Free Republic

New research into language evolution suggests most Pacific populations originated in Taiwan around 5,200 years ago. Scientists at The University of Auckland have used sophisticated computer analyses on vocabulary from 400 Austronesian languages to uncover how the Pacific was settled. “The Austronesian language family is one of the largest in the world, with 1200 languages spread across the Pacific,” says Professor Russell Gray of the Department of Psychology. “The settlement of the Pacific is one of the most remarkable prehistoric human population expansions. By studying the basic vocabulary from these languages, such as words for animals, simple verbs, colours and...

Obama will need to ready himself for demands from friends and threats from enemies. China released a report, timed to coincide with the new President taking office, that ‘advises’ the US that weapon sales to Taiwan harm the relationship between China and the US. Given that China is sitting on over a $ trillion of US Treasury Bonds (more than the report below cites according to economists in the know), you can be sure that Washington takes notes of disapproval from China very seriously. The following report is from Associated Press: China made a rare appeal for cooperation between its...

HP-1359 SNIPPET: "Washington, DC--The U.S. Department of Treasury today designated two Taiwanese individuals and two Taiwanese entities pursuant to Executive Order 13382, an authority aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their supporters, and at isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. "Proliferators depend on access to the international financial and commercial systems to support their dangerous trade," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "Our action today exposes a North Korean procurement channel, and we urge governments and companies worldwide to cut this channel off entirely." Alex...

‘STAY ALERT’: A staffer in the Presidential Office’s Department of Special Affairs and a friend were taken into custody on suspicion of handing classified documents to ChinaChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (�育昇) yesterday called on the government to conduct a “thorough national security check” on Presidential Office staffers after one was taken into custody on Wednesday night for allegedly spying for China. Wang Ren-bing (王�炳), a senior specialist at the Presidential Office’s Department of Special Affairs, was taken from the Presidential Office on Wednesday afternoon after a group of investigators with a search warrant conducted a search of...

Okay, I'll start: 1) Blagojevich walks scott free 2) My salary continues to remain stagnate 3) The bailout results in a massive debt to taxpayers with zero benefit to them 4) Iran aquires nuclear weapons and we (including Bush) failed to do anything about it 5) Jamie Gertz continue's to become even more attractive as she ages

Hu proposes cross-Straits military ties By Wu Jiao (China Daily) Updated: 2009-01-01 08:32 Comments(0) PrintMail President Hu Jintao proposed on Wednesday that the mainland and Taiwan "engage in contacts and exchanges on military issues at a proper time", and explore the setting up of a mutual military trust system. Photo taken on Dec. 31, 2008 shows a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the announcement of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan held in Beijing, capital of China. The Chinese mainland commemorated the 30th anniversary of the announcement of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan here Wednesday with a ceremony attended by...

BEIJING, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- President Hu Jintao said Wednesday China will respond positively if secessionists in Taiwan give up efforts to gain the island's independence. The Chinese leader urged Taiwan's former ruling Democratic Progressive Party to end its "secessionist activities." "If the party could abandon its 'Taiwan independence' stance, we would make a positive response to them," the official Xinhua news agency reported Hu as saying.

Taiwan on Trial by: Jesse Masai, December 05, 2008 The health of democracy within the tiny nation of Taiwan came under scrutiny at the Heritage Foundation recently. Former Deputy Minister of the National Science Council Ching Jyh Shieh described his 50 days of detention without trial at the hands of the Taiwanese government. Crowded in small cells, Shieh had seen the pain of incarceration without trial. Arrests are arbitrary, he said, and the evidence circumstantial. “One is jailed for supposed danger to others, reason of possible flight from the country, possibility to destroy evidence and to collude with others, yet...

