Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-09-18

President Tsai Ing-wen says she hopes to see more in-depth exchanges between Taiwan

and the European Parliament (EP). Tsai was speaking on Tuesday while receiving a delegation of members of the EP.

Tsai said the EP passed a report on the state of EU-China relations last Wednesday. In the report, the EP calls for EU member states to urge Beijing to stop military provocation towards Taiwan. It also calls for the EU to continue to support Taiwan in international participation and to resume investment talks.

Tsai said Taiwan and some of the countries represented in the delegation have one thing in common – that is, a long fight to win democracy. She said she hopes that Taiwan, the EU and its members can work together towards closer dialogue and cooperation.

Tsai also said trade between Taiwan and the EU has reached a new high over the last two years, as have tourist numbers. Tsai said she believes that the government and people of both sides will continue to deepen relations based on friendship.
[FULL  STORY]

The Globe And Mail
Date: Sep 18, 2018 
By: Frank Ching, Special to The Globe And Mail

China has recently been insisting more loudly that Taiwan is a part of China and

heightening Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation by luring away allies such as Panama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador. Further, it has been pushing for universal acknowledgment of what it says is a fact, and pressuring companies – including United Airlines, hotel chain Marriott and fashion retailer Zara – to declare on their websites that Taiwan is a part of China.

As Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor, told Carlos Castaneda, the El Salvadoran foreign minister, “the one-China principle is a universally recognized norm for international relations, a general consensus of the international community….”

The sense of inevitability was echoed by the Salvadoran president, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who said in his televised announcement on breaking relations with Taiwan to establish ties with Beijing: “El Salvador can’t turn its back on international reality.”

El Salvador’s defection seems to have finally galvanized the United States into action.
[FULL  STORY]

Images of Confucius used in marketing campaign to bring more tourism and interest in Tainan County

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/09/18
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Legendary philosopher Confucius (孔子) has been recruited by the Tainan County Government (臺南市政府) to promote the region as a tourist destination and to encourage deeper understanding of the region’s history, through limited edition “Confucius snack noodles.”

The “most holy snack noodles” are available for a limited time, and only available at historical sites in Tainan City (臺南市).

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Tainan City Government has running form with this type of promotion, previously enlisting Koxinga (國姓爺) to promote the region via locally-made beer and potato chips.

The package includes a play on words based on Confucius teachings, and well as images of the Tainan Confucius Temple.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/18
By: Wu Jui-chi and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a recipient of the 2018 Tang Prize in

sustainable development, said Tuesday that he is looking forward to forming academic exchanges with local teachers and students during a visit he is making to Taiwan.

Ramanathan, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), arrived in Taipei that day with his wife and daughter for the upcoming Tang Prize award ceremony, which is due to take place Friday in the city’s Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

The Tang Prize laureate said he was happy to be back in Taiwan, adding that winning the award means a great deal to him.

On Wednesday, he will deliver a keynote speech at National Taiwan University (NTU), and another one at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan Sept. 27.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-09-17

Taiwan’s tri-services honor guard is headed to the Caribbean. The soldiers from the

army, navy and air force are set to perform as part of the national day celebrations in the allied nation of Saint Christopher and Nevis.

The tri-service honor guard delivers a spectacular performance in the defense ministry plaza in Taipei. The tossing, spinning and twirling of rifles is the result of countless hours of practice. It’s a taste of what’s to come when they perform this week in the Caribbean nation of Saint Christopher and Nevis.

Defense Minister Yen De-fa spoke about the honor guard on Friday before they embarked on the trip. He said he hoped that the performance – to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the country’s independence — can help strengthen bilateral ties.    [FULL  STORY]

Penghu County Government is gearing up for the World Congress of ‘The Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club’ and at the same time is grasping the opportunity of hosting the international event to promote Penghu’s tourism

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/09/17
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Penghu County Government is gearing up for the World Congress (the annual meeting) of “The Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club” and at the same time is grasping the opportunity of hosting the international event to promote the event as well as Penghu’s tourism by releasing promotional videos in different languages, including Chinese, English and French.

Headquartered in Vannes, Central France, the MBBW is an international NGO club founded in 1997 and supported by UNESCO. The number one purpose of the club is to protect ecological resources and natural heritage of global bay areas.

Therefore, every time when the World Congress of the MBBW Club takes place in a member state, it also symbolizes the joint determination of the club to safeguard the world bays, the club said on the event’s official website.

There are currently a total of 43 bays from 25 countries in the MBBW Club, including Mont Saint-Michel Bay in France, Yeosu bay in Korea, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, and Penghu Bay in Taiwan, according to the club.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/09/17
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday said the donations it made to former ally El Salvador were paid in accordance with related laws, amid questions raised by El Salvadorian prosecutors who allege that part of the money was used by the former ruling party for political campaign purposes.

Prosecutor Douglas Melendez said Thursday that he is investigating the alleged diversion of US$10 million in funds donated by Taiwan and purportedly used to pay for political campaigning.

Melendez said in a television interview that the money came from US$38 million Taipei gave to the Foreign Ministry for various projects.

He alleged the funds were diverted to the presidency and “apparently used in a partisan campaign” under then-President Mauricio Funes in an election won by current President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, an Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party ally of Funes, according to foreign media reports.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Opinion polls by two local media outlets released yesterday showed Taipei Mayor Ko

Wen-je (柯文哲) in the lead ahead of the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24.

A poll commissioned by the Chinese-language Apple Daily and conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion at Shih Hsin University showed Ko leading with 34.9 percent of the vote, 4.1 percentage points higher than Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) at 30.8 percent.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Pasuya Yao (姚文智) had 10.4 percent of the vote, while 21.9 percent of respondents said they were undecided or declined to answer.

Of those polled, 61.6 percent who identified as pan-blue camp supporters said they back Ting, with 23.1 percent supporting Ko.

The poll showed that 45.3 percent of pan-green camp supporters favored Ko and 44.9 supported Yao, while 43.3 percent of neutral respondents supported Ko, 18.2 percent support Ting and 4.4 percent support Yao.    [FULL  STORY]

The Straits Times
Sep 16, 2018

BEIJING (REUTERS) – China on Sunday (Sept 16) accused Taiwan’s spy agencies of stepping up efforts to steal intelligence with the aim of “infiltration” and “sabotage”, and warned the island against further damaging already strained cross-strait ties.

The relevant agencies in Taiwan must end such activities immediately, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing Mr An Fengshan, a spokesman of China’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office.

On Saturday, state television kicked off the first in a series of programmes detailing cases in which Chinese students studying in Taiwan are said to be targeted by domestic spies who lure them with money, love and friendship.

The allegations come as China ramps up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to settle in China permanently, with new identity cards and other inducements.    [FULL  STORY]