Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/03
By: Liu Shih-yi and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) A Malaysian man arrested at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

(CNA file photo)

last year for carrying nearly six kilograms of cocaine while making a transit stop has been found guilty and sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of transporting category one narcotics by the Taiwan High Court.

The 19-year-old man, Gajend, who stashed the cocaine, with a street value of about NT$60 million (US$1.98 million) in his luggage, was detained by aviation police and customs officers after an X-ray security check of his luggage revealed something suspicious when transiting through Taiwan on his way from Brazil to Macau at about 6 p.m. on March 13, 2016.

The luggage was found to contain 15 packets of cocaine weighing a total of 5,968 grams hidden in bedsheets, clothing and bags, according to aviation police.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 4, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan exited the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) after losing all

In this undated file photo, the Haifa Lions compete in a Taipei Dragon Boat Festival race. (Photo courtesy of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei)

three group-stage games, leading to its rock-bottom finish in Pool A in South Korea last month.

This means the team will have to go through the qualifiers for a shot at competing in the next edition of the WBC — another disappointment for Taiwan, where baseball is widely seen as the national pastime.

Among Taiwan’s three losses, going down in its tournament opener to baseball minnows Israel 15-7 was the most stinging and least expected. It was followed by defeats at the hands of baseball powerhouses the Netherlands and South Korea.

The humiliating loss was also an all-time low for the team at the WBC; its previous worst performance was a 14-0 thrashing by Cuba in 2013.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-02

President Tsai Ing-wen says that the fight against drugs is one of the top priorities of

President’s Facebook post
This screen capture shows President Tsai’s Sunday Facebook post about drug prevention efforts.

her administration. She explained more about her perspective in a Facebook post on Sunday.

Recently there have been a number of high-profile drug busts in Taiwan. Authorities say that demonstrates the police force’s determination to crack down on drugs.

President Tsai said that her administration is approaching drug prevention not just from a public security perspective. She said that what’s needed is comprehensive policies and interagency cooperation to enact a system of prevention, education, and withdrawal treatment.

Tsai also called on the media to continue focusing attention on the issue. She said that the government needs to team up with the private sector in order to create a comprehensive social safety network to deal with the problem.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/02
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said on Sunday that mostly stable, warm and comfortable weather will be expected across Taiwan throughout the week until around next Sunday.

Wu, former Central Weather Bureau Director-general, said sunny weather and higher temperatures are expected throughout Taiwan on Sunday (April 2) and Monday (April 3) as a high pressure system is hanging over Taiwan and the cold air mass is weakening. However, he said the nighttime temperatures will be much lower than the daytime temperatures.

April 4 and April 5 will see stable, sunny weather, but temperatures still fluctuate greatly from day to night, according to Wu. As for April 6 through April 8, mid- and high-level clouds will increase, but the weather will still be on the stable, warm and comfortable side and a bit hot during daytime, with partly clear skies forecast for western Taiwan and scattered showers for eastern Taiwan, according to Wu. With near-ground moisture on the rise, fog is expected in the offshore Kinmen and Matsu areas, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/02
By: Sophia Yeh and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te (賴清德) urged China on Sunday to have confidence to engage in exchanges with Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) instead of looking at the pro-independence party through the eyes of the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT).

Cross-Taiwan Strait peace is the top policy goal of President Tsai Ing-wen’s government — the same as all previous governments under former presidents Lee Teng-hui, Chen Chui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou — Lai said in a speech celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Journalist magazine.

“China should understand the DPP’s culture and its thinking, but not through the KMT,” he said, adding that if China does not change its mindset, it would never get a real understanding of the DPP — and that is the question now,” Lai said.  [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2017
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu, foreground right, speaks in support of veterans protesting the government’s pension reform plans during a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday. Photo: CNA

rebutted allegations that she leaked new KMT members’ personal information to former vice president Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) camp, adding that the party’s headquarters is investigating the case.

Hung made the remarks while visiting a group of military veterans going by the self-chosen name of “800 Heroes” that have been camping outside the legislature to protest the government’s pension reform plans since late February.

The original “800 Heroes” were a group of Chinese soldiers who defended a warehouse against Japanese troops during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 3, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan has every right to conduct scientific research in its exclusive

Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese daily, accused Taiwan’s ships of recently intruding into Japan’s waters with the greatest frequency in 10 years. The report said Taiwanese oceanographic research vessels had sailed into Japan’s EEZs around the Diaoyutais and Yonaguni Island as many as eight times without Japan’s permission. (CNA)

economic zone (EEZ) around a disputed island in the East China Sea, the government insisted Sunday.

The comment came after a Japanese media report accused Taiwan of last year sending a record high number of scientific research vessels to “intrude” into Japan’s EEZ near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands.

The islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, are claimed by both countries.

The front-page report in the Japanese-language Sankei Shimbun on Sunday said Taiwanese vessels had entered waters near the islands eight times without permission from Tokyo in 2016, which it said was the highest number of violations in a decade.
[FULL STORY]