Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 July, 2019
By: Paula Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen says the demand by Hong Kong protestors to scrap the controversial extradition bill is justifiable. Tsai was speaking Tuesday in an interview a day after hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets again in Hong Kong. The bill would allow the Hong Kong government to extradite criminals and suspects to China.

Tsai spoke on Tuesday about the protests in Hong Kong.

“I think the public call for freedom and democracy is a justifiable demand. During this period, we see people in Hong Kong taking to the streets to voice their demands. We hope the Hong Kong government can listen to the voices of the people and face the issue with sincerity. I believe that’s the way to solve conflicts in society," said Tsai. 

Regarding the protesters’ occupation of the Legislative Council after they smashed their way through the glass façade on Monday, Tsai said it’s “all what happened in the process.”
[FULL  STORY]

The Hill
Date: 07/02/19
By: Joseph Bosco, Opinion Contributor

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL

The people of Hong Kong have demonstrated dramatically — and until Monday, nonviolently — that they reject Beijing’s heavy-handed tactics in eroding the territory’s autonomy guaranteed in the political handover of the British crown colony to the People’s Republic of China. Over the years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has engaged in a creeping reneging of those arrangements. When it changed the election laws in 2014, it triggered a citizen protest culminating in the Umbrella Movement.

Since Deng Xiaoping announced the “one country, two systems” concept in 1984 as the model for Hong Kong and Taiwan, the people of Taiwan have taken an avid interest in what has been happening in the autonomous polity.

Already turned off by Beijing’s treatment of the Chinese people under its direct control, Taiwanese aversion to communist rule only deepened by what they saw happening in Hong Kong. They sympathized with the plight of the population and were impressed by their spirit of resistance. In a kind of whip-sawing of democratic assertiveness, the people of Hong Kong were reciprocally inspired by Taiwan’s stand against China’s economic, diplomatic and military pressures as expressed in the 2014 Sunflower Movement.

Taiwanese public opinion had been gradually turning against China ever since the Tiananmen Square massacreexposed in the bloodiest way the despotic nature of that government. The fact that it was carried out by Deng, the leader who promised fair and decent treatment for the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan, undermined any potential attractiveness of the “one country, two systems” formula.  

On the contrary, for older Taiwanese, it revived painful memories of their own encounter with murderous government brutality in the White Terror and February 28 events. Having rid themselves of an anti-communist dictatorship, they had no intention of throwing themselves into the arms of a communist one.    [FULL  STORY]

Kuan faces public hearing about alleged double job

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – At a public hearing about his allegedly past illegal jobs Tuesday (July 2), National Taiwan University (NTU) President Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) complained of political persecution.

The Public Functionary Disciplinary Sanction Commission was looking into an estimated NT$650,000 (US$20,600) per year or approximately NT$2 million over three years from anonymous opinion pieces in the media while he was serving in the Cabinet, reports said.

The issue was one of several which hobbled the former Kuomintang minister’s selection as head of Taiwan’s most prestigious university. He was only appointed after about a year of consideration by the Ministry of Education.

In a statement about Tuesday’s hearing, Kuan blamed it on the reaction to his selection as NTU president in January last year. The outcome of that process had displeased a minority of ruling camp members, he said, according to the United Daily News.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Taiwan on Tuesday announced an extension of visa-free treatment for citizens of the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei and Russia for another year after seeing significant growth in tourist numbers from these countries thanks to the program.

The visa-free trial program for the four countries was originally set to expire July 31, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) press release.

Following a May 24 cross-ministerial meeting attended by representatives of government units in charge of national security, the police, the investigation bureau, immigration, tourism and the economy, an agreement was reached to extend the program for another year, according to the statement.

Government figures show that the visa-free program, allowing foreign nationals from those countries to enjoy visa-free entry to Taiwan for stays of up to 14 days, has helped increase visitor arrivals.
[FULL  STORY]

RESUMPTION? Farglory did not breach the law, as it had only moved an ice tank as part of court-approved remedial work and had not restarted construction, the group said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Taipei Construction Management Office and several technical associations yesterday held a

joint inspection of the Taipei Dome construction site, following reports alleging that contractor Farglory Group has resumed construction work.

A local media outlet reported that it had been tipped off by a member of the public, who said that Farglory was installing an air-conditioning system at the site.

