LAD Bible
Date: Feb 17, 2019
By: Daisy Phillipson in NEWS

As a service designed to map out every street on the globe, Google Maps has uncovered some weird and wonderful secrets over the years – hence why China still refuses to allow its use.

Perhaps Taiwan didn’t get the memo, as the country’s military service is now scrambling to hide secret sites exposed by new 3D satellite images taken by the navigational app.

According to Business Insider, Google Maps has opened up a can of worms with 3D renderings of the National Security Bureau, the Military Intelligence Bureau and what was, up until now, a secret Patriot missile base, as well as additional defence infrastructure.

Not only have the locations and structures been made visible, but you can even make out the types of launchers and models of the missiles at the sites. Whoops!   [FULL  STORY]

Why Taiwan should deploy comedy to win the war of words with Beijing

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/17
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) — Cross-straits relations are undoubtedly a serious matter.

They are about the preservation of Taiwan’s hard-earned freedoms and democracy,

facing down the hostile threats of a neighboring authoritarian regime, and defending Taiwan’s sovereign rights.

Sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face, however, as the Chinese Communist Party’s approach to cross-straits relations is often so utterly laughable that it can be hard to keep things in perspective and remember just how serious these issues are.

So, maybe it’s time for Taiwan to take things a little less seriously. Maybe it’s time to laugh off China’s ridiculous approach to cross-straits relations and counter their provocation with humor and ridicule, rather than stony-faced diplomacy.

For a long time, Taiwan has responded to Chinese provocation with measured diplomatic responses.This approach has earned Taiwan a degree of respect from the international community, but the fact of the matter is that the situation between the two countries hasn’t changed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: =2019/02/17
By: Yu Hsiao-han and William Yen

Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) Another three cases of meat products originating in China have tested positive for African swine fever (ASF), Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center for ASF confirmed Sunday, bringing the total number to 25.

In the latest three cases, ASF infected dried pork jerky from China’s Jiangsu Province was found discarded on a Jan. 25 Cathay Dragon flight from Hong Kong to Kaohsiung, the center said in the statement.

Meanwhile, on Feb. 5, another ASF infected preserved pork snack made in China’s Guangdong Province was found discarded in a bin at Shuitou Pier in the offshore county of Kinmen, the statement said.

On Feb. 6, dried pork jerky was found discarded in a bin by a passenger who traveled from China’s Fujian Province aboard the Natchan Rera to Taipei Port in New Taipei, the statement said, though there was no indication on the packaging where the meat was made.    [FULL  STORY]

SERVING BEIJING: Soldiers have a duty to protect the nation and if they kowtow to China then they should not be receiving pensions, the DPP’s Tsai Shih-ying said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 18, 2019
By: Chung Li-hua  /  Staff reporter

The Executive Yuan has drafted an amendment to extend the period during which retired

generals would be prohibited from traveling to China in an apparent response to two retired generals praising Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at a political event in China last year.

The Executive Yuan on Thursday said it has drafted an amendment to 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) to extend the period during which former generals, mayors, science officials and intelligence officers must obtain Ministry of the Interior approval before they can travel to China to 15 years from three years.

The proposed amendment aims to prevent retired government and military officials from attending events in China that could unduly assert Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, the Executive Yuan said.

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official People’s Daily on Jan. 29 reported that two retired Taiwanese generals, Huang Shing-chiang (黃幸強) and Chen Ting-chung (陳廷寵) in December last year attended the Cross-Strait Generals Forum in Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: February 16, 2019 
By: Phillip Charlier

A man who has been awaiting execution since he was sentenced to death in 2010 applied to purchase an inflatable love doll at his own expense, but had his request rejected by prison authorities.

Hsiao Renchun (蕭仁俊 ) made his request in writing to prison authorities late last year, asking that prison administrators provide a place to store the love doll, and promising that he would clean the device after using it.

Hsiao, a baptized Christian, and model prisoner, also requested that he be allowed to grow his hair long so that he could donate his hair to make wigs for child cancer patients. However, both requests were denied by prison authorities.

The Taipei Detention center currently holds 21 death row inmates.

In considering the application, the prison authorities looked to prison practices in other countries, including the USA, the European Union, and Japan, and decided that inflatable love dolls were not a life necessity.    [FULL  STORY]

The Project 2019 Institute and American Enterprise Institute call FTA with Taiwan a ‘golden opportunity’

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/16
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Two D.C. area think tanks are urging the Trump administration to move forward with negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Taiwan.

