Ian Easton weighs in on question ‘Should Taiwan have nukes?’

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In an interview with American scholar Ian Easton posted on YouTube on Monday (April 1), China Uncensored host Chris Chappell asked: “Should Taiwan have nuclear weapons?”

In the interview, Easton, a fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, cited the example of Israel as being a small country like Taiwan, which is facing an existential threat from its larger neighbors, but is safe from invasion in part because of its nuclear weapons. “Only a nation that has completely lost its mind and is suicidal, is ever going to invade another nation that is armed with nuclear weapons,” said Easton.

Easton said that the strategic position of Taiwan is becoming highly destabilized, because Taiwan is a democratic nation of 23 million people finding itself squaring off against “a deeply authoritarian” country of 1.3 billion that has nuclear weapons. He said that China’s military might is increasing dramatically and during a speech on Jan 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping in Easton’s words “made it crystal clear that his intentions are to retake Taiwan.”

However, Easton says that the U.S. is not equipped to deal with this situation because the U.S. does not have troops in Taiwan and the U.S. and Taiwan do not have an iron-clad security commitment. He said that the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979 is “a very rough substitute for an alliance,” but it is leaving “a huge gap” that is growing as China’s power grows.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/02
By: Chiang Chin-yeh and Emerson Lim 

Washington, April 1 (CNA) A group of U.S. congressmen on Monday introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to foster security in Taiwan and support its inclusion in international organizations to mark the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).

The bill, named the Taiwan Assurance Act, was submitted by Eliot Engel, Michael McCaul, Brad Sherman and Ted Yoho, corresponding to a Senate version of the bill with the same title introduced on March 26.

The House version of the bill calls for “regular sales and transfers of defense articles to Taiwan in order to enhance its self-defense capabilities,” including undersea warfare and air defense capabilities.

The bill also wants the U.S. Trade Representative to resume meetings under the U.S.-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the goal of reaching a bilateral free trade agreement that increases market access for U.S. exports to Taiwan and enhances Taiwan’s economic resilience.    [FULL  STORY]

SUBSIDY PROGRAM: The Ministry of Education aims to set up public kindergartens at every elementary school by 2024, increasing total capacity by 86,000 children

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

The Ministry of Education yesterday said it plans to increase the number of public and

semi-public kindergartens to serve 70 percent of the nation’s children within five years.

The plan, designed to boost the nation’s birthrate, would ensure affordable childcare for nearly 500,000 children aged five and under by the year 2024, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said.

The primary objective is to increase the number of public kindergartens, and supplement that with semi-public kindergartens and childcare subsidies, he said.

The ministry aims to set up public kindergartens at every elementary school by 2024, which would increase the total capacity of the nation’s public kindergartens by 86,000 children to a total of 270,000 children, Pan said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 01 April, 2019
By: Andrew Ryan

President Tsai Ing-wen has spoken out against what she called a “provocative act” by

China. She was referring to two Chinese warplanes crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.

Taiwan’s air force intercepted the two J-11 fighter jets shortly after they entered Taiwan’s air space.

At a commissioning ceremony for Taiwan’s top brass on Monday, Tsai accused the Chinese military of breaking an understanding between Taipei and Beijing. She said it was an open provocation to regional security and stability.

“I would like to not only lodge a strong protest, but also remind Beijing authorities not to deliberately provoke, cause a stir or attempt to jeopardize the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” said Tsai. “I also want to let the Taiwan people know that they should not doubt the military’s ability and determination to safeguard Taiwan. The military stands firm in maintaining the nation’s security and sovereignty, protecting [Taiwan’s] free and democratic way of life, and moving to further strengthen Taiwan.”      [FULL  STORY]

Washington Examiner
Date: April 01, 2019
By: Tom Rogan

Support Taiwan excessively, and China might forcibly seize the island nation. Offer inadequate support to Taiwan, and China will continue moving toward its usurpation.

