Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/25
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan has the lowest fertility rate in the world at 1.218 children per woman, according to a recent report by the World Population Review, which the Taiwan government challenged.

In the Fertility Rate by Country 2019 report, Taiwan appeared at the bottom of the list of 200 countries that was published by the World Population Review based in California.

Other countries with total fertility rates similar to Taiwan’s 1.218 children per woman were Moldova (1.23), Portugal (1.26) and Poland (1.29), according to the report.

In a press release, however, Taiwan’s National Development Council (NDC) said the rate for Taiwan did not match its data.    [FULL  STORY]

RESERVATIONS: The transportation ministry said no similar device exists for motorcycles and a drunk driver could ask a sober person to unlock the device for them

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 26, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications supports the use of ignition interlock

devices to curb drunk-driving recidivism, a source close to the ministry said.

The ministry’s apparent change in stance came after a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.

The committee was charged with conducting a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) ahead of a plenary session today.

Lawmakers could push the amendments through their second and third reading today if negotiations between legislative party caucuses and ministry officials go smoothly.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan fighting back against Beijing’s containment overseas

Asia Times
By: Asia Times staff

Taiwan’s Overseas Community Affairs Council and Foreign Ministry are working together under a common national-security imperative to counter China’s tactics to contain the activities and muzzle the voice of the island’s envoys and residents around the world.

Beijing has been accused of deploying pro-unification groups to try to sway public opinion overseas, in particular in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian nations. They do this by using rallies, seminars and veiled propaganda. Meanwhile, Taiwanese envoys may sometimes face expulsion and Taiwanese passport holders can be denied access to international organizations as a result of Beijing flexing its political and economic muscle.

The United Nations has stopped allowing Taiwanese nationals using Taiwan-issued travel documents to enter its headquarters and offices in New York and Geneva after Tsai Ing-wen, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, became president in 2016. The move is believed to be the result of pressure exerted by China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and is one of the biggest contributors to UN funding.

Beijing is also attempting to dominate the narrative when it comes to the teaching of Mandarin overseas and Chinese-language broadcasting, as part of its comprehensive “united front” effort.    [FULL  STORY]

According to a recent survey, the public in Taiwan is not war shy after all.

The Diplomat
Date: March 22, 2019
By: Yao-Yuan Yeh, Charles K.S. Wu, Austin Wang, and Fang-Yu Chen

On January 2, China’s President Xi Jinping made an overt threat to retake Taiwan back by military force. In this speech, Xi reiterated China’s long-term policy toward Taiwan: that “reunification” under the one China principle was the best way forward for cross-strait relations. To achieve this goal, China is willing to fight against foreign forces who might seek to interfere and the “tiny” minority of Taiwan independence forces and their activities.

Not only was China’s message poorly received in Taiwan, it laid the ground for a strong response from Taiwan’s incumbent leader. President Tsai Ing-wen responded to Xi’s message with unprecedented sternness, stating that Taiwan would never accept “one country, two systems” as the basis for the future of cross-strait relations and that unification is “impossible” under her tenure. Tsai’s rhetoric marked a turning point in her approval rating, which climbed up to nearly 50 percent from the previous low 30s. Tsai’s response also earned support from the White House and the U.S. Congress; both went on record that Washington would support Taiwan to fend off pressure from China.

While a cross-strait war still seems like a remote possibility, as China begins acting more hostile to Taiwan, many have begun to ask: Are citizens in Taiwan willing to fight against China? There are numerous studies that explore the ways in which China might militarily invade Taiwan; however, the question of public support for an upcoming conflict in Taiwan remained largely unexamined.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.We are especially interested in two perspectives. First, will the public in Taiwan pull their support from a war effort when knowing that battle deaths are likely to occur? If most of the public decide not to support a military conflict with China once a low threshold number of war deaths has been reached (e.g. several hundred), then we could infer that the tolerance of deaths in battle and the confidence in continuing a military conflict with China is low. Second, we are interested in the factors that might sway public opinion on their tolerance for casualties    [FULL  STORY]

18 year old Ou-yang Nana has been targeted by netizens and Chinese govt. agencies for attending the show associated with Falun Gong

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/24 
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – An 18 year old Taiwanese actress and musician working in

China, Ou-yang Nana (歐陽娜娜), has become a target of harassment by Chinese netizens, for her alleged support of Taiwan Independence, despite declaring that she recognizes herself as Chinese in a recent Facebook post.

