The China Post
Date: October 1, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

The Kuomintang (KMT) said Friday that it had requested a court injunction against the Cabinet-level Ill-

gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee (IGPASC, 不當黨產處理委員會) to challenge the agency’s decision to freeze party accounts on Sept. 21.

In a press conference, KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said that the party had filed for an injunction from the Taipei High Administrative Court after the Cabinet committee ordered Bank Sinopac to ban account withdrawals and grant only deposits.

The KMT said that the assets freeze was preventing it from paying party employees.

IGPASC spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) cast doubt on the KMT’s claim, saying the party still had NT$85 million (approx. US$2.71 million) in assets generated from political contributions.

“If the KMT cannot be honest with its employees, how can the public trust that it will honestly handle the matter?” she stated.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-26
By: Wendy Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The latest public opinion poll shows that 44.7 percent of Taiwanese people feel satisfied with President Tsai Ing-wen’s handling of major issues, a 7.6 percent drop
compared with last month’s poll.

Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation published the survey results on Monday, which showed a drop of 7.6 percentage points from last month in the satisfaction level that Taiwanese people have over President Tsai Ing-wen’s handling of major issues.

The drop was even more acute if compared with the same poll in May, when President Tsai was sworn into office, showing a decline of 25.2 percentage points.

Premier Lin Chuan fared worse, with the poll revealing that 40.9 percent of Taiwanese people don’t think his administration is capable of solving problems, against 34.6 percent who think otherwise.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-17
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), a new research institute or think tank based in the United States that

focuses on Taiwan affairs and is designed to promote bilateral relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, has recently been established in Washington.
The GTI was launched with funding from Taiwanese Americans and was missioned to publish a weekly journal, provide in-depth analysis on multilateral relations between Taiwan, U.S. and China, and host annual conferences or gatherings of scholars and officials. The institute has reportedly raised an initial fund of US$20 million.

The opening ceremony was held on the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival near Dupont Circle in Washington and was attended by high-profile think tank scholars, U.S. Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Taiwanese legislator Freddy Lim of the New Power Party, among other officials and U.S. Senators and Representatives.

Chairman Robert Lai, who is an expert in military strategy and has been active in the Taiwanese-American community, said the institute is dedicated to bolstering Taiwan-US relations, supporting talented young Taiwanese-Americans, and making young Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans be proud of Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

A group of Taiwanese county leaders are breaking with the government line on cross-Strait relations and plan to travel to Beijing to woo Chinese tourists.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/09/13
By: Hsu Chia-yu

A group of county leaders from Taiwan plans to meet officials from the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in

Beijing on Sept. 16 to invite Chinese tourists to visit “counties which recognize the ‘1992 consensus’” in Taiwan.

It has been reported that in the period from May 20, when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office, to Aug. 16, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan decreased by 40 percent from 350,000 to 220,500, compared with the same period last year. The exact reasons for the drop in Chinese tourists have yet to be determined; other destinations for Chinese tourists, such as Hong Kong and Macau, have also experienced drops in Chinese arrivals this year.

About 10,000 people took to the streets in Taipei on Sept. 12, calling for government action to help the tourism industry. Although the Executive Yuan on Sept. 8 said it would offer loans totaling NT$30 billion (US$940 million) to the industry, some tour operators said the government’s action would not meet the industry’s urgent needs.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-13
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Known as Japan’s strongest female politician, Democratic Party deputy leader Renho Murata, the

current frontrunner for the leadership of Japan’s main opposition party, is facing accusations of having dual citizenship with Taiwan. On Tuesday, she said at a press conference that Taiwan’s responsible authority has her on record as a citizen.
It is widely known that Renho, 48, was born to a Taiwanese father and Japanese mother in Tokyo, Japan. She is said to have acquired Japanese citizenship in 1985.

Renho is currently running for the position of president of the recently rebranded Democratic Party. She has recently been questioned for holding citizenship of Japan and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Some of the noise is being drummed up by Japanese nationalist right wing groups.

In a previous statement, Renho recalled that she paid a visit to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan to apply for renunciation of Taiwanese citizenship with the help of her father at the age of 17.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/08/27
By: Rita Cheng and Elaine Hou

From the official website for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign
Washington, Aug. 26 (CNA) The campaign team of Hillary Clinton, the U.S. presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, will come to Taiwan to raise funds in September for her campaign activities, according to her official website.

The fundraiser will take place in Taipei on Sept. 7. But only U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents are allowed to attend, and participants will be asked to provide documentation of their U.S. passport or green card, the information on the website said.

This is because the U.S. Federal Election Campaign Act “prohibits any foreign national from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly.”     [FULL  STORY]

PUBLIC SENTIMENT:A senior KMT official said that the DPP’s fanning of populist sentiment in its hunt of the KMT would lead to more electoral defeats for the DPP

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 28, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Wei Chia-hsien (魏嘉賢) yesterday won the Hualien City

mayoral by-election, overthrowing the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rule of the city.

Wei won the by-election against his DPP opponent, Chang Mei-hui (張美慧), by a comfortable margin, with 17,923 votes to 13,958.
Wei secured 54.17 percent of the vote against Chang’s 42.18 percent, with a voter turnout of 40.87 percent.

Wei declared victory about 80 minutes after ballot counting began at 4pm, thanking supporters in an emotional speech.

“I will dedicate myself over the next two years and four months. I will prove myself to voters,” Wei said. “I will serve all residents with utmost sincerity to make Hualien a city of warmth, a city that residents can be proud of.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 31, 2016
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang and Alison Hsiao / Staff Reporters

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said at a “consensus camp” held by the party for

young people yesterday in Taipei that critics did not properly understand the so-called “1992 consensus,” and that terms such as “unification” should not spark fear.

She also defined the China-Taiwan relationship as being “between two regions,” saying that as the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution still exists and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) has not been abolished, the cross-strait relationship is one between two regions.

Before people criticize the “1992 consensus,” they should first have a good understanding of the historical background of this term and give it an unbiased evaluation, she said.

The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: July 21, 2016

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) thanked the U.S. Republican Party for reiterating its support for Taiwan in the platform adopted at the party’s 2016 national convention, which runs July 18-21 in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Taiwan has long enjoyed friendly relations with both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party of the U.S.,” MOFA spokeswoman Eleanor Wang said July 19. “The inclusion once again of firm and positive statements regarding Taiwan in the Republican Party platform demonstrates the great importance the party attaches to Taiwan-U.S. relations, as well as its members’ long-term support for Taiwan.”

Calling Taiwan “a loyal friend of America,” the Republican platform states Taiwan-U.S. relations will continue to be based on the Taiwan Relations Act and reaffirms the party’s support for the Six Assurances issued by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1982. This marked the first time the party included the Six Assurances in its platform.     [FULL  STORY]