• Beijing’s decision to ban solo travel to Taiwan from 47 cities is not guaranteed to sway voters or lead to a reversal of policies
• It may even worse anti-Beijing sentiment among Taiwanese

South China Morning Post
Date: 3 Aug, 2019

Beijing has any number of reasons for banning individual travellers from visiting Taiwan. The island’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, is campaigning for re-election in January and has stepped up criticism of mainland authorities, reaching out to the United States and other countries for support, and backed Hong Kong’s protesters, even saying she would consider granting them asylum.

These are provocative actions and it was inevitable that a tough response would come from the other side of the Taiwan Strait. But restricting tourist numbers can be a double-edged sword and the consequences have to be monitored and if necessary, reconsidered.

The poor state of relations with the island was the reason given for ending the issuing of permits to solo travellers from 47 cities.    [FULL  STORY]

Yahoo News
Date: August 1, 2019
By: AFP

More than 70 members of Taiwan's presidential security detail have been swept up in a cigarette

smuggling scandal, the island's spy agency announced Friday, as its chief took the unusual step of appearing in public to vow a crackdown.

The scandal first erupted last month when the customs administration said that an agent within President Tsai Ing-wen's entourage tried to bring in 9,800 cigarette cartons as he returned from an official trip accompanying the island's leader to the Caribbean.

The agent pre-ordered the cigarettes online in Taiwan, stored them at an airport warehouse, and then planned to smuggle them past customs onto government vehicles as Tsai's motorcade left, authorities said.

It soon emerged that the scam was far from a one-off after China Airlines released figures showing huge amounts of duty-free cigarettes were routinely ordered during presidential visits, both for Tsai and her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou's trips abroad.    [FULL  STORY]

Similar incident occurred in 2017: animal protection service

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A woman in Keelung was fined NT$6,000 (US$190) after leaving her dog tied up on a roof in 35-degree temperatures, reports said Saturday (August 3).

After police received a tipoff that the woman had chained her Shiba Inu to the roof of a building, the animal protection service sent over an inspector on July 31, the Central News Agency reported.

Keelung, a harbor town known for its frequent rain, was experiencing its second day in a row of 35-degree temperatures that day. However, measurements showed that on the floor of the roof, the mercury topped 61 degrees at 1 p.m. that day.

Even though the animal had been supplied with an 0.41-square-meter plastic doghouse, temperatures inside were higher than outside on the roof, the animal protection service said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/03
By: Flor Wang and Lu Tai-cheng

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) A Malaysian man remained unconscious without vital signs Saturday after getting into difficulties in the water of a port area on Orchid Island, despite being sent to a local health center by coastal patrol officers and firemen.

The 22-year-old man, identified by his surname Hsieh (謝), was unconscious when pulled from the water by people who observed the accident before local coastal patrol officers and firemen arrived at the scene.

As of 6 p.m., Hsieh remained unconscious after being taken to the health center for emergency treatment, coastal patrol officers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 04, 2019
By:. Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

China is using local “agents” and intermediary organizations as a front in its cyberwarfare efforts against Taiwan, the Institute for National Defense and Security Research said in an article.

The report, carried by the Ministry of National Defense-affiliated think tank’s monthly gazette and authored by assistant researcher Wu Chun-te (吳俊德), compared Russia’s and China’s cyberwarfare tactics.

As opposed to Russia, which has spent an inordinate amount of time and resources to regain the US’ trust, China has no such problems and can utilize contacts cultivated by its long-running “united front” rhetoric and infiltration efforts, Wu said.

Such efforts, aimed at Taiwanese temple organizations, communities and borough and village wardens, have turned them into “Chinese agents” or intermediaries, Wu said.

Having no language barrier in Taiwan, Beijing sends “fake news” to its intermediaries
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 August, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Taiwan’s Hehuanshan or Hehuan Mountain has recently been named Taiwan’s first dark sky park by the International Dark-Sky Association. That means it’s not only the best star gazing spot in Taiwan but in Southeast Asia as well.

The International Dark-Sky Association staff members arrived in Taiwan in December last year for a one-week visit to make an assessment. The association said that Hehuanshan is an ideal star gazing spot due to its high elevation and low light pollution.

The tourism office at Nantou County on Friday said that it hopes that photos of Hehuanshan’s star gazing spot will be entered into the calendar published by the Tourism Bureau. The office said it will also continue to organize activities in the area during the star gazing season.

Hehuanshan is situated more than 3,000 meters above sea level and the weather there can be very unstable. Those who intend to visit are advised to bring warm clothes and rain gear.
[FULL  STORY]

Only 25,000 people still speak the endangered Seediq language.The News Lens
Date: 2019/08/02
By Abhinash Das

Human history is full of examples of the struggles between indigenous peoples and colonial powers.

The Seediq tribe (賽德克族), one of the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan, has a similar history of fighting for their rights against the Japanese colonial power that occupied the island from 1895 to 1945.

Today the Seediq tribe only has a population of 8,994 and its language is classified as a critically endangered language.

The term “Seediq” refers to both the people and their language. The Seediq language is a part of the Austronesian language family and it is made up of three major dialects: Truku, Toda, and Tgdaya. The Truku dialect is also shared by the Truku (or Taroko) tribes.    [FULL  STORY]

Magnitude 4.5 temblor rattles E. Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/02
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A magnitude 4.5 earthquake rocked eastern Taiwan's Hualien County tonight (Aug. 2) at 9:53 p.m., according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the temblor was 33 kilometers south-southwest Hualien County Hall at a shallow depth of 6.6 kilometers, based on CWB data.

The quake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of the tremor, registered a 4 in Hualien County and a 2 in Nantou County. An intensity level of 1 was felt in Taitung County, Taichung City, Yilan County, and Changhua County.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/02
By: Emerson Lim

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense[/caption] Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Friday released a video of its recent missile tests in southern Taiwan, demonstrating the country's surface-to-air, air-to-ship, ship-to-ship, and air-to-surface capabilities, one day after China concluded a military drill near the Taiwan Strait.

In a statement on Friday, the MND said the strategic goals of active defense and multi-layer deterrence were achieved in the live-fire drill at Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County July 29-30.

During the exercise, a total of 117 missiles of 12 different types were tested, with a 98.1 percent accuracy rate, the ministry said.

The video, which the MND released alongside its statement, showed the launch of Sky Bow air defense missiles, HAGM-84 Harpoon missiles, MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missiles and the Sky Sword II air-to-air missiles.    [FULL  STORY]

 

MAKE WAY: Starting October, people not authorized to direct traffic or engage in other acts that affect traffic or pedestrians would see new or higher fines

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 03, 2019
By: Cheng Wei-chi and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday unveiled its mandatory two-month

preview of amendments to the Road Traffic Security Rules (道路交通安全規則) and the Chart for Standard Rates for Fines Regarding Traffic Violations (違反道路交通管理事件統一裁罰基準表).

The amendments, which are to take effect in October, would penalize people who are not authorized to direct traffic or engage in other acts that obstruct traffic or pedestrian crossings.

Security guards hired by high-rise communities who obstruct traffic to allow priority exit of vehicles from the community would be fined between NT$1,200 and NT$2,400, the ministry said.

Acts that obstruct traffic or pedestrian crossings, such as shooting a music video or an advert without prior application, are to be fined between NT$3,000 and NT$6,000, it said.
[FULL  STORY]