Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/05/2020
By: Chao Li-yen and Kay Liu

Taichung, Oct. 5 (CNA) Taichung authorities are investigating a possible food poisoning case after a dozen university students from Indonesia were hospitalized on Oct. 1, the city's Department of Food and Drug Safety said Monday.

According to the department, the 12 students studying at an unidentified university in the central city were sent to the hospital after dinner when they came down with fevers, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Because initial tests ruled out COVID-19 as the cause of these symptoms, the department said it investigated the possibility of food poisoning and took samples from workers at three of the vendors supplying food to the hotel.

The department said it found that some of the suppliers' practices did not comply with food safety regulations, such as workers not wearing hats when preparing food, and ordered them to make improvements to comply with the regulations before the next inspection.
[FUILL  STORY]

NO END IN SIGHT: A CNFI survey found that 80 percent of respondents said they have been hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic and many are calling for more government aid

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 06, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Most Taiwanese firms in China plan to cut back their operations or put off investment, as most believe that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak would persist for at least six months, a survey released yesterday by the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工業總會) found.

The trade group, which represents a majority of local manufacturing firms, sounded the alarm after polling 157 companies in July and August.

“COVID-19 has had a much worse impact on Taiwanese firms than reported in the media, and could batter the economy like a massive tsunami if the government fails to respond quickly,” the federation said.

More than 80 percent of the respondents said they took a hit from the pandemic, mainly in the form of lost orders and disruptions to goods flows.    [FULL  STORY]

The fear of the Vatican’s eventual recognition of China is a growing concern, especially given that the Holy See is the most important embassy in Taiwan among the remaining fifteen.
 

The National Interest
Date: October 3, 2020
By: Patrick Mendis

When President-elect Donald Trump accepted a phone call from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan just before his inauguration, “political warfare” between China and the United States had already begun. Now, evolving evidence suggests that Washington has departed from its 1972 “one China” policy and 1979 “policy of ambiguity” to one of resolve on defending Taiwan, leading to a “policy of strategic clarity.”  

The sales of advanced weaponry to counter perceived China threats and the two recent visits of high-profile American officials—who heralded the technologically advanced island as the model for controlling the spread of the coronavirus pandemic—have deepened the bilateral relationship between the United States and Taiwan. The path that began with the Taiwan Travel Act of 2018 and the signing of a Consular Agreement in 2019 now makes China increasingly apprehensive of Trump’s next move: a possible unilateral diplomatic “recognition” of the democratic island-nation.  

These events coincided with the Holy See’s announcement of the upcoming renewal of the Vatican-China agreement in October, which the Catholic Church assured to Taiwan was “pastoral rather than political.” The fear of the Vatican’s eventual recognition of China is a growing concern, especially given that the Holy See is the most important embassy in Taiwan among the remaining fifteen. Countering its political warfare, Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, noted that the Taipei administration is “not seeking full diplomatic relations with the United States at this moment,” which signals a forthcoming bilateral approach to undermine China’s “core interests” and cross-Strait ties.  

The alignment of political warfare between and among China, the United States, and the Holy See in Taiwan could easily be the epicenter of the warning that UN Secretary-General António Guterres gave in his prophetic “Great Fracture” of the world speech at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. Nonetheless, similar to the use of President Ronald Reagan’s political strategy against the Soviet Union, the White House may have discreetly employed the Holy See to constrain the Chinese calculus of exercising power over its geostrategic space. The strengthening of ties with the Holy See in an effort to counter China’s renewed relationship with the Vatican may—in part—explain the recent nomination of the conservative and Catholic Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court Judge, making her the “sixth Catholic” on the nine-member court.      [FULL  STORY]

Washington Times
Date: October 2, 2020
By: Gary Anderson

China is building up one what may become one of the most impressive military coalitions in world history in the Indo-Pacific region, including India, Australia, the Asian Tigers, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and the Republic of the Philippines. Unfortunately for Beijing, this emerging coalition is anti-Chinese. China’s President Xi Jinping has apparently made a deliberate policy of bullying and antagonizing his nation’s neighbors in the region, and he has succeeded.

For centuries, the Chinese traditionally looked at neighboring states as tributaries at worst or clients at best, but there has generally been a mixture of conciliation and coercion in the relationships. Pre-Xi, China seemed to be on regional charm offensive; but all of that has changed recently. There is not much diplomacy involved in China’s regional actions of late. China claims that its crackdown in Hong Kong and its bullying of Taiwan are internal political disputes, but its aggressive actions in the South China Sea are clear violations of international norms and law of the sea. 

