Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/21/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 21 (CNA) Taiwan and the United Kingdom on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to advance cooperation in English learning and education.

The agreement was signed remotely and witnessed by Greg Hands, U.K. Minister of State for Trade Policy, who said he was pleased that the U.K. will be able to offer assistance in English learning to Taiwan as it pursues its goal of becoming a bilingual country by 2030.

"Two of my great passions are Taiwan and bilingualism," Hands wrote on his Twitter feed afterwards. "Combining the two is even better! So it was a great pleasure to be virtual guest speaker at the signing ceremony today in Taipei for the U.K. to be delivery partner for Taiwan becoming bilingual Chinese-English by 2030!"

Also speaking at the virtual ceremony, Taiwan's Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said the education links between Taipei and London have been growing rapidly in recent years, and they have signed 209 academic exchange agreements to date.    [FULL  STORY]

ONGOING PROBE: A former Military Intelligence Bureau colonel, major general and another colonel, as well as five other people, have been questioned by prosecutors

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 22, 2020
By: Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNA

The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered that a retired colonel from the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) calling himself Taiwan’s “first special agent” be detained and held incommunicado as part of an ongoing investigation into espionage allegations targeting at least three former bureau officials.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office was seeking to detain former MIB colonel Chang Chao-jan (張超然) over his alleged involvement in introducing retired agents to Chinese national security authorities and passing confidential documents to China.

Chang’s actions, if proven, would contravene the National Security Act (國家安全法), which carries a prison term of three to 10 years, and the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), which carries a prison term of one to seven years, the existing text states.

Prosecutors told the court that detaining Chang was necessary because of the seriousness of the crimes, and the possibility that the suspect could collude to destroy evidence or flee the country.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 20 October, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Taiwan’s Air Force kicked off the annual Tian Long exercises on Monday. The military aircraft drills were carried out at the air force base in Hualien, while the Skyguard air defense units held competitions at the Fang Shan shooting range in Pingtung County.

The exercises are scheduled to run until October 30. The drills include competitions that test the Air Force’s air-to-ground, air-to-sea, air-to-air and land combat readiness.   [FULL  STORY8]

Since August, the PLA has carried out exercises aimed at testing its alongshore air defenses.

The Diplomat
Date: October 20, 2020
By: Lu Li-shih

On October 9 — one day before Double Tenth Day, the National Day of Taiwan — the Gulei Port Economic Development Zone Administrative Committee in Zhangzhou, China and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jointly issued an announcement for a ban on navigation. The reason: Live-fire exercises would be conducted on the Chinese internal waters in the east part of Gulei Peninsula from October 13 to 17.

This is geographically the closest live-fire exercise to Taiwan since the Chinese Ministry of Defense announced on August 13 that it would demonstrate “Multi-units and multi-directional systematized actual combat drills” on the Taiwan Strait and both at the north and south ends.

However, PLA exercises in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea have been much more frequent since July. It is generally believed that this is Chinese military swagger against Taiwan. It is much more probable, however, that the PLA exercises point to weaknesses in its military capability.

As to the Yellow Sea, an area roughly resembling an isosceles triangle with sides around 215 kilometers was first demarcated on the southern coast in mid-July, which is fit for HQ-22 (HongQi-22) and HQ-9B (HongQi-9B) long-range air defense missiles exercises. This was followed by six navigational warnings, beginning with LYG0043 issued for August 25-27 and ending with LYG0057 issued for September 28-30. Six rounds of live-fire drills were executed back-to-back at the same location on the west side of the port of Lianyungang. It is evaluated that such a cone littoral target region — around 12.5 kilometers long and 5.5 kilometers wide — is only for anti-aircraft artillery and short-range air defense missiles.    [FULL  STORY]

Injured elderly man reminds Taiwanese high school student of his grandfather

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/20
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A high school student has won praise from Taiwanese netizens for using his jacket to help halt the bleeding from a head wound suffered by an elderly man after he suddenly fell on Monday (Oct. 19).

On Monday evening, an elderly man fell down and suffered head trauma just outside the Danfeng MRT Station in New Taipei City, causing him to begin to bleed. When the accident occurred, a high school student immediately took off his jacket and used it to compress the wound and elevate the man's head until an ambulance arrived.

