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Taiwan, China negotiators plan meeting in December

Reuters
October 14, 2009

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Top negotiators from Taiwan and China are planning a meeting in the second half of December in the island to further boost trade, Taiwan officials said on Wednesday.

P.K. Chiang, from Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, and his counterpart, Chen Yunlin, from China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, are due to meet in Taichung in Taiwan's west.

"Both sides have agreed to hold a fourth Chiang-Chen meeting in the middle of or late December," the Taiwan foundation said in a statement.

"Both sides agree to discuss and come to a consensus on four areas, including fisheries, inspection of agricultural products, cross-strait quality inspection and double taxation," it said.

However, analysts said it was unlikely that Chiang and Chen would sign a long-awaited free trade agreement-style deal, called the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, in December as negotiations would still be ongoing.    more ...

AIG Sells Taiwan Unit to Primus for $2.15 Billion

bloomberg.com
October 13, 2009
By Cathy Chan, Janet Ong and Hugh Son

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the insurer divesting assets to repay a U.S. bailout, agreed to sell its Taiwan life insurance unit to a group led by Primus Financial Holdings Ltd. for $2.15 billion.

The agreement is the biggest New York-based AIG has made since its September 2008 bailout, exceeding the $2 billion deal to sell a U.S. auto insurer to Zurich Financial Services AG in July. AIG will sell its almost 98 percent stake in Taipei-based Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. to Primus Financial and China Strategic Holdings Ltd., the company said today in a statement.

AIG has secured agreements to sell about $12 billion in assets, including a majority stake in reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings Inc., a Tokyo office tower and an equipment insurer to pay down loans included in its $182.3 billion bailout. The insurer, once the world’s biggest, has yet to divest its plane- leasing unit and stakes in two overseas life insurance units.    more ...

Taiwan, China to begin talks

The Straits Times
Oct 13, 2009

TAIPEI - TAIWAN and China will begin formal talks on a free trade agreement-like deal at the end of October, the island's government said on Tuesday, in another sign of improving ties between the long-time rivals.

An 'early harvest' list of sectors that will benefit from the deal range from petrochemicals and textiles to banking and retail industries, the cabinet said in a statement.

'In the service industry sector, the financial services industry will seek access to the Chinese mainland's banking, securities and insurance markets on more favourable terms than WTO preferential treatment,' the cabinet said, but did not elaborate.   more ...

IMD president urges Taiwan to nurture tourism

Central News Agency
2009-10-13 10:19 PM

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Taiwan should develop and nurture its tourism industry, the head of a prestigious business school located in Lausanne, Switzerland said Tuesday.

John R. Wells, president of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), made the remarks in a seminar in Taipei presided over by San Gee, deputy chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development.

Wells urged Taiwan to think about nurturing its service industry.  Noting that the government does have plans to upgrade its service industry, such as the development of the tourism, medical and education sectors, he also said it should take stock of developments in other countries, adding that if Taiwan wants to develop its tourism, it could learn from the experience of Spain.  more ...

Mining Taiwan's Darker History

The New York Times
By JOYCE HOR-CHUNG LAU
Published: October 13, 2009

HONG KONG — The story usually goes like this: China was taken over by Chairman Mao and became a brutal Communist state. Taiwan broke free and became a vibrant democracy. The ugliness of the last half-century — persecution, martial law, mass execution — happened on the mainland.

“Prince of Tears,” the latest film by the Hong Kong-based director Yonfan (who goes by one name), turns that telling of the story on its head. It is the first major movie in 20 years to explore the “White Terror” that followed Taiwan’s separation from China in 1949. In Taiwan, the ruling Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, staged anti-Communist witch hunts that killed thousands.

The gorgeously crafted film, set in the 1950s, refers only obliquely to larger politics. Instead, it focuses on daily life in a remote Taiwanese village where anyone — a schoolteacher, a housewife, a soldier — could commit a political faux pas and be sent to the execution squad.

The project originated with the real-life story of the actress Chiao Chiao, a longtime friend and collaborator of Yonfan, whom she met in Hong Kong when she was a starlet there from the ’60s to the ’80s. The actress, who uses only her surname, grew up in Taiwan, but hid her childhood memories of the White Terror for years until she found a confidant in Yonfan, who also grew up in Taiwan in the 1950s. Several years ago, they decided to make a film based on her memories.   more ...

Taiwan Buddhist temple donates 8 tons of relief goods to Manila

Central News Agency
2009-10-12 11:02 PM

Manila, Oct. 12 (CNA) Eight tons of relief goods collected by a Fo Guang Shan Monastery, a Taiwanese Buddhist temple, for typhoon-affected victims in the Philippines arrived in Manila Monday.  The Philippines has been hard hit by two typhoons over the past few weeks, with nearly 1,000 people killed and more than 14,000 families left homeless and moved to temporary shelters.

In late September, Typhoon Ketsana battered Manila and nearby provinces. Typhoon Parma, which first hit the Philippines on Oct. 3 but which returned on Oct. 8, damaged large tracts of rice paddies that were to be harvested this month.  Out of humanitarian concern, Taiwan's government donated US$50,000 to the Philippines and solicited donations from nongovernment and private groups.   more ...

Taiwan pushes planning law

Straits Times
Oct 11, 2009

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S president is to push a tough new planning law designed to prevent a repeat of deadly landslides in August that swept away homes killing hundreds of people, officials said on Sunday.

The island's first-ever strict national land planning law comes after Typhoon Morakot hit in August, dumping record rains that triggered widespread mudslides and left more than 700 people dead or missing.

The bill, which was approved by the cabinet last week and is currently being considered by parliament, aims to reduce development in environmentally sensitive areas and lessen the human cost of future natural disasters.

'We have learnt a painful lesson' from Morakot, President Ma Ying-jeou said in a National Day address over the weekend. 'In the future... development of environmentally sensitive areas must be barred or restricted. This year will be the turning point of our efforts in national land planning and conservation. We must pass the law as swiftly as possible.'   more ...

Satellite Interruption Leads Taiwan to Investigate

Epoch Times
Oct 10, 2009
By Wu Cenxi

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Taiwanese lawmakers on Oct 8. called for an investigation into the signal interruptions of the ST-1 satellite, which started on Sept. 17, and peaked on Oct. 1, during China’s National Day celebrations.

The satellite carries the signal for New Tang Dynasty Asia-Pacific Television (NTD APTV), an operation that is banned in mainland China and the subject of anger by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its reportage on human rights abuses, religious freedom, and ethnic unrest in the country.

NTD leases the ST-1 satellite from Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications provider. Starting Sept. 17, signal interruptions were intermittent. Longer periods of interruption followed during nightly news broadcasts.

On Oct. 1, when the Chinese regime was celebrating the 60th anniversary of its taking power, NTD’s broadcast was effectively taken off the air the entire day.

The ST-1’s low band frequency covers all of Taiwan and 80 percent of mainland China.

Viewers filed complaints against Chunghwa Telecom, alleging that it failed to deal with the signal interruptions for several weeks.

On Oct. 8, legislators requested the National Communication Committee (NCC), Ministry of Communications, and Chunghwa Telecom, to expedite an investigation and find out the source of the apparent interference.

Several legislators openly stated their suspicions that the Chinese communist regime was behind it, and called on the NCC to defend Taiwan’s communication systems.   more ...

Torrential rains deluge eastern Taiwan county

Central News Agency
2009-10-11 07:41 PM

Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Torrential rains in the eastern Taiwan county of Yilan Sunday caused flooding and mudslides that disrupted traffic on a highway in the area and prompted an evacuation advisory in one township.

The hardest-hit area was the urban township of Dongshan where many homes were inundated by floodwaters when a levee broke along a stream that flows through the township.

Hsu Chin-shan, chief of the county's fire department, said that at noon Sunday his department advised elderly residents to evacuate, after a yellow warning against mudslides was issued for Dongshan.

Meanwhile a highway that runs through the rural township of Sansing in the county was closed to traffic after it was damaged by a mudslide caused by the rain.   more ...

Ma says Taiwan will not ignore China's threat

AFP
October 10, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday the island will not ignore the military threat from China despite warming ties with the former arch-rival.

But in his annual National Day address he reiterated his desire for closer ties with the mainland and called for patience in the developing relationship.

"We never ignore the other side's military threat despite significant improvements in cross-Strait ties. We seek peace in the Taiwan Strait but we will never sacrifice Taiwan's defence security," he said.

"Our defence strategy is 'solid defence; effective deterrence'. We will develop a professional military based on conscription ... to defend Taiwan."  Ma also called for setting aside disputes that have split Taiwan and China for six decades and to forge closer economic ties by signing a major trade pact and an agreement on financial cooperation.

"There are many works beneficial to people in both sides that we can work on. "However, it is impossible to overcome the gap and doubt between the two sides in one single step so both need to have faith and face the reality to gradually expand mutual trust."   more ...

Taiwan celebrates Double Ten Day

Manila Bulletin
October 9, 2009, 5:29pm

Tomorrow, Oct. 10, is the National Day of the Republic of China (RoC) (commonly known as Taiwan since the 1970s). It is the anniversary of the start of the Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911, which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China and the establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912. At the end of World War II in 1945 and the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Republic of China government gained control of Taiwan and established Taipei as its capital but lost control of mainland China.

In Taiwan, the official celebration starts with raising of the flag in front of the Presidential Building followed by a military parade. Later in the day, the President of Taiwan will address the country and fireworks displays are held throughout the major cities of the island.

Double Ten Day is also celebrated by many Overseas Chinese communities.

Parades are held yearly in Chinatowns of San Francisco and Chicago. In mainland China, it is celebrated as the anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution/Wuchang Uprising.   more ...

The Age of Precarious Employment

CommonWealth Magazine
Published: February 26, 2009 (No.416)
By Sherry Lee

Up to 20 percent of Taiwan's work force is part-time or temp, and more vulnerable than ever in the current recession. Can the government help them? And can they do anything to improve their own competitiveness?    more ...

Taiwanese Views on China & cross-strait openess October 2009

Commonwealth Magazine, long a reputable executor of public opinion polls in Taiwan has the results of a new survey on Taiwanese attitudes to China more ...

Taiwan court upholds ex-president's detention

AP
October 8, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's High Court on Friday upheld its earlier decision to keep former President Chen Shui-bian in detention after the Supreme Court ordered it to hold a hearing on the matter, an official said.

The Supreme Court had questioned the High Court's contention two weeks ago that Chen posed a flight risk while he appeals his life sentence on wide-ranging graft charges.  Court spokesman Wen Yao-wen said it decided to keep Chen in detention out of concern he may still flee the island if released. "The defendant knows about ways to escape better than ordinary people," Wen said. "As he and his family own significant assets abroad, he can still afford an affluent lifestyle overseas."

Chen's lawyer, Chen Wen-lung, said he will refile an appeal of the detention.

Chen was convicted last month of embezzling $3.15 million during his 2000-08 presidency from a special fund, receiving bribes worth at least $9 million, and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts.    more ...

U.S. court rejects Taiwan ex-president's release

Reuters
Wed Oct 7, 2009

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court has dismissed a petition by former Taiwan president Chen Shui-Bian to be released from prison on the island, where he was convicted on corruption and bribery charges.

The former president last month petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, seeking an order for his release from a life sentence in prison on the basis that the United States still controlled the island off mainland China.

The court dismissed the petition on Tuesday citing a lack of jurisdiction, the clerk of the court William DeCicco said on Wednesday.    more ...

Land warning for Typhoon Parma lifted

Central News Agency
2009-10-06 12:12 AM

Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) lifted the land warning for Typhoon Parma at 11: 30 p.m. Monday after the eye of the typhoon headed south, but CWB meteorologists warned that heavy rains could continue for at least another day.

The CWB said that the combined effects of peripheral currents and a northeasterly monsoon are expected to bring heavy rains to northern and eastern Taiwan and mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan.  more ...

Storm stalls off Philippines, drenches Taiwan

AP
October 6, 2009
By JIM GOMEZ (AP)

MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Parma weakened into a tropical storm but lingered off the northern Philippine coast Monday, causing widespread flooding and landslides that have killed 16 in the country and churning up rough seas that sank a cargo ship off neighboring Taiwan.

The Taiwanese coast guard said 10 crew members of a Panamanian cargo ship are missing after the vessel sank in the Taiwan Strait near the Bashi channel, which separates the island from the Philippines.

Chief Philippine government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said Parma headed northwest into the South China Sea after blowing across the country's north, which is still reeling from an earlier storm that killed almost 300 people. Parma was now almost still because Typhoon Melor, which blew into Philippine waters Monday from the west, was pulling it back toward the coast.

Parma can still roar back into the country and will continue to dump heavy rain, Cruz said. The storm was located 137 miles (220 kilometers) off northern Laoag city, packing winds of 65 mph (105 kph) and gusts of up to 84 mph (135 kph).   more ...

Ang Lee back in Taiwan to promote 'Taking Woodstock'

Central News Agency
2009-10-06 12:00 AM
By Hermia Lin

Internationally-renowned filmmaker Ang Lee yesterday returned to Taiwan to promote his latest film "Taking Woodstock," saying he hoped it makes local audiences happy and carefree.

"The film is an exploration into the era of carefree happiness of the 1960s; it was also an attempt to make myself 'healthier' after shooting six films with more intense themes," said Lee in a press conference in Taipei yesterday.

The film, a light hearted comedy-drama is a departure from his other recent works such as "Lust Caution" or "Brokeback Mountain." Lee said he wanted to work on a lighter project to lift his mood and would continue to try new things to thrill his audience.

Loosely based on Elliot Tiber's memoir of the same name, "Taking Woodstock" chronicles the buildup to the three days of Peace and Music of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair of 1969, one of the most influential and iconic rock concerts in history, that saw 500,000 concert-goers jamming into the venue in the town of Bethel, New York.   more ...

Taiwan evacuates over 6,000 as typhoon lingers

AFP
October 5, 2009

TUNGSHAN, Taiwan — Taiwan had evacuated more than 6,000 villagers by Monday as Typhoon Parma lingered in seas near the island, bringing heavy rains and causing landslides, a rescue official said.

The evacuations, some of them forced, were concentrated in south Taiwan, which saw the heaviest losses from Typhoon Morakot in August, as fears mounted that the downpours could cause mountainsides to collapse.

"The evacuees have been relocated in shelters arranged by township offices. They're all safe," said Andrew Cheng, a Taipei-based official with the National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission.

"The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical. We'll watch closely how much more rain Typhoon Parma will bring in," he told AFP.

More than 3,000 residents in Pingtung county in south Taiwan and almost 2,000 people in neighbouring Kaohsiung county have left their homes, while the rest were evacuated in east Taiwan's Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties.

Typhoon Parma was 250 kilometres (155 miles) south-west of Oluanpi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, at 0515 GMT and continued to hover in the Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan and the Philippines.   more ...

Untold Stories of China and Taiwan

The New York Times
By VERNA YU
Published: October 5, 2009

HONG KONG — When Ying Meijun bade farewell to her 1-year-old son at the train station in September 1949, little did she know that it would be 38 years before she saw him again.

The baby was crying so much that she decided not to take him onto the overcrowded train, so she left him in the care of his grandmother.Thinking they were only leaving China temporarily, she promised: “We’ll be back soon.”

By the time she saw her first-born child again in 1987, he was a 40-year-old man wearied by years of hard labor on a mainland Chinese farm. Fighting back tears, he told his elderly parents how, as a young child, he used to chase trains that went pass their front door, shouting, “Mother! Mother!”, thinking that she would be on them.

Ms. Ying and her husband, Lung Huaisheng, who was an officer in the military police under Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government, fled with his family to Taiwan a few months after the Communist Party declared itself the new ruler of China on Oct. 1, 1949.

Even in his old age, Lung Huaisheng often wept as he took out the shoe soles that his mother knitted and gave him when they saw each other for the last time at the train station.

These family memories are just some of the heart-wrenching stories told by their daughter, Lung Yingtai, a Taiwan-born author and University of Hong Kong professor, in her latest book “Da Jiang Da Hai 1949” (“Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949”). The book is published by Taiwan’s CommonWealth Magazine and Hong Kong’s Cosmos Books.    more ...

Taiwan Stock Index May Rise 15%, Morgan Stanley Says

bloomberg.com
October 5, 2009
By Shiyin Chen and Weiyi Lim

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan’s benchmark stock index may rise 15 percent by the end of next year on enhanced prospects for technology manufacturers and banks and closer ties with mainland China, according to Morgan Stanley.

The Taiex Index may climb to 8,500 in 2010 as technology earnings, better interest margins at banks and possible cross- straits mergers and acquisitions boost growth, Morgan Stanley analysts Jesse Wang and Angel Lin said in a report dated Oct. 2. The brokerage previously forecast 7,700 for the gauge by end- 2009. It was little changed at 7,413.97 at 11:39 a.m.

“Cross-straits politics will continue to be an ongoing theme that could provide investors with surprises,” the analysts said.

The Taiex surged the most in eight years on April 30 as the island allowed Chinese investment for the first time since the end of a civil war in 1949. President Ma Ying-jeou has sought closer ties with the mainland since taking office last year, helping the stock gauge to add 62 percent in the first nine months of this year, double the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 27 percent gain.

Taiwan, currently in a recession, is seeking a so-called economic cooperation framework agreement with China to allow cross-shareholdings of banks and insurers that is estimated to create 273,000 jobs and boost exports.    more ...

Taiwan military servicemen brace for relief operations

Central News Agency
2009-10-05 12:00 AM

More than 34,584 military servicemen around Taiwan and on several outlaying islands were ready to respond to calls for rescue and relief operations during the onslaught of Typhoon Parma, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

In a press release, the ministry said it believed the deployments would meet any local government demand for help.

The forces were divided into five groups, with each of them responsible for an operational area under the command of an ad hoc Armed Forces Emergency Operations Center.

The center will keep abreast of the latest developments of the storm, and will order the servicemen to take action without waiting for approval from their superiors, according to the press release.   more ...

Tremor does not predispose Taiwan to landslides: expert

Central News Agency
2009-10-05 12:06 AM

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) An earthquake that jolted Taiwan early Sunday has not predisposed the island to more landslides, even if Typhoon Parma hits the island in the next few days, an expert said later that day.

Yen Hong-yuan, a professor of earth science at Central University in Chungli, Taoyuan County, said the precipitation brought by Parma to eastern Taiwan had not yet exceeded safety limits and was therefore unlikely to trigger landslides.

He said the 6.3-magnitude temblor 23 km southeast of Hualien at 1: 36 a.m. was "not abnormal." "Although it is the second temblor with a magnitude over 6 this year, the number of earthquakes this year is within the normal range," he said.

Furthermore, Yen said, the precipitation caused by Typhoon Parma so far was less than one-third of the nearly 3,000 mm of rainfall brought by Typhoon Morakot and there were few slopes in eastern Taiwan predisposed to mudslides.

"The fear that soil softened up by the temblor is more likely to slide after sucking up water from rainfall is groundless, " Yen pointed out.   more ...

Taiwan To Modify Its Defense Strategy

Sunday, October 4, 2009
By Wendell Minnick

TAIPEI - In an effort to placate Beijing and Washington, Taiwan's new Nationalist Party (KMT) administration is debating a defense strategy that could abandon offshore offensive missions capable of striking mainland China.

Taiwan's defense strategy is guided by the long-held concepts of resolute defense and effective deterrence. The former is basically a political statement indicating Taiwan's determination to resist Chinese military aggression; the latter refers to a commitment to create and maintain a military capable of destroying China's ability to invade Taiwan. But how to achieve these strategies has been debated for years.

The principal debate is over the so-called offshore engagement strategy that would take the fight to the enemy. It would employ limited offensive missions, including F-16 airstrikes, against China during an invasion and would develop offensive missile systems like the Hsiung Feng 2E cruise missile and short-to-medium-range ballistic missiles.

During the recent election, Ma Ying-jeou, now president, promised "no unification, no independence and no use of force." "No use of force" is interpreted as no offensive operations against mainland China.   more ...

Quake jolts Taiwan, no damage reported

China Daily
Updated: 2009-10-04 10:36

BEIJING: Tremor was felt in almost the whole Taiwan island early Sunday morning as a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the sea off Hualien of east Taiwan, local meteorological authorities said.

No casualties had been reported in the island till near Sunday noon.

The authorities said the earthquake was a normal release of energy and there was no need for panic.

The quake happened at 1:36 am. The epicenter, at a depth of about 10 km, was located at 23.7 degrees north latitude and 121.6 degrees east longitude, according to the national seismological network.   more ...

Taiwan warns of typhoon

Straits Times
Oct 4, 2009

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S Central Weather Bureau on Sunday warned that Typhoon Parma may be approaching the island, bringing torrential rain with it, after pummelling the northern Philippines.

The bureau said the weather system, packing winds of up to 119 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 155 kph, was expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain as it made a slow approach north.

The typhoon was 310 kilometres south-west of Oluanpi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, at 0600 GMT (2pm Singapore time) and was predicted to circle around the Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan and the Philippines.

'The typhoon is forecast to move along the (northern) track until Monday night and then turn southwest,' a bureau official told AFP. 'In the next two to three days, the typhoon may move slowly and hover around the Bashi Channel, and after that, how it moves needs further observation,' he said.

He urged residents of Taiwan's southern Hengchun area to take precautions against powerful winds and downpours.   more ...

Taiwan braces for Typhoon Parma

The Age News
October 3, 2009 - 12:56PM

Taiwanese authorities have urged residents to take precautions as Typhoon Parma churns towards the island, less than two months after a typhoon claimed more than 600 lives there.

Parma, which was nearing the Philippine island of Luzon, was expected to bring powerful winds and torrential rains across Taiwan over the weekend, the weather bureau said.

Residents of six villages in southern Kaohsiung county, which was hit hardest by Typhoon Morakot, began evacuating from their mountain homes on Saturday, the TVBS news channel reported.

Taiwan's Government, which was criticised for its slow and inefficient response to Morakot, earlier this week issued mandatory evacuation orders for dangerous areas.   more ...

IMF trims forecast GDP drop for Taiwan

UNCERTAINTIES: While the IMF report lauded the rebound in electronics and capital inflows, it warned that a weak labor market and external demand still posed risks

Taipei Times
Saturday, Oct 03, 2009, Page 12
By Crystal Hsu, STAFF REPORTER

The IMF has trimmed its forecast of economic contraction for Taiwan from 7.5 percent to 4.1 percent this year, saying its fiscal and monetary policy helped to ease tensions in financial markets and mitigate the decline in domestic demand.

The global body, which updates its projections twice a year in its World Economic Outlook report, expected the nation’s GDP to expand by a modest 3.7 percent next year, from the zero growth it estimated in April.   more ...

Does China Have Taiwan in a Strait Jacket?

With China-Taiwan relations nowhere near to being resolved, China's brand-new ballistic missiles are looking scarier than ever.