BEIJING, Nov. 28 -- China on Friday executed a man convicted of passing sensitive military and political information to Taiwan a day after notifying his relatives through diplomatic channels that they would have a second chance to visit him, his daughter said. Austrian Deputy Ambassador Stefan Scholz relayed the news of the execution late Friday afternoon to the family of Wo Weihan, 60, according to Wo's daughter Ran Chen. Chen is an Austrian citizen and had been appealing for clemency through diplomatic channels since arriving in Beijing on Monday. She said she had been told her father was executed by...

TAIPEI (AFP) — Everyone in Taiwan will be given more than 100 US dollars in shopping vouchers in a government bid to boost the economy amid the global credit crisis, the prime minister announced Tuesday. Under the scheme, the island's 23 million people regardless of age or wealth will be given 3,600 Taiwan dollars (109 US), Premier Liu Chao-shiuan told reporters. He added that the programme would cost some 82 billion Taiwan dollars, while those people who donated their coupons would be able to file for tax deductions.

Former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水�) entered prison yesterday after a court spent 11 hours discussing the prosecutors' request to detain him on suspicions of misusing the state affairs fund and money laundering. As he had predicted himself on several occasions, Chen became the first-ever former head of state in Taiwan to be jailed. Under the current law, he can be detained for a maximum of 40 days. The Taipei District Court started evaluating the request from the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors Office Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., but Chen complained he felt unwell because a police officer...

When the American people homes and stocks dropped they lost faith in the Republican Party who was at the helm at the time. It doesn’t matter if Obama was taking in more money then any other candidate from those most responsible for their losses. Finger pointing goes in all directions without a clear understanding of who is to blame. Some goodhearted, naïve Americans again think that democrats can indeed be the answer. The American people’s losses voted to remove Republicans and now we have elected someone far worse then even Jimmy Carter. We have elected man that has been raised...

Under normal circumstances, these young Taiwanese professionals would be doing just what about any other people their age would do on a Saturday afternoon: rest, or go shopping. But for the three or four sitting at the table sipping cappuccinos and smoking cigarettes, shopping is the last thing on their mind. It’s only a couple of days before the arrival of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yulin (陳雲林) and already their anxiety is palpable. Like many others this past week, they are planning on demonstrating his presence in Taiwan, as well as the Ma...

McCain tilts towards Taiwan, Obama may favor China By Ralph Jennings Ralph Jennings Thu Oct 30, 1:23 am ET TAIPEI (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain would seek to defend Taiwan and play hard ball with China if he comes to office, but Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama would further sideline Taipei as he courts Beijing. Analysts say neither candidate would radically change today's status quo, but the former World War Two commander McCain is seen favoring Taiwan, which Americans of his generation called "Free China" but which now struggles for an international voice. China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled...

On Saturday the Dalai Lama made a quiet statement of desperation, signaling the frustration of decades of failed efforts to win fair treatment for Tibetans living within China’s borders. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve given up,” reports quoted the Dalai Lama as saying, referring to his attempts to engage Beijing in meaningful talks on human rights abuses and the lack of autonomy in Tibet. With these heartbreaking words, the exiled spiritual leader conceded what independent observers have long recognized: Beijing has not and will not move one inch on Tibet. For all the differences between Taiwan, a sovereign country,...

Tens of thousands join anti-China rally in Taiwan by Amber Wang Sat Oct 25, 8:03 am ET TAIPEI (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters joined a major anti-China rally Saturday to denounce Taiwan's warming ties with Beijing, which they say threaten the self-ruled island's sovereignty. The demonstrators, many dressed in the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) green, marched through Taipei's streets waving flags and chanting. They hit out at the visit of Beijing's top negotiator in little over a week, and voiced anger at a series of Chinese export scandals including milk products tainted by industrial chemical melamine. "Opposing...

