For lack of judicial agreements, Hong Kong has so far been unable to acquire evidence from Taiwan and indict the suspect on murder charges

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/17
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Autopsy results of an appalling homicide involving the

killing of a 21-year-old Hong Kong girl by her 20-year-old boyfriend in Taiwan have pointed to strangulation as the cause of death for the victim, reports said today.

Earlier, investigation into the case has confirmed that Poon Hiu-wing (潘曉穎) had been pregnant before being murdered by Chan Tung-kai (陳同佳), and the latest findings released by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office indicated that Poon was strangled to death by Chan as suggested by the dislocation of her cervical spine, reported Liberty Times.

The couple visited Taiwan in February to spend Valentine’s Day on the island but before leaving for Hong Kong, the man allegedly killed the woman and left the body inside a pink suitcase which he dumped behind an MRT station near the Tamsui River.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/17
By: Yeh Su-ping and Ko Lin 

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reiterated Tuesday that Taiwan is still willing to engage in communications with China but will only do so on an equal footing with no political conditions attached.

“We will never yield under pressure,” Tsai said, stressing that Taiwan adheres to a free and democratic lifestyle and will firmly uphold its sovereignty.

Tsai made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting European Parliament delegation led by Frank Engel of Luxembourg at the Presidential Office.

She thanked the members for their long-term support of Taiwan, saying the government was especially grateful when several pro-Taiwan EU Parliament members showed up at a rally held by Taiwanese expatriates and officials in Belgium to protest China’s bullying and suppression.    [FULL  STORY]

COMBAT READY: It took almost five years for the army to complete the required training for its pilots, ground crews and logistics personnel, President Tsai Ing-wen said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 18, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The commissioning of the nation’s Apache attack helicopters is a critical step in

equipping the armed forces to mount a “multiple deterrence” strategy in the event of an enemy invasion, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

Presiding over a ceremony that saw the commissioning of 29 Apaches into the Taoyuan-based Army Aviation and Special Forces Command, Tsai said the new helicopters would play an important role in the military’s “multiple deterrence, resolute defense” strategy.

“The commissioning of the helicopters is an important milestone in boosting the ROC Armed Forces’ combat readiness. The government will fully support the military to follow up and further enhance the helicopters’ capabilities,” Tsai said.

“Multiple deterrence” means having the ability to attack and defend on various fronts and prevent enemy forces from entering Taiwan by air, land or sea, according to the Ministry of Defense.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-07-16

Five international experts on gender equality are in Taipei to review

Taiwan’s third report under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, and therefore unable to participate in official CEDAW reviews. But it passed legislation in 2011 to comply with the convention anyway.

The latest report on gender equality in Taiwan covers the years 2013 through 2016. Vice President Chen Chien-jen spoke at the opening ceremony on Monday, as the one-week review was set to begin.    [FULL  STORY]

 

The News Lens
Date: 2018/07/16
By: David Green

The company’s tech allows data partners to track people and their activities in large-scale indoor environments. with a minimum of manpower.

It’s hard to tell if Spatial Topology Technology (STOMAP) cofounders Frankie Chen (陳宴誠) and Allen Chang (張至仁), both 32, are reticent to explain exactly how their technology works because it’s fiendishly complicated, or they are wary of a competitor stealing their idea.

The answer is possibly both.

By their own admission, STOMAP’s team of four engineer co-founders sometimes get a little too buried in the tech, and in Chang’s words, “lose track of the market.”

Billed in no-nonsense fashion as “the only indoor map platform embedded with both indoor positioning and navigation systems on this planet”, STOMAP is a potentially thorny concept to grasp because the core of the business is not really maps, but data.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/07/16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A home run baseball flying out of the field smashed into a passing car on Sunday, causing the terrified female driver and her child to shriek at the unexpected intrusion.

Taoyuan Department of Rapid Transit Systems senior specialist Chou shu-xia (鄒淑霞) was taking her child on a trip and when she was driving past the Qing Pu Softball Field in Chungli District, Taoyuan City, a flying baseball hit the windshield of her car, causing a serious dent and cracks in the windshield, according to a CNA report.

