Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-29

President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday showed off two models of aircraft designed in Taiwan as

part of her administration’s push for autonomy in the nation’s defense. The president was giving a year-end press conference at the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology in Taoyuan. The institute has played a major role in Taiwan’s development of military hardware.

Tsai said Taiwan exists in a shifting geopolitical region where China’s ambitions to dominate have become increasingly apparent. For this reason, achieving autonomy in defense technology has been a crucial mission for her presidency, she said. But Tsai also said she believes that the Chinese leadership is not thinking of using force against Taiwan.

The president described the two aircraft models on display, a drone and a training aircraft.
[FULL  STORY]

Sigfox’s rollout of low power wide area network infrastructure heralds a new phase in the development of Taiwan’s IOT ecosystem.

The News Lens
Date: m2017/12/29
By: Timothy Ferry

Few technological advances have gained the world’s attention like the Internet of Things

(IoT), defined by global analytics firm IDC as “a network of uniquely identifiable “things” that communicate without human interaction using IP connectivity.” Some 13 billion connected devices are already in operation, used mostly in manufacturing, transportation, smart cities, and consumer applications, and IDC forecasts global annual growth of nearly 17 percent for IoT hardware, software, services, and connectivity. Another leading research firm, IHS, estimates that more than 30 billion devices will be connected by 2020, with the number rising to 75 billion by 2025.

Taiwan is betting big on leveraging its strengths in cost-effective, advanced manufacturing to grab a chunk of the global IoT market, calculated by IDC to currently stand at US$800 billion and rising to US$1.4 trillion by 2021. The Tsai administration has included the technological development of IoT-enabled devices under its “5+2” industrial development plan. The Asian Silicon Valley segment of the plan will focus on R&D into IoT, while the Smart Machinery segment will develop machine-to-machine communication in industrial processes.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s national cancer diagnosis has been on the rise 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/29
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — According to the national cancer registration statistics released by

the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), about every five minutes, a person was diagnosed with cancer in the year 2015, which was about six seconds faster than in the previous year.

The statistics showed that in the year 2015 about 105,156 people were diagnosed with cancer. The average age of those diagnosed with cancer was 63, which was the same like 2014.

The top most common types of cancer diagnosed during 2015 were colon, lung, breast, liver, oral, prostrate, gastric, skin, thyroid and esophageal.

Colon cancer cases has seen a significant decrease in its number, a consistent trend for 10 years.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/29
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) Amid tensions heightened by Chinese military drills near Taiwan and

the situation on the Korean peninsula, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) vowed Friday to develop Taiwan’s own indigenous defense systems and make a reasonable year-on-year increase in military spending.

Tsai made the remarks at a year-end press conference held by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the primary research and development institution of the Ministry of National Defense.

“We decided to hold the press conference at NCSIST, the very heart of Taiwan’s defense industry, to emphasize our determination to foster an indigenous defense industry and defend Taiwan’s democracy,” Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘ANOTHER WAY’: Assets committee Chairman Lin Feng-jeng touted the agreement as a nonconfrontational approach to deal with the KMT’s allegedly ill-gotten assets

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 30, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu and Cheng Hung-ta  /  Staff reporters

The National Women’s League’s months-long negotiations with the Ministry of the Interior

and the Executive Yuan’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee finally yielded some results yesterday, with the three parties signing a memorandum of understanding laying down the foundation for a formal administrative contract.

Under the agreement, inked at a news conference at the ministry in Taipei, the league is to donate 90 percent of its total assets, or about NT$34.3 billion (US$1.15 billion), to the state coffers to pay for long-term care services, healthcare for veterans, social welfare, and efforts to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.

The league’s remaining assets are to be donated to a subsidiary, the Social Welfare Foundation, after deducting severance payments and administrative expenditures for its pending dissolution.    [FULL  STORY]

TAIWAN has warned it is ready for war amid fears China is planning an invasion as it carries out new military drills.

Express
Date: Dec 28, 2017
By: Mark Chnadler

Beijing’s communist leaders have never renounced their claim that the island is China’s

territory and have not ruled out the use of force.

And Beijing has taken an increasing hostile stance since President Tsai Ing-wen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won Taiwan’s elections last year.

It suspects Tsai of pushing for formal independence, a red line for China, and has held 16 rounds of military exercises close to Taiwan over the past year.

Tsai has now warned the drills are leading to mounting instability and Beijing’s military threat is growing by the day.

The president said Taiwan wanted peace but could “not have a single day without combat preparedness” and would fiercely defend the state’s security and way of life.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Inter4national
Date: 2017-12-28

President Tsai Ing-wen has told the armed forces to keep a close watch on China’s military

movements. Tsai was speaking on Thursday at a ceremony promoting military officers.

Last week, the PLA Air Force conducted its 10th drill near Taiwan since the end of the Communist Party’s 19th National Congress in October. Tsai said China’s frequent military drills have affected regional stability. The president reiterated the importance of national defense reforms.

Tsai said, “We would rather have a hundred years of no war than be unprepared for one day of battle. In the last few weeks, Mainland China has conducted frequent military drills in the East Asia region. These have already affected peace and stability in the region. We have always been a contributor to regional stability. Therefore, our armed forces must keep a close monitor on China’s military drills at all times. They must take necessary measures to protect national security and regional peace and stability.”    [FULL  STORY]

The GEO reminded people who must watch the light show to go to the square in front of Taipei City Government as the light show will be invisible from the mountain, which lies to the southeast of the building

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/28
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Taipei’s Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) said in a statement

Thursday that people are welcome to come to Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) to appreciate the Taipei 101 fireworks display on the New Year’s Eve, but reminded people who must watch the light show to go to the square in front of Taipei City Government as the light show will be invisible from the mountain, which lies to the southeast of the building.

Taipei 101 has prepared both the fireworks display and the light show for the countdown to New Year 2018 party, and has for the first time installed a huge “T-Pad” wall of LED lights on the northern side of the building for the light show.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/28
By: Zhu Che-wei and Flor Wang

Taipei, Dec. 28 (CNA) Faced with a falling working population caused by a declining birth

rate, the government is set to overhaul existing immigration laws, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said Thursday.

The changes will be made to meet the needs of local industry, a departure from current regulations which focus on national security, as Taiwan looks for ways to deal with the huge challenges posed by an aged society and the impact of having too few professionals, Chen said.

Taiwan’s working population started to shrink in 2016 after peaking at 17.37 million in 2015. It it is expected to fall to 15.16 million in 2030, according to Chen, who said immigration laws need to be revamped to help Taiwan lure skilled workers from overseas.

To that end, Taiwan should build an environment friendly to foreigners, whether white collar or blue collar workers, to meet the needs of industry already plagued by a labor shortage, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

UNDER CONSIDERATION: Students are drawn to institutions in urban areas and prefer the north of Taiwan, which is the biggest challenge facing educational facilities

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 29, 2017
By: Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff writer, with CNA

A total of 198 university and college departments failed to recruit any students in the 2017

to 2018 academic year, up from 151 last year, a report published by the Ministry of Education said yesterday.

The report found that 198 majors of the 8,849 offered in vocational, bachelors, masters and doctorate programs did not attract any students for the academic year.

The trend is not limited to average or lower-ranking universities.

A few doctorate programs at some of the nation’s top schools, including National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Cheng Kung University and National Chengchi University, were unable to attract students, despite many of these elite schools having undergraduate enrollment rates of 90 percent or more, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]