Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/29
By: Phoenix Hsu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) The quality of higher education in Taiwan is increasingly causing

concern, with over 80 percent of people believing the high unemployment rate among new college graduates is serious, according to a survey released Sunday by Professor Huang Kun-huei Education Foundation (黃昆輝教授基金會).

The survey identifies several problems in the higher education system that worry respondents, including a lack of international competitiveness among students (78.3 percent), the detachment of universities from the needs of industry (77.7 percent) and the poor quality of universities (76.5 percent).

The poll also found that 58.8 percent of respondents were worried about social stratification caused by education and 78.3 thought the government should provide financial subsidies to economically disadvantaged students.    [FULL  STORY]

The Philippine Star
Date: July 29, 2018
By: Emmanuel Tupas (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines — Ozamiz Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog confirmed reports that he eluded authorities by traveling to Taiwan on  a fishing boat, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said yesterday.

Albayalde said Parojinog mentioned upon his arrival from Taiwan on Friday that two people helped him ride a boat and then transfer to a bigger fishing boat.

Albayalde did not say if Parojinog identified the people who assisted him.

Information gathered from the intelligence community indicated that Parojinog left the Philippines sometime last September, more than a month after his brother Reynaldo, mayor of Ozamis City, and 15 of their relatives and associates were killed in simultaneous raids.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/07/28
By:  Central News Agency

Taiwan’s top agency in charge of China policy reiterated on Saturday that Kinmen should

act “in the best interest of the nation” by postponing a dedication ceremony scheduled for August 5 to mark the beginning of water importation from China’s Fujian province into the county.

Amid China’s increasing efforts to limit Taiwan’s space on the international stage, especially on the heels of its recent push to revoke Taichung City’s right to host East Asian Youth Games, it is inappropriate for Kinmen to hold the ceremony, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a statement.

The MAC’s statement came after Kinmen government on Friday refused to toe the line and instead asked the MAC to reconsider its position.

In 2015, facing a possible water shortage due to a combination of factors, including scarcity of precipitation, lack of large dams and a growing number of Chinese tourists, Kinmen’s water authority signed a 30-year water purchase agreement with its counterpart in Fujian to meet its water demands.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/28
By: Elaine Hou and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) The South African liaison office in Taipei on Friday denied a rumor that a bilateral economic meeting with Taiwan in Pretoria has been canceled this year due to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s African tour this month.

The annual Taiwan-South Africa Economic Consultation, which was scheduled to be held in Pretoria in July, has been postponed to allow preparations to be made for the meeting, said Seraki Matsebe, head of the Liaison Office of South Africa in Taiwan.

The Chinese president is currently on a week-long tour of Africa, during which he will visit Johannesburg in South Africa from July 27-29 to take part in a BRICS summit.

The rescheduling has nothing to do with Xi’s visit, Matsebe told reporters in an attempt to dispel rumors that have appeared in the local media.    [FULL  STORY]

UNDETERRED: With a little more than one month to go, the campaign to have the nation compete as ‘Taiwan’ in Tokyo has collected about 90,000 of the 280,000 signatures needed

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 29, 2018
By: Peng Wan-hsin  /  Staff reporter

A group of pro-localization organizations yesterday called for Premier William Lai (賴清

德) to lend his support to a proposed referendum to have the national team compete in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics as “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei.”

China was extremely irrational in using the name rectification campaign initiated by Taiwanese civic groups as a pretext to meddle in sports events, Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) said, referring to the East Asian Olympic Committee’s (EAOC) decision on Tuesday to revoke Taichung’s right to host the first East Asian Youth Games next year.

The decision was taken in a vote reportedly called by China’s representatives due to the name rectification campaign.

Taiwan, an EAOC member, voted against the motion, while Japan abstained, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) said, adding that the EAOC includes Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, North Korea and Mongolia.
[FULL  STORY]

China is picking off Taiwan’s allies

The Economist explains
Date: Jul 27th 2018
By S.D.

IF THE inauguration of a Paraguayan president next month draws international attention it will be because of one of its attendees: Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan. Paraguay is one of just 17 countries (plus the Vatican) that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In doing so they disqualify themselves from having formal relations with China, which considers the island nation a renegade province. They also subject themselves to intense pressure from the Chinese government to abandon Taiwan, in the form of both carrots (large investments) and sticks (tourism restrictions). So why do countries hold on, and how long can they last?

Taiwan had 28 allies in 1990. But that number is declining. China has taken four of them—Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Panama and São Tomé and Príncipe—in the past two years alone. According to the Chinese government, it is impossible to have diplomatic relations with both countries because they are in fact only one country. Taiwan accuses China of using “dollar diplomacy” to poach allies. Shortly before the Dominican Republic switched allegiances earlier this year, China offered it investment and loans worth some $3.1 bn, says the Taiwanese government. Taiwan itself offers enticements too: Paraguay receives money and police vehicles from the island. Shared history also helps. Paraguay and Taiwan established relations in 1957, brought together by their anti-communism.     [FULL  STORY]

The year of 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the South Pacific island state

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/07/27
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The delegation led by the President of the Marshall Islands,

Hilda C. Heine, was welcomed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with military honors and a 21-gun salute Friday afternoon in front of the Presidential Office Building.

As this year marked the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Taiwan and the South Pacific island state, President Tsai remarked that even though the world had changed so much over the years, “our countries have continued to deepen our collaborative relations.”

President Tsai said with the principle of steadfast diplomacy and substantive cooperative relations, Taiwan and the Marshall Islands continue to improve the welfare of peoples of the two nations. “We will use this state visit as a chance to discuss how best to deepen cooperation between our two countries.”

Having visited Taiwan for the third time, President Heine spoke in a tender tone that “Taiwan has always had a special place in the hearts and minds of the Marshallese people” due to common cultural heritage, shared principles of freedom, justice, and the rule of law, as well as admiration held by the Marshallese people for Taiwan’s technological development and innovation.    [FULL  STORY]