FAIR WARNING: The foreign ministry suspected the move as early as last month, when the Burkinabe president refused a visit by Tsai in lieu of another international meeting

Taipei Times
Date: May 25, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Burkina Faso yesterday severed ties with Taiwan, the second diplomatic ally to do

so within a month, prompting Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) to tender his resignation.

However, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) did not sign off on Wu’s resignation, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) told the Taipei Times last night.

Speaking at an impromptu news conference in Taipei yesterday evening, Wu said that although Burkina Faso has yet to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing, it goes without saying that “China is the sole factor” in the African nation’s decision.

“This is the second nation in a month, after the Dominican Republic, to have made such a move. I share the public’s sadness, anger and regret over these incidents,” said Wu, who only took over the helm of the ministry in February.  [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-23

A total of 16 countries have voiced their support for Taiwan to take part in the World Health

Assembly (WHA) as an observer. The annual meeting of the World Health Assembly’s convening body opened in Geneva on Monday.

Taiwan has been unable to attend this year’s WHA due to pressure from China. The representatives of six of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have spoken up at the venue. These countries are Honduras, Tuvalu, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize and Kiribati.

Health officials from other nations including Japan, the United States, Germany and New Zealand have also addressed the issue of Taiwan’s participation in various ways.

Asked about reports that more allies could cut ties with Taiwan, foreign minister Joseph Wu said Wednesday that almost all of Taiwan’s allies, with the exception of the Vatican, have shown their support for Taiwan’s bid at the WHA.     [SOURCE]

David Green is an editor at The News Lens. He covers a lot of stuff, but is most comfortable trying to work out if a robot will come for his job before a government pays for retraining or offers basic income.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/23
By: David Green 

Block Guardian is a bi-weekly column from The News Lens and Blockcamp offering news and insight on crypto and token economics from Taiwan.

Picture Taiwan’s blockchain and cryptocurrency community as a sleek locomotive, the Crypto Express, steaming toward an end stop known as “Definitive Regulation.”

Few on board are clear who is driving the train, and none have ever visited their fabled destination, but most are content to reside in their carriages, gambling and playing dice, building the kind of rapport that often forms among travelers thrown together on long journeys.

The carriages soon become a law unto themselves, with the world-weary advising the less experienced as to where best to eat, who to avoid, and how to judge a good bottle of vodka without having to open it.

On a parallel track, the Taiwan Sleeper inches into view – a distinctly less snazzy looking vehicle, a gray-bodied iron-horse staffed by stiff-collared apparatchiks apparently fixated on a single task – counting enormous piles of money.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/23
By: Liao Yu-yang and Flor Wang

Taipei, May 23 (CNA) The number one generator at the coal-fired Ho Ping Power plant in

Hualien County broke down on Wednesday, triggering an orange alert for the national operating power reserve margin, according to Taiwan Power Company (Taipower).

The problem occurred at around 8:00 a.m. and the generator was eventually taken out of the power supply system at 10:53 a.m. to facilitate repairs on its boiler, Cheng Shou-fu (鄭壽福), superintendent of Taipower’s central coordination, told CNA.

With the failure of the 648,000 kilowatts generator in Hualien, the national operating reserve margin fell to 4.08 percent, triggering an “orange alert” for the third time in May, Cheng said.

According to Taipower statistics, power consumption hit 34.633 million kilowatts at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday, 0.397 million kilowatts higher than at the same time the previous day. The highest consumption so far this year was 35.061 million kilowatts recorded on May 18.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 24, 2018
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter, in Kaohsiung

The nation’s fifth and largest ocean research vessel, Legend, was yesterday inaugurated at

Kaohsiung’s Banana Pier (香蕉碼頭) by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The 2,629-tonne vessel has a top speed of 12 knots and can accommodate 19 crew members and 24 researchers for 30 days at sea, the ministry said.

The vessel is equipped with a remotely operated underwater vehicle and a giant piston coring system, among other equipment, it added.

Legend is tasked with collecting information about oceanic geography, sampling marine sediment and exploring energy sources in the waters surrounding the nation, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: May 22, 2018
By: Phillip Charlier

A businessman and his girlfriend died this morning after a high-speed crash in Taipei City that resulted in three buildings being damaged by fire. Identifying the deceased was a challenging task, as the bodies were burned beyond recognition, and the vehicle completely destroyed.

At around 1:30am, Jiang Ping-wei (江平暐), the 40 year-old fashion director of a clothing company, and his girlfriend Zheng Yi-xin (鄭宜欣), 37, were traveling at high speed on Nanjing East Road, Section 4, when the vehicle crashed head-on into a concrete traffic barrier protecting a bus stop.

The blue Porsche 911 flew into the air and landed on the sidewalk, under the awning of a clinic, where it burst into flames.

By the time firefighters arrived, the building, along with dozens of scooters parked in front of it, was ablaze. Twenty-five residents of the buildings were successfully evacuated, but three were trapped on the roof, and two were treated in hospital for injuries after being rescued.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-22

The annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) opened in Geneva on Monday.

Taiwan attended the annual meeting as an observer for several years. But it has not been invited back since last year due to pressure from Beijing. Despite the lack of an invitation, some pro-Taiwan groups have gathered on the sidelines of the event to ensure that the country’s voice is still heard.

On Monday, a group of more than 100 Taiwanese protesters staged a rally in Geneva, host of the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting. As the meeting got underway, the demonstrators gathered outside the UN’s Palace of Nations, protesting against Taiwan’s continued exclusion from the WHA. The gathering was the largest pro-Taiwan protest held on the sidelines of the WHA since 1997.    [FULL  STORY]

Reservoir levels may be low but flood season is just around the corner 

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/22
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Measurements taken today, May 22, show that the water in the Shihmen Reservoir, Taiwan’s third largest reservoir, has decreased by 50 percent.

The drop is no reason to panic because there is still around 97 million tons of water inside of the reservoir, said the Water Resources Agency Ministry (北區水資源局). However since Taiwan experienced a short overall rainy season this year, exercising awareness and caution with water is encouraged.

In fact the water storage rate surpassed 50% and it actually at 49.8% full. The water level is around 230.46 meters (750 feet), reported CNA.

While the numbers may seem frightening, the Ministry reminds citizens that flood season is just beginning.    [SOURCE]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/22
By: Tang Pei-chun, Tai Ya-chen and Kuan-lin Liu

Geneva, May 22 (CNA) Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih- chung (陳時中) sent an official letter of protest late Monday to the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat after its last chance at attending this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA), which is already underway, fell through earlier in the day.

A total of 15 WHO member-states, all of which are diplomatic allies of Taiwan, had proposed in the days leading up to the six-day meeting that Taiwan’s participation as an observer should be added to the agenda for discussion.

The proposal was rejected shortly after the annual meeting commenced after debates were held at the WHA General Committee.

Now that Taiwan officially has no chance of attending the meeting, Chen has written an official letter to the WHO Secretariat expressing the country’s disapproval and disappointment.    [FULL  STORY]

SELECTUSA: As part of the nation’s bid to strengthen US economic ties, a large delegation is to attend a conference next month for direct investments in the US

Taipei Times
Date: May 23, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged the US to include Taiwan in an exemption

list for its tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

“A stable economic partnership between Taiwan and the US plays a positive role in Washington’s economic security,” Tsai said. “We hope the US will include Taiwan in the exemption list for tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.”

She made the remarks while meeting with a delegation from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

US President Donald Trump on March 8 signed an order to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.    [FULL  STORY]