Half a million protesters are expected to turn up at a rally today against an upcoming visit by a top Chinese envoy, Taiwan's main opposition party said yesterday. In a move which could further stoke opposition to the closely-watched visit, former president Chen Shui-bian yesterday branded the envoy a 'rebel communist' and called for his 'apprehension'. The visit by Mr Chen Yunlin - the highest-ranking Chinese official to set foot in Taiwan since 1949 - has triggered fears among some that it may push the island towards unification with China against their wishes. He is tentatively slated to arrive in...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7681556.stm Pro-independence protesters in Taiwan have jostled a Chinese envoy to the ground and attacked his car. The attack on Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, in the city of Tainan, was shown on television news broadcasts.

In China, tasteless and colorless melamine has been part of the food chain for a long time. Its addition to SanluÂ’s milk powder has now created a global panic over contaminated Chinese foodstuffs. And this was not the first time. In May last year, companies in ChinaÂ’s Jiangsu and Shandong provinces added melamine to wheat protein and barley protein powder, which caused thousands of pets in the US, Canada and other countries to fall ill or die. More than 60 million pet food products were recalled. Feed for 20 million chickens, hundreds of thousands of cultivated fish and thousands of...

/begin my translation National Security Bureau Director Cai Chaoming: SARS was the biochem warfare agents 2008-10-06 13:45: 14 Cheng Ping Toxic milk scandal erupts in mainland China, and the joke among Internet users is that this is mainland China launching biochemical agents. Although such an accusation is indeed a joke, National Security Bureau Director Cai Chaoming said today at the (Taiwanese) legislature's hearing that National Security Bureau has the evidence that the SARS virus, which drove entire Taiwan into panic several years ago, was the biochemical (warfare) agents. Furthermore, after the United Nations expert's investigation, serious suspicions were raised on...

(English-language translation) Taipei - Taiwan awaits the arrival to the island of a Guatemalan business delegation that will conduct commercial consultations with island businessmen to strengthen cooperation, the Taiwan Foreign Trade Development Council reported today. The delegation will visit the island on October 6-17 and will tour Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung to speak to businessmen from all parts of Taiwan. According to Council officials, the Guatemalans' objective is to promote exports from their country to the island, especially coffee, lumber, medications, and crafts. Taiwan is interested in strengthening its commercial ties with Guatemala, one of the island's 12 political allies...

6 Air Force, 2 Army Generals Punished For Shipment Of Nuclear Fuses To Taiwan Eight generals, ranging in rank from one to three stars, have been disciplined as a result of the mistaken shipment of fuses for nuclear warheads to Taiwan, The Associated Press has learned. Defense officials said Wednesday that the six Air Force and two Army generals were given disciplinary letters that vary in seriousness but often can end careers or hopes of promotion. The officers are mainly in logistical jobs and were involved to some degree in the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four electrical fuses for...

Excerpt - TAIPEI - The United Nations has rejected Taiwan's bid to join the global body, blocking the island's 16th such attempt, officials said on Thursday. Taiwan this month launched a bid to join the 16 UN Specialised Agencies rather than seeking full membership to the global body. The move was seen as an olive branch to Beijing, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. However, the UN General Committee on Wednesday decided not to put Taiwan's proposal on the agenda of the UN plenary session. ~ snip ~

Taipei, Sept 03: Taiwan called on Wednesday for expansion in cooperation on oil exploration and development with China amid warming ties between the two rivals. The CPC Corp, Taiwan, the island's state-run oil refiner, said it has proposed to work with China's CNOOC Ltd to explore possible oil reserves in the East China Sea. "We have expressed the willingness to CNOOC to work together in the East China Sea," CPC Vice President Chu Shao-hua told media. "CPC is waiting for CNOOC's response, hoping both sides will kick off talks on the proposal," he said. CPC and CNOOC set up a...

Taiwan's relations with Japan will remain stable despite the sudden resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. That's the word from Taiwan's foreign ministry on Monday. Fukuda abruptly announced his resignation after less than a year in office. The ministry said that Taiwan appreciates Fukuda's efforts to promote ties with Taiwan. It said Japan's Taiwan policy is not expected to be affected by a leadership change. Taro Aso, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is reported to be a likely successor to Fukuda. Taiwan's Legislative President Wang Jin-pyng said Aso has always been friendly to Taiwan. Wang said Taiwan...

