Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/27
By: Huang Ya-chun and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) The No. 2 reactor at the Second Nuclear Power Plant in New

Taipei resumed operations Tuesday and could run at full capacity in four days, depending on operating conditions, state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said.

Operations began at 12:55 p.m. after the company received permission from the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) earlier in the day to do so, Taipower said.

The reactor had been shut down since May 16, 2016, when some of its surge arresters burned down because of an excessive voltage level. Taipower decided to overhaul the reactor.

On Feb. 5, Taipower applied for AEC approval to restart the reactor after completing the overhaul, but it was not until March 5 that the AEC determined the reactor could run again without safety concerns.    [FULL  STORY]

FIRST NAME: Huang Huang-hsiung is a ‘patient negotiator’ and has the knowledge to lead the transitional justice promotion committee, the DPP’s Ker Chien-ming said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2018
By: Peng Wan-hsin and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Former Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) has been nominated to head

the proposed transitional justice promotion committee, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.

Lai confirmed that Huang had been picked during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan after New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) asked him about media reports that Huang had been tapped by the Executive Yuan to chair the nine-member committee.

The reports “are correct” and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus had been informed of the Cabinet’s plan, Lai said.

The list of nominees for the committee is to be submitted to the legislature by the end of this week for approval, Lai said, adding that he “respectfully requests” they support Huang’s confirmation.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-26

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) says cities must not overstep their authority when it

comes to cross-strait exchanges. That’s the word from MAC deputy minister Chiu Chui-cheng on Monday.

Chiu said exchanges that come with political preconditions are not conducive to cross-strait ties and that issues involve national policy must be dealt with by the government.

Chiu’s comments came following a meeting in Shanghai between New Taipei mayor Eric Chu, a member of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Liu Jieyi, head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. During the meeting, Liu raised the so-called 1992 Consensus, saying that China is opposed to Taiwan’s independence.    [FULL  STORY]

The main purpose of Chinese censorship isn’t to keep the truth from being exposed, but to maintain an unquestioning attitude to authority.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/26
By: TJ

Chinese-style censorship has always been seen as incredibly absurd in Taiwan.

During the period when Xi Jinping was pushing a constitutional amendment allowing him to stay in office past his expiration date, words such as “emperor,” “lifetime,” the letter “N” and even the name “Xi Jinping” were censored from search engines in China.

Even if Xi disappeared from Baidu search results, people knew he was still there. Citizens couldn’t search for emperors — but they knew that a worrying constitutional amendment was being passed to applause at the National People’s Congress in Beijing.

If the Chinese government were really worried about being overthrown, it obviously couldn’t prevent this with restrictions on speech.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Chinese military aircraft conducted flight drills in the region March 25-26, causing alarm in Japan and Taiwan
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/03/26
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) inspected three military facilities

in Hsinchu, Taiwan Monday after China had once again sent military aircraft for flight drills in the region March 25-26, causing alarm in both Japan and Taiwan.

The Chinese military released a statement on March 25, saying it had conducted separate combat training missions involving H-6K bombers as well as Su-30 and Su-35 fighters through the Miyako Strait between Japans’ Okinawa and Miyako Island.

On Monday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MOND) confirmed that Chinese aircraft, including Xian H-6 bombers, Su-30 fighter jets, and Shannxi Y-8 transport planes, conducted a drill through the Bashi Channel to the West Pacific.

Faced with increasing military activity on the part of Beijing, President Tsai, having said she had probably visited the country’s military bases more frequently than any of her predecessors, visited military facilities in Hsinchu on Monday morning with National Defense Minister Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) and Secretary-General to the National Security Council David Lee (李大維), both of whom assumed their position one month ago.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/26
By: Matt Yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) Several Chinese military aircraft were seen flying Monday over

the Bashi Channel, which lies between Taiwan and the Philippines, as part of a long-range flight training mission in the Western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that day.

The military aircraft included a Su-30 fighter, a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane and a Xian H-6 strategic bomber. They all returned to their bases in China on the same route after the training mission, according to the MND.

Taiwan’s military keeps a close watch on Chinese military movements and maintains the necessary measures to ensure national security, the ministry added.     [FULL  STORY]

SHANGHAI VISIT: While New Taipei City’s mayor and Liu Jieyi discussed peaceful exchanges, the MND deployed planes to shadow Chinese jets over the Bashi Channel

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 27, 2018
By: Lai Hsiao-tung, Chung Li-hua and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Liu

Jieyi (劉結一) yesterday reiterated the so-called “1992 consensus” as a basis for cross-strait relations as they met in Shanghai.

Chu is the first Taiwanese politician to meet Liu since the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Committee announced the former UN ambassador’s appointment earlier this month.

Insistence on the “1992 consensus” has been the consistent position of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Chu said.

Even though the KMT is now the opposition party, this stance would not change, and it hopes that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can engage in peaceful exchanges and achieve win-win cooperation, Chu said.
[FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: March 25, 2018
By: Philip Pullella, Yimou Lee

VATICAN CITY/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Five blocks from the Vatican, on the bustling, tourist-

packed street leading to St. Peter’s Basilica, a Taiwanese flag flutters from the window of a third story suite of offices that house Taipei’s embassy to the Holy See.

These days, the staff inside are anxious. They know that one night they may have to lower that flag – red and blue with a white sun – for the last time.

As the Vatican and China move closer to a historic deal on the appointment of bishops, which would signal a warming of once-frigid relations, diplomats and scholars say Taiwan could lose the most from the deal..

Under the deal, the Vatican will have a say in negotiations for the appointment of future bishops in China, whose Catholics are divided between an “underground” Church loyal to the pope and a government-backed Church.    [FULL  STORY]

The National Interest
Date: March 25, 2018
By: Robert Beckhusen

I had no idea these weapons still existed, and was frankly amazed they’re still in service. In the video below, Taiwanese troops roll a Black Dragon on rails from its underground lair on Kinmen — before firing it with a really big bang. It’s worth remembering there was a time when the islands were at the front line of a long and violent conflict, one characterized by frequent artillery duels and commando raids. Now the islands are tourist attractions and Taiwan’s military presence fell sharply … decades ago.

The 240-millimeter M1 howitzer, or “Black Dragon,” was the heaviest piece of field artillery the U.S. Army deployed in World War II.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/03/25
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A lost cat named “Meow-Meow” was found 46 days after the

deadly 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Hualien, eastern Taiwan on February 6, and thanks to a finder, the feline has reunited with his owner on Saturday.

A netizen posted pictures of Meow-Meow on a Facebook public group page asking: “Anyone lost this cat? It’s a male cat and he was found the day before yesterday (March 22). He is now very weak and those who know anyone looking for him please contact me.”    [FULL  STORY]