On Feb. 14, the Project 2049 Institute published a new report by Dan Blumenthal and Mike Mazza entitled “A Golden Opportunity for a U.S.-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement,” with the American Enterprise Institute publishing the same report a day later.

The preface declares that “Taiwan should be considered a crucial partner in the Trump administration’s strategy” of establishing a free and open Indo-Pacific, as the world moves into a new informational age.

Urging more economic openness and closer cooperation, the authors state that a Taiwan Free Trade Agreement would likewise bolster the U.S.’ national security strategy.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/16
By: Yu Hsiao-han, Hsiao Po-yang and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Feb. 16 (CNA) An official from the Council of Agriculture (COA) said Saturday that the council is looking to shorten the time for fipronil testing to one week after authorities revealed Friday that over 27,000 tainted eggs reached the market since late January.

Once a test indicates the maximum fipronil level has been exceeded, the authorities will be able to respond more quickly, said Feng Hai-tung (馮海東), head of the COA’s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ).

Hsu Jung-bin (徐榮彬), a BAPHIQ senior official pointed out that the current inspection process takes longer because samples are often left in the lab for one or two days before being tested.

For example, Hsu said, if samples from 20 egg farms are required, staff will not send them to the lab until they collect all 20.    [FULL  STORY]

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: The institute is to display its latest weapons systems and introduce domestic firms to the international community to expand its markets

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 17, 2019
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Representatives of the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology are to attend the

International Defense Exhibition & Conference (IDEX), which opens in Abu Dhabi today, with the hope of expanding into the Middle Eastern and eastern European defense markets.

The institute, which is affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense, said that it would present the results of its most recent research: the Land-Based Air Defense Missile System that is paired with a command-and-control system, which it also researched and built.

The system is rumored to be equipped with a quad launcher for the land-based variant of the Tien Chien II missile, continuous-wave radar and a 40mm anti-aircraft gun.

The institute said that it briefed the ministry on the air defense system at the 2017 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition and has lobbied for it to place orders.
[FULL  STORY]

Man clings to car with wife and lover inside for 8 km before suffering fatal fall from vehicle in Taoyuan, Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/15
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man angry to find his wife with her lover inside a car, clung to the hood for 8 kilometers, before being flung from the vehicle in Taoyuan, Taiwan on Feb. 2, and succumbing to his wounds four days later.

On Feb. 2, a 47-year-old man surnamed Hsieh (謝) found his 42-year-old wife of 20 years and mother of his three children surnamed Chang (張) in a car with another man. Furious and demanding that his wife get out of the car, he jumped on the hood of the vehicle, only to have the driver speed off, leaving Hsieh clinging for his life, reported UDN.

According to local media reports, Chang had been involved in a love affair for a year. When Hsieh found out, the couple became engaged in a heated argument, and he allegedly beat her during a fit of blind rage, leading to a court battle over domestic violence.

Chang moved out of their home because of the domestic violence incident. However, after Hsieh promised to never hit Chang again, the two renewed their relationship.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s LGBT community can always turn to the country’s deep Mandopop canon.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/02/15
By: Matt Taylor

Music, politics and protest in Taiwan are intrinsically linked. From the rumblings of Taiwanese identity in the campus folk music of the 1960s to the emotionally charged Island Sunrise (島嶼天光) written for the 2014 Sunflower Movement and even the long-running environmental conservation efforts instigated on the island, a rich and diverse musical history has always provided support; spreading the story of the underprivileged, and documenting their hopes and struggles. Similarly, there is a wealth of music that has been produced to support LGBT people that for many years has bolstered the island’s image as one that is progressive and supportive of same-sex love. The canon of music representing the Taiwanese LGBT movement is as diverse as those who create it; spanning genre, gender and sexual orientation.

On Nov. 24, 2018, however, Taiwan citizens rallied together to support several referendums spearheaded by conservative Christian groups. Up to 75 percent of Taiwanese voters not only voted to maintain the traditional definition of marriage, but also expressed a desire to roll back LGBT education in schools.

This article is not a commentary on the referendum results. Instead, we aim to take a look at the diverse collection of Taiwanese music which was created to support the LGBT movement and take a look at how these songs’ meanings are re-framed or deepened in a changing social and political climate.    [FULL  STORY]