New pro-independence party needed to supervise DPP government: Chen Shui-bian

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/27
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is on medical

parole, hinted on Friday that he would form a pro-independence political party in August.

Chen, 68, said via a Facebook post that he is “pleased to see the birth of a new political party, the ‘One Country on One Side Action Party’.” He is still a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Chen, who was convicted of three bribery charges, was released from prison on medical parole in 2015 after serving five years of a 20-year sentence. Therefore, it is unclear whether Chen would play an active role in the forming of the possible new political party.

Chen has criticized the DPP, which holds a majority of seats in the legislature, for not pushing ahead with legislation that would help realize his idea of “one country on one side.” He proposed the concept in his second term along with taking actions in the direction of formal independence, leading to a deterioration in relations between Taiwan and the United States, which has opposed unilateral changes to cross-strait relations made by either China or Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/27
By: William Yen

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Four students from the United States, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines won the top prize at a student entrepreneurial pitch competition for tertiary students hosted by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) on Saturday in the country's capital.

The competition was part of "The 2nd Be Young! Beyond! Startup Bootcamp," hosted by NTUST July 21-28, requiring student teams to make an entrepreneurial pitch in front of a jury, which chooses the best team in terms of innovation, creativity, facilitation and business plan.

On this occasion teams were asked to make a pitch on the subject of changing society in order to promote quality of life through innovation and motivating future industrial development through action, according to the event's website.

The competition involved an eight minute pitch followed by an 11 minute Q&A session. There were a total of 15 teams comprising 59 students from universities in New Southbound Policy (NSP) target countries, foreign students in Taiwan and Taiwanese students.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 28, 2019
By: Su Meng-chuan and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A Taichung-based band of musicians with Down syndrome on Tuesday and Wednesday held a free

summer camp for students with disabilities using the money it raised from performances.

The band members — Chou Yi-chia (周以嘉), Chen Shu-wen (陳舒妏), Chou Tse-han (周則翰), Yeh Kuan-ting (葉冠霆), Chen Shang-che (陳尚哲), Chi Peng-feng (紀芃逢), Chan Chih-yu (詹芷瑜) and Sun Yu-yin (孫郁茵) — learned to play the ocarina with their families’ encouragement.

It took them six months to learn how to correctly cover the holes on the wind instrument to play scales, they said.

The members, whose average age is 20, learned tunes with a lot of rehearsing and passed a street performers’ license exam, they said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 26 July, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

Newly appointed Guatemalan ambassador Willy Alberto Gómez Tirado delivered a copy of his letter of

credence to Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu. Gómez arrived in Taiwan on June 25th, and formally submitted his appointment letter on July 24th.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that it will make necessary arrangements for Gómez to present his credentials to President Tsai Ing-wen. If accepted, Gómez will replace Ambassador Olga María Aguja Zúñiga who has been at her post since 2015.

The Ministry says it expects to see strengthening of ties between Taiwan and Guatemala under Gómez’s guidance.

According to the MOFA, Gómez held postings at San Pablo University in Guatemala before his appointment.    [FULL  STORY]

America’s announced $2 billion arms sale to Taiwan aims specifically to deter China’s threat to invade and ‘reunite’ the island state by 2020

Asia Times
Date: July 26, 2019
By: Bertil Lintner

China will not hesitate to use force to take over Taiwan if the island formally declares its independence from the mainland, Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said at a news briefing in Beijing on July 24.

“If there are people who dare to split Taiwan from the country, China’s military will be ready to go to war to firmly safeguard national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity,” the defense official said.

To be sure, it was hardly the first time that China has issued such an invasion threat. But Wu’s statement came at a delicate juncture, with Hongkongers demonstrating against what they see as China’s attempts to undermine their city’s special autonomy and what Beijing perceives as other rising threats to its economic and strategic interests.

Beijing’s official policy for the reunification of the “motherland” – one country, two systems – is obviously not working in Hong Kong. Chinese state media, on July 10, went as far as to accuse the US of having a hidden hand in Hong Kong’s escalating protests.    [FULL  STORY]

Weird 3D art on wall at intersection appears to show road going straight into horizon in Taichung, Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/26
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A recently-built factory wall at a fork in the road in Taichung City has many residents concerned it could cause an accident, because it inadvertently creates the optical illusion that there is a road straight ahead,

The unintentional piece of 3D "art," is located at the intersection of Fengnan Street Lane 240 Taichung City's Fengyuan District and the Xianghe Road in the city's Tanzi District. The base color of the wall is white with a dark, gray geometric pattern painted on top.

From a distance, the dark gray triangle on the white background provides the perfect 3D illusion that there is a wide road going straight ahead, far into the distance. Local residents soon became worried that the mesmerizing design would cause motorists to keep plowing forward and crash into the wall.

Many local citizens quickly alerted the borough chief Liu Jui-chuan (劉瑞銓) and City Councillor Chang Yu-fen (張瀞分). They also notified local police, who placed traffic cones in front of the "artwork" to warn motorists of the hazard.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/26
By: Lin Hung-han and Ko Lin

Long Beach, California, July 25 (CNA) A mural featuring quintessential Taiwanese elements has been showcased for the first time at "POW! WOW! Long Beach," an international mural festival running this week in California.

"People from Taiwan who come to see my work at the event will hopefully come to recognize it and feel very nostalgic," said the Taiwanese graffiti artist who goes by the tag-name DEBE.

The patterns on his mural, he explained, are reminiscent of the window panes of his childhood house.

It is something that is uniquely Taiwanese, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 25 July, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Experimental elementary schools have become increasingly popular in Taiwan. There are seven such schools in the southern city of Tainan alone, more than in any other city.

The schools offer students a fun, diverse, and less-than-traditional program. For instance, some focus on nature and ecology and others provide bilingual education.

These are students at Simen Experimental Elementary School. The school offers bilingual education in Chinese and English. Students here are happy to introduce their school to visitors in English.
[FULL  STORY]

The challenges facing Tsai remain the same, with or without the Hong Kong protests.

The Diplomat
Date: July 25, 2019
By: Lev Nachman and Brian Hioe

With the world’s eyes glued on Hong Kong, many have begun to speculate what role this summer’s

civil unrest will play in neighboring Taiwan’s presidential elections. Considering that Taiwan and Hong Kong share the same underlying political issue – relations with China – it makes sense for politics observers to draw this natural comparison.

While it may seem tempting to speculate that Hong Kong’s protests help make next year’s presidential election a sure thing for pro-Taiwan candidate Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and hurt pro-China candidate Han Kuo-yu of the Nationalist Party (KMT), it is worth reflecting on what issues really matter during presidential elections and analyzing how politicians in Taiwan have already begun to shift the Hong Kong narrative to their party’s favor.

It is questionable whether Hong Kong will remain the most salient issue that frames cross-strait relations for Taiwanese up until January 2020, when elections will take place. It certainly will not be the only issue that does so.    [FULL  STORY]