Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Lu Hsin-hyui

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump have spoken over the phone and discussed issues including economy and defense, the Presidential Office said Saturday.

In the conversation that lasted more than 10 minutes late Friday, Tsai asked for U.S. support in Taiwan’s bid for more international participation, the office said.    [SOURCE]

First US-Taiwanese presidential contact since diplomatic relations were cut in 1979

Financial Times
Date: December 2, 2016

The call, confirmed by four people, is believed to be the first between a US president or president-elect and a leader of Taiwan since diplomatic relations between the two were cut in 1979.

Although it is not clear if the Trump transition team intended the conversation to signal a broader change in US policy towards Taiwan, the call is likely to infuriate Beijing which regards the island as a renegade province.

The US has adopted the so-called “One China” policy since 1972 after the Nixon-Mao meetings and in 1978 President Jimmy Carter formally recognised Beijing as the sole government of China, with the US embassy closing in Taipei the year after.

The Trump team did not initially respond to multiple requests for comment but, after the Financial Times first published news of the call, confirmed that the president-elect had spoken with Ms Tsai and “noted the close economic, political, and security ties” between Taiwan and the United States.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 2, 2016

Electronics maker AsusTek Computer Inc. topped the Best Taiwan Global Brands rankings for the

AsusTek Computer Inc. has again been listed as Taiwan’s most valuable brand in the 2016 Best Taiwan Global Brands survey released Nov. 29. (LTN)

fourth consecutive year with an estimated brand value of US$1.75 billion, according to a survey released Nov. 29 by the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Network security solutions provider Trend Micro Inc. remained second on the list with a value of US$1.36 billion, and food and media conglomerate Want Want Holdings Ltd. was unchanged at third place with US$1.03 billion. Banking industry heavyweight CTBC Financial Holding Co., which made the list for the first time with a value of US$506 million, came in fourth, trailed by bicycle maker Giant Manufacturing Co. at US$476 million.

The top 20 list also includes computer solutions provider Advantech Co., PC maker Acer Inc., bicycle maker Merida Industry Co., fabless semiconductor firm MediaTek Inc. and smartphone producer HTC Corp., in that order.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/02
By: Wang Shu-fen and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 2 (CNA) The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has reminded those who are keen

CNA file photo

on flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to stay clear of airports, noting that 15 people have been fined for operating UAVs around the airport over the past three years.

The CAA said that since 2001, it has set the off-limit areas for the release of objects that could endanger flight safety, such as kites, lanterns, firecrackers, remote control aircraft and the recently popular UAVs.

Such a ban is allowed under the Civil Aviation Act, it said.

According to CAA statistics, there have been 15 cases involving flying UAVs around airports since 2014, and among them, nine cases were near Taipei Songshan Airport at such locations as the Grand Hotel and the Taipei 101 skyscraper.    [FULL  STORY]

‘CRIMINAL OFFENSE’:DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming said he felt that Taiwan’s democracy has come to an end following a scuffle with protesters outside the legislature

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 03, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its legislative caucus, as well as the Executive Yuan

Protesters throw water at DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming as he leaves the Legislative Yuan building in Taipei yesterday. Photo: AFP/CNA

and Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), yesterday condemned an incident in which DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) was pushed to the ground outside the Legislative Yuan by people protesting against proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法).

Dozens of protesters yesterday morning gathered outside the Legislative Yuan building’s gate on Qingdao E Road, shouting against the proposed amendments, especially the proposed cut of seven national holidays.

Around noon, the protesters saw Ker on Zhenjiang Street after he left the Legislative Yuan building to go to his office. The group pushed against a police barricade at the intersection of Qingdao E Road and Zhenjiang Street, threw water at Ker and pushed him to the ground.

Ker was escorted back to the Legislative Yuan building, while the protesters continued the push against the barricade, where people said that they had been hurt.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 3, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The ruling party’s attempt to push through controversial amendments to the Labor

Democratic Progressive Party Caucus Whip Ker Chien-ming, center, is caught between the police and members of labor groups protesting a revision that would cut the national holidays of many of Taiwan’s workers, in Taipei, Friday, Dec. 2. (CNA)

Standards Act in the Legislature Friday was thwarted after fierce resistance from protesters outside the lawmaking body in Taipei.

Protesters vowed to continue their struggle against the bill, which is slated for review in the Legislature next Tuesday.

The day began with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers attempting to use their majority to push a bill that would cut seven statutory holidays toward a second and third reading.

The move prompted dozens of labor union activists to set up a protest base at the Legislative Yuan’s entrance facing Zhenjiang Street.

Tension was palpable as a 700-strong police force blocked off access to all building entrances.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 1, 2016

French academic Samia Ferhat and the EU Center at National Sun Yat-sen University in southern

MOC Minister Cheng Li-chiun (left) is joined by Gilbert Guillaume (center) and Xavier Darcos, chairman and permanent secretary, respectively, of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, during the Taiwan-France Cultural Award ceremony Nov. 28 in Paris. (Courtesy of MOC)

Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City are the winners of the prestigious Taiwan-France Cultural Award presented Nov. 28 in Paris by Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun.

“We would like to thank these two well-deserved recipients, as well as all previous winners, for their support of the country and contributions to promoting Taiwan culture in Europe,” Cheng said during the presentation ceremony at the historic Institut de France.

On her first overseas visit in an official capacity, Cheng said France is a “dear friend” that listens to, understands and responds to Taiwan. “Paris is the city of light and an important portal for the rest of the world to access Taiwan culture.”

Ferhat, a scholar at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and lecturer at the Universite Paris Ouest, was recognized for dedicating more than 20 years of her life to the study of Taiwan’s domestic politics, according to the Ministry of Culture.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/01
By: Tony Liao and Evelyn Kao

Washington, Nov. 30 (CNA) Taiwan and its friends in the United States should help the new U.S.

Former AIT Director William Stanton (CNA file photo)

administration improve its knowledge of Taiwan’s geo-strategic importance to any U.S. policy toward Asia and exercise greater care in enunciating the U.S. position toward Taiwan, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton said in an article published Wednesday.

In the article titled “What Should U.S. Policy Toward Taiwan Be Under the Trump Administration?” Stanton said that Taiwan should take advantage of the election of Donald Trump, who he called a new and very unorthodox U.S. president, to help the U.S. bring change to its policy toward Taiwan.

Stanton said in the article, published by the Washington-based Taiwan-affairs think tank Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), that what troubles him most is Trump’s lack of attention to Asia, while his candidates for national security advisor and Central Intelligence Agency director appear to have no experience or interest in Asia. This continues the long tradition of U.S. presidents whose appointed foreign policy officials knew nothing about Asia, China, or Taiwan.    {FULL  STORY]