Meant to improve governance and market order, China's social credit system is being tested using 'black lists' – or, in some communities, 'scores' – to incentivise citizens and corporate behaviour.

The New Indian Express
Date: 14th July 2019
By: IANS

HONG KONG: Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have been removed from a Chinese government "social credit system" website, the media reported on Sunday.

In a message posted on his Facebook page late Saturday night, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen said the items on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan had been deleted from the "Credit China" website operated by the National Public Credibility Information Centre, after communications between the site administrator and the city's government, reports the South China Morning Post newspaper.

On July 9, some Taiwanese newspapers and online platforms in Hong Kong claimed the social credit system would be implemented in the city. Nip had refuted the claim later that day.

"The deletion of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan from the website, which was done on Saturday, is aimed at avoiding any misunderstanding that the social credit system will be implemented in Hong Kong," a Hong Kong government source said on Sundat.    [FULL  STORY]

Washington applying ‘double standards’ on Beijing’s sanctions

lobal Times
Date: 2019/7/14
By: Liu Xuanzun, Li Xuanmin and Leng Shumei 

The US is deploying a double standard by calling China's proposed sanctions on US companies for arms sales to Taiwan a "foolish action," Chinese mainland analysts said on Sunday, pointing out that the sanctions could not only cut base material supply to these companies including rare earths but also block their non-military products from entering Chinese markets. 

After the US government approved a plan to sell $2.22 billion worth of arms to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang announced at a routine press briefing on Friday that to safeguard national interests, China would impose sanctions on US enterprises participating in the sales.

Citing data released by the US Department of Defense, Chinese state-owned media identified these firms as Raytheon that provides Stinger missiles, General Dynamics  that provides M1A2T tanks, and BAE and Oshkosh that provide tanks equipment.

US Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told media that it was a foolish action as the companies that would possibly be sanctioned were not very much going to be engaged in defense industry sales to China, according to a short video VOA Chinese posted on its Twitter account on Sunday.     [FULL  STORY]

Report in Economic Times touts Taichung as city undergoing 'architectural and cultural renaissance'

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/14
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The English-language Indian news site, the Economic Times published an impressive report on the Taiwanese city of Taichung, praising the city as the center of an “architectural and cultural renaissance.”

The article, penned by Kalpana Sunder, describes some of the unique architecture and attractions of the city, labeling Taichung the “artsy capital” of Taiwan. The article notes the innovative, and environmentally conscious work of architects Toyo Ito and Cecil Balmond in the Taichung National Theater, which Sunder calls the “city’s showstopper.”

The work also highlight’s the recently completed and pedestrian friendly Liuchuan Canal Waterfront. Other architectural highlights mentioned by the piece are the Taichung Literature Museum, fashioned from an old Japanese dormitory, and the Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park, which occupies a refurbished winery.

The article entitled “Taiwan’s second largest city undergoing an architectural and cultural renaissance” finishes with an introduction of Taichung’s famous Rainbow Village and the popular Feng Chia Night Market.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/14
By: Elaine Hou

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Several leaders of diplomatic allies in the Caribbean have tweeted messages on visits to their countries by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of Taiwan.

Tsai arrived in St. Kitts and Nevis on Saturday after a 4.5-hour stop in Haiti, and she will head to St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday and to St. Lucia on Wednesday.

Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a Twitter video Saturday that his government and the people of his country were looking forward to Tsai's visit July 16-17.

He said the highlight of her visit will be to address St. Vincent's parliament.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 14, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday confirmed the ninth indigenous case of dengue fever

in Tainan, saying it suspects that the virus might have spread farther, as the latest case involves a person who had not been to areas linked to previous cases.

An 89-year-old man living in the mountainous Ronghe Borough (榮和) of Zuojhen District (左鎮) developed a fever on Wednesday, the centers said.

On Friday, he was taken to a hospital for a scooter-related injury and tested positive in a rapid dengue fever screening before being confirmed to have contracted the disease, the centers said.

The man usually stays at home and tends his vegetable garden and he had not traveled abroad or visited areas linked to the eight previous indigenous cases, the CDC said, adding that he visited Shanhua District (善化) on Sunday last week.    [FULL  STORY]

CNA
Date: 13 Jul 2019 

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's choice of Port-au-Prince as the first stop in her Caribbean tour is highly symbolic of the diplomatic power struggle being played out in the region.

Last year, the neighbouring Dominican Republic dropped Taipei and threw in its diplomatic lot with Beijing, leaving Haiti as one of only 17 countries still officially recognising Taiwan as a country.

Since Tsai became president, China – which considers Taiwan part of its territory – has poached five of the island's dwindling roster of allies, and some in Haiti think President Jovenel Moise should do more to leverage that diplomatic tension when the two leaders meet on Saturday (Jul 13).

In May 2018, Moise visited Taiwan but failed to come away with any significant achievements.
[FULL  STORY]

18 news websites registered in the city have been found to serve propaganda purposes for Beijing

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/13
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taichung has been accused by a ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilor as being a “hotbed” for the distribution of fake news in a smear campaign against the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration.

A total of 23 online media outlets were found to have published identical reports originally posted by news website www.taiwan.cn operated by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, reported newtalk.

Among them, at least 18 websites are registered in Taichung, a municipality in central Taiwan, according to Taichung City Councilor Chiang Chao-kuo (江肇國). In addition to the 18 websites, there are three sites based in Beijing, New Taipei, and Yilan County, respectively, while the origins of the other two sites aren’t available, Chiang revealed in a Facebook post on Friday (July 12).

The politician lambasted Taichung City, which is currently governed by the opposition KMT, for its failure to counteract infiltration from Chinese forces and becoming a propaganda vehicle for Beijing. He also called for a joint effort by the city police, national security forces, and the telecommunications regulator of Taiwan to hunt down the sources of these media outlets.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/13
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Catholic nun Maria Godelieva Claeys (葛永勉) from Belgium, who has devoted the majority of her life to taking care of premature newborns in Taiwan, officially became a Republic of China (Taiwan) citizen Saturday.

"This [Taiwan] is my home," the 83-year-old sister said after receiving her ROC identification card from officials of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and Taipei Department of Civil Affairs in recognition of her selfless contributions.

Sister Claeys of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.C.M.) has served in Taiwan for over half a century since 1963, when she helped look after premature newborns at the then-St. Joseph Hospital in Taipei's Wanhua District.

The hospital was established by a group of I.C.M. sisters from Belgium in the early 1960s, providing medical care and medication for disadvantaged mothers and children, and was once known as the hospital that admitted the highest number of premature newborns in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]