mySA
Date: April 11, 2016

Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, reportedly wants a more robust approach to China, including more assertive freedom-

of-navigation operations such as helicopter flights and intelligence-gathering within 12 miles (19 kilometers) of Chinese-controlled features.

So far, U.S. Navy ships have twice sailed close to Chinese-controlled islands. However, critics say those maneuvers amounted to innocent passage, during which foreign vessels do not stop or carry out activities that might be perceived as hostile.
The Navy Times quoted defense officials as saying the White House is discouraging strong rhetoric by military leaders on the South China Sea. It reported that National Security Adviser Susan Rice on March 18 imposed a gag order on military leaders over South China Sea comments in the run-up to the nuclear summit in Washington that ended April 1.

“The White House’s aversion to risk has resulted in an indecisive policy that has failed to deter China’s pursuit of maritime hegemony while confusing and alarming our regional allies and partners,” Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

Harris declined to comment on the report, according to the Navy Times.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking in Washington, said that Beijing respects freedom of navigation and overflight but will defend its sovereignty in the South China Sea. Xi said China won’t accept any act disguised as freedom of navigation that violates its security.     [FULL  STORY]

It’s not about separating from mainland China. It’s about nation-building.

Foreign Policy
Date: April 11, 2016
By: Chieh-Ting Yeh

On February 23, all eyes were on Taiwan’s new Member of Parliament Freddy Lim as he took the podium at the Legislative Yuan for the first time. Lim is now best known as the heavy metal rock star who, following January 2016 elections on the self-governing island of 23 million, became one of five legislators from the nascent New Power Party. A long-time advocate of international recognition for Taiwan and a famous figure among proponents of Taiwan independence, Lim’s first time deposing outgoing Kuomintang Prime Minister Chang Shan-cheng over the legal statehood of Taiwan and China was civil, but provocative: by the end of the session, Chang had admitted that the Republic of China (ROC) regime currently ruling Taiwan is a separate state from the People’s Republic of China.

Video clips and reports of Lim’s session were widely circulated, with headlines like “Freddy Says ‘I am for Taiwan Independence.’” While pro-independence advocates may have applauded Lim’s performance, the response from other quarters has been mixed. Tsay Ting-kuei, a professor at National Taiwan University and a long-time hardliner on Taiwan independence who founded the pro-independence Free Taiwan Party, took to on Facebook, Taiwan’s social network of choice, to insist that the New Power Party stands for “ROC independence,” or huadu, and not Taiwan independence, or taidu.

Within the past year, the term “ROC independence” has come into vogue within political discourse in Taiwan. It holds that Taiwan is already an independent state, named the Republic of China. This position is different from the “Taiwan independence” position, which insists that Taiwan is not an independent state unless the Republic of China regime is overthrown and replaced by the Republic of Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/04/11
By: Jeffrey Tsai

A US Navy officer who was born in Taiwan has been accused of spying for China.

Lieutenant Commander Edward C. Lin faces accusations of writing false

 

official statements, communicating defense information, taking classified documents out of the United States without permission, falsely reporting his whereabouts upon return to duty, patronizing a prostitute and committing adultery, USNI News has reported.

While some officials connected to the case reportedly mentioned the recipient of the data to be China, the official charge sheet did not say which foreign government received the information – that information remained classified. There has also been speculation that the information may have been transmitted to Taiwan.

Lin, who has been held for the past eight months in a Navy prison in Virginia, was a signals intelligence specialist working with reconnaissance planes. He was also a department head at a squadron in Hawaii. The intelligence-gathering roles may have meant he was in a position to glean sensitive data.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: April 11, 2016

Growing public and private sector efforts have seen Taiwan emerge as a

significant provider of international humanitarian assistance and medical aid around the world.

Medical diplomacy plays an important role in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ efforts to strengthen relations with partner nations. In recent years, the ministry has diversified cooperation with local health care institutions so as to further enhance the quality of its international projects.

A standout achievement in this regard is the post-baccalaureate medical school program offered by southern Taiwan’s I-Shou University to international students. By the end of 2015, a total of 108 students from 17 of the nation’s diplomatic allies had benefitted from this program. To date, 283 foreign students have come to Taiwan to pursue advanced studies in public health and medical care.

Furthermore, the nation has dispatched mobile medical missions, donated equipment and established a referral system for diplomatic allies to enhance the effectiveness of its health care assistance.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-11
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Penghu County said on Monday that it will

restore all the 25 heritage residences located in Zhongshe village on the islet of Wangan, Penghu County.

The bureau said it decided to go ahead with the project because it had received subsidies from the Ministry of Culture (MOC).

These old-style residences were first mentioned in a Taiwan document published in 1695, the bureau said, adding that these traditional houses are reminiscent of a typical Han settlement and have therefore got international attention.

The settlement was included in the list of 100 most endangered sites by the World Monuments Fund in 2003, the bureau said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/11
By: Yu Kai-hsiang and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) Police in Taiwan were able to locate three Hong

Kong residents implicated in a grisly body-in-cement murder in Hong Kong last month after being tipped off by a woman who was with them, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said Monday.

Huang Chia-lu (黃嘉祿), deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, said the three men, including the 26-year-old main suspect surnamed Tsang, were scheduled to be deported Tuesday.

The three men and the 18-year-old woman, surnamed Ho, fled to Taiwan after the murder was committed in early March.

During their stay in Taiwan, they hid in Songshan District and Wanghua District in Taipei, before moving recently to Banqiao District in New Taipei to avoid being tracked down.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-10
By: By Milly Lin and Evelyn Kao, Central News Agency

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) Taiwan’s three major science-based industrial parks,

home to the country’s mainstay semiconductor and electronics industries, reported a 14.36 percent year-on-year decline in revenue in the first two months of the year, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
Production revenue at the three parks totaled NT$313.28 billion (US$9.66 billion) in January and February, down 14.36 percent year-on-year, MOST statistics released on April 7 showed.

The year-on-year decline in the two months was 20.27 percent at Hsinchu Science Park, 16.56 percent at Central Taiwan Science Park, and 2.7 percent at Southern Taiwan Science Park.     [FULL  STORY]