Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/14
By: Lu Kang-chun, Kuan Jui-pin and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Lawa Piheg, the last woman in the Atayal indigenous tribe with their traditional facial tattoos, died Saturday at the age of 97 in Miaoli County, according to local councilor Yuma Baisu.

Lawa was tattooed on her cheek and forehead when she was eight years old, although the custom had already been banned in Taiwan under Japanese rule.

She was featured in the 2018 documentary "The Marks of Honor – Atayal Facial Tattoos," giving the oral history of the tribe's tradition.

"You young people know how to write, (you) must document (the Atayal) culture with words. Don't forget (to do so)," Lawa said during an interview for the documentary, according to Chiang Yi-hsiung (蔣意雄), director of Miaoli County Government's Center for Indigenous Peoples, the unit that implemented the project.    [FULL  STORY]

USE IN TAIWAN: The NSPO said that images from the satellite had been used in research on the Laonong River basin, mountain rivers and alien plant species

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2019
By: Chien Hui-ju  /  Staff reporter

Formosat-5, the nation’s first domestically developed remote-sensing satellite, has garnered

commercial revenue of more than NT$4 million (US$128,804) after operating for nearly a year, the National Space Organization (NSPO) said on Friday.

The satellite was launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Aug. 25, 2017, and began commercial operations on Sept. 21 last year.

As of last month, sales and service charges garnered through its satellite images have exceeded NT$4 million and are expected to reach NT$10 million by the end of this year, the NSPO said.

The organization has contracted US firm Apollo Mapping Co to sell images from the satellite, while an Australian company is expected to join soon, the NSPO said, adding that it is also negotiating with a British firm.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 September, 20196
By: John Van Trieste

Friday is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time of year when friends and neighbors across Taiwan gather for barbecues. This year, though, Taiwan’s grill masters may have to do without one popular barbecue staple.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a holiday when Taiwanese people grill just about anything that can be grilled. This means sausages, pork cutlets, vegetables of all kinds, and of course, clams.

But you may have to look hard to find clams at barbecues this year. That’s because recent rain has killed off much of Taiwan’s clam supply.

In coastal areas of Chiayi County, where many clams are raised, more than half of clams in aquaculture centers have died.    [FULL  STORY]

Bloomberg
Date: September 13, 2019
By: Anthony Capaccio

• State Department’s Cooper says a ‘quick move’ is anticipated
• Package includes advanced radar for firing from a distance

Taiwan has signaled to U.S. officials that it will move swiftly to complete the purchase of 66 new F-16 fighters once congressional foreign relations committees complete their review this month, according to a State Department official.

The department formally notified Congress on Aug. 20 that it approved the sale, which includes munitions, defensive electronics and a top-of-the line fire-control radar that would allow precision-guided missiles and bombs to be launched from greater distances.

Once the Taiwan deal is approved by Congress — and there’s been no sign it will be blocked — Taiwan must submit a formal Letter of Offer and Acceptance that gets translated into a signed contract with delivery dates.

“According to our counterparts in Taiwan and the Taiwan representative’s office” in the U.S. “they anticipate a quick move on their part” to finish the F-16 deal, Assistant Secretary of State Clarke Cooper, who heads State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, said in an interview. “If we are talking about the F-16s” alone “then the indicators are that’s a relatively quick turnaround from Taipei,” he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/13
By:  Central News Agency

The military said Friday that it has extended a formal apology to a resident of Hsinchu County after a round from a .50-caliber heavy machine gun during target practice went astray, damaging the roof of the homeowner.

No injuries were reported.

According to the 6th Army Corps, the incident took place a day earlier when its 33 Chemical Warfare Group was conducting target practice with the heavy machine gun at a military training camp in Guanxi.

Col. Li Yu-sen (李煜森), commander of the warfare group, told CNA that the bullet veered two kilometers from its target and punched a hole through the roof of the building.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/13
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan, Chiang Chin-yeh and Frances Huang

Honiara, Solomon, Sept. 13 (CNA) The Solomon Islands said Friday it hopes to make a decision by Sept. 21 on whether to switch recognition to China and cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare called a meeting Friday to discuss the possibility of switching diplomatic allegiance to Beijing.

