http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/taiwan/ en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:20:15 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050484/posts 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... RTI ( Republic of China) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050484/posts#comment Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:20:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050014/posts 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... Flightglobal.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2050014/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:57:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048113/posts 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. Times Online UK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048113/posts#comment Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:31:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041040/posts 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... DPA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2041040/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 11:41:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040641/posts "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 China Teaching Web http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040641/posts#comment Fri, 4 Jul 2008 09:23:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034767/posts 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... deputy-dog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034767/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:44:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034350/posts 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. AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034350/posts#comment Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:43:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031264/posts 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... Straits Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031264/posts#comment Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:48:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029631/posts 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... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029631/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:44:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028122/posts 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. IHT.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028122/posts#comment Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:37:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024247/posts 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. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024247/posts#comment Sun, 1 Jun 2008 03:24:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023856/posts 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. Radioaustralia.net http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023856/posts#comment Sat, 31 May 2008 03:06:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022771/posts 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... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2022771/posts#comment Thu, 29 May 2008 02:41:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2020322/posts 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... University of Leeds http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2020322/posts#comment Fri, 23 May 2008 17:49:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018793/posts 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... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018793/posts#comment Tue, 20 May 2008 19:46:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018921/posts 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... The Volokh Conspiracy http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2018921/posts#comment Wed, 21 May 2008 00:21:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016680/posts 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... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2016680/posts#comment Fri, 16 May 2008 03:15:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014291/posts The Bush administration is divided over plans to sell Taiwan advanced F-16 jets, with the State Department opposing the sale and the U.S. military favoring the transfers. Defense officials say the U.S. Pacific Command, which is in charge of U.S. forces in Asia and would lead any U.S. defense of Taiwan from Chinese attack, wants the White House to approve the sale and do so sooner rather than later because of the growing imbalance of military forces in the area. Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014291/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 03:42:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009337/posts WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States Air Force had considered a plan to drop nuclear bombs on China during a confrontation over Taiwan in 1958 but it was overruled, declassified documents showed Wednesday. When he learned about it, President Dwight Eisenhower instead required the Air Force to initially use conventional bombs against Chinese forces if the crisis escalated, according to previously secret US Air Force history. The president's instructions seemingly astounded the Air Force top brass but the author of one of the studies released said US policymakers recognized that atomic strikes had "inherent disadvantages" because of the fall-out danger... afp http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2009337/posts#comment Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:06:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004042/posts TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The United States may post Marines at its unofficial embassy in Taiwan - a small but symbolically significant change in its delicate political relationship with the self-ruled island. A State Department advertisement in the English-language Taipei Times newspaper called for contractors to construct quarters for Marine security guards at a new U.S. compound in the capital, Taipei. Since the U.S. switched its recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, there have been no marine guards at its Taipei facility - the American Institute in Taiwan - in keeping with its deliberately low political profile. It is customary... Seattle Post-Intelligencer/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2004042/posts#comment Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:19:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001207/posts Taiwan's President-elect Ma Ying-jeou received a huge gift over the weekend — support from China's leader for two of Ma's proposals that could boost tourism and the island's economic growth Yahoo AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001207/posts#comment Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:07:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001176/posts Taipei - The number of people in Taiwan who described ties between Taipei and Beijing as friendly has jumped since the two administrations held their first dialogue in 1993, an opinion poll released Monday found. Thirty-nine per cent of the respondents said relations were friendly, compared with 32 per cent after the 1993 meeting in Singapore, according to a poll conducted by the China Times daily [Taiwan-based paper, unaffiliated with the mainland] after Taiwan vice president-elect Vincent Siew met with Chinese President Hu Jintao over the weekend in China. Only 22 per cent thought China is still hostile toward Taiwan,... Monster and Critics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2001176/posts#comment Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:44:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000789/posts Former US secretary of state Colin Powell hailed Sunday a landmark encounter between China's President Hu Jintao and Taiwan's vice president-elect as "good news for the region." Powell made the remark after meeting Taiwan's Vincent Siew, who held 20 minutes of talks with Hu the day before in the highest-level contact ever between China and Taiwan. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000789/posts#comment Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:54:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000434/posts ) - Taiwan's vice president-elect said Friday he hoped to "melt the ice" with China in an historic encounter with Chinese President Hu Jintao expected here following decades of animosity. Flashing his trademark smile, Vincent Siew arrived at the Boao resort, on the east coast of the tropical Chinese island of Hainan, where he was scheduled to meet for 20 minutes with Hu on Saturday as part of the Taiwanese delegation. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000434/posts#comment Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:03:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993578/posts ON MARCH 22, Taiwan's citizens, demonstrating their commitment to a free and open political system, overwhelmingly elected Ma Ying-jeou, the candidate of the Nationalist Party, as their new president. With 76% of eligible voters turning out, Ma beat the Democratic People's Party candidate, 58% to 42%. This represents Taiwan's second peaceful transition of power through free and fair national elections; the first came in 2000, when incumbent President Chen Shui-bian, of the DPP, defeated the Nationalists, who had maintained one-party rule for nearly half a century. Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993578/posts#comment Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:57:07 GMT