The Washington Post
Date: January 5, 2018
By: By John Pomfret

Chinese air force fighters have begun escorting bombers around Taiwan in “encirclement

drills” and spokesmen for the Communist government have warned Taiwan to get used to it . On Wednesday, China’s president Xi Jinping, dressed in military fatigues, convened a military mobilization meeting— the first ever for the entire Chinese armed forces and commanded China’s military to become “battle ready.” Chinese officials are threatening that relations with Taiwan will turn “grave” because Taiwan’s government refuses to acknowledge that the island is part of China. A leading Chinese analyst predicts that China has accelerated its timetable to 2020 for taking over the islandby military means.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has vowed to strengthen the United States’ relations with Taiwan and has floated the idea of U.S. naval visits to the islands, prompting Li Kexin, a minister at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, to threaten that “the day a U.S. navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unifies Taiwan with military force.”

The ratcheting up of tension across the Taiwan Strait is a reminder that the island democracy, which Beijing claims is a province of China, remains a center of gravity in East Asia. But it also raises a question: can China really take over Taiwan?
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-06

Five New Power Party lawmakers began protesting amendments to the labor law on

Friday evening with a hunger strike in front of the Presidential Office. On Saturday morning, Presidential Office Secretary General Joseph Wu called on them to return to the legislature to discuss the issues but they have refused to leave.

There have been controversies over proposed amendments to the labor law. These include allowing employees to work up to 12 days in a row and have only 8 hours off between shifts.

Some 200 policemen have been stationed in the area to monitor the protest since it began. Unauthorized gatherings around the Presidential Office are prohibited.
[FULL  STORY]

In addition, students from the cosmetology department also provided haircut and manicure services to the participants

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/06
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A high school in New Taipei City mobilized its students to give

a feast on Saturday noon for hundreds of less advantaged households, including low-income families, single-parent families, as well as families with migrant and disabled members.

Apart from the feast with 120 tables served at the Juang Jing Vocational High School, the French retailer Carrefour also prepared 450 sacks filled with groceries to give away to the people.

Lin Shu-kuei (林淑貴), head of the high school, said the event was participated in by students and faculty members from various departments. For example, students of the Department of Food and Beverage Management were in charge of catering and dining services, while those of the Department of Performing Arts were responsible for performances during the feast.     [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018/01/06
By: Liu Lee-jung and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) The idea of deploying a fleet of Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jets in the offshore county of Penghu throughout the year is purely speculative and unrealistic, Taiwan’s Air Force said Saturday.

In a statement, the Air Force reiterated that Taiwan’s military has everything under control and is not intimidated by China’s recent unilateral action to open new commercial flight routes in the Taiwan Strait.

Earlier in the day, the Liberty Times reported that the military was considering stationing IDF jets in Penghu, a Taiwan-controlled archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, all year round as opposed to only in summer.    [FULL  STORY]

RAPID RESPONSE: Strong winds usually prevent light fighter jets from being stationed in Penghu year-round, but the government seeks to have strong air defense measures

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 07, 2018
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The military is considering stationing a squadron of Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF)

jets at Penghu County’s Magong Airport for year-round patrol duty in light of China’s unilateral decision to open new commercial flight routes in the Taiwan Strait, a source said on Friday.

Strong northeasterly monsoon winds in the area during winter can create unfavorable conditions for light fighter planes, such as IDF jets, which is why the squadron is normally based in Penghu from April to October, said a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Due to its proximity to the Chinese coast, the fighter squadron would be called on first if the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force were to make a sudden deployment, the official said.

A Republic of China Air Force officer familiar with combat readiness and the deployment of the nation’s air force to Penghu commented anonymously, saying that year-round deployment of IDF jets — the Hsiung Ying (雄鷹, or Goshawk) or C/D models — to Penghu is pending further assessments.    [FULL  STORY]

7 standout events to look forward to in Taiwan in 2018

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/05
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

The fireworks have finished, the hangovers have subsided, and 2018 is properly upon us at last. But as day-to-day life returns to normal for a few weeks until the Chinese New Year celebrations arrive, it is easy to slip back into the old routine and quickly lose sight of the hopes and dreams we were all harboring as the clock ticked towards midnight on Sunday evening.

But it does not have to be that way. 2018 is a new year packed full of opportunity and excitement. And that is as true in Taiwan as everywhere else in the world. In fact, there are plenty of exciting things happening in Taiwan in 2018 which you can enjoy and really make this a year to remember. Here is a rundown of some of my standout events, just to whet your appetite. Happy New Year everyone!    [FULL  STORY]

‘PHANTOM LAW’: The education minister rescinded a law placing the China Youth Corps’ operation of tourist accommodation on public land under his department’s responsibility

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 06, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu  /  Staff reporter

The future of the China Youth Corps’ controversial operation of profitable hospitality

businesses on state-owned land, which it nominally does to serve young people, has become uncertain after Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) yesterday rescinded a so-called “phantom law” that has allowed the corps to run such businesses.

For years, the corps has made sizable profits from the operation of 12 youth activity centers close to popular tourist destinations and the Kuan Run Youth Hostel in Hualian County — most of which stand on state-owned land — bypassing the Tourism Bureau’s Regulations for the Administration of Hotel Enterprises (旅館業管理規則).

Such privileges were ensured by the Guidelines on Ensuring the Safety and Maintaining Accommodation Facilities at the Youth Activity Center (青年活動中心住宿設施管理及安全維護辦法), a tailor-made law for the corps promulgated in 2014 by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-05

The Ministry of Science and Technology is set to inject NT$1.6 billion (US$54 million) to

build two vessels for marine research.

The ships were laid down at a ceremony on Friday at the shipyard of Taiwan’s largest shipbuilder, CSBC Corporation in Keelung. The event was attended by science and technology minister Chen Liang-gee and CSBC chair Cheng Wen-lon.

This is the first time for CSBC to build vessels for research purposes. The 500-ton and 1,000-ton ships are scheduled to be completed by mid-2019. Cheng said no expense will be spared.    [FULL  STORY]

Power in Taiwan has swung between the KMT and DPP but appetite for new parties and ideas suggest a fragmented future.

The News’ Lens
Date: 2018/01/05
By: John F. Copper

It is not certain a two-party system has become entrenched.

Any political system can be assessed and judged by its party structure, parties being

a sine qua non to the functioning of modern polities.

In Taiwan’s early history, as in most places in the world, political power was too fragmented and its politics too simple for there to be a need for political parties. Under Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945), political “organizations” formed mainly to persuade Tokyo to grant Taiwan a higher degree of self-rule. But these did not grow into political parties in any real sense of that word since elections were perfunctory and controlled by the Japanese colonial authorities.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/05
By: Yeh Tze-kung and Ko Lin

Taipei, Jan. 5 (CNA) A chicken farm in Yunlin County has been confirmed to be infected

with a subtype of the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus, leading to the culling of 10,461 birds, the city’s Animal and Plant Disease Control Center said Friday.

Cheng An-kuo (鄭安國), an official with the center, said it received a report of abnormal deaths of some 12,500 chickens at a farm in the county’s Dongshih Township and immediately collected tissue samples from the animals on Tuesday.

Samples taken from the farm were then analyzed and confirmed to be avian flu, Cheng said.    [FULL  STORY]