FOR WHAT?A report said the only service provided by the Frankfurt-am-Main mission in Germany is greeting Taiwanese officials who visit the financial center

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 17, 2016
By: Lee Yu-fu, Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters and staff writer, with CNA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that the number and scale of its overseas diplomatic missions would be reduced, citing the need to reallocate available resources to meet the nation’s strategic and diplomatic needs.

The ministry said it would disband fewer than 10 of its embassies and overseas missions to allocate resources for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “new southbound policy,” Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said at a legislative session on Tuesday.

When asked about it on Wednesday, Lee said the decision was “informed by concerns over costs and strategic effect,” in addition to the needs of the “new southbound policy,” adding that the number of overseas missions the ministry has is “excessive.”

The decision to reduce in the number of diplomatic missions was made after careful deliberation, he said, adding that the ministry would consider its options before committing to closing missions and embassies.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 17, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The government has decided to send a delegation to the venue of the upcoming International Civil Organization (ICAO) assembly, even though Taiwan has yet to receive a formal invitation, Chinese-language media reported Friday.

The ICAO summit is to be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 7 at ICAO’s headquarters in Montreal, Canada.

Government officials said Taiwan’s delegation, organized by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (民航局), planned to arrive in Montreal on Sept. 26.

Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation from the ICAO. The triennial civil aviation summit meeting was last held Sept. 24-Oct. 4, 2013.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 16, 2016
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Foreign Minister David Lee (李大維) has called on mainland China to not obstruct Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assembly.

ICAO — the world’s leading civil aviation summit — is set to be held later this month.

Speaking to reporters at a ceremony for departing overseas representatives in Taipei on Wednesday, Lee urged Beijing to refrain from any “unproductive moves,” adding “only in doing so (allowing Taiwan to participate in the ICAO assembly) can cross-strait relations normalize.”

Lee made the remarks when asked if he remained optimistic over the nation’s participation this year’s assembly.

The civil aviation summit is due to be held Sept. 27 – Oct. 7 at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, but to date Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has yet to receive an official invitation.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/15
By: Kuo Chao-he and Lee Hsin-Yin

Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 15 (CNA) The provost of the National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) Academic Affairs Office disclosed recently during her trip to Malaysia that the school is planning to set up Southeast Asian languages departments, according to alumni in Malaysia Thursday.

The move is aimed at strengthening Taiwan’s ties with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, as well as echoing the government’s “new southbound policy,” which encourages companies to shift investment to Southeast Asia from China, in the hope of leveraging Taiwan’s economic might into political clout, Yu Nai-ming (于乃明) was quoted as saying.

The Malaysian alumni said Yu, also head of the College of Foreign Languages & Literature, made the comment when she was visiting them there.     [FULL  STORY]

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED:DPP lawmakers have been making allegations against CNA’s leadership to interfere with the agency, CNA chairman Chen Kuo-hsiang said

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators hampered the independence of the press by using untruthful allegations to attempt to force the resignation of Central News Agency (CNA) chairman Chen Kuo-hsiang (陳國祥), Chen said yesterday in an open letter to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

DPP legislators have launched an onslaught against the CNA leadership, and the public is watching to see if politicians are able to interfere with the independence of the state-sponsored agency and freedom of the press, Chen wrote on Facebook.

DPP lawmakers Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) and Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) last week called a news conference and accused Chen of pressuring journalists to solicit advertisers and sponsors for paid news stories, and illegally channeling commissions owed to reporters to a personal account.

The three called another news conference on Tuesday, saying that the agency’s business development deputy director Richard Yu (虞煥榮) is doubling as the chairman and director of three advertising companies, which Yu failed to disclose, which might involve an unacceptable conflict of interest.     [FULL  STORY]