The museum’s two viewing halls will open to the public on Dec. 15

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/10/05
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Tainan Art Museum (台南市美術館) announced that the first two halls of the museum will open their doors for the first time on Dec. 15, reported CNA.

In adding to the good news, the museum outlined plans to set up Taiwan’s first art research center, which will include Taiwan’s first facilities to restore paintings,

The Tainan Art Museum is the first museum set up by an independent administrative institution, and will focus on collecting and preserving art largely by modern artists from Tainan, according to the official website.

The new museum will include galleries set across two halls, a multi-function theater, exclusive gallery for special artists, and restoration facilities.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/05
By: Elaine Hou, Chang Ming-hsuan and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) Taiwan’s government has decided to donate US$1 million to Indonesia to support relief efforts following a devastating earthquake that struck the island of Sulawesi in late September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday.

The MOFA will hand the US$1 million in relief funds to the Indonesian government to be put toward reconstruction of the area affected by the temblor.

The decision to make the donation was based on humanitarian needs and the close friendship between Taiwan and Indonesia, the ministry said.

In addition to the donation, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has opened two special bank accounts to take donations from anybody who wants to help people in Sulawesi recover from the earthquake, according to the MOFA.    [FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/04
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said Wednesday that he will file a lawsuit against author Ethan Gutmann if he fails to provide evidence he was involved in live organ harvesting in China.

Ko is also demanding Gutmann issues a public apology for the claims, which were made in a 2014 paper titled “The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to its Dissident Problem,” and reiterated at a press conference yesterday.

The mayor’s statement comes after Gutmann told reporters in Taipei that Ko was a broker for Taiwanese patients wanting to receive organ transplants in China.

He also claimed Ko created “incentives” for Chinese doctors to harvest live organs and was aware many of the organs came from Falun Gong members.    [FULL  STORY]

Richard Armitage calls on Pompeo to talk about how to improve peace and stability for Taiwan during trip to Beijing on Oct. 8

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/10/04
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage said

he hoped that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will bring up issues relating to Taiwan during his upcoming trip to China, at the sidelines of a conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 3.

When asked about what issues Pompeo should raise with Chinese officials, Armitage said that Taiwan was one of them, and suggested the two sides speak about how to ensure peace and stability for the people of Taiwan, reported United Daily News.

Armitage took questions from Taiwanese journalists after the launch of a joint report by him and Harvard academic Joseph S. Nye titled “The U.S.-Japan Alliance: More Important Than Ever” at a Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
[FULL  STORY]

TRANSPLANTS: The writer, who interviewed Ko for a book on organ harvesting in China, said that Ko had been at a congress with some doctors allegedly involved in the practice

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 05, 2018
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday accused US author Ethan Gutmann of

defamation in a criminal complaint, after Gutmann called him a “liar” on Tuesday.

Gutmann, an investigative writer focusing on human rights, in 2014 published The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, in which he describes the systematic harvesting of organs from Falun Gong followers in China.

The book cited an interview with Ko.

At a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday, Gutmann said that Ko acted as a “middleman” for Taiwanese who went to China for organ transplants and that by teaching Chinese doctors the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technique crucial for transplants, he offered a “pervasive incentive.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/10/04
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Many of the senior officials in the administration of United States

President Donald Trump are highly supportive of Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said Thursday, dismissing concerns Taiwan could become a bargaining chip in negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

Asked to comment on Taiwan-U.S. relations during the Trump administration, Wu said Washington’s support for Taipei has been consistent over the past decades, on the basis of the Taiwan Relations Act, through different administrations.

Many of the senior officials of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, and Randall Schriver, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, are longtime supporters and friends of Taiwan, going back to earlier posts, according to Wu.

Wu said he does not see those officials changing their long held stance on Taiwan in their new posts.    [FULL  STORY]

An Oxford Economics report estimates that Taiwan will have the world’s largest talent deficit by 2021.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/03
By: Chia-Ming Hsueh

After a period of expansion and reform, Taiwan’s higher education enjoys a high level of participation and a reputation for quality in Asia. The percentage of the population between ages 25 and 64 with a university or an advanced degree reached 45 percent in 2015, significantly higher than the 36 percent average for OECD countries. But the system has been facing increasing pressure from within and from outside of the country, making its future seem less optimistic.

During the period 1949 to 1987, the higher education system underwent a phase of planned growth. Many junior colleges and private universities were established to train skilled human resources for emerging industries.

During the 1990s the deregulation of education was broadly advocated. In 1994, the “410 Demonstration for Education Reform” called for an increased number of senior high schools and universities in each city to reduce the pressure of massification. In response to public demand, the number of higher education institutions increased considerably, from 130 in 1994 to 164 in 2007. Some were new, but many were upgraded junior colleges or technical institutes.    [FULL  STORY]