Taiwan plans to mass-produce ship-to-ship missiles to boost its naval defences against China, the United Evening News reported Friday. The defence ministry has set aside more than US 71.75 million to manufacture the locally-designed Supersonic Hsiung-feng 3, the United Evening News said. The defence ministry declined to comment on the report. Analysts say the Hsiung-feng 3 can be fitted with a variety of guidance systems and can function as a ship-to-ship, land-attack or anti-radar missile. With a range of at least 130 kilometres, the missile has been designed to counter China’s Russia-made equivalent, analysts say.

In an ongoing effort to seek peace with China, Taiwan dropped plans to develop missiles that can cruise to China, media reports said. An unnamed military official said that Taipei has dropped plans to develop missiles that could travel up to 1000 km. The government made the decision to drop the missile plan after the National Security Council and the Defense Ministry reached the consensus that Taiwan should focus on self-defense rather than develop attack weapons. However, they said that country would go ahead with the production of the HF-2 missiles with ranges of 600 to 800 km, some of...

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Sunday renewed pledges to promote peace with China on the 50th anniversary of a battle between the rivals. "We cannot change the history of the '823 bombardment' but we can create a peaceful future so the sacrifices of the soldiers and civilians are worthwhile," Ma said while visiting the former battle ground of Kinmen. Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled fortified island group just kilometres (miles) off China's southeastern Xiamen port, is a constant reminder of lingering hostility between the two sides, which split in 1949 after a civil war. The Chinese People's Liberation Army of Mao Zedong...

Taipei - Four Taiwan men involved in a car accident quit arguing about who was to blame after they discovered a numerology twist in their birthdates, a television channel reported on Tuesday. The four-car collision occurred on Monday evening in a highway tunnel in Chiayi County, west Taiwan. No one was injured in the accident, but when the four men went to a police station to file a report, they saw their birthdates were June 6, July 7, August 8 and September 9, TVBS reported. The succession of 6/6, 7/7, 8/8 and 9/9 was so unusual that the men forgot...

It's a restaurant in Taiwan with a modern decor and a full-on toilet theme. The thorough implementation includes toilet chairs, urinal sconces, and even commode shaped serving pieces. Probably not the best place to bring a child in potty training... Toilet Bowl Taipei Metro, Hsinpu Station, Exit 1 (02) 8253-7767 YouTube - Toilet Bowl , Taiwan

Citing "our tragic history," Obama clears the way for even more corruption in the Aloha State.

Early in 2001, President Bush approved the export of arms to democratic Taiwan. At the time, Bush said the United States would do "whatever it takes" to defend its tiny, besieged Pacific ally. That was yesterday. Today, it's looking more like Bush was just kidding. How else to explain the administration's recent decision to freeze $16 billion worth of the arms deals? Bush approved the sale of Patriot missiles, Apache helicopters, and submarines to Taiwan more than seven years ago. Since then Taiwan has also requested 66 F-16 fighter jets to replace its aging planes. The Taiwanese legislature has appropriated...

Typhoon Fung Wong, or phoenix, is now moving northwestward and is expected to land in Hualien, Taiwan, on Monday morning, according to Taiwan's meteorological department. Currently, the tropical storm moved to the sea area 200 kilometers southeast of Hualien, with a maximal wind speed of 38 meters per second. The wind speed is expected to reach 32.7-36.9 meters per second in Hualien and 37-41.4 meters in Taitung.

Taiwan's national athletics team will withdraw from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games if it is referred to as "Taipei, China" rather than "Chinese Taipei". Tai Shia-ling, minister of Taiwan's Sports Affairs Council, said the country's athletes would withdraw from the Games if China's officials call Taiwan "Taipei, China." This would downgrade Taiwan's independent status and imply that Taiwan is part of China. Some Taiwanese lawmakers have also called for boycotting the Beijing Olympics unless the dispute over Taiwan's name is resolved. Several lawmakers of the ruling Kuomintang said China must not attempt to change the name under which Taiwan will...

