Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/03/2020
By: Lee Shien-feng and Ko Lin

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) A woman in Hualien City alleges a cyclist she witnessed her husband run over and kill in a traffic accident early Monday had only moments earlier sexually assaulted her.

The incident took place in the early hours of the morning, when a man surnamed Ho (何) ran over the deceased, while talking to his wife on the phone, Hualien County Police Department said.

According to the police, Ho said he was talking to his wife on the phone and trying to find her after the two had an argument earlier in the evening.

The cyclist was a migrant worker from Thailand, who suffered multiple fractures and was subsequently pronounced dead at a local hospital.    [FULL  STORY]

‘PUBLIC TRUST’: President Tsai Ing-wen thanked David Lee for accepting the new post at such short notice and expressed confidence in his ability to adjust to his new role

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 04, 2020
By: Su Yung-yao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday appointed Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman David Lee (李大維) as the new Presidential Office secretary-general, as she warned the Cabinet against damaging the public’s trust in the government.

Lee replaces Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), who resigned on Sunday, after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case.

Su Jia-chyuan said that he was worried it could negatively affect Tsai’s presidency.

Su Chen-ching is accused of taking bribes from businessman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆) to lobby for a legal amendment.    [FULL  STORY]

ANI News
Date:  Aug 02, 2020
By: ANI

Toronto [Canada], Aug 2 (ANI): Urging international communities to tackle Chinese oppression, Indian, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Taiwanese diaspora took part in a protest against China in Toronto on Saturday. 

The protest was organised by Canada-Hong Kong Link, Bangladesh Minority Rights Alliance, Indian, Tibetan, Vietnamese and Taiwanese diaspora.

The demonstrators were seen holding flags of the US, Tibet and India. They also raised slogans in support of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Many held placards and banner against the Chinese government. They raise the issue to the treatment meted out on Uighur Muslims by the Chinese Communist Party.   [FULL  STORY]

The coronavirus crisis emphasizes the need for an effective digital tool to find innovative solutions and forge collaborations among companies worldwide

CTECH
Date: 02.08.20
By: Daniela Kandel, Start-Up Nation Central

The COVID-19 crisis emphasizes the need for companies and technologies to become more visible, and accentuates the demand for platforms that promote access to global markets. The need for an effective digital tool to find innovative solutions and create collaborations among entrepreneurs, companies, and investors worldwide, set the tone for the signing of an agreement in July 2020, between Start-Up Nation Central and Innovation to Industry (i2i), an innovation company spun off of Taiwanese research institute Institution for Information Industry (iii).

Under the agreement, i2i will launch a ‘Global Finder’ in Taiwan – an online innovation discovery and ecosystem development tracking platform modelled after the successful Start-Up Nation Finder. The platform will include a mapping of nearly 30,000 tech companies, hundreds of incubators, 200 VCs and other stakeholders active in Taiwan’s ecosystem, enabling them to expand their business opportunities with the world and make data-driven decisions.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/02
By  Central News Agency

Taiwan health authorities reported one new COVID-19 case Sunday, while continuing to test those who may have come into contact with a Belgian national to learn more about how he ended up testing positive for the disease.

The Belgian man in his 20s, who entered Taiwan in early May and went through the standard two-week quarantine, had two positive PCR tests for the disease this past week.

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) would not classify the case as a domestically transmitted case, however, because it learned later Saturday that the Belgian man had sought treatment twice in Belgium in March for a loss of his sense of taste and smell, potential symptoms of the disease.

He was not diagnosed with COVID-19 at the time, but his symptoms, combined with a positive IgG antibody test that indicated he could have had COVID-19 a while ago, has led the CECC to suspect he was first infected in March and the original infection is still in his system.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/02/2020
By: Tsai Chih-ming and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) The National Palace Museum's southern branch in Chiayi County saw a surge in visitors in July, which the museum's chief curator Peng Tzu-cheng (彭子程) attributed to the launch of a new exhibition, water shows and drone performances.

According to Peng, early calculations show that more than 190,000 people visited the museum in July, representing a 30 percent year-on-year increase.

If the calculations prove accurate, it would also be the highest number of monthly visitors recorded since the museum's opening in December 2015, surpassing the current record of 186,858 visitors in February 2016.

Several new events unveiled by the museum in July have helped draw the big crowds, Peng said, including a child-friendly exhibition on ancient Chinese artifacts and outdoor water shows and drone performances.    [FULL  STORY]

BRIBERY CASE: President Tsai Ing-wen accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation as he said that he deeply regretted causing trouble for the president due to the investigation

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 03, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday resigned after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨).

“I resigned from the post so that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would not be bothered by it anymore, and the prosecutors can investigate the case in a fair and just manner. I thank President Tsai once again for supporting me. May the country continue to prosper under her leadership,” Su Jia-chyuan said in a statement.

The Presidential Office said that Tsai has accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation, adding that Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Jason Liu (劉建忻) would serve as acting director-general.

The former Legislative Yuan speaker assumed the post at the Presidential Office when Tsai started her second term on May 20.    [FULL  STORY]

Yahoo News
Date: August 1, 2020
By: Associated Press•

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's leaders and its people were paying their respects Saturday to former President Lee Teng-hui, who died this week at age 97 after bringing full democracy to Taiwan and incurring the wrath of China in the process.

A traditional funeral bier was set up at the Taipei Guest House, an ornate European-style building that was home to Japanese governors during Taiwan's 1895-1945 colonial period.

Among the visitors Saturday was current President Tsai Ing-wen, who wrote in a book of condolences, "You shall forever be watching over democratic Taiwan.”

Lee strove to create a separate, democratic identity for Taiwan, angering not only China, which considers the island part of its territory, but also members of his Nationalist Party who hoped to return victorious to the mainland.    [FULL  STORY]

Fars News
Date:  Aug 01, 2020

TEHRAN (FNA)- A Chinese military spokesperson voiced firm opposition to the US sending military personnel to Taiwan region for exercises and exchange.

Such "deliberate and provocative" moves seriously violated basic norms of international relations and sent a wrong signal to separatist elements advocating "Taiwan independence", said Ren Guoqiang, Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, Xinhua reported.

In doing so, the US side has violated its political commitment to China, Ren stated in response to a question at a regular press conference, warning the step had a severe negative impact on bilateral relations and military-to-military ties between China and the United States, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Ren noted that China has lodged solemn representations with the United States, urging Washington to immediately rectify its mistake, and halt official and military contacts of any form with Taiwan region.    [FULL  STORY]

Former President Lee Teng-hui passed away at age 97 on July 30, 2020

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/31
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will be forever remembered as a monumental figure in Taiwan’s struggle to break free from the clutches of a brutal authoritarian regime and develop into one of the world's most vibrant democracies.

While many people deserve credit for Taiwan’s democratic transformation, few had the patience and the long-sightedness that Lee possessed to start at the bottom from within the Kuomintang (KMT) and slowly move up, step by step, until he could go no higher, before finally letting his true Taiwanese colors shine. That is what's called mastering the long game.

Lee Teng-hui was born on Jan. 15, 1923, in Sanzhi (三芝) in northwest Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. He studied agricultural economics in Japan at Kyoto Imperial University in 1943 but returned to Taiwan after World War II and continued his studies at National Taiwan University, where he graduated in 1949, before then moving on to complete his graduate studies at Iowa State University and Cornell University.

Lee joined the KMT in October 1971 to help solve Taiwan’s agricultural problems and in 1972 was appointed by Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), who by then had become premier, as a minister without portfolio assigned to work on agriculture. Lee then worked his way up to become a member of the KMT’s Central Committee on Nov. 17, 1976.    [FULL  STORY]