The China Post
Date: December 21, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Republic of China on Wednesday announced an end to

diplomatic relations with Sao Tome and Principe, hours after the African country made the same announcement.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) said Taipei cut ties after the former ally requested an “astronomical amount” in financial aid.

The government of Sao Tome and Principe on Tuesday announced its split with the R.O.C., with which it had shared diplomatic relations since 1997.

In a statement released shortly afterward, China’s Foreign Ministry said it welcomed Sao Tome back to the correct path of the “one China” principle.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 21, 2016

The Office of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) expressed regret Dec.

21 about the unilateral decision by São Tomé and Príncipe to terminate diplomatic relations earlier the same day.

In a written statement, the Office of the President said that the ROC is fully able to provide assistance to the nation’s diplomatic allies across various fronts and has been more than willing to contribute to allies’ development to the fullest extent of its abilities. “However, it is not our approach to engage in diplomatic games by the means of money,” it stated.

The Office of the President said it deeply regrets that mainland China took advantage of the financial difficulties faced by São Tomé and Príncipe to manipulate the “one China policy.”    [FULL  STORY]

Workers died on first day of school repairs

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/21
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Four men and a woman died at the Da-Si Senior High School

in Taoyuan City when the scaffolding they were working on collapsed, reports said Wednesday.

The reason for the incident was not immediately clear.

The five had been working on the outside of the fifth floor at the school building, and at 3:14 p.m. the scaffolding collapsed, burying them underneath.

As they were pulled out of the wreckage over the following two-and-a-half hours, all of them were officially diagnosed with “out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)” and were pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/21
By: Charles Kang and Ko Lin

New Delhi, Dec. 21 (CNA) Relations between Taiwan and India have moved up a

notch with India’s recent formation of the India-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Forum (ITPAF), Taiwan’s representative office in India said Wednesday.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi said the ITPAF was formed Dec. 16 by members of the lower house of India’s bicameral parliament, the Lok Sabha (House of the People).

So far, 22 members of the Lok Sabha across party lines have joined the ITPAF, and the number continues to grow, according to Harish Chandra Meena, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who wrote to the TECC about the matter.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan-based Buddhist charity Tzu Chi Foundation awarded for service to Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/21
By: Central News Agency

Taiwan-based Buddhist charity Tzu Chi Foundation was presented with the Philippines Presidential Award in Manila (By Central News Agency)

Taipei — The Taiwan-based Buddhist charity Tzu Chi Foundation was presented with

the Philippines Presidential Award in Manila on Monday in recognition of its service to Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan.

The biennial Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas are intended for overseas-based individuals and organizations that have work in the service of Filipinos, selflessly supported relief, rehabilitation and development programs in the home country, or who have excelled in their field or profession, according to the Office of the President of the Philippines.

Tzu Chi was among the 23 organizations and individuals that received the awards this year.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/20
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) Japan has refused to resume discussions on an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Taiwan until it lifts a ban on food imports from radiation-affected areas of Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday.

In a written report submitted to the Legislative Yuan, the MOFA said Japan is dissatisfied with Taiwan’s ban, as most advanced countries have eased their restrictions on Japanese food imports and because Taiwan has not found unacceptable levels of radiation in its inspections of Japanese food products.

Due to the ban, Japan is unwilling to resume the operation of the Taiwan-Japan Economic Partnership Committee, which is the framework for discussing the EPA, the MOFA said.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 21, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

The military is getting creative in its efforts to combat a dwindling recruitment rate,

yesterday announcing relaxed physical testing and a new scheme for reserve servicepeople.

The “Weekend Warrior Project” — a short-term voluntary service program allowing reservists to return to military bases for training on holidays and weekends — is now officially open for application, the military announced Tuesday.

The program, which will officially launch in January 2017, is open to voluntary soldiers who were discharged from the military within the previous eight years and incumbent voluntary soldiers who have already filed to be discharged from the military, General Mobilization Office Director Tsai Chung-cheng (蔡忠誠) said.   [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/20

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is drafting new regulations to ensure Chinese

officials visiting Taiwan meet with both “pan-green” and “pan-blue” local governments, the Taipei Times reports. The MAC hopes the measures will prevent Chinese officials from visiting Taiwan for political rather than economic purposes. Pan-green local governments tend to lean towards the views of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while pan-blue governments are closer to the Kuomintang.

The heads of eight “pan-blue” local governments visited China to discuss tourism and agriculture in September, and a Chinese delegation visited those eight local governments in October. However, the Chinese delegation canceled scheduled visits to cities and counties governed by the DPP.    [FULL  STORY]

Plane was heading for Air Canada flight and mountain: ABC7

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An error by an air traffic controller in California sent an EVA

Airways jet which had just taken off from Los Angeles International Airport into the flight path of another plane and low above a mountain range, reports said Tuesday.

The incident happened during a serious rain storm just after 1:20 a.m. last Friday local time, according to news site ABC7.

An air traffic controller based in San Diego told the Taoyuan-bound Boeing 777 to turn left instead of right, the report said. As a result, the aircraft moved toward the flight path of an Air Canada plane that had also just taken off. It also approached Mount Wilson, a 5,700-foot peak above the town of Altadena in the San Gabriel Valley, the report said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/20
By: Tang Pei-chun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 20 (CNA) The government has confirmed that 47 Taiwan nationals were recently arrested in Madrid on charges of telecoms fraud and said it would seek their repatriation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday.

An unspecified number of Taiwanese out of a total of 279 suspects have been detained in Spain for their involvement in telecoms fraud, according to a recent report in Spanish newspaper, El Pais.

In response to the report, Vice Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said Monday that Taiwan citizens were arrested in the country but declined to make public the total number until the ministry is able to verify their identities.    [FULL  STORY]