in Zhonghe District, which was previously closed by authorities in September after a hiker came down with the illness.

After confirming this latest case, the CDC placed the trail under observation until Oct. 24 to conduct mosquito control in the area.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 06, 2019
By: Peng Wan-hsin, Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Taiwan Association for Human Rights yesterday called on Hong Kong authorities not to further

violate the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, while urging the Taiwanese government to present contingency measures for providing humanitarian assistance to Hong Kongers.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) on Friday invoked emergency powers to ban protesters from wearing masks at protests.

The move, aimed at quelling months of unrest, sparked immediate rallies and widespread clashes, with protesters vowing to defy the ban.

The association yesterday called on the Taiwanese government to coordinate a meeting of government agencies to quickly respond to the situation and uphold Article 18 of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例).    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 04 October, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

Premier Su Tseng-chang says that Taiwan and China are not the same. Speaking at the legislature on Friday, Su said this is shown by the fact that US Citizenship and Immigration Services accepts “Taiwan” as a response on forms asking for country of origin.

Su said that the government is working hard to guarantee the rights of Taiwanese people worldwide. He said that people should be thankful the US recognizes Taiwan as its own entity.
[FULL  STORY]

2019 Women Make Waves Film Festival Taiwan

The Ne5ws Lens
Date: 2019/10/04
By: Chen Si-yu

Midnight nurtures chaos, human desires, crimes, and evil roots. Unarming one’s protective mask, midnight reveals the kind of good and evil that’s much closer to the true self.

There’s no better time than midnight to stage a wild act roaring against the world.

Midnight Tod (2019) opens with a scene of robbery and cuts immediately to Hao (Yu Shen-hung) who’s riding the bus alone. Having just been fired from the hair salon, Hao takes all his belongings and moves in with Tod (Chang Chih-han), whom he had only met once before. Tod, although annoyed at Hao’s unreasonable move, allows him to stay and the two develop an unexpected relationship.

"If you can have sex with a dog, which breed would you choose? Husky or Golden Retriever?"

When Director Wang Yi-ling was still a film student, her short film Towards the Sun (2016) was shortlisted for Cannes Film Festival’s student competition Cinéfondation. Wang is not unfamiliar with perfecting the chemistry between two intimate characters in her previous film. She again crafts a similar duo dynamic in Midnight Tod with two main characters who have different personalities but share similar fates: The rash, rebellious Hao and the soft-spoken painter Tao are both deeply discontent with life.    [FULL  STORY]

Video shows firefighters wrestling with invasive 6.5-meter-long Burmese python in Kaohsiung City

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/04
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Firefighters captured an invasive 6.5-meter-long Burmese python near a lake in Kaohsiung City on Thursday (Oct. 3).

Thursday afternoon, a Burmese python measuring 6.5 meters (21 feet) in length and weighing 60 kilograms was found slithering through the grass near Chengcing Lake in Kaohsiung City's Niaosong District, reported UDN. Firefighters who arrived at the scene were reportedly startled by the massive size of the python, which is not endemic to Taiwan.

At 3:55 p.m. on Thursday, a worker was clearing weeds around a drainage ditch next to Wenqian Road and near the rear entrance to the lake. He suddenly spotted the python wriggling in the weeds and immediately notified authorities.

The fire bureau initially dispatched two men to the scene, but once they realized the enormous size of the creature, they called for backup. Eight firefighters were eventually needed to subdue the snake, reported SET News.    [FULL  STORY]