Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former Vice President Lien Chan’s comments on the

history of the resistance war against Japan could hurt the feelings of people who lived through that era, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday.

Lien has come under repeated fire from all sides of the political spectrum for his decision to go ahead and attend Thursday’s parade in Beijing to commemorate the World War II victory against Japan. Even President Ma Ying-jeou said Lien, still an honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, should not have gone because China describes the Communist Party as the leader of the resistance against Japan.

During a meeting with China’s president and party leader Xi Jinping Tuesday, Lien reportedly agreed with his suggestion that Taiwan and China should write history books together.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/02
By: Wang Cheng-chung and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) The number of criminal cases in Taiwan dropped 44.82

percent in the 10-year period 2005-2014, while the rate of solved crimes rose 23.58 percent, indicating that the social order has improved significantly, Huang Chia-lu (黃嘉祿), deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, said Wednesday.

Taiwan’s population increased by 660,000 during the 10-year period, but the number of criminal cases dropped from 555,109 in 2005 to 306,300 in 2014, Huang said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, the rate of solved criminal cases increased from 62.45 percent in 2005 to 86.03 percent in 2014, he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-02
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

A former People’s Liberation Army officer was given a prison term of four years

for violation of Taiwan’s National Security Act on Tuesday.

The Taipei District Court said that Zhen Xiaojiang traveled to Taiwan in the guise of a tourist but then proceeded to set up a spy ring. Using money and arranged tours, he recruited several retired ROC military officers, who arranged meetings between serving and retired military officers and Chinese military personnel.

The case, described by the media as Taiwan’s largest spy ring, was tried in a closed court due to concerns over national security. The court said that given the number of recruits in the ring, Zhen could have eventually had a very demoralizing effect on the military if he had been allowed to continue.

The court also handed down a three-year jail term for retired Army major general Hsu Nai-chuan, who once ran unsuccessfully for the post of Kinmen magistrate.     [FULL  STORY]

Chu finishes No.20 out of 22

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-01
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Tainan City Mayor William Lai is the most popular out of 22 local

leaders, while Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je ended up at No.9 and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Liluan Chu at No.20, according to the latest rankings published by CommonWealth Magazine Tuesday.

The prominent periodical regularly issues a list of the country’s city mayors and county magistrates according to performance, which is widely mentioned in the media as a barometer for local politicians’ popularity.

Lai came out on top after a rocky year. He boycotted all sessions of the Tainan City Council until last week in a protest against alleged vote-buying by its speaker, Lee Chuan-chiao of the Kuomintang, but that action earned him impeachment by the Control Yuan. He is also dealing with a deadly outbreak of dengue fever in the southern city. Despite his problems, Lai is still often being mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate for 2016 or even presidential contender for later.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/01
By: Hsieh Chia-chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday presented commemorative medals

marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II to visiting descendants of former U.S. presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

The medal presentation was part of a series of activities marking the Republic of China’s victory in the Sino-Japanese War, which was a part of World War II.

During the presentation ceremony to David Roosevelt, Clifton Truman Daniel and Mary Jean Eisenhower, Ma also expressed the ROC’s gratitude for their grandfathers’ assistance to the ROC during the eight-year war against Japan.

During the meeting, Roosevelt presented Ma with duplicates of several WWII documents, including photos of his grandfather attending a military strategy meeting in Honolulu in July 1944, a duplicate of a memorandum the president signed with the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in 1941-1942 — nicknamed the Flying Tigers — and a duplicate of the Cairo Declaration.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-01
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

Taiwan has received the highest score among Asian countries according to a mechanism it

has adopted to measure its people’s happiness by taking references from the “Your Better Life Index” compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In its report on the 2015 Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, released Monday, the government’s statistics office said the composite index, based on a category of 24 international indicators similar to those adopted by the OECD, was 6.76 points.

Compared with 34 OECD member states and Brazil and Russia — two partner states of the international organization — the Taiwan index ranked 18th, but it led the Asian countries that were included in the OECD’s survey on public well-being, according to the agency’s report.

The score of 6.76 points was higher than the average 6.6 points among OECD member-countries, the report said.     [FULL  STORY]