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Trump’s ‘simple courtesy call’ with Tsai was right: ex-U.S. officials

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/04
By: Rita Cheng and Kuo Chung-han

Washington, Dec. 4 (CNA) It was right for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to take a 9551555congratulatory call on Friday from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), another democratically elected leader – a simple courtesy and a fundamental part of real democracy, two former U.S. officials said on Sunday.

Trump was just doing what he said in the presidential campaign: being open to talking to foreign leaders who want good relations with the United States, Stephen Yates and Christian Whiton wrote in an article on the Fox News website.

Trump and Tsai briefly talked about economic, political and security-related ties between the two countries and Trump congratulated Tsai on her victory in elections earlier this year – a milestone because Tsai is the first woman leader in Asia who isn’t the daughter or wife of a former leader, Yates and Whiton said.

Tsai’s victory also marked the third shift in power from one party to another in Taiwan – a symbol of a mature democracy and further proof that democracy can work in ethnic Chinese communities, they said in “Why Trump was right to talk with Taiwan’s president.”    [FULL  STORY]

Planned meeting is ‘wild’ rumor

SURPRISE!A source said that Trump’s open acknowledgment of the call on Twitter caught Tsai’s staff unprepared, as the Presidential Office had kept it under wraps

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 05, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

The Presidential Office yesterday urged the public to refrain from speculation following reports that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) plans to meet with US president-elect Donald Trump when traveling to Central America on a state visit next month.

“Regarding media reports today [yesterday] that the president plans to meet with president-elect Trump and his team during a state visit next month, they are all just wild speculation,” the office said in a statement.

Details of any overseas state visit by Tsai or Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) would be made public after they are confirmed and finalized, it added.

The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday cited an anonymous source as saying that Tsai plans to visit Central American diplomatic ally Nicaragua next month to attend the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and is expected to make a transit stop in New York.    [FULL  STORY]

Gov’t dismisses report of Trump camp meet

The China Post
Date: December 5, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Presidential Office on Sunday dismissed media reports claiming that President Tsai Ing-wen was planning to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s senior advisers next month in New York.

Several local media outlets have reported that Tsai was planning to visit three of the Republic of China’s diplomatic allies, namely Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, in January.

On her way back to Taiwan from Central America, Tsai will transit in New York, during which she is likely to meet with Trump’s senior advisers, including Trump’s chief of staff Reince Priebus, reports said.

Asked for comment, the Presidential Office dismissed the media reports as “overspeculation.”

The office said that once the schedules of presidential or vice-presidential state visits were finalized, it would make a public announcement.    [FULL  STORY]

Fears for Cross-Strait Economic Backlash after Trump-Tsai Phone Call

Will there be a backlash for Beijing?

The News Lens
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Edward White

Beijing may move to squeeze Taiwan’s China-dependent economy after the historic phone call

Photo Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters / 達志影像

Photo Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters / 達志影像

between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Amid the ever-present tension across the Taiwan Strait, China, including Hong Kong and Macao, is still Taiwan’s largest trading partner, accounting for about 40 percent of Taiwan’s total exports.

Ross D. Feingold is a senior advisor at DC International Advisory, a consultancy that advises clients on political risk in markets across the globe. Taipei-based Feingold is wary the phone call may have implications for Taiwanese companies with interests in China.

“When European governments or Australia, for example, met the Dalai Lama or undertook other actions that displeased Beijing, their companies felt repercussions through regulatory investigations, loss of procurement opportunities, and the like,” Feingold says. “In addition to political or military pressure, China has this tool to deploy against Taiwan, whereas up to now under President Tsai, China may have looked at the Taiwan corporate world as a friendly group to utilize in its united front tactics.”    [FULL  STORY]

Rallies held nationwide in opposition to same-sex marriage

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/03
By: Chen Chih-chung and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Civic groups took to the streets of northern, central and southern Taiwan on 201612030019t0001Saturday in support of traditional marriage and family values, and united in vocal opposition to same-sex marriage.

The Happiness of The Next Generation Alliance (下一代幸福聯盟) and other civic groups participated in the afternoon’s activities, which were attended by an estimated 200,000 people nationwide, including 100,000 in Taipei, more than 50,000 in Kaohsiung and over 40,000 in Taichung, according to the organizers.

In Taipei, tens of thousands filled Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in the afternoon.

