Taiwan Today
Date: May 16, 2016

The annual report released by the U.S. Department of Defense May 13 on military and security

developments involving mainland China called attention to the current security situation across the Taiwan Strait and Washington’s firm stance regarding the maintenance of cross-strait peace.

Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the report stated the U.S. has contributed to peace, security and stability in the Taiwan Strait through such efforts as announcing arms sales of more than US$14 billion to the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2009 to help the nation maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.

The report also stated, however, that mainland China “continues to develop and deploy military capabilities intended to coerce Taiwan or to attempt an invasion, if necessary.”

The U.S. “opposes any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by either side” and “continues to support the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues in a manner, scope and pace acceptable to the people on both sides,” according to the Pentagon.     [FULL  STORY]

‘LYING RASCAL’:Wang Ting-yu presented a list of 55 of Ma’s ‘broken promises,’ most famously his ‘6-3-3’ pledge and a promise to donate half his salary if it was not achieved
Date: May 17, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to

place himself on the national departure watch list governed by the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) as promised, and called on the outgoing president to account for his broken promises.

At a news conference at the legislature, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) presented a list of 55 promises on which he said Ma has reneged since 2008, notably his “6-3-3” pledge from the 2008 presidential campaign and his promise to donate half of his salary should the “6-3-3” vow fail.

The “6-3-3” pledge refers to the goals of achieving annual GDP growth of 6 percent, annual per capita income of US$30,000 and an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent.

“With only three days left before Ma leaves office, it is time to lay out his final tally. We tried to include all of Ma’s ‘bounced checks,’ but there are simply too many, so we only listed 55 of them,” Wang said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Even though the funds allocated to national defense from the government’s annual budget represented less than 3 percent of Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP), Taiwan has seen its defense budget grow over the past three years, Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Maj. Gen. Luo Shou-he said on Sunday.

Luo made the statement in response to an annual report recently released on China’s military and security developments by the U.S. Department of Defense, which stated that Taiwan’s defense spending has dropped to 2 percent of GDP, while China’s military spending has risen to 14 times that of Taiwan’s.

Media reports said that Taiwan’s national defense budget has grown slightly in recent years, with its defense budget for the fiscal year of 2016 accounting for only 2.3 percent-2.4 percent of GDP.     [FULL  STORY]

FOND FAREWELL:NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang said the nation should free itself from its authoritarian legacy and create a Taiwan-centric education system

Taipei Times
Date:  May 16, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Lawmakers and academics yesterday called for constitutional reform to free

Taiwan from the shackles of the “one China” framework and push for “normalization” of the nation, while rejecting the feasibility of the so-called “1992 consensus” that they said has been forced upon president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) by Beijing and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

Amid growing pressure from China for Tsai to toe Beijing’s line, non-governmental organization the Taiwan Association of University Professors invited New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and several academics to speak at a forum in Taipei yesterday on cross-strait relations.

“When Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] members speak of the ‘one China’ principle, they often also mention Article 11 of the Additional Articles of the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which was passed by the now-defunct National Assembly in 1991 and thus lacks democratic legitimacy,” Huang said at the forum.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Jeannie Hsieh, Taiwanese singer and dancer known for writing and performing music which combines techno and hip-hop, revealed in a letter why she had repeatedly and coldly refused to meet with her father, Chu Ke-liang, birth name Hsieh Hsin-ta, the famous Taiwanese actor, comedian and television show host.

The letter was broadcast in a video during her concert at Taipei Arena on Saturday night. In the letter, Jeannie said her father made her mother accept a request to bring his mistress to live under the same roof. Jeannie said it was the most humiliating past in her mother’s life.

Chu said publicly before the concert on Saturday that he would attend Jeannie’s concert. But his daughter said she didn’t want him to come or see him. However, Chu had 22 flower baskets sent to the venue and showed up at the concert. Chu stayed for nearly two hours; but with no chances of seeing his daughter personally, he left before the concert ended, commenting on his own life as a failure.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-05-14
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Kuomintang would be prepared to mediate if relations between Taiwan and China deteriorated after President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s May 20 inauguration, KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu said Saturday.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of “One China” and Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party as the main supporter of Taiwan Independence, leading to concern that China might take action against the island after she is sworn in on Friday.

Should the new situation lead to a change or to backtracking in cross-strait relations, the KMT would not sit idly by but come out and mediate, Hung said at a party event in Kaohsiung Saturday.

The KMT leader said relations between Taiwan and China were the most important of important government policies. If they showed change or regression, they would influence the sustainable development of the whole nation, so Tsai should pay them close attention, according to Hung.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/14
By: Wu Jhe-hao, Christie Chen and Romulo Huang

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) A coming-of-age ceremony for international students was held at the

Temple of Confucius in Changhua City, central Taiwan, on Saturday, with the participation of some 150 students from high schools and universities in Changhua County.

Changhua County Magistrate Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) presided over the ceremony, in which he painted a red dot on the forehead of each student to symbolize the bestowing of wisdom.

Traditional rites were performed at the ceremony in honor of Confucius, while international students from Chienkuo Technology University recited “The World of Da Tong (禮運大同篇)” — the Confucius ideal of a commonwealth state — in English.

Addressing the ceremony, Wei encouraged the students to do their best to develop healthy and optimistic attitudes and to contribute to the future development of their respective countries.     [FULL  STORY]

‘OBVIOUS IMBALANCE’:A US official urged Taiwan to invest in asymmetric and innovative capabilities and concepts to account for a natural disparity in size

Taipei Times
Date: May 15, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Preparing a contingency plan to prevent formal Taiwanese independence remains a priority for

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and Taiwan needs to step up its military investments to defend itself against China’s increasing military presence, despite a supposed improvement in cross-strait relations after the historic meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese president Xi Jinping (習近平) in November last year, the US Department of Defense said yesterday.

In its annual report on military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC), released yesterday, the department cited China’s defense white paper for last year, in which China warned against “Taiwanese separatist independence forces.”

According to the report, China said that should the clamor for Taiwanese independence intensify, it would call upon the PLA to compel Taiwan to abandon moves toward independence or unify Taiwan with China by force, while simultaneously delaying, deterring or denying any third-party intervention on Taiwan’s behalf.

Although contingencies in the East China and South China seas and on the Korean Peninsula are increasingly important to China, “the PRC continues to focus on preparing for potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait,” the report said.     [FULL  STORY]