DARK DECISIONS: A referendum on human rights would insult society, undercut Taiwanese values and is a slap in the face to the president, a same-sex marriage advocate said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 19, 2018
By: Jonathan Chin  /  Staff writer

The Central Election Commission’s decision on Tuesday to approve three national

referendum proposals against same-sex marriage came under fire yesterday from social activists and members of the public.

The commission said that two referendum proposals from Alliance for the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance president Tseng Hsien-ying (曾獻瑩) and one from its convener, Yu Hsin-yi (游信義), were drafted in accordance with the law.

One of Tseng’s proposals asks people whether they think same-sex marriage is a right that should be granted by means other than amending the Civil Code — which governs marriage — while the other asks whether education about homosexuality at elementary and high schools mandated by the Gender Equity Education Act (性別平等教育法) should be abolished.

Yu asked people whether they support keeping the definition of marriage in the Civil Code as a union between a man and a woman.    [FULL  STORY]

Voice of America
Date: April 17, 2018
By: Anita Powell

JOHANNESBURG — Taiwan’s new president makes her first trip to Africa this week to

visit one of the island’s two remaining allies on the continent. Support for Taiwan has diminished in Africa over the past decade, as billions of dollars in Chinese investment have flowed into the continent.

But the tiny African kingdom of Swaziland says it welcomes Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, as she makes her first visit to the landlocked kingdom that is one of Taiwan’s oldest allies.

Jennifer Neves, Swaziland’s undersecretary for international cooperation in the foreign ministry, spoke to VOA on Tuesday as she headed to the airport to receive Tsai for the four-day visit.

Taiwan, she said, has long funded a range of agricultural, industrial and vocational programs in Swaziland.    [FULL  STORY]

CNN
Date: April 16, 2018
By: Ben Westcott and Serenitie Wang, CNN

(CNN)Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a clear message of Beijing’s disapproval over growing ties between the United States and Taiwan by ordering live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait.

The drills, to be held this coming Wednesday, will mark the first time the Chinese Navy has held drills with live ammunition in the strait since September 2015, in the lead-up to the self-ruled island’s presidential election.

Prior to those elections, relations between the two were at a high point after Xi met with then-President Ma Ying-jeou, the first such meeting in history between leaders of the two governments.    [FULL  STORY]

The seized materials are believed to be enough to produce NT$6 billion-worth of methamphetamine

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/17
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese authorities have uncovered the largest methamphetamine factory found in the country to date, with 107 kg of crystallized methamphetamine, 142 kg of half-processed methamphetamine, and 7,000 kg of materials set to produce the drug being recovered following a raid on a sheet metal house in Tucheng District, New Taipei City on Monday.

A joint effort by Pingtung County, Taipei City, and New Taipei City police busted the meth production lab in Tucheng as two suspects were caught in the act of making brine with eight large pots, the precursor needed to make methamphetamine, according to the police on Tuesday.

The authorities reportedly received a report that the suspects, one surnamed Ko, 35, and the other surnamed Lee, 27, have been extracting meth at a large sheet metal house in Tucheng, and who were both arrested Monday evening after days of surveillance and investigations.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/17
By: Huang Huei-min and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 17 (CNA) The military will continue routine training while maintaining rapid

response capability and combat readiness amid China’s upcoming life-fire exercise in the Taiwan Strait, the Kinmen Defense Command said Tuesday.

An artillery practice using shoulder-launched rockets was conducted on the outlying island that day, an exercise the command said was part of routine annual training.

In a statement, Kinmen Defense Command said training will continue and combat readiness be maintained as usual.

The exercise on Tuesday was held one day prior to a live-fire military exercise to be conducted by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
[FULL  STORY]

PROBLEMATIC: The proposed changes would lead to Kaohsiung being represented by fewer lawmakers, even though the number of city residents has not declined

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 18, 2018
By: Cheng Hung-ta and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Central Election Committee’s planned adjustments to the allocation of legislative

seats for the 2020 election would exacerbate the north-south divide and aggravate legislative malapportionment, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers told a news conference yesterday, saying constitutional reform is the sole solution.

The committee on Feb. 1 announced plans to assign one additional seat for both Tainan and Hsinchu County, while taking away one seat each from Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.

The north-south divide refers to the unequal pace of development between more urbanized northern Taiwan and the rural south, while the issue of malapportionment refers to the suspicion that a majority of electoral constituencies have been assigned to certain areas to protect some communities of interest, she said.

The change would lead to fewer lawmakers representing Kaohsiung voters — eight lawmakers would represent 340,000 voters, instead of the current nine representing 300,000 voters — despite the city’s population not declining, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-16

Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yong says maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan

Strait has long been Premier William Lai’s China policy. Hsu was speaking Monday.

Hsu’s comment came a day after the premier told the local media that he is a “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker.” Lai said Taiwan is an independent sovereignty and that there is no need to declare Taiwan independence. Lai also said only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide its future.

Hsu said Lai’s comments do not run counter to the government’s existing China policy, which is maintaining the status quo. Hsu reiterated that the Republic of China is an independent sovereignty. The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan lets itself down when it comes to broadcasting its merits and opportunities online.

The Nwews Lens
Date: 2018/04/16
By: David Green

Can you remember the first time you thought about coming to Taiwan?

Which websites did you use to research the idea? What language were you reading? Are you one of the handful of people who successfully applied for Taiwan’s Entrepreneur Visa individually, and if so, how did you manage it?

The fact is that information about how to come to Taiwan and the resources that might be available to you when you do is fragmented and confusing.

Contact Taiwan, the official portal that is meant to handle outreach to foreigners is executed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA), and is squarely aimed at attracting investment. The web design is busy and, in short, undeserving of being the official face Taiwan shows to the world. For example, the site is currently running a barrier proclaiming: “Taiwan has passed a NEW STATUTE that offers many BENEFITS to foreign talent…Making their life and work in Taiwan more convenient.”

It’s a message that captures both the gulf between the government and Taiwan’s foreign community and a slapdash approach that undermines Taiwan’s best efforts to better appeal to people overseas.    [FULL  STORY]

The vaunted warning system is inspired by Japan’s J-Alert, according to an Upmedia report

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/16
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – In response to China’s growing military might and Beijing’s threats

to challenge the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s military is said to be planning upgrades to the existing nationwide warning system to alert Taiwanese phone users to receive a text whenever the threat of an air strike occurs.

The new alert system is scheduled to undergo several tests across the country during the annual month-long Wan An air defense drill (萬安演習), an exercise that simulates an air attack by Chinese military forces, and which will start in late May.

According to an earlier report, the drill will be held in Central Taiwan on May 29, followed by one in Northern Taiwan on June 5, Southern Taiwan on June 7, Eastern Taiwan on June 12, Matsu on June 14, Kinmen on June 21, and Penghu on June 26.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/16
By: Flor Wang and Lu Hsin-hui

Taipei, April 16 (CNA) The live-fire military exercise to be held by the People’s Liberation

Army (PLA) in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday is just a form of psychological warfare employed by China to put pressure on Taiwan, an expert said Monday.

“It’s a far cry from the 1996 missile crisis triggered by a joint military exercise across the Taiwan Strait. This one is much smaller and will only last a day,” Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐), a former deputy secretary-general of the National Security Council, said in a radio interview.

Asked if the two military exercises held 22 years apart have some similarities, Chang said the differences were more noticeable.

“The area where Chinese troops held military exercises in 1996 simulating joint attacks on Taiwan actually crossed over the median line of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
[FULL  STORY]