Radio Taiwan International
Date: 21 December, 2020
By: Paula Chao

The defense ministry says that the military closely monitored the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong as it was passing through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday. The aircraft carrier and four other supporting Chinese vessels passed through the Taiwan Strait before moving south.

At the Legislature Monday, Deputy Defense Minister Chang Che-ping said that no provocations or conflict took place during the Chinese carrier’s transit through the Taiwan Strait. Chang said preliminary analysis shows that the purpose of the transit was surveying and training. Chang said that the Shandong, China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier was only delivered around a year ago, and so equipment testing and training are still needed.    [FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: December 21, 2020
By: Reuters Staff

TAIPEI (Reuters) – A heated debate in Taiwan about U.S. pork imports has been “needlessly politicised” as all U.S. food exports are safe, Washington’s de-facto embassy in Taipei said on Monday, ahead of two days of planned protests later in the week.

.President Tsai Ing-wen’s decision in August to allow imports of U.S. pork containing ractopamine, a leanness-enhancing additive banned in the European Union and China, has roiled Taiwan politics.

The main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party opposes the move on safety grounds, staging noisy protests and flinging pig entrails in parliament on one occasion. It has called for two days of protests outside parliament on Wednesday and Thursday.

The government says nobody will be forced to eat the pork and that the move brings Taiwan into line with international norms.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan's elevated highways can be used like 'Atlantic Wall' to halt PLA tanks in their tracks

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/21
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to a video released by China's state-run media showing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tanks "successfully defeating" Taiwanese forces in a mock urban battle, a retired general says that such a tactic would "court death" at the hands of Taiwan's anti-tank rockets.

On Dec. 13, China's state-run mouthpiece CCTV posted a video showing a recent exercise in which PLA Type 96A main battle tanks and Type 04 infantry fighting vehicles crushed a smaller defending force in a simulated urban environment, indicating that this would the next swift phase of victory after successfully landing on Taiwan's shores. In the war games, a unit with red markers entered the faux fray with 230 troops and 30 tanks, representing the PLA, against a defending force in blue consisting of 70 men and six tanks, symbolizing Taiwanese defense forces.

According to CCTV, although the blue team had the advantage of the knowledge of the local terrain, the red team had the advantage in terms of firepower and manpower. Thus, with the outcome already predetermined, the red forces "crushed" their blue opponents within only three hours.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/21/2020
By: Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen Yu-ting,
Hao Hsueh-chin and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Dec. 21 (CNA) The Japanese manufacturer of the trains to be used in Taichung's new mass rapid transit (MRT) system apologized Monday for a major flaw found during the system's trial run last month, saying the problem was caused by an assembly defect and is now being fixed.

Speaking at a press event, Kawasaki Heavy Industries representative Hideki Ukita said the breakdown that occurred on Nov. 21 was caused by the improper assembly of anchors for the couplings that connect the carriages.

Ukita said the improper assemblies prevented the gear shafts guided by the couplings from functioning in a stable manner, putting undue pressure on them and causing them to break during the trial run.

Technicians responsible for the Taichung line eventually found that two of the gear shafts had broken while 30 other of the gear shaft and coupling assemblies it examined were not damaged.    [FULL  STORY]

‘NOT ENOUGH’: A missing-child alert system, launched four years ago, has never been used, while thousands of children were reported missing this year, the group said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 22, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

The Child Welfare League Foundation yesterday called for amendments to child protection laws, including creating a basis for the Missing Children Data Resource Center to receive more funding and resources.

At a news conference, the foundation proposed amendments to the Protection of Children and Youth Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法), such as providing a legal basis for the center to handle reports of missing children, as well as follow-ups and counseling in cases of missing children.

The center has long grappled with a lack of funding and staffing because there is no legal basis for its establishment, which has made it difficult for the center to consistently promote programs, the foundation said.

Another amendment could help prevent parental child abduction, it said.
[FULL  STORY]

Cyclists riding the route are able to see vestiges of the Taiwan Sugar railway system and other attractions

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 31-kilometer Wanjin Sugar Railway Bike Path was inaugurated on Sunday (Dec. 20), starting from Wanjin community and ending at Linbian railway station, connecting with around-the-island bicycle paths and the Dapeng Bay Bike Path.

Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said the county government had turned the deserted narrow gauge sugar railway system of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation into part of the bikeway, connecting Pingtung County Route 185, also known as Mountain Highway, with attractions in the five townships of Wanluan, Chaozhou, Kanding, Nanzhou, and Linbian, according to the county government’s Sunday press release.

Cyclists riding this route are able to see vestiges of the Taiwan Sugar rail system as well as attractions along and near the route, Pan added. Pingtung Transportation and Tourism Department said construction of the Wanjin Sugar Railway Bike Path, which took more than two years and cost NT$55 million (US$1.9 million), was funded by the Sports Administration.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/20/2020
By: Wu Ruei-chi and Kay Liu

Taoyuan, Dec. 20 (CNA) Two men suffered burns in a factory fire in Taoyuan on Sunday, including a Philippine worker who is being treated for third-degree burns covering 90 percent of his body, according to the city's Fire Department.

The fire, which started at the five-story factory of Sci Pharmtech Inc. in Luzhu District and was reported at 12:14 p.m., spread to five nearby factories before it was contained, the Fire Department said.

The Philippine worker and a Taiwanese, who suffered a burn to his right palm, were both sent to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in neighboring Linkou District in New Taipei, according to the department.

The Taiwanese was held at the hospital for observation for eight hours, while the Filipino has been intubated and is being treated by a specialist burn unit, the hospital said.
[FULL  STORY]

ACCOUNTABILITY: Lawmakers should vote this week on the executive order easing an import ban according to public opinion, not their own interests, the KMT head said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 21, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

The importation of pork containing the feed additive ractopamine is not about politics, and legislators will be held accountable by the public and by history when they vote on the executive order covering the lifting of the ban on such imports, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.

Pork products with traces of ractopamine and food safety are “public issues, not political issues,” Chiang said on the sidelines of an event in Hualien County after reporters asked him if the KMT had planned any strategies on handling the vote planned for this week in the Legislative Yuan.

Public opposition to the government’s decision to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue has remained strong since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Aug. 28 that the government would ease the ban, he said.

People’s health should not be used as a bargaining chip, he added.   [FULL  STORY]