Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 July, 2019
By: Paula Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan wants to deepen its partnership with the UK. Tsai was speaking Tuesday while meeting with three visiting members of the House of Lords.

Led by Baroness D’Souza, the delegation is the first British parliamentary group to visit Taiwan this year.

Tsai said following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s taking office, Taiwan wants to strengthen ties with the UK in all fields. In recent years, the two sides have had extensive exchanges in science and technology, such as artificial intelligence and clean energy resources.

Tsai said Taiwan hopes to start trade talks with Britain.    [FULL  STORY]

China has objected to the proposed sales, and Congress is worried that President Trump and his trade advisers might try to placate Beijing to get a trade deal.

The New York Times
Date: July 30, 2019
By Edward Wong and Eric Schmitt

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in Congress from both political parties have accused the Trump administration of delaying an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island off the coast of China that is supported by the United States.

Chinese officials have said they object strongly to the sale of 66 jetsrequested by Taiwan, which would be by far the largest such purchase by its government in many years. Lawmakers are now questioning whether the Trump administration is delaying approval of the sale, either to avoid upsetting Beijing while delicate trade negotiations are underway or to use it as a bargaining chip.

Any such move by the administration would ignite intense bipartisan opposition in Congress.

“Our support for Taiwan through arms transfers is not up for negotiation with Beijing,” Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The New York Times on Monday.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese trust in itinerant Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu plummets to all-time low of 34% in My Formosa poll

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese trust in itinerant Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has

dropped to an all-time low in My Formosa's (美麗島電子報) latest poll.

In the latest edition of My Formosa's poll titled "Who is Suitable to be the Next President" (誰適合擔任下一屆總統), trust in Han among respondents has continued to plummet, now dipping to 34.6 percent, while those who distrust Han has skyrocketed to 59.2 percent, a new high. Support for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has risen to 38.6 percent compared to Han's 30.7 percent.

When asked to choose between a head-to-head matchup between Tsai and Han, Tsai garnered 46.4 percent, while Han only managed 37.2 percent. My Formosa commissioned Beacon Marketing & Research Co., Ltd. to conduct the telephone survey on adults over the age of 20 across the county's 22 counties and cities.

The survey gathered 1,078 valid samples. The survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/30
By: Chen Wei-ting and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Taiwanese researchers announced Tuesday that a new vaccine to combat Enterovirus 71 (EV 71), a virulent strain of the virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in young children, is expected to be available next year.

"The EV 71 vaccine has entered the final phase of clinical trials," said National Taiwan University professor Huang Li-min (黃立民), who is also a member of the vaccine development program.

Individuals who receive three doses of the vaccine are 90 percent less likely to develop EV 71, Huang said.

According to Huang, it is recommended that the vaccine be administered to infants in three doses at two months, four months and 12 months.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiupei Times
Date: Jul 31, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei meeting of the Asian Human Rights Court Simulation (AHRCS) wrapped up over the

weekend, with legal experts from Taiwan and abroad presenting workshops and discussions on civil liberties, and holding a trial hearing on the case of Taiwanese death row inmate Chiou Ho-shun (邱和順).

“The convening of the AHRCS served the purpose of acting as a real court, to examine cases in Asia and make decisions based on the precedent of international decisions and treaties pertaining to the protection of human rights,” AHRCS deputy secretary-general Karen Cheng (鄭凱榕) said.

“Details from cases involving the death penalty, torture or corruption were discussed at workshops and presentations given by experts,” Cheng said. “The trial hearing on Chiou’s case was also held. A written judgement on the case will be handed down within three months.”

The idea to create the court simulation was inspired by Taiwan’s experience with establishing a shadow court of the Taiwan Constitutional Court, which addressed issues such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty and transitional justice from 2014 to 2016, she said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 29 July, 2019
By: Paula Chao

The defense ministry says it is closely monitoring China’s military exercises near Fujian province’s

Dongshan Island.   That’s the word from Defense Ministry Spokesperson Shih Shun-wen on Monday.

