Free Republic

TAIPEI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Monday said that he will not promote "Two Chinas," "one China, one Taiwan" or "Taiwan independence," inside or outside the island. Ma, also chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) party, made the comments during a speech at a KMT meeting. He said the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland is not a state-to-state one but a special relationship in many aspects. In his speech, Ma reviewed the KMT's efforts over the last five years since the party returned to power. He described them as "beneficial and tangible for the public in...

A strong earthquake hit eastern Taiwan on Thursday, shaking buildings over a wide area including the capital. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 8:02 p.m. local time and measured magnitude 6.3. It was centered in a remote mountainous area 45 kilometers (28 miles) south-southwest of the coastal city of Hualian at a depth of just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), it said. In the capital, Taipei, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) from the epicenter, buildings swayed for more than 10 seconds and startled residents ducked for cover. Taiwan's...

(Reuters) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many displaying rainbows and glitter, thronged the center of Taiwan's capital on Saturday to press demands to legalize same-sex marriage amid an increasingly tolerant environment on the island nation. Organizers and participants said they were heartened by the prospect of same-sex marriage becoming a reality, despite enduring traditional attitudes among many residents. Taiwan's legislature on Friday began a review of a gay marriage bill, which has the support of 53 percent of the public, according to a recent opinion poll, though acceptance of a gay family member remains low. "Chinese families are still...

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had yet another close encounter with a flying shoe hurled by a protester yesterday as he attended this year’s Taipei Hakka Yimin Festival in Taipei. Although Ma had security personnel surrounding him at the time, the shoe flew over the guards and landed beside his foot as he was leaving the venue. He was not hurt. Ma also had his speech at the festival disrupted as a protester demonstrated against the government’s land expropriation through forced demolitions in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔), shouting “Ma, step down” before being carried away by police officers. In recent...

A presidential aide yesterday reiterated that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and their surrounding waters are an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China and that territorial disputes should be solved peacefully. “Taiwan has been very clear: The Diaoyutais are an inherent part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of China,” Presidential Office Secretary-General Timothy Yang (楊進添) said at the opening of the Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Security Dialogue forum in Taipei. Taiwan has consistently stated that the Diaoyutais issue should be addressed based on the principles of “safeguarding sovereignty, shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint...

A tactical map of Taiwan shown in a China Central Television (CCTV) report on an ongoing People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military drill has raised concerns on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, a local news report said. Unidentified Chinese sources were quoted by the Chinese-language United Daily News as saying that CCTV military news reports tend to be carefully selected and should be taken seriously. CCTV reported over the weekend that the PLA started a large-scale exercise codenamed “Mission Action 2013B” at 7:30pm on Friday. More than 20,000 soldiers from the Chinese army, navy and air force took part in...

A map of Taiwan appeared in a video feed of Guangzhou Military Area Headquarters during China Network Television's broadcast of a drill by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) codenamed “Mission Action 2013B” yesterday. An unnamed source familiar with China's military affairs stated that China has always been attentive to Taiwan's naval affairs and that the Nanjing Military Area Command (MAC) and the Guangzhou Military Area Command are in charge of observing China's southeast seas. The drill was carried out by PLA units stationed in Guangzhou; therefore, it should not be surprising to see a map of Taiwan in Guangzhou...

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) statement that cross-strait relations are “not international relations” during his Double Ten National Day speech has further weakened Taiwan’s sovereignty and was meant as a hint for the US and Japan not to interfere in cross-strait issues, a local academic said. “If by including such words in the National Day address Ma intends to make the cross-strait issue an internal matter and not open to international interference, it would cause serious repercussions in the days to come,” said Wong Ming-hsien (翁明賢), director of Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies. Pointing to the...

Nine members of the US Congress have issued statements or certificates congratulating the Republic of China on its 102nd National Day, with some saying that Taipei and Washington should sign a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) soon, given Taiwan’s importance to the US in the Asia-Pacific region. Some Congress members also proposed that Taiwan be included in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and that the two countries conduct more mutual visits by Cabinet members. Representative to the US King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) expressed his gratitude to the Congress members for their congratulations and their support on important issues related to Taiwan-US ties...

BUSAN – Taiwan may impose a 5% tax on all cinema tickets sold in the island territory. The proceeds will be channeled into a fund to help support the local movie industry. The proposal was put forward Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture at a meeting with local film-makers and industry bodies. The ministry positioned the move as an amendment to the existing Motion Picture Act. It said that the tax would be levied on ticket sales for all films, domestic and foreign. The support fund would provide subsidies for Taiwanese film-makers and screenwriters, and encourage them to make more...

