Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/23/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and William Yen

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Taiwan saw a rise in medical visits in August compared to the same period last year as more people are no longer afraid to go to hospitals, seeing that the country is beating the COVID-19 pandemic, according to observers Friday.

Compared to a sharp drop in the number of medical visits from January to June, people have returned to hospitals as the volume of medical services provided by major medical institutions in August has returned to the pre-COVID-19 numbers, said Chou Shu-wan (周淑婉), National Health Insurance Committee executive secretary.

The number of medical services provided for that month even increased by 2.53 percent over the same period last year, Chou said.

Taiwan has been praised by the international community for its successful efforts at preventing the spread of COVID-19. A domestic case of the coronavirus has not been reported in the country since April 12.    [FULL  STORY]

PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE: Although Taiwan must take measures to efend itself, it would not dismiss the prospect of peace, the Mainland Affairs Council minister said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2020
By: Wu Su-wei and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The world would take an entirely different view of China if Beijing held constructive dialogue with Taiwan instead of resorting to threats, former US deputy secretary of state James Steinberg said yesterday.

Steinberg made the remarks by videoconference at an international forum in Taipei.

China is responsible for letting its neighbors believe its rise is peaceful and that it would not sacrifice the rights of others in doing so, Steinberg said.Beijing should be aware that its current path would not make it a winner, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 October, 2020
By: Paula Chao

[Taiwan’s perspective is different from other Asian countries][/caption] Surveys show that 59% of Taiwanese respondents say they don’t trust Trump. But would he still be better for Taiwan than Biden? We went out and asked people on the street what they think.  Seton Hall Law Professor Maggie Lewis also chimes in on how Biden and Trump might deal with Taiwan.

Prensa Latina
Date: October 22, 2020

Beijing, Oct 22 (Prensa Latina) China on Thursday noted that it will proceed with countermeasures against the decision made by the United States to sell weapons to Taiwan and to appoint six other media organizations as diplomatic missions.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian described as interference in the country's internal affairs Washington's decision to supply state-of-the-art weapons worth 1.8 billion dollars to Taipei.

He noted that Washington is sending a wrong signal to the island, damaging China's interests and national security, and endangering bilateral ties, peace and stability in the Strait of Taiwan.

Beijing will give a consequent response depending on how the situation evolves, the spokesman added.    [FULL  STORY]

Biden says Taiwan is 'shining example of how an open society can effectively contain COVID-19'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/22
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With the U.S. presidential election less than two weeks away, Joe Biden is sending the message that he will be tough on China and seek to deepen ties with Taiwan.

In an op-ed published in the Chinese language World Journal, Biden wrote that as a Pacific power, the U.S. under his administration will join with friends and allies to "advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Asia-Pacific region." Biden then focused on Taiwan, by saying that U.S. policy in the region will include "deepening our ties with Taiwan," which he described as "a leading democracy, major economy, technology – and a shining example of how an open society can effectively contain COVID-19."

As for his approach to China, Biden stated that he will focus on "boosting American competitiveness, revitalizing our strengths at home, and renewing our alliances and leadership abroad." However, Biden said that the U.S. will still seek to collaborate with China "when it's in our interest," and he cited public health and climate change as examples.

An organization called "Taiwanese Americans for Biden," which is an affinity group for the Biden campaign, shared with Taiwan News a strong message about Biden's approach to China. The statement alleged that although "Trump talks tough on China," after nearly four years in the White House, "he has accomplished nothing."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/22/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Taiwan on Thursday reminded the Vatican of the importance of religious freedom after it extended a provisional agreement on bishop appointments with China for another two years.

The Vatican, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, announced earlier in the day that it has agreed to extend an agreement with Beijing regarding the appointment of Catholic bishops in China due to the "positive results" seen over the past two years.

Under the agreement, first signed in September 2018, Beijing proposes bishops for appointment by the Pope, who can either appoint or veto the recommendations.

