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China’s efforts coercive, AEI fellow says

NO PUSHBACK: Beijing has demonstrated that it can censor speech in the rest of the world without incurring any real cost to itself, Michael Mazza said in an opinion piece

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 02, 2018
By: Nadia Tsao and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter in WASHINGTON, with staff writer

Democratic nations must stand up to China in defense of democracy, as Beijing demands international companies adhere to its “one China” principle, Michael Mazza, a visiting fellow in foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank, said in an opinion piece published on Tuesday.

China’s demand that foreign companies outside of China follow Beijing’s political policy on Taiwan is an attack on democracy that should not be tolerated, he said in the piece, published on the Nikkei Asian Review’s Web site, titled “China’s airline censorship over Taiwan must not fly.”

Failing to counter these attacks would bring the war on democracy to the front door of the US, Japan and other like-minded nations, Mazza said.

Beijing’s pressure on Taiwan has been the result of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) refusing to discuss the cross-strait relationship in terms acceptable to Beijing — by refusing to refer to both sides of the Taiwan Strait as “one China” — and demanding that international companies to refer to Taiwan in Beijing-specified terms is one of a number of ways in which China has been trying to isolate Taiwan and push it out of the international sphere, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Fight Against Human Trafficking

NGOs urge greater responsibility during Taiwan’s international anti-human trafficking workshop.

The Diplomat
Date: July 31, 2018
By: James X. Morris

Last week Taiwan hosted the 2018 International Workshop on Strategies For Combating

Representatives from Human Rights for Migrant Fishers, a coalition of NGOs, demand greater responsibility from Taiwan’s authorities during the International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking (July 25, 2018).
Image Credit: Human Rights for Migrant Fishers

Human Trafficking (IWSCHT). While a workshop, it highlight’s Taiwan’s activity as a stakeholder in addressing global human trafficking, probably much to Beijing’s chagrin. The event was hosted by Taiwan’s Immigration Agency, and while productive, the international gesture didn’t go without protest at home.

This year’s IWSCHT participants included envoys, academics, and NGOs from three continents, including representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. The workshop unveiled a new “4P” strategy for fighting human trafficking, focusing on prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership.

A press release on IWSCHT indicates that Taiwan has signed Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation agreements on countering human trafficking with 17 countries; an additional MOU will be signed with a European country later this year.

In the IWSCHT press release, Taiwan’s Minister of Interior Hsu Kuo-yung stated the growth of globalization has generated greater migration, and along with it, international crime. Cultural differences, particularly in labor standards, create gaps in which exploitation and human trafficking can occur.   [FULL  STORY]

At Sea on Taiwan’s Last Fire-Fishing Boats

Generations of nocturnal fishermen have lured their catch with fire.

Atlas Obscura
Date: July 31, 2018
By: Leslie Nguyen-Okwu

The fisherman are ready with their nets as the sardines leap towards the fire. ALL PHOTOS: JOE RUSSO

It’s pitch black on Taiwan’s waters, and in a few minutes, all hell will break loose. A boom and blaze of fire explode into the night sky, followed by the sour stench of sulphur. Thousands of tiny, ray-finned sardines suddenly leap out of the Pacific Ocean—in a wild, graceless dance—hurling themselves towards the scorching flames. Meanwhile, fishermen work feverishly to scoop them up, before they plunge back into the sea. The scene is utter chaos.

Traditional sulphuric fire fishing is a century-plus-old practice found only in Jinshan, a sleepy little port city near the northern tip of Taiwan. Fishermen use a bamboo torch and soft sulphuric rocks to ignite a fire fierce enough to drive hordes of silver-scaled sardines to the water’s surface. And the golden hour for making fish fly? Set sail during a “moonless night,” when the sun has long dipped below the horizon and the fish are starving for light, says 71-year-old Ketong Lee, a boat captain who’s been fire fishing for more than half a century.