Shih’s words came following a navigation warning issued by China’s maritime authorities. China said the exercise that began at 6:00 am on Monday will continue through Friday night. The warning also banned all vessels from navigating in waters where the exercise is held.     [FULL  STORY]

The Hindu
Date: July 29, 2019
By: Reuters

China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force

to bring it under Beijing's control.

China's military is holding exercises this week in waters near Taiwan, China's maritime safety agency said days after Beijing reiterated it was ready to fight if there was any move towards independence for the self-ruled island.

The agency did not say when the exercises would be held or what type of forces would be involved but it placed an area off the coast of Guangdong and Fujian provinces, west of Taiwan, off limits from 6 a.m. on Monday (2200 GMT Sunday) to 6 p.m. on Friday (1000 GMT), due to military activity.

ALSO READ

US warship sails through Taiwan strait amid China tensions

It also said an area off the coast of Zhejiang province, northeast of Taiwan, was off limits for military exercises until Thursday evening.    [FULL  STORY]

Lin says he's 'thinking about quitting' and 'NBA has given up on me' at New Taipei church

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — During a sermon given by NBA champion Jeremy Lin (林書豪) on Sunday

(July 28), the Taiwanese-American basketball star revealed that he is going though dark times in free agency and feels that the NBA has "given up on me."

As part of his tour of Taiwan, Lin gave a sermon at a church in New Taipei City's Xindian District on Sunday in which he broke down in tears several times as he shared his struggles trying to survive in the NBA following a devastating knee injury in 2017. Despite his being on the championship-winning Toronto Raptors this year, Lin now finds himself in dire straits in free agency and has struggled mightily to find a silver lining for congregation members in attendance.

Lin started out by saying that he had waited eight years since Linsanity to have an opportunity to play for a championship-level team. He said he knew this could be his only shot, since the average NBA career only lasts five years.

Unfortunately, in the 12 to 15 games he had a chance to win an important role in the team after being picked up by the Raptors, Lin suffered what he described as one of the worst shooting stretches in his career. He said that he missed 17 three-pointers in a row.    [FULL  STORY]

Helmet-collecting events organized in Taipei last week

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/29
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As clashes between Hong Kong protesters and law enforcement officers continue to escalate, an initiative to donate helmets as a means of supporting the anti-extradition bill demonstrations has begun in Taiwan.

Hong Kong students based in Taipei organized two helmet donation events in the city last week, collecting nearly 200 new and second-hand helmets on Thursday (July 25), and 500 on Sunday (July 28). Known as the Hong Kong Outlanders, the group helped organize a number of solidarity protests in Taipei throughout June.

There has been a shortage of helmets in Hong Kong due to the weeks-long protests against the contentious bill, and there are only a handful of shops selling helmets since scooters and motorbikes are less common in the city, the group said. Protesters in Hong Kong, particularly those on the front lines, generally discard their equipment after every protest in order to avoid identification by the authorities, it added.

Hong Kong online news outlet Stand News has also reported the issue. Nearly 20 shops on Taobao, one of the biggest online shipping websites in China, have openly said they refuse to sell and deliver “sensitive” equipment to Hong Kong, including helmets, masks, and other protective gear, the report said. According to the report, this is in response to anti-government protesters vandalizing Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong on July 21.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/29
By: Tyson Lu and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) The military-affiliated National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on Monday conducted a live-fire drill at its coastal base in Pingtung County, following a missile test at the same location last week, according to the defense ministry.

During the one-day drill, projectiles were expected to be fired over a range of 250 kilometers from the Jiupeng military base to waters off eastern Taiwan, at an "unlimited"6 altitude, said Ministry of National Defense spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文).

According to sources involved the drill, it is similar to the live fire exercises conducted at the base during the annual Han Kuang live-fire exercises, the country's major military drill.

Last year, the Han Kuang exercise at the Jiupeng base involved precision weaponry that was mainly medium- and long-range missiles, including Sky Bow I and II anti-ballistic missiles and Hsiung Feng III missiles.    [FULL  STORY]