The setting for the military drill will be an attack from China this year, not sometime in the future

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/24
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The computerized war games, slated between April 30 and May

4, will no longer focus on future conflict scenarios, but rather simulate warfare taking place “this year”, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced on April 24.

The computer-assisted exercise is part of the annual Han Kuang military drill, to be conducted from June 4 through 8 this year, reported Liberty Times.

According to MND Operations and Planning Division official Yeh Kuo-hui, the purpose of computerized military drills is to help bolster the island’s defense capabilities from a comprehensive perspective, and improve joint operation performance involving the Armed Forces, Navy, and Air Force of Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/24
By: Chen Ja-fo and Ko Lin

Kaohsiung, April 24 (CNA) A new case of measles has been confirmed in Kaohsiung after a patient tested positive for the virus, the city’s Department of Health said Tuesday.

The victim, aged 24, sought medical attention after feeling ill on April 3, and was later released from hospital.

On April 15, however, he showed symptoms of respiratory infection, which then developed into fever three days later, and he was consequently admitted to hospital that day, the department said.

Tests confirmed Tuesday that he had been infected with measles.    [FULL  STORY]

INCOMPLETE  DATA:Wu cited California government data as evidence he was not involved in founding a firm, but additional information identified him as a manager

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 25, 2018
By: Sean Lin and Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporters

Newly inaugurated Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) must disprove an

allegation that he breached regulations by founding a company in the US to apply for biotech patents while serving as National Dong Hwa University’s president in an attempt to profit from the school’s intellectual property, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday.

During a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee on Monday, Wu sought to disavow his alleged involvement in Spiranthes Biotech, which he allegedly established in August 2015, when he was president of the university, KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) told a news conference in Taipei.

Wu denied founding the company and presented information from the California state government’s Web site on registered businesses, which listed James Ouyang (歐陽彥堂) as the firm’s owner, Ko said.

However, Wu only disclosed half of the information from the Web site, she said.
[FULL  STORY]

Asia Times
Date: April 23, 2018

Perhaps Beijing’s breaches of Taiwan’s sea and air borders in intermittent circumnavigations since 2017 are to blame for widespread antagonism among Taiwanese, particular young people, observers with the pro-independence think-tank noted.

One of Beijing’s favorite platitudes on the issue of Taiwan is that “blood is thicker than water.” When reporting Taiwan affairs, mainland papers are mandated to report the “fact” that the island’s politics have been hijacked by a small bunch of obstinate separatists and that the mainstay of society is pro-unification.

But the situation on the ground appears to be quite the opposite, if a survey by a pro-independence think-tank is to be believed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-23

Chen Chu, formerly the mayor of Kaohsiung, has taken up her new post as secretary-

general of the Presidential Office.

As she was sworn in on Monday, Chen said she will do her best to help President Tsai Ing-wen pursue a more stable and sustainable future for Taiwan.

“President Tsai’s courage and determination in pushing for reforms requires public support and confidence. Today the president has given me this huge responsibility. To deepen Taiwan’s democracy and for the sake of the reforms for which [the administration] has worked hard, I will do my best to help and support the president.”

Vice President Chen Chien-jen praised Chen for upholding human rights and justice at every critical juncture when Taiwan was in the process of democratization.

A political prisoner-turned-politician, Chen Chu was Kaohsiung mayor for eight years from 2010 to April 2018.    [FULL  STORY]

The two ships are Taiwan’s first electric-powered vessels with a hull capacity of over 500 tons

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/04/23
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On April 23, Taiwan’s state-supported CPC Corporation unveiled

two new oil tankers that will be joining their fleet, each weighing 1,999 tons, with a carrying capacity of up to 2,700 tons.

However unlike all of the company’s other vessels the “CPC No. 21” and “CPC No. 22” will be fueled by an electric propulsion system, the first of its kind for any of Taiwan’s ocean tankers, and marking the first electric powered ships in Taiwan with a hull capacity of over 500 tons.

The two ships were unveiled at a ceremony Monday in Kaohsiung Harbor ahead of their maiden voyage. The captains and crew of the two vessels also received the ships’ ensigns at the ceremony.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/23
By: Ku Chuan and Romulo Huang

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) honored Heritage Foundation founder Edwin J. Feulner on Monday for his contribution to promoting Taiwan-U.S. relations.

Wu conferred the Grand Medal of Diplomacy on Feulner, who has worked through his foundation to make policy proposals favorable to Taiwan to the U.S. government and speak up for Taiwan among policymakers and think tanks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“His efforts have greatly contributed to the strengthening of Taiwan-US ties,” it said.

Feulner has been a staunch supporter of Taiwan’s democracy, freedom, and prosperity, stands behind the signing of a free-trade agreement between Taiwan and the U.S., and supports regular arms sales to Taiwan, the statement said.    [FULL  STORY]

Hokkien-language propaganda film posted by China before Taiwan claims it has ‘confidence and strength to defend its democracy’

South China Morning Post 
Date: 20 April, 2018

Taiwan’s air force has released a video that it said showed its ability to defend its freedom after China’s air force released a propaganda film dubbed into Hokkien, a language strongly associated with Taiwan’s pro-independence movement.

China’s video on Thursday showed bomber aircraft that had been involved in flying patrols around the self-ruled island. On Friday, Taiwan’s air force released its own video, although it denied that it had done so in response to China’s.

Beijing has been issuing increasingly stern warnings for democratic Taiwan to toe the line, including stepping up its military presence and flying bomber patrols around the island, as it seeks to curb what it believes are efforts to push for the island’s formal independence.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-04-20

President Tsai visited Taiwan’s agricultural mission in the country formerly known as

Swaziland on Thursday, local time, before attending King Mswati III’s 50th birthday. A day earlier, the king renamed his country the “Kingdom of eSwatini,” which means “land of the Swazis.”

Taiwan’s agricultural mission in the newly renamed eSwatini is responsible for carrying out several cooperative projects, including growing potatoes, the production and marketing of fruit trees, upgrading the pig farming industry, technical education and vocational training.

On Thursday, the mission gave President Tsai Ing-wen and her delegation a briefing. Tsai said she is happy to see that so many Taiwanese are offering assistance to the diplomatic ally in Africa, which is 11,000 kilometers from Taiwan.

Tsai cut one dragon fruit herself, adding that the potatoes and the dragon fruit grown by the mission are sweeter than Taiwan-grown produce. A mission member also explained fruit tree grafting to the president.    [SOURCE]