As Josh Rogin noted last week, Chinese harassment of Taiwan is escalating without commensurate U.S. pushback. Over the past few days, Taiwan intercepted two Chinese fighter aircraft that crossed a territorial marker line. China is also shouting its complaints over a looming U.S. sale of F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan. And Chinese leaders and state media are on the same page when it comes to threatening more escalation. The Global Times newspaper on Monday warned that “Chinese mainland scholars have been engaged in a broader discussion on how to cope with the growing provocations from [Taiwan] and the U.S. More and more people suggest PLA fighter jets fly over the island.”

Well, for one, Trump should authorize more regular and more senior diplomatic visits to Taiwan. He should also expedite the conclusion of the F-16V sale. Next up, the president should direct Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to push U.S. allies to adopt a shared tone of concern on Taiwan. The key here should be to persuade Beijing that military action against what it regards as a breakaway province will lead to international sanctions and isolation. Cultivating that understanding is crucial because the Chinese are emboldened by the absence of good U.S. military options vis-a-vis Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Kaohsiung City Councilors protest Han’s meeting with Communist leaders by presenting him with imperial dragon robe

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — To protest Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) meeting with Communist officials during his trip to China last week, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city council members held up protest placards and presented Han with an imperial Qing Dynasty emperor’s robe, which he rejected.

During a meeting of the Kaohsiung City Council this morning, the DPP launched a protest before he took the podium. DPP council members shouted slogans and held up placards which read: “Hong Kong today, Taiwan tomorrow,” Support the Kuomintang, and Taiwan will become Hong Kong,” and “1992 Consensus gas chamber.” DPP council members then stood in front of Han and shouted “Reject one country, two systems, economic revitalization starts from the ground up,” reported Now News.

DPP councilman Lin Chih Hung (林智鴻) criticized Han’s meeting with top liaison officers of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for Hong Kong and Macau behind closed doors as a “black-box operation.” Lin said no one knows who Han met with in private and what he talked about.

Lin then asked, “Were you helping the China Liaison Office? Are you running for president?” reported China Times. Lin said that if Han wants to run for president, he should be a generous man.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Taiwan on Monday extended its appreciation to Japan for its

concern over the situation in the Taiwan Strait, after two Chinese Air Force planes crossed the median line of the waterway separating Taiwan and China over the weekend.

In a statement, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the government will always be committed to maintaining the cross-strait status quo as well as peace and stability across the region.

The ministry’s response came after Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga expressed hope that cross-strait issues can be resolved peacefully through direct dialogue between Taiwan and China.

“The government of Japan believes that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is extremely important to the region and the world,” Suga said.    [FULL  STORY]

DISRUPTED RHYTHMS: While pre-bed screen time accounts for about 14.3 percent of total daily screen time, it accounts for 44 percent of the impact on sleep

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 02, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Staring at smartphones before going to bed affects sleeping patterns, delays circadian

rhythms and reduces the total sleep time, a study by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) found.

On average, every hour of smartphone screen time throughout the day will delay bedtime by 4.9 minutes and reduce the total sleep time by 5.5 minutes, and that screen time right before bed affects sleeping patterns the most, Lin Yu-hsuan (林煜軒), a physician at the Institute of Population Health Sciences, who headed the research team, said yesterday.

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for the discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythms, which pointed out that irregular sleep patterns might increase the risk of psychiatric and physical illnesses, Lin said.

The team, which included researchers from the NHRI, National Taiwan University Hospital, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Chiao Tung University and Dan Jiang University, developed an app, called “Rhythm,” that continuously and automatically records the user’s daily smartphone usage and sleep patterns in an objective setting and over a long period.    [FULL  STORY]

‘PUBLIC TOOL’: As the fourth estate, media should strive to be socially responsible by producing unbiased stories, a petition launched by students and lecturers said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 01, 2019
By: Wu Po-hsuan  /  Staff reporter

An online petition calling for the control of false news reports and urging self-regulation by the media has garnered 765 signatures since its launch on Thursday.

The petition was launched by students and faculty at National Taiwan Normal University’s Graduate Institute of Mass Communication.

Institute student Hsiung Huan-chun (熊煌均), one of the petition’s organizers, said that producing and releasing false reports is not only unprofessional, but unethical.

Producing fake news amounts to “using a public tool to promote your own interests,” he said.    [FULL  STORY]