Radio Taiwan International
Date: 03 September, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Premier Su Tseng-chang has told lawmakers that the decision to ease import restrictions of US beef and pork is in line with Taiwan’s strategic interests.

The Tsai administration has announced that beginning next year, Taiwan will allow the import of pork containing the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine, an additive commonly found in pork from the US. The administration also says that from next year, Taiwan will lift a ban on US beef from cattle over 30 months old, a ban put in place over concerns about mad cow disease.

These policy changes remove a major stumbling block in Taiwan’s trade relations with the US, but have seen a backlash from pig farmers and from the opposition KMT.

On Thursday, Su addressed lawmakers about the planned policy changes towards imports of US meat products.    [FULL  STORY]

A local population fighting for the survival of its values and lifestyle is not to be taken lightly.

The National Interest
Date: September 3, 2020
By: Gary Sands

Here's What You Need To Remember: Despite recent heated rhetoric from Beijing and live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait, it would appear from the polling that Taiwanese are taking the threats in stride.

A 2018 poll revealed nearly two-thirds of Taiwanese believe their military is not capable of preventing an invasion by China's armed forces. Only 27 percent of those polled were confident Taiwan forces could deter an invasion. The poll was conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation just days before a live-fire military exercise was held by China in the Taiwan Strait on April 18.

Despite a lack of confidence in their military, nearly 70 percent of Taiwanese would either join the army or put up resistance should China launch an attack, according to another survey conducted by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. A lesser number (55 percent) would fight if war was instigated by a declaration of independence from Taipei.

Home field advantage

A local population fighting for the survival of its values and lifestyle is not to be taken lightly, as made clear by Ian Easton. In his 2017 book, The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan's Defense and American Strategy in Asia, Easton believes the cohesive spirit of 2.5 million registered men of military age, fighting on difficult yet familiar terrain, gives Taiwan the advantage. Moreover, Easton contradicts the views of those Taiwanese recently polled who believe their military is not up to the task of defending the nation, arguing “There are few nations on the planet more resilient and ready for an enemy first strike than Taiwan.” He points to Taiwanese fighter jets, which could inflict a loss ratio of two or three to one against inferior Chinese pilots, and the possibility Taiwan’s military could force the Chinese to de-escalate without American military support.    [FULL  STORY]

T-shirts saying 'I am Taiwanese' surface after Czech Senate President's speech in Legislative Yuan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/03
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Just days after Czech Senate President Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil harkened to John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech and proclaimed "I am a Taiwanese" in Mandarin, T-shirts have surfaced on a Czech website with the words "I am Taiwanese" in Mandarin and Czech.

On Sunday (Aug. 30), Vystrcil, along with his 89-member delegation, began a five-day tour of Taiwan, making him the highest-level Czech official to ever visit the country. On Tuesday (Sept. 1), Vystrcil made history being the first foreign parliamentary leader in 45 years to deliver a speech in the Legislative Yuan and the first from a non-diplomatic ally.

At the end of his speech, Vystrcil quoted the famous speech delivered by Kennedy in West Berlin at the height of the Cold War. He said Kennedy clearly opposed the use of communism to oppress people and that the former president expressed support for the value of freedom with the words "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).

The Czech leader then said, "Please allow me to express my support to Taiwan in the same way. I want to end my speech with this sentence: I am Taiwanese!" As soon as made this declaration in Mandarin (我是台灣人), legislators began clapping.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/03/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Newly arrived officials in foreign representative offices in Taiwan on Thursday threw their weight behind an annual international film festival in Taipei that aims to raise awareness and focus on issues that affect women and society.

At a press conference for the "27th Women Make Waves Int'l Film Festival, Taiwan," Diane Sovereign, chief of the Public Diplomacy Section at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said that her office has forged a close cooperation with the organizers and strongly supports the festival for providing a platform for female filmmakers.

She commended the festival for challenging gender stereotypes and promoting women filmmakers by giving a more gender balanced view of the world.

"To see all those young, shy women filmmakers up there, they seem surprised to be called up but they have a voice. Maybe they are shy personally, but their films have a great voice," said Sovereign, who arrived in Taiwan a month ago.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 02 September, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Health Minister and CECC Director-General Chen Shih-chung (right) at a recent press conference (CNA photo)

Taiwan reported one more case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the nation’s total number of cases so far to 489.

The new patient is an Indonesian man who had initially tested negative after completing his 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Taiwan. Health authorities say he came into contact with 35 people in Taiwan. They have been asked to stay in home isolation and monitor their health. 

Meanwhile, IHR National Focal Point has informed of two cases of people testing positive for COVID-19 after leaving Taiwan. One is a Vietnamese woman who was working in northern Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

BBC News
Date: Sep 02, 2020

Image captionThe new passport, right, makes Taiwan larger and Republic of China smaller than on the old passport, left

Taiwanese officials have announced changes to the passport design, making the word "Taiwan" larger and shrinking the words "Republic of China".

Authorities said the redesign was to stop confusion between its nationals and citizens of China.

The island is for all practical purposes an independent state but China sees it as a breakaway province.

A Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman said this would not change Taiwan being an "inalienable part of China".    [FULL  STORY]

High-level visit by State Department's No. 3 could happen by late September

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — United States Undersecretary of State Keith Krach was likely to travel to Taiwan by the end of September to hold trade talks with the island’s government, the Liberty Times reported Wednesday (Sept. 2).

The report follows Taiwan’s decision to end a ban on the import of U.S. pork containing the leanness-enhancing drug ractopamine, beginning Jan. 1, 2021. Krach, who is responsible for economic growth, energy, and the environment, would be the most senior State Department official to visit Taiwan since the two countries severed official diplomatic relations in 1979.

Krach’s trip would form part of a new U.S.-Taiwan Economic and Commercial Dialogue discussed during a videoconference Aug. 31 between Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花), Taiwan’s representative in Washington Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), and Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stillwell.

Krach, described as the State Department’s “Third Hand” by the Liberty Times, had expressed interest to lead the round of talks in Taiwan personally, the paper reported. Preparatory talks to organize the discussions were being handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and by the Department of State and were advancing rapidly, making it possible for Krach to visit in late September, according to the Liberty Times.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/02/2020
By: Liang Pei-chi, Yeh Su-ping,
Stacy Hsu and Kay Liu

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) The newly announced Economic and Commercial Dialogue between Taiwan and the United States will be held by the end of this year, Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said Wednesday.

According to Wang, topics to be discussed will include semiconductors and 5G, as well as strategies in the Indo-Pacific region and supply chain restructuring.

The two sides are still discussing when and how to launch the dialogue, Wang told the press before attending a press conference held by the semiconductor industry.

She also said the dialogue will be launched before formal talks are held under the existing bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) framework.    [FULL  STORY]

KMT CONCERNS: Country-of-origin stickers would not sufficiently inform consumers whether products contain ractopamine, while health and economic impacts are unclear

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 03, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday raised concerns over the new country-of-origin labels of pork products to be introduced once pork from the US containing ractopamine enters the domestic market next year, while some farmers are planning protests against the policy in Taipei.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Friday last week announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on imports from the US of pork containing ractopamine residue and beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, with the new policy expected to take effect from January next year.

At a news conference in Taipei, KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) said that there might be “loopholes” in the labeling.

Referring to pork fillings for dumplings as an example, she asked whether a product should be labeled as originating in Taiwan or the US, if it contains a both domestic pork and imported pork containing ractopamine.    [FULL  STORY]