BBC News
Date: August 9, 2018 

Grandfather Chen San-yuan has rigged 11 smart phones on his bicycle to play the

augmented reality game, Pokemon Go. He plans to add four more.

The Taiwanese man, affectionately known as Uncle Pokemon, learnt about the game from his grandson, and can play up to 20 hours straight before he runs out of battery power for his devices.

He currently spends more than £1,000 ($1,290) a month on his habit.
[FULL  STORY]

President Tsai Ing-wen will embark on her fifth state visit on Sunday to Paraguay and Belize

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/08/09
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed

Thursday that when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visits Latin America next week, Secretary-General to the President Chen Chu (陳菊) will tour in the U.S. for other diplomatic tasks.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will embark on her fifth state visit on Sunday to Paraguay and Belize, during which she and a delegation comprising top-level officials, lawmakers, and enterprise representatives will stop over in the U.S. cities of Los Angeles and Houston respectively during the inbound and outbound flight.

MOFA said on Thursday morning when President Tsai flies to Paraguay for the presidential inauguration scheduled for August 15, the secretary-general will remain in the U.S. where she will meet with overseas Taiwanese nationals and American political figures, reports Apple Daily.

Chen Hui-chen (陳慧蓁), deputy director-general of MOFA’s Department of North American Affairs, emphasized that the secretary-general is not going to promote election candidates for her ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the nation-wide local elections are approaching.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/09
By: Liao Yu-yang and William Yen

Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is likely to benefit from the

second set of tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese products, a top Ministry of Economic Affairs official said Thursday.

The remark was made after the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced on Tuesday that starting Aug. 23, a 25 percent tariff will be imposed on a list of imports from China worth approximately US$16 billion.

The list, which contains 279 tariff lines, covers items such as petrochemicals, steel and aluminum; machinery and some electronic products.

This is the second tranche of tariffs following the imposition of tariffs on about US$34 billion of imports from China that went into effect on July 6, the statement said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 10, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) founder Chang An-le (張安樂) and his son,

Chang Wei (張瑋), were yesterday released without bail after being summoned for questioning earlier in the day about funding sources for the party.

The CUPP has allegedly received money over the years from China to organize pro-China rallies in Taiwan and engage in violent activities against students and pro-Taiwan independence groups.

Leaving the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office after questioning last night, Chang Wei said that although prosecutors have the right to investigate, “they are using the judicial process to torment us. It does not leave a good impression for society.”

Prosecutors on Wednesday had also summoned other CUPP executives — including Hu Ta-kang (胡大綱) and Wen Chih-cheng (溫吉成) — for questioning, after raiding the party’s head office in Taipei, Chang An-le’s residence in New Taipei City and other locations the day before.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese firms are literally flying the national flag in Vietnam to protect their interests against a rising wave of anti-China sentiment

Asia Times
Date: Auguast 7, 2018
By: Ma Nguyen

Taiwanese companies in Vietnam are increasingly being squeezed

between a rock and a hard place as China ramps up diplomatic pressure on their displays of national identity.

If they hang Taiwan’s national flag outside their offices and factories, then China kicks up a threatening fuss with Hanoi about its professed sovereignty over the island state Beijing views as a renegade province.

If they keep their flags furled, then their factories may be perceived to be China-owned and potentially targeted by nationalistic protesters who see China’s growing commercial and economic interests in Vietnam as a threat to sovereignty.    [FULL  STORY]

Journalist associations complained about the Taipei mayor and the city government for boycotting and intimidating reporters who have run negative reports about them

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

and its affiliate Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) issued a statement Tuesday, filing a complaint against the Taipei City Government and in particular, Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), for repeatedly interfering with media reporting.

Ko and the city government were criticized for boycotting and intimidating reporters who have run negative reports about himself or the city government in three separate incidents taken place in the past year.

ATJ General-Secretary Ian Chen (陳益能) said in the statement, “We are left with no choice but to unreservedly condemn Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je for the repeated transgressions on journalists’ right to free reporting.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/07
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Taiwan is actively preparing for negotiations over the

nation’s admission to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), in the hope of joining the regional trade bloc during its second round of accession talks, Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Tuesday.

To step up preparedness for possible scenarios that could result from the negotiations, government officials have been conducting mock talks to examine related issues, Lai said in a pre-recorded interview with TTV and Unique Broadcasting that aired Tuesday night.

Taiwan’s top trade negotiator John Deng (鄧振中) has assembled a team to play each of the 11 countries that are signatories to the trade agreement and engage in mock negotiations with a delegation representing Taiwan, Lai said.

CPTPP is expected to solicit a second-wave of applicants at the end of this year or early next year, Lai said. “Our hope is that when Taiwan is invited to join CPTPP, we won’t have to spend too much time (to complete the negotiations).”    [FULL  STORY]

UNSOLVED DEATH: The firm said that people should not read too much into the ad, which it said was intended to urge people to revere their ancestors

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 08, 2018
By: Chang Tsun-wei and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Supermarket chain operator Pxmart yesterday announced that it has

pulled an advertisement that netizens made references to the death of Carnegie Mellon University associate professor Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) incident.

Chen was detained by the Taiwan Garrison Command for interrogation on July 2, 1981, during a visit to Taipei because of his support for the pro-democracy movement.

The next morning, Chen’s body was discovered next to the library at National Taiwan University (NTU).

An official report initially said that he had committed suicide, but his family and friends maintain that he was killed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-08-06

The legendary story of Hua Mulan, is the tale of a Chinese woman who dressed as a

man to take her aging father’s place in the army. The story has seen many incarnations, the best known: a Disney animated film. Then in 2009, the story was presented on the Taiwan stage as a popular musical, which ran for more than 50 performances. Now, ten years later, the musical has is back for one more run, but this time with some unique changes that place gender diversity at center stage.

The story of Hua Mulan is a familiar one for audiences around the world: a male soldier falls in love with Mulan who he thinks is another male soldier.

But this is a slightly different take on previous versions. When the soldier discovers that Mulan, played by Nana Lee, is actually a woman, he’s not relieved. He’s at a loss for what to do.     [FULL  STORY]