CHINESE PRESSURE:Academic Chao Chun-shan said Beijing’s objective has not changed and it is moving to sanction businesspeople who favor independence

Taipei Times
Date: May 28, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

The percentage of people identifying themselves as “Taiwanese” has reached a record high,

according to a poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation.

More than 80 percent of respondents self-identified as Taiwanese, compared with 8.1 percent who identified themselves as Chinese and 7.6 percent who identified as both in the poll, whose wording asked respondents if they viewed themselves as “Taiwanese,” “Chinese” or had “other thoughts.”

When asked to choose between eventual independence and reunification with China, more than 51 percent said they favored independence, while 15 percent favored reunification and 25 percent favored maintaining the “status quo.”

“The results represent a historic peak for identification as Taiwanese and show that it has decisively replaced identification as Chinese as Taiwan’s mainstream ethnic identification,” foundation chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said, attributing respondents’ relatively high support for independence to the poll’s focus on an eventual future rather than the immediate choice used in many surveys.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-26
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen said Thursday that the thing she has felt most

unaccustomed to in the week since she assumed office has been having to read from prepared scripts when receiving foreign dignitaries.
She made the remark in response to a reporter’s question at the Presidential Office.

She was reported to be tongue-tied during a meeting earlier in the week with Marcus Jadotte, assistant U.S. secretary of commerce for industry and analysis. Tsai took time out from her hectic schedule Thursday to have a tour of the Presidential Office and chat with staff and media there.

It was the first time Tsai and Vice President Chen Chien-jen had taken a good     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date 2016/05/26
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) An article published Tuesday by a Chinese Communist Party-linked newspaper has sparked outrage over its sexist comments about Taiwan’s new president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), whom the article suggested was unfit to be president because she was single and childless.

“As a single female politician,” Tsai’s political style and strategies are often “emotional, personalized and extreme” because she lacks “the burden of love, family and children,” according to the opinion piece by Wang Weixing (王衛星), an analyst from the Academy of Military Science in Beijing and a board member of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

Wang said that because Tsai is single, she thinks less about strategic directions and more about tactical details, and cares more about achieving short-term goals than long-term ones.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 26, 2016

Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology in New Taipei City launched trial operations May 24 of a

virtual reality experience that will soon allow visitors to explore the underwater environment of the historically significant Tamsui River estuary near the museum, highlighting the growing adoption of state-of-the-art technologies among Taiwan’s cultural institutions.

“The VR program is highly immersive and interactive, giving you an idea of what underwater archaeological work is really like,” said New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu after trying the technology at the unveiling.

Scheduled to open to the public in October, the VR project is part of comprehensive city government efforts to enhance museum-goers experiences through the use of modern technologies. “All four of the museums administered by the New Taipei City Government—the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology, Yingge Ceramics Museum, Tamsui Historical Museum and Gold Museum—are actively developing virtual programs,” said Lin Kuan-yuh, commissioner of NTCG’s Cultural Affairs Department.

In spring this year, the Yingge Ceramics Museum signed an agreement with U.S. tech giant Google Inc. to include 150 items from its collection in the Google Cultural Institute’s Art Project, an online platform displaying artworks from around the world in 2-D and 3-D formats. All of the selected pieces are due to be uploaded to the platform by the end of this year. The Taipei-based National Palace Museum is currently the only public institution in Taiwan participating in the project.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Lin Antai Historical House, one of Taipei’s oldest residential buildings, is hosting the “Century of Peace and Stability” permanent display area starting Wednesday (May 25).

Besides a rich collection of artifacts from Taiwan’s early days, the event organizers display food and cuisine models to provide visitors a peek into t raditional meals on different occasions inthe old days.

The display area, comprising six sections, will make people get nostalgic about the past life, according to Taipei City’s Department of Civil Affairs.

In addition to the displays at the mansion, visitors can also play a game of collecting different color prints (4 colors total) hidden at various places in the house to complete a unique postcard as a souvenir.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/25
By: Milly Lin, Huang Chiao-wen and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) With the doubtful goal of transforming Taiwan into a nuclear-free area

by 2025, new Economics Minister Lee Chih-kung (李世光) appeared Wednesday to be optimistic that it can be achieved without the risk of electricity rationing.

“Between today and 2025, we have nine years to prepare,” Lee said in his first press conference since assuming office May 20.

Some people have predicted that Taiwan will be doomed if it has no nuclear power plants, but Lee said that is a simplistic viewpoint.

With nine years to prepare, as long as “we continue to introduce green energy and raise the efficiency of thermal power plants, power rationing will not be inevitable, even if electricity reserves drop below 7.4 percent,” Lee said.     [FULL  STYORY]

ENHANCING TIES:The policy, first adopted by former president Lee Teng-hui, is an effective tool that allows heads of state to exchange opinions face-to-face, MOFA said

Taipei Times
Date: May 26, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) plans to push “head of state diplomacy” as its

central policy, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said yesterday, while confirming that the ministry is in the midst of planning for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit to two diplomatic allies in Latin America and the Caribbean next month.

The ministry plans to promote cooperation between Taiwan and its diplomatic allies, and push for increased exchanges between heads of state, the effects of which can be seen in the number of foreign leaders and high-level officials who attended Tsai’s inauguration ceremony, the ministry said in a report presented to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday.

The ministry will advise the president to visit each of the nation’s diplomatic allies at an opportune time, the report said.

“The head of state diplomacy approach began under former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) administration. It is an effective tool because it allows the leaders of two countries to exchange opinions face-to-face,” Lee told reporters before the legislative meeting.

During the meeting, New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) asked Lee about the ministry’s plans and strategy, and whether Tsai is to make a state visit next month.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 24, 2016
By: Staff reporter / By Jason Pan

Minister of National Defense Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) yesterday sparked controversy at a

meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee by saying that he does not support Taiwanese independence.

Responding to questions by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), Feng stumbled into a political minefield with his comments on Taiwanese independence, saying: “I also have not heard President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) speak about [advocating] Taiwanese independence.”

Huang was questioning Feng on the US Pentagon’s latest report on China’s military developments, which was released on May 13. The report reiterated Washington’s position on maintaining the “status quo” on both sides of Taiwan Strait.

Huang cited parts of the Pentagon report that urged Taiwan to increase its defense spending, before asking Feng if he supported Taiwanese independence, adding that she felt distressed that she saw more bananas than Republic of China (ROC ) flags being handed out at Tsai’s inaugural ceremony on Friday.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former President Chen Shui-bian’s intent to attend a thanksgiving dinner on June 4 could lead to the cancellation of his medical parole, reports said Tuesday.

The former head of state was sentenced to 20 years in prison on corruption charges, but early last year he was allowed to live with his family in Kaohsiung on medical parole.

Just before the May 20 inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen, it became known that Chen would have liked to have been present at the inaugural banquet, but the news provoked controversy and he scrapped his plans.

At the same time, it became known that he might appear at a dinner in Taipei organized by the Ketagalan Foundation, which was founded 11 years ago during his presidency. A spokeswoman for his medical team announced Tuesday that he would present at the event scheduled for June 4, and that Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je, an early supporter of his medical parole, would also attend.     [FULL  STORY]