Page Three

Chinese undergrads studying in Taiwan on steady decline

Some media outlets in Taiwan suggest that Beijing is worried about young students in bachelor’s programs being too ‘easily liberalized’ and developing pro-Taiwan attitudes

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/13
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The number of students from China studying in Taiwan this

University graduation ceremony in Taiwan (By Central News Agency)

year appears to have taken a steady drop compared to the increases in previous years, with some observers suggesting that China is putting tighter controls on the selection and approval of students coming to study in Taiwan.

A report from Liberty Times suggests that Beijing has become increasingly concerned that young students, especially undergrads, are immature and thus “easily liberalized,” and for that reason may be limiting the number of students who come to Taiwan to study for university.

At the end of May, the University Entrance Committee for Chinese Students announced that there are only 800 students from China currently remaining in bachelor’s degree programs at Taiwanese universities.    [FULL  STORY]

MOL streamlines passport information updates for migrant workers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/13
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Migrant workers who register their change of information with the National Immigration Agency (NIA) when they obtain a new passport are no longer required to also file that information with the Ministry of Labor (MOL), the ministry said Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry said that in an effort to simplify the procedure for the employment of migrant workers, it has removed the requirement with immediate effect and instead has established a link with the NIA database.

Through that database link, the MOL said, it automatically will be able to update passport information for migrant workers, who were required in the past to register new passports with both the NIA and MOL.    [FULL  STORY]

Prosecutors question TAPM head Wu amid scandals

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 14, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday summoned Taipei Agricultural

Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Co general manager Wu Yin-ning talks to reporters after being questioned at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday.  Photo: Yang Kuo-wen, Taipei Times

Products Marketing Co (TAPM) general manager Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) for questioning over allegations that she used a stipend to buy high-end wine as gifts for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and to acquire surplus produce to give to residents of her hometown.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei city councilors last month raised questions about Wu using a “business promotion fund” in February to purchase 9.12 tonnes of unsold vegetables to donate to charitable groups that prepare meals for the underprivileged, of which 7 tonnes were sent to Changhua County’s Sijhou Township (溪洲), where her cousin is mayor.

One KMT city councilor earlier this month claimed that Wu used the fund to purchase 60 bottles of wine as a gift to the DPP and to subsidize local government activities, which Wu and the DPP have denied.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan and China: A battle for sovereignty or diversity?

Asia Times
Date: June 12, 2018
By: Chris Tayloe

The China-Taiwan story has long been defined by China’s sovereign claims on the island. This “renegade province” story is a legacy of the Chinese civil war of 1927 to 1950 fought by the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC), and which drove the KMT to Taiwan.

But today the war is about far more than the CPC’s continued sovereign claims on the island. In fact, the sovereignty issue may have far less to do with China’s Taiwan bellicosity than most of us realize.

When journalists write about Taiwan, they generally evoke its vibrant and hard-earned democracy, which is obviously a subject that Beijing’s autocrats would prefer was never discussed.

But the byproducts of Taiwan’s democratic evolution are also anathema to Beijing because they make a mockery of the CPC’s much-touted claims of having evolved a magical rule-all model for governance based on – of all things – Marxism.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei university holds annual robotics competition

Radio Taiwan Internatiomnal
Date: 2018-06-12

A Taipei university on Tuesday held its 25th annual robot challenge contest for

A robotics competition held Tuesday at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. (CNA photo provided by National Taiwan University of Science and Technology)

engineering students.

The scene was a lot less combative than the robot wars you may have seen on television. These robots are not fighting it out to the death with axes and chainsaws. But the ingenuity involved is not less complex. At National Taiwan University of Science and Technology on Tuesday, students from the mechanical engineering department took part in an annual robotics competition now in its 25th year.

