Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/16
By: Rita Cheng and Lilian Wu

Washington, June 15 (CNA) A bill to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels was passed unanimously by a U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Thursday in the first step toward its legislation.

The Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific passed the Taiwan Travel Act (H.R. 535), which was initiated by Rep. Steve Chabot and co-sponsored by Representatives Brad Sherman and Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The United States government should encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels,” the bill states.

It says that since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, ties between the United States and Taiwan have suffered from insufficient high-level communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on visits by high ranking officials to Taiwan. The bill, which seeks to eliminate such restrictions, will now be sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee for approval.
[FULL  STORY]

CHINESE OBSTRUCTION:While maintaining close ties with China is important, Taiwan should not become a bargaining chip in US-China relations, a US representative said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 17, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Several US lawmakers on Thursday expressed concern over China’s redoubled efforts to isolate Taiwan

and the US government’s indecision on arms sales to Taiwan.

In a hearing on Taiwan-US ties, the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce said it is more important than ever to reassure Taipei of Washington’s commitment to the relationship, at a time when Taiwan is facing new challenges as a result of changes in cross-strait and global dynamics.

Royce cited as examples Panama’s decision to break off decades of diplomatic relations with Taiwan because of inducements from Beijing, and Taiwan’s exclusion from this year’s World Health Assembly due to Chinese obstruction.

Delays by successive US administrations on arms sales notifications for Taiwan “have needlessly dragged out the arms sales process,” he said.
[FULL  STORY]

There is more evidence China is working hard to narrow Taiwan’s diplomatic space.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/06/15
By: Central News Agency

Five Taiwan trade offices with “the Republic of China” or “Taiwan” in their names located in countries

that do not have diplomatic ties with Taiwan have come under pressure by China to change their names, an official from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said this week.

Antonio Chen (陳俊賢), director general of the ministry’s Department of West Asia and African Affairs, said that if the names of those missions continue to be used, the host countries may ask that the plaques identifying the missions be removed.

That already happened in Dubai in the past month, when Taiwan’s office there changed its name from the “Commercial Office of ROC (Taiwan)” to the “Commercial Office of Taipei.”

The four other missions under pressure are in Nigeria, Bahrain, Ecuador, and Jordan, and three of the four countries – Nigeria, Bahrain, and Ecuador – are not very resistant to pressure from Beijing, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/15
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)– The much-anticipated Taipei Riverside Festival (Sounds from the River) is here. On the weekends between June 17 and August 12, Taipei City’s riverbank parks will feature music concerts, fairs, and themed activities.

The festival will reach a climax on August 26 with Dadaocheng Chinese Valentine Celebration highlighting music performances by singer Wawa and reggae band Matzka against a background of dazzling fireworks spectacle, according to the city’s Department of Information and Tourism (TPEDOIT).

The festival this year will bring to the audience popular songs spanning from the 1930s to the post Millennial Generation, covering genres such as Nakasi, folk, and indigenous music, the TPEDOIT said.

Touted as a music fest with local traits, the event incorporates specialties of commercial districts in the neighborhood, offering residents an opportunity to explore Taipei, the department said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/15
By: Ku Chuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, June 15 (CNA) A proposal to make Hakka an official language in addition to Mandarin was

passed by the Executive Yuan Thursday, representing a major step in propagating and spreading the language in Taiwan.

In order to enhance the development of the Hakka language and culture, the amended draft of the Hakka Basic Act also stipulates that the government should provide incentives or subsidies for Hakka-language development foundations, and encourage local institutions to establish degree programs as a way to develop and promote the language.

The amended draft also allows the government to provide incentives or subsidies for foundations dedicated to producing television and radio programs related to the Hakka language and culture.
[FULL  STORY]

DIGGING FOR MEANING:Groups criticized the premier’s proposal for environmental reviews as vague, saying that only individual assessments could deny mining rights

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 16, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

The appointment of a new Bureau of Mining Affairs director and potential amendments to the Mining Act

(礦業法) would not affect mining operations approved before the amendments, Minister of Economic Affairs Li Chih-kung (李世光) said yesterday.

The passing of documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), renowned for Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above (看見台灣), has drawn attention to environmental issues, particularly the alleged expansion of operations by Asia Cement Corp (亞泥) in Hualien County, as the documentary had captured the effects of the company’s actions on the region’s environment.

Premier Lin Chuan (林全) on Tuesday wrote on Facebook that he had instructed the Ministry of Economic Affairs to review the standards for application approval regarding the approved extension of all mining licenses held by Asia Cement.

Lin instructed the ministry to publish its findings within the week and said that any illegal activities would be prosecuted.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: June 15, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The music festival held to promote the Golden Melody Awards and local music

business will take place in Taipei from June 21-23 this year, featuring a variety of music performances, conferences and exhibitions.

The Golden Melody Festival will feature 12 performances by solo artists and bands, including singer-songwriters Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) and William Wei (韋禮安), indie-folk band My Life as Ali Thomas and rock band Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車).

The event will also include lectures, conferences, exhibitions, music workshops and a platform for cross-music industry collaboration, according to the organizers.

The annual festival attracts music industry representatives and buyers from Japan, the United States and European countries, Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said on Thursday.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-06-13

President Tsai Ing-wen has responded with defiance after Panama broke diplomatic relations with

Taiwan to establish ties with China. She also said Beijing’s treatment of Taiwan would only serve to increase the resolve of Taiwan’s people not to give in to its threats.

The president said she felt greatly saddened by Panama’s decision. She also said the government would do its best to uphold the interests of Taiwanese businesses and expatriates in the Central American country.

Tsai said Taiwan has lost an ally but this does not change the fact of the Republic of China’s existence, its values or its status as a sovereign nation. She also warned that Beijing’s attempts to suppress Taiwan internationally would be counterproductive to its goal of unification.

“We refuse to stand idly by as our national interests are threatened and challenged. Suppression and threats can never bring the two sides of the Taiwan Strait closer. Rather, they will increase the distance between the people of the two sides. I can say on behalf of the 23 million people of Taiwan, we will never compromise or yield in the face of threats,” Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Two films from Taiwan make the New York Times’ list of the ’25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far’

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/06/13
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two Taiwanese-made films have made it to the New York Times’ list of “The

25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far,” including Edward Yang’s (楊德昌) “Yi Yi” at 6 and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s (侯孝賢) “Three Times” at 17.

The New York Times’ A.O. Scott describes the 2000 film “Yi Yi” (A One and a Two, 一一) as “A packed, enthralling three-hour chronicle of modern Taiwanese family life, ‘Yi Yi’ has the heft and density of a great novel.”

Scott says taking the film in is more than the act of viewing, rather it is “something you experienced, as if you were one of the Jians’ Taipei neighbors.”

Director of the Oscar-winning film “Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins, said he was partly inspired by “Three Times” (最好的時光), “I first saw ‘Three Times’ at the 2005 Telluride Film Festival, It was wonderful.”
[FULL  STORY]