Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-08-06

The countdown to the Summer Universiade begins in Taipei as there are less than

two weeks until the prestigious games begin. On Sunday, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said there will be no problems with the electricity supply. That’s in light of the recently damaged power plant due to a typhoon.

Mayor Ko said the electrical circuits for the Universiade game venues have been redesigned and have back up generators so there will be no problem.

The mayor also said that Taipei is getting ready to welcome 12,000 athletes and visitors for the games. He did ask local residents to be understanding about traffic issues which are bound to occur. There will be one to two days where some roads will be closed.    [FULL  STORY]

Three people have been reported dead and seven injured in a major car accident in Pingtung County on Friday

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/06
By: Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Three people have been reported dead and seven injured in

a major car accident in Pingtung County on Friday.

According to Wei Kun-nan (魏坤男) of the Pingtung County Police Bureau, a 36-year-old registered female nurse surnamed Yang, hit a car and drove away, she then bumped into a silver car which later collided with a third car.

Five people were in the silver car, including 37-year-old man also surnamed Yang, who served as master sergeant in the military, his wife and three children. The master sergeant, two of his children, the 9-year-old daughter and 7-year- old son, suffered serious injuries; they were taken to the hospital but died afterwards. Yang’s wife had minor injuries but their 3-year-old daughter was transferred to a Kaohsiung hospital since she was badly injured, police said.

After hitting the two cars, the nurse only had minor injuries. Her husband said she was really sorry for causing deaths and injuries, adding that they would take full responsibility for damages caused by the accident.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/06
By: Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) Scheduled flights from Taiwan to Japan will be disrupted on

Monday due to tropical storm Noru, according to local carriers on Sunday.

Noru has been moving closer to Japan and is set to make landfall in southern and central parts of the country on Monday.

EVA Airways (長榮航空), one of Taiwan’s leading international carriers, announced that flights BR132 and BR178 from Taipei to Osaka on Monday have been canceled, while BR131 and BR177 flying from Osaka to Taipei will also be suspended on that day.

Meanwhile, EVA Air flights BR182 and BR181 between Kaohsiung and Osaka have also been canceled.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 07, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Troops from the Air Defense Artillery Command’s 303rd battalion on Thursday

conducted a drill simulating air-to-ground combat in Pingtung County to test their ability to handle aerial attacks.

The drill, during which a Oerlikon GDF-006 35mm anti-aircraft cannon firing drill was conducted at night, took place at the Air Defense Artillery Training Center in Fangshan Township (枋山), a location for ground-to-air and ground-to-sea live fire practice.

The maximum firing range of the GDF-006 is 11km and the maximum effective distance is about 4km. The rate of fire is 1,100 rounds per minute, according to data provided by the Republic of China Air Force.

The GDF-006 with night vision is a towed anti-aircraft gun for short-range air defense against crewed aircraft including fighter jets, bombers and helicopters, as well as uncrewed aerial targets, in particular drones, cruise missiles, dispensers, guided missiles and bombs.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-08-05
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Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je says that Taiwan must be prepared to deal with possible

security threats during the upcoming Universiade Games.

The international sporting event for student athletes will get underway on August 19.

On Saturday, Ko was asked about a break-in at the headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party earlier in the week.

A South Korean suspect has since been arrested in connection with the break-in. But the incident has raised concerns about Taiwan’s preparedness to handle possible security issues during the Universiade.

Ko said that Taiwan is not a member of INTERPOL, and that the United States has provided information and assistance that will help Taiwan ensure the games proceed smoothly. However, the mayor, who is also a renowned surgeon, compared security threats to germs, and said that Taiwan must ensure its immune system is strong enough to resist them.    [FULL  STORY]

The statistics showed an almost 2 percent drop of crime rate in the first half of 2017, and the offense clearance rate reached 94.3%,

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/08/05
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The crime rate in Taiwan during the first half of 2017

declined by almost 2 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, with total reported cases around 143,000, said Ministry of Interior’s (MOI) Department of Statistics Saturday.

The MOI also said that the offense clearance rate reached 94.3%, increasing by 0.6 percent compared to 2016.

Since 2011, the crime rate has dropped by 16.36 percent until 2016, said MOI.

Among all offenses, endangering public safety which includes drunk-driving, use of drugs, theft, and fraud accounted for almost 70 percent.

The decline in the crime rate can be attributed to a significant decrease in theft, said the MOI.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/08/05
By: You Kai-hsiang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Aug. 5 (CNA) Taipei City government has gathered intelligence necessary for counter-terrorism preparedness with the assistance of the United States, ensuring the highest possible level of security during the 2017 Universiade slated for Aug. 19-30 in the city, Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said on Saturday.

Despite lacking access to INTERPOL databases, Taiwan has obtained intelligence from the United States, which has the most comprehensive information available, Ko said.

Meanwhile, as part of general security measures for the Universiade, Taiwan’s Coast Guard conducted a large scale sweep of areas known to be favored by smugglers on offshore islands from late Friday to early Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

UNIVERSIADE PREPARATIONS:Officials said that police officers nationwide would be on stand-by in case of a major disruption, while 5,000 would be on duty in Taipei

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 06, 2017
By: Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The government is to link its Advanced Passenger Information System to systems in

the US, Japan and Southeast Asian nations, in a move designed to help prevent terrorists entering Taiwan, with the Taipei Universiade to start on Aug. 19, officials said yesterday.

The system compares passenger lists to customs data to prevent “99.9 percent of all suspect individuals” from entering the nation, officials said, adding that such people would be prevented from boarding flights bound for Taiwan from participating nations.

Although Taiwan is not a member of Interpol and unable to obtain first-hand anti-terrorism information, it has bilateral information sharing agreements with the US and Japan, officials said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: August 4, 2017
By: The China Post  

Taiwan is on a manhunt for a Korean burglar who allegedly broke into the central headquarters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The suspect, who is on Interpol’s wanted persons list, arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday and broke into the DPP headquarters the next day, making away with around NT$100,000 in cash, along with computers and documents, local media reported.
The suspect seemed to know the layout of the building well and took measures to avoid surveillance cameras, according to Apple Daily.

The suspect took a flight to Japan on Thursday but was denied entry and sent back to Taiwan after Japanese border control officers flagged him.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-08-03

President Tsai Ing-wen said she hopes Taiwan and the UK can work together to

explore wind power. Tsai was speaking Thursday when meeting a delegation from the British Parliament.

Tsai said her administration has been working hard to boost several industries. These include the biotechnology, intelligent mechanics, national defense, and tech sectors. She said renewable energy is of the government’s main focuses, and she hopes the upcoming Britain-Taiwan round table meeting on renewable energy can boost collaboration in this field.

Tsai said the UK is Taiwan’s third biggest trading partner in Europe. She said she is looking to sign a trade agreement with Britain after the country fully leaves the European Union.    [SOURCE]