The image was soon posted online, winning the praise of many Taiwanese netizens. He was later identified as Hsiao Tzu-chin (蕭子秦), a third-year student at New Taipei Municipal DanFeng High School.

He was cited by Liberty Times as saying that when he saw the elderly man lying on the ground, he initially wanted to help pick up his shoes. However, when he noticed that the man was bleeding, he recalled the first aid process when the burly YouTuber Holger Chen (陳之漢) was shot, and he initially planned to use tissue paper to help stop the bleeding.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/20/2020
By: You Kai-hsiang and Christie Chen

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) Taiwan's deputy military chief on Tuesday made a visit to the Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea, in what is believed to be an attempt to dispel doubts about Taiwan's ability to maintain supplies to the islands after a recent row with the Hong Kong air traffic control.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff Li Ting-sheng (李廷盛), accompanied by a Coast Guard officer, arrived in the Dongsha Islands aboard a C-130 military cargo plane, according to the Military News Agency.

The lieutenant-general inspected the living facilities of the military personnel stationed there and gave them some words of encouragement, according to the news agency.

He also instructed them to conduct joint intelligence surveillance, reconnaissance and combat readiness missions, according to the agency.    [FULL  STORY]

TAIPEI REACTIONS: Joanne Ou decried China’s ‘gangster diplomacy,’ while MOFA said its Fiji counterpart dealt fairly with the incident and protected the trade office’s rights

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

The world should denounce the actions of Chinese embassy staffers in Fiji against a Taiwanese diplomat during a National Day celebration in Suva, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday as it thanked the Fijian government for its help after the Oct. 8 incident.

Two Chinese diplomats tried to force their way into a celebration held by the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on Oct. 8, and a Taiwanese diplomat who tried to stop them taking photographs suffered a head injury.

MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing that the ministry had reported the incident to Fijian police, who are investigating it together with the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Asked if MOFA would file a lawsuit against the Chinese diplomats, Ou said that filing a police report was the first step, and the ministry has prepared related documentation if further action is needed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 19 October, 2020
By: Andrew Ryan

Taiwan has registered five new imported cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 540. The Central Epidemic Command Center released details about the new infections on Monday. 

Of the five new cases, two are foreign students who arrived in Taiwan for study — one from Indonesia and one from Russia. That brings the total number of imported cases among foreign students to six. 

The remaining three cases include a Taiwanese man in his 20s who had been working in France, a Taiwanese man in his 40s who had been working in the Philippines, and a Filipino man who had arrived in Taiwan for work. 

Epidemic prevention officials have already traced most of the contacts of the five new cases. Some have been placed in isolation, while others have been ordered to monitor their health. 
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: October 19, 2020
By: Mark Moore

China is ramping up its military presence along the mainland’s eastern coast as it prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan, according to a report.

The People’s Liberation Army has upgraded missile bases and deployed a new hypersonic missile -the country’s most advanced.

“The DF-17 hypersonic missile will gradually replace the old DF-11s and DF-15s that were deployed in the southeast region for decades,” the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday, citing a Beijing-based military source. “The new missile has a longer range and is able to hit targets more accurately.”

The DF-17, with a maximum range of 1,550 miles, was rolled out at last year’s Oct. 1 National Day parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
[FULL  STORY]

China justifies beating of Taiwanese diplomat for trying to create 'one China, one Taiwan'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/19
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's embassy in Fiji on Monday (Oct. 19) claimed that two of its "wolf warrior diplomats" were "provoked" into physically assaulting a Taiwanese diplomat during a National Day event earlier this month.

On Sunday (Oct. 18), news broke that two Chinese diplomats barged into a reception being held at Grand Pacific Hotel by the Taiwan de facto embassy in Suva recognizing Taiwan's National Day on Oct. 8. Once inside, the two Chinese diplomats allegedly took photos of the function and those in attendance.

When they were asked by a member of the Taiwanese delegation to leave the gathering, they refused. Later, outside the venue, the two Chinese "wolf warriors" allegedly set upon the Taiwanese diplomat, inflicting head trauma that required hospital treatment.

In response to news reports on the incident, the Chinese embassy in Fiji on Monday issued an official statement on its website. The embassy first skirted the issue by crying foul at a function that "clearly violates the one-China principle" and characterized it as an attempt to "create 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan' internationally."    [FULL  STORY]