The China Post
Date: October 12, 2017
By: Rita Cheng and Kuan-lin Liu

WASHINGTON (CNA) – A meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese

President Xi Jingping (習近平) set to take place in Beijing this November should not have any major effect on Taiwan, a scholar told CNA Monday.

Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard Bush said Taiwan will not be a bargaining chip in the Trump-Xi discussions.

Bush, who serves as co-director of the institution’s Center for East Asia Policy Studies, said it would not be a good idea to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip, nor does it really fit with U.S. interests.

Therefore, he concluded that he is not very concerned about the impact that the Trump-Xi summit could have on Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

President Tsai’s recent speeches on the New Southbound Policy overlooked systematic discrimination problems faced by migrant workers in Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/10/11
By: Rosemary Chen

The more President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) bangs the drum about the New Southbound

Policy, the more glaring Taiwan’s failure to address problems of migrant workers on its own shores becomes.

Tsai today reaffirmed the New Southbound Policy is Taiwan’s “Asia Pacific strategy” under which the country will increase the scope and depth of its activities with South Asia and Southeast Asia. The president was speaking at the “Yushan Forum: Asian Dialogue for Innovation and Progress” (玉山論壇：亞洲進步與創新對話), an event hosted by Prospect Foundation for Taiwan that aims to develop economic and cultural partnerships with Southeast Asian countries.

Tsai said the government will take the following five steps to achieve its goal: cultivate talent by increasing the number of international students from Southeast Asia studying in Taiwan to 5,000 each year; help Southeast Asian countries develop industries catering to “domestic needs” such as the petrochemical industry, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and healthcare; create a US$3.5 billion official development assistance (ODA) fund for Southeast Asian countries; encourage experience sharing between small businesses and NGOs; and collaborate with countries with similar visions.    [FULL  STORY]

Nurse hopes comatose bf never wakes up after arriving in ER with mistress

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/11
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Not long after a nurse wished her boyfriend a good night

before starting the graveyard shift at a hospital in Tainan, the man and a female companion suddenly arrive in the emergency room after a serious car accident, and knowing that he is in a serious coma, she angrily posts on Facebook “I hope you never wake up,” reported ETNews.

An anonymous user on the Facebook group Complain Boyfriend (靠北男友) said that on one evening when working at the emergency room at a hospital in Tainan, her boyfriend sent a message saying that he was going home to go to sleep. To her shock, an hour later a badly injured and unconscious man arrived in the emergency room via ambulance from a car accident who looked very familiar, and lo and behold it was her boyfriend!

Not only was her beloved boyfriend in a coma, but to her horror, he was accompanied by another woman, who was also being treated for abrasions from the car crash, but was conscious. She asked the attending physician about their situation, and he said that they were driving to Kaohsiung to “play” when the accident occurred.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/11
By: Liu Shih-yi, Hsieh Chia-chen and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court upheld a lower court decision Wednesday in favor of former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Kuomintang, acquitting him of abetting a leak of classified information relating to the investigation of an opposition lawmaker dating back to 2013.

According to the high court, the ruling is final and no appeal to the decision will be allowed.

Chou Cheng-ta (周政達), the presiding judge of Ma’s hearing, said that Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), a senior lawmaker of the then-opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who accused of Ma leaking state secrets in the case, failed to present sufficient evidence to prove guilt.

In response to the ruling, Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯), a spokesperson for Ma’s office, told the press that Ma was grateful for the ruling.    [FULL  STORY]

MAINTAINED:A unit of the 66th Brigade was moved closer to Taipei to fend off a potential military strike, and its training has been ongoing, a defense official said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 12, 2017
By: Aaron Tu and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The military is capable of defending against “decapitation strike” strategies aimed at

the nation, Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee yesterday.

Responding to questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), Office for Operations and Planning Director Lieutenant General Chiang Chen-chung (姜振中) said that the nation had a dedicated military unit to defend Taipei.

The Marines 66th Brigade, based in New Taipei City’s Linkou Township (林口), was established in 2005 and is responsible for defending Taipei against decapitation strikes.

