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Joshua Wong detained at Hong Kong airport days after trip to Taiwan

Wong reportedly taken into custody for violating terms of bond agreement by traveling abroad

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/08
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

File photo: Joshua Wong in police van at district court in Hong Kong, Aug. 30 (By Associated Press)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) was arrested at Hong Kong airport on Sunday (Sept. 8) morning, just days after his visit to Taiwan where he met with lawmakers and other pro-democracy groups this past week.

According to a Reuters report, Wong was arrested at the Hong Kong airport Sunday after returning from a trip to Germany and the U.S. The report suggests he has been charged with “violating the terms of his bond agreement” made after his previous arrest on Aug. 30.

Wong had just returned to Hong Kong from Taiwan on Sept. 5 and must have made a short trip to Germany and the U.S. Reports suggest that under the conditions of bail set by the court after his previous arrest that he was not allowed to leave the country.

However, Wong said that the court had approved his trip to the U.S. and Germany, and he thinks there may have been a mistake on his bail certificate. The Reuters report does not mention his trip to Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Mets Taiwan Day features Tsai and youtuber in big screen pitch

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/08
By: Ozzy Yin and Joseph Yeh

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)

New York, Sept. 7 (CNA) A promotional video featuring President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) introducing Taiwan's natural beauty and culture was played at the New York Mets' home stadium Saturday prior to a Major League Baseball game, as part of the Flushing-based team's annual Taiwan Day, which is in its 15th year.

Prior to a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Mets at the latter's home Citi Field, the one-minute clip played on the centerfield video display began with President Tsai introducing herself as "president of Taiwan."

"Hi Mets fans, I am Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan. Welcome to Mets' Taiwan Day," Tsai said, adding that it is her pleasure to share the beautiful country of Taiwan with fans.

"Baseball is one of the most popular sports in both Taiwan and the United States and many Taiwanese have played in the major leagues," Tsai said in the pre-recorded clip, which featured beautiful scenery from around Taiwan and many Taiwanese baseball players, including former Mets infielder Hu Chin-lung (胡金龍).    [FULL  STORY]

Hundreds join NYC march for Taiwan

AGAINST REPRESSION: This year’s rally voiced support for the democracy activists in Hong Kong, while Hong Kongers as well as Uighurs showed their support for Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 09, 2019
By: Chris Fuchs  /  Contributing reporter in NEW YORK

Hundreds of Taiwanese expatriates and others marched in the Manhattan borough of New York City

Taiwanese expatriates and others march in New York City on Saturday during the annual UN For Taiwan/Keep Taiwan Free rally.
Photo: CNA

on Saturday to call attention to Taiwan’s exclusion from the UN and Beijing’s efforts to further shrink the nation’s space in the international community.

“From the systematic repression against the Uighur Muslims and the stifling of freedoms in Tibet, to the backsliding of human rights in Hong Kong and the blatant lies of ‘one country, two systems,’ we are here to say — enough,” Keep Taiwan Free director and event co-organizer Jenny Wang (汪采羿) told the crowd.

This year’s UN For Taiwan/Keep Taiwan Free rally, an annual New York City event that has been held for more than two decades, emphasized solidarity among groups targeted by the Chinese government and comes amid Hong Kong’s worst political crisis in decades.

Members of NY4HK — New Yorkers Supporting Hong Kong — and other Hong Kongers were among those taking part in Saturday’s march.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Cinema and Southeast Asian Chinese Diaspora Filmmakers: The Case of Midi Z

Chinese Diaspora Filmmakers: The Case of Midi Z

he Asia Dialogue
Date: September 7, 2019
By: Maja Korbecka.

Image credit: untitled by it is elisa/Flickr, license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In recent years most representatives of Taiwanese cinema to gain recognition at the international film festivals have come from Chinese diasporas in Southeast Asia. Directors like Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), Wi Ding Ho (何蔚庭) and the increasingly celebrated Midi Z (趙德胤) migrated to Taiwan for education and to pursue a career. Now they are featured at events co-organised by Taiwanese film institutions and representing Taiwanese cinema at film festivals, influencing the way Taiwan is seen internationally.

This is one example of the global phenomenon of transnational cinema. Here Taiwanese cinema is characterised by artistic mindsets and film poetics shown through on-screen storytelling influenced by cross-cultural aesthetics. These aesthetics focus on the representation of migration, exilic or diasporic experiences, and are themselves encompassed in the movement of labour, modes of co-production, international distribution, exhibition and reception, and the consequences of cross-national capital exchanges. Through analysing film narratives, director backgrounds as well as modes of production and exhibition, it is possible to glimpse the complexity of the interplay between national cinema and transnational practices. Such interplay continues to transform film histories, undermining exclusionary monolithic national narratives in favour of more multifaceted and personal accounts of hybridity and diversity.

The filmmaker’s use of guerrilla techniques stylistically shapes the work and adds layers of possible interpretations by focusing on state control and surveillance    [FULL  STORY]

US to back Honor Guard participation

GUN-SHY? Su Chi-lin said that when he signed up for the World Drill Championships, the defense ministry was not supportive, as it was worried about objections by Beijing

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 08, 2019
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The US government has pledged to support the Republic of China Honor Guard’s bid to compete in

The Republic of China Tri-service Honor Guard and the Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Military Marching Band perform at Liberty Square in Taipei on July 6.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

the World Drill Championships in Miami in May next year, a high-ranking official said.

