Page Three

Taiwan protests against Japan expo claiming disputed Diaoyutai

Tokyo also claims sovereignty over Korean-held Dokdo or Takeshima

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/01/25
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) lodged a strong

The disputed Diaoyutai islands. (By Associated Press)

protest against Japan’s showing of maps and other historic documents strengthening its claims over disputed islands like the Diaoyutai at a “Territorial Sovereignty Expo” Thursday.

Taiwan, China and Japan all claim sovereignty over the uninhabited Diaoyutai, known as Senkaku in Japanese, a group of islands lying in rich fishing grounds which might eventually produce oil or gas. Japanese coast guard vessels have chased away campaigners from Taiwan or Hong Kong for decades.

The expo opened at the Tokyo City Government Thursday, but officials promised more historic documents and other evidence claiming to underline Japan’s case for sovereignty would be produced at a later date.

MOFA said the islands belonged to Taiwan, and it repeated its support for a peaceful resolution of disputes and for the maintenance of regional stability.    [FULL  STORY]

Relaxed rules on foreign professionals to take effect Feb. 8 (update)

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/25
By Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Jan. 25 (CNA) Adult children of permanent resident foreign professionals will

Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德)/CNA file photo

soon be able to apply for a “personal work permit” to allow them to work in Taiwan, Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced Thursday.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Lai said that the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals, which was passed Oct. 31 last year, will take effect Feb. 8.

According to Article 17 of the act, where a foreign professional has obtained permanent residency, his or her children aged over 20 will be able to file an application with the Ministry of Labor for a permit to work in Taiwan, provided they meet specific conditions.

Applicants must have accumulated a minimum 10 years of legal residency in Taiwan and stayed for more than 270 days each year, or they must have entered Taiwan before the age of 16 and spent at least 270 days each year since then, or must have been born in Taiwan and have lawfully resided for at least 10 years for more than 183 days each year.    [FULL  STORY]

Croatia arrests 61 Taiwanese for telecom scams

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 26, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Sixty-one Taiwanese were arrested in Croatia last week on suspicion of telecom fraud, foreign wire services reported.

Citing Croatian officials, the reports said that the 61 Taiwanese nationals were picked up on Thursday last week by Croatian police during a raid on two separate locations near the capital, Zagreb.

Two of the suspects were also accused of “operating human trafficking networks and forcing victims into working in telecoms schemes,” the reports said.

A video clip broadcast by Croatian media showed the police breaking into an upscale residence with garden and finding several people who were allegedly being held captive there.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s demographic crunch and its military implications Asia, Foreign and Defense Policy

AEI
Date: January 24, 2018
By: Michael Mazza

Trends in Chinese military modernization and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) apparent turn towards a more chauvinistic foreign policy should have Taiwan and its friends worried. Yet, a quieter threat looms, one that is already complicating the island’s efforts to maintain a balance of power conducive to its own security. Taiwan’s population has been aging for some time and will soon begin shrinking. Both trends will constrain manpower resources to the detriment of Taiwan’s national security. In 2011, the Ministry of National Defense described demographic changes as “a secret worry of our national defense.”

According to Taiwan’s National Development Council, the total fertility rate has not been at replacement level since the early 1980s and has evinced a downward trajectory since. Total births have dropped as well.

The island’s population will peak between 2021 and 2025 at nearly 24 million people, and thereafter drop to between 17.3 million and 19.7 million by 2060. The working age population (people aged 15-64) peaked in 2012, and the old-age population (≥65) was projected to surpass the young population (0-14) this past year. Between 2016 and 2060, the size of the young and working-age cohorts is expected to shrink by 43.4percent and 44.2percent, respectively, with the elderly population growing by 131 percent. Taiwan’s median age is expected to grow from 39.9 in 2015 to 57 in 2060. Finally, the dependency ratio—the number of children and elderly per 100 working-age persons—is growing. In 2016, the dependency ratio was 36.2 percent. In 2060, it will rise to 92.9 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Detector on Formosat-5 successfully detects signs of earthquake

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-24
By: Liu Jann-Yenq

An advanced detector on Taiwan’s indigenous satellite, Formosat-5, has successfully

National Central University Professor Liu Jann-Yenq (Photo Courtesy National Central University) (CNA)

detected early signs of an earthquake. That was the word from the team behind the project on Wednesday.

