Japanese official insists Taiwan important business partner with same fundamental values

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/14
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In spite of warnings from the Chinese government against congratulating Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election, the Japanese government reaffirmed Tuesday (Jan. 14) its friendly relations with Taiwan.

Following Saturday's (Jan. 11) elections, more than 60 countries have delivered messages of congratulations to the president and Taiwanese voters for the successful elections. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), major countries, such as the U.S., Australia, and Japan have also greeted the winner of Taiwan's presidential election.

Referring to Taiwan as a "region," China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said Sunday (Jan. 12) the Taiwan elections are a "sub-national affair in China." He also warned countries that have addressed Tsai as "president" not to violate the "one China policy," adding that Beijing firmly opposes any official relations between Taiwan and other countries, reported Now News.

On Tuesday, Suga Yoshihide, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, ignored Beijing's warnings and said that Taiwan is an important business partner that shares the same fundamental values. He added the Japanese government will continue to enhance its friendship and cultural exchanges with Taiwan on a non-official premise.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/14/2020
By: Phoenix Hsu, Chen Chih-Chung and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) The Hong Kong protests were a key factor impacting the results of the recent presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan, local scholars have said.

The protests, which began in June 2019 over a since-withdrawn extradition bill, have morphed into calls for full democracy and closer scrutiny of the police in the special administrative region of China.

Jay Chen (陳志柔), deputy director of the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica, told CNA in an interview Tuesday that according to research conducted by the institute, the Hong Kong protests, as well as younger voters and college-educated voters, propelled President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her party to victory.

The Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections saw Tsai re-elected by nearly 20 percentage points over her main opponent Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Kuomintang (KMT).    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 January, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Preview of the upcoming Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taichung[/caption] The annual Taiwan Lantern Festival comes right after the Chinese New Year. This year, the festival begins on February 8 in Taichung.

At the upcoming Lantern Festival in Taichung, sparkling curves intersect in mid-air taking you to a “Fantastical Forest Land”.

One of the theme lanterns is this beautiful woman. She gracefully presents a pan from which water flows forth. This lovely lantern is a symbol of both water… and its source. She displays the relationship between nature and mankind. Her sparkling ethereal spirit graces the festival with an exotic lightness. At 5 meters tall, she is one of the stars of this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival.

Taichung official Chiang Chun-long says the background is the Houfeng Railroad tracks and the Dajia River. The river is the source of water for the more than 2.8 million residents of Taichung.
[FULL  STORY]

Beijing has said it will not change course on Taiwan after Tsai's election victory. However, experts think her big win is more than "a slap in the face" for Beijing — it also reflects the failure of policy.

The News Lens
Date: 2020/01/13
By: Deutsche Welle

While Taiwan remains in a celebratory mood following a historic victory for the incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen, Beijing issued a solemn warning on Sunday, reiterating that Taiwan remains a part of China.

In a statement released on Sunday, China's Foreign Ministry re-emphasized its position that regardless of any change to Taiwan's domestic situation, there will continue to be one China with Taiwan remaining part of it.

"The universal consensus of the international community adhering to the 'one China' principle will not change," China's Foreign Ministry wrote in the statement.

However, many observers consider Saturday's result as a clear sign that Beijing's Taiwan policy over the last four years has failed to achieve its intended goal of bringing the self-ruled island closer to unification with mainland China.    [FULL  STORY]

Han fans threaten mother of 'Little Light Bulb' after victory in Taiwan election

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Newly elected New Power Party (NPP) legislator-at-large and mother of a murdered child, Claire Wang (王婉諭), on Monday (Jan. 13) appeared at a police station to file charges against two online supporters of Kaohsiung mayor and former KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for cyberbullying.

At a press conference in front of the Neihu Precinct of the Taipei City Police Department, Wang said that after her election victory became official on Saturday (Jan. 11), many friends sent screenshots of menacing messages that Han fans had posted on her Facebook page. She said the content contained many disturbing words, including threats of bodily harm.

Wang said she is suing two individuals: one, surnamed Wang (王) allegedly wrote, "[The election win] doesn’t matter. he still has two more he can slash,” reported Liberty Times. The other, surnamed Chen (陳), allegedly typed, “There are two more who can be slashed. Use [them] to make a lantern."

Chen then allegedly posted a photo of the body of Wang's daughter and wrote, "My anger is coming." Netizens were furious at the posts made by the two, and their Facebook pages have since been shut down.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/13/20020
By: Fang Cheng-hsiang, Chiang Yi-ching, Hsiao Po-yang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) The heavy defeat suffered by the Kuomintang (KMT) in Saturday's presidential and legislative elections has sparked calls for internal reforms and a review of its stance on relations with China from its younger members.

The 28-year-old "1992 consensus" the KMT has advocated as the basis for interaction between Taiwan and China may be "outdated," Taipei City Council Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) said in a post on her Facebook page a day after the elections.

"The question of whether a formula born 28 years ago is still appropriate for today and can still be identified with was answered by the voting," the 43-year-old Yu wrote.

Describing the "1992 consensus" as an "outdated suit," Yu, a member of the younger generation within the over 100-year-old political party, suggested the KMT to find a new path.
[FULL  STORY]

Voice of America
Date: January 12, 2020
By: VOA News\

Hundreds of people rallied in Hong Kong Sunday in support of the Chinese territory's pro-democracy movement.

The demonstrators celebrated the results of Taiwan's presidential election that returned the Democratic Progressive Party's Tsa Ing-wen to a second term.

Residents of Taiwan have been closely watching Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

China and Taiwan have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s, when the Nationalists lost to the Communists and rebased their government in Taipei. China claims sovereignty over democratically ruled Taiwan and insists that the two sides eventually unite, by use of force if needed.    [FULL  STORY]