Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/11
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) Taiwan is prepared and committed to play an active role together

with the U.S. and Japan to maintain regional peace and stability under the new “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy, Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu (吳志中) said Sunday.

Speaking at an international seminar in Taipei on Taiwan’s possible role in Indo-Pacific Security Strategy, Wu said recent years have brought new challenges to the region, especially with China’s military activities and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program increasingly destabilizing regional security.

“For this reason, we have been pleased to see the U.S. and Japan promoting a vision of an Indo-Pacific region that is grounded in democratic values. This will have the effect of safeguarding the region’s freedom and openness,” Wu noted.

All of the region’s democracies must shoulder more responsibility to realize this vision and Taiwan is no exception, according to Wu.    [FULL  STORY]

PARTNER: The deputy minister of foreign affairs said at a forum on how Taiwan could benefit from the Indo-Pacific strategy that the nation aims to play a key role in the region

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 12, 2018
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Chih-chung (吳志中) yesterday reaffirmed the

government’s commitment and readiness to working with the US and Japan to maintain regional peace and stability, adding that the country aims to be recognized as an important partner with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We have been active and effective in developing new forms of cooperation and exchange with neighboring countries through the New Southbound Policy, showing that Taiwan is willing and able to contribute to regional peace and stability,” Wu said.

Wu made the remarks at the opening address of a Taipei seminar on opportunities available to Taiwan under an Indo-Pacific strategy, a strategic partnership jointly promoted by the US and Japan to counter the military and economic threats of China and North Korea.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-10

Premier William Lai says he expects his Democratic Progressive Party to unite after a

hard-fought contest in the southern city of Tainan.

Lai was speaking Saturday during a visit to the city. There, competition to secure his party’s nomination for mayor recently ended.

Lawmaker Huang Wei-che has all but secured the nomination. He reportedly came out far ahead of his five rivals in telephone polls used to pick the party’s mayoral candidate.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/03/10
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Over 100 people, including dozens of Tibetans, took part in a

march in Taipei on Saturday to mark the 59th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising Day, calling for more religious freedom and cultural preservation in Tibet.

Holding placards that read “Tibet belongs to Tibetans” and chanting “The Dalai Lama wants to return home. We want to return home,” participants marched from Exit 2 of the Taipei Metro Zhongxiao Fuxing Station to Xinyi Plaza near the Taipei 101 skyscraper.

They made a stop at National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, where several participants prostrated themselves on the ground — a Tibetan praying technique — to remind the world that more than 150 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest Chinese repression.

“We want religious freedom. We want cultural freedom. We want the freedom to protect our environment. This is the main purpose of our march today,” Tenzin Namdak, secretary-general of the Taiwan Tibetan Welfare Association, said before the march. Tashi Tsering, head of the association and chairperson of the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, told CNA that exiled Tibetans have never given up hope of returning to their homeland and of seeing the return of the Dalai Lama.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/10
By: Tang Pei-chun and Kuan-lin Liu

Brussels, March 10 (CNA) The Swedish-Taiwanese Parliamentarian Association (STPA)

called the Swedish Tax Agency’s announced name change designating Taiwan a province of China “inappropriate,” listing four key reasons for its opposition in a written letter to Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Caroline Szyber, head of the STPA, on Wednesday handed a formal letter on behalf of about 40 parliamentarians who are members of the association to Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom to convey their strong opposition to the tax office’s recent announcement.

The Swedish Tax Agency on Feb. 28 announced that Taiwan would be listed as a province of China (Taiwan, Provins i Kina), instead of the Republic of China (Republiken Kina, Taiwan) on its website, starting March 12.    [FULL  STORY]

UPGRADES: Plans to arm guards with net guns, erect a ‘landscape fence’ and replace car park roller doors have been approved and await funding before being implemented

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 11, 2018
By: Lo Tien-bin  /  Staff reporter

The Presidential Office Building has purchased new security equipment for its guards and

is expected to make minor modifications to the nearly 100-year-old building.

The series of measures were adopted in response to a politically motivated civilian attack on Aug. 18 last year, when a 51-year-old man, surnamed Lu (呂), wielded a Japanese sword and slashed the neck of a military police officer guarding the west wing of the building at the intersection of Boai Road and Zhangsha Street.

The man reportedly told prosecutors that he had been thinking about beheading President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for some time.

The attack followed a 2014 incident, when a man drove a truck through a bullet-proof screen and into the main gate of the Presidential Office Building, saying he was protesting a judicial hearing involving his ex-wife.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-09

The foreign ministry says it will continue pushing for Taiwan to join the CPTPP, or the

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The ministry made the statement Friday. That’s a day after the regional trade bloc’s 11 member countries signed an agreement in Santiago, Chile. It is expected that the agreement will take effect next year.

The ministry said Taiwan hopes to join the CPTPP in due course and that it will continue seeking support from member countries. The economics ministry said Friday that it will update its impact analysis, better communicate with the public about the bid, and continue revising rules and regulations.

The 11 member countries combined accounted for 25% of Taiwan’s trade volume last year, with imports making up 29% and exports 21%. Among them, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam are among Taiwan’s top 10 trading partners.    [SOURCE]

A Taiwanese fishing vessel was water cannoned by Japanese patrol vessels for straying too close to exclusive waters.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/09
By: TNL Staff

You would think deep-sea fishermen would be used to getting wet, but the recent use of

water cannons against a Taiwanese fishing vessel by Japanese patrol ships has proven controversial.

After the spray-down, they returned the next day, claiming to be a chartered pleasure fishing vessel – an odd claim for a long-line fishing boat. This time, they narrowly stayed out of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The owner of the fishing vessel could see his license suspended, CNA reported, but Taiwan’s admonishment of their own citizen felt like a hook in the mouth for some. In response to the lack of a firm defense by the Taiwanese government, one citizen reportedly defaced a plaque outside Japan’s de-facto embassy.    [FULL  STORY]

The event in Taichung turned out to be a huge success

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/09
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A group of Indonesian workers initiated a “Clean up” campaign

and took it upon themselves to clean the environment in Taichung starting from the Green River, the group cleaned the route along Dongxie Plaza in an orderly manner.

The event organizer named Pindy is a caretaker, who is in her fifth year in Taiwan. She said she did not expect the event to be such a big success or that it would attract so many volunteers.

The activity was organized by Indonesian workers and about 30 people responded. The clean up started from Green River and continued along the Taichung Dongxie Plaza.

The organizers expressed their happiness at the success of the event and said they hope more people take it up responsibility and continue to keep the environment of Taichung clean and beautiful. Organizers said that Taichung was their beautiful “home”.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/09
By: Chang Jung-hsiang, Chang Ming-hsuan and William Yen

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Five Thai migrant workers have been found to be suffering from

parasites that can cause meningitis or even blindness after eating raw snails, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Friday.

According to a CDC statement, nine Thai migrant workers ate raw snails on Feb. 26, and six of them started experiencing fevers, headaches and stiffness.

They then sought medical treatment on March 4 and 5, and five of them were found to have parasites known as angiostrongylus cantonensis, the statement said.

The workers are currently hospitalized at Chi Mei Hospital’s Liouying branch and on medication, according to the CDC and the hospital.    [FULL  STORY]