Raio Taiwan International
Date: 31 July, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan’s railway police have accepted a donation of stun guns intended to help ensure officers’ safety on the job.

Taiwan’s railway police have accepted a donation of stun guns intended to help ensure officers’ safety on the job. The donation comes following a knife attack on a train that left one railway police officer dead.

On the evening of July 3, an emotionally unstable train passenger fatally stabbed 24-year-old railway police officer Lee Cheng-han. The knife attack left Taiwan shaken and led the government to announce that it would begin arming railway police officers with stun guns.

One private company has stepped in to help, donating 250 stun guns at a ceremony held Tuesday.

At the ceremony, Interior Minister Hsu Kuo-yung said that the stun guns have a range of six meters.
[FULL  STORY]

Business Insider
Date: July 31,. 2019
By: Ryan Pickrell

Taiwan's military is conducting its own military exercises as the Chinese military drills nearby.

• Taiwan's military is conducting a two-day drill, during which the armed forces will fire off more than one hundred missiles, among which are twelve different weapons.
• The Chinese military is also conducting its own military drills this week, with Chinese forces training at both ends of the Taiwan Strait.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Taiwan's military is firing off more than one hundred missiles in a series of live-fire exercises as the Chinese military drills nearby, Taiwan's Central News Agency reports.

During the two-day drill that began on Monday, Taiwan's military will launch 117 missiles, among which are 12 different weapon types with ranges far enough to clear the Taiwan Strait, a strategic waterway that is only 81 miles wide at its narrowest section.

Forty-one missiles were fired off on Monday, CNA reports, citing Ministry of National Defense Deputy Chief of Staff Li Chao-ming.

That same day, Taiwan's F-16 fighters practiced striking landing ships with AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, exercises crucial to defending their island should Beijing ever decide to invade.
[FULL  STORY]

Lin Neng-huo given Father's Day celebration by Huashan Social Welfare Foundation

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/31
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A childless centenarian barber who lives in solitude in Taipei had an unforgettable Father’s Day experience on Tuesday (July 30) surrounded by a group of social workers from the Huashan Social Welfare Foundation (華山基金會).

Lin Neng-huo (林能火), 101, owns a nondescript barbershop on Dihua Street. He relocated to Taiwan from China with the Nationalist Government and has practiced his trade for over 70 years, reported the Central News Agency.

Widowed 56 years ago, Lin dedicates his life to his profession, working full-time from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Even though customers are scarce, with about two appointments a week, Lin insists on running the shop, saying “I will continue the trade as long as there are customers.”

Despite his age, Lin stays active and healthy and maintains a simple dietary regimen that includes sweet potatoes and congee. His movement may be slow and his tools worn-out, but he remains extremely focused and cuts hair with meticulous attention to detail, wrote CNA.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/31
By: Chen Chun-hua, Wang Cheng-chung and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The New Power Party (NPP) has decided to suspend the membership of

3Legislator Kawlo Iyun (高潞以用) following allegations of abuse of power to obtain government subsidies totaling NT$4 million (US$128,721), NPP spokesman Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said Wednesday.

At a disciplinary committee meeting, a resolution was reached to recommend that Kawlo's party membership be revoked, which would result in the loss of her legislator-at-large seat, if the recommendation is adopted by the NPP, Lee said.

The issue stemmed from an allegation by the Green Party Taiwan on Monday that Kawlo had received NT$4 million in green energy subsidies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in January through two non-governmental organizations run by her assistant, but had not put the money to any visible use.

In a Facebook post, the Green Party said it is the duty of lawmakers to conduct oversight of government agencies.    [FULL  STORY]

NEW CATEGORY: In a first, the survey included ‘trail mix,’ or mixtures of drugs repackaged to look like coffee or snacks that often contain damaging components

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 01, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

More than 250,000 people in Taiwan have likely used illegal drugs, while an increasing number of

people have tried unknown mixtures of drugs, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.

The findings came from a FDA-commissioned survey conducted last year by National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health, which collected data regarding illegal drug use from 18,262 people aged 12 to 64.

The survey found that 1.29 percent of respondents had used identifiable illegal drugs at least once, which could be extrapolated to about 204,000 people among the entire population of the same age.

Once unknown blends of drugs — also known as “trail mix” — was factored in, the prevalence increased to 1.46 percent, or about 258,000 people, the FDA said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 July, 2019
By: Jake Chen

China’s PLA military did not cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait during their recent military exercises. That was the word from the defense ministry on Tuesday.

A former official from Taiwan’s Naval Academy recently said in a Facebook post that some of China’s PLA troops went over the median line during their ongoing military exercises. The defense ministry commented on the statement during a press conference. They said that they’re up to date on the activities in the Taiwan Strait and the Chinese troops didn’t cross the median line. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s military conducted drills that involved the firing of anti-ship missiles on Monday and Tuesday. Some believe it to be a defense exercise against a potential PLA naval fleet. The defense ministry rejected the rumor, saying that they have been holding similar exercises every year, and that the latest one is unrelated to the PLA.    [FULL  STORY]

Business Insider
Date: July 30, 2019
By: Ryan Pickrell

The Chinese military is conducting exercises at both ends of the Taiwan Strait this week, according to two local maritime safety administration notices.

The drills are meant to demonstrate China's resolve in response to US activities, namely regular Taiwan Strait transits by the US Navy and a $2.2 billion arms sale to Taiwan, military experts told the South China Morning Post.

The latest exercises follow the release of a new Chinese defense white paper that reiterated Beijing's longstanding position: China will not renounce the use of force as an option for reunification with Taiwan.

China has kicked off large-scale military drills in waters near Taiwan just days after warning in a new defense report that it remains ready and willing to use force to achieve reunification.
[FULL  STORY]

Savage fistfight breaks out after man refuses to make fare adjustment on Taiwan train

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/31
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A savage fight broke out on a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) train on Monday (July 29), after an unruly passenger refused to make a fare adjustment.

On Monday at 1:10 p.m., a man wearing a white dress shirt swiped his EasyCard before boarding a TRA Taroko train in Taipei bound for Hualien, reported UDN. When the conductor saw that he had not properly paid for his ticket, he asked that he make a fare adjustment, but the obstinant passenger refused.

A man wearing a black, short-sleeve shirt then tried to persuade the man to make up the fare. However, this only agitated the man wearing white even further.

Soon, the two became engaged into a verbal altercation which eventually erupted into a full-scale fistfight. In video of the fracas shot by a passenger, the man in white can be seen throwing four right crosses in the row at the man in black.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/30
By: Elain Hou and Emerson Lim

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reaffirmed diplomatic ties between

Taiwan and the Solomon Islands on Tuesday amid media reports from the Pacific ally that claimed Beijing is ready to establish relations with the country.

Taiwan's diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands are "fundamentally stable and solid," MOFA Deputy Spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) told reporters at a regular press conference Tuesday, citing a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a sports stadium for the 2023 Pacific Games, which was signed July 8.

Ou reiterated that cooperation projects between the two countries involving agriculture, medicine and health, clean energy and the Taiwan Scholarship program, are all proceeding smoothly and well received by the people and government of the Pacific ally.

"The Taiwan embassy in the Solomon Islands will vigorously deepen our friendly and cooperative relations," Ou stressed.    [FULL  STORY]