One team member, National Central University Professor Liu Jann-Yenq, said that the satellite’s ability to detect minor changes in the earth’s ionosphere is what allows it to see the early signs of earthquakes. Liu said that Formosat-5 successfully detected abnormal activities in the ionosphere above Iraq last November, nine days before a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit the area.

The team says that Formosat-5’s advanced detection capabilities places Taiwan among the global leaders in advanced ionospheric probes and opens up opportunities for collaborating with other nations.    [FULL  STORY]

Honest advice from an alumnus to the NTU president-elect

Taiwan News  
Date: 2018/01/24
By: Luis Ko, Taiwan News

Professor Kuan Chung-ming (Photo by Central News Agency and Wikimedia Commons).

Professor Kuan Chung-ming was recently elected president of National Taiwan University as the result of a process which drew nationwide attention.

As soon as the outcome became known, it created enthusiasm, even if only for a short time. The fact that an academic who had not graduated from NTU could win an election to serve as its president proved the school’s tolerance.

Unfortunately, during the process, the fact that Professor Kuan served as an independent board member at Taiwan Mobile was never revealed. As a result, controversy erupted, expanded and has still not abated by now.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan seeking to incorporate major public media

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/01/24
By: Sabina Cheng and S.C. Chang

Taipei, Jan. 24 (CNA) The Ministry of Culture is aiming to incorporate Taiwan’s major

Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君)/CNA file photo

public media such as the Public Television Service (PTS) and Central News Agency (CNA) into an independent media group to better serve the people, Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said Wednesday.

The ministry is drafting a public media law under which PTS, CNA, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) and Chinese Television System (CTS) will be amalgamated into a media group, Cheng said.

The main goals of the media group will be to serve the public, to help develop the country’s media industry and connect Taiwan to the rest of the world, she told reporters during a lunar year-end gathering.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei mayor compares legislator critic with ‘dog’

‘VICIOUS CYCLE’: Ko said the biggest source of chaos in Taiwan is the media, whose ‘sensational headlines’ upset readers and cause them to be upset with him

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 25, 2018
By: Chou Yan-yu and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The debate on “Taiwanese values” yesterday continued as Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je sits in a street sweeper at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

文哲) responded to criticism from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) by comparing Tuan to a “dog.”

Ko on Monday asked President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to clarify what she meant by “Taiwanese values” after she said that the mayor should reaffirm his commitment to such values to gain the support of DPP members.

Tuan later criticized Ko for his “both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family” remark on cross-strait ties, saying that Ko seemed to have “an authoritarian mindset” and asking whether he would hold the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in high regard.

“If a dog runs out of an alley and bites you, what are you going to do? Do not tell me you would go and bite the dog back,” Ko said yesterday.

Later in the afternoon, Tuan said on Facebook that: “I will not respond to something so base,” asking “friends in the media” to not seek further comment from Ko.    [FULL  STORY]

China’s threat to Taiwan

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2018-01-23

Lawmakers from different political parties have reacted differently to
President Tsai Ing-wen’s talk of China’s military threat to Taiwan.

At a talk show last night, Tsai said nobody could rule out the possibility of
China attacking Taiwan and that everything depends on whether leaders on the
other side of the Taiwan Strait are rational.

KMT lawmaker Ma Wen-jun today criticized the President as trying to
intimidate the general public and asked if this was a tactic for increasing
the national defense budget.

PFP legislative caucus convener Li Hong-jun said what we need the most right
now is bringing the two sides to the negotiating table as military conflict
would definitely cause destruction to both sides.    [FULL  STORY]

Acting Tainan mayor outlines New Southbound plans

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-01-23

Acting Tainan mayor Lee Meng-yen has outlined his city’s local initiatives to further the

(RTI photo)

New Southbound policy.

The New Southbound policy is the government’s program seeking closer ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. Lee told RTI on Monday that Tainan’s contributions to the policy include efforts in the areas of education, tourism, and marketing local products.

Lee said work to expand educational ties with Southeast Asian countries began under his predecessor, William Lai. Lai stepped down as mayor last year to take up the post of premier. This work included helping to reach agreements that will make it easier for universities to market their programs in Southeast Asia. The goal is to attract students from local ethnic Han Chinese populations.    [FULL  STORY]