The National Interest
Date: March 31, 2018
By: Zachary Keck

Two U.S. senators are pushing the Trump administration to sell F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to Taiwan.

In a letter addressed to Trump on March 26, Sens. John Cornyn and James Inhofe urged the president to sell Taiwan the F-35B fighter jets. If that could not be arranged, Cornyn and Inhofe said Washington should sell Taipei the F-16V.

“The survivability of the F35B and modern long-range sensors could help Taiwan intercept Chinese missiles, promoting deterrence well into the next decade. The F-35B would not only provide a modern fifth generation fighter, but would also bolster their capabilities in next-generation warfare,” the two senators wrote in a letter, which was released by the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council. “However, if determined that release of the F-35B to Taiwan is premature, we hope that you will instead make available additional F-16Vs to address the quantitative and qualitative challenges confronting Taiwan’s fighter fleet.”mmended: The World’s Most Secretive Nuclear Weapons Program.

Their letter hardly came out of nowhere. Taiwan began inquiries into purchasing a F-35B—which has short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities—as early as 2002. At that time, according to Defense News, Taiwan sent the Pentagon a “request for letter of intent (LOI) and for price and availability (P&A) data on the F-35B signed by Wang Chi-lin, then director of the Defense Procurement Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Washington).”    [FULL  STORY]

The story of a Vietnamese girl being helped by Taiwan’s medical experts tells the world that Taiwan should not be excluded from the WHO or WHA

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/31
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —  A Vietnamese pupil suffers from Lymphangiomas,

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) releases a short film to call for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO (Photo courtesy of MOFA)

malformations of the lymphatic system, which causes one of her legs to swell several times bigger than the other and makes her unable to stand on her feet. By the time her parents have run out of methods to improve their daughter’s condition, a Taiwanese businessman lends a helping hand and sends her to Taiwan for advanced surgeries. Now the girl can walk to school by herself while enjoying the scenery of her family’s coffee bean farm on the way.

The story of the girl, Nguyen Thi Loan, is told through the three-and-a-half-minute film released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on March 31. It is one of the approaches Taiwan attempts to show the world that the country should be allowed to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) and its biggest annual conference the World Health Assembly (WHA).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/31
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Kuan-lin Liu

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in southern Taiwan said

CNA file photo

Saturday that it will present an honorary doctorate degree to former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland on April 3.

The degree will be awarded at the closing of the Gro Harlem Brundtland Week of Women in Sustainable Development, which included plenary sessions, symposiums, panel discussions and exhibitions on global issues related to sustainable development and public health, according to the university.

Brundtland, the winner of the 2014 Tang Prize for sustainable development, used NT$5 million (US$171,367), a part of the prize money she received, to establish the Gro Brundtland Award and to fund a one-week science forum at NCKU to recognize distinguished researchers in her field.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 01, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that he would not be pressured to make

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday talks on the telephone at an event in the city’s Beitou District marking the reopening and 102nd anniversary of the Xinbeitou Historic Station.  Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

concessions and let the Taipei Dome construction project pass a review just because elections are scheduled at the end of the year as contractor Farglory Group on Friday suddenly withdrew its documents from review.

The Taipei City Government in May 2015 ordered Farglory to halt construction, citing safety concerns and unauthorized changes to the blueprints.

Before construction is resumed, the modified plans must pass safety reviews by the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center and the Taipei Urban Design Review Committee, undergo an environmental impact assessment and obtain a building permit for the modified design.

An urban design review meeting was to be held on April 3, but the Taipei Department of Urban Development on Friday said that Farglory had in the afternoon asked to withdraw its documents.    [FULL  STORY]

The Los Angeles Times
Date: March 29, 2018 
By: Ralph Jennings

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged this month to punish self-ruled Taiwan for any

Chinese President Xi Jinping waves to elected deputies after the closing session of the annual National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Lan Hongguang / New China News Agency)

moves toward legal independence from China. The next day a Chinese aircraft carrier passed through the Taiwan Strait that separates the two sides.
You might expect this thunder from a leader in Beijing who can rule for life and says Taiwan must unify with China. The Communist leadership has sworn for seven decades to unify, somehow, with democratic Taiwan. China also commands the world’s third strongest military.

But people who follow Chinese politics expect Xi to use the luxury of multiple terms in office to explore a softer and possibly more persuasive approach to the unification goal. On March 12 the National People’s Congress confirmed that Chinese presidents can serve an unlimited number of five-year terms, not just two. Xi, 64, began his first in 2013.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/03/29
By:  Central News Agency

TAIPEI (CNA) – President Tsai Ing-wen said Thursday she was saddened to learn that

The late Alan Romberg. (By Central News Agency)

famous American scholar Alan Romberg had died and she said he will be missed.

Romberg, an expert on cross-Taiwan Strait relations who constantly said Taiwan was important to regional peace, passed away Tuesday (local time) in the U.S. at the age of 79.

“Saddened to hear about Alan Romberg’s passing,” Tsai tweeted. “His life was dedicated to fostering peace & prosperity in East Asia. He will be missed.”

Kin W. Moy, director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) Taipei office, also expressed sorrow at Romberg’s passing, saying the scholar was a dear friend and an extraordinary diplomat whose career focus was East Asia, beginning in the 1960s.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/29
By: Phoenix Hsu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) The 2018 Gro Brundtland Week of Women in Sustainable Development opened Thursday with a ceremony at National Taiwan University and will run until April 3.

During the event, five female researchers from South Africa, Kenya, India, the Philippines and Malaysia will receive the 2018 Gro Brundtland Award at a ceremony on April 3 and give a series of talks around Taiwan, according to event organizer National Cheng Kung University (NCKU).

They are Natisha Dukhi of South Africa, Barbara Burmen of Kenya, Neha Nehiya of India, Weena Gera of the Philippines and Sarva Mangala of Malaysia. Their areas of research include AIDS, tuberculosis, vaccines, sustainable development of environmental and analysis of exposure and health risk assessment.    [FULL  STORY]

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, winner of the 2014 Tang Prize for sustainable development, established the Gro Brundtland Award and launched the one-week science activity to recognize distinguished researchers in her field.