Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/24
By: Stacy Hsu and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, May 24 (CNA) A total of 526 same-sex couples registered for marriage in Taiwan on Friday, the first day same-sex marriage was legal in the country.

According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Interior, the newlyweds included 185 male couples and 341 female couples.

New Taipei registered the most married same-sex couples at 117 followed by Taipei with 95 and Kaohsiung with 72, the statistics showed.

While there were 511 couples in which both parties were Taiwanese, 15 couples matched a Taiwanese and a foreign national.    [FULL STORY]

REGIONAL TENSIONS: A US diplomat said that China’s ‘heavy-handed’ attempts at reducing Taiwan’s diplomatic relations could increase the possibility of conflict

Taipei Times
Date: May 25, 2019
By: AP, CANBERRA

A top US diplomat for Southeast Asia yesterday urged Pacific island nations not to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, warning that Chinese pressure to change Taiwan’s international standing threatens to increase the possibility of conflict.

US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs W. Patrick Murphy spoke to reporters in Canberra at the end of a three-day visit to Australia for talks with government officials on expanding their security alliance.

Six Pacific island nations have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, accounting for one-third of the nation’s diplomatic allies around the world, but they are under intensifying pressure from Beijing to switch allegiance as it builds its influence in the region.

Murphy said that diplomatic decisions should not be influenced by China.  [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 23 May, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

President Tsai Ing-wen has signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage into law. The law is set to take effect Friday, allowing same-sex marriages to begin across Taiwan.

After signing the bill Wednesday evening, Tsai took to Facebook to appeal for mutual respect after a long battle over the issue of same-sex marriage.

Tsai said that the new law respects the results of a referendum held last year, in which voters rejected the option of legalizing same-sex marriage though an amendment to the Civil Code. She also said the law will not affect protections for religious beliefs.

Tsai said the law will only allow those who love another to join together and care for one another while also giving them basic legal rights and protections. She wrote that Taiwanese society has always been kind, tolerant, and unwilling to see any suffer for being different.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: May 23, 2019 
By: Phillip Charlier1
A man who jumped from a third-floor residence in New Taipei City while holding his one-year-old daughter last Sunday died today, after life support systems were removed.

At around 11:00pm Sunday evening, the 23-year-old man named Lin had an argument with his 19-year-old ex-wife, named Dong (董), at a residence the divorced couple shared in Sanchong District. When Lin’s ex-wife, left with their 6-month-old son, Lin took the 18-month-old girl and jumped from a window.

When Ms Dong reached the first floor, she was shocked to find her daughter wailing on the sidewalk beside the unconscious Lin. The girl had suffered a broken shoulder and a head injury.

After emergency medical treatment, the little girl was transferred to the general ward for observation, and was said to be out of danger. Mr Lin, on the other hand, was declared to be brain dead.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/23
By: Stacy Hsu, Central News Agency

The historic passage of a same-sex marriage bill in Taiwan last Friday was a moment of euphoria for the tens of thousands of marriage equality supporters gathered outside the Legislature, but for Guzifer Leong (梁展輝) of Macau it did not mean he could finally marry his Taiwanese partner.

As the crowds of gay marriage advocates cheered and burst into tears of joy, Leong stayed quiet. Although he was happy to see the bill passed after decades of agonizing efforts by the country’s gay rights movements, he was deeply disappointed that it excluded foreign nationals like him from countries and areas that do not allow same-sex marriage.

On May 17, during the readings of the gay marriage bill, lawmakers voted 84-6 against a motion to make it possible for a Taiwanese to marry a partner from a country that does not recognize same-sex marriage.

“The crowd’s cheers were deafening and many people were crying and hugging each other,” said Leong, who was outside the Legislature with his Taiwanese partner Ting Tse-yan (丁則言) when the bill was passed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/23
By: Chiang Chinye and Chi Jo-yao

Taipei, May 23 (CNA) The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations unanimously passed a bill Wednesday to support Taiwan’s efforts to regain observer status in the World Health Organization (WHO).

The bill was introduced Jan. 29 by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Jim Inhofe, co-chairs of the U.S. Senate Taiwan Caucus.

The act calls for the U.S. Department of State to include additional information in its annual reports concerning Taiwan’s participation in the WHO as an observer.

The reports should describe changes and improvements to plans to support Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA).    [FULL  STORY]

‘STRANGE’: An academic who received a copy questioned whether the certificates for heterosexual couples would be labeled with ‘heterosexual marriage certificate’

Taipei Times
Date: May 24, 2019
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of the Interior yesterday revised its same-sex marriage certificate after the

initial version was criticized as discriminatory.

The Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 (司法院釋字第748號解釋施行法) is to go into effect today and with it same-sex couples will be able to legally register their marriages.

However, the first version of the marriage certificate released by the Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday was titled “same-sex marriage certificate.”

Critics called the inclusion of term “same-sex” in the document discriminatory.

National Sun Yat-sen University sociology department chairman Wang Hong-zen (王宏仁) wrote on Facebook that a household registration office had mailed him a ministry version of the marriage certificate that emphasized the same-sex nature of the marriage.    [FULL  STORY]

BLACKLISTED: Huawei’s distributor in Taiwan must explain whether its customers can receive updates for the Google Play Store and Android operating system, the NCC said

Taipei Times
Date: May 23, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Huawei Taiwan should reveal information about how it plans to protect its smartphone

users in Taiwan after Alphabet Inc’s Google stopped providing Huawei Technologies Co (華為) with vital software updates, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.

Google on Monday said that it has blocked the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer from updates to some of its smartphone applications, such as YouTube and Google Maps, after US President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday last week added Huawei to a trade blacklist, banning US firms from selling components and software to it due to national security concerns.

The US Department of Commerce gave US companies conducting business with Huawei a 90-day reprieve before the ban takes effect.

The commission on Tuesday met with representatives from Xunwei Technologies Co (訊崴技術) — Huawei’s exclusive distributor in Taiwan — to discuss potential issues that might arise from the US ban, NCC Department of Frequency and Resources Director Chen Chung-shu (陳崇樹) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 22 May, 2019
By: Paula Chao

A blind student named Lo Bo-hsun is being recognized for his academic achievements, winning a prestigious award.

Nine-year-old Lo Bo-hsun enjoys playing the piano, and he is good at it, too.

He has had a close connection with music since he was an infant. Four months after he was born, he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer. Lo says he found music soothing while he was receiving medical treatment.

Though Lo is blind, he has a determination to succeed. And it’s not just music he’s good at – he also excels at school. This year, he is the youngest winner of the presidential education award.

Besides music, Lo also enjoys swimming. He has even swum across the Sun Moon Lake. His fighting spirit extends to his other hobby, martial arts, as well.    [FULL  STORY]

BBC News
May 22, 2019

A Taiwanese artist has created a giant inflatable depiction of the iconic “tank man” scene to mark 30 years since China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The photo of a man standing in front of a tank in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square became one of the most famous photos of the 20th Century.

The balloons are on show by the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

Reporting of the crackdown is heavily censored in China.

The photo of a man in a white shirt – who has never been officially identified – standing in front of a convoy of tanks has become a symbol of peaceful resistance across the world.
[FULL  STORY]