Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/23
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) Ambassadors from two of Taiwan’s Central American

allies reaffirmed Thursday their respective governments’ commitment to maintaining diplomatic relationship with the Republic of China (Taiwan), two days after neighboring El Salvador announced its change of allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs first announced the severing of ties with El Salvador Tuesday, after which El Salvador declared that it was cutting ties with Taiwan to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) attributed the loyalty switch to China’s campaign of luring away Taiwan’s allies with promises of massive financial assistance and investment.

Since then, many local scholars and former diplomats, including ex-Foreign Minister Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) have warned that more Central America allies, particularly Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, could be next in line.    [FULL  STORY]

COMMEMORATION: Defense minister Yen said the national defense strategy emphasizes protecting forces, winning battles in near-sea areas and annihilating units on beachheads

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 24, 2018
By: Aaron Tu and Jonathan Chin  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

Deterrence through military strength is the best hope for peace and the

armed forces will show the public their raison d’etre through their unshakable determination to defend the nation, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said yesterday.

Yen made the remarks in a speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, a protracted artillery duel between Republic of China and Chinese communist forces from Aug. 23 to Sept. 22, 1958, known in Taiwan as the 823 Artillery Bombardment.

The commemoration was attended by active and retired generals, Kimen County Government functionaries and Veteran Affairs Council officials.

Highlighting the Chinese military threat and the necessity of maintaining a military that can mount a credible deterrence, Yen said: “Security lies only in strength; if you want peace, prepare for war.”    [FULL  STORY]

Business Report
Date: 22 August 2018
By: REUTERS

INTERNATIONAL – Taiwan’s last diplomatic ally in Africa, the Kingdom of eSwatini, said on Wednesday it had no intention of switching ties to China, after a Chinese diplomat said he expected it to ditch Taipei soon amid a bitter diplomatic dispute.

Taiwan, which China claims as a wayward province with no right to state-to-state relations, now has formal ties with only 17 countries, almost all small, less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, such as Belize and Nauru.

It lost its latest ally, El Salvador, on Tuesday, the third country to fall to China this year. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to fight China’s “increasingly out of control” behavior after the move.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan High Court will have to do other corruption trial which ended with 12-year sentence over again

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/22
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former Cabinet Secretary-General Lin Yi-shih (林

益世) will have to serve two years in prison in a corruption case, while a related 12-year verdict will have to be reconsidered, according to a ruling by the Supreme Court Wednesday.

Lin was once one of the most promising young Kuomintang (KMT) politicians, elected legislator at the age of 31 in 1999 and joining the Cabinet in 2012, during the rule of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The scandal broke into the open in the same year, when a businessman accused Lin through the media of demanding NT$83 million (US$2.7 million) from him in return for a contract with a state-run company, after he had already paid Lin NT$63 million (US$2 million) earlier when he was still a lawmaker.

The case acquired a high profile due to its implications of political corruption, and Lin was detained for a while.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/08/22
By: Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Aug. 22 (CNA) A U.S. expression of disappointment over El

Salvador’s decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing shows close cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S., experts said Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs first announced the severing of ties with El Salvador Tuesday, after which El Salvador declared it was cutting ties with Taiwan to establish formal relations with the People’s Republic of China.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) attributed the loyalty switch to China’s campaign of luring away Taiwan’s allies with promises of massive financial assistance and investment.

When asked for comment on the U.S. stance on the incident, a State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the decision was disappointing.    [FULL  STORY]

NOT-SO SUBTLE: The Chinese assistant foreign minister said Beijing hopes that no African nations are ‘left behind’ ahead of next month’s forum with African leaders

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 23, 2018
By: Lu Yi-hsuan  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday dismissed a

remark by a senior Chinese diplomat that Taiwan’s sole diplomatic ally in Africa, Eswatini, would soon switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a public event at the ministry in Taipei, Wu said speculations about Eswatini switching allegiance to Beijing are nothing but a “phony issue.”

“I just had lunch with Eswatini Foreign Minister Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze to talk about how to deepen our bilateral relations,” Wu said.

The ministry has also said several times that ties between Taiwan and Eswatini are strong, and that the latter has specifically told Taipei that it would not attend the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation next month in Beijing.    [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
August 21, 2018
By: Nelson Renteria

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador said on Tuesday it hoped its

economy would get a lift from China after it broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing, reducing the dwindling group of allies the Asian island has in Latin America.

El Salvador was the third Latin American country in the past two years to switch alliances, and presidential spokesman Roberto Lorenzana said attracting investment and developing the economy were key goals behind the decision.

“Fundamentally, it’s an interest in betting on the growth of our country with one of the world’s most booming economies,” he said in a television interview following Monday’s announcement. “El Salvador can’t turn its back on international reality.”

Monday’s move left Taiwan with only 17 allies, and came shortly after its president visited Belize and Paraguay, aiming to shore up diplomatic ties in the face of Chinese pressure to stamp out the island’s international recognition.    [FULL  STORY]

Necessary precaution measures might not have been taken: reports

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/08/21
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Three workers were pronounced dead after having been pulled from under a mudslide at a site near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

The men were moving tubes used for the supply of drinking water and for fire fighters at a depth of 4 meters when the side of the pit started sliding down, burying them underneath, the Apple Daily reported.

The local fire department sent a crew to pull the men from under the mud, but they were pronounced dead after their arrival at nearby hospitals at 6 p.m. One worker escaped with a scare, while another one pulled himself from under the mud with light injuries.

According to survivors, the work at the site had just been completed, and the crew members had been collecting their gear to prepare to leave, according to the Apple Daily.    [FULL  STORY]