Business veteran vows to boost patriotism among the city’s young people, serving as an example for Taiwan

Macau’s economy has been hurt by Hong Kong protests – and Ho warns of more challenges ahead

South China Morning Post
Date: 10 Aug, 2019
By: Raquel Carvalho  

Ho Iat-seng, the sole candidate to be the next chief executive of Macau, promised on Saturday to turn the former Portuguese colony into the poster child of the “one country, two systems” principle and set an example for Taiwan.

He said one of the keys to achieving those goals was to bolster patriotism among local youth.

Ho’s remarks came as Hong Kong – the bigger of China’s two special administration regions allowed to maintain governance systems established by European colonisers – has suffered its worst social unrest in decades. 

Macau is set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to China in December.

Ho said Hong Kong was going through a “deviation” from one country, two systems, but declined to offer any advice to the city’s embattled leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
[FULL  STORY]

Ministry of National Defense expects completion of Tinagong III and new anti-ship missile systems within two years

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/10
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After many years of developing and testing missile and rocket technology to ensure Taiwan’s ability to defend against attacks from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) has been instructed to begin a project to streamline production of its missile systems over the next two years.

After consulting with defense experts, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has completed a proposal which examines the anticipated needs for Taiwan’s air defense. After the National Security Council’s recent approved the proposal, and the NCSIST has already begun work on developing the necessary apparatus for expedited production of several missiles systems.

On Aug. 1 the NCSIST officially launched the Qingtian Project lab (擎天計畫室), which is expected to produce 20 Cloud Peak missiles and 10 missile platforms within the year. In addition to the Cloud Peak missiles, the NCSIST is also set to expedite production of the Taingong III missiles.

NCSIST was originally instructed in 2015 to mass produce an arsenal of the Tiangong III missiles in 2015 to upgrade the country’s missile defense systems along the eastern seaboard. The “Qiang Gong Project” (強弓專案) was originally given a budget of NT$74 billion (US$2.4 billion) with a completion date set for 2024.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/10
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) A United Nations organization has apparently deleted a controversial graphic it posted of flags of countries that recognize same-sex marriages in which it labeled Taiwan as a "province of China."

U.N. Women, which is dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, posted on August 4 a list of 27 nations with their corresponding flags that recognize same-sex marriage.

The flag of the Republic of China (ROC), the official name of Taiwan, appeared in the chart, but the name that went with the flag was "Taiwan Province of China," which is the official U.N. position and Beijing's position.

The Taiwan representative office in New York quickly protested the graphic and demanded that it be corrected.    [FULL  STORY]

APPEAL FOR DONATIONS: The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation said Typhoon Lekima compounded the problem, as fewer people than usual gave blood on Friday

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 11, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation issued an urgent appeal yesterday for people to donate blood as its reserve stock fell well below the safe level of seven days worth of blood in many parts of the country.

Taipei had the most critical shortage of blood, with stocks of type A blood down to less than a four-day supply, foundation data showed.

Type B reserves were down to 5.3 days of supply, type O reserves to 4.7 days and type AB reserves were down to 6.4 days.

Liu Chun-hong (劉俊宏) of the Taipei Blood Center, which is run by the foundation, said that blood stocks in Taipei have dropped because fewer people donated blood on Friday when offices and schools were closed because of Typhoon Lekima.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 August, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen says that she will soon upgrade the nation’s long-term care 2.0 program. Long-term care 2.0 is the Tsai administration’s program for taking care of Taiwan’s growing population of senior citizens.

Tsai was speaking Thursday during a visit to a health check station for senior citizens in an indigenous village in southern Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

President Tsai may win 20% more of the vote than her rival in January’s election

Asia Times
August 9, 2019
​By: KG CHAN

Public support for Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and for the country to become an independent nation have seen an upswing.

A recent poll by a local think tank has even predicted a victory for Tsai in January’s presidential election, saying she will win 20% more of the ballot than Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, who is fielded by the opposition Kuomintang Party.

A survey by the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation showed Tsai would win 51% of the vote against 31% for Han, and if Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je throws his hat into the ring, Tsai would still come out on top in the three-way race, garnering about 42% of the vote against Han’s 26% and Ko’s 23%.

Tsai’s approval rating also rose to 43.7%, from 33.8% in the May survey. The survey also found that more than 80% of respondents regarded Taiwan as a sovereign, independent nation.
[FULL  STORY]

Collision with mystery Chinese warship led to 1-hour standoff with Taiwanese freighter

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A week after a mysterious Chinese warship collided with a Taiwanese freighter, the Taiwanese ship's captain says that the collision was followed by a one-hour standoff as the Chinese vessel tried to force the Taiwanese freighter to sail to China.

In a press release issued on Aug. 1 by the Coast Guard Administration, Ocean Affairs Council, the Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch reported that at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the Yutai No. 1 was slammed into by an unidentified Chinese warship 19.5 miles southeast of Liaoluo Port in Kinmen, according to CNA. The Taiwanese ship sustained damage but none of its crew were injured, according to the report.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the 72-year-old captain of the Taiwanese ship Fu Shih-hour said that the commander of the Chinese warship tried to coerce him into navigating his ship into China's port of Xiamen. Fu said he refused the Chinese captain's demands and instead called the Taiwan Coast Guard for help.

After receiving the distress signal from Fu, the Kinmen branch of the Coast Guard dispatched PP-10053 to the scene, and PP-10039 was sent to support it. By 10 p.m., PP-10053 established contact with Yutai No. 1 and confirmed that the hull was damaged, but there were no safety concerns and the crew was unharmed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 08 August, 2019
By: Jake Chen

A new exhibition commemorating the career of renowned film director Li Hsing has kicked off at the Taiwan Film Institute.

A new exhibition called “Film Artifacts of Director Lee Hsing” was launched last week at the Taiwan Film Institute in Taipei. The exhibit displays a large number of items that are connected to some of Taiwan’s most iconic films. These include handwritten scripts, vinyl records, posters, awards, and some of Li’s personal items as well. All were donated by the director himself.

Li was born in Shanghai in 1939, but he later moved to Taiwan with his family. He began directing movies in 1959, and his films have since won awards in Taiwan and abroad.

Over his seven-decade-long career, Li has been credited with exploring different themes and genres, such as satirical comedies and films about the lives of everyday people. He is also considered one of the major figures who helped moved Taiwan’s industry forward in the 1960’s and 70’s.
[FULL  STORY]