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration’s participation in the APEC summit has restricted Taiwan’s strategic options and international engagement with its sole focus on cross-strait relations at the annual meeting, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday. “The APEC summit, one of several international events that Taiwan takes part in as a full member, was supposed to be a setting where Taiwan could actively expand its international visibility and interaction. Unfortunately the Ma administration only approached the meeting as an arena for cross-strait political dialogue,” DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. Former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who represented Ma...

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) approval rating hit a new low of 9.2 percent, the first time the rating has dipped to to single-digits, in a public opinion poll released yesterday amid widespread public dissatisfaction with Ma’s role in ongoing political strife within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Only 9.2 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with Ma’s performance in his second term, which began in May last year, while 80.5 percent of those polled disapproved of his performance and 10.3 percent declined to comment, according to the poll conducted by ERA Survey Research Center, a subsidiary of ERA...

Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday issued an online statement urging President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to step down and take responsibility for his poor governance and autocratic actions regarding the revocation of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng’s (王金平) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) membership. She called on members of the public to show their concern about the country’s future by joining a “civic alliance to recall Ma.” During his five years serving as head of state and commander-in-chief, Ma has not lived up to the presidential vows he recited during his inauguration, Lu said in a statement posted on her Facebook...

Taiwan’s inclusion in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a public safety issue and the US will take all possible measures to push for results, US House Representative Ed Royce said on Tuesday. Royce, a Republican congressman who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Taiwan needs to be able to take part in the ICAO to gain access to the organization’s safety rules. This is important because Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is a major transit hub and the country has been admitted to the US visa waiver program, Royce said. There is no reason to exclude Taiwan from...

Civic groups and environmentalists yesterday criticized an emergency safety drill organized by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) as being merely an act and questioned whether the safety measures would prove sufficient in the event of a real accident. The AEC held the two-day safety drill at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County, on Tuesday and yesterday The safety drill used the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster as a reference and had the disaster scenario set as a magnitude 8.2 earthquake in the Manila Trench, causing a huge tsunami to flood the coast of southern Taiwan, cutting...

(Reuters) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou forced out speaker of parliament, widely seen as the government's second most powerful figure, over accusations of illegal lobbying on Wednesday, a move that could usher in a period of political instability. Wang Jin-pyng's expulsion was decided by a disciplinary committee formed by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist Party. The move strips him of his party membership and removes him from his position as head of Taiwan's legislature. Some analysts say the move could hit the island's financial markets, predicting its TAIEX index could drop to as low as 7,800 points from 8208.99...

The International Robotics fair in Taiwan features the latest in interactive futuristic design. In between the showcase, competitions and various workshops, around 300 different exhibitors from around the world flaunted their hardwares. Some focussed on entertainment, while others put the onus on care. Amongst the techno-treats on show, an exoskeleton robot – the first self-developed robot of its kind in Taiwan – proved a favorite with punters. Built to help reduce the wearer’s lower-limb loading and generate movement, it can support walking, standing and sitting. As Wu Cheng-Ha, of the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan explained, it has the...

In Taiwan, an unusual kind of massage is given - to those who are brave enough. Knife massages date back more than 2,000 years to China, where they originated. Now Taiwan is one of the few places where they are still practiced. Cindy Sui put herself on the chopping block at a knife massage parlour to give the treatment a try.

Taiwan Jones' NFL career got off to a slow start when a variety of injuries and the inability to hold onto the ball kept him off the field for much of his first two seasons with the Oakland Raiders. Now the former running back with sprinter's speed is getting a second chance at establishing himself as an NFL player following a position switch to cornerback. While his coverage skills are still a bit raw after not playing cornerback since his freshman year at Eastern Washington, Jones still has that blazing speed that tantalized the Raiders those last two years. Combined...

A labor rights group Monday accused a Chinese company that makes iPhones for Apple Inc. of abuses including withholding employees’ pay and excessive working hours. China Labor Watch said it found violations of the law and of Apple’s pledges about working conditions at factories operated by Pegatron Corp., a Taiwanese company. Conditions in Chinese factories that produce iPhones and other popular Apple products have been under scrutiny following complaints about labor and environmental violations by a different supplier, Taiwan’s Foxconn, a unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Apple said in a statement it was “committed to providing safe and...