Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/16
By: Matt Yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The Solomon Islands' decision to switch its recognition to Beijing from Taipei showed China was making efforts to impose its influence on the regional power balance, scholars said Monday.

They said as the South Pacific island-nation was situated in a critically strategic position on the "Second Island Chain," which refers to the area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that acts as a second strategic defense line for the United States, establishing ties with the Solomon Islands indicated Beijing has expanded the battle ground from the "First Island Chain" to the "Second Island Chain" to take on the United States.

The Island Chain Strategy was first mentioned by U.S. foreign policy commentator John Foster Dulles in 1951 during the Korean War. It suggests containing the spread of communism from the Soviet Union and China by surrounding them at sea and demarcating lines of defense in the Pacific Ocean.

The First Island Chain is formed by Japan, Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines.   [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Taiwan has confirmed the country’s first case of the highly pathogenic H5N5 strain of avian influenza,

on a duck farm in Kaohsiung’s Cishan District (旗山), Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said yesterday.

The virus was identified on Thursday last week as an H5 subtype and was confirmed as H5N5 the following day, Huang said, adding that the case has been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

According to OIE regulations, H5N5-free status can be regained if no new cases are detected within three months of preventive measures and surveillance, including the disinfection of all affected establishments, Huang said.

A surveillance plan would hopefully be completed before Dec. 12, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese supporters of Hong Kong protesters sing Glory to Hong Kong, the new anthem of local demonstrators, and a Cantonese version of Do You Hear the People Sing?

South China Morning Post
Date: 15 Sep, 2019
By: Kristin Huang  

A small group of Taiwanese gathered in one of Taipei’s most famous shopping districts on Sunday to sing songs in solidarity with the anti-government protesters who again took to the streets of Hong Kong.

About 10 people, dressed in black and with masks and yellow helmets, formed a chorus line in the Ximending area at 3pm. They held posters proclaiming “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”.

They sang two songs, Glory to Hong Kong, the new anthem of local demonstrators, and a Cantonese version of Do You Hear the People Sing?, a popular protest song from the musical Les Misérables.

They also chanted slogans, including “Five key demands, not one less”, “Hongkongers, add oil” and “Today’s Hong Kong is tomorrow’s Taiwan”.    [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: September 15, 2019
By: Frank Fang, Epoch Times

TAIPEI, Taiwan—U.S. alliances in the Pacific could suffer a blow if the Solomon Islands were to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing, U.S. experts and officials warned, after a Solomons government report recommended that it make the change.

The Solomon Islands, a South Pacific island nation located near Papua New Guinea and Australia, has been reviewing its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan since the current prime minister Manasseh Sogavare took office in April.

The island is among Taiwan’s list of 17 international diplomatic allies, since 1983. Taiwan has lost five allies to China since 2016—El Salvador, Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory despite the fact that the island is a full-fledged democracy with its own elected officials, military, and currency.    [FULL  STORY]

Arsonist plans to target Gaoshi Shrine in Pingtung to destroy Japanese 'separatist' influence in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/15
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Chinese nationalist with an extreme dislike of Japan has reportedly declared his intent to burn down a Shinto shrine located in Taiwan’s Pingtung County this month.

In a video message initially shared on Chinese social media site Weibo, and later shared to Twitter with Japanese subtitles, the man, identified as Liu Qiang (劉強) declares that his goal is to eradicate “separatist influence” in Taiwan. His declared target is the Gaoshi Shrine (高士神社) built during the colonial period in 1939 and located on Taiwan’s Hengchun (恆春) Peninsula.

The man claims that he has committed arson unsuccessfully in both South Korea as well as Japan. He claims that he tried to set fire to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in 2011, and then tried to burn down the Japanese embassy in Korea in 2012.

The Telegraph reports that in December 2011, there was a suspected arson attempt at the “Gate of the gods” in front of the Yasukuni Shrine, although no suspect was arrested in the incident. However, the Korea Times reports that a Chinese man surnamed Liu threw four Molotov cocktails at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in January 2012.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/15
By: Yeh Su-ping and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Sunday that it will hold a traditional street party in Taipei later this month to celebrate its 33rd founding anniversary.

The anniversary celebrations will be held under the theme "Party in Taiwan" and will include musical performances, exhibitions, a city bazaar, and seminars, all of which will be open to the public, the DPP said.

The main event on Sept. 28 will take the form of a street party in front of the DPP headquarters on Beiping East Road in Taipei, where bands and musicians of different genres and backgrounds will perform at a concert that will highlight Taiwan's cultural diversity, said Wang Po-chun (王柏鈞), the head of the DPP's communications department and one of the main organizers of the event.

The performers will include Taiwanese folk singer Yang Hsiu-qing (楊秀卿) as well as bands like Dwagie; 1976; Random; the Chairman Band; the Hakka jazz group UrbanCat; and Community Service, a band famous its blends of traditional Taiwanese music and hip-hop and for its Taiwanese language songs, Wang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 September, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

This year’s Oslo Freedom Forum was held in Taipei on Friday. Notable attendees included Hong Kong singer and activist Denise Ho, Pulitzer Prize winning Kachin journalist Esther Htusan, Turkish NBA player Enes Kanter, and former North-Korean diplomat Thae Yong-Ho. As the forum began, each shared stories about their struggles for freedom.

In an opening statement, Human Rights Foundation head Thor Halvorssen said that there are 4.1 billion people living under dictatorships, and that 96% of all refugees come fleeing from authoritarian regimes. He said that Taiwan is faced with the threat of China and its authoritarian ideology. Halvorssen said that the current situation in China recalls dystopian works by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell.    [FULL  STORY]

Forbes
Date: Sep 13, 2019
By: Ralph Jennings, Contributor 

Foxconn’s billionaire founder Terry Gou said on Thursday that he is leaving the opposition Kuomintang party, fueling speculation that he might run for president as an independent candidate in next year’s election.

Gou's aide, Tsai Chin-yu, told reporters, “The KMT puts party interests ahead of national interests, which goes completely against Mr. Gou’s original intention to return to the party.”

After decades spent building Foxconn into the world’s biggest contract assembler of consumer electronics including iPhones, Gou stepped down as chairman in June to contest the KMT’s nomination for president in the January 2020 election. But the party instead nominated Han Kuo-yu, the mayor of Kaohsiung, in July.

Despite his estimated wealth of $6.6 billion, the 68-year-old business legend is finding the transition to becoming a presidential candidate a formidable challenge.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai also sued two academics last week

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has told her attorneys to collect information

with the intention of filing a lawsuit against talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) for alleging her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was false, the Presidential Office said late Thursday (September 12).

Last week, the president sued two academics who have been claiming she never passed her dissertation defense in 1984.

A presidential spokesperson accused the critics of never bothering to seek the truth from the LSE itself, while manufacturing rumors about the president not having completed her Ph.D. studies, or even not having written her dissertation by herself.

The relevant evidence had already been shown, both by the Presidential Office and by the London school, the spokesperson said, adding that because President Tsai’s reputation had already been damaged, it was necessary to take legal action.    [SOURCE]