Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018/08/30
Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) A section of the South-link railway line, which connects Pingtung and 
Taitung counties, was closed temporarily Thursday due to fallen rocks and was expected to reopen around noon, according to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).
Trains were suspended between Fangliao Station and Dawu Station, and buses were being used to transport passengers between the affected stations, the TRA said.
[FULL STORY]
Taipei Times
Date: Aug 31, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan is part of the solution to challenges posed by China and North Korea in the Indo-
Retired US Navy admiral James Stavridis, left, yesterday speaks to Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, right, at the 2018 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Pacific region with its close relations with the US and Japan, a former NATO commander said yesterday.
The expansion of China’s military force and North Korea’s nuclear program pose a threat to regional security, retired US Navy admiral James Stavridis, who was the alliance’s supreme commander from 2009 to 2013, told the one-day Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei.
With China’s naval capacity continuing to expand and its warships traveling around the world, Stavridis said that Beijing is becoming a significant player in the Indo-Pacific region.
China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea is even more worrying, he said. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/29
By: Yang Su-min and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) Agricultural losses caused by flooding in central and southern Taiwan
CNA file photo
since Aug. 23 were estimated to have reached NT$737.39 million (US$24 million) as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the latest update from the Council of Agriculture (COA).
The flooding, caused by a tropical depression that brought days of heavy rain to the southern half of the country, resulted in widespread damage to crops, fisheries and livestock.
Chiayi County was hardest hit by the torrential rain, reporting NT$451.51 million in agricultural losses, which accounted for 61 percent of the total, COA data shows.
Tainan suffered the second highest losses of NT$183.37 million, or 25 percent of the total, followed by Yunlin County with losses of NT$45.14 million (6 percent), Kaohsiung NT$43.77 million (6 percent), and Pingtung County NT$10.21 million (1 percent), the data indicates.
[FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-29
Leaders of Taiwan’s tech companies have called on the government to provide long-term financial support in their R&D efforts.
Three major tech exhibitions kicked off in Taipei on Wednesday. At the opening of Series of Asia Industry 4.0 & Intelligent Manufacturing Exhibition, President Tsai Ing-wen said she has introduced policies to bring smart machinery to Taiwan’s manufacturing industry.
Also at the exhibition, a number of tech executives said they hope the government will invest long-term in the industry to help boost its competitiveness. [FULL STORY]
Currency and destination names changed on carrier’s site in ‘flexible workaround’
South China Morning Post
Date: 29 August, 2018
By: Liu Zhen
Taiwan has expressed gratitude to United Airlines for finding an unusual way to “differentiate” the island from mainland China while complying with Beijing’s “one China” demand.
Ticket bookers can now see “New Taiwan Dollar”, “Chinese Yuan” and “Hong Kong Dollar” listed among destination names such as “Australia”, “India” and “Japan” when looking for currency and payment options on the company’s official website.
The third-largest US airline removed Taiwan, China and Hong Kong as country or region names last month, ahead of a deadline imposed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory, or “one China”, awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island views itself as a sovereign nation and is a self-ruling democracy. [FULL STORY]
Gambling expert reported US dollars to customs, but not Korean won and Thai baht
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
NT$11 million worth of won and baht confiscated from a gambling expert on his way back from South Korea. (By Central News Agency)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese man returning home from a winning streak at the casino tables in South Korea was forced to give up more than NT$11 million (US$358,000) in profits after he failed to report the sum to customs, reports said Wednesday.
When the man, surnamed Huang (黃), arrived on a flight from Busan at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, he dutifully reported US$15,400 (NT$473,000) to customs, but failed to mention he was also carrying 408.8 million Korean won and 473,000 Thai baht, estimated at a total value of NT$11 million, the Central News Agency reported.
Customs inspectors found the unreported currency during a search of his luggage. Huang told them he had assumed that it was not legally required to report currencies such as the won and the baht.
According to the CNA report, Huang is a well-known gambling expert who teaches people online how to win and who has been blacklisted by hundreds of casinos worldwide.
[SOURCE]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/29
By: Ku Chuan and Romulo Huang
Taipei, Aug. 29 (CNA) Deputy Labor Minister Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊) has resigned with effect
Deputy Labor Minister Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊) / CNA file photo
from Aug. 31 and Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has accepted her resignation, the Cabinet spokesperson said Wednesday.
Su, who took up the position on Nov. 27 last year, decided to quit so she could take care of mother who is in her 90s, Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka told CNA.
Kolas said Su submitted her resignation several months ago but Premier Lai and Labor Minister Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) had been trying to convince her to stay on.
Lai has now decided to accept Su’s resignation, Kolas said, adding that it has nothing to do with the upcoming local government elections. [SOURCE]
Taipei Times
Date: Aug 30, 2018
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林
Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung yesterday in Taichung responds to accusations that he engaged in vote-buying by offering a free banquest for voters. Photo: Chang Ching-ya, Taipei Times
佳龍) contravened election laws by treating residents to a banquet and demanded that prosecutors investigate.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayor said that the KMT got its facts wrong, as the banquet was organized by local supporter groups and not by his office.
The banquet took place on July 21 on Lishan (梨山) in the Central Mountain Range, said KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) and Wu Huang-sheng (吳皇昇), spokesman for KMT Taichung mayoral candidate Lu Shiow-yen’s (盧秀燕) campaign office.
Video showed about 300 guests at the event, a “lavish” banquet with meat, seafood and other dishes that was held to solicit votes for Lin, Wu said. [FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-28
A survey of marine trash around Taiwan’s coast has found that the large number of beach
Not all beaches get the same level of attention from beach clean up activities, a new survey has found. (Photo by CNA)
cleanups held each year have had only a limited impact.
The two-week survey was conducted in July by Greenpeace and local organization the Society of Wilderness. It involved taking samples from stations set up at 10-kilometer intervals around the whole of Taiwan’s coastline.
The first report on the survey was released Tuesday. In it, the two organizations estimate that enough garbage lines Taiwan’s coastline to fill over 2,000 garbage trucks.
Over 500 beach cleanup events take place in Taiwan each year. But a Greenpeace project manager says most are only held in places that are easily accessible by bus. Much of the trash around Taiwan is stuck among concrete Tetrapod blocks used to block waves, and among coral.
The survey found a strong imbalance in the geographic distribution of marine garbage. 56% of garbage found was on just 10% of coastline. New Taipei, Tainan and Chiayi had especially high concentrations. Plastic bottles, fishing gear and nets, as well as other single-use plastic objects accounted for much of the trash. The Greenpeace project manager called on the government to control the sources of pollution and clean up pollution hot spots. [FULL STORY]
Michal Thim says the US’ increasing interest in countering Beijing’s pressure on Taipei, along with the apparent failure of Taiwan’s opposition to make political gains, indicates the PRC’s approach to cross-strait relations is creating more problems than it solves
South China Morning Post
Date: 29 August, 2018
By: Michal Thim
Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan, following the 2016 elections, was to be expected. The Democratic Progressive Party, much despised in the corridors of Zhongnanhai, took both the presidency and majority in the Legislative Yuan, the latter for the first time in Taiwan’s democratic history.
It was also to be expected because Beijing insisted on a condition that the DPP and President Tsai Ing-wen could not possibly entertain: to declare that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China. What was uncertain in May 2016 was what punitive measures Beijing would put in place.
Two years into Tsai’s presidency, the scope of Beijing’s moves against Taiwan has become more evident. Some were expected early on, for example, the exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Organisation’s annual World Health Assembly or restricting tourists going to Taiwan. Increased activity by the People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan belongs to the same category. [FULL STORY]