Foreign Policy
OCTOBER 2, 2009
BY DAVID SHLAPAK

Six decades after the People's Republic of China was founded in the wake of Mao Zedong's victory over the nationalists, relations between the mainland and Taiwan are less contentious now than they have been in years. The May 2008 inauguration of Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwan's president put an end to Chen Shui-bian's tumultuous eight years in office, precipitating a thaw in what had been frosty relations between Taipei and Beijing.

But observers shouldn't assume that the ostensible rapprochement means that all problems are solved. As long as the stalemate at the heart of the problem across the Taiwan Strait -- how the island's status will ultimately be determined -- remains unresolved, China and Taiwan's relationship will remain unresolved as well. And nothing so far suggests that this impasse is any nearer to being settled today than when Chen was in power. With the strait continuing to be a potential flashpoint for crisis, then, maintaining a military balance between China and Taiwan thus remains vital for stability. But over the last decade, this balance has been tilting in Beijing's favor -- a development that could have serious implications not just for the China-Taiwan relationship, but for all of China's neighbors in the region, including the United States.

A key part of China's arsenal is a large force of conventionally armed short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). The U.S. Department of Defense reported in this year's assessment of China's military that Beijing had deployed between 1,050 and 1,150 of these missiles and is adding to the stockpile at the rate of about 100 per year. The DoD report also says that the newer missiles offer "greater ranges, improved accuracy, and a wider variety of conventional payloads, including unitary and submunition warheads." These improvements change China's SRBMs from theoretical into actual threats.   more ...

China trying to monopolize say in Taiwan issue: scholar

Central News Agency
2009-10-02 08:14 PM

Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) An expert on Taiwan-China relations said Friday that China has been trying to monopolize say in the Taiwan issue despite the fact that the issue has become one of international concern.

Director Tsai Ming-yen of the National Chung Hsing University's Graduate Institute of International Politics said at a Taipei seminar that Taiwan, China and the United States all clearly understand that bilateral relations among any two of them are deeply related to the third party, but China has been trying very hard to dominate say on the Taiwan issue. While the world witnessed the stable development of Taiwan-China- U.S. triangular relations, there are still uncertain factors that may impact the future development of relations among the three parties, Tsai said at a seminar on peace in the Asia-Pacific region, co-sponsored by the Academia Sinica's Center for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Center for Asia-Pacific Area Studies.

Those factors include how the United States and China would manage their "cooperative and competitive" relations, the military imbalance in the Taiwan Straits which favors China, and China's refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.   more ...

Taiwan looks back at Nationalist defeat in 1949

AP News
October 2, 2009
By ANNIE HUANG

TAIPEI, Taiwan — On a chilly late autumn day in 1949, Chi Shih-ying jumped on one of the last flights to Taiwan, joining other senior members of the Nationalist Party in a humiliating retreat from mainland China.

In all, 1.2 million people fled to the island 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the Chinese coast as the Nationalists fell to the communists in China's civil war.

For most of the ensuing years, only the outlines of this mass exodus have been told in Taiwan. Now that is changing. As China celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Oct. 1, 1949, founding of the communist state, Taiwan is beginning to revisit the Nationalists' defeat and its consequences, looking at the once taboo subject as never before.

Chi's story is told in one of five recently published books that detail the torment of those who left behind relatives, friends and hometowns. The books have touched off discussion of their personal trauma as well as public acknowledgment of a major military loss — rather than a temporary "force withdrawal" from the mainland, the veiled term long preferred by the government.

"It takes a lot more courage to look back at a setback than a victory," said Tsai Kuo-chiang, a columnist who writes about cultural issues.

More than 1 million Nationalist troops were killed or captured between 1945 and 1949. Those who fled to Taiwan were forced to sever all contacts with the mainland until the late 1980s, when Taiwan lifted a travel ban amid concerns that many might die or become too old to travel.   more ...

Taiwan must boost defence against China: Ma

AFP
October 2, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan should boost its defence capabilities to deter China despite improving ties with the former arch-rival, the island's President Ma Ying-jeou was quoted as saying on Friday.

"Although there are pragmatic improvements in cross-strait ties, this doesn't mean that we can let our guards down," Ma said, according to the presidential office.

"We should keep enhancing our defensive capabilities to effectively deter enemies and bring true peace for our country and people," he said, while inspecting a naval logistics centre in eastern Taiwan Thursday.

Ma's comment coincided with Chinese celebrations of 60 years of communist rule, culminating in a massive military parade in Beijing. Ma's spokesman said he would not comment directly on the event.   more ...

Taiwan tells China it is an 'independent state'

AFP
October 1, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan on Thursday reacted to a call by Chinese President Hu Jintao to move towards reunification by stating that the island is an "independent sovereign state".

"The Republic of China is an independent sovereign state, and it is a reality that the two sides do not belong to each other," the Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement, referring to Taiwan by its official name.

But the council, the island's top China policy decision-making body, also called for setting aside disputes that have split Taiwan and the mainland for six decades.

"Only that way can we develop relations permanently and lay a solid foundation," the council said.

Hu pledged to "push forward the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait" amid a historic thaw between the two sides, which split at the end of a bloody civil war won by Mao's Communist forces in 1949.

"We will continue to strive for the complete reunification of our motherland, which is the common aspiration of the Chinese nation," he said, as China celebrated 60 years of communist rule.

Beijing still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

On the island, immediate reunification is supported by only a minority, while most prefer a continuation of the status quo, in which Taiwan is an independent nation in all but name.

Philippines and Taiwan brace up for typhoon Parma

Thaindian News
October 1st, 2009
by Aishwarya Bhatt

typhoon Parma Evergreen, Oct 1 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Days of misery and hardship are still not over for Philippines residents. A super duper typhoon was gathering pace in the western Pacific and is expected to strike Taiwan and Philippines.

Typhoon Parma is expected to bring lots of downpour and major property damage to the Philippines on Saturday, according to meteorologists.

The earlier storm warning was upgraded to a super typhoon on Thursday as it churned towards the island nation with winds of strong speeds 240 kph (150 mph). The storm was about 600 miles (965 km) southeast of Manila, the Philippines’ capital on Thursday afternoon. 

The five-day tracking map shows that the storm will visit Taiwan from the south, on Monday.   more ...

Premier: Taiwan needs strong defense against China

AP
October 1, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan needs to maintain its defense against China while pursuing peaceful cross-strait relations, the island's premier said Thursday, as Beijing staged its biggest-ever military parade to celebrate the 60th anniversary of communist rule.

Wu Den-yih's statement came on the same day China showed off its advanced military hardware in a parade with over 100,000 people. Chinese President Hu Jintao also reiterated the country's resolution to be unified with Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Wu said Taiwan's efforts to seek peaceful ties with Beijing cannot rely on Chinese goodwill alone, but they have to be backed by a strong defense.

"Taiwan needs to ensure it has strong defense (against China), so it is necessary to continue to procure weapons to achieve that goal," Wu said. "The mainland also has to acknowledge that fact that the two sides are governed separately to allow bilateral ties to progress peacefully."

He added that Taiwan needs to maintain close relations with democratic allies such as Japan and the U.S. in its pursuit of peaceful ties with China.   more ...

Taiwan launches world's first anti-swine flu spray

Oct 1, 2009, 13:12 GMT

Taipei - A Taiwan company on Thursday launched what it called the world's first spray capable of destroying the swine-flu virus.

VirusBom costs 350 Taiwan dollars (10 US dollars) and can be used 700 times, Money Marketing communication
Ltd. It contains a chemical compound that can destroy many kinds of bacteria and viruses, including the H1N1 swine-flu strain, company representative Heidi Wang said.

'We began selling the VirusBom spray today, but we have already been approached by companies from China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the United States who want to import our product,' she said Thursday.

VirusBom was invented in July by a research team from National Taiwan University.

The team said VirusBom is an organic compound that is made through synthetic means and can kill both bacteria and viruses.

It can be made into a hand wash, spray or detergent and applied to face masks, surgical gowns and air filters, said Professor Lee Shih-kuang, head of the research team.   more ...

Kadeer plans to sue Taiwan over terrorism claims: group

AFP
September 30, 2009

TAIPEI — Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer plans to sue Taiwan's government for linking her organisation to terrorism, a Taiwanese group advocating independence from China said.

Taiwanese officials last week banned Kadeer from visiting the island, saying her World Uighur Congress has close links to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement -- a charge she flatly rejected. The group is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

"She is planning to sue unless the Taiwanese government apologises and clears her name," said Marie Lin of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps, one of the local bodies that invited her to visit.

If Taiwan's government had granted Kadeer a visa, it would in all likelihood have infuriated Beijing, which says she is a "criminal" who orchestrated ethnic violence in northwest China's Xinjiang region in July.   more ...

Taiwan likely to upset China with Tibet, Uighur films

Reuters
Sep 30, 2009

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will screen films about Tibetans and Uighurs, China's most restive ethnic groups, on Thursday, the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, sponsors said, likely to anger its diplomatic rival.

"The 10 Conditions of Love", a documentary on Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, will be screened on Wednesday and Thursday. A film on Tibet by Tibetan director Dhondup Wangchen, who has been jailed in China since March, will be shown on Thursday.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve unification.

It accuses Kadeer of orchestrating July's ethnic violence in Xinjiang, a largely ethnic Uighur region of northwest China, which killed about 200 people. She denies the charge.

China also faces unrest in Tibet. Local Taiwan opposition leaders angered China by inviting Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, labelled a separatist by Beijing, to visit in early September.   more ...

Taiwan, China tread carefully

Asia Times
Sep 30, 2009
By Cindy Sui

TAIPEI - Sixty years after Taiwan split from China at the end of a civil war in 1949, there are still no clear signs of how the two sides will resolve their dispute over the island's status, but as mainland China celebrates its victory in the war on October 1, the indications are stronger than ever that both sides are aiming for a peaceful solution, analysts say.

Beijing claims Taiwan is a renegade province, and has not renounced the use of force to take it back for reunification, despite recent warming ties. Over past decades, Taiwan has developed into a vibrant democracy whose people cherish their freedom and separate identity from China.

Nonetheless, the dramatic improvement in relations between the two sides in the past year makes a war unlikely, but so seems unification or Taiwan independence.

China has proposed reunification under the so-called "One Country, Two Systems" formula that offers Hong Kong and Macau, former colonies of Britain and Portugal respectively, a high degree of autonomy, including a free press, with top leaders having to be endorsed by Beijing. But Taiwan has rejected this idea, having grown used to ruling itself democratically.

For now, Beijing and Taipei are shelving this issue, focusing instead on what they can agree on - strengthening economic ties, which are seen as mutually beneficial.

Analysts said that over time the sovereignty issue could perhaps work itself out without a military conflict, as long as neither side pushes the other's limits.

Beijing, for its part, has shown more maturity and flexibility in its handling of the Taiwan issue, experts said.

"There's no doubt in their propaganda, reunification is a sacred mission, but as time goes by, they have become more sophisticated and they know reality; they know the consequences of taking Taiwan back by force," said Arthur Ding, secretary general of the Taipei-based Council of Advanced Policy Studies.

Just a few years ago under an older generation of leaders, China often saber-rattled, warning of war if the island dragged its feet on unifying. Now, it prefers to let its economic clout do the talking.

Instead of threatening war if Taiwan moves toward independence as previous generations of China's leadership have done, China's current central leadership led by President Hu Jintao seems to have a stronger understanding of Taiwan's politics as a democracy. They prefer to avoid angering Taiwanese people, and to woo them instead, for instance by allowing thousands of Chinese tourists to visit the island each month, from just a trickle before.

As Taiwan's biggest trade partner, China has much power to wield.

Annual trade between the two sides amounts to about US$130 billion and tens of billions of dollars have been invested by Taiwanese businesses in China - the island's biggest investment destination. More than 1 million Taiwanese now live and work in China, the island's biggest export market.

Since Taiwan's China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office last year, direct cross-strait flights and shipping links have been launched. Taiwan has also agreed to allow Chinese investment in 100 sectors, including banking, securities and real estate.

The two sides hope to sign an economic pact next year, which will make their economies even more interdependent.

"In Chinese leaders' minds, there's no doubt they hope economic ties will help them reach their final goal of eventual reunification," said Ding. more ...

China says willing to improve U.S. defense ties

Reuters
September 29, 2009

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday said that it was willing to improve military relations with the United States, but also called on Washington to handle arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan cautiously.

"China takes a positive attitude on improving military exchanges with the U.S., and will expand common interests and cooperation to push forward military ties," Xinhua news agency quoted Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, as saying.

Ma told visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg that both countries should "respect each other's core interests" and "properly handle differences and sensitive issues," adding that military relations "had shown positive signs."

China's military build-up, especially of its navy, has raised concerns in the United States, heightened by a series of standoffs in recent months between U.S. and Chinese ships.

But both countries have also been working together to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.  Still, the issue of Taiwan remains a thorny one.

China claims sovereignty over the democratic island, and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

The United States formally recognizes Taiwan as part of China and has no diplomatic ties with the island, but is bound by law to sell Taiwan arms, much to China's displeasure.

"We hope the U.S. cautiously handles issues of arms sales to Taiwan and vessel and plane surveillance," Ma said, without elaborating.   more ...

Taiwan's view on China anniversary

BBC News
September 29, 2009
By Cindy Sui

As China prepares to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, many people in Taiwan will not be celebrating what for them is the loss of a civil war.

They will instead see the event as a reminder of a major turning point in history that dramatically impacted their lives.

"This was a historical tragedy - Chinese people fighting Chinese people. So many lives were lost, so many families ruined. It's the biggest shame of Chinese people," said Huang Shih-chung, an 84-year-old retired general who fought in the war against the Communists for the Nationalist side.

"I really hope... Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will not forget the lives lost."

Outside mainland China, Taiwan is the place most directly affected by Communist China's founding on 1 October 1949.

The Nationalist or Kuomintang (KMT) army led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek retreated to the island after its defeat by Communist troops.

About two million refugees from China, including hundreds of thousands of soldiers, fled to the island - changing its political, economic and social structure, and leaving behind a legacy still strong today.    more ...

Taiwan county turns down casinos in referendum

Reuters
September 26, 2009
By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Voters in a remote corner of Taiwan rejected by a large margin on Saturday a plan to allow Taiwan's first casinos to be built in their county, snubbing gaming giants like Harrah's Entertainment Inc [HAMLEH.UL] and MGM Mirage (MGM.N).  Residents of Penghu County, also known as the Pescadores, where officials want a source of income to replace tourism during the winter months, decided by 17,359 votes to 13,397 not to have casinos on their island group in the Taiwan Strait.  The referendum was the final hurdle for the scheme, and failed after a well-organised opposition campaign.

Harrah's, the world's largest casino firm, and runner-up MGM Mirage had hoped to use Taiwan to tap into Asia's fast-growing gaming market, officials of both firms had said.   more ...

Taiwan PM defends ban on Kadeer visit

AFP
September 26, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih on Saturday defended the government's decision to bar a planned visit by exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer over security concerns. "The interior ministry decided not to allow the visit based on concerns for national security and public interest. I respect and support the decision," Wu told reporters in southern Kaohsiung county.

"Kadeer is a political figure .... Her World Uighur Congress overlaps with an East Turkestan organisation to a certain extent," Wu said when asked why the ministry associated the Nobel Peace Prize nominee with a terrorist group.  It was unclear if Wu was referring to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States. East Turkestan is a name used by some for Kadeer's home region of Xinjiang.

Kadeer on Friday expressed deep disappointment after Taiwan banned her from visiting and voiced fear that the island may be falling under the spell of communist China.   more ...

District prosecutors raid THSRC offices

HIGH-SPEED PROBE: Prosecutors were investigating whether illegal profits had flowed into private companies and whether officials had engaged in influence peddling

Taipei Times
Saturday, Sep 26, 2009, Page 4
By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER

District prosecutors and investigators yesterday raided the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) to retrieve documents as part of a probe into whether THSRC had engaged in illegal deals.

Prosecutors have been looking into the company’s cash flow since January on suspicions that it had manipulated property prices. Prosecutors said before construction began on some of the high-speed rail stations, prices of property near the locations started to soar.

They had also received reports accusing certain individuals of profiteering and breach of trust during the planning and construction phases of the project.   more ...

US says decision on F-16s based solely on TRA

GRIM PREDICTION: A senior fellow at the CNAS said that now might be seen as the time when China ‘gained military leverage over Taiwan’

Taiepei Times
Saturday, Sep 26, 2009, Page 1
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER, WASHINGTON

“We encourage both China and Taiwan to export confidence- building steps that will lead to closer ties and greater stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

— James Steinberg, US deputy secretary of state

US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on Thursday that the decision to sell 66 F-16 C/D fighter planes to Taiwan would be made solely on the basis of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).

He strongly indicated that the decision had not yet been made and that pressure from China to stop the sale would not be taken into consideration.

An Asian military analyst said later, however, that it meant the sale would only go through if US military experts believed the aircraft were essential for Taiwan’s defense.

It’s a controversial issue, with some in the Pentagon arguing that in the case of an attack, China could readily destroy or ground the planes with an initial missile bombardment and that Taiwan would be better off investing in more anti-ship missiles.

In a major Washington speech, made at the launch of a new study on China by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Steinberg said that the administration of US President Barack Obama was “encouraged” by the positive dialogue between China and Taiwan.

“We encourage both China and Taiwan to export confidence- building steps that will lead to closer ties and greater stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.   more ...

Taiwan to block visit by exiled Uighur leader

Reuters
Fri Sep 25, 2009
By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will not allow exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer to visit the island as proposed in December, an official said on Friday, a move likely to please rival China but upset anti-China factions at home.

Kadeer, a former businesswoman who now leads exile group the World Uyghur Congress, wanted to come in December for a series of speeches at the invitation of an entertainer close to Taiwan's anti-China opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Questioned by legislators on Friday, Taiwan interior Minister Chiang Yih-hwa said the government had confirmed it would not allow the visit, citing safety concerns.

"The government's decision today conforms to the interests of the nation and the entire public," Taiwan's ruling, China-friendly Nationalist Party (KMT) said in a statement.

Taiwan opposition leaders have already infuriated China, which sees the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force against it, by hosting the Dalai Lama in early September and showing a Kadeer documentary this week.

China says Kadeer orchestrated ethnic violence in July in Xinjiang, a largely ethnic Uighur region of northwest China, killing about 200 people. She denies the allegation.   more ...

Sovereignty is in hands of Taiwan's people

eTaiwan News
September 25, 2009

Former president Chen Shui-bian tossed another rhetorical grenade into Taiwan public opinion earlier this week by supporting a controversial claim that the United States is the "occupying power" of Taiwan and wanted U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama to clarify Taiwan's status in a U.S. military court.

Although pro-Kuomintang media claimed that Chen wanted U.S. courts to take responsibility for his legal cases, the former president's office openly expressed anger over this "slanderous distortion" and declared that his action had "absolutely nothing to do with the Chen cases."

Instead, the former president's office emphasized that Chen's endorsement for a lawsuit being filed against the U.S. government by Roger Lin and Richard Hartzell of the "Formosa Nation Legal Strategy Association" the suit against the U.S, government "was limited to a personal statement of endorsement and a legal affidavit by 'former president of the Republic of China in exile Chen Shui-bian' in support of their "petition for a writ of certiorari" to compel Obama to testify in U.S. court.

The statement stressed that Chen's action aimed to "highlight the issue of Taiwan's national sovereignty status and urge Taiwan society to abandon the illusory 'ROC' orthodox legal system" and emphasized that the former president did not support or any attempt by the Lin-Hartzell group to use his name to solicit contributions for their cause.   more ...

Taiwan Denies Visit by Exiled Uigher Leader

VOA News
25 September 2009
By Thibault Worth

The Taiwan government will not allow Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer to visit the island later this year. China calls Kadeer a terrorist and had opposed the visit.

On Friday, Taiwan's Interior Minister Chiang Yih-hwa said the government would not allow the visit before Rebiya Kadeer had even submitted her visa application.

Chiang says if a foreigner's visit is considered possibly damaging to Taiwan's interests, public safety, or public order, the National Immigration Agency has the right to deny his or her entry.

Freddie Lin, the lead vocalist for the popular Taiwan rock band, had invited Kadeer. Lin advocates Taiwan independence and has close relations to the island's opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Kadeer accepted the invitation this week, and indicated her desire to visit in December.

Kadeer leads the exiled World Uighur Congress and lives in Washington. Beijing calls her a terrorist and has accused her of plotting the July riots that shook China's Xinjiang Province, and led to 200 deaths.   more ...

Taiwan to buy more Indiana corn, soybeans

Associated Press
September 25, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - Taiwan officials have signed a pact to continue buying corn and soybeans from Indiana.

Members of a trade delegation from the Asian country signed the agreement Friday with Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman during a Statehouse ceremony.

The Indiana agreement is part of a larger deal that Taiwan officials signed Thursday in Washington, pledging to buy $3.5 billion in American agricultural products over the next two years.    more ...

Kansas, Taiwan officials sign wheat agreement

Associated Press
September 25, 2009

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Officials from Kansas and Taiwan have signed an agreement over the purchase of $425 million worth of wheat for Taiwan.

A signing ceremony was Friday in the Kansas Senate chamber, with Gov. Mark Parkinson and legislative leaders participating. Parkinson was a witness to the agreement.

The Taiwan Flour Mills Association declared in the agreement that it intends to buy 62.5 million bushels of hard red winter wheat in 2010-11.   more ...

Taiwan holds rates at record low, signals steady policy

Thomson Reuters
09.24.09
By Lee Chyen Yee and Roger Tung

TAIPEI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Taiwan's central bank kept interest rates at a record low of 1.25 percent as expected on Thursday, and signalled it could be one of the last in the region to start raising rates despite emerging signs of economic improvement.

It said the pace of economic contraction has eased, a slightly less pessimistic assessment than it had offered at its previous quarterly meeting in June, when it said the economy had bottomed out.

But it suggested it was in no hurry to tighten policy, saying it expected consumer prices -- a key focus for policy decisions -- to remain stable and rising asset prices were not a concern.    more ...

Taiwan Govt OKs '10 Budget;Debt Issue Record High

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
September 24, 2009
By Charmian Kok and Alex Pevzner

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)--Taiwan's Cabinet approved Thursday a downward revision of the central government's budget for 2010, and it plans to sell a record NT$516.2 billion (US$15.92 billion) worth of debt to plug a deficit that will likely be 46.7% wider than the estimated deficit for 2009.

The plan to issue a record high amount of government debt brings Taiwan closer to its ceiling for government debt, even as ratings analysts urged the island to improve its finances as soon as possible.

The Cabinet approved a budget deficit of NT$183.0 billion for 2010, 2.6% lower than the NT$187.8 billion deficit approved by the previous Cabinet in August, but still above 2009's estimated deficit of NT$124.78 billion.

