The Str6aits Times
Date: Dec 19, 2020

SHANGHAI/TAIPEI (REUTERS) – China's military tailed a US warship as it passed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Saturday (Dec 19), the Chinese military said, denouncing such missions as sending "flirtatious glances" to supporters of Taiwan independence.

China, which claims democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory, has been angered by stepped-up US support for the island, including arms sales and sailing warships through the Taiwan Strait, further souring Beijing-Washington relations.

The US Navy said the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin had conducted "a routine Taiwan Strait transit (on) Dec 19 in accordance with international law".

"The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," it added.    [FULL  STORY]

Business Insider
Dec 19, 2020

Apple on Saturday placed Wistron Corporation on probation after finding fault with the company over payment delays in October and November to workers at the Taiwanese contract manufacturer's Narasapura facility near the Karnataka capital.

The development comes one week after violence broke out at the Wistron's Narasapura facility as a large number of workers went on a rampage last Saturday over issues related to payment of salary.

A Karnataka government report also found lapses in the way Wistron tried to scale up production in the factory.

The investigation found that the practices put in place at the plant with regard to payment of wages and overtime work were not in line with the provisions of law.   [FULL  STORY]

Island nation has steadily improved standing from first index in 2008

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan moved up two places to reach No. 19 in the latest edition of the Human Freedom Index published by the Cato Institute and the Fraser Institute Saturday (Dec. 19).

During the decade that the two think tanks have drawn up the list, Taiwan has turned into one of its strongest climbers, CNA reported. The Cato Institute is a libertarian organization based in Washington and founded by businessman Charles Koch, a prominent Republican Party backer, while the Fraser Institute is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

The latest version of the annual index measures personal, economic and human freedoms in 162 countries and territories in 2018, using information for the most recent year that completed data is available for.

Taiwan was one of 87 countries that improved its rating compared to the previous year and moved up two places. Seen over the decade since the publication of the index started, Taiwan was one of the countries with the fastest improvements, CNA reported.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/19/2020
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taiwan, Dec. 19 (CNA) Participants in a cultural exchange program supported by the United States government expressed concerns Saturday over rising anti-China sentiment in both Taiwan and the U.S. and anti-Taiwan sentiment in China as it could hurt cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

There is a way to celebrate Taiwan and Taiwan's democracy without spreading hatred of Chinese people, said Lev Nachman, a student with the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan), in a panel in Taipei analyzing the dynamics in Taiwan-China-U.S. relations.

"I think there is something very different between pro-Taiwan and anti-China," he said, adding that real solutions to healthy cross-strait relations lie in better mutual understanding.

"I've often said to anyone who is pro-Taiwan or pro-Taiwan sovereignty, one of the best ways to guarantee Taiwan's future is for Taiwan to become friends with people in China and for people in China to learn about Taiwan the way it exists," he said.
[FULL  STORY]

PROTEST MARCH: The party would lead its supporters on hourly parades around the legislature and Thursday’s vote would be broadcast at the rally, a KMT official said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 20, 2020
By: Chen Yun and Wu Su-wei / Staff reporters

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to stage two rallies on Wednesday evening and Thursday against the government’s decision to lift a ban on the importation of US pork with ractopamine residues, as nine executive orders associated with the policy are to be put to a vote at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday.

The rally would be held on Jinan Road (濟南路) in front of the Legislative Yuan’s Chun-hsien Building (群賢樓) in Taipei, the KMT said.

The party has gained approval for road closures and a street use permit around the Legislative Yuan from Wednesday to Friday, said a KMT member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

KMT caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said that the party would ask its lawmakers to join civic groups for Wednesday’s rally scheduled to begin at 5pm.   [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 December, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

A high-ranking consultant for the campaign of US President-elect Joe Biden says that the US should both pursue closer ties with Taiwan and peace in the Taiwan Strait.

Kurt Campbell is a former US State Department official who has advised the Biden campaign. He was speaking during a forum on the future of US-Taiwan ties held Thursday by Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Campbell said that for US administrations, reaffirming the existing basis of US-Taiwan ties—the Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances—does not go far enough. He said that the US should look for opportunities to expand exchanges with Taiwan, raise Taiwan’s international position, and strengthen interaction in the areas of trade and technology.    [FULL  STORY]

Newsweek
Date: 12/17/20
By: John Feng

Chinese army tank and infantry units took part in a recent urban warfare exercise which has been described as a mock invasion of Taiwan.

The footage aired by China's state broadcaster CCTV last week included rare images of the Type 96A main battle tank in action during the war game in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province in east China.   [FULL  STORY]

Four members of dance troupe test positive for COVID for second consecutive day, ending tour before it starts

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/17
By: Sylvia Teng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Moscow Classical Ballet has canceled all of its shows in Taiwan after four more of its members were reported to have coronavirus on Thursday (Dec. 17).

Four members of the dance troupe were on Wednesday confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. The test results had arrived shortly before they would have kicked off their tour of Taiwan at the National Theatre that evening.

The four cases identified on Wednesday included two men and two women aged 20 to 60. The whole group had provided the certificates of negative COVID tests conducted within three days of their flight to Taipei, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC)

The CECC asked the troupe to carry out a second test, and four more cases were confirmed the next day. The four members of the troupe, three women and one man in their 20s and 30s, are among Taiwan's eight newly confirmed cases and that all four are asymptomatic.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/17/2020
By: Kuo Tze-hsuan and Chung Yu-chen

Pingtung, Dec. 17 (CNA) Residents in Taiwan's southernmost Pingtung County captured a green iguana estimated to be about 1.5-meter long on Wednesday, local authorities said Thursday, after the photo of the creature went viral on social media.

The orange and brown-colored creature, affectionately named "little dinosaur," was found basking in the sun on a fence of a local drainage ditch in Wandan Township, the Pingtung County Government said.

A photo of the animal has spurred heated discussion since it was made public on Monday by a passersby who was spooked by the creature with spike-like scales.

Upon learning the news, Cheng Yung-yu (鄭永裕), head of the county's Department of Agriculture, said the local authorities teamed up with a bird association and experienced iguana removal professionals and captured the critter on Wednesday – with ropes and traps.    [FULL  STORY]

FULLY ELECTRIFIED: After the upgrade of the line along the southeastern coast, a loop around Taiwan would be possible in about nine hours, a DPP lawmaker said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 18, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

A fully electrified South Link Line is to begin operations on Sunday, shortening the travel time between Kaohsiung and Hualien by 39 minutes.

The line along the southeastern coast and through the Huadong Valley (花東縱谷) is Taiwan’s only main railway line that is not fully electrified.

The government in 2013 began the project to electrify the line on two sections, between Chaojhou (潮州) and Fangliao (枋寮) railway stations in Pingtung County, and Fangliao and Taitung’s Jhiben (知本) stations.

The 25km section between Chaojhou and Fangliao has been in operation since December last year.    [FULL  STORY]