Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 02 April, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, Taiwan has come out with a VR film of the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington DC that belongs to the Taiwan government.

The estate was the residence of many former ambassadors and is currently used for official functions. In the Taiwan Relations Act, the US expresses its responsibility to help Taiwan defend itself.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu spoke about the US commitment to Taiwan on Tuesday.  “After 40 years of hard work, this is a good symbol of relations. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that Taiwan is a reliable partner and a success story for democracy,” he said. “He said Taiwan is a force for good. Besides Pompeo, many US officials have been saying this. I have dealt with international relations for many years and haven’t seen the US speak so highly of another country.”    [FULL  STORY]

Yoshihide Suga said peace across the Taiwan Strait is extremely important to the region

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In the wake of China’s repeated intrusions on Taiwan’s airspace, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has called for a direct cross-strait dialogue for the sake of maintaining peace.

Answering media questions on Tuesday, Suga said the peace and stability of Taiwan is extremely important to the region and the wider world, UDN reports. Close attention should be paid to developments across the Taiwan Strait, Suga added.

Suga also said he hopes Taiwan and China can conduct a dialogue to peacefully resolve the problem.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked Suga for openly addressing the cross-strait dilemma. Our government has long been committed to maintaining the status quo of cross-strait peace, said MoFA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Elaine Hou and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) The European Union called on China and Taiwan Tuesday to restart bilateral dialogue and avoid actions and words that may increase tension across the Taiwan Strait after China sent fighter jets across the median line of the strait Sunday in what Taiwan called a “reckless and provocative” move.

Two Chinese fighters crossed the tacitly understood line dividing the strait and entered Taiwan’s southwestern airspace at about 11 a.m. Sunday before retreating to the western side of the median line after Taiwan’s Air Force scrambled several fighter jets to intercept the two planes.

Commenting on the move by Beijing, an EU spokesperson said that the EU has a strong interest in peace and security in Asia.

“Tension in the Far East can only have a negative impact on our own security, as well as on our trade and our economies, including the flourishing trade between China and Taiwan,” the spokesperson said.    [FULL  STORY]

CONCRETE ACTION: The government needs to act on infant mortality, child obesity, video game addiction and substance abuse, among other issues, an institute said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The National Health Research Institute yesterday published a white paper on child

medicine and health policies, calling on the government to tackle four major issues.

The 700-page white paper outlines policies that the government should address by 2030, and compiles suggestions from more than 200 child health specialists, government officials and non-governmental organizations, the institute’s Child Health Research Center said.

In its last section, the document urges the government to first take measures to reduce child and adolescent mortality rates, lower the child obesity rate, reduce electronic device addiction and substance abuse, and establish an integrated child medicine and health system.

The infant mortality rate in Taiwan is about 4.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, which would rank the nation 27th in the 35-member Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Institute of Population Sciences director Hsiung Chao (熊昭) said, adding that there is room for improvement.    [FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
Date: 1 Apr, 2019 
By: Lawrence Chung, Liu Zhen  

• Taiwanese president takes hardline response to Chinese fighter jets crossing of ‘median line’
• Cross-strait tensions threaten to draw in Washington, analysts say

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has ordered a “forceful expulsion” of PLA warplanes next time they cross the “median line” separating the self-ruled island from the Chinese mainland.
Tsai’s response to China’s decision on Sunday, to send two fighter jets across the tacitly understood line dividing the Taiwan Strait, confirmed concerns that the action had opened a new flashpoint in the increasingly complex relations between the US, Taiwan and China.
In a Facebook post on Monday, which included her signature, Tsai is pictured giving an order via telephone with captioned remarks reading “I have already ordered the military to stage a forceful expulsion in the first place against any provocation by incursion of the median line [into the Taiwanese side].”

Taiwan scrambled interceptors on Sunday morning and broadcast warnings after two PLA J-11 fighter jets crossed the median line and entered the island’s southwestern airspace.
[FULL  STORY]

This year’s festival will include a draw, with the biggest prize being a Taiwan-Thailand or Taiwan-Myanmar round-trip ticket

Taiwan News 
Date: 2019/04/01
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2019 New Taipei Water Festival, or “Songkran Festival,” will take place on Huaxin Street (華新街), April 14 (Sunday), according to New Taipei Cultural Affairs Department.

This is in Zhonghe district, New Taipei City, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The water festival is the biggest traditional holiday for Thais and other Southeast Asian peoples.

The tradition of splashing water on each other during the festival represents purification and the washing away of one’s sins and bad luck at the beginning of a new year. It’s believed the more water people get splashed on them during the festival, the more happiness they will receive.

New Taipei City has more new immigrants than any other municipality in the country. The city government has hosted the New Taipei Water Festival in mid-April every year since 1998 to assuage Myanmar and Thai immigrants’ homesickness.    [FULL  STORY]