The island had an audited budget surplus of NT$19.49 billion in 2008.

The previous Cabinet resigned in early September over the bungled response to Typhoon Morakot, which hit the island in August.

The government plans to issue a record high NT$516.2 billion worth of debt in 2010, up from NT$455.8 billion this year, said Su-mei Shih, minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.   more ...

Jailed Taiwan Ex-President Chen Sues in the U.S.

Bloomberg.com
September 24, 2009
By Chinmei Sung and Janet Ong

Former Taiwan President Chen Shui- bian, who was sentenced to life in prison this month for graft, sued for his freedom in a U.S. appeals court yesterday, ahead of a Taiwanese high court hearing today on his appeal.

Chen, convicted of taking bribes while in office, claims Taiwan is still technically under U.S. military occupation more than 60 years after Japan’s defeat in World War II, and that the Taiwanese government has no legal right to try and detain him, according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington.

“Chen Shui-bian is a desperate man and he is trying to use any trick to get him out of jail,” said Shih Cheng- chuan, a professor of international affairs at Tamkang University in Taipei. “There is little chance that the U.S. will meddle with the case.”

Chen, 58, has been held in custody since December 2008. He is trying to use international law and U.S. constitutional law to resolve the legal problems concerning Taiwan’s status and his own legal problems, adviser Roger Lin told reporters in Taipei yesterday. Chen admitted he was wrong for not recognizing the issue in the eight years he was in office and is willing to go to the U.S. to testify, Lin said.    more...

Jailed former Taiwanese president petitions US

AP
September 23, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has been indicted on new embezzlement charges just weeks after being sentenced to life in prison, and has filed a lawsuit claiming that the U.S. legally controls Taiwan and should release him from detention, officials and a lawyer said Wednesday.

Prosecution spokesman Chen Yun-nan said the new charges issued Tuesday against the jailed former leader accuse him of embezzling $330,000 from official expense funds for his 11 trips overseas as president.

Chen was sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 11 after being found guilty of embezzling $3.15 million during his 2000-08 presidency from a special presidential fund, receiving bribes worth at least $9 million, and laundering some of the money through Swiss bank accounts.

Chen, who has been detained since late 2008, has denied the accusations and called them a political punishment by the current administration.

He has appealed his sentence, and appears to be trying a new strategy to win his release. On Monday, he filed a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C., claiming that the U.S. still controls Taiwan because former colonial power Japan never officially transferred the island to another nation after being defeated in World War II, said Roger Lin, general secretary of Formosa National Legal Strategy Association, a pro-independence group in Taiwan.

The petition says Taiwan therefore technically remains under occupation by the Allied powers, led by the United States. "Military government continues until legally supplanted, and Taiwan today remains under (the U.S.) military government," it says.   more ...

Uighur leader accepts invitation to visit Taiwan

AFP
September 23, 2009
By Amber Wang

TAIPEI — Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer has accepted an invitation to visit Taiwan, supporters said on Wednesday in a development handing the island's China-friendly government a political dilemma.

If the Taiwan authorities grant a visa to Kadeer, they are likely to infuriate Beijing, which says she is a "criminal" who masterminded ethnic violence in her home region of Xinjiang in northwest China in July.

"Kadeer expressed her thanks for the invitation and said she will certainly visit Taiwan," said Marie Lin of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps following a telephone discussion with Kadeer on Tuesday.

"She is a very warm and gentle woman. We hope the Taiwanese people can see for themselves how Beijing attacks its dissidents with lies," she told AFP.

Guts United Taiwan, another pro-independence group which joined the corps in inviting Kadeer, said Wednesday its leader, Freddy Lin, was now in Washington.

Lin, also the lead vocalist of Taiwanese black metal band "Chthonic," was expected to meet the Uighur leader there later Wednesday local time to finalise the trip, according to Guts United Taiwan.

"Rebiya Kadeer hopes to be able to carry out face-to-face exchanges with various groups in Taiwan at an appropriate time," said Dilxat Raxit, a Sweden-based spokesman for the World Uighur Congress, which Kadeer heads.   more ...

Taiwan Fair Feels Heat From China

The Wall Street Journal
SEPTEMBER 19, 2009
By TING-I TSAI

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- China appears to be using its growing economic clout in Taiwan to influence the island's free-wheeling cultural scene.

Taiwan's second-largest city, Kaohsiung, was scheduled to screen a film at next month's film festival about the exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Now, the city is rethinking the showing after local hoteliers began reporting hotel cancellations in protest.

"My Chinese counterparts told me that screening the movie would hurt the feelings of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," said Tseng Fu-hsing, chairman of Kaohsiung Tourism Association. He said the industry has come to rely on Chinese tourists during the current economic downturn and that as many as 20%, or several thousand, Chinese reservations may be affected.

"This is just a cultural event," Kaohsiung spokesman Chang Chia-hsing said of the festival. "But, with complaints from the business groups, we need to reconsider whether to show the film."   more ...

Trying Taiwan

Chen Shui-bian's jailing is a pivotal moment for the country.

The Wall Street Journal
Septembert 15, 2009

Former President Chen Shui-bian's conviction Friday of stealing three million dollars from state coffers and accepting bribes worth several times that amount was a shock to Taiwan. The question now is how well the island's political and judicial systems will withstand this verdict.

Taiwan has been a democracy for a mere 14 years, and when Mr. Chen was elected in 2000 he was the first opposition leader to win power after five decades of Kuomintang rule. Now he is the first head of state to be found guilty of corruption (though he says he is innocent and is appealing the verdict). Both of those firsts are, in their own ways, testaments to Taiwan's political maturation.

That's not to say that Mr. Chen's trial was without controversy. His supporters are inflamed by allegations of judicial bias and prosecutorial overreach during the trial, and protests flared up over the weekend. Chief among their grievances are the facts that Mr. Chen was held incommunicado for more than a month (legal under Taiwanese law) and that the initial presiding judge hearing the case was replaced by an unusual, but valid court procedure (Mr. Chen's case was merged with his wife's case).    more ...

Taiwan ex-leader calls life term 'invalid'

AFP
September 15, 2009
By Amber Wang

TAIPEI — Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian on Tuesday said the life sentence he was handed by a court was "invalid" and reiterated claims that his case was politically motivated. "The trial is a violation of the constitution and the law," he said in a statement issued by his office. "The ruling is therefore invalid."  Chen claimed that the presiding judge, Tsai Shou-hsun, had no legitimacy because he was brought in mid-case. "This is most certainly a political case... Chen Shui-bian's 'crime' is (promoting) Taiwan's independence," he said, referring to himself in the third person.

Taiwan has been governed separately from China since 1949, but Beijing still considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to take it back, by force if necessary.

Chen was convicted Friday by the Taipei District Court for taking bribes, embezzling state funds and forging documents, among other crimes, at the climax of a court drama that gripped the island's 23 million people for months. "I have appealed the case myself and I will put up a full defence in the second trial," Chen said, adding that he should be released from jail pending the appeal. "I am willing to surrender my passport... in exchange for my liberty so I can enjoy the right to defend myself at court and have the opportunity of a fair trial." 

The former leader Monday filed an appeal against his corruption conviction to "highlight his strong objection to the unfair trial," an aide said.  more ...

Deaflympics official hails success of Taiwan event

Monsters & Critics
Sep 15, 2009, 6:55 GMT

Taipei - The organizer of the 21st Summer Deaflympics on Tuesday praised Taiwan for hosting the 'best-ever' Deaflympics.

Dr Donalda Ammons, president of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, made the remark while receiving honorary citizenship of Taipei from Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin.

'In terms of competition venues, efficiency and Taipei citizens' smiles, the Taipei Deaflympics is the best-ever Deaflympics,' she said through sign language at the Taipei citizenship presentation ceremony.

After 10 days of competition involving nearly 3,000 deaf athletes from 80 countries and regions, the event was set to close Tuesday evening with a 350-table feast at the Taipei Stadium for all the teams and staff.

Each of the 15,000 spectators will receive a lunch box so that the spectators will not be left out of the feast.

The Chinese delegation said it would attend the closing ceremony, after having boycotted the inauguration to protest President Ma Ying-jeou's opening of the games.

At a news conference Tuesday, Zhao Sujing, spokeswoman for the Chinese team, said half of the 100-member Chinese delegation had left Taiwan, but the remaining 50 members will attend.   more ...

Fear in Taiwan as trade pact with China looms

AFP
September 13, 2009
By Benjamin Yeh

KUANYIN, Taiwan — Jimmy Wang's tiles can compete with the best brands of Europe, but that is of little use to the Taiwanese manufacturer since the most lethal challenge he faces comes from China.  Wang beams with pride as he shows off his ceramic plant in the small coastal town of Kuanyin, an hour's drive from Taipei, and its Italian-made equipment bought for 500 million Taiwan dollars (15.2 million US dollars).  But when the 50-year-old president of Hiland Ceramic Co. thinks about the threat from the mainland, just 160 kilometres (100 miles) away, he sighs. "I'm not afraid of competition. But I'm concerned about unfair competition," he says.

Wang is among a growing number of small entrepreneurs on the island fearing what will happen to their businesses once the Beijing-friendly government signs an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, or ECFA, with China.  Critics fear that the ECFA, a scaled-down trade pact, will open the floodgates for a deluge of cheap Chinese imports, wiping out low-tech industries such as Wang's.  China's competitive labour is often cited as key, but there are other factors behind the mainland's export juggernaut.  One example: Taiwan's tile makers are required to use natural gas, a relatively clean energy source, to meet strict environmental laws, but their Chinese rivals use coal, which is more polluting but six times cheaper.   more ...

Taiwan's growth hinges on global economic recovery

Central News Agency
2009-09-13 07:25 PM

Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) As an export-oriented economy, Taiwan's growth hinges on the recovery of the global economy after the doldrums that began in 2008, the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Sunday.

All indicators show that the global economy has begun to bottom out since July and August this year and that growth, rather than decline, is expected from the beginning of next year, the bureau said in an analysis.

The dynamic of Taiwan's export trade -- the prime mover of the country's economic growth -- is expected to pick up steam soon after the economic prospects of the world's key players, including the United States, Japan and the European Union, turn for the better, according to the report.

The global economic crunch has begun to recover since July and August, thanks to strong rebounds in China and India, plus stimulus packages put forth by various countries with the support of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The BOFT analysis quotes the latest Global Insight Inc. report as forecasting that the global economy will decline by 2.4 percent in 2009, but will show positive growth of 2.3 percent in 2010.  In comparison, the Economist Intelligence Unit has forecast that the global economy will dwindle by 1.7 percent this year, but will expand by 2.3 percent next year.  The BOFT report attributes the Taiwan bourse's advance in the recent two months -- breaking the 7,000 mark -- in part to the recovering global economy.   more ...

Taiwan seeks return of former President's millions from Swiss banks

Times Online
September 13, 2009

Taiwan officials are seeking Switzerland's consent to return $21 million frozen in two bank accounts that a court said the island's ex-president illegally obtained and laundered, according to news reports.

Former President Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life in prison for corruption on Friday after the Taipei District Court found him guilty of embezzling $3.15 million during his two terms in office from 2000-2008 . It also convicted him of receiving bribes worth at least $9 million in connectin with a government land transaction, as well as money laundering and document forgery.    more ...

Taiwan's Chen, wife sentenced to life

CNN
September 11, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian was convicted Friday on corruption and money laundering charges, and was sentenced to life in prison, according to officials at Taipei City Court.
Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian walks inside the Taipei Detention Centre in Tucheng on Friday.

He was fined 200 million New Taiwan dollars (U.S.$6.1 million) as well.

Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, who earlier had been convicted of lying to prosecutors, also was convicted on similar charges. She received a life sentence and was fined 300 million New Taiwan dollars (U.S. $9.1 million), according to the Central News Agency, Taiwan's official news agency.    more ...

China vs Taiwan in U.S. Court

Business Week
September 11, 2009
Posted by: Bruce Einhorn

There’s no shortage of lawsuits in the chip industry, where it’s pretty common for semiconductor manufacturers or designers to accuse rivals of intellectual-property theft. Most of the time these cases get settled before going to trial, which is one reason the court battle now underway between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and its Shanghai-based rival, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), is so interesting. The two companies reached a $175 million deal in 2005 to settle a claim by TSMC, the world’s biggest foundry, that its smaller Chinese rival had stolen some of its secrets. But the Taiwanese company now alleges SMIC reneged on the deal, and oral arguments began yesterday in Oakland.

As reported by Semiconductor International, TSMC’s lawyer argued that “SMIC allegedly changed the name of computer files that included TSMC property, engaged in document destruction, and thereby violated the 2005 settlement.” Contending that TSMC had not behaved in good faith, SMIC’s attorney “argued that TSMC launched the current lawsuit as a means of damaging SMIC’s ability to compete with TSMC, which allegedly feared SMIC’s fast rise into the top tier of foundries.”   more ...

Taiwan ex-President Chen Shui-bian pessimistic about Friday verdicts

eTaiwan News
September 10, 2009

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ex-President Chen Shui-bian and his supporters were said to be extremely pessimistic about court verdicts in his corruption cases scheduled for Friday.

Chen himself was expecting to be sentenced to life in prison, and preparing for an immediate appeal, reports said.

At 4 p.m. Friday, the Taipei District Court will issue verdicts in cases of corruption, profiteering, influence-peddling and money laundering involving about NT$800 million and a total of 14 defendants, including Chen and a range of close relatives, family friends, former aides, government officials and business people.

Chen has been in prison since December 30 as a suspect, and could be either released with or without bail, or ordered to stay in custody. His aides and legal advisers have implied the bail might be set so high they will be unable to find the money. The former president will not appear in court for the verdict, reports said.   more ...

Taiwan's new premier vows closer China ties as pact moves nearer

channelnewsasia.com
Posted: 10 September 2009 1756 hrs

TAIPEI - Taiwan's new premier vowed Thursday to pursue closer ties with China, as local media reported the island could sign an agreement on financial cooperation with the mainland "any time".

Wu Den-yih was speaking after being sworn in as the head of Taiwan's new cabinet, succeeding Liu Chao-shiuan, who quit this week to take political responsibility for the government's response to last month's Typhoon Morakot.

Speaking after the ceremony, Wu said his predecessor had done well, praising his efforts to improve relations with former rival China.

"We will continue to push for Liu's cross-strait policy to promote peace and prosperity for both sides," Wu said.    more ...

China boycotts 2009 Deaflympics Opening Ceremonies in Taipei: Is the Dalai Lama to blame?

examiner.com
September 9, 2009
By: Sidra Morris

China boycotted the opening ceremonies for a large sporting event held in Taiwan for the second time this summer amid growing tension between the two governments. The first was earlier this summer, with a boycott of the 8th World Games, apparently because Ma Ying-jeou, President of Taiwan, was officiating the ceremonies. Chinese attendance would validate Mr. Ma's claim of Presidency of the island, which China doesn't recognize because it claims Taiwan as part of it's territory. The Chinese delegation boycotted the Opening Ceremonies of the 2009 Deaflympics last week as well, which many believe is because of Mr. Ma's roles in those festivities.

However, there is another underlying reason for China to boycott, as they have recently threatened repercussions for the Dalai Lama's visit to the island last week. China often has strong reactions to countries who recognize or invite the exiled Tibetan Dalai Lama to their country, but for Taiwan to do so greatly injures what has been seen as an improving relationship.    more ...

2009 Taiwan Hardware and Building Materials Trade Mission to the Middle East

Reuters
September 9, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(Business Wire)--
Following a string of successful missions to the Middle East, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) will once again lead a delegation to
the region to explore trade and investment prospects. The group this time is comprised of 22 quality-driven manufacturers from different hardware and
building material sectors and will be visiting three of the region`s crown jewels, namely Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria from Oct. 9 to 20. The focus of
this visit is on the main growing metropolises, i.e. Jeddah, Amman, and Damascus.

It is widely acknowledged that Taiwan excels in the manufacturing and supply of hardware and building materials. Taiwanese producers of such products offer a broad range of supplies and services to almost every corner of the world. Their products` high quality and competitive prices have given them a commanding position in the global marketplace. Taiwanese hardware and building material companies are also noted around the world for their experience, expertise, and determination in meeting the individual needs of customers.    more ...

DEAFLYMPICS TAIPEI 2009: Taiwan collects eight more medals at Deaflympics

Taipei Times
Wednesday, Sep 09, 2009, Page 1
By Jenny W. Hsu

Taiwan was successful at the Deaflympics yesterday, winning three gold, three silver and two bronze medals.  Taiwan’s overall tally of 13 medals put it in second place in the overall standings behind Russia.  Kuo Chia-mi (郭嘉秘) won the first of yesterday’s gold medals, finishing the women’s sprint orienteering course in 17:22 minutes.  The all-around athlete will participate in three events in the games — orienteering, basketball and shot put.  The 30-year-old was the silver medalist in the 1997 Copenhagen Deaf World Games in the hammer throw and took home a bronze in the 2001 Rome Deaflympics.  Four years later in the Melbourne games, a back injury prevented Kuo from making her way into the top three. “I want to dedicate the medal to my mother. I couldn’t say goodbye to her when she passed away this April because I was competing in Thailand, so this is for her,” said a teary Kuo, who recently landed a job as a sanitation worker in Taipei.  Teammate Yin Lun-hung (鄞綸宏) bagged a silver in the men’s sprint orienteering with a time of 14:46 minutes.

Taiwan also shone in karate, winning a gold in the men’s under-84kg category and a silver in the women’s under-68kg category.  Thirty-year old Lu Ching-feng (呂清峰), who advanced into the final match after knocking out Italy’s Manuel Tocchini, had wobbled off the floor after getting hit in the groin.  The blow, however, earned him two points and gave him the 9:3 victory.  The gold was secured even before going into his final match as the other semifinalists were disqualified.   more ...

Taiwan festival hacked over Uighur film

Agence France-Presse
September 08, 2009

TAIPEI—Anonymous hackers have attacked a Taiwan film festival over plans to screen a documentary on the US-based leader of China's predominantly Muslim Uighur minority, festival organizers said Tuesday.  A message, posted on a blog run by one of the organizers of the Kaohsiung Film Festival, blamed Rebiya Kadeer for recent bloody unrest in northwest China's Xinjiang region, which is home to the Turkic-speaking Uighurs.

"I don't know if you heard about the violence (in Xinjiang) and if you know how many people were left homeless. It is all because of that woman," said the message, referring to Kadeer.  The message accused her of being the "original culprit" behind unrest that broke out in Xinjiang in July, and demanded removal of the film. 

The film festival, which takes place in Taiwan's second largest city Kaohsiung, is scheduled to show "Ten Conditions of Love" on World Uighur Congress leader Kadeer in October. "We welcome comment and feedback on the festival but we do not approve hacking as a means of doing so," said organizer Liu Hsiu-ying. "We selected the film in April. Our decision is purely artistic and there is no political consideration," she told Agence France-Presse.

Observers have said screening the Kadeer film is likely to further irritate Beijing, which was already seething over the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan last week.   more ...

Ma Ditches Taiwan Premier as Storm Anger Steals China Limelight

bloomberg.com
September 8, 2009
By Tim Culpan and Janet Ong

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou sacrificed his premier in a surprise ouster designed to contain anger at the government’s mishandling of a deadly typhoon and its priority of improving ties with China.

“Ma is now in damage control,” said Lo Chih-cheng, a professor at Soochow University in Taipei. “The only way to get out of trouble is to get rid of his premier.”

Ruling Kuomintang Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Wu Den-yih will take over from Liu Chao-shiuan, while the party’s rising star, Eric Chu, also a vice chairman, will become Wu’s deputy, presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said last night.

Ma’s popularity fell to a record low after Typhoon Morakot, which struck Aug. 6 to 9, killed more than 600 people and brought criticism for his administration’s handling of recovery efforts. Fulfilling election promises to strengthen ties with China had helped Ma’s approval climb and the stock market soar.

“Ma now needs a politician and Wu is just the right person,” said Cheng Cheng-mount, chief Taiwan economist at Citigroup Inc. in Taipei. “Wu is a senior party member while Chu is up-and-coming and is being groomed for bigger things.”    more ...

Taiwan names ruling party official as premier

Reuters
Mon Sep 7, 2009

TAIPEI, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Wu Den-yih, a colourful, outspoken ruling party official, will become Taiwan's premier, the president's office said on Monday, to help President Ma Ying-jeou weather his worst crisis so far in office after a deadly typhoon.   more ...

Prime Minister of Taiwan Quits Over Typhoon Response

The New York Times
September 7, 2009
By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — The prime minister of Taiwan resigned Monday after widespread criticism of the government’s response to a deadly typhoon and said that his successor would replace the entire cabinet this week.

Liu Chao-shiuan, Taiwan's prime minister, announced his resignation in Taipei on Monday.

The announcement at a news conference by the prime minister, Liu Chao-shiuan, came as a surprise, even though the government had come under intense pressure for what many Taiwanese called its inept handling of the response to Typhoon Morakot. The storm slammed into Taiwan in early August and left at least 700 people dead or missing after three days of heavy rain set off huge mudslides. Mr. Liu’s resignation is the most serious political fallout yet from the typhoon.

Popular support for President Ma Ying-jeou, who was elected by a wide margin in the spring of 2008 on a platform of rejuvenating the economy and improving ties with mainland China, has also plummeted in the aftermath of the disaster.   more ...

Summer Deaf Olympics Kick Off in Taiwan

VAO News
06 September 2009
By Thibault Worth

A Chinese troupe performs a Guanyin dance at the opening of the 21st Summer Deaflympics in the Taipei Arena, 06 Sep 2009
A Chinese troupe performs a Guanyin dance at the opening of the 21st Summer Deaflympics in the Taipei Arena, 06 Sep 2009
The 21st Summer Deaf Olympics officially kicked off in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, Saturday. The games offer Taiwan an opportunity to show a positive image to the world after an August dominated by negative headlines related to the government's response to Typhoon Morakot.

The twelve-part opening ceremony included singing by Taiwanese pop star A-mei, an appearance by actor Jet-Li and choreographed artistic performances themed on Taiwan's landscape, ecology, and even its food.

One of the acts, meant to highlight Taipei as a culinary capitol, had performers dressed up as noodles, vegetables and stewed eggs. They assembled into famous local dishes, such as minced pork and beef noodle soup.

Many of the performers, who are deaf, responded to split-second visual cues.   more ...

Taiwan aborigines move from land of ancestors

September 6, 2009
By Amber Wang (AFP)

TAIPEI — Taiwan has started the resettlement of thousands of indigenous villagers who were left homeless when Typhoon Morakot ravaged the south of the island last month, officials said over the weekend.

For many of the affected communities, moving away is a momentous decision, as it means leaving areas where their ancestors have lived for centuries, but given the devastation inflicted on their homes, they have no choice.

