Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/06
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Taiwan will soon introduce a five-month amnesty program for foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas, allowing them to pay smaller fines once they report to immigration authorities during the grace period, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Sunday.

At a press conference, NIA Director General Chiu Feng-kuang (邱豐光) said the number of overstays has been on the increase and had reached 88,000 as of October 2018.

In a bid to deal with the situation, he said, the NIA has decided to give overstaying foreign nationals a five-month period of amnesty, from February to June, during which they will be subject to a reduced fine and shortened reentry ban if they report to the relevant authorities.

In such circumstances, there will be no mandatory detention, while the maximum penalty will be NT$2,000 and an reentry ban compared with detention, a maximum fine of NT$10,000 and an entry ban of eight years for those who do not voluntarily contact immigration authorities, Chiu said.    [FULL  STORY]

MESSAGE NOT HEARD? Visitors have generally stopped trying to illegally import meat since fines were increased, except those from China, a COA official has said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 07, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Hog farms not regulated by environmental authorities must stop using leftovers as pig

feed within a week, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, adding that samples of another three pork products from China have tested positive for African swine fever after being seized by customs officials.

The council on Saturday said that it would not immediately ban the use of leftovers at all hog farms, but at yesterday’s third meeting of the Central Emergency Operation Center — which oversees measures to control the disease — said that it would restrict such operations.

Only farms on an Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) regulatory list would be allowed to continue feeding pigs leftovers, COA Acting Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said, adding that 357 farms were on the list.

The 1,155 hog farms that use leftovers but are not on the list must switch to commercial fodder, cease operations within a week or get EPA approval to use leftovers, COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Wanna take a guess?

The National Interest
Date: January 4, 2019
By: Robert Farley Follow drfarls on TwitterL

Over the past decade, virtually every aspect of China’s military arsenal has grown more lethal. This improvement has necessarily affected the military balance with Taiwan. With tensions between China and the United States growing, Taiwan’s position has become even more precarious. President Xi Jinping has recently signaled a more hardline attitude on reunification with Taiwan, suggesting that it’s past time to re-evaluate the military balance between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China.

Here are five of the most menacing systems that China could use in the event of war with Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The world should take China’s threats seriously: Tsai

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called on the international

community to support its democracy in the face of threats from China, the Reuters news agency reported Saturday.

She made the remarks during an interview with foreign media Saturday, just days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) reiterated his determination that Taiwan and China should be united, if necessary with the use of force.

Tsai said Saturday she hoped the world community took those threats seriously and would voice support for Taiwan and help the island, Reuters reported. If democracies failed to assist Taiwan, then which country would be next, she reportedly asked.

Following Xi’s January 2 speech, Tsai said the “Taiwan Consensus” was that China’s “One Country, Two Systems” formula, which Beijing launched to help win back Hong Kong in 1997, was unacceptable in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/05
By: Yeh Su-ping and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday called on all political

parties in Taiwan to reject the “one country, two systems” formula devised by China and forget about the “1992 consensus.”

In a press conference with foreign media in Taipei, Tsai said she hoped all the political parties in Taiwan would send a clear message to China, based on the wishes of the Taiwan people.

“Do not mention the ‘1992 consensus’ again since that phrase has been defined by China as the ‘one country, two systems’ mechanism, which has left no flexibility for interpretation,” Tsai said.

“By emphasizing ‘one China’ and ‘one country, two systems’, particularly in the context of the so-called ‘1992 consensus,’ China has made clear their political intentions towards Taiwan and their steps for unification,” she said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘END OPPRESSION’: Mario Diaz-Balart said that Beijing’s attempts to threaten a democratic US ally were ‘shameful’ and that dictatorships often rely on coercion

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 06, 2019
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Several US congressmen on Friday said that Beijing should be reprimanded for

threatening Taipei with military power following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) reiteration this week of his goal of unification and willingness to use force to annex Taiwan.

“China threatening Taiwan with military force is reprehensible, counterproductive and just bad diplomacy,” US Senator John Kennedy tweeted.

