STAYING CORDIAL: Legislative Speaker You Si-kun said that Taiwan and Japan should work together in the face of Chinese threats and set aside differences

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 12, 2020
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

The Yilan County Council yesterday passed a provisional motion recommending that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) be renamed Toucheng Township Diaoyutai (頭城釣魚台).

The sovereignty controversy over the islands, which are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China, resurfaced after Chinese Coast Guard vessels this week entered waters near the islands.

The county council’s motion — proposed by Yilan County Councilor Tsai Wen-yi (蔡文益), a Toucheng resident — followed plans by Ishigaki City Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama to change the name of the islands from the Senkaku Islands, as they are known in Japan, to “Tonoshiro Senkaku.”

The Yilan County councilors approved the motion with 29 votes.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 June, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage is back on[/caption] After an abrupt last-minute cancellation due to COVID-19, the annual Dajia Mazu pilgrimage is back on. That’s as the Central Epidemic Command Center moves to loosen restrictions put in place to stem the pandemic’s spread.

The temple where the famed pilgrimage begins and ends has sent out a notice to worshippers announcing a new start date of Thursday for the event. However, precautions will still be in place to ensure the health of attendees.

The annual Dajia Mazu pilgrimage is one of Taiwan’s largest and most famous religious events. Though COVID-19 kept this year’s pilgrimage from going ahead as scheduled in March, loosened restrictions now mean that the pilgrimage won’t be cancelled altogether.
[FULL  STORY]

• US Navy transport jet emits transponder signal, showing China and others its flight over island
• Report that aircraft stopped at Taiwan airbase rejected by island’s defence ministry

South China Morning Post7
Date: 10 Jun, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

A rare flyover of Taiwan by a United States military transport jet this week raised concerns it was the beginning of more frequent US flights to help the self-ruled island counter growing military threats from mainland China.While mainland analysts said the move appeared to be a test of Beijing’s reaction, Taiwan observers noted that in the past year the US had made the passage of its warships and warplanes in the Taiwan Strait public – switching on signals that could be detected – whenever Beijing staged war games nearby to try to intimidate the self-ruled island.

The emission of signals was intended to make the US military presence known to both Beijing and Taipei, an alert that it was deliberately sailing over the Taiwan Strait even though Beijing considered Taiwan its wayward province, observers said.

Chieh Chung, a senior researcher of national security study at the National Policy Foundation, an opposition Kuomintang think tank, said that in addition to social media posts about its military activities, the US had allowed its warplanes and warships in and near the strait to be spotted by military watchers and websites such as Aircraft Spots via transponder systems on board.    [FULL  STORY]

Police believe at-large accomplices provided suspects with information

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/10
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Prosecutors on Wednesday (June 10) requested the detention of three Colombian nationals arrested Monday in Kaohsiung in connection with stealing NT$6.8 million (US$230,000) from a residence in Neihu, Taipei.

The suspects allegedly broke into a Taiwanese businessperson's residence on June 5 and stole cash totaling NT$6.8 million, CNA reported. After receiving reports of the theft, police reviewed surveillance footage and closed in on the three Colombian nationals, all of whom are in their 30s; the suspects were apprehended in the southern city of Kaohsiung Tuesday night.

Liu Zong-ren (劉宗仁), chief of the criminal investigation squad at Niehu Precinct, said in a Wednesday press conference that the three suspects entered Taiwan through Kaohsiung on tourist visas. They arrived separately on three days around mid-March, just in time to avoid quarantine; they headed to Taipei in April, staying in hotels here for over a month.

The suspects planned to leave Taiwan for Singapore after the burglary, but they could not get plane tickets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Liu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/10/2020
By: Yang Su-min and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 10 (CNA) The government is set to spend NT$1.25 billion (US$42.23 million) and NT$1.2 billion on agriculture stimulus vouchers and culture vouchers from late June in an effort to help boost the two sectors which have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, two Cabinet-level agencies said Wednesday.

The Council of Agriculture (COA) said it plans to issue 5 million vouchers, each with a face value of NT$250 to Taiwan nationals, starting later this month. The vouchers will be valid at 10 types of locations that sell agricultural products.

The vouchers will be issued in electronic form and consumers must log onto a specific website and enter their national ID number and mobile phone number to receive the voucher, although planning of the website is currently ongoing.

