Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-03-26

US congressman Ed Royce says the Taiwan Travel Act has become law because Taiwan

and the United States both share democratic values. Royce, an author of the US bill, is the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Both houses of Congress unanimously passed the Taiwan Travel Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 16.

Under the bill, US officials at all levels are now allowed to travel to Taiwan to meet with their counterparts. The bill also permits senior Taiwanese officials to enter the US “under respectful conditions” and to meet with US officials, including from the State Department and the Pentagon.    [FULL  STORY]

 

China’s attempts to lure Taiwanese talent should serve to hasten economic and social reforms at home.

The News Lens 
Date: 2018/03/26
By: By Gunter Schubert, Taiwan Insight

On Feb. 28, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office announced a set of 31 new preferential policies

(31PP) to attract more Taiwanese to China by granting them equal treatment with their Chinese ‘compatriots’. Of these, 12 measures are concerned with facilitating market access and competition for Taiwanese enterprises in China.

In the future, Taiwanese people will be allowed to invest in state-owned enterprises, participate in public bidding and innovation programs (like the “Made in China 2025” strategy). Chinese institutions are to offer Taiwan’s security firms and banks their cooperation to strengthen the latter’s market position in China and enable them to offer more services.

Similarly, 19 measures offer new opportunities for highly educated Taiwanese to study, initiate start-ups or join the Chinese labor market in areas which have been difficult to enter in the past. For instance, Taiwanese are promised to get better access to the mainland’s cultural industries, restrictions on Taiwanese capital investment and technical participation in Chinese film-making will be relaxed. High-skilled professionals and technical personnel from 134 listed professions have been invited to work in China, with all administrative restrictions annulled, and Taiwanese patents brought to China will be protected by Chinese law.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Registration for the annual Taipei International Dragon Boat Championship starts at 10 a.m., Monday, March 26 and continues through 5 p.m., Friday, April 13, according to the Department of Sports (DOS) of Taipei City Government
 
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/03/26
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Registration for the annual Taipei International Dragon Boat Championship starts at 10 a.m., Monday, March 26 and continues through 5 p.m., Friday, April 13, according to the Department of Sports (DOS) of Taipei City Government.

Registration may be closed when the entry limit is reached, the DOS said. To enter, go to the official event website dragonboat.taipei (Chinese).

The 2018 Taipei International Dragon Boat Championship will be taking place at the Dajia Riverside Park between June 16 and 18.

The total prize money exceeds NT$ 3 million and subsidies will be granted subject to conditions provided in the competition rules, according to the DOS.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/26
By: Liao Yu-yang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) A Taiwanese delegation attending the 46th small and medium

enterprise (SME) working group meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Brunei will update the country’s initiative to help SMEs with digital transformation.

The delegation is headed by Hu Pei-ti (胡貝蒂), deputy director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

At the APEC SME working group meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan from Monday to Wednesday, Taiwan will propose the fourth phase of the APEC O2O (online-to-online) Initiative, which has been endorsed by Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Chile, the bureau said in a statement.

The group will seek APEC subsidies for the implementation of the next phase of the initiative, which was conceived to empower SMEs to embrace digital transformation in the digital era, the bureau said, describing the initiative as one of Taiwan’s “concrete contributions” at APEC.    [FULL  STORY]

Modern Diplomacy
Date: March 25, 2018
By: Newsroom 

May 15 – 16, 2018 ｜Taipei, Taiwan

Globally, there are 20 locations are assumed to possess the most outstanding wind resources, whilst Taiwan occupies 16 locations, with potential capacity of more than 6000MW. Therefore, Taiwan is considered as one of the top investment destination for offshore wind development. Also, the Taiwan Renewable Energy Development Act” puts forward a comprehensive renewable energy policy framework and institutionalizes a number of policies for Taiwan’s offshore wind development, including the establishment of a 20-year Feed in Tariff, zonal development, the “Thousand Wind Turbine Project”, and the “Offshore Demonstration Incentive Program.

Taiwan Power Company has published their process of the infrastructure development plan, with an estimated interconnection capacity of 10.65GW by 2025 to fulfill the offshore wind development plan. However, the lack of integrated industrial chain causes obstacles for the development of Taiwan offshore wind.

With the intention of connecting the local Taiwanese companies with international firms, Neoventure International decides to hold Taiwan Offshore Wind Energy Summit 2018 in Taipei on May 15-16, 2018. For TOWES 2018, we are dedicated to building a networking and match-making platform for all concerned industrial players to share the knowledge and to expand business contacts in this emerging market. What TOWES 2018 can provide is not only the topical sessions to update the market intelligence, but also to get connected with key project developers and potential technology partners in Taiwan.
[FULL  STORY]

For people living in the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area who want to have a one-day outing and get moderate exercise, Lover’s Lake and Dawulun Fort are definitely a two-in-one place they should not miss

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/03/25
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–As the weather on Saturday (Mar. 24) was perfect, I couldn’t resist the notion of heading out and flinging myself into the arms of Mother Nature. I visited Lover’s Lake (情人湖) and Dawulun Fort (大武崙砲台), a national historical site, in Taiwan’s northern port city of Keelung. For people living in the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area who want to have a one-day outing and get moderate exercise, Lover’s Lake and Dawulun Fort, perched on top of a mountain range bordering the west coast of Keelung Harbor, is definitely a place they should not miss.

I parked my car on the Waimushan (外木山）coast near the Dawulun Beach (大武崙海灘）and started hiking to the mountain lake via the Hai Xing trail (海興步道）, which is a 1km trail connecting the coast and Lover’s Lake. The heavily shaded trail is said to be an ancient route that local fishermen used to transport the fish they caught to markets in downtown Keelung. It’s a nice hike up the mountain because of shade and the balmy weather.

When reaching the ridge, I took a left at the intersection because I wanted to visit Dawulun Fort first, which is located on the top of the higher Mount Dawulun to the northeast of the lake. After walking down the trail for a couple of minutes, I came across the entrance of the trail from the lake to the national historical monument. The trail is actually a long flight of steep, winding concrete steps. A lookout platform halfway up the stairs affords beautiful views of Dawulun Beach and the vast sea below.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/25
By: Yeh Tze-kang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Police arrested a man in Taichung on Sunday for attempting to extort money from Chiayi City’s Police Bureau earlier in the day with a bomb threat.

The man, identified only by his surname Wang, phoned the bureau at around 2 p.m., claiming he had placed a bomb in a women’s bathroom at the Chiayi high-speed railway station.

Wang demanded that the bureau pay him NT$1 million or he would activate the bomb, Chiayi City police said.

Police traced down the origin of the call, which was from a hotel in Taichung. Chiayi police then went to Taichung and hooked up with police there before arresting the 39-year-old suspect at the hotel and taking him back to Chiayi City.    [FULL  STORY]

The US president has declared a new era of open competition between the world’s two largest economies – Taipei should beware of collateral damage

South China Morning Post
Date: 25 Mar 2018
By: Cary Huang

From a telephone conversation with the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the recent

signing of the Taiwan Travel Act (TTA), US President Donald Trumphas signalled his administration is amending Washington’s long-held China policy.

The TTA encourages exchange visits between US and Taiwanese officials at all levels. In December, Trump signed the National Defence Authorisation Act which calls for mutual port visits for both navies.

Both moves have significantly shifted US policy towards Taiwan in a manner that has deeply riled China. According to state media, the moves challenge Beijing’s cherished “one China” policy and thus risk provoking a war across the straits. Beijing demands that any country wanting diplomatic relations with China cannot have official contact with Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]