Taipei Times
Date: Aug 20, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA, HOUSTON, Texas
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday told Taiwanese expatriates

in the US that she is leading Taiwan through a comprehensive transformation and hoped that all Taiwanese expatriates could join the effort.

“Taiwan is undergoing change, in a good direction,” Tsai said at a welcoming dinner in Houston, Texas, hosted by Taiwanese expatriates, after arriving for a 27-hour transit stop on the return leg of her visit to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Paraguay and Belize.

“I’m at the helm of the country, I’m determined and confident that I will lead Taiwan, with my team, through a thorough transformation,” Tsai said.

She asked the audience to trust her and her administration and join the transformation effort.    [FULL  STORY]

A group of seven doctors traveled to Hanoi for 7 days to provide patients with cleft lip and palate repair surgeries 

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/08/18
By: Alicia Nguyen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) –Taiwanese doctors from the E-da Hospital (義大醫院) are now traveling to Vietnam to offer volunteer medical treatment for patients suffering facial deformities and to further tighten medical partnership between two countries, reports said on Aug. 18.

According to CNA, a group of seven dentists from E-da Hospital in Kaohsiung City cooperated with Operation Smile Vietnam, a non-profit medical organization, to spend August 15-21 in Hanoi to conduct surgical treatment for 20 people with cleft lip and palate.

Starting from 2009, volunteer doctors from E-da Hospital have traveled once or twice a year to Vietnam for bilateral medical cooperation between the two countries.

In addition to this year’s medical programs in Vietnam, E-da Hospital is set to arrive in Nghe An Province in central Vietnam in September to continue offering surgical operations to 80 cleft lip and palate children so they can regain their smile and confidence, reports said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/18
By: Lin Ke-lun and Ko Lin 

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) China has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan, which is a “fact” rather than an “assumption,” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Saturday.

Beijing never stopped its deployment of missiles targeting Taiwan, and continues to increase the frequency of military exercises near the Taiwan Strait, actions that have escalated regional tensions and caused anxiety in the international community, MAC said.

It is also a fact, not an assumption, that China has never given up the option of using force against Taiwan, MAC said, in the wake of Beijing’s denial Friday that it was probably preparing for an offensive against the United States and U.S. allies.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wu Qian (吳謙) on Friday rejected a U.S. military report that said Beijing was “likely training for strikes” against the United States and its allies.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-17

After nine hours of discussion, a review committee has finally agreed on a new minimum wage beginning next year.

Starting January 2019, a new minimum wage of NT23,100 (US$750), an increase of 5% from the current level of NT$22,000 (US$715) will go into effect. Hourly wage will be adjusted from the current NT$140 (US$4.55) to NT$150 (US$4.88), an increase of 7.14%.

Labor minister Hsu Ming-chun said the decision was reached after taking into account the annual growth rate of 17 vital basic commodities. Hsu said her office also considered the economic growth rate and the yearly growth rate of the labor productivity index. She said more than two and a quarter million people will benefit from the increase.

Hsu guaranteed that she did not side with either employers or employees in coming to the decision. She said that she had to take into consideration the living expenses of entry level employees but at the same time wanting businesses to continue to prosper.    [SOURCE]

Radio Free Asia
Date: 2018-08-17

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is gradually preparing for a possible invasion of the neighboring democratic island of Taiwan, according to a military analysis published by the Pentagon in Washington.

Armed forces under the ruling Chinese Communist Party “continued to develop and deploy increasingly advanced military capabilities intended to coerce Taiwan, signal Chinese resolve, and gradually improve capabilities for an invasion,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in an annual report on China’s military capabilities.

“These improvements pose major challenges to Taiwan’s security.”

The report said Taiwan’s military security has largely depended on the PLA’s inability to project power decisively across the 100 nautical-mile Taiwan Strait, as well as on the technological superiority of Taiwan’s armed forces, and the possibility that the U.S. may intervene in any conflict.

But it said that the Communist Party, which has never ruled Taiwan, has become increasingly intolerant of what it calls “foreign interference in Taiwan’s affairs.”

It cited a warning last year by Chinese embassy official Li Kexin, who said any visit to Taiwan by the U.S. Navy would prompt China to take Taiwan by force.    [FULL  STORY]

Wu Feng and Dallas Waldo create fun video answering the question ‘why did you come to Taiwan?’

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/17
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan, Turkish TV show host Ugur Rifat Karlova, better known as Wu Feng (吳鳳), and Canadian rapper Dallas Waldie, who goes by the stage name Dallas Waldo (阿龍), today (Aug. 17) released a music video titled “Taiwan is my Home.”

Wu Feng, who on March 21 completed the process of becoming a Taiwanese citizen, said that his inspiration for the video was to not only commemorate 12 years of living in Taiwan but also to recognize “all foreigners who came here and bring their talent, passion and dreams together. Wu Feng added that foreigners who live in Taiwan respect the culture and that “we appreciate the days we spend in Taiwan and try to show people our thoughts, dreams and don’t want to be looked at as just laowai (老外, foreigners).”

Waldo, who has lived in Taiwan for six years and has rapped for 10 years, says that Wu Feng contacted him with the idea of making a music video to celebrate his time in Taiwan. Waldo specializes in rapping in Chinese and decided to use Taiwanese dialect, which he was studying at the time, for the chorus.

In the chorus, he sings “Where do you? I live in Taiwan” (你住在哪裡？我住在台灣), which is a frequent conversation he finds himself having with locals. He says he also wanted to answer the common question “Why did you come to Taiwan?” (為什麼你來台灣).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/17
By Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) A magnitude 4.8 earthquake jolted central Taiwan at 6:09 p.m. on Friday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The epicenter of the earthquake was located about 34.6 kilometers east of Nantou County Hall at a depth of 16.8 km, the bureau’s Seismology Center said.

The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Guoxing Township in Nantou, where it measured 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tiered intensity scale.

Some areas in Taichung, Changhua and Chiayi could also feel the earthquake, where intensity ranges from 2 to 3.     [SOURCE]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 18, 2018 – Page 3　 
By: Staff writer, with CNA, BELIZE CITY

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was on Thursday decorated by Belizean

Governor-General Colville Young — the representative of the country’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth II — in recognition of Tsai’s outstanding leadership and contributions to the friendship between Taiwan and Belize.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the Museum of Belize, Tsai said that the honor was symbolic of the firm relations between the two countries and is a token of recognition of the development of their partnership.

For most of the past 30 years, Taiwan and Belize have maintained close cooperation in the infrastructure, agriculture, public health, culture, education and telecommunication spheres, Tsai said, adding that she hopes that the two countries will continue to expand two-way ties based on the that foundation.

Tsai also thanked Young for his backing of Taiwan’s bids to take part in international organizations and urged him to continue supporting Taiwan to enable the two countries to make greater contributions to the world.
[FULL  STORY]