Former child actress Tang Tang killed when driver of van suddenly lost control in New Taipei intersection

Taiwan News
Date: 20020/10/29
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A former child actor was killed earlier this month when the scooter she was riding was struck from behind by a van.

Earlier this month, Tsai Ya-chen (蔡亞臻), 37, who went by the stage name Tang Tang (糖糖, sugar sugar), was killed when an SUV suddenly struck the scooter she was riding with her 39-year-old husband, who is surnamed Yang (楊), reported UDN. At 1 p.m. on Oct. 18, Tsai and Yang were seated on a scooter waiting at a red light at the intersection of Huacheng Road and Wugong Road 1st Road in New Taipei City's Xinzhuang District.

As can be seen in the video of the incident, a van driven by a 60-year-old man surnamed Li (李) suddenly smashed Tsai and Yang from behind, plowed over them, and continued to barrel through the intersection before colliding with a concrete barrier and finally decelerating. Tsai was reportedly dragged beneath the van and died at the scene of the accident.

Yang survived the collision but is still in the hospital undergoing treatment for serious injuries. Police tested the blood alcohol levels of both Yang and Li and found neither had been drinking before the accident.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 30, 2020
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

The Cabinet yesterday approved draft amendments to two laws aimed at deterring illegal marine dredging in Taiwanese waters by Chinese ships by increasing the penalties to a maximum of seven years in jail, a fine of up to NT$80 million (US$2.77 million) and confiscation of the vessels.

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told yesterday’s Cabinet meeting that illegal dredging by Chinese ships has damaged marine ecology in the region, citing the discovery on Sunday that 400 to 500 such vessels were dredging sand off the coast of Matsu between Nangan (南竿) and Juguang (莒光) townships.

Such activities are unacceptable, he said, ordering that Chinese ships found dredging illegally in Taiwanese waters be confiscated, their crew members face trial and the ships, as well as their machinery, be put up for auction, sold or otherwise disposed of promptly.

The Cabinet approved proposed amendments to the Act on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the Republic of China (中華民國專屬經濟海域及大陸礁層法) and the Sand and Gravel Excavation Act (土石採取法).    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 28 October, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan reported one new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases Taiwan has recorded so far up to 551.

The patient is an Indonesian national who arrived in Taiwan on October 7. The patient provided a negative COVID-19 test within three days of departure for Taiwan, and they showed no symptoms of COVID-19 on arrival.

The patient completed her mandatory period in quarantine on October 22 without exhibiting symptoms.    [FULL  STORY]

Daily Mail
Date: 28 October 2020
By:  AFP

A US official on Wednesday played down China's threats to punish US companies for selling arms to Taiwan, saying that Beijing, not Washington, was jeopardizing regional stability.

China said Monday it would impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin and a defense division of Boeing that are part of a new sale of missiles to Taiwan worth nearly $2 billion.

"It is not the first time that Beijing has threatened sanctions upon US companies," said R. Clarke Cooper, the top State Department official in charge of arms sales.

"There have been threats and there have been provocations about that," he told a small group of reporters when asked about Chinese sanctions.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Coast Guard drives away Chinese sand dredgers from Matsu with massive water cannon

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/28
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Xinbei. (CGA photo)[/caption] TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Tuesday (Oct. 27) posted a video of one of its vessels blasting a Chinese sand-dredging vessel with a water cannon.

As Chinese ships continue to pillage sand from the seabed around Taiwan's outer islands, the CGA recently adopted the new tactic of attempting to drive the offending vessels away with water cannons. On its Facebook page on Tuesday, the CGA announced that a few days ago, its radar systems detected five sand barges and two sand-dredging ships within the 6-kilometer restricted zone around Matsu Island.

The CGA stated that it was able to drive many of the Chinese ships away, with the exception of the sand-dredging ship. A patrol boat from the Matsu branch of the CGA then used a powerful water cannon to "spray it out of the boundary line."

In the video, a CGA patrol boat can be seen pouring water on a Chinese dredger as sirens blare and the captain admonishes the ship's skipper to exit Taiwanese territorial waters immediately, "or it will continue to use the water cannon to enforce the mandatory distance." The patrol boat identifies itself as PP10037 and announces, "This is the first broadcast. You have already entered restricted territorial waters. You cannot remain in these waters, much less anchor. Please leave immediately."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/28/2020
By: Flor Wang and Lai Yen-hsi

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) A military expert on Wednesday urged the government to stay on high alert against the repeated intrusions by Chinese aircraft into Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ), even if such intrusions have become a common occurrence for Taiwanese people.

In an interview with CNA, Qi Yue-yi (亓樂義), a Taiwanese military expert, said the moves by China are intended to squeeze the space in which Taiwan's military can conduct drills.

Earlier in the day, a Chinese Y-9EW transport and electronic warfare aircraft intentionally flew into Taiwan's southwest ADIZ — the 26th such intrusion since Sept. 16.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 28 October, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Hsiao Bi-khim, has repeated calls for the US and Taiwan to begin trade talks during a video conference on the future of Taiwan-US economic ties.

The video conference took place Tuesday, and was organized by George Washington University’s Sigur Center for Asian Studies.

Hsiao said that Taiwan’s decision to loosen restrictions on the importation of US pork and beef products starting next year has met with a positive reaction from the US government and US businesses.    [FULL  STORY]

China’s United Front has worked behind the scenes for decades to convince Taiwan’s elite that their country should welcome a takeover by Beijing.

Dai0ly Beast
Date: Oct. 28, 2020
By: Brendon Hong

.HONG KONG—When Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping visited a military base in Southeast China this month, he told members of the party’s Marine Corps to “focus your minds and energy on preparing to go to war.” His speech came shortly after the Trump administration said it would move forward with a $7 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which China has threatened to retaliate against if it goes through.

Xi has long wanted to absorb Taiwan under the Communist Party’s rule—he’s openly stated his ambition to “reunify” the democratic island with mainland China while he is the party’s helmsman. And his strategy to dominate Taiwan includes more than gunboats, jets, and boots on the ground. For decades, party leadership in Beijing has leaned on what Xi calls his “magic weapon” to leverage trade relationships and shared ethnic roots to lay the groundwork for entrenched CCP influence in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora abroad: wielding soft power through China’s United Front Work Department.

Compared to the CCP’s military jingoism and propaganda-spreading “wolf warrior” diplomats, the United Front works behind the scenes, often targeting wealthy individuals with transnational holdings to do the CCP’s bidding through persuasion, economic incentives, and blackmail, or by funneling money toward grassroots organizations that shape opinions about the party among Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and expat Chinese communities.    [FULL  STORY]