Chou said she heard a loud noise and then saw the circular dent and cracks in the windshield, the report said. While she was badly shaken by the incident that came so out of the blue, her elementary school child was terrified and burst into crying, according to the report.

Even though nobody was hurt in the incident, both the mother and the child suffered from shock.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/16
By: Phoenix Hsu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) New Education Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said

Monday that the next one to two months will be the golden period for handling a dispute over the selection of a new National Taiwan University (NTU) president and that he wants to communicate with NTU on the matter.

Yeh made the remarks after a ceremony in which he took over the post of education minister, which was left vacant by Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆), who resigned May 29.

Yeh said it is not good for the NTU president case to be stalled because leaving the NTU presidential vacancy unfilled for too long will harm the development of the university.

Yeh was one of five ministers to assume their new posts Monday following a partial Cabinet reshuffle.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 17, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

The National Palace Museum (NPM) should reflect the history of East Asia

from a Taiwan-

centric perspective to make it more relatable to Taiwanese, instead of allowing it to remain “a Chinese enclave,” newly inaugurated museum Director Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) said yesterday.

“Ask an Aborigine, a direct descendant of the earliest inhabitants of this land, to visit the museum and tell you if they feel the museum represents them, and none of them will say it does. The museum as it is now is a Chinese enclave and not a part of Taiwan,” Chen told a news conference in Taipei a day after his inauguration.

His vision is to transform it into a Taiwanese museum by reinterpreting the objects on display and curating its exhibitions in a way that tells the history of East Asia from a Taiwanese perspective, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

The Epoch Times
Date: July 15, 2018
By Paul Huang

WASHINGTON–Fallout from the U.S.-China trade war will not seriously affect Taiwan, which has spent a few years diversifying its economy away from the politically hostile mainland and investing into Southeast Asia, according to a Taiwanese trade official. The comment comes amidst concern by many that Trump’s escalating trade confrontation with Beijing could be economically damaging to U.S. allies in East Asia.

Earlier this week Washington announced it will impose new tariffs of 10 percent on US$200 billion worth of Chinese exports in September, in addition to the 25 percent imposed on US$34 billion announced earlier this month. The tariffs are part of the Trump administration’s broader pushback against what it sees as China’s unfair trade practices and decades of exploiting the global trade system.

The trade war sparks fear that other Asian nations will also be hit hard by the economic fallout, and some observers have gone as far as warningthat Taiwan “stands to lose the most.” Such observations are based on the common understanding that Taiwan’s economy relies heavily on trade with China and that U.S. tariffs will also hit hard Taiwanese businesses that export manufactured goods to other parts of the world.

Taiwan’s approach in dealing with any fallout from U.S.-China trade war is “don’t panic, but get ready,” according to Liu Shih-chung, vice chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), a trade promotion organization sponsored by the Taiwanese government.
[FULL  STORY]

President tries to boost weak approval ratings ahead of November vote

Nikkei Asian Review
Date: July 16, 2018
By: Kensaku Ihara, Nikkei staff writer

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s momentum toward reform will be thwarted, President

Tsai Ing-wen warned on Sunday, if the opposition party does well in November regional elections, which is the main skirmish before the 2020 general election.

“This is not just a regional election,” the party chief told a crowd of roughly 600 party officials and others at a convention of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party held at a hotel in Taipei. “This is a fight between reformers and anti-reformers.”

Appearing on stage with candidates, Tsai touted her party’s accomplishments, including pension reform that scaled back generous benefits for civil servants and others. She said that the opposition Kuomintang must not be allowed to win, warning that reforms will not come to pass if those opposed take power.

“And we cannot cave in to pressure from China,” she said in regards to cross-strait relations, which have been cool under her leadership. Tsai reiterated that Taiwan will deepen relations with such countries as the U.S. and Japan to deal with Beijing.    [FULL  STORY]