Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 December, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Taiwan’s presidential candidates will officially kick off their campaigns on Saturday.

Though a bruising primary season earlier in the year may make it feel as though campaigning has been

underway for some time, the real campaigning only begins in the final weeks before Election Day. Taiwan will head to the polls January 11.

There are three can3didates in the running. These are the incumbent, President Tsai Ing-wen of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu, and James Soong who is chair of the People First Party.    [FULL  STORY]

The National Interest
Date: December 13, 2019
By: Robert Beckhusen

Could it fight?

Key point: Taipei will use anything it has to resist an invasion by Beijing.

The 240-millimeter M1 howitzer, or “Black Dragon,” was the heaviest piece of field artillery the U.S. Army deployed in World War II. The huge guns smashed the Axis Powers’ concrete fortifications in Europe to rubble, and blasted Chinese mountain bunkers during the Korean War.

“There was little call for the type to be employed whenever the fighting was fluid as it took too long to emplace the weapons or get them out of action, but when they were used the heavy 163.3 kg (360-lb) high explosive shells were devastating weapons,” Chris Bishop wrote in the exhaustive Complete Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II.

The Army retired them in the 1950s. And that would have been the end of the story, were it not for Taiwan burying them deep inside forts on the Kinmen and Matsu islands a short hop from the Chinese mainland. From Kinmen, the Black Dragon’s 14-mile range can reach Xiamen, a city of five million people along China’s southeast coast.

The message — intimidation. Deterrence. Don’t invade.    [FULL  STORY]

NHIA director says patients should pay more to prevent medical waste

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/13
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In light of the recent scandal involving hospitals taking more patients than they were allowed to, Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) is contemplating making adjustments to the current National Health Insurance (NHI) system.

As a means to limit medical waste in Taiwan, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) launched a new policy last year to reduce the total number of outpatients in major hospitals by 2 percent. Under this policy, hospitals would not be able to request reimbursements for any extra patients that they treat.

On Wednesday (Dec. 11), the NHIA pointed out that Taipei City Hospital had been underreporting patient numbers in order to meet the 98-percent threshold while receiving government funding for medication, treatment, and consultations. The hospital has since been ordered to return NT$55 million (US$1.8 million) of NHI subsidies to the government, reported ET today.

Director General of the NHIA Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) on Thursday (Dec. 12) submitted an article to the Apple Daily advocating that patients cover a higher proportion of hospital bills. He said that despite the fact that the existing NHI program has been praised for safeguarding the health of Taiwanese citizens, its "cheap" quality has also encouraged a huge amount of medical waste, reported CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/13
By: Flor Wang and Chang Hsiung-feng

Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) The Tourism Bureau welcomed the 11.11 millionth inbound visitor to Taiwan on Friday to celebrate the new single-year high set for overseas visitor arrivals.

Speaking at a news conference to highlight the milestone, Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the record set Friday exceeded the previous high of 11.06 million overseas arrivals in 2018, and he expected the number to reach 11.7 million for 2019 as a whole.

Chung Yeon Jo, a young woman from South Korea who was the 11.11 millionth tourist to Taiwan, said this was her first trip to Taiwan and she intended to visit museums and enjoy the food here.

The number of visits to Taiwan has surpassed the 10 million mark for five consecutive years, according to the bureau, indicating that Taiwan has successfully offset 16 percent and 22 percent declines in visitors from China in 2016 and 2017, respectively.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 12 December, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Premier Su Tseng-chang has vowed to crack down on foreign funds entering Taiwan through illegal remittance channels.

At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Su said that foreign funds, vote-buying, illegal betting markets, and fake news could all seriously affect the impartiality of the 2020 election, slated for January.

Since July, prosecutors have stepped up their crackdown on illegal funds. To date, they have uncovered illegal funds totaling over NT$100 billion (US$3.3 billion).     [FULL  STORY]

Incumbent Tsai Ing-wen has enjoyed a resurgence in support. Here’s why.

The Diplomat
Date: December 12, 2019
By: Yoshiyuki Ogasawara   

With just four weeks to go until Taiwan’s presidential election in January, observers are largely in

agreement: President Tsai Ing-wen’s chances for reelection are looking increasingly robust.

The contest is a three-way race between Tsai, the incumbent candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); Han Kuo-yu of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT); and James Soong of the People First Party (PFP), a minor party.

Last year at this time, the Tsai administration suffered a major defeat in local elections and Tsai’s approval rate was in the cellar. Her prospects for reelection appeared dim. The situation began to change quietly in January this year and then more dramatically in June and July.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a major address on Taiwan in January, in which he emphasized his resolve to unify Taiwan under the banner of “One country, two systems.” Tsai quickly responded: “The Taiwanese people will never accept ‘One country, two systems.’” Although Tsai’s robust response was welcomed by Taiwanese youth, most people were largely unmoved.    [FULL  STORY]

Leader of South Pacific country applauds Taiwan’s contributions to climate change control

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/12
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano said Wednesday (Dec. 11) at the

United Nations (UN) Climate Conference that Taiwan should be allowed to participate in global affairs.

During the 25th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) in Madrid, Spain, world leaders were invited to share solutions to climate change. Natano urged global communities to enhance partnerships with each other and generate ideas to adapt to the fast-changing environment.

Natano said the South Pacific country has been exploring innovative solutions, such as constructing artificial islands, but the project requires financial support from its international allies. He also expressed hope of a limit to the increase in global temperature to under 1.5 degree Celsius.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/12
By: Flor Wang and Hsiao Po-wen

Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Taiwan justice officials handed over an unnamed Danish national to Danish authorities Wednesday so the man can serve out the remainder of his time at home — the first inmate transfer between the two countries, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said Thursday.

The Danish national, who was serving a nine-year jail term after being convicted of drug offenses in Taiwan, was placed in the custody of two Danish police offers by Taoyuan prosecutors at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where he was escorted onto a flight bound for Denmark, the MOJ said in a statement.

The three have since arrived in Denmark, the ministry confirmed.

The inmate transfer was conducted in line with an agreement signed by the two countries.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 13, 2019
By: Hung Mei-hsiu and Dennis Xie  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

National Tsing Hua University chair professor of philosophy Yang Rur-bin (楊儒賓) has donated to the

university’s museum his personal collection of more than 2,000 historical pieces collected by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) during its retreat from China to Taiwan in 1949.

Yang and his wife, Fang Sheng-ping (方聖平), who is also a chair professor at the university, on Saturday last week donated the relics, whose themes include war, politics, religion and economy. The couple has taught at the university for more than 30 years

The relics are to be on display at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) until Dec. 29.

The university said that the museum, which is under construction, would open to the public in 2022.
[FULL  STORY]