Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan told a Washington, DC crowd that the US must stand with Taiwan to counter a rising China.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/06
By: Milo Hsieh

Taoyuan mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is on a visit to the United States, spoke on Tuesday evening at the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church near Washington, DC. The talk, hosted by the Baltimore and Washington chapters of the DC Taiwan Association in America, included a speech and a presentation by Mayor Cheng.

Cheng, a popular Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) mayor who recently emphasized his support for incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), told the assembled audience that he appreciated the U.S. standing in support of Taiwan – and that its support must continue to protect democracy in the shadow of the Chinese authoritarian regime.

Cheng started with a report of what he did in the capital city of the United States. Throughout the day and prior to the talk, he visited four major U.S. think tanks: Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Brookings Institute, Hudson Institute and the conservative Heritage Foundation. He met with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy and discussed pressure from Beijing as well as U.S.-Taiwan relations ahead of the 40-year anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which governs unofficial ties between Washington and Taipei.

Cheng also met with two U.S. senators: Todd Young, a Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Democrat and Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016. Cheng said he also visited the White House, although he did not specify who he met.    [FULL  STORY]

The Bitan water dance event will run from Mar. 8 through Apr. 30

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The 2019 Bitan Water Dance Shows will kick off on Mar. 8, featuring new design, new effect, new stages, and newest water dance technology, New Taipei’s Tourism and Travel Department (TTD) said in a news release on Tuesday.

(video courtesy of New Taipei’s Tourism and Travel Department)

The Bitan water dance event will run from March 8 through April 30, with a 6-minute presentation showing on the hour and on the half hour between 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every night during the event period.

The 54-day water dance event will be designed by the same team that designed the water dance shows for this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival, the TTD said. Colorful lights and well-known domestic and foreign tunes will be presented to accompany the international-caliber water dance shows, the department said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/06
By: Chiang Chin-yeh and Flor Wang

Washington, March 5 (CNA) The United States Tuesday reiterated its support for Taiwan’s participation

at world bodies following the island’s effective exclusion from a recent World Health Organization (WHO) meeting held in Beijing.

“The United States remains committed to supporting Taiwan as it seeks to expand its already significant contributions to addressing global challenges,” the State Department told CNA in an e-mail after Taiwan’s failure to attend the WHO meeting on flu vaccines held in Beijing Feb. 21.

“The United States supports Taiwan’s membership in international organizations that do not require statehood as a prerequisite for membership. In international organizations that require statehood for membership, the United States supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation.”
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 05 March, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Premier Su Tseng-chang posted a video on his Facebook page Tuesday giving his thoughts on his performance during his first 50 days in office.

Su became premier after a major electoral defeat for the Democratic Progressive Party led his predecessor, William Lai, to step down.

Su posted letters from supporters of the Tsai administration’s efforts. Su also shared a caricature of himself and other administration officials done by supporter Wu Yi-chun.

Su has been given the nickname “light bulb”, an affectionate reference to his balding head. Su jokingly wrote that he has more hair than the drawing suggests.    [SOURCE]

Chinese general lists 10 ‘privileges’ Taiwan will ‘enjoy’ after surrendering to ‘one country, two systems’ framework

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/05
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In a recent interview with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) propaganda radio program Voice of the Strait (海峡之声), a Chinese general listed 10 supposed “privileges” Taiwan would “enjoy” if it surrendered to the tattered “one country, two systems” framework.

PLA Major General Wang Weixing (王衛星) started the propaganda lecture by saying that the people of Taiwan were ultimately deceived by serious stigmatization and demonization of the one country, two systems framework and “lost their right to know the truth.” Wang claimed that the reasons for their vague understanding are complex:

“First, the long-term anti-communist education of the Taiwanese authorities; second, the bad influence of the separatist ideology of Taiwan independence; third, the unwillingness to reunify and willingly evade and reject any plans for reunification; fourth, some media are misguided; fifth, the dissemination of information about ‘one country, two systems’ is insufficient to allow the Taiwanese people to understand it.”
Wang claimed that if Taiwan’s “reunification” was achieved under the model of “peaceful reunification and one country, two systems, Taiwan could be granted 10 “privileges.” He said that under the “one country, two systems” system, Taiwan would essentially have a local government under a unified state structure, but its powers would be greater that those of the provinces of China, and also greater than those of Hong Kong and Macau.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/05
By: Yang Su-min and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) Taiwan is seeking to develop a new technique for commercial growing of an

indigenous species of white truffle called “Tuber elevatireticulatum,” the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute (TFRI) announced Tuesday.

