Both DPP and KMT need unity to win, but Ko Wen-je and his Taiwan People’s Party may ultimately prove decisive

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/18
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) — Divide and rule is a political strategy that can be traced all the way back to Niccolò Machiavelli and Renaissance Italy, but it is less relevant and effective today as it was then.

For Machiavelli, divide and rule was about empowering sovereigns to keep control of their citizens, many of whom had competing interests. In modern two-party democracies, it is more about uniting your own side while seeking to divide the other.

It is a strategy that looks likely to be central to Taiwan’s forthcoming presidential election. The country is increasingly polarized along party lines, especially regarding relations with communist China.

As a result, the presidential election looks increasingly likely to be a de-facto referendum on cross-strait ties. Both sides will need to unite their respective factions behind a single candidate to stand any chance of success.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/18
By Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) A magnitude 4.8 earthquake rocked Hualien in eastern Taiwan at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, according to the Central Weather Bureau.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The quake was centered about 27.8 kilometers southwest of Hualien County Hall in Shoufeng Township and struck at a depth of 5 km, the bureau's Seismology Center said.

The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Hualien County, where it measured 5 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale.    [FULL  STORY]

PROPOSALS: Drivers’ records could soon be wiped only after two years instead of six months, and their licenses suspended if they collect 12 points in that time

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 19, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Under proposed changes to the penalty point system, motorists receiving six penalty points within one

year would have to attend a mandatory road safety course, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said this weekend.

Under the current system, a driver would be given up to three penalty points in the following situations: speeding; failure to follow regulations while attempting to overtake other vehicles; weaving in and out of traffic; tailgating; running a red light; trespassing on railway crossings; driving a heavy motorcycle in unauthorized sections of the freeway; infringing load regulations; and refusing to enter weigh stations on freeways.

The system has proven ineffective in curbing traffic violations since it was enforced more than 20 years ago.

Although motorists’ licenses are suspended and they are required to take a road safety course after receiving six penalty points, and they can have their licenses revoked if their license is suspended twice within one year, their point system record is wiped clean every six months.    [FULL  STORY]

Bloomberg TicToc
August 17th, 2019

Supporters of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong gathered in cities across Taiwan. In Taoyuan, organizers collected more than 1,000 gas masks and 700 helmets to donate to Hong Kong protesters (Source: TicToc)    [FULL  STORY]

 

Beijing warns of countermeasures if $11b sale of fighter jets proceeds

Straits Times
Date: Aug 17, 2019

WASHINGTON • China has denounced the planned US$8 billion (S$11 billion) sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, one of the biggest yet by the United States to the self-ruled island, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Beijing had made solemn representations to the US over the planned sale.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Ms Hua as saying that it was a serious violation of the "one China" principle, under which Washington recognises Beijing and not Taipei, and undermined China's sovereignty and security interests.    [FULL  STORY]

Gangster was serving life sentence for bank robberies and kidnapping, once fled to China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former top-10 fugitive bank robber and kidnapper Hsueh Chiu (薛球) died at a Tainan hospital Saturday (August 17) after serving 14 years of his life sentence.

Details of the disease the 53-year-old died of were not made public by the Tainan Penitentiary, the Central News Agency reported.

The Hsinchu County native had already served time when he became involved in a shootout with police at a KTV in Miaoli County in 2001. He was released because he admitted, but just months later, he and an associate abducted a former deputy speaker of the Taichung City Council.

Instead of the NT$300 million (US$9.57 million) they had demanded, they received NT$30 million and fled to China.    [FULL  STORY]

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS: Manufacturers would have to obtain a permit to sell imitation guns, and penalties for possessing an improvised firearm would be increased

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 18, 2019
By: Huang Hsin-po and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The number of signatories on a petition opposing an amendment to the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act is displayed on the government’s Public Policy Network Participation Platform yesterday.

Photo: Screen grab from the National Development Council’s Public Policy Network Participation Platform Web site

Amendments to the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) proposed by the National Police Agency (NPA) have sparked a furor among airsoft and re-enactment hobbyists, with thousands of people signing a petition against the changes.

According to the draft amendments published on July 25, the agency aims to restrict imitation guns with a structure or firing mechanism that could be converted into an improvised firearm.

Should the bill pass, manufacturers would be required to obtain a permit to sell imitation guns. Currently they are required only to register their businesses with the government.

Under the bill, the penalties for the possession or modification of an improvised firearm would be increased and the police powers to search would be broadened.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date: 16 August, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

The opposition KMT is hoping to arrange a meeting between party chair Wu Den-yih and business tycoon Terry Gou. That’s the word from Gou’s aide Amanda Liu. Liu says that vice chairman of the KMT Hau Lung-pin met with Gou on Thursday to arrange a possible conference with Wu.

Gou has largely kept out of the public eye after losing the KMT primary to Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu last month. However, there have been rumors that he might reenter the presidential race, perhaps joining forces with Taipei Mayor Ko We-je, and the KMT is hoping to keep the party together.
[FULL  STORY]

Seven F-16 fighter jets taxi on a runway at Taiwan's Hualien air base. (Richard Chung/Reuters)

The Washington Post
Date: August 16, 2019
By: Ellen Nakashima and Anne Gearan

The Trump administration is moving ahead with for an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan despite strong objections from China, a U.S. official and others familiar with the deal said Thursday.

The State Department late Thursday submitted the package for informal review, said the people familiar with the sale. It would be the largest and most significant sale of weaponry to the self-governing island in years, and comes amid stalled trade talks and a deteriorating relationship with China.

Lawmakers from both parties had questioned whether the White House would scuttle the sale to soften the ground for a U.S.-China trade deal, or otherwise use the fighter jets as a bargaining chip in deadlocked negotiations.    [FULL  STORY]