Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/04
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Flor Wang

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) Three more travelers were fined NT$200,000 (US$6,470) on Friday for bringing meat products into the country, according to Taipei Customs.

Two travelers arriving in Taiwan from China and one coming from Hong Kong were issued the fine for violating the Statute for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Disease, Taipei Customs said.

A Chinese tourist, identified by his family name Wang (王), was found with 45 grams of cooked pig liver and 673 grams of fruit in his carry-on bag upon arrival at Taoyuan International Airport from Changchun in Jilin province as a member of a tour group.

Wang said he had the food with him in case he got hungry.    [FULL  STORY]

TRANSPARENCY: The discovery of an infected dead pig that came from China shows that Beijing’s disease control and infection reporting are problematic, the premier said

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called on Beijing to publicize information about

the African swine fever epidemic in China and work with neighboring nations to curb the spread of the disease, after an infected pig’s carcass was found in Kinmen County.

Lai made the remarks at the second meeting of the Executive Yuan’s Central Emergency Operation Center to oversee quarantine measures against the disease.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) on Thursday confirmed that a dead pig found on a beach in Kinmen County’s Jinsha Township (金沙) on Tuesday had tested positive for the disease.

The carcass might have floated from China’s Fujian Province’s Zhangzhou or Xiamen via the Jiulong River to Kinmen, COA Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Feng Hai-tung (馮海東) said.    [FULL  STORY]

The data shows an alarming partisan disparity in Taiwanese views on cross-Strait relations.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/01/03
By: Timothy S. Rich

One of the main challenges faced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been the steady deterioration of cross-Strait relations. From China’s unilateral breaking of a previous diplomatic truce to Chinese live-fire military drills on Taiwan’s doorstep, China has engaged in a campaign of limiting Taiwan’s international presence since Tsai swept to power in 2016.

Within Taiwan, measuring satisfaction with Tsai’s cross-Strait policy predictably follows party lines. Newly released data from National Chengchi University’s Taiwan’s Election and Democratization Study, consisting of telephone interviews conducted in September 2018, shows the extent of this variation.

Question 7 asks about satisfaction with Tsai’s performance specifically on handling cross-Strait relations. Recoding the answers to create a four-point scale (from not satisfied at all to very satisfied), partisan distinctions become clear, with Kuomintang (KMT) and pan-Blue supporters very dissatisfied compared to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and pan-Green coalition partners, who report high levels of satisfaction.

A common KMT argument concerning the deterioration of relations mirrors that of the Chinese government, which Xi Jinping reiterated in a Taiwan-focused speech delivered yesterday. It blames strained cross-Strait ties on Tsai’s unwillingness to accept the commonly cited “1992 Consensus” – an ambiguous, highly disputed agreement by quasi-official representatives that both sides of the Strait belong to “one China.”
[FULL  STORY]

Tsai rebuffs letter questioning leadership, three advisors, including two signatories of the letter reportedly preparing to resign

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/03
By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On the morning of Jan. 3, immediately following the publication of public letter urging President Tsai Ing-wen not to run for re-election in 2020, three presidential office advisors tendered their resignation.

Presidential Office advisers Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), who signed the letter published by Liberty Times, have reportedly turned in notices of resignation according to an anonymous source.

Additionally, a third presidential office advisor Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), who was not a signatory of the public letter, is reportedly preparing to resign as well according to a Dec. 29 report from Storm magazine.

Shortly after the letter’s publication, President Tsai released with a statement without directly mentioning the letter.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/01/03
By: Tzeng Yi-shiuan and Yu-Chen Chung 

Paris, Jan. 2 (CNA) French parliamentarian Jean-François Cesarini said Wednesday that China’s desire to go to war with Taiwan is unacceptable, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) warning the previous day that China reserves the right to use force against Taiwan.

“France is a friend of China and also of Taiwan,” Cesarini said in a tweet. “Yet China’s call for a war is not acceptable. There is nothing to be gained by war, either on the international or economic front. The dialogue proposed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) shows true wisdom.”

Cesarini, a member of the French National Assembly and chairman of a parliamentary Taiwan-France Friendship Group, also tweeted part of Tsai’s New Year’s Day address, in which she laid out “four musts” as a framework for moving relations between Taiwan and China in a positive direction.