China’s provocative approach toward Taiwan risks the stability of the region and displays its disrespect of democracies, Kennedy said.

US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart on Twitter called China’s attempts to threaten a democratic US ally “shameful,” saying that communist dictatorships often rely on coercion, threats and violence to maintain power.    [FULL  STORY]

The man’s body was found today after he disappeared from his Taichung home on Dec.

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/01/05
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man who was declared missing on Jan. 2 has been found buried in a public cemetery in Nantou County (南投縣).

CNA reports on Jan. 2, a police division in Qingshui District, Taichung City (台中清水區) received a call from a woman declaring she had not seen her husband for three days. The 51-year old man, surnamed Wang, apparently disappeared on Dec. 30 and could not be reached by telephone.

His wife feared he may have been abducted after failing to meet debt obligations but said he had not received extortive phone calls prior to his disappearance.

Today (Jan. 5), Wang’s body was found buried a meter deep in Nantou County’s Ninth Public Cemetery. Police are investigating the cause of death and searching for individuals involved in the crime.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: January 5, 2019 
By: Phillip Charlier

Two suspects were arrested, one last night, and one this morning, following a police investigation into a case where a mother and daughter were held hostage and robbed in their home in New Taipei City Wednesday evening.

At around 5:40pm Wednesday, January 2, a 50-year-old woman named Huang returned to her residence in Shulin District, and was ambushed by two men as she entered the apartment. The men tied Huang up, wrapped a quilt around her head, and held her hostage in the bedroom while they ransacked the house for cash and valuables.

At around 7:00pm, Lee’s 23-year-old daughter returned home and was also tied up and held hostage in a bathroom.

During their ordeal, the burglars communicated to the women by typing on cellphones, and did not speak at all.    [FULL  STORY]

The new law contains concrete measures encouraging US-Taiwan cooperation, writes Kent Wang.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/01/04
By: Kent Wang

On Dec. 31, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA), which tries to counter China’s growing military influence. The act establishes a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security and values in the Indo-Pacific region. It was designed to counter the encroaching influence and growing threat from China, and to reinvigorate U.S. leadership in the region. This legislation further reiterates American commitment to Taiwan’s security, supports closer Taiwan-U.S. relations, and affirms the value of U.S. partnership with Taiwan and other countries in the region.

Passed on Dec. 4 and Dec. 12 by the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively, the law serves as a framework to improve U.S. leadership in the region and demonstrates its commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and rules-based international order.

In a dedicated section on Taiwan, the act states that it is the policy of the U.S. to support the close economic, political and security relationship between the two sides and faithfully enforce all existing commitments consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and Six Assurances.

With China’s increasingly assertive rise, it is critical that the United States reaffirm the commitment to securing a free and open Indo-Pacific region through enhanced cooperation with our democratic partners. This important piece of legislation will do just that by creating a framework for U.S. policy throughout the region on several key areas including trade, promotion of human rights, counterterrorism programs, and many other national security priorities. Furthermore, the bill also reaffirms the U.S. position that cross-strait disputes must reach a peaceful resolution acceptable to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.    [FULL  STORY]

Foreign driver flashes V sign, wife assaults witness after smashing car in to scooter in Keelung, Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/04
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A foreign driver flashes the V sign and his wife allegedly assaults a witness after he plows into two scooter riders in northern Taiwan.

On Thursday, a female member of the Taiwanese Facebook group Breaking News Commune (爆料公社) posted photos of the aftermath of a car accident on Anle Road Section 2 in Keelung City. In the post, the netizen complains that the driver inappropriately flashed the V sign, and his wife allegedly assaulted her sister, who was a witness to the accident.

In the photos of the immediate aftermath of the collision, a foreign male can be seen looking at the camera and strangely making a V sign. In another photo, the netizen describes the female companion of the driver as staring “fiercely” at the camera.

Based on the photos, it appears that the foreign driver tried to make an illegal u-turn in the middle of a road marked with double-yellow lines, after pulling out from a designated public transport only zone.

In the post, the netizen writes:    [FULL  STORY]