T&aiwan English News
Date: December 4, 2019 
By: Phillip Charlier

Police will identify and summon a man who performed a dangerous skateboard stunt in Taipei City recently, and he will be fined NT$300 (US$9.84) for breaching traffic regulations, according to reports in Taiwan’s Chinese language media today, December 4.

Red Bull skate squad members 23-year-old Jamie Foy, Zion Wright, 20, and Alex Midler, 21, visited Taiwan some time in the last year as part of a trip exploring skate spots around the world.

The trio spent around one year putting together video of their exploits titled “You Good?”

RedBull Skateboarding uploaded the video to their You Tube channel December 2, and and it has received more than 398,000 views at the time of writing, December 4.    [FULL  STORY]

Estrangement between two sides is too profound, says Raymond Burghardt

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/04
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A peaceful unification between Taiwan and China is beyond the bounds of

possibility, said Raymond Burghardt, former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

The former U.S. diplomat made the remarks at an event held by The National Committee on American Foreign Policy, on Monday (Dec. 2) in Washington. He was addressing cross-strait issues, reported Voice of America.

“It’s impossible to see a peaceful unification of Taiwan with China,” said Burghardt, citing profound estrangement between the two sides and a strong sense of a separate identity in Taiwan. “I think people in Beijing have realized that,” he added.

The question is now “what kind of coercion is necessary?” Burghardt stressed. He believes the Chinese government has been mulling a list of options, including disinformation and information warfare, as well as military means “if it has to go to the level.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/04
By: Yang Ming-chu and Joseph Yeh

Tokyo, Dec. 4 (CNA) A group of opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei city councilors demanded the resignation Wednesday of the nation's top envoy to Japan, former Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), after one of his former election campaign staffers was indicted Monday.

The staffer is accused of paying an Internet troll to insult Taiwan's representative office in Osaka, an illegal act that might have contributed to the 2018 suicide of the office chief.

Staging a protest outside Taiwan's representative office in Tokyo, where Hsieh is posted, the four councilors said the accused, Slow Yang (楊蕙如), has been closely associated with Hsieh for several years.

They asked to meet Hsieh in person and called on the envoy to explain if he was behind Yang's action.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 03 December, 2019
By: Paula Chao
Taiwanese beauty contestant Joyce Chiu wowed spectators with her “techno prince” costume at this year’s Miss International Beauty Pageant.

Chiu represented Taiwan in Tokyo last month at the global event.

Unlike contestants from other countries who wore designer clothes, Chiu showcased a bright red dress she designed herself, with elements taken from Taiwan’s much-beloved “techno prince.”  “Techno prince” refers to a subculture performance that combines folk art, electronic music and temple festivities.

This is Joyce Chiu representing Taiwan at the Miss International Beauty Pageant in Tokyo. Chiu displayed local flair with her techno prince-style costume featuring a bright red cape, wrist bands and colorful flags.   [FULL  STORY]

• They argue the island should negotiate less-demanding terms with Thailand, whose citizens are allowed visa-free entry to Taiwan
• Taipei government has tried to attract visitors from Southeast Asia amid drop in number of mainland Chinese tourists

South China Morning Post
Date: 3 Dec, 2019
By: Lawrence Chung  

Taiwan’s travel agents have accused President Tsai Ing-wen’s government of allowing the island to be humiliated by failing to demand reciprocal visa-free treatment from Thailand.Their complaints came after Thailand introduced stricter visa requirements on Monday for individual visitors from Taiwan, including submission of financial statements, which they said was demeaning for Taiwanese customers.

“This is really humiliating, just like some developed countries in the West that require visitors from the Third World or poorer countries to provide financial statements out of concerns that those visitors might end up becoming illegal immigrants,” Hsiao Po-jen, president of Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association, said.

Self-ruled Taiwan is among 18 jurisdictions whose citizens are affected by the new visa requirements to enter Thailand. Individual travellers from Taiwan must provide details of their finances to obtain a tourist visa, complete a visa application and pay online before booking an appointment in Taipei to submit their passport, along with proof of onward travel and accommodation.

Before the change, applicants needed to visit the Thai visa office, complete an application form, and submit a passport photo and copies of their identification and passports before obtaining a visa the same day.    [FULL  STORY]

Washington needs to find more reliable ports of call: experts

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The United States Navy might be more inclined to visit Taiwan now that China has barred stopovers in Hong Kong, according to military experts.

As a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's signing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law, China on Monday (Dec. 2) announced that U.S. Navy ships would no longer be welcome in the former British territory.

The move showed that military ties between Washington and Beijing are tenuous, while Washington and Taipei might be heading for intensified military exchanges, Voice of America quoted International Assessment and Strategy Center expert Richard Fisher as saying.

Due to the Chinese action, the U.S. Navy might also see itself forced to look for more reliable ports of call in the region, CNA cited the academic as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/03
By: Chen Chun-hua and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) A bill to increase the fines for fraudulent labeling of the origin of products was passed in the Legislature on Tuesday.

The amendment to the Foreign Trade Act raises the maximum fine from NT$300,000 (US$9,834) to NT$3 million for using fake trade certificates or placing fraudulent labels of origin on exports and imports.

Under the amendment, the minimum fine has been doubled, from NT$30,000 to NT$60,000, as part of the Taiwan government's efforts to prevent transshipment of Chinese products to the United States via Taiwan, the Cabinet said.

According to the Cabinet, there have been recent instances of such illegal actions, with the products being shipped to the U.S. bearing a "Made in Taiwan" label, in a bid to avoid high American tariffs on certain goods exported from China, the Cabinet said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 December, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

The Council of Agriculture says that there are six points of doubt in a case involving the Taiwan Fertilizer company loaning funds to private individuals buying houses. Last month, news broke of KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu purchasing a NT$72 million (US$2.3 million) home in Taipei in 2011. Han reportedly borrowed funds from the Taiwan Fertilizer company to help purchase the property.

The Council of Agriculture is the largest stakeholder in Taiwan Fertilizer. After an internal investigation of Taiwan Fertilizer, the Council of Agriculture held a press conference on Monday outlining six major points of contention. The council said that it will send its findings to prosecutors for further investigation.    [FULL  STORY]