Participants dressed in white tops and carried placards that read “the public has the right to define what constitutes marriage and family.” Protesters said that if the government wanted to legally redefine marriage, it should do so by holding a referendum on the issue.    [FULL  STORY]

US Republicans hail Tsai-Trump call as ‘important’

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 04, 2016
By: Nadia Tsao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter in Washington, with staff writer
A number of Republican politicians lauded the telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump as an important development in Taiwan-US relations.

The conversation on Friday was the first publicly reported call between a Taiwanese leader and a US president or president-elect since 1979, when Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific chairman Matt Salmon called the conversation “historic” and said a strong statement was made through the two leaders speaking.

“I commend Trump for reaching out to the democratically elected president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen,” Salmon said in a statement. “America has always been a champion of democratic values and individual freedoms and I applaud the president-elect for making a strong statement in support of those values around the world.”    [FULL  STORY]

Call is a risky bet for President Tsai

The China Post
Date: December 4, 2016
By: Alan Fong

President Tsai Ing-wen’s phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump came as a much-welcomed respite for her. But it’s also a risky bet.

The president, besieged by a raft of controversies, has been steadily losing public support and facing challenges on multiple fronts from labor groups, pan-blue supporters, anti-gay marriage protesters and even members of her own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Her historic call with Trump, who addressed her in his Tweet as “President of Taiwan,” seems poised to boost her approval ratings and earn her wiggle room with her party’s pro-independence “deep green” faction, which has been vociferously unhappy with her moderate cross-strait policy.

For some, the call validates Tsai’s claim that “pivoting” away from mainland China can be a viable strategy, now that the American president-in-waiting has expressed his support for Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

US Republicans hail Tsai-Trump call as ‘important’

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 04, 2016
By: Nadia Tsao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter in Washington, with staff writer

A number of Republican politicians lauded the telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump as an important development in Taiwan-US relations.

The conversation on Friday was the first publicly reported call between a Taiwanese leader and a US president or president-elect since 1979, when Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific chairman Matt Salmon called the conversation “historic” and said a strong statement was made through the two leaders speaking.

“I commend Trump for reaching out to the democratically elected president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen,” Salmon said in a statement. “America has always been a champion of democratic values and individual freedoms and I applaud the president-elect for making a strong statement in support of those values around the world.”    [FULL  STORY]

Business leaders slam annual leave reforms

The China Post
Date: December 3, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Business leaders said Friday the government was creating, not addressing

A protester wraps a chain around an image of President Tsai Ing-wen outside the Legislative Yuan, Friday. Calling the government the lap dogs of corporations, labor groups congregated outside the Legislature in an attempt to stop the passage of amendments that would cut seven public statutory holidays. (Yuan-Ming Chiao, The China Post)

A protester wraps a chain around an image of President Tsai Ing-wen outside the Legislative Yuan, Friday. Calling the government the lap dogs of corporations, labor groups congregated outside the Legislature in an attempt to stop the passage of amendments that would cut seven public statutory holidays. (Yuan-Ming Chiao, The China Post)

problems for local enterprises by trying to force through a series of controversial amendments to the Labor Standards Act, arguing the changes would threaten the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Lin Po-feng (林伯豐), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, said the Tsai administration was acting “too populist” in pursuing the changes, adding that local enterprises “would not accept” the amendments.

“There has been no such precedent in this world. The government has failed to solve problems and are now creating new problems for local enterprises, especially the small and medium-sized ones.”

Lin said the changes would “increase operating costs for enterprises, undermine their competitiveness and even threaten their survival.”    [FULL  STORY]

Five best places in Taiwan to celebrate Christmas

Christmas is widely celebrated in Taiwan even though it is not a public holiday.

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/12/02
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Christmas is widely celebrated in Taiwan even though it is not a public holiday. Stores would sell clipboard01Christmas-related items and restaurants serve special Christmas Day set menus.

Local governments would even take responsibility to hold Christmas celebrations officially; shopping malls across the island would also put up Christmas trees and light shows to attract more customer interest.

When it comes to celebrating Christmas season in Taiwan, there are many destinations to choose from.

As Christmas is already around the corner and celebrations are brewing, check out five of the best places in Taiwan to spend the upcoming festival at, and make plans for one or more.    [FULL  STORY]