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is urging its government to fund an Indigenous Defence Fighter upgrade programme, adding that the project is even more urgent after the USA delayed approving a crucial arms package for the island. AIDC unveiled the first two F-CK-1C/D prototypes in 2007 and hoped to begin serial production of the aircraft this year. It has also proposed upgrading half of Taipei's fleet of 130 A/B-model IDFs, the last of which was manufactured in 1999, but this has been put on hold as Taiwan's cabinet has not approved funding. "Senior ministry of national defence officials said...

A powerful tropical storm killed at least seven people in Taiwan and washed away six others in raging waters. The storm, called Kalmaegi, lashed the south of the country with torrential rain yesterday, triggering flash floods and landslides. The Disaster Relief Centre said that a woman was rescued from a house buried in a landslide but her one-year-old daughter and a brother died. A soldier was killed after falling into a drainage ditch in Taichung, central Taiwan, the centre said.

Taiwan parliament restores budget for cruise missile production Jul 3, 2008, 22:35 GMT Taipei - Taiwan's parliament has restored the budget for mass-producing Hsiung Feng 2-E cruise missiles which reportedly can hit Shanghai and Hong Kong, a newspaper said on Friday. The parliament's Diplomatic and Defence Committee restored the budget for mass-producing Hsiung Feng 2-E Thursday evening, the United Daily News said. Taiwan developed Hsiung Feng 2-E several years ago and planned to start producing them last year. But opposition parliamentarians slashed two-third of the 5.7 billion Taiwan dollar (178 million US dollar) budget, for fear of raising tension with...

"We know that reunification with China is inevitable," a Taiwanese friend told me recently. "The economy in Taiwan is not so good and many of our jobs are being transferred to China," he explained. "Taiwan will have to cooperate with the mainland in order to maintain a healthy economy." My friend told me these things with little conviction in his voice. While the Chinese government has consistently claimed that most Taiwanese people are in favor of reunification with the mainland, my friend, like many others I have talked to around the world, has stated that the vast majority of Taiwanese...

The enormous steel ball you see in the photos (and the incredible video below) is the world’s largest ‘tuned mass damper’ and sits near the top of the world’s largest completed skyscraper on earth, taipei 101 in taiwan. the idea behind a tuned mass damper is quite simple: as a building sways (resulting from high winds, earthquakes etc), its tuned mass damper, essentially a finely tuned and ridiculously heavy pendulum, will move in opposition to the structure’s oscillations and minimise any movement. if that makes no sense, watch the crude gif below. due to both the immense size of taipei...

Protests as Jackie Chan arrives in Taiwan Wed Jun 18, 12:38 PM ET Kung fu hero Jackie Chan arrived in Taipei Wednesday amid a protest over controversial remarks he made four years ago on the island's presidential elections. Scores of protesters shouted "Jackie Chan, get out" as the Hong Kong actor, having arrived aboard a private jet, was escorted by bodyguards and local police out of the international airport near Taipei.

TAIPEI - TAIWAN announced on Saturday it was recalling its de facto envoy to Japan over Tokyo's handling of an incident in which a Taiwanese fishing boat sank after colliding with a Japanese patrol vessel. The incident occurred early on Tuesday near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese. Japan administers the disputed chain, which lies near rich energy deposits, but it is also claimed by Taipei and Beijing. According to Taiwan's foreign ministry, Japanese authorities found that the captains of both the Japanese coast guard vessel and the...

