UNIFICATION: The Pentagon said China could pursue a measured approach signaling its readiness for armed conflict or conduct a methodical campaign to force capitulation

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 18, 2018
By: Lee Hsin-fang, Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA

Taiwan’s military advantages are waning as Beijing continues to modernize

its armed forces and reinforce preparations for a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the US Department of Defense said in a report released on Thursday.

Taiwan has historically enjoyed military advantages in a potential cross-strait conflict, such as technological superiority and the “inherent geographic advantages of island defense,” the Pentagon said in its report to US Congress titled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

However, “China’s multi-decade military modernization effort has eroded or negated many of these,” it said.

Although Taiwan is taking steps to compensate, they only partially address the nation’s declining defensive advantages at a time when China’s official defense budget has grown to about 15 times that of Taiwan, it added.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-16

There has been no agreement so far between workers and employers about

a new minimum wage.

The review of current salaries by the minimum wage review committee of the labor ministry began on Wednesday. Labor representatives held a press conference in front of the labor ministry to call on the government to raise the minimum wage to NT$28,862 (US$ 936) up from the current NTS$22,000 (US$ 713).

Chuang Chueh-an, director-general of the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, said that raising the minimum wage will not affect the employment rate. He said the government helps low-income workers and provides adequate wages.    [FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/16
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

The Presidential Office is accusing of China was imposing its ideology on the international community and infringing on free speech, after netizens there attacked the 85C Bakery Café chain.

Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said the actions by Chinese online commentators aimed at hindering the world market order and freedom of speech are “uncivilized.”

The statements come after Chinese posters flooded the company’s Weibo sites to accuse it of being a pro-Taiwan independence following a visit Aug. 14 by President Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) to one of its Los Angeles branches, during which she signed a pillow and posed for pictures.

The cafe has now closed its Weibo site and issued a statement expressing support for the “1992 consensus” after an editorial in China’s state-run Global Times newspaper urged it to do so or risk a boycott of its outlets in China.    [FULL  STORY]

As China seeks to lure Taiwanese workers, Taiwan has an opportunity to educate people back home about what life is really like in a Communist dictatorship.

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/16
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) — China has once more ratcheted up its efforts to try and lure more Taiwanese workers across the Straits, in their latest economic assault on Taiwan.

But a fascinating report by the BBC’s Traditional Mandarin language news service has illustrated how exposure to life in China can, ironically, boost Taiwanese workers love of their homeland.

Earlier this year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched their so-called 31 initiatives, a program of measures designed to attract talented Taiwanese workers to China and so attack the Taiwanese economy by increasing the issue of brain-drain, which is already a real concern here.

Then, earlier this month, the CCP’s Taiwan Affairs Office announced that Taiwanese workers would no longer need to apply for a special employment permit in order to work in China. In keeping with the Communist myth that Taiwan and China are part of the same country, they have decided to remove the bureaucratic employment barriers that previously existed between the two countries.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/16
By: Chai Sze-chia, Miao Zong-han and Ko Lin

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said

Thursday that Taiwanese working or studying in China should be cautious about the risks associated with the new residence permit Beijing is planning to issue to residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan starting Sep. 1.

Speaking at a press conference in Taipei, MAC Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said the residence card is part of a ploy by China to bring Taiwan into its political fold, similar to the economic measures launched earlier this year to attract Taiwanese businesses.

He said Taiwan citizens in China should be aware that the residence permit could pose a risk to personal privacy, particularly in light of Beijing’s current efforts to install a vast network of video surveillance and facial recognition technologies as means of social control.    [FULL  STORY]

RANDOM STRIKES: Chinese threats to boycott the bakery chain 85oC is just another example of Beijing feeling the heat from the trade war with the US, William Lai said

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 17, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Premier William Lai (賴清德) has lashed out at China for threatening to

boycott Taiwan-based bakery cafe chain 85°C (85度C) after a California outlet allegedly gave President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) a gift bag, comparing its behavior to a “blind swordsman randomly striking around” and said it was likely venting its frustration on Taiwan after the setbacks in its trade war with the US.

“Such behavior will not win society’s support,” Lai said in an interview that aired on Wednesday night on Chinese Television System.

“While in the US, the president passed by a store of a very successful local brand and went inside to buy a few cups of coffee to encourage the employees,” he said.

“China’s reaction to this natural act was grossly excessive,” the premier said. “China is like a blind swordsman randomly striking around.”
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/15
By: Yeh Su-ping and Flor Wang

Asuncion, Aug. 15 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) flew into

Paraguay Tuesday, where she met President-elect Mario Abdo Benitez, with the two agreeing to further expand bilateral cooperation.

Tsai and Abdo Benitez agreed to focus on investment, infrastructure, and trade as the three focal points of future relations, Hugo Saguier, a foreign affairs advisor to Abdo Benitez, said following the one-hour meeting.

Saguier, who was present at the meeting, said details of the ventures between the two countries will be made public when Abdo Benitez visits Taiwan in October.

“After the meeting, we reconfirmed relations between the two countries,” Saguier said. “We will continue to maintain relations with Taiwan as the two countries share the same diplomatic values, which is irreplaceable to Paraguay.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-15

President Tsai Ing-wen has arrived in Paraguay on the first stage of a visit

to allies in Latin America. On her arrival, Tsai was met with a warm welcome both from Paraguayan officials and from Taiwanese nationals in South America.

A crowd of Taiwanese nationals turned up at Paraguay’s chief airport Tuesday to welcome President Tsai Ing-wen to the country. Though many are residents of Paraguay, some had come from as far away as Argentina or Chile to see the president.

Paraguay is one of Taiwan’s Latin American allies, and the start of this official visit was marked with military pomp. Among the officials present to greet Tsai on her arrival was the country’s foreign minister.
[FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/15
By: Lo Huei-wen

As Taiwan’s public broadcaster forges into the digital age, the government

must get serious about funding the network for it to realize its potential.

On June 30, Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS) hosted its 20th Anniversary Gala, where artists sang the audience through 20 years of moving TV theme tunes from such classic dramas and shows as “April Rhapsody,” “The Sun Shines First Behind the Mountain,” “Wintry Night II,” “Crystal Boys,” “The Teenage Psychic,” and “Days We Stared at the Sun.”

These ever-popular Taiwanese TV programs reminded everyone of the unremitting efforts PTS has made over the years to produce exquisite, beloved shows. The hosts of the gala also emphasized to viewers that PTS is the most decorated station of the Golden Bell Awards — Taiwan’s equivalent of the Emmys — accumulating 240 trophies which, if stacked one by one, would reach higher than the Miramar Ferris Wheel in Taipei City.

PTS’ legacy of outstanding program production is certainly worthy of praise, but its broadcasting history has certainly not always been smooth sailing. If management does not reflect on the bumpy ride they have had over the last 20 years, it will be difficult to come to a consensus on the future direction of the station.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/14
By: Chang Kuo-tsai, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

People who love peace, freedom and human rights should not forget the words of German pastor Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984) about the Nazis, paraphrased at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston:

“First they (the Nazis) came for the communists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I continued not speaking out.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I continued not speaking out – Because I was not a Catholic.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
[FULL  STORY]