Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 14 October, 2019
By:Natalie Tso

President Tsai Ing-wen (second from right) and Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin (third from right）attend a ceremony on Saturday to mark the completion of Taiwan's first underwater pin piles assembly for its offshore wind turbines built by Century Iron and Steel Industrial Co. (CNA photo)

The US and China struck an initial trade deal on Friday. In it, China agreed to buy US$40-50 billion of agricultural products from the US. The US, on the other hand, has agreed to halt plans to raise tariffs from 25% to 30% on US$250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Taiwan’s economics minister, Shen Jong-chin, told the legislature on Monday that the partial trade deal should not affect the strategy of Taiwanese companies. That’s because, he said, there will still be a 25% tariff on many Chinese goods.

The economics minister said the change in the global landscape and the relocation of Taiwanese companies’ production facilities, are both connected to long-term trends.    [FULL  STORY]

Zero Hedge
Date: 10/14/2019
By: Tyler Durden

Over the past several weeks there has been an ongoing tit-for-tat between visas granted by China and the United States for each others citizens. One of the more significant, we found out Sunday in the Wall Street Journal , is that China barred a bipartisan delegation of American lawmakers over their planned stop in Taiwan. ​​​​​​

Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) writes in Sunday a Journal Op-Ed that "Chinese officials told members of my staff on multiple occasions that if I canceled the trip to Taiwan, I would be granted a visa." 

Maloney calls it "visa blackmail, designed to stanch the longstanding tradition of robust U.S. congressional engagement with Taiwan…"

When Maloney refused to cancel the Taiwan leg, Chinese officials then demanded that he issue a statement endorsing Beijing's version of the "one China policy," acknowledging mainland China to be the only sovereign China, "delegitimizing Taiwan’s political existence and further isolating the island’s 24 million people," writes Maloney.     [FULL  STORY]

Media reports suggest Hong Kong’s anti-mask law could be the reason behind Chinese company's decision to remove masks from its popular game characters

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/14
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The mobile game Shining Nikki (閃耀暖暖) created by Paper Games, a Chinese company, has removed masks from its characters, prompting users to link this to Hong Kong's anti-mask law.

Since Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) announced the anti-mask law on Oct. 4, Shining Nikki has changed its characters from wearing a mask that covers most of their faces to wearing it on one ear, revealing their entire faces. According to Liberty Times, users of the successful 3D mobile dress-up game Shining Nikki have suggested the changes support the Chinese government.

According to UDN, however, the developers claimed this change was inspired by photos of celebrities at airports and they hope it will "maintain harmony and create a comfortable gaming environment" for users.

Taiwanese users have expressed their disappointment on the PTT web forum, saying, "There is no celebrity that would wear her mask on only one ear." Many have also changed their Facebook profile pictures to the original mask-wearing characters.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/14
By: Hung Chien-lun and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Taiwan-born movie director Ang Lee's (李安) new film "Gemini Man" has been

made in such a technologically advanced way that no theater in Taiwan can play it in the form that the Oscar- winning director originally intended.

Normally, movies are shot at 24 frames per second (fps), but the two-time Oscar winner shot his latest work at 120 fps, giving the film extremely sharp and ultra-realistic visuals.

However, only one theater in the U.S. has been able to use the full specifications to screen the Will Smith-starring film — the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles — when it held the film's world premiere Oct. 6.

Lee's previous film, "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" in 2016, was shot in 3D with 4K resolution at 120 fps.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai declares 'KMT unwilling to critisize China'

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/13
By: Ko Lai, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

Quote from Tsai Ing-wen:

“The Kuomintang Party doesn’t dare to criticize China, they only make a fuss about Taiwan’s domestic issues.”

The Kuomintang (KMT) Party presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu has criticized current cross-strait relations declaring that they are “like a runaway train. Tsai’s cross-strait policy is simply ‘Hatred of China, self-harm to Taiwan (仇中害台).’” In response, Tsai called the KMT’s outlook towards international relations outdated, and said that the times have changed.

China has adopted an extreme attitude towards the region, and Taiwan must be cautious, warns President Tsai. The KMT needs to have a proper understanding of the situation. If the KMT is unwilling to criticize China, then they can only feed conflict within Taiwan. “This position does not contribute to social unity in Taiwan, and (the KMT) is not promoting Taiwan’s sovereignty or the dignity of the Taiwanese people.”

“As president, standing up for the nation’s sovereignty is not an act of provocation.”

On the National Day celebrations on Oct. 10, Tsai gave an address with the theme of “A Strong Nation, Advancing Globally” (堅韌之國, 前進世界). In the address, she rejected the notion of “One Country, Two systems” and declared that this was the shared consensus across Taiwan’s blue and green political camps. She observed that “Hong Kong is on the verge of disorder because of the failure of the ‘One County, Two systems.’”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/13
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Emerson Lim

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Temperatures across Taiwan are expected to drop this week, due to the effects of strengthening northeasterly winds, the Central Weather Bureau (CBW) said Sunday.

As the northeasterly winds strengthen, the mercury will fall to lows of 21-24 degrees Celsius, starting Monday, the CBW forecast.

Daytime highs, meanwhile, will range from 25-29 degrees this week in northern Taiwan and will hover around 31 degrees in the central and southern areas of the country, the weather bureau said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 11 October, 2019
By:\ Shirley Lin
 

The Taipei Arena is a grand venue, host to both pop stars and celebrities. But some of the most interesting acts that perform there may not be famous at all. Now, the story of one special annual performance at the arena is set to be turned into a documentary.

Since 2012, a group of senior citizens has been putting on a show each year at the Taipei Arena, a venue that can seat 15,000. They perform complicated dance steps in flashy costumes.
[FULL  STORY]