The Straits Times
Date: April 10, 2016

HIROSHIMA (BLOOMBERG) – The United States is keen to raise the issue

Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at the opening ceremony for the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Hiroshima on April 10, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

of China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea at a Group of Seven (G-7) foreign ministers meeting in Hiroshima, in a move that would likely draw an angry response from the government in Beijing.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington on Friday (April 8) that the US should discuss security issues any time it meets with key partners in Asia.

“What we want to see happen in South China Sea is important. It’s important to the region, it’s important to the stability of the region, so I would suggest that those topics should be on the table.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday said the G-7 meeting shouldn’t “hype” the South China Sea issue.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
2016/04/10
By: Hsu Chih-wei and Kay Liu

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) A rally was held in Taipei Sunday to call for justice to be carried out by the government, which is seen to have reduced the use of capital punishment.

The conditions and environment in Taiwan are not right for scrapping capital punishment under the current laws, said the White Rose Social Care Association, which organized the rally in front of the Presidential Office.

Some 5,000 people joined the rally when it kicked off at 2:00 p.m., said the organizers who had hoped to attract 10,000.

According to the association, more than 10,000 people are serving life sentences in Taiwan’s prisons because of the government’s reduced use of capital punishment. However, the association said, the country does not have the budget or the manpower to educate and reform convicts.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As calls for a pardon grew louder Saturday, reports said former President Chen Shui-bian could soon find himself in court again in connection

Chen was sentenced to 20 years in prison for corruption but left jail on medical parole in January 2015 after serving six years. He now lives with his family in Kaohsiung.

A campaign to have him pardoned gained steam Friday, when first Democratic Progressive Party members of the Kaohsiung City Council approved a motion in that sense, which then received the support of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu. During the afternoon, she took Vice President-elect Chen Chien-jen on a visit to the former head of state.

The Taiwan High Court will hold a session on May 13 to hear the allegations against Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-jen, that they misused special government funds, the former president’s attorney said. The hearing will come exactly one week before DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen is sworn in as Taiwan’s first DPP president since Chen.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/09
By: Tang Pei-chun and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) The number of Republic of China citizens who lost their nationality reached 759 last year, up 16.41 percent from the previous year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) Saturday.

The ministry said the figure represents a new high since 2011.

About 90 percent of the people, 716, gave up their ROC nationality out of their own volition, followed by 36 who lost their nationality together with their parents, and five people who had become spouses of foreigners, immigrated abroad and became citizens of other countries.

Nearly half of those who lost their ROC nationality — 336 — became nationals of South Korea. They were followed by those who became Japanese and Singaporean, at 137 for each country. The number of Taiwanese who became American nationals meanwhile reached 45 and Germans 30.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/08
By Yang Shu-min and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) A Taiwanese traveler returning from Japan has been

(Photo courtesy of the COA)

fined for bringing eight live beetles into Taiwan on Thursday, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said Friday.

The traveler was fined NT$3,000 (US$93), and all the beetles were confiscated and destroyed.

Feng Hai-tung (馮海東), deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine under the COA, said live insects can directly or indirectly harm local plants and pose a potential threat to the country’s agricultural sector and environment.

They are not allowed to be brought into the country unless prior approval has been obtained from authorized agencies, Feng said.     [FULL  STORY]