From left: a fisherman on board; one of the many sulphur canisters on the boat.
From left: a fisherman on board; one of the many sulphur canisters on the boat.
Sulphur is one of Jinshan’s most abundant natural resources, found everywhere from the village’s rocky golden cliffs to the murky-colored hot springs. Each fire-fishing boat carries a metal cauldron full of these dusty sulphuric rocks, which produce flammable gas that is fed into a long, skinny bamboo rod affixed to the boat’s rear. In a process known poetically as “phototaxis,” the fire’s blinding brightness “attracts the fish so fervently that they leap out of the water towards the smoldering light,” says Yushan Han, a professor at the National Taiwan University Institute of Fisheries Science.
[FULL  STORY]

President Tsai reiterates Taiwan’s commitment to upholding universal values, regional stability

Taiwan Today
Date: July 31, 2018

President Tsai Ing-wen (right) receives LI President Juli Minoves Triquell at the Office of the President July 30 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Office of the President)

President Tsai Ing-wen said July 30 that Taiwan’s commitment to upholding universal values and safeguarding regional peace and stability remains resolute in the face of China’s efforts to suppress the country’s international space and threaten its democratic way of life.

The 2019 East Asian Youth Games set for central Taiwan’s Taichung City were canceled last week by the East Asian Olympic Committee due to pressure from China, Tsai said. Beijing’s political interference in sport infringes on the rights of over 2,000 competitors from nine countries and territories scheduled to attend the event, she added.

Taiwan will never bow to pressure from China, the president said, adding that as a responsible member of the international community, the country will continue to work with like-minded partners to defend shared values such as freedom of expression, human rights and the rule of law.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News: Taichung Mayor Leads Youth Games Protests, Tsai to Visit Belize, Paraguay

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/07/31
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Photo credit: 「林佳龍」臉書

Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said Monday that he believes the world needs to pay attention to China’s “ubiquitous suppression” of Taiwan as evidenced by its move to revoke his city’s rights to host the 2019 East Asian Youth Games.

The statement comes after the city government announced it had filed a formal complaint with the East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) over its recent decision to cancel the games, which had been scheduled for next August.

Speaking to reporters, Lin said his office will exhaust all possible legal means to fight what he described as “the injustice” and said even if the decision cannot be changed, “we need to get more people to understand the truth behind China’s moves.”

Lin also told reporters that he is willing to travel to Beijing help to resolve the situation if the Chinese government approves such a visit.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Thai academic at National Taiwan University accused of sexual harassment in China

Harvard Ph.D. graduate would have started work at NTU on Aug.1

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/07/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

NTU investigates sexual harassment claims against Thai academic. (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Thai citizen with a long list of academic degrees has been accused of sexual harassment in China, leading to National Taiwan University (NTU) postponing his appointment, the Apple Daily reported Tuesday.

NTU’s prestigious Architecture and Urban and Rural Research Institute had invited the man to serve as an assistant professor for a year as he was a participant in Taiwan’s “Yushan Young Scholars Project” designed to keep intellectual talent on the island.

According to the Apple Daily, the man possessed an impressive array of diplomas, from a Ph.D. in anthropology at Harvard, to a Fulbright scholarship to degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Oxford University in Great Britain.

However, a reader of the Apple Daily who studied in China told the newspaper he heard that the man had abused his position of power as teacher in that country to sexually harass female students.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s six municipalities endorse Open Data Charter

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/31
By: Pan Tze-yu and Elizabeth Hsu

Image taken from Pixabay

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Taiwan’s six municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — have endorsed the Open Data Charter to become the first cities in Asia to pledge their commitment to open data, the National Development Council said Tuesday.

International efforts to promote the Open Data Charter, a collaboration between governments and experts began in 2013. Two years later the charter was founded based on six guiding principles on which governments should publish information and the aspiration that data should be open by default, timely and interoperable.