The Taipei City Government in May 2015 ordered that construction be halted because of unauthorized changes to approved blueprints.

In 2016, the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled that Farglory could continue 14 safety-related remedial tasks, including flood prevention and drainage system work, fire prevention, rust prevention and other work to prevent the structure from collapsing.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 July, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

There are only about 50 Taiwanese humpback dolphins left in Taiwan. That’s according to the latest research, revealed at a new exhibit at the National Museum of Natural Science.

The Taiwanese humpback dolphin is a subspecies of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. It is an endangered species found only in a narrow stretch of estuarine water on the western coast of Taiwan.

The exhibit will feature a documentary about the endangered species and talks by researcher Huang Hsiang-lin on recent findings about the Taiwanese Humpback Dolphin.

The museum says human factors have had an impact on the dolphin’s survival. These include trash and coastline development near their habitat. The museum is calling on the public to take care of Taiwan’s coastal waters.    [FULL  STORY]

Asia Times
Date: July 1, 2019
By: Richard Javad "Heydarian, Taipei

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has a simple campaign trail message for China amid its rising

threats to invade her island nation after elections scheduled for early next year: “We will not back down.”

“China is getting more and more aggressive,” Tsai told this correspondent at the Republic of China’s presidential palace this month. “[But] we now have more liberty to speak for our independence,” the leader said.

Taiwan’s leader spoke in broad terms as crucial presidential elections approach in January, 2020, polls that will serve as a de facto pro- versus anti-China national referendum with major implications for regional stability.

In a provocative new year’s speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that Taiwan “must and will be” reunited with the mainland within 2020. That has raised concerns that China may resort to force if Tsai and pro-independence forces dominate the elections.

Tsai, whose approval ratings have dipped from 70% in 2016 to around 30% this year, will be pitted against two insurgent candidates who favor closer ties with China.    [FULL  STORY]

After son secretly takes photos of them, elderly man goes into tirade against Taiwan's EVA Air flight attendants for striking

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Sunday (June 30) of an elderly man berating EVA Air

flight attendants for going on strike after they complained that his son had been taking photos of them without permission with his smartphone.

As the EVA Air flight attendants strike continues to rage on, tensions are high among those who support both sides of the issue. Hopes of an end to the strike were dashed over the weekend when management threatened to punish some of those who took part.

On Sunday, a group of EVA Air flight attendants took a break from their strike in the sweltering heat to eat a meal at a fast food chain across the street from the airline's headquarters. As they ate their meal, they noticed that a young man was using his smartphone to take photos of the women.

As the man and his elderly father started to leave the restaurant, one of the flight attendants can be heard asking the father to have his son delete the photos he took. The elderly man waves his hand and says, "no problem, no problem."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Yang Su-min and Chi Jo-yao

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Taiwan's government is preparing to apply for recognition as a country free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) where vaccination is not practiced after meeting a critical standard on Monday, according to the country's Council of Agriculture (COA).

As of Monday, there have been no cases of FMD or vaccinations against FMD in Taiwan during the past 12 months, qualifying Taiwan as a World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) FMD-free zone, COA Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said at a news conference Monday.

The COA will submit a declaration to the OIE consisting of Taiwan's qualifications and related evidence by September, and the country will hopefully regain such status after more than 22 years by May 2020, Huang said.

The COA will continue FMD prevention efforts, including GPS monitoring of all pig transportation vehicles across the island, before the OIE officially announces that Taiwan has regained FMD free without vaccination status, COA chief Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.    [FULL  STORY]

NEW PENALTIES: The government has launched a crackdown on DUI and the Taipei Police Department is participating with 400 officers at 99 checkpoints

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2019
By: Yao Yueh-hung, Tsai Szu-pei and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNA

Taipei police yesterday fined a person traveling in a vehicle driven by an alleged drunk driver, a first

in the nation, as new traffic laws imposing stiffer penalties on driving under the influence (DUI) took effect.

The amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), which were passed in March, stipulate fines of up to NT$90,000 for first-time DUI offenders and for passengers who travel in vehicles driven by people under the influence.

The fine was issued at a checkpoint in Neihu District (內湖) at 1:26pm, the National Police Agency said, adding that the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.26 milligrams per liter (mg/L).

A scooter driver in Songshang District (松山) was handed over to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for public endangerment, after allegedly trying to evade police and having a blood alcohol level 0.42mg/L, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]