The News Lens
Date; 2016/06/14
By: J. Michael Cole

One major taxi company in Taiwan has affiliations that may make you think twice before you open the door and jump in. Or not, depending on your views about Taiwan’s future.

One incredible thing about Taipei (and many cities across Taiwan) is how short the wait is before a taxi will spot you on the sidewalk and drive you to your destination for a fraction of the price one would pay in capitals of similar size worldwide. Another fascinating aspect about the business is the dazzling number of taxi companies that vie for customers.

While one can expect a relatively uniform service regardless of the company, one cab service, the Taiwan Grand Chinese Taxi Association (台灣大中華出租車司機聯誼會, or 大中華 for short), stands out for its rather transparent political affiliations and ideology.

Launched in 2008, the Association began with approximately 300 cars. According to reports in Chinese media at the time, the association intended to expand its fleet to more than 1,000 cars under the uniform 大中華 logo. Initially focused on cities in northern parts of Taiwan, the company was to expand its operations to provide services across Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 15, 2016
By: Reuters

BEIJING — Mainland China warned the United States on Tuesday to stick by its promises not to support any separatist activities, ahead of a U.S. visit by the R.O.C.’s new president, Tsai Ing-wen, and a possible meeting between the Dalai Lama and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Self-ruled, democratic Taiwan and the remote mountainous region of Tibet are two of China’s most sensitive political and diplomatic issues.

Mainland China external affairs agency spokesman Lu Kang said both issues involved the “one China” policy, a basic diplomatic tenet referring to both Taiwan and Tibet being part of China that Beijing insists foreign governments recognize.

“I can responsibly tell you that on this issue the U.S. government has made solemn promises, which is to uphold a ‘one China’ policy,” Lu told a daily news briefing.

R.O.C. President Tsai Ing-wen will transit in Miami on her way to Panama, one of the island’s diplomatic allies, for the expansion ceremony of the Panama Canal and stopover in Los Angeles on her return, Deputy Foreign Minister Javier Ching-shan Hou said on Tuesday.     [FULL  STORY]

SECOND DESTINATION:The president is to travel to Paraguay on June 27, a day after the inauguration of the expanded Panama Canal, and deliver a speech to parliament

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 15, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would interact naturally

with representatives of China and other nations without diplomatic ties with Taiwan at the inauguration ceremony of the newly expanded Panama Canal later this month, as it released more details of Tsai’s first overseas state visit.

“From the ministry’s understanding, China will be sending the deputy head of its Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Outward Investment and Economic Cooperation, who is relatively low-ranking, to attend the ceremony,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山) told a news conference at the Presidential Office.

Hou said Tsai is expected to have “natural interactions” with Beijing’s representative at the ceremony on June 26 in Panama, just as she would with representatives of Taiwan’s other non-diplomatic allies.

It means Tsai would not be indifferent to the representatives should they approach to say hello and might respond by giving a nod, Hou said, adding that Tsai is also likely to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the nation’s nine diplomatic allies invited to attend the ceremony.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport reported water leaks inside both terminals and flooding on area roads amid torrential rain Tuesday, causing Premier Lin Chuan to demand a report about potential improvements within one month.

On June 2, both terminals were inundated, including the food courts and the check-in areas, tunnels on access roads were impassable, and lightning knocked out a radar system, causing problems for 30,000 passengers. In the wake of the incident, the airport company’s chairman and CEO were replaced.

Problems on Tuesday seemed to be of a lower order than earlier in the month though. Torrential rain caused water to leak from ceilings at both terminals, including the departure area at Terminal 2, with workers first setting up buckets and later fixing the problems inside the ceilings, reports said.

Outside, the Terminal South Road saw 20 centimeters of water, leading workers to bring in sandbags to prevent the situation from worsening.     [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: June 13, 2016

Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party slammed the self-ruled island’s new government as

“suppressive” for barring former president Ma Ying-jeou from traveling to Chinese-controlled Hong Kong on the grounds of national security.

Ma’s China-friendly Nationalists lost landslide elections in January to President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has traditionally leant towards independence from China.

They said barring Ma from visiting the former British colony of Hong Kong was “completely unhelpful for Taiwan’s internal political reconciliation and social harmony”.

“This suppressive style of the just-sworn-in DPP government is naked to all the people,” it said.

Tsai’s administration said on Sunday it had barred Ma from traveling to Hong Kong where he was due to give a speech at a Society of Publishers in Asia media awards ceremony on Wednesday.     [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/13
By: Edward White

Large sex trafficking operations in Taiwan are not being investigated or prosecuted because police

don’t want to jeopardize their performance reports, a local non-government organization says.

According to government statistics, the number of cases of human trafficking involving sexual exploitation handled by authorities in Taiwan has more than doubled in the past five years to 97 in 2015.

While the figures may suggest that efforts by the authorities to stamp out the industry are working, researchers at the Taiwan Women’s Rescue Foundation (TWRF) believe the statistics mask the real extent of the problem.

Bigger operations involving criminal organizations and trafficking networks continue to go unchecked as police chase a higher number of lower-level cases often involving one or two perpetrators, according to Jasmine Bai (白芝芳), director of research and development at the foundation.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/06/13

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) The Taipei District Court on Monday again rejected a request by ruling Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to forbid former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from leaving the country.

Although Ker claimed that Ma might flee the country because most of his family members hold U.S. citizenship and live overseas and that Ma is suspected of holding a U.S. green card, this is merely Ker’s speculation that is not supported by substantive evidence, the court said.

The court also rejected Ker’s argument that the visit Ma had planned to make to Hong Kong on June 15 could have provided him an opportunity to flee the country.

Given that Ma needed to obtain the Presidential Office’s approval before being able to visit Hong Kong and that the travel plan has received extensive media coverage recently, it is hard to jump to the conclusion that Ma might use the opportunity to flee, the court said.     [FULL  STORY]

Times of Malta
Date: June 12, 2016

Rowing teams competed in the yearly traditional dragon boat races on Saturday in Taipei, Taiwan. On the Keelung River in Taipei City, athletes were waiting for the starting signal before rowing towards the flags that mark the finish line. Teams competing for the top races often undergo months of rigorous training to have a shot at winning.

Dragon boat racing is now a sport, but the festival has its roots in Chinese folklore.

It is held held annually on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar to commemorate the death of legendary hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned in the Mi Lo River over 2000 years ago while protesting against corrupt rulers.

The story goes that people attempted to rescue Qu Yuan by beating drums to scare fish away and by throwing dumplings into the water to prevent the fish from eating his body.     [FULL  STORY]