According to Fu Chun-hsu (傅春旭), an associate research fellow at the institute, it will take two years to complete the study on the artificial production techniques for the truffles.

The study will be conducted in both the laboratory and the field, Fu said, adding that hopefully, commercial production of the highly sought-after commodity can be launched in 10 years.

The market price of white truffles, most of which are imported, is more than NT$600,000 (US$19,453) per kilogram, the TFRI said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 06, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Eight people died of the flu last week, while the peak influenza season in Taiwan could be over by the

end of this month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

Nationwide, 86,829 flu-like illnesses were reported, 5 percent less than the week before, Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Kuo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.

There were 44 cases of flu-related serious complications, mainly from type A influenza virus, 25 cases of influenza A (H1N1) virus, with 27 cases involving people 65 or older and 12 cases where the patients were aged 50 to 64, he said.

In the cases of death, the patients were aged 50 to 85, seven of whom had chronic diseases and six who had not been vaccinated for this year’s flu season, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan English News
Date: March 4, 2019
By: Phillip Charlier

Police arrested a man at around 7:00pm this evening after a New Taipei City bank was robbed shortly after 3:00pm this afternoon.

At around 3:20pm, as shortly before closing time, a man wearing a surgical mask and a motorcycle helmet walked into a branch of the E. Sun Bank on Yuan-dong Road in Banqiao District, pointed a pistol at staff, and without saying word, went behind the counter to search for cash.

The suspect then fled with NT$500,000 cash. The whole robbery process took less than one minute, reported Apple Daily.

After the robbery was reported, police detectives went to the scene of the crime to begin investigations, and at around 7:00pm a suspect was arrested outside a convenience store in Zhonghe District.
[FULL  STORY]

Mother of Chinese YouTuber who supports Taiwan detained, questioned by authorities

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/04
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a Chinese YouTuber expressed support for Taiwan while vlogging from the

U.S., his mother was detained by Chinese authorities.

A Chinese YouTuber surnamed Liu, who currently resides in the U.S., has attracted attention for his previous comments in support of Taiwan’s freedom and democracy on his YouTube account Vlog心声. On Feb. 21, he announced that his mother had been detained by the National Security Bureau of Suzhou, China for four days and he was very worried.

On Feb. 21, he released a 13-minute video in which he showed a message sent to him by his mother via WeChat, which asked him what he had posted online because she found herself suddenly being called by the National Security Bureau and was asked to come in for questioning. She said that she was very frightened and was going to turn off her phone.

Liu said that his mother had been taken away by the National Security Bureau of Suzhou on Feb. 17, and he had gone several days without news from her. Three days after he posted the video, he suddenly received a video call from his father.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/04
By: William Yen

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Three Philippines students on Monday accused a manpower broker and a Taiwanese

university of subjecting them to abusive conditions during their work/study program in Taiwan, echoing similar charges leveled by Indonesian students in January.

The students, identified only as Raymark, Trixie and Joel, said they were among 52 students enrolled in a work/study program at Yu Da University of Science and Technology (YDUST) in Miaoli who had to work 40 hours per week at a tile manufacturing facility, double the maximum 20 hours a week legally allowed for such a program.

Raymark (front, left), Trixie (front, center) and Joel (front, right)

Some of the students were also on the receiving end of verbal abuse, including Taiwanese swear words, from factory foremen, while they were working, the students said at a press conference organized by DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅).    [FULL  STORY]