Alex Akwai, press secretary to the Prime Minister's office, told the press that the meeting did not reach any conclusion and will continue on Sept. 17.

Akwai said the Cabinet hopes to make a decision on the matter before the prime minister departs for New York to attend the United Nation's General Assembly on Sept. 21.    [FULL  STORY]

‘AS BLUE AS CAN BE’: Tsai Chin-shu was allegedly detained by Chinese state security officers on July 22 last year while awaiting a connecting flight in Xiamen

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 14, 2019
By: Ko Yu-hao and Chung Li-hua  /  Staff reporters

A veteran supporter of cross-strait exchanges has been arbitrarily detained in China for 420 days,

sources told the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) yesterday.

The case was revealed by Shih Chien University chair professor Chiang Min-chin (江岷欽) on Jaw Shaw-kong’s (趙少康) political talk show on Thursday evening, when he said that Southern Taiwan Union of Cross-strait Relations Associations chairman Tsai Chin-shu (蔡金樹) is being detained at a prison in China’s Fujian Province.

Tsai is allegedly being held on charges relating to state security, Chiang said, citing sources in China.

After investigating the claim, the Liberty Times reported that Tsai has been in detention for 420 days.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 12 September, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

President Tsai Ing-wen says the people of the Solomon Islands benefit from their country’s ties with Taiwan.

Tsai was speaking Thursday amid continued concern over the future of bilateral relations. Recent moves by Solomon Islands officials suggest the country may sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognize Beijing instead.    [FULL  STORY]

The Taiwanese government is determined to improve the country's English competency in the next decade. Beyond education, what kind of policy changes are necessary to facilitate the reform?

The News Lens
Date: 2019/09/12
By: Adam Hatch

As Taiwan develops its international presence, one of the biggest concerns is whether Taiwan and its people can communicate effectively with the English-speaking world and the larger international community.

To address this challenge, the National Development Council (NDC) and former Premier William Lai (賴清德) have proposed a “Bilingual Nation” initiative to make English acquisition and competency a priority in Taiwan.

A volunteer group called Alliance for a Globally-Oriented Taiwan (AGOT) has assembled to support the bilingual initiative as well as to consult and encourage Taiwan’s internationalization. AGOT is a group of business professionals and academics interested in helping Taiwan to become more competitive globally.

David Chang, the organizer for AGOT and CEO of Crossroads and Wordcorp, is leading the group to work with Dr. Louis Chen of Global Brands Management Association, National Taipei University of Technology, and a bipartisan group of legislators spearheaded by Legislator Karen Yu (余宛如).
[FULL  STORY]

DPP advises citizens to avoid Hong Kong and China after Taiwanese man nabbed in Shenzhen

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/12
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After China announced on Wednesday (Sept. 11) that Morrison Lee (李孟

居), a Taiwanese citizen who went missing in China at the end of August, was arrested for "endangering national security," Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that day urged Taiwanese citizens not to visit Hong Kong or China.

At a press conference on Wednesday (Sept. 11), China Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) confirmed that Lee, a political adviser to Pintung County’s Fangliao Township and activist who lost contact with family and friends on Aug. 20 during a solo trip to Hong Kong, is being investigated in accordance with the law for "suspected criminal activities and endangering national security." Later on Wednesday, CNA cited DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) urged Taiwanese citizens to exercise extra caution if they plan to go to Hong Kong or China.

The DPP that day also issued a statement which read, "The Democratic Progressive Party urges citizens to avoid visiting Hong Kong and China due to tough internal situations," reported Reuters. The DPP also called on the relevant departments in China "ensure the human rights and personal safety of the parties concerned, publish relevant evidence and materials, refrain from dealing with them in black boxes, and expeditiously allow family members to visit and allow consultations with lawyers, so as to safeguard their due judicial rights," reported CNA.    [FULL  STORY]