Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/25
By: Miao Zong-han and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 25 (CNA) The government will look into the issue of subsidies from China

and whether such developments are linked to Beijing’s ongoing efforts to influence Taiwan’s political scene, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday.

Speaking at a press event, MAC deputy chief Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) reiterated that the government is not against businesses operating in China receiving subsidies there but would be concerned if recipients included media in Taiwan.

Chiu’s statement came after Apple Daily reported Monday that a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Want Want Holdings Ltd., in China, Want Want China Holdings Ltd., has received up to 477 million Chinese yuan (US$71 million) in subsidies from the Chinese government between 2017-2018.

Want Want is a food company that was founded in 1962 in Taiwan by tycoon Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明). It expanded its business operations into China in the 1990s, setting up plants across the country.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 26, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday asked Lion Travel to disclose the terms of its

contract with passengers on a Sun Princess cruise ship tour to Japan’s Okinawa and Ishigaki islands, after the foundation received complaints from 915 people.

The four-day cruise departed from the Port of Keelung on March 24 and was scheduled to visit tourist attractions on the two islands, but was severely delayed and made only short stops, the foundation said.

The foundation on April 9 received complaints from 915 passengers, it said, adding that it arranged a three-way negotiation with tourists and the travel agency on Friday last week.

Lion Travel said it was only willing to compensate each traveler with NT$500 in cash and a NT$100 coupon, as they signed the contracts as independent travelers and the agency only charted a cruise ship to transport them.
[FULL  STORY]

Washington could play a pivotal role in helping Taipei avoid a war.

The National Interest
Date: April 24, 2019
By: Gary Sands

April 10 marked the fortieth anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). It was an opportunity not only to reflect on the long history of U.S.-Taiwan relations, but also to consider how well the TRA has stood the test of time. While the TRA, a domestic U.S. law, has played an important role in limiting efforts by Beijing to unify the island with the mainland over the last forty years, China’s military prowess has grown significantly in that time, and now represents a real threat to Taiwan’s de facto existence.

On March 31, two Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait into Taiwanese air space and refused to retreat for a twelve-minute period after being met by five Taiwanese fighter jets. The intrusion into Taiwanese airspace marked the first time since 1999 that the Chinese military intentionally crossed the median line, which was established in 1955 following the signing of a mutual defense treaty between Taipei and Washington in 1954—the precursor to the Taiwan Relations Act.

History of the Taiwan Relations Act

In the aftermath of defeat of the U.S.-backed Republic of China (ROC) military by Mao Zedong’s communist forces in China’s Civil War, and the retreat of the ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist forces to Taiwan in 1949, Washington formally guaranteed the security of the ROC on the island with the signing of the U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty in 1954, though at the time China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lacked sufficient air and amphibious capabilities to invade the island. The treaty remained in effect until 1980, after President Jimmy Carter officially terminated diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1979.   [FULL  STORY]

The bright and modern design had many passersby thinking it was a park building or library

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A bright and modern public building with a pyramid-shaped outer structure in Taiwan’s southern county of Pingtung struck members of the public as interesting – but they were surprised to find out what it really was.

Instead of being a new library or park building, it is actually a public columbarium. The newly built building has niches for funeral urns to be stored.

Pingtung County Government is behind a project to improve funeral facilities and build new columbariums.

Department of Civil Affairs Director Cheng Wen-hua (鄭文華) said Pingtung is one of two municipalities in Taiwan with the most public cemeteries. The county government has been assisting township offices in improving funeral facilities and service quality, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

New method could lead to higher buildings but also more green space

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/23
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese researchers have developed a new type of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structure which will allow residential buildings to almost double their height.

Japan is the only other country that has reached similar results with a new type of concrete, the Central News Agency reported.

The National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering at NARLabs found that the new material was between 1.6 and 2.4 stronger than traditional RC.

The maximum height for current RC apartment buildings was about 27 floors because of the relative strength of the material, poor soundproofing and the need for large pillars, researchers said. Those problems offset the advantages of low cost, positive soundproofing and fire resistance, they added.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 23 April, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

A Taiwanese fishing boat captain has been discovered unconscious on the deck of his vessel.

Fishermen aboard another boat found the vessel drifting and approached to investigate. In addition to the 52-year-old captain, they also found two migrant worker crew members on board, neither of whom knew how to operate the vessel.

The coast guard received an emergency notification about the incident from the Fisheries Agency early Tuesday. The coast guard dispatched a team to the fishing boat, and had the captain sent to a hospital.

The distressed fishing boat has since been towed into port in the outlying Penghu Islands.    [SOURCE]