Tsai said China must face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan); must respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy; and must handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on a basis of equality; and that it must be governments or government-authorized agencies that engage in cross-strait negotiations.    [FULL  STORY]

WAKE-UP CALL: The open letter said that Taiwanese cast ‘no-confidence votes’ against the president in the local elections after she ‘completely’ failed the public

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 04, 2019
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Senior pro-Taiwanese independence advocates yesterday in an open letter urged

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) not to seek re-election in 2020.

The letter, titled “An Open Letter to President Tsai — Please Do Not Seek Re-election,” was published by numerous newspapers and signed by Presidential Office adviser Wu Li-pei (吳澧培), former Presidential Office adviser Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and the Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明).

The four wrote that it was agonizing and with a heavy heart that they decided to write the letter, but in view of a dire and precarious situation facing Taiwanese and advocates of Taiwan’s national identity and sovereignty, they could not afford to be complacent.

They made two appeals to Tsai: Openly announce that she would only serve one term and hand administrative power to the premier.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 02 January, 2019
By: Paula Chao

The flag-raising ceremony on New Year’s Day has wowed the public. The ceremony, held on Tuesday in front of the Presidential Office, carried the theme of “bravery, self-confidence and in line with the world.”

The flag-raising ceremony on New Year’s Day started with a performance by Chien Kuo High School’s marching band. The band featured jazz and flag-spinning. Last year, the school won the world championship at a competition organized by the World Association of Marching Show Bands.

A performance by honor guards from Taipei First Girls’ High School was equally splendid. Despite the drizzle, students twirled rifles while changing position. The girls’ high school and the all-male Chien Kuo High School are both top-ranked schools in Taipei.

A display by the army, navy and air force was also spectacular.  Each solider carried an M1 rifle weighing six kilograms, receiving applause from the public.
[FULL  STORY]

Indonesia suspends Taiwan internship program after students forced to work in contact lens factory, eat meals with pork

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After news broke last week that Indonesian college students, as well as other nationalities, had been forced to work in factories and eat meals that contained pork, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has suspended internships for its country’s students in Taiwan pending a thorough investigation.

On Dec. 27, Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said six universities have been exposed as sending their students from New Southbound Policy (NSP) to work as manual laborers in factories. Citing one case as an example, Ko said that 300 Indonesian students enrolled at Hsing Wu University (醒吾科大) were only allowed to go to class two days a week and have one day of rest, while working the remaining four days at a factory, where they packaged 30,000 contact lenses for 10 hours per shift.

Ko said that most of the Indonesian students were Muslims and yet, shockingly, many of the meals consisted of pork chops. Moreover, when the students complained to the university, officials oddly asked them to be patient, and said that if the students help the company, the company will help the school.    [FULL  STORY]

A daily breakdown of Taiwan’s top stories and why they matter.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/01/02
By: TNL Staff

DPP legislators split on 2020 presidential nominee
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers are divided on supporting a 2020 re-election run by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), DPP Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said on Monday.

Some legislators are backing Premier William Lai (賴清德), who is rumored to be set to resign from his current post, as the party’s 2020 presidential nominee, with failed Kaohsiung mayoral candidate and former DPP legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) as his running mate, said Huang, according to the Taipei Times.

Tsai’s approval ratings have shrunk since her 2016 ascent to the country’s top office as she has received criticism from pro-independence advocates within the DPP, while the independence-leaning Lai remains popular within the party and among the public. Chen has enjoyed a surge in popularity since losing the Kaohsiung mayoral race to insurgent Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).

Some of Tsai’s supporters are pushing for Lai to become Tsai’s 2020 running mate. DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said a ticket of Tsai Ing-wen and Lai would make a “golden combination.”    [FULL  STORY]

Attack originated in Shanghai: Investigation Bureau

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/01/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An attack by hackers which succeeded in stealing personal data from 2.98 million files at the Taipei department of health originated in China, reports said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) said the hacking was launched from Shanghai, which led it to ask for assistance from overseas agencies, including the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

At the same time, the hackers also used Trojan Horse programs to steal information from about 40 official bodies, including prominent schools and hospitals, the Apple Daily reported.    [FULL  STORY]