In April, the brigade moved one infantry battalion to Fuxinggang (復興崗) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to improve its response time.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: October 11, 20170
By: Elaine Hou and Frances Huang

TAIPEI (CNA) – A U.S. government official will attend the two-day Yushan Forum that

opens in Taipei on Wednesday, according to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, 美國在台協會).

In a statement released on Wednesday, the AIT said Michele Schimpp, deputy associate administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation, will be in Taiwan to deliver remarks at the conference.

According to the forum’s agenda, Schimpp is scheduled to speak at a luncheon on Wednesday.

She is also expected to meet with local government officials and representatives of Taiwan’s industrial sector during her stay in Taiwan and discuss further economic cooperation between Taipei and Washington.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-10-10

President Tsai Ing-wen highlighted the New Southbound policy during her National Day

address on Tuesday “to give Taiwan a more advantageous position in the international community.” The policy aims to enhance Taiwan’s economic and cultural ties with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Tsai said Taiwan’s trade with New Southbound target countries has grown by 20%. She also said the number of overseas students enrolled in technical programs in Taiwan is rapidly increasing as well. She said the government is providing overseas credit guarantees for small and medium enterprises seeking to invest in Southeast Asia. This year, the government has created a new platform for working with Southeast Asian countries to fight the dengue epidemic. The Taiwan-governed Taiping Island in the South China Sea is also being built into a center for humanitarian assistance in the region.

Tsai said Taiwan is ready to create new security concepts with humanitarianism as the core in the face of threats from traditional and non-traditional security challenges. She said, “In response [to these challenges], major democracies around the world are adjusting their foreign policy. They are seeking ways to merge traditional and non-traditional issues and consolidate government and civil society forces. Taiwan is responding to these international trends by placing humanitarianism at the center of our security perspective. This is the meaning behind the Yushan Forum, which will be held tomorrow. We want to place Taiwan at the forefront of promoting innovation and progressive values across the Asia-Pacific.”    [FULL  STORY]

Chinese government will continue to set its sights on capturing the hearts and minds of young people in Taiwan

Taiwan News  
Date: 2017/10/11
By:  Central News Agency

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) The Chinese government will continue to set its sights on

capturing the hearts and minds of young people in Taiwan following the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Taiwanese scholars of cross-Taiwan Strait relations said Monday.

As the Oct. 18 opening of the CPC National Congress approaches, Taiwanese government officials and scholars are interested to see whether Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) will rethink his strategy for dealing with Taiwan.

According to Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢), a professor at National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies, China will be “directly targeting the youth and general public of Taiwanese society.”

Xi realizes that the approval of young people is the biggest problem facing unification, said Wang, who previously served as an advisor to the Mainland Affairs Council, which is why his government has previously attempted to gain support of Taiwanese youth by facilitating visits to China and lowering the bar for enrolling in Chinese universities.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/10

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday delivered her National Day address, in which she pledged to accelerate reform, safeguard Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, and find Taiwan’s place in the new international order.

The following is the full text of her speech, titled “Better Taiwan”:

Mr. Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), Chairperson of the National Day celebration, distinguished guests, my fellow countrymen watching on television and online, good morning!

Today is the 106th National Day of the Republic of China. On behalf of the country, I want to thank our friends and overseas compatriots who have come from afar to join us in celebrating the ROC’s birthday. Thank you.    [FULL  SPEECH]

UNITY:The president called on political party leaders to discuss issues such as constitutional reform and finding the nation’s place in the international community

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 11, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday pledged to defend the nation’s freedom and

democracy as she called on Chinese leaders to work together to create new models of cross-strait interaction to lay a more solid foundation for long-term peace and stability.

In her Double Ten National Day address titled “Better Taiwan,” Tsai said the government would work to strengthen the combat and defense capabilities of the armed forces and pursue military reform to better safeguard the nation and protect freedom and democracy.

She also said that the nation remains committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and across the region.    [FULL  STORY]