POMPEO’S CONTRAST: The US bill would reiterate the TRA and the ‘six assurances,’ while the secretary of state said that Taiwan had blossomed despite being sidelined

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 25, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTON

International navy ships assemble off Hawaii during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise on July 26, 2018.
Photo: AFP / US NAVY / DYLAN M. KINEE

The bill cleared the Senate floor in a 86-14 vote.

Provisions that include Taiwan are mentioned in sections 1258 and 1259 of the bill, which reiterates that the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” provided by the US to Taiwan in July 1982 are “the foundation for United States-Taiwan relations.”

The “six assurances” were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan in 1982 and include pledges not to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, not to hold prior consultations with China regarding arms sales to Taiwan, and not to be a mediator between Taiwan and China.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 23 July, 2020
By: Paula Chao

The government is set to remove a quota on overseas Taiwanese people applying for residency in Taiwan. (Photo by National Immigration Agency)

Taiwanese nationality law does not automatically grant citizens the right to reside in Taiwan. The right of abode comes only with what’s known as household registration. For historical reasons, nationals who are born overseas under certain circumstances do not have this household registration and must apply for it if they wish to live in Taiwan.

Under existing laws, there is a quota in place on how many overseas Taiwanese living in Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia are granted residency per month.     [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: July 23, 2020
By: Venus Upadhayaya

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York during her visit to the US on July 11, 2019. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

Previously, India, wary of China’s sensitivity over any ties with Taiwan, had appointed lower-ranking officials, and experts say this appointment is significant in showing India’s desire for more interaction with the island nation.

The just-announced envoy, Gourangalal Das, is currently handling the India–United States relationship in India’s Ministry of External Affairs​, according to a July 12 report by the Indian Express, an Indian national daily.

Dr. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a distinguished fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, told The Epoch Times in an email from New Delhi: “India’s recent appointment of a new envoy to Taiwan has a message for China, one would assume. It could have been a routine affair, but the fact that India went ahead with the change in the middle of the [Galwan] stand-off is important.”   [FULL  STORY]

Helmets fail to save chickens from falling durians on Taiwan farm

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/23
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Facebook, Lim Sheng Chieh photos)

On Tuesday (July 21), Taiwanese Facebook user Lim Sheng Chieh posted a photo of a tiny green helmet and wrote that many of his grandfather's chickens on his farm had recently been killed by falling durians. His solution was to attach tiny helmets to the chickens, and he included a photo of one of the farmed fowl with one strapped on.

Unfortunately, he wrote that his efforts were fruitless, as he shared a photo of one of the fowl flattened by the smelly, spiked fruit. The post soon gained 3,700 likes, 5,700 shares, and 3,700 comments:    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/23/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Pixabay image for illustrative purposes only

However, the MOFA clarified that the policy does not constitute a relaxation of Taiwan's current ban on the entry of foreign tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Whether restrictions on foreign nationals coming to Taiwan for tourism purposes will be relaxed depends on the Central Epidemic Command Center's (CECC's) assessment of the global pandemic situation," the MOFA said in a statement.

The decision to extend the visa-free treatment for the four countries was reached following assessments by relevant agencies in an inter-agency meeting on May 29, 2020, the MOFA said.    [FULL  STORY]

PETITION LAUNCHED: At least 500 people have called for the Kaohsiung hopeful’s degree to be canceled, while Johnny Chiang urged politicians to examine themselves

Taipi Times
Date: Jul 24, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee cries at a news conference in the city yesterday.
Photo: CNA

She said she would also ask the Kaohsiung City Election Commission to remove the degree from the column in the election bulletin where candidates’ education backgrounds are listed.

The by-election is scheduled for Aug. 15 and the commission said that it was nearly finished printing the election bulletins.

However, the Kaohsiung-based university said that the Degree Conferral Act (學位授予法) has no regulations covering voluntary relinquishment of a degree.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 July, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je speaking at the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum on Wednesday in Taipei. (CNA photo)

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je says that there were challenges in organizing the forum. However, Ko said that it was important to press on all the same because the forum covers issues important to people’s lives. 

Ko said that the Twin City Forum has been an important channel for maintaining cross-strait ties and exchanges.     [FULL  STORY]

The Washington Post
Date: July 22, 2020
By:Gerry Shih

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaks during a news briefing in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 22, 2020. (Ritchie B Tongo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

The Chinese military has held a growing number of exercises that simulate an invasion of Taiwan, a self-ruled island about 80 miles off China’s east coast that considers the United States its main military and diplomatic backer. The pace and scale of China’s drills, as well as those of U.S. naval and air forces deployed to the region, have risen in recent months as relations between Beijing and Washington plummet on numerous fronts.

Relations took another sharp turn Wednesday after the State Department said it ordered China to close its consulate in Houston.

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said this week the United States would sell more arms to Taiwan as part of a $10 billion deal approved by Congress. He also said the U.S. military would reposition forces across Asia to prepare for a confrontation with China in flash points including self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its territory and has vowed for decades to take by force if necessary. Inside China, the government has faced growing calls from hawkish military pundits and nationalist commentators to grasp the current strategic window to seize Taiwan, an accomplishment that could rally the Chinese population and burnish leader Xi Jinping’s political legacy.    FULL  STORY]

Police have still not uncovered motive for grisly events in Changhua County

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(CNA photo)

The Changhua County Fire Bureau said it received reports on Wednesday evening (July 22) that Chan, 41, his 14-year-old son, 13-year-old daughter, and six-year-old son were missing, per CNA . Firefighters rushed to Chan's residence in Xiushui Township, and, with no one answering the door, were forced to break into the house.

Inside firefighters found Chan and his three children dead, with charcoal burning in the bedroom. As there were no signs of intrusion, the case is being treated as one of suspected filicide-suicide.

Chan's father and mother were unwilling to talk with reporters about possible motives, but they said that Chan had changed a lot since taking drugs. They lamented that their son did not take his life alone, but instead took his three children with him.    [FULL  STORY]