"We have accepted the deal as the location is still close to our original land. We need to move to a safe place," Aliao, chief of Mintzu village, told AFP by telephone. As is the habit among some aborigines, he uses only one name.

Mintzu village is located in Namasia township in Kaohsiung county, where the government has made land available for typhoon victims.   more ...

A (H1N1) swine flu virus hits more Taiwan children

eTaiwan News
2009-09-06 04:36 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ten new hospitalized A (H1N1) swine flu patients included a six-month–year-old girl from the Taipei area, the youngest case so far, the Central Epidemics Command Center announced Sunday.

The new case continued a trend, already clear when a two-week-old boy joined the list of infections Saturday, even though he was not hospitalized.

The number of hospitalized patients reached 138 Sunday, after registering a record one-day jump Saturday of 16 new cases. The center also announced Taiwan’s seventh death Saturday, a 49-year-old man from Taipei County.

Small children younger than one year being infected by the swine flu virus could not be seen separately from adults, said Steve Kuo, the director-general of the Centers for Disease Control, acting as epidemics center spokesman.   more ...

Taiwanese Villagers Will Leave Typhoon-Hit Mountains

bloomberg.com
September 4, 2009
By Tim Culpan

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwanese mountain villagers have agreed to a resettlement plan after their land was deemed unsafe for occupation following Typhoon Morakot, which caused mudslides in the area, a government official said.

More than 500 mountain households from three villages in southern Namaxia Township won’t return to live in the district, Lo Shih-hsiung, chief executive of the Cabinet’s Southern Taiwan Joint Services Center, said in a phone interview. Another 200 households from a fourth village are still considering the proposal, he said.

Taiwan authorities say the land around Namaxia is too unstable and prone to more landslides after the Aug. 6 to 9 storm triggered mudslides, killing more than 600 people including 22 in the mountain village. President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan visited the villagers, mostly aborigines, at shelters this week to suggest they not return.    more ...

Taiwan Companies Lend Support as Curtain Lifts on Summer Deaflympics

Reuters
September 4, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(Business Wire)--
With the 21st Summer Deaflympics about to start in Taiwan on Sept. 5 this year
and a record 85 nations joining the competition, a number of well known local
brands are pitching in to support this growing athletic competition.

The Deaflympics Taipei 2009 Organising Committee and the Bureau of Foreign
Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) collaborate together, showcasing the
Taiwan brands at the Deaf Culture - Taiwan Excellence exhibition. A total of 21
Taiwan brands will open exhibit on the first floor of the Taipei Arena in the
Taipei International Deaf Fair, showing together with more than 100 art
collections by deaf and dumb creators, and the history of Taiwan`s deaf and dumb
associations.

The press is cordially invited to join a media event on Sept. 4 at 2 pm that
will open Deaf Culture - Taiwan Excellence. Mr. Chih-peng Huang, Director
General of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, Mr. Yuen-Chuan Chao, President and
CEO of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Mr. Chih Ho
Chen, the honorary president of the 21st Summer Deaflympics Taipei 2009
Organising Committee will host the opening ceremony.   more ...

Taiwan typhoon reconstruction to take 3 years

Asia Pacific News
03 September 2009

TAIPEI: Taiwan will need at least three years to rebuild destroyed villages and wrecked infrastructure after last month's Typhoon Morakot, officials said Thursday, quoting the vice president.

Vice President Vincent Siew made the estimate when he met Wednesday with the new US de facto ambassador to Taiwan, William Stanton, an aide at Siew's office said.

The estimate was based on Siew's experience overseeing reconstruction work following a 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck in 1999, the official said.

Siew was premier at the time of the quake, the island's deadliest natural disaster, claiming a toll of about 2,400 lives.

Morakot struck Taiwan in early August, bringing a record three metres (118 inches) of rain, submerging houses and streets and destroying dozens of bridges and hundreds of roads.

It caused at least NT$16 billion (US$500 million) in losses to agriculture and another NT$10.5 billion in damage to tourism facilities and lost tourism revenue, according to government figures.    more ...

Taiwan Isn’t Gagging Dalai Lama During His Visit (Update1)

bloomberg.com
September 3, 2009
By Janet Ong

(Bloomberg) -- A Tibetan official today rejected media reports the Taiwanese government is gagging the Dalai Lama during his visit to the island to avoid straining ties with neighboring China.

The Dalai Lama wasn’t told by the government to curtail his activities during the five-day visit that ends tomorrow, Sonam Dorjee, secretary of the Taipei-based Tibet Religious Foundation of the Dalai Lama, said by telephone.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s nephew, Khedroob Thondup, told Agence France-Presse yesterday the government had imposed a “gag order” on the Dalai Lama because of pressure from authorities in Beijing. “He was told not to say anything political and to curtail his activities,” AFP cited the nephew as saying.    more ...

Taiwan asked by China to cancel Dalai Lama events: MP

Reuters
September 2, 2009
By Ralph Jennings

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan officials have asked the Dalai Lama to cancel public speeches and media events on the island under pressure from an angry China, which fears he will talk politics, a Tibetan legislator said on Wednesday.

Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, has been working with China since mid-2009 to ease 60 years of hostilities by establishing trade and transit links.

The visiting Tibetan spiritual leader, reviled by China as a separatist, was asked to cancel a news conference, a public speech for 10,000 people, interview requests and abandon any hopes of meeting Taiwan's top leaders, said Khedroob Thondup, a Taipei-based parliamentarian in-exile close to the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, in Taiwan to comfort victims of a typhoon that killed up to 745 people last month, has avoided political comments during public prayers and meetings with local officials in the southern city of Kaohsiung.

"Beijing leaders are worried about His Holiness making any speaking engagements," Thondup told Reuters. "The Taiwan government has gone out of its way to listen.

"But this is not Communist Taiwan, it's democratic Taiwan," he said. The Dalai Lama would avoid "embarrassing" the host, Thondup said.   more ...

Wife of Taiwan's ex-leader jailed

BBC News
September 2, 2009 11:13 UK

The wife of Taiwan's former president, Chen Shui-bian, has been sentenced to a year in jail for perjury.

Wu Shu-chen was found guilty of asking her children to lie in court in an embezzlement case against her.

The verdict is the first in a string of corruption-related cases against the couple, their relatives and associates.

Mr Chen's son, daughter and son-in-law have each been jailed for six months, and the verdict against Mr Chen himself is expected later this month.

The Chens had a dramatic fall from favour after losing power in elections last year. The high-profile case against them is being seen as a test of the new government's resolve to crack down on official corruption.

Prosecutors say Mr Chen could face life in prison if convicted on all the counts against him, including embezzling public funds, money laundering and accepting bribes.

The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and claims he is being persecuted for his anti-China views by his successor Ma Ying-jeou.

Since taking office in 2008, Mr Ma has tried to improve relations with Beijing, and move away from Mr Chen's pro-independence policies. more ...

Taiwan’s Ma Has ‘No Arrangement’ to Meet Dalai Lama

Bloomberg.com
August 29, 2009
By Chinmei Sung

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has no plans to meet the Dalai Lama after agreeing to allow the Tibetan spiritual leader to visit and console survivors of Typhoon Morakot, the deadliest storm to hit the island in five decades.

“We have made no arrangement” to meet the Dalai Lama, Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said by telephone today. The Dalai Lama is to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow night for five days to offer prayers and blessings.

Ma this week agreed to the visit after opposition politicians invited the exiled spiritual leader to tour areas hit by the storm three weeks ago. China views the Dalai Lama, a figurehead of Tibetan independence movements, as a divisive force and has reacted angrily toward countries that allow him to visit. Under Ma, Taiwan’s China relations have thawed with agreements on investment and travel.

China “resolutely opposes” the visit, its official Xinhua news agency reported on Aug. 27.    more ...

China approves regular flights to Taiwan despite row

Reuters
Friday, August 28, 2009; 9:14 AM

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has authorized 16 airlines to operate regular direct flights to Taiwan, a sign that the Dalai Lama's upcoming visit to the island is unlikely to spoil warming ties.

Direct flights between mainland China and self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a breakaway province, have become increasingly frequent since the first one in 2005. But they were still technically considered charter flights.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China on Friday said that starting on Monday, 270 direct flights will take place along 32 regular flight routes.   more ...

Taiwan parliament approves reconstruction budget

Thomson Reuters
08.27.09

TAIPEI, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Taiwan's parliament approved on Thursday a special budget of up to T$120 billion ($3.6 billion) for reconstruction in areas ravaged by Typhoon Morakot, which caused the island's worst floods in 50 years.

'After the parliament gave the green light for the budget of up to T$120 billion, we intend to raise the full amount in the debt market,' the finance ministry said in a statement.

The ministry did not elaborate, but analysts said the ministry could raise the money by loans or issuing bills and bonds.

Taiwan was hit by Morakot in early August, with torrential rains setting off mudslides that buried villages, killing 463 people and causing farm-related losses of T$16 billion ($480 million).

The special reconstruction budget will not be included in the central government budget.

Last week, parliament gave the green light to central government spending of T$1.7398 trillion and T$1.5520 trillion of revenues for next year, resulting in a deficit of T$187.8 billion.   more ...

Taiwan confirms 543 dead, 117 missing after typhoon

AFP
August 27, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan on Thursday confirmed that 543 people were killed and 117 were missing after Typhoon Morakot struck more than two weeks ago, causing the worst flooding in the island's history.

The National Fire Agency said that the latest figures included 397 confirmed deaths from the worst-hit southern village of Hsiaolin, where another 53 people were still unaccounted for.

Previously, the death toll from the typhoon stood at 461. The toll was expected to rise further.

The typhoon struck the island on August 8, bringing a record three metres (118 inches) of rain, submerging houses and streets and destroying dozens of bridges and hundreds of roads.   more ...

China denounces proposed Dalai Lama visit to Taiwan

Reuters
Thursday, August 27, 2009; 8:41 AM
By Ralph Jennings and Lucy Hornby

TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) - China promptly denounced a proposed trip to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama on Thursday, saying any such visit by a man Beijing brands a separatist threatened to "sabotage" improving relations.  Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by Beijing, approved the visit by the Nobel Peace laureate to comfort victims of a deadly typhoon at a time of burgeoning trade and investment between the rivals.  "No matter under what form or identity Dalai uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this," China's Taiwan Affairs Bureau said in a statement carried by Xinhua news agency.  "Some of the people in the Democratic Progressive Party use the disaster rescue excuse to invite Dalai to Taiwan to sabotage the hard-earned positive situation of cross-straits relations."  Beijing brands the India-based Tibetan luminary as a separatist and condemns his trips abroad.   more ...

China opposes Dalai Lama's Taiwan visit

CNN News
August 27, 2009

(CNN) -- China "resolutely opposes" a planned trip by the Dalai Lama to Taiwan, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Thursday, hours after Taiwan's president announced the visit. The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan could anger China, which accuses him of advocating independence for Tibet.

Beijing opposes the visit "in whatever form and capacity," a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said, according to Xinhua, which did not name the spokesman. "Under the pretext of religion, (the Dalai Lama) has all along been engaged in separatist activities," he said.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said earlier Thursday that he had approved a visit by the Dalai Lama to pray for the victims of the typhoon-battered island.

Ma made the announcement Thursday while visiting a school in the southern part of the country, a government spokesman said. The Dalai Lama has accepted the invitation, his spokesman Tenzin Taklha said.

"We are working on the details of his visit, which will take place soon," he said. more ...

Taiwan death toll 'higher than feared'

CNN
August 26, 2009

CISHAN, Taiwan (CNN) -- A typhoon that struck Taiwan and China earlier this month killed more people in Taiwan than previous estimates, the government announced.
Mourners kneel and pray to the dead as they face the devastated valley of Shiao Lin.

At least 376 people are now known to have died when Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan, Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center said Tuesday. At least 254 people are still missing, and at least 46 people were injured. Emergency services also reported that 60 human limbs had been found, separately from the number of dead and wounded.

Kaohsiung county was the worst hit, with 308 dead, 207 missing and 13 hurt, one seriously, the emergency center said. more ...

Taiwan officials say Dalai Lama to visit the island this month, risking Chinese anger

Canada Press
August 26, 2009
By Peter Enav

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A group of Taiwan officials said Wednesday the Dalai Lama has accepted their invitation to visit this month, presenting the island's China-friendly president with an embarrassing political dilemma.

A joint statement by leaders from seven municipalities recently hit by deadly Typhoon Morakot said the Tibetan spiritual leader planned to be in Taiwan from

Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 and would visit storm victims.

The invitation is sensitive for China on two fronts. China says the Dalai Lama is working to undermine its authority in Tibet. China also claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory, though they split amid civil war in 1949.

The invitation from the leaders - all from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party-comes as President Ma Ying-jeou faces criticism that he botched the government's response to the island's deadliest storm in 50 years. The National Fire Agency says more than 670 are dead or missing.

Ma spokesman Wang Yu-chi declined to say whether Taiwan would allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Analysts said such a politically sensitive visit was unlikely, though the Dalai Lama has made three visits to the island over the past 12 years. more ...

Taiwan seeks to prevent epidemics after flooding

Associated Press
August 25, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese authorities scrambled to disinfect villages Tuesday that were flooded in the worst typhoon to hit the island in 50 years after four soldiers helping with the cleanup were confirmed to have swine flu.

The soldiers developed fevers and nausea after working in villages in Pingtung county in the south, said Steve Kuo, head of the Center for Disease Control. They later tested positive for swine flu, he added.

An additional 200 soldiers who worked closely with them were pulled out of the villages and placed under medical observation, TV stations reported.

Meanwhile, some 100 residents in a Pingtung village who had developed the same symptoms were found not to have swine flu, but appeared to have been infected by polluted water, health official Chang Hsin-che told CTI Cable News. more ...

Hundreds to remain entombed in Taiwan village

Reuters
Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:05am EDT

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan authorities will not attempt to recover the bodies of hundreds feared killed in a village by a mudslide this month, and will instead turn the site into a memorial park, a local leader said Monday.

The T$100 million ($3.04 million) park, slated to open in a year, would sit above the landslide, which has been compared to a fallen mountainside, as a place to remember the aboriginal village, township chief Liu Chien-fang said. more ...

Taiwan intensifies fight against H1N1 outbreak

Central News Agency
2009-08-24 08:59 PM

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Taiwan has intensified epidemic prevention efforts as it confirmed on Monday the fourth and fifth fatalities from swine flu, officially known as influenza A (H1N1).

As part of the reinforced campaign, more flu patients will be treated with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, with the government rather than the National Health Insurance system footing the bill, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said.

In response to a steady rise in the number of swine flu infections in Taiwan, Liu said the government has decided to ease guidelines for Tamiflu prescriptions, which will be paid for with aspecial government budget.

Under the relaxed rules, physicians will be authorized to prescribe Tamiflu or Relenza to certain categories of flu patients without the need for them to undergo rapid screening tests for the H1N1 flu strain, which are not totally reliable.

Those patients will include people with underlying chronic diseases, pregnant women, children under the age of 5, people who have come into contact with confirmed H1N1 patients, and those who have developed pneumonia or severe flu symptoms. more ...

Taiwan begins 3-day mourning period after typhoon

Associated Press
August 22, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan began a three-day mourning period to remember the victims of Typhoon Morakot on Saturday, two weeks after the island's worst weather disaster in 50 years devastated its mountainous south.

The storm took at least 500 lives and caused more than $2 billion in property damage. It triggered landslides and widespread flooding that trapped thousands of people in remote villages for days.

Early Saturday flags around Taiwan were lowered to half staff, and government officials attended religious events paying homage to the storm victims.

Since the full dimensions of the Morakot disaster became clear about 12 days ago, President Ma-Ying-jeou has struggled to assuage widespread anger over the government's slow response.

His approval rating has now dropped to below 20 percent — a 30 percent decline in only three months — amid an almost daily battering in Taiwan's hypercritical media — including in outlets normally friendly to the administration.

The Liberty Times — which normally supports the opposition — published details on Saturday of the $110 Japanese meal enjoyed by Ma's economic minister on the first day of a massive rescue operation aimed at saving the lives of thousands of flood-stranded villagers.

Three other senior officials — the vice-foreign minister, the defense minister and the Cabinet secretary-general — have already offered to resign, their reputations pummeled by a growing perception that the government was either indifferent to the fate of Morakot's victims or incapable of offering them succor.

Ma has been visiting hard-hit areas in the south over the past two days, bowing before the families of the dead and promising that a planned $3 billion reconstruction program will be carried out with exemplary efficiency. more ...

Typhoon turns into a political storm

Asia Times
Aug 21, 2009
By Cindy Sui

TAIPEI - It was just a routine viewers' survey, but a CNN online "poll" on whether Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou should step down over his administration's response to Typhoon Morakot made headlines in newspapers and top-of-the-hour TV news in Taiwan, with traditionally anti-ruling party outlets running wild with it.

"CNN poll shows 80% people want Ma to step down," shouted a front-page headline on Liberty Times. Even television stations typically partial towards Ma played up the story.

The killer typhoon that caught everyone by surprise with its extraordinarily destructive power, pounding Taiwan with record rainfall from August 6 to 10 and causing massive mudslides which
killed an estimated 500 people, is turning out to be Ma's biggest challenge yet as president.

Since taking office in May 2008 after winning 58% of the votes in the presidential election, his approval ratings have slid due to the economic downturn and concerns about his China policy, but now they are at a near record low of 29%.

The hardest-hit areas - Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Tainan counties, are all headed by officials from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Little focus, however, has been placed on mistakes made by local officials, despite the argument that they should have been the most aware of the local rainfalls, flooding and the potential risk of landslides affecting villages in their areas.

That's not surprising, said Andrew Yang, secretary general of the Taipei-based Council of Advanced Policy Studies and a former government advisor under ex-president Lee Teng-hui.

"People had already experienced inefficiency and incompetence at the lower levels, so they were looking to Ma Ying-jeou for leadership," said Yang. "One way or another, the system should've worked to reduce damages and loss of lives, but it didn't. That's why people are targeting Ma Ying-jeou. They want to get the problem solved. People want results."

It's still unclear what went wrong. Ma and the Executive Yuan, his cabinet, have only been in office a little over a year and they did not create the disaster response system - it was already there. more ...

Taiwan-China Economic Ties Boom, Military Tensions Remain

VOA News
By William Ide
20 August 2009

Longtime political foes Taiwan and China have seen their economic ties improve dramatically since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou stepped into office last year. But even as that relationship flourishes, China's tough military stance toward the island remains the same.

President Ma Ying-jeou was elected in part on a promise that he would improve relations with China. And he has done that. Taiwan and China have begun holding regular talks and opened up direct flights and cargo shipments. China has even made it possible for Taiwan to participate in the annual World Health Assembly.

The China threat has seemingly faded from the public's mind. Even President Ma in the wake of the devastating Typhoon Morakot this month said nature is now more of a threat than China. Others, however, disagree. more ...

Senior Taiwan officials offer to quit after typhoon

Reuters
Wed Aug 19, 2009

TAIPEI, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Several Taiwan officials, including the defence minister, have offered to quit over criticism that the government was too slow in its response to Typhoon Morakot, which may have killed about 500 people, officials said on Wednesday.

Taiwan's worst floods in 50 years over the past week triggered by typhoon Morakot caused President Ma Ying-jeou's popularity to sink, with the political uncertainty due to a possible cabinet reshuffle pushing financial markets lower.

Taiwan Defence Minister Chen Chao-min has offered to quit over criticism that the government was too slow in its response to Morakot, which caused massive mudslides in southern Taiwan, Taiwan Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said.

Hsieh Hsiang-chuan, secretary general of the cabinet, had also offered to resign, Liu told a news conference.

"Minister Chen and Secretary-General Hsieh have both verbally offered to resign," Liu said. "When we discuss a cabinet reshuffle in early September, we will consider these offers."

Liu declined to comment on a newspaper report saying that he had also offered to quit, adding that the administration would look at the entire cabinet, including economic and financial positions, to see if there was a need for any changes.

Ma, who is from the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT), said on Tuesday his administration would investigate the government response to the disaster and would come up with names on who would be held responsible by early September. more ...

Helping after Taiwan typhoon, US avoids confronting China

The Christian Science Monitor
August 18, 2009
By Gordon Lubold

Washington - American officials are treading diplomatic waters carefully in providing humanitarian relief to Taiwan following the typhoon there earlier this month.

The US has quietly sent the amphibious ship USS Denver as well as heavy-lift helicopters and cargo planes to the region to bring relief supplies like water purification equipment and plastic sheeting, a defense official said. A number of four-ton excavators the US is providing at the Taiwanese government's request arrived Tuesday.

But the US has kept its contributions modest and has not sought attention as it seeks to avoid a diplomatic confrontation with China. It did not appear that the US had contacted China before extending a hand for relief efforts in Taiwan.

"I don't believe that we felt it was necessary to inform China in advance," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Monday. "Obviously, this is a serious humanitarian situation that Taiwan is facing."

But it seems unlikely that the US wouldn't have telegraphed its intentions to help Taiwan to China, says one analyst in Washington.

"There had to be some kind of signal sent, it would only be prudent" says Walter Lohman, director of the Asian Studies Center at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington. He said the US sending support is a good sign – better than having China send too much help.

"If they were Chinese helicopters, it would be shocking actually, because it would show a degree of integration with the mainland that no one would be comfortable with," says Lohman. more ...

Taiwan’s Major Threat Is Nature, Not China, President Ma Says

bloomberg.com
Aug. 18 , 2009
By Tim Culpan

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan’s biggest threat is from nature, not mainland China, President Ma Ying-jeou said today when outlining plans for the island’s military to do more to limit losses from natural disasters.

“The armed forces will have disaster prevention and rescue as their main job,” Ma said today after apologizing for his administration’s slow response to Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan’s deadliest storm in 50 years. “They have to change their strategy, tactics, their personnel arrangements, their budget and their equipment.”

Taiwan will spend $300 million to buy disaster relief helicopters and cancel 15 of its 60 orders for United Technology Corp. Blackhawk helicopters, Ma said today. As many as 500 people may be dead after Morakot struck Aug. 6-9, causing mudslides that buried villages.

“As a result of climate change, disasters like Morakot are not that unusual now, so we have to be prepared for the worst,” Ma said. The military’s “job of course is to defend Taiwan, but now our enemy is not necessarily the people across the Taiwan Strait, but nature.” more ...

Taiwanese Official Resigns Over Typhoon Response

VOA News
By Thibault Worth
18 August 2009

Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia has become the first Taiwan government official to tender his resignation in the wake of Typhoon Morakot. The resignation came as President Ma Ying-jeou promised changes to improve the government's response to disasters.

Taiwan's President Ma says the military will be reorganized to better respond to disasters in the future. He also says that areas near the landslide zone will be surveyed to see if they are suitable for human habitation.

