In engaging with the US, Tsai Ing-wen has stuck to the same script as previous Taiwanese leaders. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/09/17
By: Mark Lai

Last month, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visited Paraguay and Belize, two of the 17 countries that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It was her fifth overseas trip in office, all of which have been at the heart of a bid to deal with Taiwan’s diplomatic crisis.

In the two years since Tsai replaced her pro-China predecessor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Taiwan has lost five allies in Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso, and El Salvador, lured away by financial incentives from Beijing as part of its stated pledge to force Tsai to accept the “1992 consensus.”

To this end, China has also used hostile language, issued threats, and repeatedly conducted military exercises around the island. Lacking the political and economic chips to play the retaliation game, Tsai has to rely on U.S. support to help maintain her administration’s stance.

Luckily for her, the political winds have been shifting in Washington. The Donald Trump administration is waging a trade war against China, and fear of “the China threat” hasn’t been this popular in decades. It seems that many Americans are ready to embrace the enemy of their enemy, which in this case is Taiwan. Indeed, earlier this year Trump signed into law a bill that encourages high-level communication between the U.S. and Taiwan. Named the Taiwan Travel Act, it is a follow-up of sorts to the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Both acts ambiguously and loosely imply a U.S. guarantee of maintaining Taiwan’s political status and military ability to maintain its national security.
[FULL  STORY]

The funeral of Yilan County resident Wu Dong-hua, who died from rescuing a little girl on a Yilan beach on Sep 2, took placed on Sep 17, but three days before the funeral his girlfriend Chu Ruo-ying was found dead in an apparent suicide

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/09/17
By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The funeral of Yilan County resident Wu Dong-hua (吳東樺), who died from rescuing a little girl on a Yilan beach on Sep 2, took placed on Sep 17 (Monday), but three days before the funeral his girlfriend Chu Ruo-ying (朱若穎) was found dead in an apparent suicide, leaving a suicide note that suggests she wanted to leave the world earlier because she couldn’t bear the loss of her boyfriend.

Wu, who was with his girlfriend at the time of the incident, died from trying to rescue an eight-year-old girl surnamed Hung, who was with her family when she was playing on Neipi Beach in Nanfangao on Sep 2. When Wu saw the girl, who was a total stranger to him, being washed out to sea, he jumped into the sea immediately in an effort to save her. A few moments later, the girl was washed ashore and was conscious, but Wu was drown and later died in the hospital.

Wu’s girlfriend, 21, who witnessed the drowning incident, committed suicide in her rented room in Dongshan Township by burning charcoal to suffocate herself, leaving a farewell letter to her mother that says she was happy to be her daughter but she couldn’t endure the life any longer because she felt hurt and tired every day since she lost her boyfriend.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/17
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) Taiwan will send four military officers to attend the funeral of a

retired British army captain to drape the Republic of China (ROC) national flag over his coffin in fulfillment of the veteran’s request, after he was rescued by the ROC army in a World War II battle in Myanmar, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Sunday.

Gerald Fitzpatrick, 99, passed away on Aug. 27 in Leeds, North England. He was one of the 7,000 British soldiers rescued by the 113th Regiment of the Chinese Expeditionary Force from Japanese Imperial forces during the Battle of Yenangyaung in April 1942.

Fitzpatrick repeatedly expressed his desire to have his coffin draped in the ROC flag to express his gratitude to the nation, according to the ministry.

After learning of his passing, military spokesman Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said Defense Minister Yen De-fa (嚴德發) immediately asked officers currently studying in the United Kingdom to pass on condolences to Fitzpatrick’s family.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

About 60 percent of respondents in a poll said that holders of new Chinese residency

cards should report to and be regulated by the government, the Cross-Strait Policy Association said yesterday.

The poll showed that 59.6 percent of respondents would support a requirement that cardholders report to local authorities, while 30.4 percent disagreed, association president Stephen Tan (譚耀南) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

Asked whether they would support the government imposing regulatory measures or restrictions on cardholders, 58.4 percent said they would, whereas 37.4 percent said they would not.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they agreed that applying for the card entails privacy risks, given China’s strict surveillance of its citizens, compared with 34.4 percent who disagreed.    [FULL  STORY]

THIS little island is just half the size of Tasmania. But over the next few years, it risks sparking a war that will “change the course of history”.

news.com.au
Date: September 16, 2018
By: Gavin Fernando

IN RECENT years, there’s been a lot of talk about North Korea’s nuclear weapons, Beijing’s rising power and growing tensions in the South China Sea.

