Taipei Times
Date: Jun 30, 2018
By: Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff writer

The US Department of State has requested that US Marines be sent to Taiwan to

guard the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), according to a CNN report published online yesterday, citing two US officials.

“One US official said that while the request for a Marine security guard was received several weeks ago, it has not yet been formally approved and coordination about its deployment is ongoing between the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Marines,” CNN reported.

“If the request is granted, it will be the first time in nearly 40 years that US Marines will be guarding a diplomatic post in Taiwan,” CNN said, adding that a department spokesperson would not say whether the request has been made.

Marines are posted at US overseas missions around the world to protect the diplomatic facilities and personnel stationed there. A “marine house” is usually built to accommodate them.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-28

President Tsai Ing-wen is thanking the military for helping to pass military pension

reforms.

At the promotion ceremony for high-ranking military officers on Thursday, Tsai praised the generals and thanked their family members for their understanding and support. She encouraged the officers to help strengthen national security and uphold Taiwan’s democracy.

The president affirmed the officers’ efforts over the past two years. She also highlighted, in particular, relief work following the massive earthquake that struck the east coast city of Hualien in February.

The president says there will be more national security challenges to come with swift changes to regional stability. She said the responsibilities of the military will be even greater.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s agreement with Australia to accept its asylum seekers held on Nauru makes the government complicit in human rights violations.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/28
By: Brian Hioe, 破土 New Bloom

A secret deal between Taiwan and Australia to treat refugees from Nauru denied admittance to Australia by the Turnbull government proves a shameful episode of complicity by Taiwan in the human rights abuses of the Australian and Nauru governments.

However, this has not prevented the Tsai administration from attempting to spin the episode as a contribution of Taiwan to international human rights and a sign of close ties with international allies. This was revealed after a report in the Sydney Morning Herald broke the story, with the Taiwanese and Australia governments later confirming the report’s veracity.

It has been a practice of the Australian government for some years to prevent asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat from reaching its shores and claiming asylum by detaining them in offshore immigration centers in the island nation of Nauru and on Manus Island in neighboring Papua New Guinea.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai mentioned nuclear energy and unfair-pension reforms

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/28
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ten years from now, there will be no regrets about the

government having started the country’s transformation early, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Thursday as she mentioned energy and pensions.

Her administration recently completed the task of reforming unfair pensions for the military, teachers and civil servants, while setting the country on course to become non-nuclear by 2025.

Nuclear energy looked cheap at first sight, but if you had to include the cost of dealing with the radioactive waste it produced, it was expensive after all, she said at an awards ceremony for small and medium enterprises Thursday. Using nuclear energy amounted to irresponsibly leaving the problems for the next generation to clear up, the Central News Agency quoted her as saying.

As a stable energy supply would be guaranteed, business could rest assured of its investments, according to the president.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/28
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) A Tunisian activist suggested in Taipei on Thursday that

Taiwan build a global network of civil society organizations that would aid their growth and help build vulnerable young democracies.

A great nation like Taiwan should take the lead in creating such a network, which would strengthen opinion leaders in civil society all over the world in their work against democratic backsliding and authoritarianism, Najet Zammouri, vice president of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), told CNA.

“It would be a very good step to find solutions (to challenges facing democracies),” said Zammouri, who visited Taiwan to attend two international forums hosted earlier this week by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

Zammouri, along with other attendees of the forums from more than 10 countries, met with President Tsai Tsai-ing (蔡英文) Tuesday.    [FULL  STORY]

‘CENSORSHIP’: Beijing rejected a US Department of State request for consultations on its demand that foreign companies begin referring to Taiwan as a Chinese territory

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 29, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter, with Reuters, BEIJING and WASHINGTON

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed the government’s gratitude for

efforts being made by like-minded nations to counter China’s bullying of private-sector corporations after Reuters quoted sources, including a US official, that said China had rejected US requests for talks over how US airlines and their Web sites refer to Taiwan.

“Over the past few months, Beijing has been pressuring foreign airlines to list Taiwan as Taiwan, China. This practice has reached an hysterical level,” ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said, adding that China’s repeated threats of “corporate censorship” has severely undermined affected parties’ freedom of speech and corporate freedom.

China has demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, begin referring to Taiwan as a Chinese territory on their Web sites along with Hong Kong and Macau, a move described by the White House last month as “Orwellian nonsense.”

Numerous non-US carriers, such as Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways, have already made changes to their Web sites, but several US companies, including Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, were among carriers that sought extensions to a May 25 deadline to make the changes.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 28, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA, TOKYO

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has called for Japan to engage in a

security dialogue with Taiwan, as both nations have come under military pressure and threats from China.

In an interview with the Sankei Shimbun published yesterday, Wu called for Taiwan and Japan to initiate a security dialogue, saying that ensuring security is a shared responsibility of the two nations.

The newspaper called Wu’s call a rare move, as Taiwan has no diplomatic relations with Japan.

Taiwan is looking forward to exchanges of views with Japan on ensuring security in light of increased activity by China’s armed forces in the Western Pacific in recent years and the threat it poses to both nations, Wu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-27

A program to bring English into resource-poor schools and schools in rural areas has

entered in 13th year.

This program brings native English-speaking youth of ethnic Chinese descent to Taiwan during the summer as English-teaching volunteers. It is organized by the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), the government’s ministry in charge of liaising with ethnic Chinese communities abroad.

This year’s event has brought 600 youth volunteers from countries including the US, Canada, and the UK. They will be sent to 81 elementary and middle schools across Taiwan.

At a press conference held Wednesday to mark this summer’s program, OCAC Minister Wu Hsin-Hsing said that the program is a good way to get young people of ethnic Chinese descent to get to know Taiwan. At the same time, Wu said the program will also serve as an eye-opening experience for Taiwanese students.
[SOURCE]

The Tsai administration’s inaction on same-sex marriage puts Taiwan’s diplomatic standing in peril.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/27
By: Alex Huang and Jerry Zhang

In an exclusive interview with the AFP on Monday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen cast China as a global threat to democracy and civil liberties and urged the world to stand up to its aggression.

The AFP, however, broke two stories from the interview. In the other, it highlighted Tsai’s refusal to commit to protecting marriage equality for same-sex couples.

She cited fears over the issue dividing generations, suggesting those Taiwanese over 40 years old oppose the move.

These discordant narratives reflect an unfortunate reality: When it comes to the LGBTQ+ community, the Tsai administration is failing Taiwan’s brand of democracy and civil liberties.    [FULL  STORY]

‘we love Taiwan’ is the broad consensus in the U.S. according to Thomas J. Christensen

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/27
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former senior U.S. official and Princeton University

professor Thomas J. Christensen says Taiwan “is not an issue, not a question, not a problem, but a miracle” during workshop at Washington think-tank on June 25, reported Taiwan Awakening.

Christensen also said there was a broad consensus in the U.S. that “we love Taiwan””.

The comments were made in response to a question during a workshop at the Stimson Centre, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C. on June 25.

Christensen began by saying that Taiwan is a miracle that should be guaranteed. Taiwan is a miracle because it has successfully created a developed economy and a vibrant democracy.    [FULL  STORY]