Axios
Date: Aug 5, 2020
By: Rebecca Falconer

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday night he will lead a delegation to Taiwan "in the coming days."

Why it matters: It's the highest-level visit by a U.S. cabinet official to Taiwan since 1979. Azar is also the first U.S. Cabinet member to visit the island state in six years. The visit has angered China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. Chinese officials accused the U.S. Wednesday of "endangering peace" with the visit, AFP reports.

• Taiwanese officials raised concerns this month after China's crackdown on Hong Kong that the Chinese government may move to aggressively try and bring Taiwan under its control, per the New York Times, which notes there's been an uptick in Chinese activity in Taiwan's airspace this summer.
   
• There have been several other flash-points between the U.S. and China this year — including the tit-for-tat closures of consulates, U.S. sanctions over the Hong Kong security law and also China's human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims, and stalled trade negotiations.

Details: Azar said in a statement, "Taiwan has been a model of transparency and cooperation in global health during the COVID-19 pandemic and long before it.

• "I look forward to conveying President Trump's support for Taiwan's global health leadership and underscoring our shared belief that free and democratic societies are the best model for protecting and promoting health.

"This trip represents an opportunity to strengthen our economic and public health cooperation with Taiwan, especially as the United States and other countries work to strengthen and diversify our sources for crucial medical products."

[FULL  STORY]

For 3 years Chen's family searched while her body drifted 300 kilometers at sea

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/05
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The unclaimed body of a Taiwanese teenager was finally identified after three years, during which time it drifted 300 kilometers from Taichung to waters around Turtle Island in Yilan County.

The identification was made possible by Hsu Yao-bin (許耀彬), a section chief at the First Precinct of the Keelung City Police Bureau. Hsu is renowned for his ability to identify unclaimed bodies.

When Hsu was reviewing the National Police Agency’s unclaimed body registry, a case caught his attention. It was a teenager found floating at sea 1.2 nautical miles south of Turtle Island, which the Coast Guard Administration responded to in June 2017, per CNA.

After crosschecking more than 100 files, Hsu came to believe that a 19-year-old woman surnamed Chen (陳) who went missing in Taichung might have been a match. Chen’s mother told police that on the day she went missing she received a phone call from her daughter’s boyfriend, who said Chen was depressed and intended to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/05/2020
By: Chen Chih-chung and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, Aug. 5 (CNA) The Ministry of Education (MOE) said Wednesday said that all intentional students enrolled in Taiwan universities will be allowed to return to continue their studies, but it later made reversal on one aspect of the policy, saying students from China are not included.

As part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan had closed its borders to foreign nationals on Mar. 19, but has been gradually easing the restrictions to allow the return of some international students and others.

On June 17, the entry ban was lifted for final year students from 19 countries and territories classified as low-risk or low-to-moderate risk for COVID-19. The rules were further relaxed on July 22 to also allow the entry of new students from those places and final year students from all other countries, including China.

On Wednesday, the MOE sent a notice to all universities, saying that the entry ban on international students enrolled in Taiwan schools was being lifted, with immediate effect.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 04 August, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Full protection safety helmets required of motorcyclists[/caption] In Taiwan, many people commute by way of riding scooters or motorcycles because they are so convenient. However, riders need to remember to wear helmets, even during the hot summer weather. The law in Taipei requires that you must wear a safety helmet before you hit the road. 

Safety helmets are mandatory for all motorcyclists in Taipei and recommended in southern Taiwan. It’s better to get the ones with more protection as they not only protect your head, but also your jaws and they come with a visor that goes over your face. 

But you have to be sure that they are certified. Sure, there are funny ones you can buy online, like this one looking like a rice cooker, a skull, and a Viking’s helmet, but if they’re not certified, they’re not up to standard. Then there are those that boast of solar powered fans or imported air conditioning installations, but if they have not been tested, they are not legal in Taiwan and likely not safe either.    [FULL  STORY]

As the military balance of power shifts in China’s favor, Beijing may be increasingly tempted to act against Taiwan.

Foreign Policy
Date: August 4, 2020
By: Bradley Bowman, Andrea Stricker

Taiwanese sailors on the deck of a supply ship after taking part in military drills at the Tsoying naval base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31, 2018. MANDY CHENG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu warned in late July that mainland China’s military threat to Taiwan is “on the rise.” His warning was echoed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who assessed that Beijing has “become more aggressive” toward Taiwan and taken the threat “to a new level.”

In response to Beijing’s increasing bellicosity, there is a growing debate in Washington about various forms of military aid to Taiwan. Some have even suggested that the United States equip Taiwan with nuclear weapons. That would be a provocative mistake, as students of the Cuban missile crisis might predict. Instead, the United States should urgently provide additional conventional military aid to address the dangerous shift in the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait, which if left unchecked could invite aggression by mainland China.

Since 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act has served as the foundation of U.S. policy toward Taiwan. The law unequivocally states that “any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means” would represent “a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area” and be “of grave concern to the United States.”

Peaceful means, however, are not what the Chinese Communist Party seems to have in mind. Not only has Beijing undertaken the most ambitious military modernization effort in the history of the People’s Republic of China, but it has also been using its growing military might to intimidate and coerce Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Three legislators ordered detained in Sogo scandal

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Despite alleged attempts by several lawmakers to pressure government officials to give in and favor a particular business arrangement, they stood firm against corruption, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Tuesday (Aug. 4).

He was referring to an alleged bribery case which has rocked the Legislative Yuan. Three lawmakers, three legislative aides, and one businessman were ordered detained incommunicado Tuesday, while a former party leader and earlier a former foreign minister and another lawmakers were allowed out on bail.

The scandal, surrounding a power struggle for control of the Sogo department store chain in Taiwan, has affected politicians from at least three political parties, including the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of which Su is a former chairman.

The premier expressed praise for government officials and for the DPP legislative caucus for having stood firm against pressure and attempts at bribery and said the government would fully cooperate with investigators, CNA reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/04/2020
By: Flo Wang and Wu Chia-jung

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) According to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), which finalized Tuesday a list of the winning numbers in the May-June uniform invoice lottery, the special prize was NT$10 million (US$339,325).

In the May-June edition, 16 uniform invoice holders won the NT$10 million special prize, and 19 invoices won the NT$2 million grand prize.

Among the 16 special prize winners, seven were blessed by the God of Wealth, spending less than NT$100 to win the jackpot prize, according to the ministry.

One top prize winner spent only NT$10 buying a newspaper at a 7-11 convenience store in Pingtung City, southern Taiwan, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 03 August, 2020
By: Andrew Ryan

Former Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu was sworn in on Monday as president of the Control Yuan, Taiwan’s top government watchdog body. The ceremony followed a weeks-long legislative battle over Chen’s nomination. 

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) opposed Chen’s nomination. They said that Chen’s longtime membership in the DPP, and prior service as Kaohsiung mayor and an aide to President Tsai, made her unfit for the position. They said that’s because the Control Yuan is responsible for investigating misconduct by public officials and agencies. 

Chen said, however, that she had spent 50 years pushing Taiwan toward democracy, including six years as a political prisoner. She said that as head of the Control Yuan, she would work to further safeguard human rights in Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]