As we speak, China is set to overtake the United States as the world’s most powerful country by the end of the next decade and is on a mission for global domination.

But the most dangerous trigger point for global conflict has nothing to do with reclusive dictators, big nuclear buttons or trade wars with the West.

It’s over a tiny island sitting less than 200km to China’s east.

WHY TAIWAN IS A TRIGGER POINT FOR BATTLE

Taiwan is just 36,000sq km — around half the size of Tasmania. But for a country with such a small land mass, it sits at the centre of a big and dangerous feud.

Taiwan has its own self-ruling democratic government and sees itself as a sovereign nation. But Beijing regards the island as a renegade province of China that will one day return to the fold — or be taken by force if necessary.    [FULL  STORY]

Program features cases of Chinese students in Taiwan allegedly targeted by spies who lure them with money, love and friendship

The Guardian
Date: 16 Sep 2018 02

China on Sunday accused Taiwan’s spy agencies of stepping up efforts to steal intelligence with the aim of “infiltration” and “sabotage”, and warned the island against further damaging already strained cross-strait ties.

The relevant agencies in Taiwan must end such activities immediately, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing An Fengshan, a spokesman of China’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office.

On Saturday, state television started the first in a series of programs detailing cases in which Chinese students studying in Taiwan are said to be targeted by domestic spies who lure them with money, love and friendship.

The allegations come as China ramps up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to settle in China permanently, with new identity cards and other inducements.    [FULL  STORY]

The campaign to marginalize Taiwan took a more threatening tone in Chinese media over the weekend

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/160
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – This weekend in China, there has been a coordinated effort

among media outlets and the government to raise the specter of Taiwanese spies and their informants infiltrating Chinese society.

On Friday, China’s CCTV announced a special two-part series based on a recent crackdown of so-called “Taiwanese spies,” in what appears to be an effort to condition the Chinese public to view Taiwan as threat to China’s national security.

Various media outlets on social media platforms, as well as several Chinese universities appealed to Chinese citizens to watch the programs to know what to look out for and avoid being targeted.

According to Chinese media, over 100 espionage cases involving Taiwan have been prosecuted this year, with a recent initiative by authorities titled the “Thunderbolt 2018 Crackdown” leading to the arrest of several spies and agents.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/16
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Elizabeth Hsu 

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The air quality in the leeward areas of central and southern Taiwan was expected to be poor on Sunday due to a lack of wind to disperse atmospheric pollutants, according the air quality monitoring network operated by the Environmental Protection Administration.

As of 11 a.m. Sunday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was flashing an orange alert, warning that the air was unhealthy for sensitive groups in areas such as Taichung’s Xitun District, Xianxi in Changhua County, and Mailiao and Taixi townships in Yunlin County.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should participate in transitional justice instead of

opposing it all the time, Transitional Justice Commission researcher Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said yesterday at a discussion hosted by the Taiwan New Century Foundation to mark International Day of Democracy on Saturday.

Former South African president F.W. de Klerk of the National Party pushed for the abolition of the apartheid system and won the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela, Tseng said.

If the KMT approves of how South Africa approached reconciliation, it should participate in transitional justice instead of constantly opposing it, he said.

Tseng also said that even now many people in Taiwan are “politically nostalgic” and miss former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
[FULL  STORY]

Petition filed to High Court says Foreign Ministry ignoring Oren Shlomo Mayer, who is likely to face death penalty if Philippines carries out extraction order

The Times of Israel
Date: September 15, 2018
By: TOI Staff

The family of an Israeli-American man suspected of the grisly murder of a Canadian man in Taiwan last month has filed an emergency petition to the High Court of Justice seeking the government’s help in preventing his deportation to Taiwan, where they say he would likely face the death penalty, the Ynet news site reported Saturday.

Oren Shlomo Mayer, 37, a tattoo artist, teacher, and alleged drug dealer, who was born in Israel and grew up in the United States, is a suspect in the gruesome drug-related murder of a Canadian teacher and alleged drug dealer who was found dismembered in a Taiwan park in August.

Mayer, who goes by the name “Oz,” fled to the Philippines after news broke of the murder, where he arrested earlier this month. He is currently waiting extradition back to Taiwan.

On Friday, Meyer’s family asked the court that the state intervene on his behalf, and request the Philippines extradite him to Israel, instead of Taiwan where they say he will likely face the death penalty.    [FULL  STORY]