Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/17
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) A recent survey found about 80 percent of the public

disapproved of the recent moves by China to squeeze Taiwan’s international space, a consensus the pollster said was supported by people irrespective of gender, age, education level, party affiliation, ethnicity, and area of residence in Taiwan.

The survey, conducted by Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, gauged people’s opinion on recent developments in relations across the Taiwan Strait, among other issues, by asking how they felt about China enticing Burkina Faso to cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan and demanding international airlines list Taiwan as a part of China.

According to the result, 79.1 percent of the respondents disapproved of these actions by China, with 50.2 percent expressing strong disapproval, and 11.9 percent saying the actions were appropriate. The remaining 9 percent did not give their opinion.
[FULL  STORY]

ADMIRED: The respondents have projected their desire for a more orderly and cleaner society in their answers, while the ‘Japan fever’ seems to have abated, an academic said

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

Taiwanese’s favorite nation is Singapore, followed by Japan and Canada, while China

is their third-least favorite, a survey released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found.

When asked about their impression of Singapore, 88.2 percent of the respondents said they have a good impression of the city-state, while 5.4 said they have a negative impression, the poll found.

The survey found that 84.6 percent of respondents have a favorable impression of Japan, while 11 percent have a negative impression of it.

As for Canada, 82.3 percent of respondents expressed a favorable impression, while 4.2 percent said they have a negative impression of it, the foundation said.
[FULL  STORY]

The Nation
Date: June 16, 2018
By: Lin Shih-Tung, China Post, Taiwan  In: Impact Journalism Day, Online Special

Working in a foreign country, often for weeks without a break, with no friends or knowledge of the local language – this was the situation for Yani, a young woman from Indonesia living in Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei. Until then, she had been pursuing her father’s dream for her: a chance at a better life through education. But her father’s sudden death left Yani with no choice but to join the workforce to support her family after graduating high school. Having heard that higher salaries could be found abroad, she left everything familiar behind and emigrated to Taiwan.

Yani’s story is not an unusual one. Many families in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines send members abroad to find better job opportunities. Today, Taiwan hosts almost 600,000 migrant workers from these countries, or one in forty residents. Although jobs can be found –mainly in laborer positions such as domestic caretaking or fishing– a vicious cycle is perpetuated because these jobs usually offer limited transferable skills, restricting the workers to low salaries when they return home. Just as bad is the isolation endured by these migrant workers due to differences in language, religion and culture.

The One-Forty Foundation, a Taiwanese non-profit, aids migrant workers in cultivating personal goals and bridging the gap with the locals. By doing so, it attempts to improve the structural economic problems in Southeast Asia as a whole. The organization holds a variety of intercultural activities providing a platform for residents and locals to create mutual understanding.    [FULL  STORY]

The Los Angeles Times
Date: Jun 16, 2018
By: Hugo Martin

A demand by China that all air carriers worldwide refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and

Macau on online maps and drop-down menus as Chinese territories — not as independent regions — is being ignored by the U.S.’s biggest airlines.
At least for now.

The order from Beijing came in May, and dozens of foreign-based carriers have already fallen in line.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press confirmed that 20 carriers, including Air Canada, British Airways and Lufthansa, were referring to Taiwan as a part of China on their global websites. China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, but the two have been ruled separately since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.

In a statement, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: “Foreign enterprises operating in China should respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by China’s law and respect the national sentiment of the Chinese people.”

The White House, however, blasted the order, calling it “Orwellian nonsense.”
[FULL  STORY]

Islands say trip is private and not sanctioned by Cabinet

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Two Cabinet ministers and opposition figures from Taiwan ally the Solomon Islands are visiting China, reports said Saturday, inciting concern that Taipei might lose another of its 18 remaining allies.

Over the past months, the Dominican Republic and Burkina Faso switched recognition from Taiwan to China amid rising pressure from the communist country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Saturday it was closely monitoring the situation, adding that the government of the Solomon Islands had told the Taiwanese mission that the relationship was stable.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/16
By: Liu Lee-jung and Ko Lin

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) The defense ministry declined to comment on a report

Saturday that an American global aerospace firm will be transferring critical missile technologies to Taiwan.

Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) told reporters that because the issue concerns private business entities, the ministry would have no comment on the story.

Chen was asked to respond to a Liberty Times report published Saturday that Lockheed Martin has agreed to transfer titanium investment casting process technology to Taiwanese companies.

The report also cited an unnamed senior MND official as saying that the American company’s interest in cooperation is aimed at helping Taiwan’s defense industry enhance and upgrade its existing capabilities.    [FULL  STORY]

PRESTIGE: KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling said that aside from improving ties with the US, the exchanges could help raise the nation’s position on the international stage

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 17, 2018
By: Lo Tien-pin, Aaron Tu and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

Taipei and Washington have signed an agreement to share information on scientific

research that would allow representatives of Taiwan’s research institutions, including the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau, to visit national defense research institutions and laboratories in the US next year, an unnamed senior military official said yesterday.

Such US facilities have never been open to Taiwanese researchers, the official said, adding that the deal would greatly benefit Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, including the domestic production of military vessels and aircraft.

Cooperation with the US is expected to shorten the institute’s development and production time and could provide a breakthrough, as well as reduce the time needed for ongoing enhancement programs for the Tien Kung (“Sky Bow”) surface-to-air missile, the Tien Chien (“Sky Sword”) air-to-air missile and the Hsiung Feng (“Brave Wind”) anti-ship missile systems, the source said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/16
By: Chen Wei-ting and Y.F. Low

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) Heavy rainfall is again expected in central and southern Taiwan starting late Saturday due to abundant moisture brought in by a stationary front and southwesterly currents, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

Following the departure of a tropical depression that dumped a huge amount of rain in southern Taiwan over the past two days, there will be a brief break from the wet weather during the day on Saturday, according to CWB forecaster Lin Po-tung (林柏東).    [FULL  STORY]]

A senior official with the Ministry of National Defense shared a few details on the arms package and technology transfer with the media on Friday, June 15

Taiwan News 
Date:2018/06/16
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of National Defense (MND), on Friday, June 15

announced that the Unites States had agreed to transfer new military technologies to Taiwan to bolster the country’s domestic defense industry.

According to reports, Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control department will transfer technology and training for Taiwan’s defense industry to produce its own aerospace and military grade titanium, as part of a deal that will also include six sets of Patriot Advanced Capability – 3 (PAC-3) missiles and upgrade kits for PAC-2 missiles.

The titanium production technology will allow Taiwan to bolster its armoring capabilities as well as strengthen the effectiveness of various weapon’s platforms currently under development.    [FULL STORY]

Reuters
Date: JUNE 15, 2018
By: Jess Macy Yu

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Cyber attacks from China on Taiwan’s government computers are

becoming more difficult to detect, a source close to government discussions said, as hackers increasingly use online platforms such as search engines to break into systems.

While the frequency of attacks by China’s cyber army has declined, the success rate of such incursions is rising, the source said.

“Taiwan’s official departments suffer from hundreds of successful internet attacks each year, more than half of which come from assaults by China’s cyber army,” the person, who is not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified, told Reuters.

China has strongly denied accusations of engaging in cyber warfare or hacking, and has said it is itself one of the world’s biggest victims of such incidents.

Both China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the Cyberspace Administration of China did not immediately respond to a request for comment.    [FULL  STORY]