The agriculture stimulus voucher program seeks to generate about NT$1.7 billion in economic revenue for the agricultural sector, the COA said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘NATURAL PARTNER’: The US and the EU view Taiwan as a partner in restructuring the supply chain of critical materials, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 11, 20202
By: Lu Yi-hsuan / Staff reporter

Taiwan could play a significant part in a global restructuring of production lines and the supply chain of critical materials in the post-COVID-19 era, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Tuesday during a virtual discussion held by Washington-based think tank the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).

A restructuring of the supply chain is being discussed all around the world, Wu said.

Critical materials supplied by Taiwan seem to be helping the international community, he added.

Playing a significant part in a restructuring of the supply chain of critical materials would be a “very good role for Taiwan,” Wu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 June, 2020
By: Paula Chao

The foreign ministry has reiterated Taiwan’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea. That’s the word from Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Joanne Ou on Tuesday.

The Dioayutai Islands is an archipelago northeast of Taiwan that is claimed by Taiwan, China, and Japan. The islands are called the Senkaku Islands in Japanese.

Ou said it is indisputable that the Diaoyutai Islands are part of Taiwan’s territory and the government’s stance remains unchanged. Ou’s comments came as Ishigaki city in Okinawa prefecture is planning to vote on a name change on June 22 from the Senkaku Islands to Tonoshiro Senkaku.    [FULL  STORY]

Global Times
Date: 2020/6/9
By: Yang Sheng

The speaker of the Czech Republic's Senate announced on Tuesday that he will visit China's Taiwan, a move which shows support for the separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities on the island, despite warnings from the Chinese mainland and a recommendation from his own government that he not take the trip. Analysts said China's retaliation should precisely hit politicians who provoke China's sovereignty and avoid harming innocent Czech companies in China.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Milos Vystrcil said he would be accompanied by a business delegation on his visit, which is tentatively scheduled to begin on August 30. Vystrcil said he was also planning to meet Taiwan's regional leaders, but didn't immediately give details.

Vystrcil's predecessor in the post, Jaroslav Kubera, was planning to travel to Taiwan before he died in January. His plans angered Czech President Milos Zeman who respects the one-China principle and paid efforts to build friendly ties with China.

The DPP authorities have spent a lot of resources on making trouble regarding China-Czech ties and divide the relationship between the Czech Republic government and the Senate in recent years citing different excuses. The separatist authorities expressed their "welcome" to the plan made by Vystrcil, and said that the trip "will advance cooperation and interactions between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in economic, technological, medical, tourism, and cultural areas."    [FULL  STORY]

US Navy C-40a flies inland over Taiwan's west coast before heading to Dongsha Island in South China Sea

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A U.S. Navy transport jet was sighted flying directly over Taiwan on Tuesday morning (June 9) and was last spotted flying towards Taiwan's Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands) in the South China Sea.

Aircraft spotting sites AirNav RadarBox and planefinder, in addition to Twitter user Golf9, spotted a U.S. Navy Boeing C-40a Clipper taking off from Okinawa, likely Kadena Air Base, at 8:53 a.m. Tuesday morning. The plane, which has the call number CNV7642, appeared to fly directly over northern Taiwan, turning south to flying along the island's west coast.

The plane's flight path took it over Keelung, New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, and Chiayi before exiting over Tainan and heading toward the open sea, according to AirNav RadarBox.

The jet was last spotted flying toward Taiwan's Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands) in the northern part of the South China Sea. When Golf9 spotted the jet, he wrote that its route directly over Taiwan's west coast was a "rare flight course."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/09/2020
By: Emerson Lim and Chen Yun-yu

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Several Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 fighters and a U.S. C-40 Clipper military transport plane flew in Taiwan's airspace Tuesday morning, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has confirmed.

In a short statement issued at 12:30 p.m., the MND said several Chinese Su-30s briefly entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone southwest of Taiwan, and Taiwan's Air Force responded with radio warnings and monitored their movements until they flew off.

"The MND is fully aware of the situation in waters and airspace surrounding Taiwan and is taking active measures to protect our territory," the ministry said.

It did not provide any other details on the intrusion of the Chinese war planes, including how many were involved and exactly when the incident happened.    [FULL  STORY][