India Today
Date: July 4, 2018
By: Ananth Krishnan

Air India has joined several foreign air carriers in acquiescing to China’s demand to no

longer refer to Taiwan as a separate region on their websites. Air India’s website, which as of last month referred to Taiwan as ‘Taiwan’ now refers to it as ‘Chinese Taipei’.

Several air carriers, including Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines and Air Canada among others have changed description of Taiwan on their websites. Now they don’t refer to Taiwan as a separate country, following an April 25 order by the Civil Aviation Authority of China.

Air India, which has an office in Shanghai – its only destination on the mainland, also received a letter from the Chinese civil aviation authority. Air India was given an extension till July 25 to make the necessary changes. Until recently, Air India along with American carriers continued to list Taiwan as a separate region and not explicitly as a part of China.

The CAAC had warned of repercussions, starting with referring the websites to China’s cyberspace administration, which could take the decision to block the airlines websites in China.    [FULL  STORY]

SupChina
Date:   July 4, 2018
By: Tianyu M. Fang

The traditional, unsimplified Chinese script, for many in Taiwan, forms a basis for national identity. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan recently made the decision — an intentional and pointed one, observers say — to issue a statement in simplified Chinese, in response to a remark by Beijing.

The remark in question was made on June 28 by Senior Colonel Wu Qian 吴谦, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference. “The idea [of leasing the Taiping Island 太平岛 to the U.S.] is very dangerous,” he said, emphasizing that the People’s Liberation Army would defend “integrity of [China’s] sovereignty.”

The only problem is that Taiwan has never officially said it intended to lease Taiping Island — also known as Itu Aba, the largest of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, off the west coast of the Philippines, administered by the Republic of China — to the U.S. or any other country.

The confusion was likely due to a report by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research — a think tank established by the Taiwanese government in May — which suggested that Taipei should lease Taiping Island to the U.S. military for humanitarian purposes.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-07-04

Google’s new campaign that promotes exchanges among local experts in the field of

artificial intelligence (AI) kicked off on Wednesday.

Google Taiwan held a press conference on Wednesday to launch the “AI Innovation Research Camp”. The camp is part Google’s ongoing effort to foster local talent in the field of artificial intelligence and to deepen exchanges between local talents and Google’s own AI experts.

Key figures in Taiwan’s tech industry attended the event on Wednesday. They include Dr. Chien Lee-Feng, managing director of Google Taiwan, and Chen Liang-gee, head of the Ministry of Science and Technology.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/04
By: Chen Wei-ting and Hsu Hsiao-ling

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) An earthquake registering a magnitude of 4.2 hit southern Taiwan at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) reported that day.

The quake’s epicenter was located about 50 kilometers northwest of Taitung County Hall at a depth of about 11 km, according to the CWB’s Seismology Center.

It was felt the most strongly in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District, where it registered an intensity of 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale. Chiayi and Taitung recorded an intensity of 2, while Tainan and Yunlin registered 1.

Five earthquakes, two with a magnitude of 4.5, two at 4.6 and one at 4.2, have rocked the southern part of the country between Monday and Wednesday, according to the CWB.
[SOURCE]

BITING THE BULLET: Chang Jung-wei said that after 14 years of trials he thought he would be found innocent and blamed political maneuvering for his conviction

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 05, 2018
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld corruption charges against former Yunlin County

commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

It sentenced him to eight years in prison and deprived him of civil rights for four years.

Chang, 60, was found guilty of taking NT$30 million (US$983,574) in bribes from a contractor for a government project to build an incinerator while he was Yunlin County commissioner.

It was the final ruling, bringing to conclusion a court battle that lasted 14 years.

Chang served two terms as commissioner from 1999 to 2005. He began his political career as Yunlin County council speaker in 1990.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: July 03, 2018

Promoting blockchain development is a core component of the government’s digital

transformation strategy aiming to position Taiwan to capitalize on opportunities stemming from new technologies, according to National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling July 2.

Blockchain will greatly reshape business models and the way people live and work, Chen said. Despite immense promise as a generator of revenue and profit, blockchain also poses considerable challenges for the existing socioeconomic structure and regulatory framework, she added.

Chen made the remarks during her opening address at 2018 Asia Blockchain Summit in Taipei City. Organized by locally headquartered nongovernmental organization Asia Blockchain Alliance, the two-day event brings together officials and industry experts from more than 30 countries and territories for talks on the current status, future possibilities and impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.    [FULL  STORY]

Depression near Guam could develop into Tropical Storm Maria

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/07/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A tropical depression near Guam was likely to turn into Tropical Storm Maria but would bypass Taiwan and head for Japan instead, the Central Weather Bureau said Tuesday.

As the depression was still distant from Taiwan, it was difficult to make accurate predictions about its development, but the next storm’s impact on Taiwan was likely to be limited, the Central News Agency reported.

Tropical Storm Maria was most likely to move in the direction of Japan instead, forecasters said.

Strong winds around Taipei Tuesday and flooding from the historic city of Lukang down to Kaohsiung in the south over the past few days were blamed on Tropical Storm Prapiroon, which was still hampering air traffic between Taiwan on the one hand and Japan and South Korea on the other hand.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/03
By: Chen Wei-ting and William Yen 

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) A newborn baby girl died last week, two weeks after falling ill with echovirus type 11, the fourth enterovirus fatality this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

CDC physician Huang Wan-ting (黃婉婷) said the baby girl came from northern Taiwan and was hospitalized after birth due to respiratory distress.

After three days, the baby developed a fever, elevated heart rate, acute hepatitis, and myocarditis, resulting in her death two weeks later, Huang said.

Although the girl’s mother has a history of chronic coughs, she did not have a fever before giving birth and no family members showed enterovirus symptoms, Huang noted.
[FULL  STORY]