Radi Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 18 June, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

A group of divers had a rare encounter with a dolphin, while swimming off the northern coast of Green Island. A video posted online showed a dolphin swimming in close proximity to the scuba divers for nearly 20 minutes.

A local diving instructor says that the dolphins are a semi-rare sight around the island. The sea mammals are not aggressive, and sometimes like to swim alongside boats.    [FULL  STORY]

And that's just for starters. 

The National Interest
Date: June 18, 2019
By: Kris Osborn

The Trump administration’s plan to sell tanks, missiles and ground-launched air defenses to Taiwan embodies what might be called a strategic paradigm shift to empower the small island’s deterrence posture against an often-threatened Chinese invasion.

While much existing discussion centers upon strengthening Taiwanese air, sea and undersea defenses, there also appears to be an unequivocal need for major land defenses. The existing air-sea emphasis is extremely important, yet there are certainly elements of this approach which invite further discussion about the need to provide Taiwan with a strong, armored ground force as well.

The proposed $2 billion arms package includes 108 main battle tanks, 250 Stinger anti-air missiles, as well as 409 Javelins and 1,240 TOW anti-tank missiles.

Drawing heavily upon a US Pacific presence along with Asian-theater allied support, a maritime-air Taiwan defense strategy has clearly had a deterrence impact in recent years. Part of this ability to keep a Chinese invasion at bay has naturally hinged upon a strong US posture ensuring defense of the island.
[FULL  STORY]

While cleaning the house, volunteers saw cockroaches and rats scurrying about

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A four-year-old girl was found living in deplorable housing conditions with four generations of her family in Miaoli City (苗栗市) after her kindergarten teacher discovered cockroach eggs in her diaper, Central News Agency (CNA) reported on Monday (June 17).

While changing the girl's diaper, the teacher observed that it had not been changed for quite some time and had turned black and yellowish. It even contained cockroach eggs, CNA reported.

The teacher also found skin rashes on the child’s buttocks, armpits, and neck. Therefore, the teacher reported the case to the Miaoli County Social Affairs Department, according to CNA.

The department directed social workers to visit the family in the company of the borough chief. During their visit, the social workers learned that the household had received the assistance of the city’s cleaning unit for years, according to the news outlet.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/18
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) More than 20 protected species kept by private individuals or institutions are being mistreated, local animal protection groups said Tuesday, accusing the government of being negligent about the issue and failing to implement the law.

"There is no proper law enforcement when it comes to the management of protected wildlife," said Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏), deputy director of the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST), which, along with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, showed cases of possible animal abuse discovered during a recent survey.

In video footage obtained by the groups, wild animals including Asian black bears, gibbons, orangutans and Bengal tigers are seen in small cages, displaying "stereotypical distressed behavior."

Such behavior, referring to repetitive actions with no obvious goal or function such as pacing back and forth, suggests that the animals are under extreme stress, Chen pointed out.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 19, 2019 
By: Lin Yi-chang and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

An upcoming special exhibition at the National Palace Museum Southern Branch is to feature 13 antique pottery

pieces from the Northern Song Dynasty known as ru ware (汝窯), which it said experts consider the “rarest of rarities.”

While 300 pottery items are to be on display, the ru ware created for the imperial court would be the most eye-catching, said Weng Yu-wen (翁宇雯), an assistant researcher at the museum’s southern branch and the planner of the exhibition.

Only 21 objects in the museum’s pottery collection of 25,000 items are ru ware, which are usually displayed individually as the centerpiece of an exhibit, she said on Sunday, adding that the museum has not arranged so many for simultaneous public viewing since the “Grand View” exhibit in 2006.