On March 21, Ou-yang stated in a post to social media that she was proud to be Chinese. However, many Chinese netizens balked at her statement, declaring her an opportunist, and pointing out that she had not renounced her Taiwanese citizenship.

The actresses post was in response to reports that Ou-yang had attended a dance performance in 2010 that was staged by the famous Shenyun Dance troupe, which is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious group.

Ouyang along with her mother and sisters attended the Shenyun performance in New York City when she was only nine years old. A photo of the family taken almost ten years ago at the show was dug up by the State Council’s office for dealing with cult activity and shared to their official Weibo account.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/24
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu 

Nauru, March 24 (CNA) Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) flew to Nauru from Palau on Sunday to continue her eight-day visit to three diplomatic allies in the Pacific, which will also take her to the Marshall Islands.

Tsai was greeted by Republic of China Ambassador to Nauru Chow Chin-fa (周進發) and Nauruan officials, including Education Minister Charmaine Scotty and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Aroi, at the Nauru airport.

During her stay here before she leaves for the Marshall Islands on March 26, Tsai will hold talks with President Baron Divavesi Waqa, address the parliament and witness the signing of a sea patrol cooperation accord between the two countries.

She will also meet with Nauru Speaker of Parliament Cyril Buraman at a luncheon, visit the Naoero Museum, and offer encouragement to the orthopedics team from Taiwan’s Taichung Veterans General Hospital.    [FULL  STORY]

Man with BAC 1.2 was alive when pulled from vehicle but died in hospital

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/24 
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Early in the morning at 6:57 a.m. on Sunday, March 24, a drunk driver on the elevated No. 65 highway in New Taipei City lost control and launched their vehicle over the steel and concrete barrier.

The car flew through the air about 5 stories and 20 meters, violently crashing into the concrete perimeter of a skate rink in a Riverside Park of New Taipei’s Xinzhaung District.

Surprisingly, the driver was pulled from the mangled wreckage breathing and in one piece, but he ultimately died due to trauma sustained in the crash.

The man’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was a staggering 1.2 mg/L, reports UDN. The highest blood alcohol content ever recorded in the world is reportedly 1.4 mg/L.

The man was a 36 year old barista, and a resident of Taipei City. After being pulled from the crash, he was rushed to the hospital, but declared dead around 8:00 a.m.
[FULL  STORY]

• Every March, suit lovers, including young boys, take to the streets of Taipei clad in their best ensemble to celebrate bespoke, well-tailored menswear
• The event has been called the Taiwanese version of Pitti Uomo – the men’s fashion fair in Italy

South China Morning Post
Date: 23 Mar, 2019 
By: Cybil Huichen Chou  

Some of the more than 700 participants that took part in Suit Walk in Taipei, Taiwan, this month.

Every year in Taipei, around 700 males of all ages take to the streets clad in suits in a wide variety of colours, styles, patterns and length for Suit Walk, a celebration of the beauty of masculinity. Some Taiwanese see the event, which started in 2014, as the island’s version of Pitti Uomo, the men’s fashion fair in Italy.

“Suit Walk originated from a reunion of suit lovers to share their mutual passion for well-tailored outfits in its early days, but the event has now morphed into a gentle but large-scale social movement for fashion,” says Brian Shih, the event founder and former Greater China training manager for London-based Gieves & Hawkes, one of the world’s oldest bespoke tailoring companies, and for the French brand Cerruti 1881.

“When it comes to suits, we don’t advocate serious-looking attire … . Through Suit Walk we strive to present our best selves to the world.”    [FULL  STORY]

Jurist
March 22, 2019
By: Philppe LeDoux
Edited by: Geoffrey Paschke

JURIST Guest Columnist Philippe LeDoux, International Law Fellow in the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, discusses the pressing deadline for Taiwan’s parliament to amend the law to allow same-sex marriage…

The clock is ticking on the deadline set by the Constitutional Court of Taiwan to amend the law to allow same-sex couples to marry. On May 24, 2017, the court declared Taiwan’s existing marriage law unconstitutional on grounds of discrimination and gave parliament two years to amend it to include same-sex couples. If the government fails to act, the existing marriage provision in the civil code will be extended to same-sex couples starting May 24, 2019.

This ruling was hailed at the time as a ground-breaking step in Asia, paving the way for Taiwan to become the first place in the region to achieve marriage equality. But for activists in Taiwan, the road toward marriage equality has been strewn with obstacles.

In November 2018, the government held a referendum on whether the civil code should restrict marriage to a man and a woman. Of the 55 percent of eligible voters who participated in the referendum, 67 percent voted against marriage equality.
[FULL  STORY]