China Policy by: Rachel Paulk, June 11, 2008 The upcoming presidential election in November has vital impact on the strength of U.S.-China relations given the conflict of interest regarding Taiwan. The small island remains the single most contentious issue between the U.S. and China, with U.S. policy quietly supporting the tiny democracy and Red China aiming missiles at Taiwan’s shores. The previous 2008 presidential election in Taiwan and the upcoming 2008 presidential election in the U.S. guarantees change in the fragile, carefully-preserved status quo among the three nations. In Taiwan, the election of Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT marked a...

Negotiators from China and Taiwan will meet formally this week for the first time in nine years, but backsliding on a deal for direct flights may cool the mood of détente. Taiwan's top China negotiator, P.K. Chiang, will lead a team traveling to Beijing from Wednesday to Saturday to negotiate with his counterpart, Chen Yunlin, after recent informal meetings between the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, and Taiwanese leaders.

TAPEI, Taiwan - Officials say a powerful earthquake has struck at the Pacific Ocean off southeastern Taiwan, but no damage or injuries have been reported. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau says the magnitude 6.8 quake hit at around 9:57 a.m. on Sunday (0157 GMT Sunday). It was faintly felt in Taiwan.

Political leaders from Taiwan and mainland China have held their highest level meeting in almost 60 years. Our China correspondent Stephen McDonell reports, from Beijing, as a sign of easing tensions between Taiwan and mainland China, the chairman of Taiwan's ruling Guomindang, Wu Poh-hsiung, has met the president of China at the Great Hall of the People. Chinese television showed Wu meeting President Hu Jintao and the two shaking hands and smiling.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Chinese woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping a spy provide the Chinese government with U.S. military secrets about arms sales to Taiwan. Yu Sin Kang, a Chinese citizen living legally in the United States, admitted serving as an intermediary for the delivery of classified information from agent Tai Shen Kuo to the Chinese government. Kang, 33, faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced August 1 in federal court in Virginia. Don't Miss Kang's plea marks the third and final guilty plea in what the U.S. government has called a "significant" conspiracy to...

Research led by the University of Leeds has discovered genetic evidence that overturns existing theories about human migration into Island Southeast Asia (covering the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo) - taking the timeline back by nearly 10,000 years. Prevailing theory suggests that the present-day populations of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) originate largely from a Neolithic expansion from Taiwan driven by rice agriculture about 4,000 years ago - the so-called "Out of Taiwan" model. However an international research team, led by the UK’s first Professor of Archaeogenetics, Martin Richards, has shown that a substantial fraction of their mitochondrial DNA lineages (inherited...

TAIPEI: Taiwan's new President, Ma Ying-jeou, wants to improve ties with the US and do arms deals to bolster the island's military capacity, he said in his inauguration address yesterday. Washington has long been Taiwan's main arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. "We will strengthen bilateral relations with the US, our foremost security ally and trading partner," Mr Ma said after swearing the oath of office. "On top of that, we will rationalise our defence budget and acquire the necessary weaponry to form a solid national defence force." Taiwan asked to buy 66 F-16...

By expressing a readiness to meet with Cuba's Raul Castro, and also to meet with personally with the heads of Iran, Syria, and North Korea, Senator Obama seems to be promising that one of the changes his Presidency would bring is a greater willingness to engage in person with controversial foreign heads of state. Accordingly, there is another head of state with whom Obama should also promise to be willing to meet in person: Taiwan's new President Ma Ying-Jeou. Unlike some of the other foreign leaders whom Obama has said he would meet, Ma won a legitimate, free election, is...

Taiwan, normally hostile to China, has offered its earthquake-hit neighbour one of its biggest outpourings of aid to demonstrate gratitude for help it received when it suffered a similar disaster in 1999. Taiwan's government is offering T$2 billion (36.5 million pounds), so much that one lawmaker is questioning the source of the funds, for relief in China's Sichuan province, where a magnitude 7.9 quake on Monday has killed at least 15,000. The public has massed another T$2.2 billion, local media said. Taiwan companies and entrepreneurs are pledging nearly 300 million yuan ($42.9 million), while others, including president-elect Ma Ying-jeou, donated...