Previously part of the collection of the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong emperor, the museum’s ru-ware pieces are marked by unusual size and fine crazing, which resembles an insect’s wings, Weng said, adding that the items to be exhibited are “priceless.”    [FULL  STORY]

Slate
Date: June 17, 2019
By: Joshua Keating

Advocates of democracy in Hong Kong notched an impressive victory in their long-running fight with the People’s Republic of China last weekend when the city’s pro-Beijing chief executive, Carrie Lam, indefinitely shelved a controversial extradition law in response to mass protests that saw as many as a million people in the streets at their height. It’s a devastating setback for Lam, but less so for China and its leader, Xi Jinping. Thanks to China’s tight information controls, there’s little risk of unrest spreading to the mainland. And while Chinese leaders would like to accelerate Hong Kong’s integration into the Chinese political system, the territory is becoming more economically (and physically) integrated every day, and its special semiautonomous status is due to end in 2047. China has been waiting since the 19th century to take full control of Hong Kong, and it can afford to be patient for a little longer.

Chinese leaders may feel more concern over the implications the events in Hong Kong hold for what the country considers another of its wayward provinces: Taiwan.

Taiwan has been involved in this latest round of Hong Kong tensions from the beginning. The extradition law was proposed in response to a gruesome case in which a 19-year-old Hong Kong man, Chan Tong-kai, admitted to strangling his pregnant girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing and stuffing her body in a suitcase while the two were on vacation in Taiwan. Chan returned to Hong Kong before he was arrested, and because the city has no extradition treaty with Taiwan, he couldn’t be sent there to face murder charges. He was instead tried for money laundering for using Poon’s credit cards.    [FULL  STORY]

Radi Taiwan International
Date: 17 June, 2019
By: Paula Chao

The legislature has issued a statement in support of Hong Kong’s ongoing protests against a controversial extradition bill.  The move was initiated by New Power Party's caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming on Monday. 

The statement came a day after hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the streets demanding the scrapping of a bill that would allow extraditions to China. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam has already suspended the bill, but demonstrators are calling for her resignation and for the bill’s complete withdrawal.

The joint statement issued Monday by both the ruling and opposition camps in Taiwan’s Legislature condemns the Hong Kong government for violating the spirit of human rights and for using force to handle the mass rally. The statement also said the Hong Kong government must respond to public demands and keep conflict between the police and protesters to a minimum.

The legislature also suggested that the government take concrete actions by giving Hong Kongers whose safety and freedom are in danger due to political factors necessary assistance.    [FULL  STORY]

Chinese Communist Party uses 'boiling frogs' strategy to undermine freedom and democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/17
By: Pin Min-ming, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – From Hong Kong’s handover from the British to China in 1997 to the end of Tung Chee-hwa’s (董建華) term as chief executive in 2005, Hong Kong maintained a semblance of its democratic system via established checks and balances on government power.

However, under the leadership of Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) starting in 2017, the government of the special autonomous region (SAR) has taken a quick authoritarian turn under increasing influence from Beijing.

In the past, new legislation introduced in Hong Kong was expected to be approved by the Hong Kong Bar Association before it could pass in the City Legislative Council (LegCo).

Theoretically, this practice should have been maintained under China’s “one country, two systems” framework. However, only 22 years after the 50-year transition period that was stipulated by the Sino-British treaty on Hong Kong, it is obvious that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has no intention to honor the provisions of the agreement.    [FULL  STORY8]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/17
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) Flight attendants with EVA Airways could strike if planned negotiations with the airline on

Thursday fail to meet their demands, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) said on Monday after holding discussions with EVA about the meeting's rules and procedures.

"We are open to talks, but are doubtful that the upcoming discussions will be any different to our two previous negotiations," said TFAU Deputy Secretary-General Chou Sheng-kai (周聖凱), adding that the union has been carrying out strike rehearsals.

As Thursday's meeting will be the first between management and labor under government mediation since the union secured the legal right to strike on June 7, Chou said the TFAU does not rule out the possibility of calling for immediate labor action if they are not happy with the carrier's offer.

In the polling that took place from May 13 to June 6, union members voted in favor of strike action at EVA over work hours and overseas pay issues.    [FULL  STORY]