Matthews is first State Department official to visit since Tsai-Trump call

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Just a week after President Tsai Ing-wen made a controversial phone call to

United States President-elect Donald Trump, Washington is sending Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and senior official for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Matthew Matthews, to the island.

The Tsai-Trump call, the highest-level conversation between leaders from both countries since they ruptured diplomatic ties in 1979, has angered China but also given some hope about contacts between Taipei and the new administration in Washington.

The next U.S. president has however repeatedly talked tough on foreign trade, saying he would abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership and penalize companies which took jobs overseas.

In a statement, the American Institute in Taiwan, which represents the U.S. in the absence of formal ties, said that “Ambassador Matthews will meet with Taiwan officials and economic policy and business leaders to exchange views on this year’s APEC outcomes and other trade and economic matters of mutual concern.”    [FULL  STYORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/10
By: Elaine Hou and Lee Yu-cheng

Taipei, Dec. 10 (CNA) The first museum in Taiwan dedicated to “comfort women” — females who were

forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II — opened Saturday in the historic Dadaocheng area in Taipei, after a decade of challenges.

The “Ama Museum,” as it is called, will be dedicated to preserving the stories of former Taiwanese comfort women and making sure that chapter in history is not forgotten, according to the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, the driving force behind the project.

The museum is named after the surviving comfort women, many of whom are now in their 90s and are affectionately called “Ama,” which means grandmother in Taiwanese, the foundation said.

“Our dream has finally come true,” Huang Shu-ling (黃淑玲), chairwoman of the foundation, said at the opening ceremony, turning her face to the sky and addressing those comfort women who have passed away.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 11, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Dozens of young protesters opposed to same-sex marriage yesterday staged a brief sit-in in front of

the Legislative Yuan building, accusing advocates of the legalization of same-sex marriage of “rainbow bullying” and demanding an immediate halt to a legislative review of the same-sex marriage draft bills.

Wearing surgical masks marked with a large “X” as a symbol of what they say is their silencing by same-sex marriage supporters, a group of about 20 members from the Protection of Family Value Students Organization, the Youth Self-Awareness Alliance and the Taiwan’s Hope Rescue Alliance yesterday urged more like-minded young people to step forward and let their voices be heard.

“There is not just one voice in this society. Contrary to news media’s claims that the majority of young Taiwanese support the legalization of gay marriage, many people like us are actually against it,” Protection of Family Values Students’ Organization convener Shih Chun-yu (施俊宇) said.

Shih said they had been deterred by “rainbow bullying” from voicing their opinions about same-sex marriage.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/09
By: Olivia Yang

How does the multi-nationality of the award-winning film director influence his work? Does he identify

with being from Myanmar, China or Taiwan?

With his hair unfixed, black Nike jacket zipped to his neck, and a worn black backpack slung over one shoulder, Midi Z (趙德胤) looks different from the tuxedo-clad director who received the award for Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards on Nov. 26.

The 33-year-old Myanmar-born director, who is based in Taiwan, gives a shy nod upon his arrival, sits down, and orders a hot Americano. He keeps his eyes down as he listens to me ramble an introduction, merely giving me fleeting glances from time to time.

So it surprises me when Midi Z looks me straight in the eye when he starts talking and his stare does not waver.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Pop diva Jolin Tsai will lead up to a hundred entertainers and stars in a recorded message at Saturday’s music festival to support same-sex marriage, reports said.

After the opponents of gay marriage last Saturday, the supporters of legalization are due to take over Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei Saturday.

The sudden intensifying of events for and against is a result of the Legislative Yuan’s plans to review several proposals on December 26. Taiwan has often been described as the Asian country most likely to be the first to introduce same-sex marriage.

Dozens of popular singers, including Denise Ho from Hong Kong, Sandee Chan, Freya Lim and Ailing Tai, are scheduled to appear on stage and sing to the crowds, which could number up to 100,000, according to organizers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/09
By: Claudia Liu and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Friday Taiwan will firmly uphold its sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea and its rights in the region based on international and maritime laws.

Taiwan will also continue to uphold the freedom of navigation and flights in the South China Sea based on peaceful, humanitarian, ecological and sustainable development values, the president said.

She made the remarks when she addressed the opening ceremony of an exhibition titled “Sustainable Governance and Enduring Peace: An Exhibition Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Recovery of the South China Sea Islands,” at Academia Historica, which is co-organizing the event with the Ministry of the Interior.

The president noted that several countries have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, and the issues involved include regional security, diplomatic relations and their political and economic interests.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 10, 2016
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) truly wants to realize the dreams of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), it is

welcome to come and learn from Taiwan, “as long as it can achieve Sun’s ideals in a democratic and peaceful manner,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Thursday at an event held by an association dedicated to the advocacy of Sun’s The Three Principles of the People.

Speaking at KMT headquarters in Taipei, Ma said that Taiwan and China held commemorative events in November to mark the 150th anniversary of Sun’s birth.
At the event in China, Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) described party members as firm supporters, loyal collaborators and the most faithful successors of Sun’s revolutionary spirit.

Ma said that under his leadership the Republic of China (ROC) had lived up to Sun’s hopes of being equal with other nations in the world, with the number of countries including Taiwan in their visa-waiver programs rising to 164 by the time he stepped down.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 10, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

The Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) Friday opened an exhibition in Taipei celebrating the

achievements of startups launched by indigenous people in their local communities.

The opening ceremony for the exhibition at Huashan Creative Park was presided over by CIP Minister Icyang Parod.

The exhibition featured 20 startups established with subsidies under a CIP program that offered up to NT$1 million in funding for each of the indigenous people’s projects.

CIP also offered their companies consulting assistance, helping them with commercial registrations at the very beginning. It then helped them improve their operations and explore business opportunities.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: December 8, 2016

Taiwan moved up nine places to rank fourth in the science category of the 2015 Programme for

International Student Assessment implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to results released Dec. 6.

With a score of 532, compared to the OECD average of 493, Taiwan trailed only Singapore, Japan and Estonia in that order and finished ahead of Hong Kong in ninth and South Korea, which placed 11th, in the triennial survey of 72 countries and economies.

In the mathematics portion of the assessment, Taiwan remained No. 4 with 542 points, well above the OECD average of 490. The survey also found nearly 30 percent of local participants to be top performers in at least one subject, the second highest percentage after Singapore. Male students generally outperformed their female counterparts in math and science, while female participants fared much better in reading, the results showed.

While the nation’s mean score of 497 in reading is higher than the OECD average of 493, it put the country at No. 23 on the global list, down 15 places from the previous survey and behind most major economies in Asia.    [FULL  STORY]