"According to the Code of Canon Law, all bishops of the Catholic Church around the world are appointed by the Pope," Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement in response to the development.    [FULL  STORY]

DEPLOYMENT SPEED: Association of Strategic Foresight research fellow Chieh Chung said that the key is whether reserve forces can be rapidly deployed when a crisis hits

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 23, 2020
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

The nation could deploy 450,000 soldiers — including roughly 260,000 reservists and 185,000 standing forces — as a first-response force in the event of a military invasion, Minister of National Defense (MND) Yen De-fa (嚴德發) told a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) asked whether the ministry had an estimate of how long it would take to recall reservists if a war broke out, adding that, if not, the ministry should definitely conduct simulation exercises.

The ministry has plans to conduct such simulations in 2022, Yen said, adding that recall and training programs would be staggered for the least disruption to social order.

Chiang said that the ministry must have the information, even at the cost of disrupting society.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date:\ 21 October, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

The annual military exercises in the outlying Kinmen islands are not open for view to the public this year. That’s in light of cross-strait tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Taiwanese troops stationed in the outlying Kinmen islands are undergoing exercises as tensions with China grow stronger.

The exercises are held every year, but this year the military is not letting civilians get closer than 500 meters to view the drills. That’s due to recent cross-strait tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has left military buffs disappointed.

One says he's watched these exercises ever since he was a child, and that they loom large in his childhood memories.

In addition to keeping civilians well away from the live fire exercises, the number of 8-inch howitzers and cannons used are also just half the usual number in order to keep this year's drills low-key. 

 

• ‘Dangerous activities’ cited by city’s civil aviation department as reason for blocking UNI Air flight last week was actually a PLA air-to-air missile exercise, insider says
• Taiwanese aircraft was unable to climb to a safe enough height to be allowed entry into Hong Kong airspace, he says

South China Morning Post
Date: 22 Oct, 2020
By: Minnie Chan

Missile drills in the South China Sea and aeronautical limitations were the reasons a Taiwanese aircraft was denied entry into Hong Kong airspace en route to the Pratas Islands last week, according to a military insider.“

The People’s Liberation Army [PLA] was conducting an air-to-air missile exercise in the South China Sea in the morning [on Thursday] when the Taiwanese aircraft was heading to the Dongsha Islands,” a Beijing-based military source close to the PLA said, using the Chinese name for the group of three atolls.1

The UNI Air flight carrying military and coastguard personnel was forced to turn back when Hong Kong’s civil aviation authorities told their counterparts in Taipei there were “dangerous activities” taking place below 26,000 feet.

“Most passenger airliners fly above 26,000 feet,” said the source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. “But the Taiwanese aircraft was a propeller-powered ATR 72 that can’t climb that high.”    [FULL  STORY]

Xi would attempt to coordinate with Russia, Iran, North Korea to bog down US in multiple theaters: Taiwanese official

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/21
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The latest issue of the Indo-Pacific Defense Forum magazine, a military magazine published quarterly by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, carried an article detailing a presentation made by Taiwan’s National Security Bureau Deputy Director-General Chen Wen-fan’s (陳文凡) last October in Washington, D.C., which provides a comprehensive picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) plan to solve the Taiwan “problem” by 2049.

Taiwan forms an integral part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) agenda, according to Chen.

The country is in a unique position vis-à-vis China, “the most powerful party-state in history [and one] that is determined to terminate Taiwan as it is,” said Chen, who went on to point out that in terms of psychological warfare, Taiwan has “a unique vulnerability because Mandarin Chinese is the common language for both China and Taiwan,” leaving it open to a range of asymmetrical attacks of a kind largely unexperienced in modern military exchanges.

“Today, the CCP’s Taiwan policy is guided by Xi’s five-point remarks in January 2019," according to Chen, "which dictate the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) military coercion, external isolation of Taiwan, infiltration and subversion, United Front interaction, cyber activities and disinformation dissemination."    [FULL  STORY]