Fraud ring focused on Taiwanese victims rather than Chinese

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/18
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Police detained 13 Taiwanese fraud suspects in a suburb of the Thai capital Bangkok and decided to deport them to Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Wednesday (September 18).

In many past cases, countries without official diplomatic links to Taiwan deported Taiwanese suspects to China, especially if the victims were deemed Chinese.

However, in this case, the more than 30 victims who were defrauded of a total of NT$70 million (US$2.26 million) were all Taiwanese citizens, mostly elderly, the Central News Agency reported.

Members of the fraud ring posed as police officers, prosecutors or health insurance agents, reports said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/18
By: Chiang Chin-yeh and Joseph Yeh

Washington, Sept. 17 (CNA) The United States opposes China's destabilization of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and will look into the the reasons the Solomon Islands' decided Monday to change allegiance from Taipei to Beijing, a senior U.S. official told CNA Tuesday.

Taiwan cut diplomatic ties with the Solomon Islands on Monday after the South Pacific island-nation decided to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. The severing of ties leaves Taiwan with only 16 diplomatic allies.

Asked about the U.S. stance on the matter, a senior U.S. administration official told CNA Tuesday that Washington is disappointed with Beijing's repeated efforts to take away more of Taipei's diplomatic allies.

"Rather than engaging in dialogue and reconciliation with Taiwan's elected leadership, Beijing has chosen to constrict Taiwan's global space and engage in a counterproductive attempt to interfere in Taiwan's democratic processes," the unnamed official said in an email.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 September, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Premier Su Tseng-chang says the public should together safeguard Taiwan’s space in the international

community. Su was speaking Tuesday at the legislature.

Su’s comments came a day after the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting.

Su said China’s relentless attempts to lure Taiwan’s allies with incentives has made Taiwan’s diplomatic situation difficult.

The Solomon Islands is the sixth country to sever ties with Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May, 2016. Now Taiwan has just 16 official diplomatic allies, mostly small nations in the Caribbean and Central America.    [FULL  STORY]

Former lawmaker took Ko's parents to CEC in last-ditch attempt: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following the unexpected decision by Foxconn Technology founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) not to run for president, the registration process for the January 2011 election took another bizarre turn Tuesday (September 17) evening when the parents of Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) visited the Central Election Commission (CEC) but were turned away because they were too late.

The deadline for independent candidates to register was set at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, with a review process due to take another day. The CEC had received registration forms from eight teams.

After the CEC refused Ko’s parents, the mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman turned up himself, but he said he only arrived there to pick them up and take them home, the Central News Agency reported. His parents had reportedly been taken to the CEC offices by a former lawmaker eager to see Ko run.

Gou and Ko were seen as temporary allies, with the tycoon expected to run for president and the mayor focusing on the legislative elections also to be held on January 11. After Gou announced late Monday (September 16) night that he would not register, attention focused on whether Ko would do so instead.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/17
By: Flor Wang, Wang Shu-fen and Yu Hsiang

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) Terry Gou (郭台銘), founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry, apologized

Tuesday to his supporters for giving up all intentions to run for president in January 2020.

In a video clip posted on his Facebook page, Gou bowed to the public and said that after deep deliberation Monday night, he had decided to pull out of the race.

Gou said he was reluctant to be part of a political farce and did not want his supporters to be bullied.

"We all love the Republic of China (ROC — the official name of Taiwan), and only by being rational and pragmatic can we build a bright future for our younger generation," he said.

He said he had entered the race for the January 2020 presidential election because he wanted to use his personal experience over the past 40 years to help build a bright future and a sound economy in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: 0Sep 18, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of measles contracted in New

Zealand, as it warned that this is still the peak period for enterovirus infections.

A man in his 20s living in southern Taiwan who visited New Zealand with his family from Aug. 14 to Aug. 24 developed a fever on Sept. 1 and sought medical attention at clinics three times before he developed a rash and sought treatment at a hospital on Sept. 5 and again on Sept. 7.

On his last visit, he was finally confirmed to have measles and hospitalized.

CDC physician Huang Wan-ting (黃婉婷) said the man had initially been diagnosed with a cold and a viral infection.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 16 September, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

Taiwan’s Coast Guard set up a new patrol dog team on Monday in northern Taiwan. The camp currently has 15 patrol dogs, including golden retrievers, German shepherds, and Belgian Malinois.

The dogs will undergo four months of training with their officers. They will help the coast guard search for agricultural products, drugs, and explosives in their efforts to combat illegal behavior. 
[SOURCE]

The Hill
Date: 09/16/19
By: Chis Mills Rodrigo

© Getty Images

Taiwan on Monday accused China of interfering in its presidential and legislative elections, Reuters reported.

The new claim comes after the Solomon Islands cut off ties with Taipei to align itself with mainland China.

The Solomon Islands is the sixth country to switch diplomatic relations to Beijing since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in Taiwan in 2016.

That leaves Taiwan with formal relations with just 16 countries, many of which are small.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, while Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state with a democratic government.    [FULL  STORY]