Vietnam and the Philippines as well as Taiwan have issues with China’s illegal claims to sovereignty over islets in the South China Sea. Japan and China have a dispute over the Senkaku Islands. Taken as a group, it is easy to write these issues off as normal border disputes along with the longstanding China-India border disagreements. However, some of China’s recent actions are hard to explain other than as regional bullying.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte went out of his way to try building a closer relationship with Beijing at the cost of his relationship with the United States only to be rudely rebuffed. Likewise, Australian attempts to develop closer ties with China have were met with threats and bluster. These were golden opportunities that most rising powers would have leapt at. Mr. Xi is inexplicably playing off a different sheet of music. His “my way or the highway” approach to regional actors is a clear message to them that he wants the United States out of the Indo-Pacific theater and that he intends to use all elements of national power — to include military and economic coercion — to enforce his will.    [FULL  STORY]

Suspect caught with 16 packets of drugs in delivery box

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/03
By:  Central News Agency

A 19-year-old man pretending to be a food delivery man was caught selling illicit drugs in Taoyuan on Thursday, according to the city's police force.

The suspect, identified only by his surname Yeh (葉), was found to be looking to sell drugs through a social media site by the Taoyuan City Police Department's Taoyuan Precinct, the police said in a statement Friday. The police said it contacted Yeh online and arranged a transaction with him outside a convenience store.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/04/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) Indigenous Taiwanese singer Abao's "Kinakaian" ("Mother Tongue") emerged as the biggest winner at the 31st Golden Melody Awards in Taipei Saturday.

"Kinakaian" won Album of the Year, Best Indigenous Language Album, and the track "Thank You" clinched Song of the Year at the awards ceremony held at Taipei Music Center.

The jury commended the album, saying that the unique performance of Abao, whose full name is Aljenljeng Tjaluvie, transcended the language barrier.

"I want to tell all Indigenous people: don't waste your talent but also don't rely just on your talent," the 39-year-old singer said in her acceptance speech.    [FULL  STORY]

OPTIMISTIC GOAL: The Ministry of Education plans to choose four schools that would be models for the policy, which some university presidents said would pose challenges

Taipei Times
Date:  Oct 04, 2020
By: Rachel Lin, Wu Po-hsuan and
William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

The Ministry of Education aims to have 90 percent of doctoral degree courses, 70 percent of master’s degree courses and 50 percent of undergraduate courses at four universities taught in English within the next few years, a source said yesterday.

The ministry last week held a meeting with the heads of several universities, from which it plans to select four schools that would serve as a model for the policy, the source said.

The ministry had in the past attempted to increase the number of courses at public universities taught in English to attract international students, but hit a stumbling block as not enough lecturers were proficient in English, the source said, adding that later attempts to hire more foreign lecturers were met with resistance.

The source said that less than 30 percent of graduate-level courses at the nation’s universities are taught in English.    [DFULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 October, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

A Chinese anti-submarine patrol plane entered Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone on Thursday as the country celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival. The incursion into the zone comes amid heightened cross-strait tensions.

The defense ministry says it responded by deploying planes to intercept, issuing radio warnings, and mobilizing air surveillance assets.    [FULL  STORY]

The U.S. posture of “strategic ambiguity” has helped keep the peace for decades

The Washington Post
dATE: Oct. 2, 2020
By: Steven M. Goldstein

China dispatched more than 30 warplanes on combat drills in the Taiwan Strait last month, reportedly to show its displeasure at the news that the Trump administration is prepared to sell long-range missiles to Taiwan’s military. With China-Taiwan tensions on the rise, where does that leave the United States?

When Chinese officials in 1995 asked how the United States would react to a crisis in the Taiwan Strait, Assistant Defense Secretary Joseph Nye replied, “We don’t know and you don’t know; it would depend on the circumstances.”

Today, this posture suggesting “strategic ambiguity” in regard to American intervention to defend Taiwan is an approach many members of Congress and foreign policy specialists might call inappropriate, or even dangerous. Instead, they argue, U.S. foreign policy should include unequivocal support for Taiwan, as expressed in one recently proposed piece of legislation — “The Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act.”    [FULL  STORY]

Legislators from a number of parties march together in support of Taiwan’s LGBT communities

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/02
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The "Love Wins" Pride parade took to the streets of Taiwan's Miaoli County on Friday (Oct. 2) to promote rights for LGBT communities and gender equality.

As part of the Pride Month celebrations, the 3.5 kilometer parade attracted hundreds of participants, including legislators from a number of parties, after setting off from Miaoli County Hall Friday afternoon. There were also 19 booths set up by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and LGBT-friendly businesses.

Legislators who joined the march included Claire Wang (王婉諭) and Sang Kok-ting (宋國鼎) of the New Power Party (NPP), Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Chen Kuang-hsuan (陳光軒) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), independent Tseng Wen-hsueh (曾玟學), and Chen Pin-an (陳品安).

The event organizers said the "Love Wins" Pride parade is an opportunity to unite all supporters of gender equality in Miaoli County, which is considered more traditional than its neighboring counties. They added that they were able to fundraise more than NT$260,000 (US$8,990) for this year's parade and it showed local determination to support LGBT people, reported UDN.    [FULL  STORY]