Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 September, 2019
By: Jake Chen

Officials in the Solomon Islands have yet to reach a conclusion on the future of their country’s ties with

Solomon Is. meeting yields no conclusion on future of Taiwan ties. (CNA Photo)

The prime minister of the Pacific nation, Manasseh Sogavare, met with senior officials on Friday to discuss the possibility of establishing formal ties with Beijing. However, the meeting did not yield a final decision, and officials are set to hold another meeting on the issue next week.    [FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
Date: 13 Sep, 2019
By: Mimi Lau  

• Most of those who fled the city have returned while others staying on the island get by with a little help from local friends, sources say
• No protesters have taken up offer of financial help, Taiwanese church says

A pastor in Taiwan says not all of the protesters fleeing from Hong Kong were involved in the storming of the Legislative Council on July 1. Photo: Antony Dickson

Two Taiwan-based supporters told the South China Morning Post that most of those who left returned to Hong Kong before the start of the academic year while some of those remaining on the island were getting by without official help.

In July, Taiwanese activists said that up to 30 people involved in protests against a now-withdrawn extradition bill had arrived in Taiwan while another 30 were expected to follow. But the lack of refugee legislation on the island meant there was little hope of applicants succeeding in a claim for asylum.

Huang Chun-sheng, head pastor of the Che-Lam Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, began offering accommodation and financial help to fleeing protesters in July, and so far the church is the only one to say publicly that it is offering assistance.    [FULL  STORY]

Only person on board was unhurt: Coast Guard

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/09/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A sailing boat from the United States with one person on board was finally afloat again Friday (September 13) after spending three days stuck on coral reefs near the Pingtung County island of Xiao Liuqiu.

The Coast Guard first received notice of a vessel in trouble near the Beauty Cave scenic area at 9 a.m. on September 10, the Central News Agency reported.

When a rescue team arrived on the scene, they discovered the U.S.-registered sailing boat “Tasty” stuck just 10 meters off the coast, with one person on board, identified as Christopher John Carney.

He was unhurt, but due to the coral nature of the rocks, it was difficult to try and tow the yacht away, CNA reported. Water was seeping into the rear of the Tasty, leading rescue workers to bring in floating barrels to try and prevent the vessel from capsizing.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/13
By: Elaine Hou and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) China likes to brag about its lavish financial pledges and flashy infrastructure aid, but often they end up benefiting the personal gains of only a few unscrupulous politicians, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) warned Friday.

The ministry's comments came after recent foreign media reports that a delegation of officials from the Solomon Islands visited China in August and met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅), during which the two sides struck a deal to establish bilateral ties before Oct. 1 in exchange for US$500 million in financial assistance from Beijing.

According to the reports, Beijing also pledged to send agricultural and medical teams to the Solomon Islands, similar to the assistance currently provided by Taiwan.

MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told CNA that the ministry has been cautioning its allies not to be lured by China's multi-billion dollar pledges that will either remain unfulfilled or lead the recipient countries into debt traps.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio taiwan International
Date: 12 September, 2019
By: Paula Chao

Premier Su Tseng-chang says that abolishing the stamp tax would benefit the public. Su was speaking

Premier Su Tseng-chang (CNA file photo)

Su said the “outdated” stamp tax is no longer needed now that a sound mechanism is in place to monitor economic activity. He also said that collecting the tax is a costly process, and that verification procedures for the paperwork the tax entails are cumbersome.   [FULL  STORY]

And it could have happened. 

The National Interest
Date: September 12, 2019
By: Kyle Mizokami

Key Point: What kind of bomb was Taiwan attempting to develop? Two possibilities are low-yield tactical nuclear weapons and a higher-yield city killer.

It would have been one of the greatest crises of postwar Asia: the revelation of a Taiwanese atomic bomb.

For Taiwan, the bomb would have evened the odds against a numerically superior foe. For China, a bomb would have been casus belli, justification for an attack on the island country it considered a rogue province. Active from the 1960s to the 1980s, Taipei’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons were finally abandoned due to diplomatic pressure by its most important ally, the United States.

Taiwan’s nuclear program goes back to 1964, when the People’s Republic of China tested its first nuclear device. The test was not exactly a surprise to outside observers, but it was still Taiwan’s nightmare come true. Chinese and Taiwanese air and naval forces occasionally skirmished, and it threatened to turn into all-out war. Suddenly Taipei was confronted with the possibility that such a war could turn nuclear. Even just one nuclear device detonated on an island the size of Maryland would have devastating consequences for the civilian population.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/09/12
By: Elaine Hou and Emerson Lim

Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Chinese pledges of financial assistance are often not reliable, resulting in a

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu

China likes to use its financial pledges to lure away Taiwan's diplomatic allies. Recently, ties with the Solomon Islands have been shaky because of Beijing's promises to provide development assistance, according to reports in the foreign media.

Taiwan does not know what pledges China has made to Honiara, Wu said in the exclusive interview on Wednesday, adding only that based on previous cases, China often breaks its promises.

Moreover, even if China follows through, recipient countries can find themselves in unaffordable debt, Wu warned, citing the cases of São Tomé and Príncipe, Dominican Republic and Burkina Faso, all former diplomatic allies of Taiwan that switched to China over the past three years.
[FULL  STORY]