Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/20/2020
By: Flor Wang and Hou Wen-ting

Kaohsiung, July 20 (CNA) A Vietnamese worker who absconded from his legal employer was recently detained in Kaohsiung while serving as a cook at a popular local food stand, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said in a statement Monday.

Acting on a tipoff, officers of the NIA's Kaohsiung City Service Center arrested the Vietnamese worker, identified as A-teh (阿德), from the stand that sold oyster omelets and seafood porridge in Zihguan District.

Immigration authorities are investigating the case to determine how long he has been in Taiwan and if he should be deported.

They did not provide many details about his past, other than to say he has been in Taiwan for six years.    [FULL  STORY]

USA CAUCUS: After being sworn in, Hsiao Bi-khim attended an inauguration for the legislative caucus, thanking lawmakers for their support in improving ties with the US

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 21, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

A failure in Taiwan-US relations cannot be tolerated, new Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said yesterday, adding that her work as the nation’s de facto ambassador to the US has the staunch backing of the Legislative Yuan USA Caucus (台美國會關係聯誼會).

Hsiao, who takes over the position from Stanley Kao (高碩泰), made the remarks at an inauguration ceremony for the 10th legislative session’s USA Caucus after being sworn in at the Presidential Office earlier in the day.

Hsiao, who was the caucus’ chairperson during the ninth legislative session, said that her experience as a lawmaker has prepared her for the immense responsibility she is undertaking, thanking her colleagues for supporting her work to improve Taiwan-US relations.

Parliamentary diplomacy has been an important part of Taiwan-US ties, she said, adding that the US Congress has many members who are strong supporters of Taiwan.  [FULL  STORY]

Forbes
Date: Jul 18, 2020
By: David Axe, Contributor

If China invades Taiwan, it must win quickly—or risk losing.

If the invasion drags out more than a few days, U.S. forces could intervene. And if that happens, the Chinese military could find itself at a major disadvantage for one simple reason.

The U.S. Air Force and Navy have tankers and catapults. The Chinese air force and navy don’t.

Aerial-refueling tankers help to extend the range of American fighters, while catapults allow carrier-launched U.S. fighters to take off with full loads of weapons and fuel.   [FULL  STORY]

The national Interest
Date: July 18, 2020
By: Azeem Ibrahim

A Chinese attack on Taiwan will be an attack on all democracies. The United States must protect democracy by protecting Taiwan.

The annexation of Hong Kong is de facto accomplished, after the new National Security Law came into force, and the mainland security forces have started moving into the island territory. Even as we speak, many Hong Kongers, especially the leaders of the anti-Beijing protests, are starting to slowly trickle out of Hong Kong, and many are looking to Taiwan as their next destination. Unfortunately, Taiwan would also be Beijing’s next target.

That dissident leaders should look to Taiwan as their next logical step makes a lot of sense. Hong Kong and Taiwan share bonds of culture and language, and the protest leaders will especially share Taiwan’s desire for democratic self-government and independence from Beijing. But for the political refugees from Hong Kong, this may well turn out to be a case of jumping out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. 

For Beijing, especially for Han nationalists like Xi, the annexation of Taiwan would be the culmination of their dreams of “national unification.” Taiwan may have a long and ambivalent history with Chinese hegemony, more akin to Tibet than with the Han heartlands that form the core of Chinese national identity, but for Beijing, finally subduing Taiwan would carry an enormous amount of symbolism. Taiwan represents the last burning ember of the Chinese Civil War between the Republic of Taiwan and the communist People’s Republic from seventy years ago, and a constant reminder of unfinished business and a failure to achieve “final victory” in the Civil War by the Chinese Communist Party. 

Of course, there are economic and strategic reasons why China will want to assert sovereign ownership over the island of Taiwan, but fundamentally, this is about the history, and what people like Xi see as the destiny of China under communist rule. This is important to appreciate in order to understand the kinds of costs Beijing is willing to pay in order to impose its will over Taiwan in the same way that it did over Hong Kong.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei City’s Yangmingshan National Park must pay NT$4 million, though it can appeal decision

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A court has ruled the four children of a woman who was killed in a buffalo attack during a walk through Taipei City’s Yangmingshan National Park should receive state compensation of NT$3.96 million (US$134,300), reports said Saturday (July 18).