Heavy rains from10 days ago caused massive landslides in mountainous regions, which cut off roads and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Speaking to foreign journalists Tuesday, Mr. Ma said in the past 10 days 39,000 people had been evacuated from mountain villages. He faulted heavy rains for the slow progress in rescuing trapped villagers in the first few days after the storm.

"If we had had better weather, we could have done it faster and better," Ma said. more ...

Government calls off National Day celebrations

United Daily News
08/18/2009

Top government officials have reached consensus on canceling this year’s Double Tenth National Day celebration in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, according to local media reports.

The decision was made in an Aug. 17 meeting attended by President Ma Ying-jeou, Vice President Vincent Siew, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, outgoing Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung and Wang Jin-pyng, president of the Legislative Yuan and chairman of the National Day Preparatory Committee.

The five members agreed that all government efforts and resources should be devoted to disaster relief, and in this time of mourning, any celebratory events are inappropriate. more ...

Price, union trouble threaten AIG's Taiwan sale

Reuters
August 18, 2009
By Faith Hung and George Chen

TAIPEI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - A rich asking price could once again sink AIG's (AIG.N) plan to sell its Taiwan insurance unit after an attempt at a sale earlier this year met a similar fate.

American International Group, once the world's biggest insurer before the U.S. government had to bail it out last year, is seeking about $2 billion for Nan Shan Life, likely its most expensive asset for sale in Asia.

But some potential buyers say the Taiwan unit's net assets could be worth as much as 40 percent below the T$100 billion ($3 billion) that AIG claims, sources told Reuters.

As the August 28 sale deadline nears, bidders are re-evaluating the situation and some could walk away due to disagreements over the price and lack of information provided by the seller, said financial industry sources in Taiwan and Hong Kong. more ...

US plane lands in Taiwan to help mudslide victims

Reuters
Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:15am EDT
By Lee Chyen Yee

TAIPEI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The first U.S. military plane to land in Taiwan for three decades arrived on Sunday with building materials to help reconstruction, a week after a typhoon brought devastating floods and mudslides.

The C-130 cargo plane flew to Tainan in Taiwan's south from its base in Okinawa, Japan. It was the first such flight since the U.S. broke off diplomatic ties after adopting a "one-China" policy following detente with mainland China.

The official death toll from Taiwan's worst floods in about 50 years stands at 124, though the final figure may be much higher. Thousands are still trapped in the south of the island by mudslides and disruptions to land transport.

So far, over 60 countries have donated around T$68 million ($2 million) in cash as well as other relief supplies, the foreign ministry said.

Singapore has sent food and medical supplies, and on Sunday Australia sent disinfecting equipment.

The United States and China have both offered to provide heavy-lift helicopters to Taiwan's rescue teams, which are gradually shifting from saving lives to clearing up disaster areas for reconstruction.   more ...

Taiwan Mudslide May Have Buried 600 Villagers

By REUTERS
Published: August 10, 2009

TAIPEI/TOKYO (Reuters) - A mudslide triggered by torrential rains from a typhoon may have buried up to 600 villagers in mountainous southern Taiwan, disaster officials said on Monday.

More than 50 people have died in tropical storms striking the Phillipines, Taiwan, China and Japan.

The death toll so far in Taiwan stood at 15, with 55 missing and 32 hurt, since Typhoon Morakot struck the island on Friday and remained in the area through the weekend before battering China's populous east coast.

Rescue squads aboard helicopters had saved only 45 people from Hsiao Lin, a village of 1,000 in southern Taiwan. Rains washed out roads and bridges in Kaohsiung County, severing all land vehicle traffic.

"No small number of single-storey houses have been covered in mudslides," said Richard Hu, an army major-general. "We don't know how many people are there, but homes have definitely been buried."

Local officials said they had lost contact with up to 600 villagers, with inclement weather reducing even helicopter access. The storm caused floods in Taiwan's densely-populated south and farm-related losses on the island were estimated at T$4.2 billion ($128 million).   more ...

'Hundreds lost' in Taiwan typhoon

BBC News
10 August 2009 22:49 UK

Hundreds of people are feared dead in Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot triggered a mudslide that buried an entire village on the south-west coast.

Officials said about 600-800 people are missing in Shiao Lin village after part of the mountain collapsed on sleeping villagers' homes on Monday morning.  Most of the dead are thought to be the elderly and children.  Elsewhere in Taiwan, the number of confirmed deaths is 37, with 35 injured and 52 missing, officials said.  Typhoon Morakot dropped some 2m (80in) of rain on Taiwan this weekend, causing the worst flooding in decades.

The typhoon is now battering southern China, forcing the evacuation of a million people from their homes. Six deaths have been reported there.

In Japan, Typhoon Etau has set off flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 12 people.

Taiwanese television earlier reported that about 200 homes in Shiao Lin village were buried by mud.   more ...

Typhoons wreak havoc on Taiwan, Japan

(NECN/ABC)
August 10, 2009

One by one, rescuers have been attempting to save those caught in typhoon Morakot's path.

The wreckage left behind -- ruined roads, cars crushed by debris -- has made rescue efforts a painfully slow process.

"We are running out of milk for the baby. I have no water," one man said.

The storm slammed into southern Taiwan late Friday evening, triggering the worst flooding in 50 years. An entire mountain village was buried in mud.

"It was terrible. I was so worried I'd be washed away by the flood," one woman said.   more plus videdo ...

Typhoon Morakot triggers floods in Taiwan

Worst reports of flooding come from Taiwan's southern tip; official death toll reaches three, 31 missing

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-08-10 12:00 AM

Record rainfall caused widespread flooding across Southern Taiwan in the wake of Typhoon Morakot yesterday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and ravaging bridges, roads and buildings.

The worst reports of flooding came from the counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung at the country's southern tip, but the rains would threaten Central Taiwan for the next two days, the Central Weather Bureau said.

The official death toll reached three, with 19 people injured and 31 missing, the authorities said. A total of 6,301 people had been evacuated. The dead included a 78-year-old man who was found dead near his home in Hsinhua, Tainan County, and a 63-year-old who had been unable to flee when his home in Kaoshu, Pingtung County, was flooded.

The levels of rainfall broke records, reaching between 2,500 and 2,900 millimeters for the past few days, levels higher than during flooding on Aug. 7, 1959 which killed more than 600 people, mostly in the southwest.

The rainfall set one-day records Saturday, with one location, the Weiliao Mountain in Pingtung County, recording 1,403 millimeter, the highest ever for Taiwan. Of the ten highest one-day rainfall amounts, nine were reached on Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau said.

In one of the most spectacular consequences of the typhoon yesterday, a six-story hotel collapsed into a river in Chihpen, a popular hot springs destination in Taitung County. The three-decade-old Jinshuai Hotel, which was originally separated from the riverbank by several shops, was seen listing yesterday morning, before falling sideways into the water by noon.   more ...

Taiwan hotel collapses after typhoon

BBC News
9 August 2009 08:37 UK

A hotel in southern Taiwan has collapsed after flood waters from Typhoon Morakot undermined its foundations.

The hotel in Chihpen, one of the country's most famous hot spring resorts, is believed to have been completely evacuated before it collapsed.   Click to see the video ...

Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan

BBC News
Friday, 7 August 2009 17:03 UK

Typhoon Morakot has hit Taiwan with force, bringing with it more than a metre of rain and winds of 145km/h (90mph).

The authorities had closed schools and offices and cancelled flights ahead of the strongest typhoon of the year so far.  Video and more ...

Why Taiwan must show `The 10 Conditions of Love`

Taiwan News
2009-08-07 06:55 AM

The Taiwan government and people should deeply consider the lessons of the flap over the flap over the withdraw of the Taiwan directed and produced film ``Miao Miao`` from the Melbourne Film Festival by a Hong Kong company last week as part of a Chinese attempt to block the showing of a documentary about exiled Uyghur political activist Rebiya Kadeer.

The occasion for the boycott orchestrated by the authoritarian People`s Republic of China was the MIFF`s decision to show ``The 10 Conditions of Love,`` a documentary by Australian director Jeff Daniels on the life of World Uyghur Congress President Rebiya Kadeer, who is also attending the festival at the MIFF`s invitation.

Kadeer is now the subject of a PRC - orchestrated hate campaign as the scapegoat for the riots in Xinjiang (otherwise known as East Turkestan) last month that cost the lives of at least 170 persons.

The PRC assault against the MIFF for daring to show the documentary has included an official protest delivered to the Australia`s ambassador in Beijing, the withdrawal of all films produced in the PRC and its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and mass hacker attacks on the MIFF website that crashed the site and interfered with ticket sales.

Nevertheless, the boycott backfired as tickets for ``Ten Conditions`` were quickly sold out and Beijing`s crude effort to enforce its censorship rules in a democratic country gave a dramatic boost to the global profile of Kadeer and the Urygur cause.   more ...

Taipei to sue supplier of defective epoxy to elevated highway

Taiwan News
2009-08-06 12:50 AM

The Taipei City Government said yesterday it would take legal action after it found a defective type of epoxy was used in construction work on a major elevated road in the capital. Works to fortify the Hsinsheng Elevated Highway against earthquakes used structural epoxy resin from the type Sikadure AnchorFix-4 from Swiss-based manufacturer Sika AG, whose Taiwanese representative covered up problems with the product, Taipei's Public Works Department said yesterday.

The Taiwan-based company had supplied the project with products recalled as defective in the U.S., media reports said. The discovery was likely to delay the official reopening of the elevated highway to traffic from its original date in late September.

Department Director Chen Chin-yuan said the product was originally selected for the elevated highway because it withstood official earthquake-resistance tests. The city would ask prosecutors to investigate Sika's Taiwan office for endangering the public, while it would demand compensation from local subcontractor Kunghsin Construction, Chen said.    more ...

Taiwan's consumer prices decline by most since 1970

Bloomberg
2009-08-06

Taiwan's consumer prices fell by the most since 1970 as a recession and record unemployment discouraged spending. Prices declined 2.33 percent in July from a year earlier, the state statistics bureau said yesterday in Taipei.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 economists was for a 2.24 percent drop. Prices fell a revised 1.98 percent in June. Falling prices give the central bank room to keep the key interest rate at a record-low 1.25 percent to revive growth after the economy shrank by a record in the first quarter. Taiwan's jobless rate climbed to 5.91 percent in June.   more ...

The need to defend one’s own

Taiper Times - Editorial
Wednesday, Aug 05, 2009, Page 8

Reports on Saturday that two Taiwanese citizens were detained by Chinese police were a stark reminder of the unbridgeable divide between democracy and authoritarianism.

Shao Yuhua (邵玉華), a Falun Gong practitioner who immigrated from China 11 years ago, was taken away, along with her Taiwan-born daughter, while visiting her family in Henan Province, the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association said.

Her sister, a follower of the same spiritual movement, was also detained. Given their faith, it is almost certain that the three were targeted not because of any crime they had committed, but because their religion has been labeled an “evil cult” by Beijing, which flouts its constitutional obligation to honor freedom of religion.

Their detention highlights a problem other governments have encountered: Beijing does not recognize dual or renounced citizenship for Chinese nationals. Even governments like Canada, which China recognizes, have trouble convincing Beijing to respect their right to protect their citizens.

It should therefore come as no surprise that Chinese authorities have no qualms about detaining Taiwanese citizens of Chinese origin.

Nevertheless, action by the Taiwanese government in taking up Shao and her child’s case could be crucial to the fate of the two.

In 2006, Huseyincan Celil — a Uighur activist who fled China, received UN refugee status and was later granted citizenship by the Canadian government — was arrested by Chinese authorities. Celil had been visiting family in Uzbekistan when he was detained and handed over to Xinjiang police at their request.   more ...

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival

AFP
August 5, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the exiled leader of the Uighur minority.

Melbourne International Film Festival's organisers have said that seven Chinese-language films were withdrawn after they refused Beijing's request to remove a documentary about World Uighur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer.

Taiwan's Government Information Office (GIO) said two Taiwanese short films -- "Joyce Agape" and "The Pursuit of What Was" -- will be screened, while feature film "Miao Miao" was withdrawn without its being consulted.

"We deeply regret that the movie's overseas distributor, Hong Kong's Fortissimo Films, pulled the movie without notifying Taiwan and we protest such a move," the GIO said in a statement.   more ...

 

RAND study: Now China wins Taiwan Straits air war

flightglobal.com
By Stephen Trimble
August 4, 2009

Nearly 10 years after a RAND study predicted the US side easily beats China in an air war over the Taiwan Straits, the think-tank has published a new monograph online today that reverses its former opinion.

Now, a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) bristling with a newly acquired arsenal -- including Su-27 and J-10 fighters, AA-12 and PL-12 missiles, and short-range ballistic missiles -- defeats the US side. Moreover, the PLAAF defeats the US side with or without F-22s, with or without access to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and with or without the participation of two US carrier battle groups, according to the monograph.

RAND's analysis "suggests that a credible case can be made that the air war for Taiwan could essentially be over before much of the Blue air force has even fired a shot. Threats to Blue air bases and a more evenly matched qualitiative balance combine to paint a very troubling picture."

Personally, I would be careful to trust any military analysis that states -- on two occasions -- the US Marine Corps flies F/A-18E/Fs (... er, no, not in this lifetme). But the overall facts in RAND's air war scenario appear very persuasive, at least to this observer.

In a war over Taiwan, China may think twice about striking sovereign Japanese territory on Okinawa, or sovereign US territory on Guam. But RAND's analysts are prudent to assume that the PLAAF's strategy would seek to maximize its chances of success in a battle over the future of Taiwan.    more ...

Computer Giant Dell Fined In Taiwan Over Consumer Dispute

July 30, 2009: 06:48 AM ET

TAIPEI (AFP)--Taiwanese authorities on Thursday fined US computer giant Dell Inc. (DELL) NTD1 million ($30,500) for customer rights infringements after it failed to honor an online price offer.

The punishment came after Taipei City Government received more than 1,400 complaints against Dell after it charged customers more than it had advertised on its Web site.

In the most recent incident, the company's Latitude E4300 notebook, which usually retails at NTD60,900, appeared online at less than a third of the price, reportedly prompting bargain-hunters to place up to 100,000 orders.

"Dell was insincere in resolving the disputes and refused to accept the 25% off compensation deal advised by the city government," said Chen Po-ching, the city's senior consumer rights official.   more ...

7 Taiwan universities among top 500 for scientific paper performance

Central News Agency
2009-07-30 04:59 PM
By Y.L. Kao

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Seven Taiwan universities were listed among the top 500 in the world this year in terms of performance ranking for scientific papers, according rankings released Thursday by the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan (HEEACT).

The local schools are National Taiwan University (102nd) , National Cheng Kung University (307th), National Tsing Hua University (347th) , National Chiao Tung University (456th) , Chang Gung University (479th), National Central University (483rd) and National Yang Ming University (493rd).

If faculty numbers are factored in, the Taiwan universities would place even higher because of their relatively smaller size, the HEEACT ranking showed, noting that National Taiwan University (NTU) would place 67th and the other six would be among the top 100.   more ...

Taiwan bans international match-making services

AFP
July 30, 2009

TAIPEI — Taiwan has banned international match-making services amid fears it leads to human trade and marital abuse, the immigration bureau said Thursday.

All commercial match-making operations across the country will be barred from August 1 with violators facing a fine of up to a million Taiwan dollars (30,500 dollars), the bureau said in a statement.

As of June 2009, more than 410,000 Taiwanese men were married to women from China or southeast Asia, according to the bureau.

The ban, however, does not apply to 11 non-profit organisations authorised by the bureau to offer such services, it added.   more ...

China presses U.S. on Taiwan: official

eTaiwan News
2009-07-30 12:32 AM

China pressed the United States in top-level talks Tuesday over its handling of Taiwan and hinted it asked Washington to rein in an exiled leader of the Uighur minority.

Wang Guangya, China's vice foreign minister, hailed new cooperation with the United States but also warned it not to support any independence-minded moves by Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.

"We once again asked the United States to deal appropriately with issues related to Taiwan," Wang told reporters after two days of high-level talks here.

He declined comment on whether President Barack Obama's administration had promised not to sell F-16 fighter jets sought by Taiwan. Wang said only that the previous George W. Bush administration made a "wrong decision" by approving a US$6.5 billion arms package to Taiwan in October.   more ...

No mention of Taiwan situation in Obama speech

Taipei Times
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER, WASHINGTON
Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009, Page 1

US President Barack Obama delivered his first major policy speech on China without mentioning Taiwan or even mildly challenging Beijing on its human rights record.

Addressing the opening session of a two-day “Strategic and Economic Dialogue,” he described the meeting as “an essential step forward in advancing a positive, constructive and comprehensive relationship between our countries.”

Obama went out of his way to avoid anything controversial or upsetting to Beijing and appeared to be paving the way for a politically profitable trip to China in November.

Lee Edwards, a professor of politics and a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the Taipei Times that by ignoring human rights and Taiwan, Obama was ignoring US history and that he was sure that members of Congress would bring it to the attention of the White House staff.

“You can’t build bridges to new friends by burning bridges to old friends. I just can’t say that emphatically enough. It is very unfortunate and ill-timed,” Edwards said.

“The president’s approach shows a misreading of China. We know from history that if you kowtow to them they are going to take advantage. He should stand up for certain things. On his agenda should be human rights and the relationship we have had with Taiwan,” he said.

June Teufel Dreyer, an expert on US-Asian relations at the University of Miami, said: “He does not want to introduce contentious issues at the moment because the priority is to get some kind of cooperative relationship going. Of course these issues cannot be ignored indefinitely and at some point will have to be addressed. But I am pessimistic about it.”

In his speech, Obama said: “I have no illusions that the United States and China will agree on every single issue, nor choose to see the world in the same way. But that only makes dialogue more important — so that we can know each other better, and communicate our concerns with candor.”   more ...

China pushes for permanent media offices in Taiwan

AFP
July 28, 2009

TAIPEI — A visiting Chinese official on Tuesday called on Taiwan to allow China's media to open permanent bureaux there, as ties between the two former cross-Strait foes continue to improve.

Under Taiwan's current regulations, journalists from Chinese media outlets are limited to three-month work permits on a rotational basis.

The same rules apply for Taiwanese reporters in China.

"Three months is really too short for visiting reporters to be able to research and file in-depth news stories," Zhou Guizhen, an official of China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said during a seminar here, calling on authorities to allow permanent media offices on each side.

Yang Yi, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council and the head of the Chinese media delegation, made a similar appeal Monday.   more ...

Taiwan Love Hotel Perfect for Traveler With Bike

Staying in a Taiwanese love hotel with the true object of his affections: His bicycle

ABC News
By WILLIAM FOREMAN Associated Press Writer
TAIPEI, Taiwan July 27, 2009 (AP)
The Associated Press

We were guys staying at the same hotel with our mistresses. He looked like a Taiwanese gangster, with permed hair, black suit and pointy knockoff Italian loafers. It was 5:30 a.m. and he was renting a room for a few hours with a woman in a leather mini skirt, fishnet stockings and the longest false eyelashes I've ever seen. They had no luggage.

My mistress was my $4,000 carbon-fiber bicycle, and I was carrying my beloved out of the hotel lobby for a morning workout when I passed the couple as they were checking in. It must have been a surreal sight for them, a tall Western guy in a red polka-dotted jersey, tight Spandex shorts, lugging a fancy magenta-colored road bike and clip-clopping out the door in stiff-soled, cleated cycling shoes.

I was doing what I love to do: taking my bike on a business trip and staying at an inexpensive, no-frills hotel close to some spectacular cycling terrain.   more ...

Kaohsiung mayor attributes World Games success to Taiwan's citizens

Central News Agency
2009-07-27 12:00 AM

Happy with how smoothly the 11-day World Games have gone, Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu yesterday attributed the success to Kaohsiung residents and Taiwan's society as a whole. Chen said that the city government had endeavored to organize the best possible sporting event though nobody could expect all of the arrangements to be perfect. Chen praised the persistent efforts of former Mayor Frank Hsieh and former acting mayors Chen Chi-mai and Yeh Chu-lan, sports promoters and Kaoshiung residents as all playing key roles in the success of the event.   more ...

Chinese activist claims MJIB is monitoring him

Taipei Times
By Rich Chang, STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009, Page 3

Chinese democracy activist and political commentator Paul Lin (林保華), a Taipei resident, yesterday accused Taiwan’s government of harassing him because of his anti-China remarks.

In an opinion piece in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Lin said his wife received a telephone call from Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) last Tuesday saying they had received information that Lin was connected to Uighur independence activists that Next Magazine alleged last week had entered Taiwan.

Lin said a MJIB official asked to visit Lin at his home; later in the call, the official said he was already outside Lin’s residence.

Lin said he told his wife to tell the official he would not agree to a meeting unless the official came with an official notice.   more ...

U.S. expert suggests concurrent U.N. memberships for Taiwan, China

Taiwan Central News Agency
2009-07-22 10:18 PM

Washington, July 21 (CNA) A U.S. expert on cross-Taiwan Strait issues raised the possibility Tuesday that Taiwan and China could hold concurrent memberships in the United Nations in the foreseeable future as relations between the two sides continue to improve.

David Dean, a former chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, noted that since the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou in May 2008, cross-Taiwan Strait ties have been moving from confrontation to cooperation.

If this development continues, it is likely that a "Chinese republic" will be formed that incorporates China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to Dean.

With Taiwan having begun to participate in activities of specialized agencies of the United Nations, it is not impossible that the two sides of the strait could come to a consensus on the issue of U.N. membership for Taiwan based on the precedent of the now-defunct Soviet Union, which used to hold three seats in the world body, he said.

Dean made the comment during a seminar on Taiwan's quest for international space that was held by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies of George Washington University in Washington, D.C.   more ...

World Games light up Kaohsiung

INDOMITABLE ENTHUSIASM: The crowd of 40,000 cheered at the three main performances and fireworks that opened Taiwan’s first major international sports event

Taipei Times
Friday, Jul 17, 2009, Page 1
By Richard Hazeldine
STAFF REPORTER, IN KAOHSIUNG

Intermittent rain showers beforehand and a boycott by the Chinese team failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd last night as the Eighth World Games got off to a spectacular start at the main stadium in Kaohsiung City.

The Games mark the first time Taiwan has hosted a multi-nation, multi-sport event.

Dazzling lights filled the air above the stadium as the 40,000-strong crowd was wowed by a mesmerizing visual display featuring hundreds of colorfully dressed dancers and performances from a star-studded line-up of singers during the two-and-a-half-hour opening ceremony.

The evening’s proceedings got underway at 7:30pm with a ­symbolic handover taking place between children from Taiwan and the 2005 host, the German city of Duisburg, before a countdown led into the first of three main performances.

The first performance was themed around nature, featured dancing water droplets, giant eagle kites and dances from Tao and Amis Aborigines. The second section showcased Taiwanese culture, then brought raucous cheers from the audience as the eight generals ba jia zhang entered the stadium on scooters before breaking into a funky dance.