As of late July, a total of 19 countries, 35 local governments and 46 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have endorsed the charter, the council said in a statement.

The six key principales of the charter, which seeks to embed the culture and practice of openness in governments in ways that are resilient to change by opening up data, include making data open by default, timely and comprehensive, accessible and usable, comparable and interoperable.    [FULL  STORY]

TSU calls on DPP to promote proposed referendum using ‘Taiwan’ at Games

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 01, 2018
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday called on the Democratic Progressive

From left, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) women’s section director Ouyang Jui-lien, TSU Chairman Lau Yi-te and writer Neil Peng hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday.  Photo: Su Fang-ho, Taipei Times

Party (DPP) to promote a referendum proposed by civic groups to rename the national sports team from “Chinese Taipei” to “Taiwan” for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which it said would be the most effective way to resist pressure from China.

The East Asian Olympic Committee on Tuesday last week revoked Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games in August next year.

In a statement issued the following day, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman An Fengshan (安峰山) cited the proposed referendum as the reason for the committee’s decision, saying that it contravened a 1981 agreement between the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee to name the team “Chinese Taipei.”

While President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has expressed support for Taichung’s decision to appeal the decision and has said Taiwanese are blameless, she needs to take more concrete action, TSU Chairman Lau Yi-te (劉一德) told a news conference in Taipei
[FULL  STORY]

Marines in AIT not leverage for Taiwan

Global Times
Date: 2018/7/29

The Liberty Times of Taiwan reported Sunday that Washington has informed senior officials of Taiwan’s “Ministry of National Defense” that the US will in September post Marines at the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) new complex in Taipei. This has triggered collective follow-up reports by Taiwan media.

The speculation that US Marines might be sent to the new AIT site for security work emerged a few months ago. Only US embassies and consulates are guarded by Marines. Posting US Marines to the AIT would mean a public US declaration that the AIT is equivalent to a US embassy or consulate instead of a non-governmental institution. But Washington has not confirmed the report. AIT responded that security arrangements at its new office compound will be the same as at the current site.

The information about possible new security arrangements of the AIT was mostly reported by Taiwan media. They usually quote sources anonymously. Most of these reports bedimmed one detail: If the Marines are to be stationed at the AIT, will they wear Marine uniforms or casual clothes? Will they publicly manifest their identities, change to another identity or simply blur the issue?

Taiwan’s pro-independence activists strongly hope that US Marines will fully showcase their identity so as to proclaim that the AIT is no different from other US embassies and consulates as well as to prove that the island is an “independent sovereign country.” The separatist forces in Taiwan have suffered from multiple strikes from the Chinese mainland recently. They are hoping to lift the morale of their camp through hyping topics related to the AIT.     [FULL  STORY]

Chiayi Air Base in southwestern Taiwan to stage air show on August 11

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/29
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Four ROCAF Mirage 2000 Fighters Formation (photo taken from Wikipedia)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Chiayi Air Base will be open to the public and stage an air show on August 11 to demonstrate the air capabilities of Taiwan Air Force’s main fighter aircraft as well as aerobatic displays from the Thunder Tigers, according to a Military News Agency report.

According to a Central News Agency report, the main fighter aircraft includes the Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), F-16 fighters and Phantom fighter bombers.

The Air Force Command Headquarters said the air base will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on August 11, and in addition to the air show, there will be performances on the ground from the Air Force’s Honor Guards and the Army’s Special Force, according to the MNA report.

The Air Force Command Headquarters said that if foreign nationals would like to visit the air show, they will need to send a copy of their nationality document and passport to Mailbox No. 90313, Shuishang Township, Chiayi County (嘉義水上郵政90313號信箱) for registration. Migrant care workers are allowed to visit the air show with the subjects of their care, and foreign or Chinese spouses can visit the show with their Taiwanese spouses, the MNA report said, adding that all foreign nationals will have to bring their identify documents and residence permits with them for checking.    [FULL  STORY]