Beijing may not get desired result in 2020: Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/08
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More China-sponsored disinformation spread in favor of Kuomintang (KMT)

candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has been observed ahead of Taiwan's 2020 election, but Beijing may not get the result it wants in January, according to a Southeast Asia expert at a U.S. think tank on Thursday (Nov. 7).

Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), has studied the upcoming election and listed several of the strategies China employs to interfere with Taiwan's presidential election.

With the election just 64 days away, Kurlantzick observed that China's aggressive disinformation campaign appears to be in full swing. However, unlike in 2018, Taiwan's media regulators and people have become more aware of China's effort to shape voters' opinions.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/08
By: Lin Chang-shun and Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) The Taipei District Court approved Friday a request by prosecutors to detain 10 suspects for alleged involvement in an illegal financial fraud scheme that has raked in billions of Taiwan dollars.

According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, the suspects are members of the investment firm Financial.org, which has been in operation in Taiwan since June 2017.

The company's modus operandi was to entice investors through an investment scheme in which they were promised high returns through profits generated by stock markets in the United States.

According to prosecutors, the company raked in an estimated NT$3 billion (US$98.08 million) in commissions.    [FULL  STORY]

SURF’s UP: Facebook is the most widely used platform, but YouTube is visited by more users on a daily basis, and those aged 13 to 25 are online almost five hours a day

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 09, 2019
By: Yang Mien-chieh and Dennis Xie  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

YouTube has become the dominant media platform in Taiwan, with nearly 80 percent of Taiwanese

visiting the Web site every day, survey results showed yesterday.

While Facebook is the most widely used app, with 89.9 percent of respondents reporting that they use it, a slight decrease over the last five years, the survey showed, which was conducted jointly by public relations firm Pilot Group and market research company Eastern Online.

The use of Instagram has increased by over 30 percentage points over the past five years and reached 34.5 percent, the survey showed, and the use of YouTube has increased from about 60 percent five years ago to 82.5 percent today.

The survey, which used the internet to collect 1,000 responses from males and females aged from 20 to 59 living nationwide, also showed that 100 percent of the 13 to 25 age group said they have used the Internet over the past week, with the time spent averaging 4.6 hours a day, higher than that of all other age groups combined.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 07 November, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu says it’s up to President Tsai Ing-wen to decide when

she will announce her 2020 running mate. Chen was speaking Thursday in an interview.

Rumor has it that Tsai is likely to name former Premier William Lai as her vice presidential pick in next year’s election, which is scheduled for January 11.

Though Tsai still has time to make her decision, the Central Election Commission will begin processing candidates’ registrations on November 18, and so it is expected that Tsai will announce her choice soon.    [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: November 7, 2019
By: Yimou Lee, Fabian Hamacher

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Beijing could resort to military conflict with self-ruled Taiwan to divert domestic

pressure if a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy amid trade war threatens the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, the island’s foreign minister has said.

Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Minister Joseph Wu speaks during an interview in Taipei, Taiwan November 6, 2019. REUTERS/Fabian Hamacher

As Taiwan’s presidential elections approach in January, China has stepped up a campaign to “reunify” with what it considers a wayward province, wooing away the island’s few diplomatic allies and flying regular bomber patrols around it.

In an interview with Reuters, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu drew attention to China’s slowing economy amid its bitter trade war with the United States.

“If the internal stability is a very serious issue, or economic slowdown has become a very serious issue for the top leaders to deal with, that is the occasion that we need to be very careful,” Wu said on Wednesday.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan sees downward trend in number of Muslims visitors

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/11/07
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan will up the ante and pledge more resources to attract visitors from the Muslim world, as tourist data fails to impress even with the island working to create a Muslim friendly environment.

According to the Tourism Bureau, the number of Muslim travelers to Taiwan continues to decline, having fallen to 170,000 in 2018 from a peak of 200,000 in 2015, reported UDN. The trend has sounded an alarm for the Taiwanese government as it grapples with losses in tourism revenue incurred by China's ban on solo travel to the island.

Location-wise, Taiwan is supposed to be the preferable choice over Japan and South Korea for Muslim communities, which are primarily found in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East, and Africa, said Huang Cheng-tsung (黃正聰), associate professor of Providence University's Department of Tourism.

The fact that Taiwan was ranked the third most Muslim-friendly country outside of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, according to the Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index 2019, should also have helped to increase its tourist appeal, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/07
By: Sabine Cheng and Ko Lin

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) An exhibition featuring artworks by 19th century Dutch master Vincent Van Gogh that employs high-definition image projection technology will be held in Taipei early next year, the show's organizer said Thursday.

Dubbed "Van Gogh Alive," it will be the first time this type of high-tech artistic expo has been held in Taiwan, according to JUSTLIVE, an entertainment subsidiary of Taiwan's online streaming service KKBOX.

The multi-sensory art show features more than 3,000 Van Gogh images and paintings to create a thrilling display that fills giant screens, walls, columns, ceilings and even the floor.

Developed by the Australian-based firm Grande Exhibitions, the exhibition combines multichannel motion graphics and cinema quality surround sound, using up to 40 high-definition projectors that provide visitors with an immersive display experience.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 November, 2019
By: Jake Chen

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says that Taiwan’s chances of joining the Regional Comprehensive

Economic Partnership are slim. Wu says that Taiwan will work instead on joining other trade agreements.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a trade agreement between 15 countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and the members of ASEAN. During a briefing at the Legislature on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said with China already in the pact, Taiwan has little chance of being allowed to join.    [FULL  STORY]