Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 September, 2020
By: Paula Chao
[Top US State Dept. visit in 40+ years!]
US Under Secretary of State Keith Krach is on a three-day a visit that has been kept under wraps for some time. Why is the US framing the visit by the leader of its US-Taiwan trade talks as a visit to attend former President Lee Teng-hui’s memorial service? Find out more about Krach’s historic visit in today’s show. [FULL STORY]
CNN
Date: September 17, 2020
By: Ryan Browne and Jennifer Hansler
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration is expected to soon approve another major weapons sale including drones to Taiwan, according to congressional and administration sources. The move comes as the US and Taiwan are strengthening ties and amid mounting tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The US is preparing to sell seven packages of weapons systems to Taiwan, a congressional aide told CNN, saying it was unclear when the Congress would be formally notified about the sales, as is required by law.
A US official said that the administration will soon formally approve a large sale of MQ-9B Reaper drones. The value of the drones and associated equipment and program support is estimated to be about $600 million. [FULL STORY]
Historic visit heralds stronger bilateral ties for US and Taiwan
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/17
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Keith Krach greets Taiwanese official and AIT director upon his arrival (CNA photo)
Greeted by Director of the American Institute in Taiwan William Brent Christensen and officials from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Krach descended from the Gulfstream G-V private jet at the Shung Shan Air Force Base in Taipei. During his three-day visit from Sept. 17-19, Krach will meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday (Sept. 18) as well as other governmental officials.
On Sept. 19, Krach will attend Taiwan's former President Lee Teng-hui's memorial ceremony with Robert Destro, assistant secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the State Department.
Krach's visit followed a heated debate in Taiwan after the government announced the easing of import restrictions on U.S. beef and pork, which is said to have paved the way for both parties to negotiate and establish a bilateral trade agreement. On Aug. 31, the State Department's Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell confirmed the U.S. was ready to initiate a new bilateral dialogue with the island nation to explore the full spectrum of options for the economic relationship. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/17/2020
By: Chen Yi-hsuan and Chiang Yi-ching
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je/ CNA photo Sept. 17, 2020
Alan Lee (李柏毅), who is from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, asked Ko whether he was thinking about running for presidency in 2024 during a Taipei City Council hearing.
In response to the question, Ko said, "I am not thinking (about running for presidency in 2024), I am directly preparing."
Ko then said he thought he would have had a better chance of winning the presidency this year as opposed to 2024, but chose not to run because he had to "take the Taipei Music Center, Taipei Performing Arts Center and Taipei Dome into account." [FULL STORY]
HITCH? A report said that the US had been irritated by Taiwan’s trumpeting of Keith Krach’s visit and it relating the economic dialogue to a trade deal
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
People hold placards outside Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) yesterday to protest against US pork imports as a delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach arrived in Taipei for a three-day visit.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Krach is to attend tomorrow’s memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who died on July 30 at the age of 97, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement after Krach’s arrival, adding that Taiwan early last month had expressed the hope that the US would send a high-ranking official to attend.
Other members of the delegation include US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Robert Destro, US Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director-General of the US and Foreign Commercial Service Ian Steff, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie and former US assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs Randall Schriver, she said.
They are to meet President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and other government officials to exchange opinions about bilateral ties related to the economy, supply chain security, democracy and other issues related to the Indo-Pacific region, Ou said. [FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Date: 15 September, 2020
By: Natalie Tso
KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (center) speaking on Tuesday (CNA photo)
Former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng was originally set to lead a KMT delegation to the forum in Xiamen. But the party changed its mind after China’s state television channel, CCTV, showed a picture of Wang with the headline “With the [Taiwan] strait on the brink of war, this man is coming to the mainland to plead for peace". The headline was part of a CCTV program about cross-strait issues hosted by Li Hong on September 10, two days after the party announced that Wang was leading the delegation.
The KMT has asked CCTV Host Li Hong to apologize for the controversial comment on his show, but he did not respond to the request. The party announced on Monday that it would not send a delegation to the forum.
The KMT says, though, that it’s not barring its members from attending the forum in a private capacity. [FULL STORY]
South China Morning Post
Date: 15 Sep, 2020
By: Liu Zhen in Beijing
China’s J-20 stealth aircraft take part in a drill to simulate combat. Photo: 81.cn
The PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the People’s Liberation Army, reported on Monday that a junior pilot in a J-20 stealth fighter “shot down” 17 enemy planes without taking any “hits” in the simulation exercise.
According to the report, the pilot, Chen Xinhao, had just 100 hours in the J-20 and is from the PLA Air Force’s elite Wang Hai Unit under the Eastern Theatre Command, which would spearhead any military campaign in a conflict with Taiwan.
Chen and his wingmen challenged “multiple waves of enemy planes from different directions” and knocked down a total of 17 with “0 damage” on his side, the report said. [FULL STORY]
Undocumented Vietnamese migrants caught after swimming to Taiwan's southern coast
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/15
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Undocumented immigrants arrested in Pingtung County. (CGA photo)
At 2 a.m. on Tuesday, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) received a report of a suspicious fishing vessel sailing 11.6 nautical miles (21.4 kilometers) off the coast of Kenting in Pingtung County, bound for Hou-pi-hu Fishing Harbor. When the boat was 3 nautical miles from shore, it suddenly changed course and headed for Dingbaisha.
The Hengchun branch of the CGA was notified, and it dispatched two patrol boats to investigate. When the Coast Guard boats arrived at the scene at 4 a.m. that morning, officers using thermal imaging cameras found that unidentified persons were jumping out of the boat.
When the boat was within 400 meters from the coast, individuals wearing life jackets jumped overboard and swam to the shoreline. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/15/2020
By: Matt Yu and Chiang Yi-ching
Black-faced spoonbills, an endangered migrant bird, are pictured in Taiwan. File photo courtesy of the Chinese Wild Bird Federation
MOFA was referring to the case of the Taipei-based Chinese Wild Bird Federation (CWBF), which said that day that it had been removed from its partnership with BirdLife International on Sept. 7.
Prior to the removal, BirdLife had requested the CWBF to change its Chinese name and to "sign a document formally committing to not promote or advocate the legitimacy of the Republic of China or the independence of Taiwan from China," the CWBF said.
Since the group's inception in 1988, it has changed its English name three times at the behest of BirdLife, according to the CWBF. [FULL STORY]
WORKING OVERTIME? NTU professor Lee Duu-jong denied that he had held a part-time position at a Chinese university or joined China’s Thousand Talents Program
Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2020
By: Wu Po-hsuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A candidate for the post of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST)
National Taiwan University professor Lee Duu-jong is pictured in this undated photo.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Lee Duu-jong (李篤中), a professor at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) chemical engineering department, was a member of China’s Changjiang Scholars’ Program in 2006 and was on the list of its Thousand Talents Program in 2017, a report by Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine said yesterday.
The article said that Lee is suspected of having held a part-time job at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China and was the recipient of as much as 6.5 million yuan (US$958,000) in Chinese research grants.
Lee, who had previously served as NTUST vice president, issued a statement denying that he had held a part-time position in China. [FULL STORY]
