During Liaoning’s five-day port call in Hong Kong visitors noticed a shocking amount of rust on the hull of the ship

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/12
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China’s first aircraft carrier the Liaoning entered Taiwan’s

air defense identification zone (ADIZ) at 2:40 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), just after it had docked for a five-day port call in Hong Kong where it had been mocked for its rust and peeling paint by visitors of the aging Soviet-built vessel.

According to the MND, the carrier battle group left Hong Kong at noon on Tuesday and was bearing north to the west of the Taiwan Strait’s median line.

On July 7, President of the Macau International Military Society, Huang Dong (黃東), posted images of the red anti-rust coating on the hull of the ship below the water line already showing obvious signs of rust and was quoted by the Apple Daily as saying, “part of the paint has peeled off, it’s started to rust, it’s quite obvious.”2
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/12
By:Liu Te-chan and Christie Chen

Bangkok, July 12 (CNA) A man found dead in an apartment in Chonburi Province,

eastern Thailand, on Tuesday, has been confirmed as a Taiwanese national, Taiwan’s representative office in Thailand said on Wednesday.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand identified the man as a 47-year-old Taiwanese surnamed Hsu (許).

The office said it has notified Hsu’s family in Taiwan and will assist them in traveling to Thailand. It will also help Thai police investigate the cause of Hsu’s death, according to the office.
[FULL  STORY]

STRENGTHENING TIES:The foreign ministry announced new regulations allowing citizens of the nation’s 11 Latin American and Caribbean allies visa-free entry to Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 13, 2017
By: Staff writer, with AP and CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday issued a “most heartfelt welcome” to

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who is making his third visit to Taiwan since assuming the presidency in 2013.

Tsai hosted a welcome ceremony in the plaza in front of the Presidential Office Building, with Cartes being greeted by a 21-gun salute as the national anthems of the two countries were played.

The two presidents then observed a parade of honor guards and military bands.
Cartes and a delegation of officials arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a three-day state visit to attend various events to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 12, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Early Wednesday morning, a driver surnamed Yang saw

something reflecting light up ahead in an alley of New Taipei City.
He parked his scooter to investigate and realized that it was a long banner of plastic wrap that ran across the length of the road, attached to a telephone pole at each end.

“Who gets this bored? Doing this is very dangerous,” he said in a video of the plastic wrap discovery that he uploaded to Facebook. It was subsequently widely shared and reuploaded.

Yang also notified the police, who pulled surveillance footage of the alley off Xinzhuang District’s Minle Street and identified two suspects: men who appeared at 1:18 a.m. and left two minutes later.

Police are pursuing the pair using the license plate number of their vehicle and are handling the case as a potential offense against public safety.   [SOURCE]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-07-11

President Tsai Ing-wen has said the latest US arms sale to Taiwan demonstrates

Washington’s commitment to Taiwan’s defensive autonomy. The president was speaking Tuesday while meeting a delegation from the Atlantic Council, an American international affairs think tank.

Tsai said the arms package announced at the end of last month shows the Trump administration’s ongoing commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act. The 1979 act legislates for US relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

The president said that economic ties between the United States and Taiwan are also doing well. She cited promising discussions at last month’s SelectUSA investment summit in Washington DC. She also pointed out that Taiwan and the US also work closely together in a number of areas, including the Global Cooperation and Training Framework.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/11
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) A woman and her father were found dead at their home in offshore Penghu County on Tuesday, after committing suicide by burning charcoal in a confined and unventilated space, police said.

The 25-year-old woman, surnamed Chen (陳), had previously been part of a group suicide attempt with four other female relatives, including her mother, sister, aunt and cousin, on Jan. 6.

Three of the women died, including Chen’s mother, though she and another relative survived.

Following the incident Chen received psychiatric help, but never fully recovered and in a repetition of the earlier suicide attempt was found dead with her 59-year-old father after burning charcoal at the family home.    [FULL  STORY]

FLAWED:A former national policy adviser warned the government about ignoring critics, saying that without proper checks and balances, it risks becoming an autocracy

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 12, 2017
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

The government has created a legal loophole in the Forward-looking Infrastructure

Development Program by rushing it through, allowing it to raise the program’s budget indefinitely, publisher and former national policy adviser Rex How (郝明義) said yesterday, calling for an amendment and an overhaul of the program.

There is no sunset clause in the Special Act on the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (前瞻基礎建設特別條例), nor is there any clause specifying a budget cap, How said.

The act does not specify an end date and while it stipulates a four-year maximum budget of NT$420 billion (US$13.73 billion), which can be extended following legislative approval, there is no clear limitation on the timing and budget extension, How said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 11, 2017
By: The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Tuesday summoned

the Regent Taipei’s general manager for questioning as a defendant over the death of Taiwan Cement Chairman Koo Cheng-yun (辜成允).

Koo, while leaving a wedding banquet, received fatal injuries in January when he fell down a staircase at the luxury hotel.

The prosecutors’ actions Tuesday came after six months of investigation into whether the tycoon’s death was due to negligence by the hotel.

The law requires that a handrail be installed in the middle of stairs wider than 3 meters. The stairs down which Koo fell are 3.8 meters wide — and do not have a rail.

Prosecutors questioned Melvin Yang, the Regent’s general manager, for three hours before he left the office.    [FULL  STORY]

Nine foreign women who are forced into prostitution are rescued during the raid

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/10
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City police raided several places in Taoyuan and New Taipei City and rescued nine foreign women who are forced into prostitution, during which a 43-year-old alleged mastermind and six associates were also arrested.

Chen targeted female migrant workers from Southeast Asia whose contracts were about to end at industrial estates in Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan. He talked those women into accepting better-paid jobs and later took their passports and forced them into prostitution.

The rescued victims are from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Division under Taipei City Police Department said.
[FULL  STORY]