Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/20
By: Phoenix Hsu and Ko Lin 

Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) Taiwan’s Central News Agency launched Tuesday the second edition of its “I’m an Overseas Correspondent” program which offers college students in Taiwan a chance to intern in overseas locations where CNA has reporters.

CNA’s overseas internship program provides students with great learning opportunities and a broader perspective on the work of an overseas correspondents, CNA President Chang Jui-chang (張瑞昌) said Tuesday.

According to Chang, the 2019 internship program will build on the success of this year’s initiative.

In a speech delivered at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, Chang said the “I’m an Overseas Correspondent” program provides students with an experience that is different from studying at school, and an opportunity for them to learn about the importance of international news gathering.    [FULL  STORY]

LOBBYING: The Institute of National Defense and Security is to hold talks with foreign think tanks on Taiwan’s defense principles and outlook

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 21, 2018
By: Aaron Tu and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

While military strength is the most important factor in the nation’s self-defense,

support from friendly nations remains a prerequisite for victory, Institute of National Defense and Security chief executive Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) said on Monday.

“Taiwan’s security is in our hands, but we do not have it 100 percent. We need the support of like-minded nations in the region,” Lin said while presenting a report to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) asked Lin to comment on the nation’s military preparedness, after citing the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies as saying that Taiwan could fend off the Chinese People’s Liberation Army on its own.

Lin said he has over the past six months visited Chiashan Air Base in Hualien County several times and found the nation’s “Arizona-trained” F-16 pilots among the best in the world.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 19 November, 2018
By: Andrew Ryan

Pro-marriage equality advocates were out in force on the final weekend before the November 24th local elections in Taiwan. It was a last-minute push that drew tens of thousands of people on Sunday afternoon in front of the Presidential Office Building in downtown Taipei. Organizers say the crowd may have reached as many as 100,000.

Next Saturday, Taiwan citizens will head to the polls to vote in local elections; they will also have the opportunity to vote on ten referendums, five of which are related to marriage equality or the teaching of LGBT issues in schools. The results of the referendums could throw into question a Taiwan high court ruling from 2017 that said the nation’s marriage laws were unconstitutional because they discriminate against same sex couples. Although the referendums are binding, it’s questionable about the degree to which they could be enforced, especially if the ballot results are mixed or run counter to the high court ruling.

Sunday’s pro-marriage equality rally was organized by a collection of LGBT organizations called the “Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan”. Nearly two dozen groups of musicians and entertainers performed and gave speeches at the event, including singers like Shuo Hsiao, heavy metal band Chthonic (fronted by NPP lawmaker Freddy Lim), Ailing Tai, Lee Teh-yun, Afalean Lu, and Lara Liang.
[FULL  STORY]

ITRI’s Hybrid Power Drone with High Payload and Duration and ELECLEAN’s Disinfectant Spray were both named CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honorees

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/11/19
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A device developed by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan’s largest high-tech applied research institution, and another product rolled out by ITRI’s spinoff have both won CES 2019 Innovation Awards, according to a news release issued by ITRI earlier this month.

ITRI’s Hybrid Power Drone with High Payload and Duration alongside ELECLEAN’s Disinfectant Spray were each named CES 2019 Innovation Award Honorees in the Robotics and Drones category and the Home Appliances category, respectively, the institute said in the news release.

The annual CES Innovation Awards program honors outstanding product design and engineering in brand-new consumer technology products.

“ITRI’s Hybrid Power Drone with High Payload and Duration is an octocopter that can hover up to 45 minutes at 30 kg payload, which is over three times the endurance of a drone powered solely by lithium battery,” the news release said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/19
By: Ku Chuan and William Yen

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮, center) / image taken from MOFA website
Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the Marshall Islands on Monday for a three-day visit that will celebrate 20 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement.

Wu will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Marshall Islands on Nov. 20, 1998 on Tuesday before leaving on Wednesday.

Upon his arrival earlier in the day, Wu was greeted by Bruce Kijiner, the Marshall Islands’ vice minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Neijon Edwards, designated ambassador to Taiwan, on behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade John Silk, who is currently on an overseas trip, the MOFA said.

Marshall Islands immigration director Damien Jacklick presented Wu with a certificate as the first person with Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship to enter the country visa-free, the MOFA statement said.    [FULL  STORY]

Butch Otter to meet Taiwan’s President, businesses to deepen ties in economics, culture, and education

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/18
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Governor of the U.S. State of Idaho, Butch Otter, touched

down in Taiwan yesterday for a brief visit to deepen Idaho-Taiwan ties in terms of economics, culture, and education.

Otter will meet with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as well as visit Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taichung City Government, and the Taiwan Flour Mills Association. The governor will also meet a host of Taiwanese businesspersons to discuss potential opportunities for cooperation.

Otter will visit Taiwan from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 at the invitation of the Taiwan government. He will be joined by he Idaho Department of Commerce Director, Bobbi-Jo Meuleman, and Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director, Celia Gould, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The visit will be Otter’s fourth to Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/11/18
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, Nov. 18 (CNA) Taiwan welcomes all filmmakers to visit and enjoy the freedom

of speech available to everyone in the country including visitors, but the views of the Taiwanese people should be respected, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Sunday.

Tsai was responding to the debate between netizens in Taiwan and China over the acceptance speech given by Taiwanese documentary director Fu Yu (傅榆) at the 55th Golden Horse Awards ceremony on Saturday.

“I hope one day my country will be treated as an independent entity,” said Fu, whose film “Our Youth in Taiwan”– which focuses on the 2014 Sunflower Movement against a proposed trade deal with China — won this year’s best Documentary Award.

Later, award-winning Chinese actor Tu Men (涂們) said when he went on the stage that he was honored to present an award at the Golden Horse Awards ceremony in “China Taiwan” and that he felt “both sides are like family.”    [FULL  STORY]

VOTE ‘YES’:A number of musicians, filmmakers and politicians showed support for referendums No. 14 and 15 with performances and speeches yesterday

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 19, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

More than 100,000 people, including musicians, filmmakers and politicians,

yesterday rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei to show support for same-sex marriage ahead of Saturday’s referendums on the issue.

“In this last week leading up to the referendums, we hope to encourage more people to vote yes on referendums No. 14 and 15, and to vote no in Nos. 10, 11 and 12,” the Gender Equality Education Coalition, which organized the event, said in a statement, referring to five referendums related to LGBT rights that are to be held alongside the nine-in-one elections on Saturday.

Referendum No. 14 aims to legalize same-sex marriage by amending the Civil Code and No. 15 requires that classes on homosexuality be included in compulsory education, while the other three advocate opposing stances.

“We hope to protect every family and ensure they are respected equally,” the coalition said, adding that the rally was planned with the goals of promoting LGBT rights and “using music to help heal all the pain caused by the increased political polarization and misinformation spread by conservative groups.”    [FULL  STORY]