The China Post
Date: December 15, 2017

2017 WLFD General Conference &. The 63rd APLFD Conference held in Taipei
The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) & The Asian Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy (APLFD) are jointly holding 2017 General Conference from December 14th to 16th in the Grand Hotel Taipei. The theme of the conference is “Democracy, the rule of law and economic growth,” and more than 50 foreign guests were invited to gather and make efforts to the well-being to mankind all over the world.

Tseng Yung-Chuan, the president of WLFD R.O.C. chapter, delivered a speech on the opening ceremony of 2017 general conference.

On the opening ceremony of 2017 General Conference of the WLFD & The 63rd conference of APLFD held in the Grand Hotel in the morning, the chairman of the WLFD R.O.C. Taiwan chapter, Ying-Chi Rao emphasized that the  APLED is one of the organizations which have the longest history promoting freedom and democracy, and we’re all willing to see Chinese mainland treats democracy as the chasing goal.
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Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-14

Renowned writer, poet and educator Yu Guangzhong has died at the age of 89.

National Sun Yat-sen University said the retired professor passed away shortly after 10am on Thursday. The Presidential Office has expressed condolences to Yu’s family.

Yu was born in Nanjing, China in 1928. He enrolled in the University of Nanking as an English major and later on transferred to Xiamen University. He and his family moved to Taiwan in 1950 following the Chinese Civil War.

Yu continued his education in Taiwan and earned a degree in foreign languages as well as a master of fine arts. Alongside his lifelong teaching career, Yu published 17 poetry and 12 prose collections, most of which focused on the theme of longing for China.
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Taiwan must ensure it avoids being a pawn in US push to resume port calls.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/15
By: J. Michael Cole

Li Kexin, speaking at the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington last

week toldhundreds of people assembled at an embassy event, that calls by U.S. Navy vessels at ports in Taiwan would violate China’s “Anti-Secession Law” of 2005 and automatically spark a military response.

The blunt messaging delivered on U.S. soil was ostensibly in response to the passage, on Nov. 30, of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act by Congress, which contains language authorizing the U.S. to evaluate the possibility of re-establishing “regular ports of call by the U.S. Navy at Kaohsiung or any other suitable ports in Taiwan” and allowing Taiwanese vessels to make port calls at U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) yards.

“The day that a U.S. Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unites Taiwan with military force,” the Chinese-language Liberty Times quoted Li, the No. 2 at the Chinese embassy, as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

11 Taiwanese sentenced to death for drug offenses are set to face the firing squad in January of 2018

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/14
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite a brief reprieve this month,  the 11 Taiwanese citizens

who have been sentenced to death for drug offenses are still on track to face the firing squad as early as January of 2018, announced the Indonesian government Tuesday (Dec. 12), reported SETN.

The  11 Taiwanese sentenced to death for drug trafficking by Indonesian district and high courts have been identified as Chen Chia-wei (陳嘉偉), Wang An-kang (王安康), and Lo Chih-cheng (羅至誠), as well as eight other Taiwanese citizens who have had their names partially concealed with the following surnames: Lin (林), Chen (陳), Chuang (莊), Li (李), Shih (石), Wu (吳), Hung (洪), and Yeh (葉).

Although eight of the 11 have not completed the judicial process, experts believe that given Indonesia’s track record with death penalty cases, their chances of appealing their sentences are slim.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/14
By: Yeh Su-ping and William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) Now is the optimal time for Taiwan and France to further

strengthen industrial investment and technology exchange and cooperation, said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as she received a French delegation Thursday.

She added that now was perfect timing because France is currently promoting its “Industry of the Future,” the second phase of its reindustrialization plan, while Taiwan is focused on its “5+2 Industrial Innovation Plan,” which seeks to move the country in the direction of innovation and job creation.

One very important area of shared interest is technological cooperation, said Tsai as she explained that Taiwan invests more manpower and resources in terms of these types of relations with France than most other countries.    [FULL  STORY]

SIX FACTORY WORKERS: The victims’ families might not be entitled to compensation under current laws as the workers were resting, not working, at the time of the fire

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 15, 2017
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA

A fire broke out early yesterday at a solar window film factory in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District

(蘆竹), killing six people believed to be Vietnamese migrant workers employed at the facility, the Taoyuan Fire Department said.

The blaze started at about 2am in a staircase leading to a dormitory located on the second floor of the factory’s warehouse, officials said.

Twelve Vietnamese workers were housed in the dormitory, one of whom was not present at the time, the department said.

While five of the workers managed to escape the building, another six were trapped in the fire, which was not brought under control until 6:10am, the department said.    [FULL  STORY]

Sputnik News
Date: 13.12.2017

A group of People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) H-6K bombers and Su-30 and J-11 fighter jets conducted a mission Monday “that circled the island of Taiwan, further improving their ability to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a PLAAF spokesman said this week, according to a fact sheet obtained by China Daily.
Taiwan, an island nation that generally considers itself independent from Beijing, might take issue with the notion that China’s warplanes support its sovereignty. Beijing, however, considers Taiwan to be a wayward province that should eventually be incorporated back into China and has not ruled out using force to do so.

“Multiple bombers and reconnaissance planes have flown routes that circled the island of Taiwan,” Sr. Col. Shen Jinke reportedly said. According to China Daily, the mission marked the ninth routine drill around Taiwan in the past four months, and noted that the first such circling mission occurred last December.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-12-13

Vice President Chen Chien-jen says that Taiwan supports US President Donald Trump’s

Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy as well as Japan’s Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chen said Taiwan wants to work closer with the US and Japan on these plans.

Chen was speaking Wednesday at a forum on US-Taiwan-Japan security ties. Chen said Taiwan would like to be a part of the CPTTP. He said Taiwan can play an important role in partnering with the US and Japan in many areas. He said Taiwan could use its high tech and manufacturing industries to support Japanese and US brands.

Chen also said that Taiwan is working on building five industrial sectors, including green technology, which can help with national defense and industrial development.
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Although the enterovirus epidemic has passed its peak, the number of enterovirus D68 infection cases has continued to increase and the majority of the infected individuals are children aged below five

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/12/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Although the enterovirus epidemic has passed its peak, the

number of enterovirus D68 infection cases has continued to increase and the majority of the infected individuals are children aged below five, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) said in a news release on Tuesday.

Moreover, the primary symptoms of enterovirus D68 infection are fever, runny nose and cough and infected individuals rarely develop typical symptoms of enterovirus infection such as herpangina and hand, foot, and mouth disease, according to Taiwan CDC. Therefore, the public is urged to remain vigilant of the health of the children and infants in their family and ensure a child receives immediate medical attention if he/she develops symptoms such as acute limb weakness, Taiwan CDC said.

Last week, Taiwan CDC confirmed two new cases of enterovirus D68 infection with severe complications respectively in a 4-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl who reside in central Taiwan. Both of them developed symptoms, including fever, runny nose, fever, and upper/lower limb weakness on one side of the body in late November. The two children have been hospitalized for treatment.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/13
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), head of the Environmental Protection

Administration (EPA), apologized to environmental groups on Wednesday for what he said was the government’s failure to improve the air quality in central and southern Taiwan.

In an interview on Super FM98.5 radio, Lee addressed groups in central and southern Taiwan, which are preparing to take to the streets Dec. 17 in protest against the air quality in those areas.

Lee said he wanted to apologize for the government’s inability to properly tackle air pollution problem, which has prompted people to plan street protests despite the chilly weather.    [FULL  STORY]