Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/30
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu

Majuro, The Marshall Islands, Oct. 30 (CNA) The president of the Republic of the

Marshall Islands voiced her strong support Monday for Taiwan joining the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an environmental treaty adopted as the basis for a global response to challenges posed by climate change.

Hilda C. Heine spelled out the support at a banquet she hosted for a visiting delegation led by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Heine spoke about her concerns that climate change is threatening the security, economy and future of the Marshall Islands. With the gradual rise of sea levels, the country has experienced flooding and torrential rain with greater frequency, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

HONOLULU STOPOVER:During a stop in Hawaii, the president met with the chair of the American Institute in Taiwan and spoke at a seminar at the East-West Center

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 31, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Amid US concern over a growing military imbalance between Taiwan and China,

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has promised to boost the nation’s defense budget by at least 2 percent annually, National Security Council (NSC) Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday.

The 2 percent increase will be in line with the projected growth of the nation’s economy, the president said, adding that the defense budget might even be increased by 3 percent if the need arises, Tsai Ming-yen said.

A special reserve fund is also to be allocated for major military procurements, Tsai Ming-yen told reporters, citing the president, who is on the first leg of a three-nation visit to allies in the Pacific.

He said Tsai Ing-wen made the pledge on Saturday during a meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty after AIT officials urged her to heed the US’ concerns about Taiwan’s comparatively small defense budget.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 30, 20172
By: Chu Tze-wei and Elizabeth Hsu

TAIPEI (CNA) – A constellation of six satellites under the FormoSat-7/COSMIC-2

project, a U.S.-Taiwan collaboration, will be launched in May or June next year, Taiwan’s Science and Technology Minister Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said Monday.

These remote sensing micro-satellites, one of two sets of satellites originally planned under the FormoSat-7 project, are expected to collect up to four times as much atmospheric data to help monitor and predict the weather as FormoSat-3, Chen said at a legislative hearing.

Chen was answering questions from lawmakers about the FormoSat-7 program, a follow-up mission to the successful FormoSat-3/COSMIC program to meet the RO (Radio Occultation) data continuity requirements of the user community.
[FULL  STORY]

Voice of America News
Date: October 29, 2017

Taiwan’s president began a week long journey Saturday, and China is not happy

about it.

Tsai Ing-wen’s trip has her visiting three Pacific Island allies — Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands — via Honolulu and the U.S. territory of Guam.

China claims sovereignty over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan and believes Tsai is seeking formal independence from China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Washington should not allow Tsai to stop in the U.S. to” avoid sending any erroneous messages to the Taiwan independence force…”

Tsai has said she wants to maintain peace with China, but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and security.   [FULL  STORY]

Dozens of senior citizens were injured and one was rushed to the hospital as a result of the stampede

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/29
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On the morning of October 28 dozens of senior citizens

suffered injuries and one woman was sent to hospital for dizziness and lack of breath at an event organized by the Taipei City Government.

The city Social Welfare Department held the annual Senior Citizen’s Day activity and organized a hike with Mayor Ko Wen-je starting from Beitou District.

The organization expected a total of 7000 people to show up for the event as mentioned in the press release by the organization. But instead 70,000 people showed up, which stretched the organization to maintain peace and order.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/29
By: Huang Li-yun and Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) A Chinese couple travelled to Taiwan recently to appear in

court as witnesses in the trial of the suspected ringleader of a fraud syndicate that swindled 229,000 Chinese yuan (US$34,686) from them in 2013, Criminal Investigation Bureau said in a press release Sunday.

After Liu Zhigang (劉志剛) and his wife Li Suzhen (李素珍) from Jiangsu province arrived in Taiwan last week, they wasted no time getting to the bureau to express their thanks to Hsu Yung-yi (許永益), the officer whom they have been in contact with over the case in the past four years but never met.

Li received a call from the telecom fraud ring on March 28, 2013 in which she was told that she was being investigated by the police over her alleged involvement in money laundering and was asked to transfer the money to a bank account that turned out to be one of the scammers’ accounts.    [FULL  STORY]

UNIFORM REQUIREMENT:The dress uniform for military instructors includes a badge with a white sun on blue sky, a plum blossom, two ears of wheat, a rifle and an ink brush

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 30, 2017
By: Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday panned the

nation’s campus military instructors for wearing badges bearing the symbol of the China Youth Corps (CYC) and the Chinese National Party (KMT).

Soldiers were first installed as military instructors in high schools, colleges and universities for the indoctrination, combat training and policing of the students during the Martial Law era. They are currently tasked with providing security and military training at schools nationwide.

The government-issued badges are overtly partisan and inappropriate to wear on campuses, Hsu said.

“The CYC badge’s device of white sun on blue sky are symbols of the KMT,” the lawmaker said, citing reports on the corps’ founding on Oct. 4, 1952, by Chinese-language newspapers such as the Popular Daily, the National and the Economic Times.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 29, 2017
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and William Yen

TAIPEI (CNA) – The procurement of new electronic countermeasures (ECM) pods

for Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets is being carried out in accordance with procurement regulations and legislative resolutions, Air Force Command Headquarters said in a statement Sunday.

The statement, issued in the form of a press release, came in the wake of a Chinese-language United Daily News report that the number of ALQ-131 pods to be purchased has shrunk considerably and the equipment has not yet passed flight tests, while Taiwan is being asked to sign an agreement that includes the country being responsible for research and development costs.

The air force denied any malpractice and said the signing of the agreement has been postponed.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/28
By: Chris Horton

at the Universiade this summer, impressing a host of delegations with typical

hospitality and respect.

Taiwan excels in hospitality, as anyone who has visited or lived in the country knows. Being a good host to guests from abroad, whether they’re Taroko-bound tourists or delegates to a biotech conference, seems to be hard-wired into the DNA of most Taiwanese.

Efforts by China to isolate Taiwan in the global arena, including exclusion from the United Nations and other international organizations, may not be the source of the country’s hospitality, but it certainly seems to add to a sense of gratitude to all who visit. That visitors return home speaking of the charms of one of East Asia’s less-frequented destinations is a source of pride for many Taiwanese.

Given that background, it’s difficult to overstate the significance of the Taipei Universiade that Taiwan hosted Aug。 19-30. More than 10,000 delegates from around the globe descended upon northern Taiwan for two weeks for the largest event the country has ever held. Even before the closing ceremony on Aug. 30, there was no doubt that Taiwan had passed the Universiade test with flying colors. Athletes, spectators, volunteers, the media, and the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which organizes the event, were all enthusiastic about the level of quality.    [FULL  STORY]

President Tsai is currently en route to visit three Pacific allies

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/28
By: Juvina Lai, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Friday China urged the United States not to allow President Tsai Ing-wen to make transit stops in the U.S. state of Hawaii and the territory of Guam.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported that China has lodged solemn representations with the U.S over President Tsai’s planned transit and has strictly asked the Trump Administration to follow and respect the one-China policy.

“The one-China principle is the common consensus of the international community and the principle to adhere to when dealing with Taiwan’s external exchanges,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing as reported by Xinhua.

“As for the Taiwan leader’s transit via the U.S., her real purpose is self-evident,” Geng said.

The report also mentioned that China hopes and believes the U.S will honor and respect its commitment made to the Chinese government and will do nothing to jeopardize the same.     [FULL  STORY]