On Aug. 11, 2018, a woman surnamed Chen (陳) was walking on a path through the Qingtiangang Grasslands (擎天崗), part of Yangmingshan known for its Taiwan water buffaloes and Tajima cattle, when an animal rushed at her and caused her to fall. She died in hospital over two weeks later, CNA reported.

In their case against the park management, Chen’s four children said safety measures at the site were inadequate, since ropes failed to protect hikers from the animals. The fact that after the incident, ropes and wood were replaced by a fence of stainless steel and cement proved the original system had been flawed, the relatives argued.

However, the attorneys for Yangmingshan National Park told Shilin District Court about warning signs it had erected along the path and about guards occasionally patrolling the area. The buffalo attack was not related to the safety of the walkway, park management said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/18/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Emerson Lim

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) Taiwan's relations with the Vatican are unlikely to be affected by upcoming negotiations between the ecclesiastical state and Beijing regarding an expiring bishop appointment agreement, according to new Taipei Archbishop Chung An-chu (鍾安住).

Chung made the remarks during a media interview Saturday before assuming pastoral leadership of Taipei archdiocese, which encompasses Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung City and Yilan County.

The Vatican, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops with China in 2018, which expires in September.

As the Holy See is expected to negotiate for the renewal or further advancement of the agreement with Beijing, observers have expressed concerns Taiwan-Vatican relations could be affected.    [FULL  STORY]

PATIENCE: Shutting the nation’s representative office in Hong Kong would not have any strategic value and put Taiwanese in the territory at a disadvantage, two academics said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2020
By: Chung Li-hua and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Academics yesterday urged “professional assessment” by the government in response to calls to close the nation’s representative office in Hong Kong.

Taiwanese officials in Hong Kong have been told that their visas would not be renewed if they do not sign a document supporting Beijing’s claim to Taiwan under its “one China” principle, sources have said.

Several officials at Taiwan’s de facto Hong Kong consulate who were due to renew their visas have been asked by the Hong Kong government to sign the document, Reuters on Friday quoted a senior Taiwanese official with knowledge of the matter as saying.

The media reports prompted increasing calls from Taiwanese online for the government to take a tough stance by closing its Hong Kong office.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 July, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan recorded two new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of cases it has recorded so far up to 454.

Both cases are imported. The patients in these two cases both began feeling unwell while in the Philippines. Both informed airport staff of their symptoms upon their return to Taiwan earlier in the week.    [FULL STORY]

Forbes
Date:\Jul 17, 2020
By: David AxeContributor

If Beijing pulls the trigger and sends its forces streaming across the Taiwan Strait, the war could end quickly. Chinese rockets could pummel Taiwanese forces into submission, clearing the way for tens of thousands of Chinese marines to rush ashore on the plains of southwestern Taiwan.

That’s the best-case scenario for China. The worst-case scenario is that the invasion gets hung up on Taiwan’s fortified island of Penghu, the U.S. Navy sends in two or three aircraft carrier battle groups and the war drags out for many bloody weeks.

If that happens, Taiwan could do more than merely defend its islands and beaches. It could strike back at China with a growing arsenal of long-range, supersonic cruise missiles that could reach as far inland as Beijing.    [FULL  STORY]

More than 30 percent say they spend birthdays on their own

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/17
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 50 percent of the elderly in Taiwan feel forlorn, with those living in Yunlin County expressing the highest degree of loneliness, according to the latest survey.

Over 30 percent of seniors spend their birthdays alone, 14.5 percent have dinner by themselves, and 9.4 percent have to undergo surgery without the company of their family and friends, the study suggests. Around 80 percent of the respondents crave for companions, said 56789 Age Lab and the Taiwan Active Aging Association (AAA) at a joint news conference on Friday (July 17).

The research, which gauges senior loneliness with six behavioral indicators in the country's 22 cities and counties, finds that seniors in Yunlin are the most depressed over loneliness, followed by Taitung County and outlying Penghu County. Hualien, Changhua, and Keelung are the top municipalities where elders feel the least lonely, wrote CNA.    [FULL  STORY]