This was followed by a Pi-li puppet display, before the third and final section, entitled “Energetic Kaohsiung,” focused on aspects of modern life in the host city.

Then it was time for the athletes to enter the stadium in ­alphabetical order, led by the Austrian ­contingent. But in its absence, the Chinese team was represented by what appeared to be a games staffer holding the Chinese national flag.

2-member Chinese team stayed away from the ceremony after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) announced he would attend in his capacity as head of state.

According to local media reports, the Chinese delegation did not attend the opening ceremony to avoid giving the impression that Beijing authorities recognize Ma’s status as president or Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state. A spokesman for the games said Chinese athletes would compete in the events.

Asked about her views on the reports, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said that she would respect the Chinese delegation’s decision.

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the 300-strong Taiwan team, who entered last.   more ...

Taiwan kicks off eco-friendly World Games

CNN
July 16, 2009
By Elizabeth Yuan

(CNN) -- Skydiving and parachuting, canoe polo, rhythmic gymnastics, orienteering, dragon boat races and korfball are among the air, land and water sports to kick off the first day of The World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Friday.
A Hungary dragon boat team practices on the Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Thursday.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will mark the start of the 11-day event Thursday night during the opening ceremony at the new Main Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 40,000.

The games adhere to the Olympic charter, but unlike the Olympic games, the host city does not have to build facilities specifically for the events. As such, the 23 venues include the Shoushan Junior High School's climbing wall, the Happy Bowling Center and the Kaohsiung Senior High School gymnasium.

The showcase venue is architect Toyo Ito's Main Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as flying disc and rugby sevens competitions.

The stadium's 8,844 solar panels generate 1.14 million kilo watt hours of electricity per year, with the ability to sell surplus energy during the non-game period, according to the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee. The solar panels reduce annual carbon dioxide output by 660 tons, and the raw materials used for the stadium are 100 percent reusable and made in Taiwan, the KOC adds.

The Games, which will last through July 26, marks Taiwan's first international multisport event, according to Kaohsiung's mayor, Chen Chu, who also serves as president of KOC.

More than 3,200 athletes from 90 countries will participate. The 31 competitions comprise artistic and dance sports, ball sports, martial arts, precision sports, strength sports and trend sports.   more ...

China snubs World Games opening

BBC News
Thursday, 16 July 2009 14:00 UK

China has boycotted the opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan, an official with the games has said.

A spokesman for the games, Hermann Kewitz, said China had not given an explanation but said that Chinese athletes would compete in the events.

Beijing's decision came after organisers allowed Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou to open the games.

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and does not recognise Mr Ma as its president.

Mr Kewitz said the International World Games Association had made a last-minute decision to allow Mr Ma to open the games in recognition of the effort Taiwan had made as host nation - including spending millions of dollars on building and renovating venues.   more ...

Stadium Where Worlds Collide, Humanely

New York Times
Published: July 15, 2009
By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — For some of us, entering a vast sports stadium is always an anxious pleasure. Behind the electrifying anticipation of the game there’s the nagging feeling that every stadium contains the seeds of mass hysteria — that it can, in extreme times, become a place of terrifying intensity.

The new stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, features a flow from its outsize plaza to its indoor field. The site will hold this month’s World Games.

Designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, the World Games’ main stadium, which will be unveiled at an opening ceremony here on Thursday, is shaped by a sensitivity to those conflicting sensations. It is not only magnetic architecture, it is also a remarkably humane environment, something you rarely find in a structure of this size.

The World Games, which have international sports competitions not included in the Olympics, don’t attract as much attention as those more famous games, and there has been considerably less buzz about Mr. Ito’s stadium than there was about the Bird’s Nest, the lavish Olympic Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron that opened in Beijing last year. Nor does it have the same symbolic ambitions.

Yet for those who have been privileged enough to see Mr. Ito’s creation, the experience is just as intoxicating. Clad in a band of interwoven white pipes, the structure resembles a python just beginning to coil around its prey, its tail tapering off to frame one side of an entry plaza. Unlike the Bird’s Nest it unfolds slowly to the visitor and is as much about connecting — physically and metaphorically — with the public spaces around it as it is about the intensity of a self-contained event.

The stadium, with more than 40,000 seats, is surrounded by a vast new public park, its grounds sprinkled with palm trees and tropical plants. Most of the trees are young, but in a few years, when they are fully grown, they should create the impression that the structure is being swallowed by a dense tropical forest. In essence the coiled form becomes a tool for weaving together opposing energies: the concentrated intensity of the stadium on the one hand, the plaza’s chaotic social exchanges on the other, the unruly forest all around. What brings the design to life is that Mr. Ito is able to convey this experience physically, not just visually.

Visitors arriving from downtown via public transportation, for example, walk down a broad boulevard before turning into the plaza. From there the stadium’s tail, which houses ticket windows and restaurants, guides them toward the entry gates. The plaza itself gently swells up to meet that area. Once inside, the surface drops down suddenly, transforming into a sloping patch of lawn that looks over the field. Mr. Ito imagines that during many events the lawn will be open to the public, letting visitors drift in and out without buying a ticket.   more ...

Chinese compete for "worst tourist" label

Influx of visitors from mainland China provokes culture clash at Taiwan's tourist sites.

Global Post
By Jonathan Adams
Published: July 13, 2009 07:56 ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan — They deface Taiwan's scenic rock formations. They spit in public, cut in line and talk too loud.

And to top it off, some even take shelter from the rain — and smoke cigarettes! — inside one of Taiwan's "sacred trees."

A year after the island threw open its doors to Chinese tourist groups, Taiwan has a long list of complaints.

Chinese tourists were supposed to give Taiwan's sagging economy a much-needed jolt, and help increase exchanges and mutual understanding between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

But whatever economic benefits they've brought have been canceled out by the worst global economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Meanwhile, the Chinese tourists' habits have gotten on many people's nerves.

"Since Chinese tourists began coming here, not as many English- or Japanese-speaking people visit anymore, because Chinese people have some bad attitudes and habits," said Chris Lin, a 25-year-old who answers phones and helps foreign guests at the Alishan National Park, a scenic mountain area and one of the island's top tourist draws.

"They litter, smoke and talk loudly, and some people don't like it. Actually, most people don't like it."

Alishan was the site of the latest outrage. The park includes a much-beloved "sacred tree" that's said to be some 3,000 years old, and is hollowed out by the ravages of time. In May, Taiwan TV stations broadcast footage of Chinese tourists smoking and waiting out a downpour inside the tree.   more ...

Taiwan ex-leader appeals detention ruling

May 14, 2009

TAIPEI (AFP) — Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian has appealed to the island's High Court to overturn a ruling extending his detention on corruption charges, his office said Thursday.

Chen, who left office last May after a maximum eight years, stands accused of embezzling public funds, money laundering, accepting bribes on a land deal, influence peddling and forgery.

A district court ruled on Monday that Chen would remain in custody for another two months until late July, saying he was a flight risk and could collude with other suspects or destroy evidence if freed on bail.

"The original court was prejudiced against the defendant ... We urge the High Court to make its own ruling to prevent the illegal detention," Chen's office said in a statement.

His office rejected charges that the ex-leader intended to interfere with or delay the legal proceedings by going into a hunger strike, and said he would never flee the island or tamper with evidence.   more ...

Taiwanese movies most creative in Chinese community: GIO minister

Central News Agency
2009-05-12 01:23 AM

The success of Taiwanese movies in international film festivals over the years proves that Taiwan is the most free and creative place in the Chinese community, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Su Jun-pin said yesterday.

"These film directors prove over and over again that Taiwan is the most free and creative place in the Chinese community," Su said at a send-off news conference for renowned local director Tsai Ming-liang, as well as other directors, actors and filmmakers, who were departing to attend the Cannes Film Festival scheduled for May 13-24.

The minister said the government not only wants to congratulate Tsai for his latest movie "Face" being selected as an official entry at this year's Cannes Film Festival, but also to thank outstanding Taiwanese filmmakers for their efforts to raise Taiwan's international profile through movies.

"Bon voyage to all of you and you should not feel too much pressure because you are already number one in my heart," Su said.

Tsai said at the news conference that he is excited about going to Cannes again and it is because of international film festivals and support from governments that drive the development of movie creation.   more ...

Taiwan ex-leader pursues hunger strike

May 11, 2009

TAIPEI (AFP) — Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian is refusing to give up a hunger strike in protest at what he says is a political witch-hunt against him, as his bail attempt was rejected by a court Monday.

Chen was rushed to a hospital outside Taipei for a forced health check and treatment Saturday after launching his hunger strike at the detention centre where he has been held on corruption charges since December.

His wheelchair-bound wife Wu Shu-chen, who was accompanied by her son Chen Chih-chung and lawmaker Kao Chih-peng, visited her husband.

"Wu tried to persuade him to stop the hunger strike, or he might not be able to hold on until May 17," Kao told reporters outside, referring to the date set for an anti-China rally by the Democratic Progressive Party that Chen once led.

"But the former president only agreed to drink water," Kao added.

Outside the hospital, a small group of Chen loyalists chanted and unfurled banners in his support.

Chen's doctors recommended that he continue to be hospitalised for heart, lung and eye diseases.

However, a panel of three judges at the Taipei District Court rejected his attempt to be released on bail.   more ...

Taiwan's Chinatrust plans to set up unit in China

Reuters
Thu May 7, 2009 3:09am EDT

TAIPEI, May 7 (Reuters) - Chinatrust Financial (2891.TW), Taiwan's biggest credit card issuer, on Thursday said it planned to set up a subsidiary in China when Taiwan allows such investment, in the latest sign of easing ties on both sides.

Trade between China and Taiwan has loosened in general, though most forms of investment in China are currently closed to Taiwan's financial institutions, such as Chinatrust, partly because of political differences.

China sees self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as its own, though the island has set some restrictions on investments to avoid over-reliance on the mainland.   more ...

Top Taiwan envoy in cross-Strait talks quits

News Desk
The China Post
Publication Date: 07-05-2009

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday he had rejected the resignation of Taiwan's top envoy handling cross-strait relations, but the negotiator said he was determined to go.

Ma said during a live TV interview that he had already returned the resignation to P.K. Chiang, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), telling the envoy that he "must not go".

"I'm quite determined to go," Chiang told lawmakers in response to their inquiry whether Ma would be able to keep him in office.

The 77-year-old Chiang said he wanted to leave the SEF post because of health issues. Chiang confirmed that he tendered his resignation Monday and that he received a phone call from Ma Wednesday morning asking him to stay on.   more ...

Former Taiwan president indicted on new charges

Associated Press
2009-05-05

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian was indicted on new graft charges Tuesday as his high-profile corruption trial continued into its second month.
Prosecutorial spokesman Chen Yun-nan said the former leader and wife Wu Shu-chen took 290 million New Taiwan dollars in bribes from 2002 to 2005 ($8.8 million at current exchange rates) from a local banker, camouflaging the money as either political donations or funds to promote Taiwanese interests overseas.
Jeffrey Koo, Jr., then vice chairman of Chinatrust Financial Holding Co., paid the sum in seven installments from 2002 to 2005, Chen Yun-nan said.
Prosecutors had been looking into charges that Koo paid the bribes in exchange for Chen Shui-bian's help in Chinatrust's plan to merge with another bank and in persuading the government to acquire a piece of land from his bank.
Koo denied the allegations, saying the money was a political donation to Chen's Democratic Progressive Party.   more ...

Taiwan seeks 19 passengers on swine flu flight

AFP
April 3, 2009

TAIPEI (AFP) — The Taiwanese government was trying to track 19 people who had travelled on the same flight from Mexico to Shanghai as a Mexican man later confirmed to be suffering from swine flu.

The 19 were among 25 people who had travelled on to Taiwan from Shanghai on six flights, said Shih Wen-yi, a spokesman for Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control (CDC).

Shih urged the 19 travellers to call a hotline set up by the Taiwan government, for a health check.

The Taiwan government also issued a travel advisory urging its nationals to protect themselves against infection while touring Hong Kong and South Korea, whose first cases of swine flu were confirmed in recent days.   more ...

Japanese representative scolded over remark on Taiwan’s ‘unresolved’ status

Taipei Times
Sunday, May 03, 2009, Page 1
By Jenny W. hsu and Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTERS, WITH CNA

A former foreign minister-turned-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker charged yesterday that Japan should recall its representative to Taipei over the latter’s comment that Taiwan’s status is unclear. Taiwan’s former representative to Japan, on the other hand, supported the Japanese representative, saying that he did not say anything wrong.

The fuss stemmed from remarks made by Masaki Saito, head of the Taipei office of Japan’s Interchange Association — Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — on Friday that Taiwan’s status is “still unresolved.” Saito made the comments at an annual meeting of the Republic of China (ROC) ­International Relations Association at National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi County.

The Japanese representative later apologized for his remarks after Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) lodged a protest and demanded an explanation.   more ...

The Chinese Language, Ever Evolving

New York Times
May 2, 2009
By The Editors

The Times recently published an article about China’s effort to manage the vast number of characters in the Chinese language. A government computer database, designed to recognize people’s names on identity cards, is programmed to read about 32,000 of the roughly 55,000 Chinese characters, cutting out the more “obscure” characters.

This is not the first attempt to modernize a sprawling and ancient language. The most ambitious effort was the introduction of a simplified system of writing in the 1950s. As part of the Communist Party’s campaign to reduce illiteracy, simplified characters were promoted as the common written language, replacing many traditional characters.

More than five decades later, simplified characters remain the standard writing system of China, while Chinese elsewhere — especially in Taiwan and Hong Kong — continue to use traditional characters.

We asked several experts to explain the roots of this shift, and how it might affect the future course of the written language.   more ...

Taiwan indicts China Development CEO Angelo Koo for role in takeover

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-30 07:25 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei prosecutors on Thursday demanded a heavy sentence for China Development Financial Holdings CEO Angelo Koo on charges of insider trading and breach of trust in the takeover of Taiwan International Securities Corporation.

Another ten suspects, including China Development Chairman Chen Mu-tsai, were also indicted for infringements of stock market regulations. Chen is a former Vice Finance Minister. Nine other suspects, including the chairman and general manager of Ta Hwa Securities, were not charged.

In 2005, Koo set up a new company to mount a hostile takeover of Taiwan International Securities. The new affiliate bought TISC shares at NT$9.82 a piece, but after the takeover became public knowledge, Koo ordered the shares sold to China Development at NT$14 each. Koo raked in more than NT$144 million in illegal profits at China Development’s expense, according to prosecutors.   more ...

CRS study urges review of US-Taiwan ties

CHALLENGES: The study says the Ma government’s tilt toward China may enhance regional stability, but changes in the past 15 years necessitate a comprehensive review

Taipei Times
Wednesday, Apr 29, 2009, Page 1
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER, WASHINGTON

A new congressional study says that the deepening of Taiwan-China economic and social links under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) poses “increasingly difficult, competing policy challenges for the United States.”

Ma’s changes have led, the study says, “to periodic discussions about the efficacy of current US policy and whether or not it should be reviewed or changed.”   more ...

China Makes Taiwan Investment for First Time as Relations Thaw

bloomberg.com
April 30, 2009
By Tim Culpan and Janet Ong

(Bloomberg) -- China Mobile Ltd. agreed to buy 12 percent of Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., the first investment by a Chinese state-owned company in Taiwan since a civil war ended six decades ago.

The NT$17.8 billion ($529 million) purchase, announced by China Mobile yesterday, underscores how warming political relations between China and Taiwan are leading to closer economic ties. The Chinese government said this week it would end a ban on investments in the island on May 1 following an agreement to open cross-border operations for financial-services companies, expand direct flights and cooperate in fighting crime.

“This is a landmark deal. China Mobile will lead the way for other Chinese companies that have been waiting to invest in Taiwan but were hesitating,” said C.Y. Huang, vice chairman of Polaris Securities in Taipei. “This will open the floodgates for more Chinese investments into Taiwan.”    more ...

Taiwan accepted into WHO meeting

BBC News
Wednesday, 29 April 2009 18:28 UK

Officials in Taiwan say China has dropped its objections to the island's participation in a key United Nations body, the World Health Organization.

The move is being seen as a sign of better ties between the governments.

Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan said the WHO had invited Taiwan to attend its annual assembly as an observer, with the name Chinese Taipei.

Taiwan has repeatedly attempted to join the assembly since 1997, but past attempts have been thwarted by Beijing.

The Chinese authorities regard Taiwan as a renegade province, which should be reunified with China, by force if necessary.    more ...

Taiwan Takes Step Forward at U.N. Health Agency

New York Times
Published: April 29, 2009

HONG KONG — President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan announced Wednesday that Chinese officials had dropped their objections to Taiwan’s participation as an observer at a United Nations body, a step forward in Taiwan’s effort to win greater international recognition.

China strongly hinted that it was prepared to let Taiwan participate in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. But Beijing stopped short of explicitly saying that it had accepted a Taiwanese presence at a gathering of the assembly next month.

Mao Qunan, the spokesman for China’s Health Ministry, said in a statement that the World Health Organization had invited Taiwan to participate next month, adding that “the current arrangement reflects our overall concern and good will toward Taiwan compatriots, and this promotes the cross-straits relationship and the peaceful development of relations.”   more ...

Taiwan to mass produce swine flu vaccine

ABS CBN News
April 28, 2009

TAIPEI - Taiwan said Tuesday it was planning to mass produce at least 200,000 doses of new vaccines against the strain of H1N1 flu virus suspected to have killed more than 150 people in Mexico.

The plan is part of a strategy unveiled by Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan, who distinguished himself in Taiwan's campaign against the 2002-2003 outbreak of the deadly SARS virus.

Yeh said he had ordered the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) to acquire the swine virus specimen from the United States.

"Once done, the government will start the vaccine-manufacturing process" at a pilot factory in the northern Chunan town, he said.

Shih Wen-yi, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control (CDC), said that "up to 200,000 doses of vaccine could be produced in three months at the earliest."

The first batch of the vaccine would be used doctors, nurses and officials conducting temperature checks at airports, he said.   more ...

Taiwan sets up command center to counter swine flu

China Post
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
By Y.L. Kao, CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Department of Health (DOH) set up a central command center Tuesday to prevent a possible swine flu outbreak in Taiwan as the virus continues to spread around the world.

The DOH took the step after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised its influenza pandemic alert to phase 4 from phase 3 earlier in the day, indicating that there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus.

Established at a meeting of cross-government agencies, the center will focus on strengthening surveillance for swine flu at boundary control points and raising travel warnings for the United States and Mexico and other areas affected by the virus, Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said.   more ...

Taiwan Passes Three-Strikes Piracy Law

billboard.biz
April 27, 2009
By Thibault Worth, Taipei

Taiwan's legislature has passed an amendment to the island's copyright act aimed at discouraging digital copyright infringement over peer-to-peer networks and increasing the responsibility of ISPs.

Based on the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision against Grokster, the ISP liability amendment allows rights holders to either claim their rights via judiciary proceedings, or else follow a "notice and takedown" procedure to have copyright infringing content removed.

Taiwanese authorities have been stepping up intellectual property protection in recent years while simultaneously expressing concern about litigation-happy foreign rights holders. The courts in Taiwan are notoriously overburdened.   more ...

Taiwan elevates travel alert for Mexico City over swine flu scare

China News Agency
04/27/2009 (CNA)
By Sofia Wu

Taipei, April 27 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) raised the level of its travel alert for Mexico City to orange Monday, urging prospective travelers to defer their plans for the time being in light of an outbreak of human infections of swine flu there.

The ministry had originally issued a yellow travel alert for Mexico, the lowest level advisory that warns travelers to exercise caution.

However, the MOFA decided to raise the alert for Mexico's capital to orange, the second-highest level, in view of the latest reports that the swine flu outbreak is most serious in Mexico City and has spread to other parts of the world, MOFA officials said.   more ...

Taiwan checks suspected cases of swine flu - Summary

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:02:50 GMT
Author : DPA

Taipei - Taiwan on Monday was checking at least seven suspected cases of swine flu while issuing a travel alert for Mexico. A Taiwan man was being tested while six students from the Taipei American School were taken to another hospital after they reportedly developed symptoms upon returning from Mexico and the United States.

Era TV reported that the students from the Taipei American School fell ill after a trip to the US, and were put into the Tri Service General Hospital for tests. more ...

Taiwan music festival a contrast between freedom and restraint

The Canadian Press
April 27, 2009

KENTING, Taiwan — Couples fondle in public. A rock band tosses condoms to adoring crowds. Teenage girls gyrate in the streets.

Yet, amid the pulsating rave music and free flowing alcohol at Taiwan's Spring Scream music festival, there is also a sense of self-control.

"My parents used to nag me about coming," said 22-year-old drummer Vincent Liu, who sports shoulder-length hair and nails painted bright pink. "But then they got used to it. Kids simply have to be responsible for themselves so that their parents don't worry about them."

His resolution to play by the rules is common among young Taiwanese, even those in the usually sun-swept beach resort of Kenting, where Spring Scream has been an annual event for 15 years.

While Taiwan has become more open and progressive, it remains a bastion of conservative values.

"Taiwanese young people . . . are influenced by the Confucian stress on acting properly," said Chang Yen-hsien, a former director of Taiwan's prestigious Academia Historica, alluding to the hierarchical principles that have dominated social relations in much of East Asia for more than 2,000 years.

"Parents, society and schools all put emphasis on a sense of responsibility."   more ...

Taiwan heightens preventive measures against swine flu

Associated Press
April 27, 2009

Taiwan's public health authorities yesterday heightened preventive measures against the threat of swine influenza, in light of outbreaks of human infections with swine flu in Mexico and the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the Cabinet-level Department of Health announced that it has raised its travel advisory for Mexico to a "regional pandemic" alert against swine flu. CDC officials said Taiwan travelers should take strong precautionary measures against swine flu before and after visits to Mexico.

They said Taiwan visitors to California and Texas in the U.S. should also be on high alert against the disease.   more ...

Taiwan Boosts Intellectual Property Protection

VOA News
23 April 2009
By Thibault Worth
Taipei

Taiwan's parliament has passed a new law, cracking down on illegal file-sharing networks and those who use them. Last month, the island's new Intellectual Property Court handed a record trademark infringement award to French luxury goods maker Hermès. Both events demonstrate how Taiwan is taking intellectual property protection more seriously.

After years as a haven for copyright and trademark violators, Taiwan is now cracking down on abuses. Before 2005, peer-to-peer networks and illegal music download sites operated with impunity - even charging for their services in some cases.

This week, the legislature passed a new anti-file-sharing amendment - the latest to the basic copyright law. The amendment makes it a crime for anyone to deploy peer-to-peer technology that facilitates the exchange of copyrighted material online. The bill also incorporates a three-strike provision, restricting Internet access to users who download copyrighted material more than twice.   more ...

