Radio Taiwan International
Date: 23 June, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

0President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday nominated Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu as the new head of the Control Yuan. The Control Yuan is Taiwan’s top government watchdog.

Chen Chu subsequently announced that she will leave the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as her new job requires her to transcend party lines.

Premier Su Tseng-chang on Tuesday praised Tsai’s decision to select Chen. Su said Chen has spent 50 years of her life to fight for democracy, freedom and human rights for the people of Taiwan.

Chen Chu served as mayor of Kaohsiung from 2006-2018 before becoming secretary-general to President Tsai. Chen will also head the National Human Rights Commission after becoming Control Yuan president.    [FULL  STORY]

Straits Times
Date: June 23, 2020
By: Lim Ruey Yan

Taiwanese singer Stella Chang shocked the Chinese entertainment world when she announced her divorce on Monday (June 22).

Chang, 53, married banker Sung Hsueh-jen, 67, in 2005, and the couple have two sons, aged 14 and 13. Mr Sung has a daughter from a previous marriage.

Her marriage has always been seen as blissful and their relationship looked strong. In May, it was reported that he had bought a NT$200 million (S$9.5 million) mansion in Taipei for her.

In a joint statement, they said: "We have decided to divorce as we could not overcome the differences between both parties. We are unable to resolve the issues even though we have tried, so we agreed to a divorce last year. We have chosen to complete the legal process when the children are on summer vacation this year."    [FULL  STORY]

Apparent shinbones, dumbbell recovered from travel bags pulled from river

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/23
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Suspected human body parts were reportedly contained in two travel bags hoisted by city workers from the Love River (愛河) in Taiwan's southern port city of Kaohsiung on Tuesday (June 23).

Sanmin District's First Precinct said that it received reports around 11 a.m. that when cleaning team members of the city's Environmental Protection Bureau were retrieving garbage from the Happiness Canal (幸福川) near the Jiuru Bridge (九如橋), they hoisted out two suspicious travel bags, per CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/23/2020
By: Matt Yu and Emerson Lim

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) The Navy held an exercise recently to hone its troops' skills in naval mine warfare amid increasing Chinese military activity around Taiwan, a military source confirmed Tuesday.

According to a Facebook post by the Navy on Friday, the 192nd Fleet, also known as the Navy Minesweeper Fleet, conducted drills on deploying, detecting and sweeping for sea mines in strategic waters around Taiwan.

At least one of the mines used in the drills was the WSM-II, indigenously developed by the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST).

The annual exercise, aimed at improving the Navy's capabilities in detering hostile naval vessels from invading Taiwan, came at a time when the Chinese military is becoming more active around Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

FLIGHT BAN LIFTED: A group of 28 students, tourists and businesspeople left Istanbul on a Qatar Airways flight on Monday night, with stops set for Doha and Hong Kong

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 24, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The first group of Taiwanese returning home from Turkey since Ankara lifted its two-month ban on international flights on June 11 were expected to arrive last night.

The 28-strong group of students studying in Turkey, tourists and businesspeople, took off from Istanbul on a Qatar Airways flight on Monday night and made stops in Doha and Hong Kong.

When the flight ban was first imposed, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission in Ankara received requests from Taiwanese to help them return home.

Employees at the Ankara office said they had contacted Turkish Airlines about the possibility of a charter flight at that time, but since fewer than 30 people had applied, the airline declined due to the cost.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 June, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Summer is the time of year when Taiwan’s fruit is at its most glorious. Market stalls piled high with luscious seasonal favorites are a sight to behold. But, ophthalmologists say, overindulge and your eyes may pay.

It’s high summer in Taiwan, a special time of year when sweet, refreshing fruits are in abundance. Juicy mangoes and succulent lychees are now at their best, and for many, the sight of them is too tempting to resist. Eye doctors say this is exactly why they’re seeing a 20-30% jump in patients.

But isn’t fruit supposed to be good for you? In moderation, yes. One ophthalmologist says about ten lychees or one mango a day shouldn’t do any harm. But go beyond that, and the result can be a nasty sty.

Doctors say that in the summer heat, our skin is already producing extra oil. This can accumulate and get trapped around the eyelids in particular. Sweet seasonal fruits like mangoes and lychees are what Chinese medicine practitioners call “hot, dry” fruits. And apparently, adding too much of these fruits into the mix is enough to tip things over the edge and lead to a sty.    [FULL  STORY]

About 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste from nation’s 3 operational nuclear power plants have been stored on Orchid Island since 1982

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said that disposing of nuclear waste stored on Orchid Island (Lanyu Township), an outlying island off the coast of the eastern county of Taitung, has been the government's established policy, amid remarks he made during a visit to the island on Monday (June 22).

Lai also reiterated that the government will deliver the promised retroactive compensation of NT$2.55 billion (US$85 million) to the islanders for the storing of the waste, according to a China Times report.

Delivering an address at a millet and flying fish festival, the vice president said, "Looking down from the airplane, [I saw] blue seawater and an emerald paradise," referring to Orchid Island.

"The government did not get permission from islanders before shipping nuclear waste to the island to store, and therefore they should be awarded retroactive compensation," the VP said. "Disposing of nuclear waste [on Orchid Island] is an established policy, regardless of which party is in power.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/22/2020
By: Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh

Taichung, June 22 (CNA) Taiwan's first indigenous advanced jet trainer (AJT), codenamed Brave Eagle, is a brand-new design not an upgraded version of the decades-old Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), two test flight pilots told media Monday after completing the trainer's inaugural public flight in Taichung earlier in the day.

Although the jet looks similar to the IDF, which has been used by Taiwan's Air Force since 1992, 80 percent of the AJT's components are newly designed, including its exterior and pneumatics, said pilot Lu Chih-yuan (路志元).

Echoing Lu's view, co-pilot Kuan Yen-nien (管延年) said the cockpit design of the AJT is also different from that of the IDF.

The cockpit of the two-seat AJT is similar to that of the F-16 fighter, which has an aft-seat 4K ultra HD HUD monitor, providing the back-seat co-pilot with a clear view of the front, according to Kuan.    [FULL  STORY]