The development is a breakthrough for the Ministry of National Defense’s international outreach, the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that US officials indicated that their government would support Taiwan’s right to participate at the event, even if Beijing protests.

Members of the honor guard have competed at the event as individuals, including former seaman first class Su Chi-lin (蘇祈麟), who last year won fourth place for tossing and catching his rifle blindfolded, the source said.

Senior Airman Huang Shih-chen (黃士宸) this year won ninth place in the event, despite dropping his rifle after accidentally injuring himself with a bayonet, they said.    [FULL  STORY]

Hong Kong bookseller who was held in China raises US$100,000 to open Taiwan store

Hong Kong Free Press
Date: 7 September 2019
By:  AFP

A Hong Kong bookseller who disappeared into Chinese custody for half a year raised nearly

Lam Wing-kee. Photo: Holmes Chan/HKFP.

$100,000 in less than a day on Friday as he tries to open a new store in Taiwan.

Lam Wing-kee fled to Taiwan in April after Hong Kong announced plans to allow extraditions to China, a move which sparked months of massive street protests in the financial hub.

Lam Wing-kee. Photo: Holmes Chan/HKFP.

The 64-year-old was one of five publishers selling gossip-filled tomes on China’s leaders who vanished at the end of 2015, resurfacing in mainland custody and making televised confessions.

Their disappearance — and the abduction of a billionaire from a five-star hotel by suspected Chinese agents — caused widespread alarm in Hong Kong.    [FULL  STORY]

Two women suspected of double suicide in New Taipei

Women rented paddle boat at Xindian's Bitan scenic area Friday, one woman's body found next day

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/07
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Search and rescue party searches for missing woman in Xindian River, Sept. 7 (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Two women in their thirties are suspected of making a suicide pact with each other after disappearing near the Bitan (碧潭) scenic area in New Taipei’s Xindian District (新店).

The two women surnamed Su (蘇) and Du (杜) rented a paddle boat to expolre the Xindian river around 5:00 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 6). Staff at the Bitan scenic area became concerned after the women failed to return after two hours.

Normally boats are rented for a single hour, but the women had failed to return by 7:00 p.m. A group was sent out to look for the women and discovered the paddle boat on the east shore of the river. The boat contained life vests and personal belongings of both women, including their shoes and bags.

In the bag belonging to Du, employees discovered what may have been a suicide note along with some over the counter drugs. The note prompted the employees to notify the authorities, who organized further search efforts, but found no trace of the women overnight, reports Liberty Times.
[FULL  STORY]

Center for people with disabilities receives presidential award

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/07
By: Chang Chi and Chung Yu-chen

Photo courtesy of Taiwan Mennonite New Dawn Educare Center

Taipei, Sept. 7 (CNA) The Taiwan Mennonite New Dawn Educare Center, a facility for individuals with disabilities in the eastern county of Hualien, recently received a Presidential Cultural Award in recognition of its decades-long dedication to humanitarian efforts.

The center, founded in 1977 by Canadian pastor Otto Dirks and his wife Elaine Dirks, had capacity to care for only five people when its was first established.

Currently, it accommodates 250 individuals and has evolved to provide a range of humanitarian services that help the disabled integrate into society.

In a recent interview with CNA, New Dawn Educare Center Executive Director Liang Kuei-hua (梁桂花) said center staff see their mission as working to safeguard the wellbeing of people with disabilities.    [FULL  STORY]

Yunlin man aims to save lives with new car door design

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 September, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

A Yunlin County man has designed a new, safer car door that he hopes will put a stop to one common

A Yunlin County man has designed a new, safer car door that he hopes will put a stop to one common type of road accident.

type of road accident.

A Yunlin County man has designed a new, safer car door that he hopes will put a stop to one common type of road accident.

Hsieh Ming-lung works as an accountant in Yunlin County. But he’s also the holder of US and Taiwanese patents for an invention he’s hoping will save lives.

Each year, Taiwan sees several hundred incidents of drivers absent-mindedly opening their car doors into a passing scooter riders or cyclists. Between January and June this year, there were 247 accidents of this kind in the central city of Taichung alone. 275 people were injured.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Is Named the Best Destination for Expats In 2019

The News Lens
Date: 2019/09/06
By: TNL Staff

Photo Credit: Shutterstock


Taiwan is the most beloved destination for expats in 2019, surpassing other popular destinations in Asia like Vietnam, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Affordable and universal healthcare. Low cost of living. Friendly neighbors. Delicious food. Do these qualities remind you of a place? Taiwan!

Earlier this year, Taiwan was ranked the happiest country in East Asia. It is now also the best destination for expat, according to the 2019 Expat Insider survey.

In its sixth year, Expat Insider is a survey conducted by InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with 3.6 million members. With over 20,000 respondents, this year's survey has gathered extensive insights into people living and working abroad in 64 destinations.    [FULL  STORY]