Taiwan's jobless rate hits record high of 5.8 pct

Associated Press
04.22.09, 08:28 AM EDT

Taiwan's jobless rate hit a record high of 5.8 percent in March, rising for the eleventh straight month amid an economic slump, the government said Wednesday.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement the number of unemployed workers rose to 630,000 from 624,000 in February with the increase coming from company closures and layoffs.   more ...

Taiwan to protest against exclusion delegate from U.N. event

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-23 12:53 AM

Taiwan will protest against the exclusion of a delegate from the opening ceremony of a United Nations-sponsored digital library in Paris, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The delegate, National Central Library Director-General Karl Min Ku, was refused entrance to Tuesday's event at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the French capital even though his library served as a partner in the project being celebrated, MOFA spokesman Henry Chen said.

The refusal to allow Ku in was probably caused by him showing a Taiwanese passport, Chen said. He called the treatment of the library official "unfair." Since Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, pressure from China is believed to be behind many attempts to keep the country and its representatives out of international events.

Taiwan's representative office in Paris will lodge a protest with UNESCO and continue to strive for equitable treatment, Chen told reporters. The world body should guarantee the right of Taiwanese citizens to attend international events.   more ...

Taiwan president Ma defends diplomatic China truce

channelnewsasia.com
Posted: 22 April 2009 1510 hrs

TAIPEI: Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday defended his push for a truce to end a decades-old diplomatic battle with rival China, saying that he believes Beijing has reacted positively to his overtures.

The idea had not been discussed with Beijing before it was included in his election campaign last year, Ma of the Kuomintang party said in an interview with the Taipei-based China Times.

However, he said that under the policy, "Taipei did not take active steps to cultivate Beijing's allies, and Beijing must have felt our goodwill and have started to respond positively."

"Without the truce, Taiwan may have lost two or three allies," he added.

Only 23 nations formally recognise self-ruled Taiwan following decades of diplomatic tug-of-war.

The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war, but China still claims the island as part of its territory.   more ...

Taiwan 'invaded' China, declassified papers show

A failed mission by General Chiang Kai-shek to invade China from Taiwan and topple the Communist Party in the 1960s will be declassified next month.

Telegrah
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Last Updated: 12:06PM BST 22 Apr 2009

Taiwan 'invaded' China, declassified papers show
Chiang Kai-shek: The papers show that the Generalissimo, who fled to Taiwan at the end of a bitter civil war with the Communists in 1949, was keen to recapture the mainland. Photo: PA

The confidential documents will go on show to the public at Chiang's mausoleum, Cihhu, in the north of Taiwan, a part of which once served as a military command centre.

The papers show that the Generalissimo, who fled to Taiwan at the end of a bitter civil war with the Communists in 1949, was keen to recapture the mainland.

Feeling that the Communists had squandered their public support during the Great Leap Forward, Chiang launched Project Kuokuang, or Project National Glory in the early 1960s.   more ...

New 'Fun Taiwan' series to premiere Sunday

By Hermia Lin
Taiwan News, Staff Reporter
Page 4
2009-04-22 12:35 AM

If you are thinking about traveling around Taiwan and need multi-cultural point of view for your trip, be sure to watch Discovery Travel and Living's latest "Fun Taiwan" series, and be prepared for the most exciting and charming Taiwan experiences.

Unlike the previous seasons, host Janet elevates from a traveler to a travel guide, bringing her 7-year traveling experience into full play and make diverse, personalized trips for 12 of her international friends from around the world. The new series will be premiered in Taiwan at 8 p.m. on Sunday, and be shown across Asia on June 6.

"Seven years ago when I first arrived in Taiwan, I thought the only place that's fun in Taiwan is Taipei. I was so wrong. The seven-year travel experience really opened my eyes," said Janet at yesterday's press conference in Taipei. "Traveling on your own isn't as much fun. A lot of foreigners in Taiwan only stay in Taipei but there are so many beautiful and interesting places in Taiwan, I'd like to share with them the beauty of Taiwan," she added.   more ...

Taiwan to commemorate deadly 921 earthquake with concert and reconstruction expo

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-19 05:43 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan will mark the 10th anniversary of the massive 921 earthquake with a concert and an exhibition showing off the results of reconstruction, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Sunday.

The 7.3 tremor in the early hours of September 21, 1999 killed more than 2,400 people, injured over 11,000 and caused buildings to topple in several parts of the country. Its epicenter was located in Central Taiwan’s Nantou County.

The damage to the country’s economy amounted to NT$360 billion, said Liu, who was in charge of reconstruction as vice premier at the time.

Plans for this year’s commemoration include a concert, exhibitions about the results of reconstruction and rescue equipment, an international symposium, said Fan Liang-shiow, the chairman of the Cabinet-level Public Construction Commission, who is in charge of planning the events.   more ...

Scar-free surgery for obesity

Reuters

Taiwan doctors announce a new scar-free surgery for obese patients.

Taiwan's E-Da hospital in Kaohsiung has successfully completed the first scar-free laparoscopic roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery, or SITU.

The gastric bypass surgery creates a small stomach pouch to restrict the amount of food intake and absorption as food bypasses the top part of the intestines.

The surgery was traditionally performed by making five incisions on the abdomen, leaving scars that often require cosmetic surgeries afterwards. Surgeons at E-DA say they've performed 28 cases of the scar-free gastric bypass. The heaviest patient weighed 125 kg (275 lbs.), with a body mass index of 52. Body mass index is a measure of someone's weight in relation to height and is commonly used by physicians studying obesity.

The surgery is not recommended for super obese patients, since the procedure involves using surgical devices within a very limited area, it has a lower success rate when performing on those patients.   more ...

Taiwan government to create two English-language villages

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-20 06:23 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The government is planning to spend NT$600 million over three years on improving Taiwan’s English-language environment, including the opening of two English villages, reports said Monday.

The plan to raise the standards of the English-language environment covered several directions, said the Council of Economic Planning and Development, the Cabinet’s top planning agency.

The government should improve English signboards, push for a more cosmopolitan living environment, and strive to host more international concerts and exhibitions, the CEPD said.   more ...

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to address U.S. academics on April 22

Taiwan News
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-19 06:42 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Ma Ying-jeou is to deliver the opening address by video conference to a U.S. seminar about the Taiwan Relations Act Wednesday evening.

The April 22 speech forms part of a seminar organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent U.S. think tank, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, the piece of U.S. legislation designed to safeguard relations between the two countries after President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

Ma will be introduced by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, will deliver a 20-minute speech and exchange ideas with participants in the seminar. The roster of experts includes CSIS Senior Fellow Bonnie Glaser, former American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal, retired Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Randy Schriver, and former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, now chairman of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, organizers said.   more ...

Jackie Chan wonders about freedom

AP , BOAO, CHINA
Sunday, Apr 19, 2009, Page 1

Action star Jackie Chan (成龍) said yesterday he wa not sure if a free society is a good thing for China and that he was starting to think “we Chinese need to be controlled.”

Chan’s comments drew applause from a predominantly Chinese audience of business leaders in China’s southern island province of Hainan.

The 55-year-old Hong Kong actor was participating in a panel at the annual Boao Forum when he was asked to discuss censorship and restrictions on filmmakers in China. He expanded his comments to include society.

“I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” Chan said. “I’m really confused now. If you’re too free, you’re like the way Hong Kong is now. It’s very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic.”   more ...

Taiwanese in US raise concerns over human rights

Taipei Times
Sunday, Apr 12, 2009, Page 1
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER, WASHINGTON

“I think the ‘one China’ policy will go down in the history of the 21st century as perhaps the most disastrous American strategic move of the century. It is a move that has placed responsibility for the security and human rights and democratic Asia, including Taiwan, in the hands of China.”

— John Tkacik, former US State Department official

Taiwanese Americans are expressing grave and increasing concern about eroding human rights back in their homeland.

At a series of meetings in Washington to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), growing worries about freedom of speech and freedom of expression became the dominant theme.

Mark Kao (高龍榮), an official with the Formosan Association for Human Rights, told one gathering that Taiwanese students in the US are now often frightened to give their names if they say anything critical of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

“We are deeply concerned about this situation,” Kao said. “There has been an erosion of human rights in Taiwan and it is getting worse since Ma took over last year.”   more ...

Hermes wins record trademark damages in Taiwan

Reuters
Sat Apr 11, 2009

TAIPEI, April 11 (Reuters) - French luxury goods group Hermes has won a Taiwan record of $7.5 million in trademark infringement damages in a case against a former employee who sold knock-off handbags, the firm's law office said on Saturday.

The Taipei-area court gave the award in recent weeks after hearing the case of a former Hermes worker who had sold four fake Birkin bags, a coveted Hermes brand, earning T$512,500 ($15,150), the law firm Winkler Partners said.   more ...

Taiwan approves additional $4 bln spending for 2009

Thomson Reuters
04.10.09, 05:24 AM EDT

TAIPEI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan's parliament on Friday approved a massive T$149.1 billion ($4.41 billion) special public spending budget for 2009 to stimulate the economy and create jobs for the island that is mired in recession during a global slump.

The approved budget, slightly lower than a T$150.7 billion passed by the cabinet earlier this year, is part of the government's wider plan to pour T$500 billion in public spending into the economy over the next four years.

Legislators said they passed the budget to expand or accelerate projects, such as revitalising urban cores, updating industrial parks, building a cross-town freeway in the congested central city of Taichung and repairing dangerously built schools.

The budget constitutes around 1 percent of Taiwan's GDP, totalling about T$13 trillion.

The special budget is not part of the central government's 2009 general budget of T$1.8097 trillion expenditure for this year, which is expected to yield a short fall of T$134.6 billion.

The government plans to issue more bonds to cover the shortfall.

The Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates the special spending package will help create 190,000 to 220,000 jobs this year.

The tech-reliant island has slipped into recession due to the global downturn, with its economy contracting by a record 8 percent in the fourth quarter, jobless rate at a historic high of 5.63 percent and exports logging record drops over recent months.    more ...

Taiwan will continue to bar Chinese garlic imports: food agency

04/10/2009 (CNA)

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) Denying allegations that some 30 percent of the garlic sold in Taiwan originates from China, the Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) said Thursday that there have been no legal imports of garlic from there.

In fact, said AFA Secretary-General Hsu Han-ching, most of the foreign garlic sold here is imported from Argentina.

Hsu added that even if Taiwan signs an economic cooperation framework agreement with China in the near future, the country will still not open its doors to Chinese garlic.    more ...

Taiwan firm hits Apple with multitouch patent lawsuit

Claims MacBooks, iPhone and iPod Touch infringe two patents, seeks triple damages

Computer World
April 8, 2009
By Gregg Keizer

April 8, 2009 (Computerworld) A company that makes touch pads sued Apple Inc. in U.S. District Court yesterday, charging that Apple's multitouch technology infringes on two of its patents, according to court documents.

Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics Corp. alleged that Apple's laptops, iPhone and iPod Touch -- all of which offer multitouch features -- infringe on patents it owns and has asked the court to force Apple to pay triple damages and a "reasonable royalty."

Apple's multitouch technology lets MacBook, iPhone and iPod Touch owners use multiple-finger gestures on the track pad to operate some features. On the iPhone, for example, sliding two fingers together shrinks an image, while moving them apart enlarges it.

The MacBook Air, launched in January 2008, was the first Apple laptop to implement multi-touch. Since then, Apple has added the functionality to its MacBook and MacBook Pro lines as well.

"The '352 patent is a fundamental patent to the detection of multiple fingers on a touch pad or touch-sensitive input device to enable the detection and use of a multifinger gestures in various applications," said Elan's lawsuit, referring to Patent 5,825,352, which was issued in 1998 to Logitech Inc. Elan claims that it now owns the patent.    more ...

Improved economy boosts public confidence: Ma

Monday, April 6, 2009
The China Post

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- President Ma Ying-jeou said Monday that the recent improvement in Taiwan's economic situation has helped to boost public confidence, although the hard economic times are likely to continue throughout the first half of this year.

Ma noted that the situation in March appeared better than in February, which was evident from the influx of unanticipated orders and the decrease in the number of furloughed staff in some businesses.

"The hard times are not expected to be over in the first half of this year, but we can see that public confidence has grown, " Ma said while receiving a group of representatives of the Junior Chamber International Taiwan.   more ...

Prosecutors to issue new charges against Taiwan ex-President Chen Shui-bian: Reports

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-04-06 05:30 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Prosecutors will indict jailed ex-President Chen Shui-bian and his wife Wu Shu-jen Wednesday on further charges of money laundering, according to media reports.

The members of the Supreme Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Division say Chen is showing no remorse over the allegations, so they will wrap up their current investigation and announce the new indictments, the Chinese-language United Evening News wrote Monday.

Chen, Wu and about a dozen of relatives, family friends, former close aides and retired government officials are already on trial in four cases of alleged money laundering, misuses of special presidential funds, and payments from businesses over a land transaction and a government construction contract.

The new charges could involve an alleged NT$10 million payment by former Taipei 101 chairwoman Diane Chen in return for a job, NT$200 million from top officials at Yuanta Financial Holding, the laundering of NT$570 million also allegedly involving Yuanta, and a payment of NT$340 million by former Chinatrust Financial Holding vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Junior, the paper said.

Most of the accused have said the payments were political donations for Chen’s Democratic Progressive Party.   more ...

Somali pirates seize more vessels

Monday, 6 April 2009 12:23 UK
BBC News

Somali pirates have seized a British-owned cargo ship and a Taiwanese ship, maritime officials say, after capturing three other vessels over the weekend.

The UK-owned Malaspina Castle was boarded in the Gulf of Aden, while the Taiwanese ship was seized near the Seychelles, according to reports.

A French yacht, a Yemeni tugboat and a German ship were also captured in the pirate-plagued waterway at the weekend.

The region is heavily patrolled by a growing international naval coalition.    more ...

Taiwan testing new quake early warning system

New Straits Times
2009/04/06
TAIPEI, Mon.:

Taiwan is testing a new earthquake early warning system which a researcher said Monday could give the authorities and residents up to 15 more seconds to react in the case of dangerous quakes.
The system is being tested here together with the early warning system being used by Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, said Wu Yi-min, associate professor of National Taiwan University’s Department of Geosciences.

“Hopefully the system would reduce the reaction time by up to 15 seconds depending on the distance of the affected area near the epicentre and therefore could help reduce the earthquake’s potential damage,” he told AFP.   more ...

Taiwan Buddhist master: 'No Taiwanese'

WHO’S WHO? : Some participants at a world Buddhist forum said that there were obvious signs of political meddling in what should have been a religious event

Taipei Times
By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Mar 31, 2009, Page 1

Buddhist Master and founder of the Fo Kuang Shan monastery Hsing Yun (星雲) came under fire as he arrived back in Taiwan yesterday for the second half of the World Buddhist Forum.

The criticism came as details of a series of comments Hsing Yun made while in China came to light as he and about 800 Buddhist leaders from more than 10 countries arrived in Taipei on four flights from China.

During a press conference at the forum on Friday in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, Hsing Yun said that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one family. There are no Taiwanese in Taiwan and Taiwanese are all Chinese.”

“Which Taiwanese is not Chinese?” he asked. “They are Chinese just like you are. We are all brothers and sisters.”

Hsing Yun also said that opening the forum in China and closing it in Taiwan was especially meaningful because it would enhance cross-strait exchanges and help the unification of the two sides, the Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao reported on Saturday.

“The more [cross-strait] exchange we have, the more mixed we will be. Then we won’t be able to distinguish who’s Mainland [Chinese] and who’s Taiwanese — and we will naturally become unified,” Hsing Yun was quoted as saying.

The forum — organized by Buddhist leaders from Taiwan and China — opened on Friday in China before moving to Taiwan yesterday.

Although organizers said the forum was purely a religious event, political remarks were heard throughout the meeting, drawing criticism from some Buddhists.   more ...

Taiwan’s ‘brutal grandeur’

theweek.com

Taiwan is a “noisy, cheerful island” locked in a constant struggle just to survive, said Andrew Jefford in the Financial Times. During the past century, the Japanese occupied it for 45 years. Then came the Chinese civil war, after which the island became the last refuge for the overthrown Nationalist government. “Every decade brings a couple of earthquakes,” and typhoons regularly buffet Taiwan’s coasts in late summer. Yet, until recently, it “produced half the world’s laptops.” And offsetting its industrious image are the forests and mountains that cover more than half the island’s landmass.   more ...

Mainland Wives Face Hostile Environment in Taiwan

United Daily News, News feature
Dongxu Chen, Translated by Jun Wang
Posted: Mar 27, 2009 Review it on NewsTrust

TAIPEI – Many women from mainland China who marry Taiwanese men face an unwelcoming environment in their new homes.

Yinglong Chen from Yunlin County, Taiwan, met and fell in love with a girl, Hunyun Zen, in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province in mainland China. They didn’t expect that they would face so many obstacles in being together. The couple had to submit a reunion application to the government in Taiwan; go to official interviews; get registered with the police; and apply for a work permit, travel documents and resident card in Taiwan. There are just too many complicated and unreasonable things to deal with, said the couple.

“The immigration bureau owes me an apology,” said Chen, who went to an interview with the bureau in September 2005. The immigration officer asked him, “was your wife a virgin?” The husband was angry and said, “It’s none of your business.” Then, two more immigration officers joined the conversation. One said, “There are so many mainland women. You can always try them for free until you want to marry one.”

The insulting attitude of Taiwan immigrant officers and their treatment of spouses from the mainland like criminals reflect the Taiwanese’ common posture toward the mainland wives living among them.    more ...

Pentagon questions growing Chinese military power

AP News
March 25, 2009
By PAULINE JELINEK

WASHINGTON (AP) — China is increasing its military power more rapidly and developing new "disruptive technologies" that are shifting the military balance in its region and possibly beyond, a new Pentagon report said.

And Beijing continues to develop weapons that threaten Taiwan, even though tensions between the two have been reduced significantly, according to the report scheduled for release later Wednesday.

The latest in a series of annual assessments for Congress of China's military power, the report says the U.S. "welcomes the rise of a stable, peaceful and prosperous China and encourages China to participate responsibly" in world affairs.   more ...

Finalist selected for Australian island dream job

AP News
March 25, 2009
By KRISTEN GELINEAU – 12 hours ago

SYDNEY (AP) — A skydiving, mountain-climbing interpreter from Taiwan has earned herself a shot at what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World" — getting paid to serve as the caretaker of a tropical Australian paradise island.

Officials with the tourism department of Australia's Queensland state on Wednesday announced that Clare Wang won a spot among 11 finalists vying for the job — a 150,000 Australian dollar ($105,000) contract to relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef for six months while writing a blog to promote the area.

Wang was selected by the public as the "wild card" winner from a pool of 50 short-listed entries the department had chosen earlier. She received 151,676 votes — almost three times as many as her nearest competitor — on the job ad's Web site, which featured the video applications. Nearly 35,000 people from across the world applied for the gig.    more ...

Taiwan ex-leader to stand trial in graft case

Agence France-Presse
Taipei, March 24, 2009

Former Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian goes on trial on Thursday on corruption charges that he insists are politically motivated -- but which could help put him behind bars for life.

The self-styled "son of Taiwan," who had frequently angered China with his pro-independence rhetoric during his two terms in power, will be the island's first ex-president to be detained and face trial.

It caps a tense political drama that has gripped Taiwan for months and has already seen his family and several associates admit charges.

Chen, 58, will be driven to a district court in the capital Taipei from a detention centre outside the city where he has been held since December.

Thursday's case centres on allegations of bribery concerning a land deal, but that is just part of a string of charges against him.

Chen is also accused of embezzlement, money laundering, influence peddling and extortion -- charges he has categorically denied and which form the basis of what threatens to be a series of trials.

He faces life in prison if convicted on all counts.    more ...

In Modern Taiwan, Chinese Calligraphy Still Has a Home

The Epoch Times
By Matthew Robertson
Epoch Times Staff Mar 24, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan—One at a time the students layed their works out before Teacher Tu, waiting for what he would say. “Your 'le' [a Chinese character] is too spread out, the top and bottom don't harmonise. This one's better,” he said, pointing to the character below le, with a long, rolled up paper, “but still not that good... Be careful now, you've made this mistake many times, and I've reminded you a lot already. You'll do better now.” The student, a university professor and decades-long practitioner of Chinese calligraphy, was squatting besides his works, nodding at his teacher’s remarks. He rolled up his works and scrambled out of the way for the next person.

“Writing calligraphy,” Tu said, sighing, “you have to cultivate your heart. Only this way will what you write match with what you have inside.” He looked at the students one by one: “You simply must have this kind of internal determination.”

Tu Chungkao is one of Taiwan's most celebrated calligraphers, having been awarded the prestigious Wu Sanlian and Zhongshan prizes in 1982. He started calligraphy at around 20, after a brief foray into Chinese painting. As a painter, whenever it came to writing his name at the end of the piece, Tu always thought his looked terrible. Before long he decided he would focus on calligraphy for a while, to get to a respectable standard. He has been writing since, and for decades been holding exhibitions around Taiwan, while his works are sold across the world.

The distinguished group of teachers had all come to Tu's apartment for a one in three month meeting. There, they would receive advice and schooling from the master, and engage in a discussion in one or another obscure aspect of calligraphy. Numbering 13, with only one female, they were mostly professors or artists from around Taiwan. For example, a professor of art theory, a professor of history, and the leading calligrapher at Taiwan’s prestigious National Palace Museum. They have all been students of Tu for decades.

In 1985, Tu thought he would pick the most “vigorous” of his students to form the group, and they have been gathering four times a year since. Once every few years they put on an exhibition of their works, and have done so five or six times now. Before I was allowed to attend the meeting I was required to visit one of Tu’s current calligraphy exhibitions, featured in local media, to get a flavour for the kinds of things they would be talking about.   more ...

Dissident warns Taiwan on China

THREATENED: After receiving entry permits to Taiwan, 15 Chinese academics were told by Chinese officials not to attend a conference in Taipei ‘or face the consequences

Taipei Times
By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 20, 2009, Page 3

Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰), a Chinese democracy activist living in exile in Australia, yesterday warned Taiwanese to beware of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “two-faced” approach to diplomacy.

Yuan made the remarks at a press conference in Taipei after 15 Chinese academics were blocked from leaving the country to take part in a conference on the development of liberalism in China, despite calls for more cross-strait cultural and intellectual exchange by the Chinese leadership.

The five-day conference, organized by Yuan’s Chinese Liberal Culture Movement, National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of National Development, National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of Development Studies and numerous other non-governmental organizations in Taiwan, will be held in Taipei starting next Friday.

The 15 academics were reportedly harassed and threatened by Chinese police and state security officials days after receiving their entry permits from the Taiwanese government. more ...

Double recognition of Taiwan, China by El Salvador unacceptable: Wang

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-03-20 12:38 AM

The Presidential Office said yesterday it could not accept double recognition of China and Taiwan by El Salvador.

