Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/08
By: Stacy Hsu

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) laid out their visions for Taiwan in a closely watched primary debate Saturday, detailing how they intend to deal with the impacts of the U.S.-China trade war, low youth wages and cross-Taiwan Strait issues if they win the 2020 presidential race.

Saturday’s debate was the only one before the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) conducts primary polls next week.

In line with the usual top issues for past presidential campaigns, the debate revolved mostly around issues concerning the economy, social welfare, national sovereignty and cross-strait ties.

Responding to a question from Business Today President Liang Yung-huang (梁永煌) on what are the three key issues facing Taiwan’s economy in the next four years and how they intend to solve them, Tsai said Taiwan’s economy and society will have to manage the impact of many variables.    [FULL  STORY]

‘IRRATIONAL MOVE’: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Beijing for blocking Taiwan’s attendance at the World Meteorological Congress in Switzerland

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 09, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwanese experts were yesterday abruptly blocked from attending the World

Meteorological Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, reportedly due to Chinese pressure.

Weatherrisk Explore Inc (天氣風險管理開發) general manager Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) and Civil IoT Taiwan information platform convener Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津) were denied entry to the conference room that hosted the congress, which is held every four years, Civil IoT Taiwan wrote on Facebook. It began on Monday last week and runs through Friday.

Peng and Lu had earlier this week joined the meeting as civic observers, but their accreditation was abruptly canceled, it wrote, adding that it suspects that World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Assistant Secretary-General Zhang Wenjian (張文健) was behind the move.

“It is very uncomfortable to encounter such a situation on the spot in Geneva, just as a healthy person is suddenly told that he has cancer,” Peng wrote on Facebook on his way back to Taiwan.

He has Chinese friends working in the profession and they can respect each other’s values, Peng said, adding that he believes the “irrational move” was made by just a few people.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 07 June, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

President Tsai Ing-wen and former Premier William Lai are set to face off against one another in a televised debate Saturday.

Both Tsai and Lai are vying to become the Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election. Tsai hopes to win a second term, but Lai has mounted a primary challenge that could see him become the face of the party next year instead.

This will be the only debate between the two candidates before the party conducts a telephone poll to determine who will win its nomination.

During the 90-minute debate, both candidates will have time to speak on their own and they will also face questions from a panel of three. Likely topics of discussion include cross-strait policy and the two candidates’ managerial styles.    [FULL  STORY]

Business Insider
Date: June 7, 2019
By: Alex Lockie

• The US military recently called Taiwan a country, something that China routinely threatens to go to war over.
• China thinks of Taiwan as a renegade province with a democratic government that’s an existential threat to the Communist party.
• No US president for decades has been so supportive of Taiwan, and the US and China now find themselves in uncharted territory.

Jon Woo/ReutersPresident Donald Trump has engaged China in a trade war that has global markets holding their breath, but his administration recently challenged Beijing on an issue Chinese officials have promised to go to war over.

The US military’s recent Indo-Pacific Strategy paper, published on June 1, goes further than perhaps any US document ever issued in potentially provoking China’s rage over what it sees as the most sensitive issue.

Buried in the paper, which charts China’s efforts to build up a military fortress in the South China Sea and use its growing naval might to coerce its neighbors, is a reference to Taiwan as a “country.”

“As democracies in the Indo-Pacific, Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Mongolia are reliable, capable, and natural partners of the United States. All four countries contribute to US missions around the world and are actively taking steps to uphold a free and open international order,” the strategy reads.   [FULL  STORY]

AIT team finished third in first stage

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen witnessed his first Dragon Boat race since taking office last August, supporting the United States representative office’s team.

The AIT rowing team counted 10 men and eight women, but because the mixed category had already been fully booked, it registered in the male discipline, the Central News Agency reported.

The group finished third in the first round, which meant it could not proceed to the next stage of the three-day event.

Christensen told reporters he was happy to be able to witness the Dragon Boat Festival tradition, and even though he was not rowing himself, he was certain to turn up again next year.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/07
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 7 (CNA) Members of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) have voted in favor of going on strike at EVA Airways over work hour and overseas pay issues, the union announced Friday, but it did not say if and when a strike will actually take place.

“We may go on a strike at any moment from now on given that we have obtained the legal right to do so,” said TFAU Secretary-General Cheng Ya-ling (鄭雅菱), urging EVA Air to recognize the determination of its flight attendants.

Cheng put the onus for a strike on EVA Air, saying that whether one takes place will depend on if the carrier is willing to improve the working conditions of its flight attendants.

In response to the result, EVA Air said in a statement that it “very much regretted” the outcome.    [FULL  STORY]

IMPROPER INTERACTIONS: A Mainland Affairs Council spokesman urged Taiwanese not to join discussions on the ‘one country, two systems’ formula at a forum next week

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 08, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Summer tours to China organized by the China Youth Corps are being conducted in

collaboration with Chinese propaganda units, the Mainland Affairs Council said on Thursday.

Schools in Taiwan should not dance to the tune of China’s propaganda and should refrain from posting or distributing promotional material for such tours, council spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.

Furthermore, organizations in Taiwan and China are prohibited from recruiting students for China’s educational institutions, Chiu said, citing the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).

The council would continue to monitor related developments, he said in response to media queries about reports that the organization has been recruiting senior-high school students for educational trips to China this summer.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 06 June, 2019
By: Paula Chao

The US has put top Chinese smartphone maker Huawei on a blacklist due to data security concerns, then signing a 90-day temporary license for Huawei to work with US companies. Google has also blocked Huawei’s access to future Android updates. Could this be the beginning of a new tech cold war?

Here in Taiwan, TSMC says its shipments to Huawei won’t be affected by the US restrictions. But Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile have decided to stop selling Huawei phones after current stocks run out.    [FULL  STORY]

A game-changer? 

The National Interest
Date: June 6, 2019
By: David Axe Follow @daxe on TwitterL

The administration of U.S. president Donald Trump is proposing to sell to Taiwan more than 100 M-1A2 main battle tanks.

The sale, if Congress approves it, could significantly improve Taiwan’s armored force.

“The Pentagon and State Department have informally notified Congress of a potential $2-billion deal with Taiwan that includes the first-time sale of one of the U.S. Army’s top tanks,” Reuters reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

The deal would contain the M-1A2 Abrams tank, and a resupply of anti-air and anti-armor weapons, the official familiar with the matter said. The notification of the government-to-government sale doesn’t include F-16 fighters, which are still under State Department and Pentagon review, the person said. …

The package includes 108 of the tanks built by General Dynamics Corp., as well as 1,240 TOW wire-guided anti-tank missiles, 409 shoulder-launched “fire-and-forget” Javelin anti-tank missiles and 250 Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles made famous by Afghan “freedom fighters” in their war against the Soviet Union.    [FULL  STORY]

Group of more than 200 arrested in 2016

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/06/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A flight carrying 94 Taiwanese accused of telecom fraud arrived in Beijing Friday (June 7) from the Spanish capital Madrid, according to reports in the Chinese media.

In December 2016, Spanish police arrested a total of 237 suspects, with so far 218 Taiwanese citizens having been deported to China instead of to Taiwan, the Central News Agency reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs usually protests against such incidents, as Taiwanese nationals should be tried in their home country, but in several instances, other countries have put the suspects on a flight to China. Beijing claims they need to stand trial in China because most of the victims reside in the communist country.

In this case, Spain’s National Police and China’s Public Security Bureau formed a joint taskforce as far back as July 2016 in order to combat the plague of telecom extortion. The group uncovered 800 cases which netted the criminals an estimated NT$540 million (US$17 million), according to the CNA report.    [FULL  STORY]