The robots, designed by teams of students from scratch, must pick up ping pong balls and carry them over an obstacle course before depositing different colored balls in different buckets. The exercise tests not only the students’ design capabilities but also their abilities as operators, with a deft hand needed to navigate the obstacles en route.
[FULL  STORY]

Online reservation site Agoda to remove illegal Taipei hotels

Expedia and Booking.com expected to follow suit

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taipei City Government and online reservation group

Reservation websites will help Taipei City crack down on illegal hotels. (By Central News Agency)

Agoda have reached an agreement to remove illegal or unregistered hotels in the Taiwanese capital from the website, the Apple Daily reported Tuesday.

A similar agreement was in the works with Expedia, while the city said it would also approach Booking.com to reach the same consensus, according to the newspaper.

The city government said it had prepared a list of illegal hotels in Taipei to pass on to the reservation websites, while they had promised they would help consumers who had already booked a room there to find other, legal, accommodation.    [FULL  STORY]

2nd nuclear plant reactor No. 2 to resume power generation soon

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/12
By: Kuo Hsing-yi and William Yen

Taipei, June 12 (CNA) The No. 2 reactor at the second nuclear power plant in New Taipei’s Wanli District is scheduled to resume operations at 11:00 p.m. Tuesday after being taken offline earlier in the evening, state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said on the same day.

Taipower spokesman Hsu Tsao-hua (徐造華) said one of the reactor’s connectors was found to be at an excessively high temperature and the reactor was taken offline at around 8:00 p.m. for maintenance.

The decision was taken to check the connectors as a precaution and not because of any problems with the reactor itself, Hsu said.    [FULL  STORY]

NPP accuses major parties of backroom dealmaking

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 13, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party

New Power Party legislators at their caucus office in Taipei yesterday criticize the Democratic Progressive Party and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for scheduling a week-long break during the current extraordinary session of the legislature, among other grievances.  Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

(DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of attempting to control legislative agendas by making backroom deals, and called for more transparency in the legislative process.

Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) on Monday afternoon announced that no legislative sessions would be convened for a week to allow for cross-caucus negotiations, after the legislature earlier passed a DPP proposal to prioritize a controversial bill that would cut veterans’ pensions.

Asked by reporters whether they were invited to join the meeting to discuss the postponement, NPP caucus convener Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that the DPP and KMT have secretly decided a great part of the legislative agenda for the extraordinary session.    [FULL  STORY]

Why Taiwan Is Receiving Unprecedented Attention From Washington

NPR
Date: June 11, 20185
By: Rob Schmitz

As the relationship between the U.S. and China gets testier, the White House has quietly drawn another player in the region closer. Taiwan has received unprecedented attention from Washington.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

As the relationship between the United States and China has gotten testier, the Trump administration has quietly been drawing another player in the region closer. Taiwan has received unprecedented attention from Washington, including a new complex to house America’s de facto embassy that is going to be opening tomorrow. Here’s NPR’s Rob Schmitz.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: On the second floor of Taipei’s swanky Grand Hotel, there’s a bright red hallway with dozens of framed photos featuring famous guests from the past 60 years.

You’ve got President Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, king of Saudi Arabia, and then here in the middle, 1978, the negotiation for the United States to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It happened right here.

The U.S. officially recognized China’s Communist Party as the government of China. Taiwan’s status plummeted, and so, too, does the status of the famous guests at the Grand Hotel. World leaders are replaced with B-movie stars, local politicians and the king of Tonga. Taiwan has never recovered, says former senior adviser to Taiwan’s National Security Council Wen-Ching Lin.    [FULL  STORY]

Trump-Kim Summit’s impact on cross-straits ties uncertain

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-11

Taiwanese lawmakers have differing views on how the upcoming summit between US

Singapore has beefed up security around the hotel where North Korean leader Kim Jung-un is staying ahead of his planned meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. (CNA photo)

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will impact cross-strait ties.

The two leaders are set to meet in Singapore on Tuesday.

Speaking at the legislature on Monday, opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Chiang Chi-chen said Taiwan will face even more severe challenges. He called on Taiwan’s national security officials to come up with a contingency plan to deal with uncertainties.

“The results of the summit will definitely affect cross-strait relations in the future because of the wrangling between Beijing and Washington. Even if there is reconciliation during the talks, I believe that they are thinking about their own national interests and future roles.    [FULL  STORY]