Pizza and national tragedy don’t mix.

Maxim
Mar 2, 2017
By: THOMAS FREEMAN11 HOURS AGO

It is not uncommon for fast-food chains to offer special promotional deals on national

holidays. One-time-only Halloween treats and Christmas dessert discounts are all par for the course.

Pizza Hut Taiwan, whose CEO deserves far worse than a slap on the wrist, chose the anniversary of the nation’s deadliest massacre to announce a “killer” promotional deal on Facebook.

The deal was offered on a five-day holiday period commemorating the “2-28 Incident.” For those unfamiliar, February 28, 1947 is the day the Republic of China government squashed an anti-government uprising, massacring as many as 50,000 Taiwanese. This marked the beginning of a 38-year-long period of kidnapping, murder and torture of political dissidents, known as the “White Terror.”

So… not exactly the time to offer customers discounted pizzas with the caption “Ready to celebrate February 28?”    [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: September 16, 2016
By Ben Blanchard and J.R. Wu | BEIJING/TAIPEI

Chinese jets and warships carried out exercises near Taiwan and into the Western

Pacific on Thursday, as the self-ruled island’s defense minister warned of a growing threat from its giant neighbor.

Democratic Taiwan is increasingly concerned over China’s military designs, especially recent rounds of Chinese drills near Taiwan. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to take control of what it deems a wayward province.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said fighters, bombers and early warning aircraft had flown through the Miyako Strait, between the southern Japanese islands of Miyako and Okinawa and to the northeast of Taiwan, and into the Pacific.

They then carried out drills with Chinese warships in the area to improve interoperability between the two services, Xinhua said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: March 3, 2017
By: The China Post news staff and agencies

Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) on Thursday reiterated Taiwan’s stance

against installing the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

During a session at the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense committee, legislators asked Feng whether Taiwan would host the U.S. anti-ballistic missile system THAAD.

In his response, Feng said that Taiwan “should not be involved in other nations’ war or make pointless sacrifices in conflicts between two global powers.”

He rejected the idea of a THAAD installation, saying that Taiwan’s military fights to protect the nation and its sovereignty.”    [FULL  STORY]

CENSOR:Shih Hsin University has accepted the ‘one China’ principle by promising to steer clear of politically sensitive course material, DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-chin said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 03, 2017
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-chin (葉宜津) yesterday criticized

Shih Hsin University over leaked “letters of agreement” signed with Chinese universities, saying that the school infringed upon the freedom of speech in universities and violated the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).

Yeh said that the letters’ contents, if true, would mean the acceptance of the “one China” principle by the university, which would censor freedom of speech in Taiwanese universities and hamper academic liberties.

Beijing’s “one China” principle asserts that Taiwan and China are parts of a single “China.”

The school allegedly promised that politically sensitive topics, such as “one China, one Taiwan,” “two Chinas” and Taiwanese independence, would not be covered in courses offered to Chinese students.     [FULL  STORY]

‘For the modern political gadfly armed with Skype and an internet connection, distance and geography are diminishing barriers to activism.’

The News Lens
Date: 2017/03/02
By: Keith Menconi

A group of about a dozen is meeting in a coffee shop to discuss their strategy for

mobilizing to oppose the agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump.

As their conversation progresses through the balmy winter evening in mid-February, they take on questions of strategy one by one: Will they hold a full-blown strike on International Women’s Day, or merely a demonstration? How can they best coordinate their efforts with those of other groups? Should they have a Twitter account?

This scene of grassroots activism could perhaps have taken place in any number of cities throughout the U.S. after Trump’s election galvanized thousands of people into political action and protest. But this particular coffee shop meeting is not in the U.S. It is instead tucked away into the underground level of a Mass Rapid Transit station in Taipei City, Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The suspect was a wanted criminal of Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/02
By: Maggie Huang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)－A Taiwanese surnamed Lin was arrested by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives for allegedly possessing a kilo of methamphetamine in a condominium in Manila early Tuesday.

Wu was arrested in an apartment for selling 1,000 grams of methamphetamine to a poseur-buyer. The seized dangerous drugs can be sold up to 6 million peso.

According to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the suspect was a wanted criminal of Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office for violating Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, and had run to the Philippines before he was put on the wanted list.

Wu had criminal record for possessing drugs in the Philippines before, and was released six months ago, according to reports.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/03/02
By Justin Su, Hsu Chih-wei and Lilian Wu

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) A university in Taipei may have violated the law by failing to

inform the Ministry of Education of an agreement with Chinese universities in a bid to attract Chinese students, legislators from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Thursday.

At issue is Shih Hsin University’s School of Lifelong Learning, which signed a pledge in December with several Chinese universities that the classes it offers would not involve politically sensitive activities and undertook not to engage in any activities related to

“one China, one Taiwan,” “two Chinas” and “Taiwan independence,” as it welcomed 11 Chinese students to study in Shih Hsin from February to June this year.

Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), a DPP caucus whip in the Legislature, said universities should promote freedom of speech, but by signing this agreement Shih Hsin has effectively banned students from discussing international relations and the political orientation of Taiwan.   [FULL  STORY]

The migrant worker was reportedly radicalized after she began using Facebook in Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/03/01
By: ZiQing Low

Taiwan deported an Indonesian migrant worker to Jakarta on Feb. 22 on

suspicion of joining the Islamic State (ISIS). Indonesian officials say this is the first case of an Indonesian migrant worker being deported from Taiwan for ties to the terrorist organization, CNA reports.

Read More:
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Chinese Police Detain Man for Videos of Islamic State Beheading
ISIS Crowdsourcing ‘Lone Wolves’ Heightens Risks for Southeast Asia

Taiwanese authorities worked with the FBI to arrest the woman, Tri Astiningsih, on Feb. 21. She was then deported to Jakarta and taken into custody by Detachment 88, an Indonesian government anti-terrorism unit.
[FULL  STORY]

Prosecutors are investigating Yuanta Life employees over alleged sale of client personal info to phone scam gangsters

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/01
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taipei (Taiwan News)—Three employees from Yuanta Financial Holdings

insurance arm, Yuanta Life, were summoned by prosecutors in Tainan City for allegedly selling clients personal information to fraud gangs, a person familiar with the matter told Apple Daily.

The Tainan District Prosecutors Office requested Yuanta Life for assistance in a phone scam investigation last Friday, in which a suspect was illegally acquiring personal information, said the company.

Prosecutors deployed from the Tainan office searched for evidence at Yuanta Life’s headquarters in Taipei last Friday.   [FULL  STORY]