Mauricio Funes was elected the first leftist president of long-standing Taiwanese ally El Salvador last weekend, instilling fears that he might switch diplomatic ties to Communist China.

Presidential spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Taiwan hoped to strengthen its relations with El Salvador, and could "of course not accept double recognition." He emphasized that under President Ma Ying-jeou's policy of "diplomatic truce," he hoped that China would not try and lure Taiwan's allies away, and vice versa. more ...

Taiwan recalls diplomat from Canada for alleged slurs

By Aileen McCabe, Canwest News Service
March 19, 2009

SHANGHAI — A top Taiwanese diplomat in Canada has been recalled and is under investigation in Taipei for allegedly calling Taiwan's majority population "mentally insane," "rednecks" and "primitives."

Kuo Kuan-ying, head of the information division at the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto, was questioned in Taipei early this week and refused to admit using the bigoted words to describe the island's native population. He did, however, concede that he referred to himself in a newspaper article as a "superior mainlander," a reference to the fact that his roots in Taiwan are post-1949, when Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang army fled there from Mainland China to escape Mao Zedong's Red Army.

The ethnic slurs were made in an article written under the pseudonym Fat Lan-chin, a pen name that Kuo's accusers say he has used in the past for Internet postings.

The affair has inflamed ethnic tensions in Taiwan where the majority population, which mostly came from the mainland a century or more earlier than the Kuomintang, has long balked at being ruled by Chiang's followers, who have held power for most of the past 60 years.

It is also proving to be a major headache for the government of President Ma Ying-jeou, who is already under fire in many quarters for his efforts to improve and expand Taiwan's relations with China. Many native Taiwanese fear that Ma, who was born on the Mainland, is playing into the hands of Beijing, which has always claimed Taiwan as a province. more ...

Taiwan: Time not right for reducing China tensions

The Associated Press
Published: March 16, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Taiwan will not make concrete moves to reduce military tensions with China before the mainland renounces its threat to use force against the island and removes the missiles it has deployed against it, the defense minister said Monday.

The comments from Chen Chao-min appear to pour cold water on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's call earlier this month to hold talks with Taiwan on military issues in the pursuit of ending hostility between the longtime rivals.

They come on the same day that senior officers reaffirmed their interest in acquiring advanced weapons systems from the United States and the Defense Ministry said in a far-reaching policy document that Taiwanese readiness "cannot be relaxed," despite improving relations between Taipei and Beijing.

Since taking office 10 months ago, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has moved aggressively to reverse his predecessor's pro-independence polices, sanctioning a rapid expansion in trade relations with the mainland, and raising the prospect of a formal peace treaty between the sides.

But speaking to lawmakers in Taipei, Chen alluded to repeated Chinese threats to attack Taiwan if it moves to make its de facto independence permanent and long-standing Taiwanese concerns over the estimated 1,300 missiles Beijing has deployed against the island. more ...

Taiwan welcomes biggest Chinese tourist group

March 16, 2009

KEELUNG, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan rolled out the red carpet Monday for the biggest group of Chinese tourists to arrive on the island since the launch of direct transport links with mainland China last year.

A passenger ship docked in northern Keelung harbour, close to the capital Taipei, bringing some 1,600 tourists from Shanghai who walked ashore on a red carpet laid out in their honour.

"We have long anticipated the trip," said one man who arrived here with his fiancee, adding that they planned to hold their wedding on the boat.

It is the biggest tourist group to arrive from China since direct flights and maritime services began in December in a sign of rapidly improving ties between Taiwan and China, which claims sovereignty over the island. more ...

Interpreter positions attract more than 500 jobseekers

Taipei Times
03/16/2009

All Nippon Airways attracted a crowd of more than 500 women in Taipei on Sunday hoping to be recruited as in-flight interpreters.

The coveted position of in-flight interpreter offers a starting salary of more than NT$50,000. As the economy is weak and the unemployment rate continues to soar, the six available positions attracted hundreds of job applicants, all with their hair slicked back in a neat bun. Since more than 500 people were fighting it out for six openings, only one out of every 100 applicants would get a job.

An in-flight interpreter has to be able to translate between Japanese, English, Mandarin and Minnan (also known as Taiwanese) onboard All Nippon Airways flights.

The firm had previously said in its announcement about the jobs that in order to qualify, an applicant must be female, aged between 20 and 28 years old, and be at least 1.6 meters tall. However, SASS Atlantic, the hiring agency for All Nippon, canceled the height requirement after being warned by Taipei City's labor department that it was violating Article 5 of the Employment Services Act (就業服務法), which states that an employer is prohibited from discriminating against job applicants based on appearance.

As a result, the agency did not measure applicants' height, a routine procedure when Asian airlines' hire flight attendants. more ...

UPDATE 1-Taiwan studies financial system stabilisation

Reuters
Mon Mar 16, 2009 2:10am EDT

(Rewrites with official comment in first, second, fifth paragraphs)

TAIPEI, March 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan is studying various plans to stabilise the financial system, a government official said on Monday, but he denied a local media report saying Taiwan would expand its financial rescue fund more than four-fold.

"The report is groundless," said an official of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the island's top financial regulator, without elaborating. more ...

Colorectal cancer tops Taiwan cases

China Post
Saturday, March 14, 2009
By Lydia Lin,The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Colorectal cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer among Taiwanese people, topping the list of the five most common cancers on the island, according to a 2006 cancer report released by the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday.

According to the report, this is the first time the number of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer has surpassed that of liver cancer recorded in a single year.

In 2006, 73,293 people in Taiwan were diagnosed with cancer. According to Chao Kun-yu, deputy chief of the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion, that meant a new cancer patient was diagnosed every 7 minutes and 10 seconds, up slightly from the average of 7 minutes and 38 seconds in 2005.

Furthermore, the research findings show that colorectal, liver, lung, breast and oral cancer are among the top five most prevalent forms of the disease. Each of the five groups consists of at least five thousand plus people, amounting to 56 percent of the overall number of people with the disease. The number of people diagnosed with colorectal or liver cancer is over 10,000. more ...

Chinese foreign minister warns US on Taiwan

Radio Taiwan International
03/14/2009

China has warned the United States on Taiwan, saying that Beijing will never accept Taiwan's independence despite easing cross-strait ties.

Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi issued his warning on Thursday in a speech in Washington. He was scheduled to meet US President Barack Obama.

Yang said no matter how the situation across the Taiwan Strait may evolve, Beijing will never waiver in its commitment to the one China principle and will never compromise its opposition to Taiwan's independence. more ...

Taiwan president: China's war law 'unfeasible'

The Associated Press
March 14, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday called China's law authorizing the use of military force against the island "unnecessary" and "unfeasible" amid warming ties between the two longtime rivals.

Ma's statement came on the fourth anniversary of China's implementation of its anti-secession law, which allows China to use force against Taiwan if it moves to formalize its independence, or if Beijing sees there is no longer any hope for unification.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to claim the island as part of its territory.

Taiwan urges China to scrap anti-secession law

Reuters
Sat Mar 14, 2009
By Lee Chyen Yee

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan urged China on Saturday to scrap a Chinese law authorising the use of force on the island, saying it is irrelevant when ties between the two political rivals have improved over the past year.

In 2005, China enacted an "anti-secession law" that allows it to use force on Taiwan in extreme cases. It was seen as a warning to Taiwan's then-President Chen Shui-bian who often angered the mainland with his independence-leaning rhetoric.

"The Mainland Affairs Council hopes Chinese communist authorities will abolish the inappropriate anti-secession law and dismantle missiles aimed at Taiwan to resume peace across the Taiwan Strait and create a win-win situation," the council, Taiwan's China policy-making body, said in a statement.

Corinna Wei, a spokeswoman at the council, said the government issued the statement because it was the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the anti-secession law.

Taiwanese officials and experts say the mainland has 1,500 short-range missiles aimed at the self-ruled democratic island. more ...

Taiwan extends short-term job program to one year

Extension of benefits depends on average period of unemployment

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Page 1
2009-03-13 01:51 AM

The short-term job program for the unemployed will be expanded to one year from six months, the Cabinet-level Council of Labor Affairs announced yesterday.

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said the existing program which started last November recruited 65,000 jobseekers, or 90 percent of the planned 73,000. The jobs will end between April and June this year, so the Cabinet should find a way to extend them until later in the year.

Present jobs should be extended if possible, Cabinet spokesman Su Jun-pin told reporters, but those positions that could not, should be replaced with other works for the employees. more ...

Toronto envoy accused of insulting Taiwan

PIRATES AND REDNECKS: The head of information at the representative office in Toronto defamed the people of Taiwan under a pen name, a DPP legislator said

Taipei Times
By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Mar 13, 2009, Page 1

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday accused an overseas consulate official of publishing insulting remarks about Taiwanese.

Kuan said Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英), director of the information division at Taiwan’s representative office in Toronto, had written numerous articles in which he defamed Taiwan and insulted Taiwanese people.

The legislator said Kuo, under the pen name Fan Lan-chin (范蘭欽), had used insulting terms in his articles to refer to Taiwanese, such as taibazi (台巴子, meaning “Taiwanese rednecks”) or wokou (倭寇, meaning “Japanese pirates”). more ...

Chinese mainland mulls cross-Straits rail linking Beijing, Taiwan

www.chinaview.com
March 12, 2009

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland is "actively planning" a cross-Taiwan Straits rail line linking Beijing with Taipei, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun said Wednesday.

The rail via Fuzhou, capital of Fujian Province, will be part of the network that connects the mainland and Taiwan, said Liu.

The cross-Straits railway network, with its hub in Fujian Province, may also cover the inland cities of Kunming in the southwest and Hefei in the east, according to the plan.

In a meeting with Liu on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, Lu Zhangong, chief of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, also proposed to plan a rail line that links Xiamen in Fujian and Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The ministry has been boosting railway construction in the coastal province of Fujian, planning 6,000 km of rails inside the province by 2015 with a total investment of 350 billion yuan (about 51.5 billion U.S. dollars).

The railway network is expected to lay a foundation of transport infrastructure for the "cross-Straits economic zone" proposed by some members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference during their annual session. more ...

Ma nets harvest in Taiwan-Japan ties

Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-03-05 01:44 AM

Relations between Taiwan and Japan, which cooled markedly in the early months of restored Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government of President Ma Ying-jeou, have finally begun to show signs of warming.

The restored KMT government and Japan got off to a poor start in the wake of the accidental sinking of a Taiwan recreational fishing boat "Lienho" after a collusion with a Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessel near the contested Tiaoyutai or Senkaku islets last June 11 after Tokyo apologized for the incident even though the Taiwan craft had also violated Taiwan marine regulations.

In an apparent effort to repair ties with Taiwan's closest northern neighbor and major trade and investment partner, Ma dispatched Japanese speaking Strait Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Ping-kun and KMT Chairman Wu Po-hsiung to visit Tokyo late last year and designated 2009 as the "year of promoting a special partnership between Taiwan and Japan."

In line with this new directive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched a comprehensive push to foster interchange in the five fields of economics and trade, culture, youth, tourism and dialogue to promote deeper mutual understanding between Taiwan and Japan and bolster the development of an all-around "special partnership" between the two East Asian countries.

The high profile given to this effort indicates that President Ma has grasped the importance of the Taiwan-Japanese relationship and this fact has helped led to a positive response from Tokyo. more ...

China says ready to talk to Taiwan, end hostility

Associated Press
March 5, 2009
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

BEIJING (AP) — China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that Beijing is ready to hold talks with Taiwan on political and military issues in the pursuit of ending hostility between the longtime rivals.

In a report to the annual legislative session's opening ceremony, Wen cheered a significant improvement in ties and a major reduction in tensions over the past year between Beijing and the self-governing island it claims as Chinese territory.

"Positive changes occurred in the situation in Taiwan, and major breakthroughs were made in cross-strait relations," Wen said.

Beijing was ready to hold talks to "create conditions for ending the state of hostility and concluding a peace agreement" between the sides, he said.

Wen's remarks to the National People's Congress were a near word-for-word reiteration of offers made by president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao in a Dec. 31 address.

Wen gave no additional details on the content of a peace agreement or what the talks on political and military issues would include. However, the tone of his remarks were far more conciliatory than the typically hawkish references to Taiwan contained in previous addresses to the congress.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council had no immediate comment on Wen's remarks.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing says it is intent on eventual unification, by persuasion if possible but by force if considered necessary. more ...

ECFA with China will not serve Taiwan's interests: former president

Central News Agency
2009-03-04 06:38 PM

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Former President Lee Tung-hui said Wednesday that Taiwan would not be better off if it signed an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, and that even if the government plans to discuss such an economic pact with Beijing, the proposal should first be reviewed by the legislature.

Lee made the remarks in response to reporters' questions after he viewed an exhibition of the work of Japanese oil painter Tatsuo Yamamoto in Taipei's Neihu District.

The proposed pact with Beijing was formerly called a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA), but this spurred fierce criticisms from the opposition which argued that a CECA would downgrade Taiwan's status and pave the way for unification with China.

In response, President Ma Ying-jeou proposed Feb. 27 that the pact be described as an economic framework and asserted that it would not involve the sensitive issues of unification or independence but rather, it would be part of Taiwan's efforts to better position itself in the global economic landscape.

Asked whether the signing of an ECFA with Beijing would impact positively or negatively on Taiwan's economic development, Lee said Taiwan's economy would not be better off, as China is now struggling to maintain its economic growth rate at 8 percent.

Lee said Taiwan would be "silly" to think it can pursue its own interests by signing an ECFA with China.

If the government really wants to discuss such a pact with Beijing, it should first clearly inform the Taiwanese people about the pros and cons, he said, adding that any economic pact should be subject to legislative review before it is discussed with China. more ...

Taiwan may slash troops

The Straits Times
Jan 20, 2009

TAIPEI - TAIWAN is considering cutting its troop strength by as much as a third as relations with China improve, reducing the spectre of war between the two political rivals, sources and the media said yesterday.

The Ministry of National Defence is studying a plan to slash the island's 275,000 troops over the next four years, with an exact number yet to be decided, ministry spokesman Lisa Chih said. Local media said troop numbers could be cut to about 180,000.     more ...

Taiwan distributes vouchers to spur economy

The Associated Press
January 18, 2009

The government began Sunday to distribute spending vouchers to all Taiwanese, hoping the move could spur a buying spree across the island to help prop up the slowing economy.
Taiwan's economy has been undermined by the global economic slump, with demand for the island's high-tech exports dropping sharply in industrialized countries such as the United States.

Long lines queued up Sunday at dispense centers where each person is handed a stack of vouchers valued at 3,600 New Taiwan dollars ($108). Many people then went straight to department stores or supermarkets to buy up daily necessities. The government is giving away a total of NT$80 billion ($2.5 billion) worth of vouchers to each of the island's 23 million population. The measures were meant mainly to boost retail sales. But other businesses suffering faltering sales _ from airlines, amusement parks, hotels, restaurants to publishing houses _ also offer discount rates to attract consumers. About 20 publishing houses joined hands to solicit subscribers, offering a year's subscription for any two magazines with NT$1,200 worth of vouchers.     more ...

Chen in court on Monday

Former Taiwan president in court on Monday

The Straits Times
Jan 18, 2009

TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S former president Chen Shui-bian will appear in court on Monday for a pre-trial hearing on corruption charges he insists are politically motivated, a court official said.

Chen, who is being detained at a jail in Tucheng city outside Taipei, is due to appear at a session of the Taipei District Court beginning at 9.30am (Singapore time), the official said on Sunday.
Three other accused - two businessmen and a former science park chief - will also appear for their roles in scandals over an exhibition hall and science park land which have implicated Chen and his family.
The session is part of a three-day preliminary hearing on the case against the former president who was arrested in November on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.      more ...

FUMING: A store owner who was fined said the government was stealing his money, while a quarter of calls to the John Tung Foundation were protests or four-letter words

Taipei Times
By Meggie Lu, Mo Yan-chih and Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTERS
Monday, Jan 12, 2009, Page 1

Members of a community health association in Kaohsiung County’s Linyuan Township cut a representation of a cigarette in half at a ceremony at Chienyu Hospital yesterday.
PHOTO: CNA
The first day of new regulations on smoking in public places yesterday saw dozens of tickets issued for violations against the Tobacco Hazard Prevention and Control Act (菸害防制法) at several locations around the nation, including Taipei City, Taipei County, Keelung City, Hsinchu County, Taichung City, Hualien County, Changhua County and Kaohsiung City.

The new act bans smoking in indoor public places designed for more than three people and requires business owners to display no-smoking signs. Infractions result in fines of between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000. Individuals found smoking in smoke-free facilities are fined between NT$2,000 and NT$10,000.

By 3:30pm yesterday, health bureaus in 25 counties and cities had inspected 4,953 establishments and found that 22 failed to meet requirements. Inspections of 592 establishments selling tobacco products found four that did not meet requirements.

Most cases — five out of seven — of people breaking the new rules occurred in Internet cafes.

In Taipei County, a hotpot restaurant was fined after placing an ashtray in front of the building, while a film-developing store was also fined for failing to place a no-smoking sign at the front of its premises.

The owner said the government was “stealing [his] money,” adding that had the government given him a sticker or sign he would be in the wrong for not putting it up, but the government had no right to ask him to buy a sign.

In Keelung City, a taxi driver was issued a ticket for smoking in front of a hospital emergency room. The driver, who will have to pay a fine of between NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, said he did not realize that the open space outside the hospital was also considered a smoke-free zone.

In Central and Southern Taiwan, a Changhua County convenience store was fined NT$10,000 for openly displaying cigarette products.

Tainan City, which had already passed local anti-smoking regulations, added historical sites, parks and malls to the list of places where smoking is banned.

In the East, the Hualien Bureau of Health fined a coach company and an Internet cafe. Both establishments were found to have ashtrays available for use and the ashtray in the Internet cafe even had a cigarette butt in it. The businesses will each be fined at least NT$10,000.

The owner of the Internet cafe argued that the cigarette butt was from a cigarette smoked before the ban came into effect and that his staff had forgotten to put it away, but he was still fined for “an obvious violation of the new act” by the inspectors.    more ...

Women’s cancer group set up

HELP FOR PATIENTS: Cancer prevention measures such as pap smears, breast cancer screening and vaccines should all be combined in one facility, the group chairman said

Taipei Times
By Shelley Huang, STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Jan 12, 2009, Page 2

About 90 percent of women believe the government should allocate more resources to the prevention of cancer in women, a recent survey conducted by a newly established women’s cancer society showed.

Yesterday marked the establishment of the Women’s Cancer Society of Taiwan (台灣女性癌症協會), the first such society in the country dedicated to caring for women cancer patients. During the press conference, Tseng Chi-jen (曾志仁), society chairman and chief of Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, presented the findings of a survey on major problems caused by cancer that affect women.

A total of 910 women over 20 years of age from various parts of the country were surveyed last month.

Of them, 21.4 percent said they had a family member or friend who had been affected by breast or cervical cancer. Of those who have breast or cervical cancer, “fear of dying” was the main concern, with 36.8 percent of respondents admitting to this worry, followed by “breast ablation,” “removal of uterus” and “loss of reproductive abilities.”

“Many women worry that they won’t be able to bear children and that their husbands would abandon them,” said Tseng, who has seen this happen to many of his patients.

Tseng said that many of his patients’ husbands leave because they cannot deal with the fact that many aspects of their lives are changed dramatically by cancer.     more ...

SMOKE-FREE TAIWAN: Smoking among the young decreasing, girls smoking more

Taipei Times
By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Jan 12, 2009, Page 2

A recent survey, conducted jointly by the Department of Health (DOH) and Ministry of Education, showed that the proportion of young smokers has recently decreased, but the proportion of young female smokers was on the rise.

The bi-annual survey sampled 27,853 high school students across the country last month. A total of 41.24 percent of respondents said they had smoked, a slight decrease from 43.61 percent in 2005.

Although the general proportion of young smokers has decreased, 9.12 percent of female students said they smoke, compared with 8.54 in 2005.

The new Tobacco Hazard Prevention and Control Act (菸害防制法), officially effective starting yesterday, aims to decrease the exposure of cigarettes to young people, DOH minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) said.     more ...

Ma, Liu support new accounting regulations

The China Post
Updated Sunday, January 11, 2009 4:49 am TWN
The China Post news staff

Taipie, Taiwan -- Both President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan voiced their support for the Financial Supervisory Commission's decision to implement the No. 10 Basic Financial Statements on schedule.

Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi told a press conference that making a decision on whether to enforce the new accounting criteria involves financial professionalism, and therefore the Presidential Office fully respects the decision by the Cabinet and the FSC on the matter.

A financial and economic consulting panel headed by Vice President Vincent Siew recently proposed that implementation of the No. 10 Basic Financial Statements be postponed, while firms operating in Hsinchu Science Park also suggested President Ma postpone the enforcement of the new accounting rule.

But Chairman Sean Chen of the FSC asserted that the new accounting rule has been put into practice on Jan. 1, 2009 as scheduled, because it's a good time for the rule to be enforced right now.

In response, Wang told reporters that the proposal raised by the financial and economic consulting panel is just for reference by the Cabinet, adding that President Ma fully respects the decision made by the Cabinet and FSC on the implementation of the new accounting rule.     more ...

Taiwan considering sending navy to fight piracy

The Associated Press
Published: January 8, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan: A senior official says Taiwan is considering sending a naval force to protect its fishing vessels against Somali pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa.

Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chao Chien-min said Thursday that the Taiwanese government is currently studying the feasibility of deploying its navy to the area.     more ...

Taiwan's ex-president appeals detention ruling

News Desk
The China Post
Publication Date: 06-01-2009

Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian is appealing the Taipei district court decision to detain him.

Cheng Wen-lung, Chen's defense attorney who filed the appeal with the Taiwan high court yesterday (January 5), said he would request his client's release after the appeal is acted on.

Three district court judges in conference with Tsai Shou-hsun presiding ordered Chen's detention on last Tuesday after an overnight hearing for fear the ex-president might go for hiding abroad, intimidate other defendants and destroy evidence.

High court judges are likely to remit the appeal to Tsai. They are most unlikely to rule Chen should be either released or remain under detention.

Tsai is expected to order Chen's continued detention.

“Then,” Cheng said, “we'll request President Chen's release.”

Arrested on charges of graft and money laundering on last November 12, Chen was indicted and released without bail a month later.     more ...

Taiwan ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s trial to start on January 19 as attorney files appeal against detention

eTaiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-01-05 04:17 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taipei District Court will open the trial of ex-President Chen Shui-bian on corruption and money laundering charges on January 19 with three days of preparatory hearings, media reports said Monday.

The former president should appear in court on the morning of the first day for a hearing about a construction project and a land deal where his family stands accused of having received payoffs from businesses.

On January 20, the court will discuss embezzlement allegations linked to the presidential state affairs fund, while Chen will again be summoned to appear on the morning of January 21 to talks about the money laundering charges.     more ...

 

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