March 5

The China Post - President Ma Ying-jeou held the second National Security Council meeting over the U.S. beef import yesterday, after three meetings of experts conducted by Council of Agriculture (COA). Pros and cons of three options — banning beef import completely, opening under conditions, opening completely—were evaluated by all related government department officials.

COA reported in the meeting that the small residue amount of ractopamine found in U.S. beef does not pose any threat to consumers.

If Taiwan bans beef import completely, citizens will feel safe when buying beef under this policy. Relations between Taiwan and U.S., however, will be shaky and process toward free trade between Taiwan and other countries will be slowed down. Furthermore, Korea, Taiwan's main competitor, is aggressive in signing free trade agreements with other nations and Taiwan might lose its competitiveness to Korea.

If Taiwan opens the import of U.S. beef under certain conditions, Taiwan will be able to find a balance between citizens' confidence and good relations with U.S., but Taiwan will have to establish a standard for additive residues of U.S. beef.

Taipei | Jan 14

AFP - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly leader Ma Ying-jeou secured a second four-year term as president Saturday, promising better ties with China after an election watched intently by the United States.

"We've won," a jubilant Ma, 61, told crowds of supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in downtown Taipei after vote counting showed him securing 51.6 of the vote with 90 percent of ballots tallied.

"In the next four years, ties with China will be more harmonious and there will be more mutual trust and the chance of conflict is slimmer.

"I will ensure a sustainable environment for peace for Taiwan," added Ma, who in his first term oversaw the most dramatic thaw in the island's ties with China since the two sides split over 60 years ago.

His main challenger Tsai Ing-wen, a 55-year-old China-sceptic, conceded defeat after her disappointing showing and announced she would step down as chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

"We accept the Taiwan people's decision and congratulate President Ma," she told her party faithful. "We want to give our deepest apology to our supporters for our defeat."

Tsai, who had been vying to become the island's first female leader, took 45.7 percent of the vote, according to unofficial tallies.

Sept 21

BBC - The US has confirmed plans to upgrade Taiwan's ageing fleet of F-16 US-built fighter planes.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has warned Washington not to proceed with the $5bn (£3bn) deal.

China's foreign ministry expressed his country's "strong indignation" over the move, saying it would damage ties.

But the US is legally bound to help Taiwan defend itself, and the move comes as China's military superiority over Taiwan has steadily increased.

China's Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun called the decision "grave interference" in the country's internal affairs which sent a "gravely mistaken signal to pro-Taiwan independence separatist forces".

In a statement on the ministry's website, Mr Zhang said: "It must be pointed out that this wrongful course by the US side will unavoidably damage Sino-American relations and co-operation and exchanges in the military, security and other fields".

Hmmm, they didn't specifically mention economic matters - this time

Washington | Sept 12

AFP - Two US senators introduced legislation on Monday demanding President Barack Obama sell Taiwan no fewer than 66 advanced F-16 fighter jets despite Beijing's fierce objections.

"This sale is a win-win, in strengthening the national security of our friend Taiwan as well as our own, and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the US," said Republican Senator John Cornyn.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said the Taiwan Relations Act, a 1979 law that requires Washington to ensure Taiwan can defend itself, "compelled" the sale and warned failure to go through with the deal could cost US jobs.

"Delaying the decision to sell F-16s to Taiwan could result in the closure of the F-16 production line, which would cost New Jersey 750 manufacturing jobs," said Menendez.

The legislation, which does not yet have a House counterpart, states that "the President shall carry out the sale of no fewer than 66 F-16C/D multirole fighter aircraft to Taiwan."

But while the US Constitution gives congress power over "commerce with foreign nations," the measure would be an unprecedented effort to force a military sale not endorsed by the president.

Well, so now China has so muddied the waters in its dispute with Vietnam that Sinapore has had to chime in:

Singapore has called on China to clarify its claims in the South China Sea following recent confrontations with Vietnam and the Philippines.

Singapore said China's "ambiguity" had caused international concern.

Singapore has no territorial claims in the area, but said it had an interest "in anything affecting freedom of navigation in international sea lanes".

Several Asian nations claim parts of the strategically important waters that may also contain oil and gas deposits.

Taipei | September 7

AFP - Taiwan expects a much-anticipated missile defence shield to be ready next year after buying advanced weapons at a cost of about NT$300 billion (US$9.4 billion), local
media reported Monday.

Six batteries of Patriot III missiles forming the backbone of the system will account for roughly half the costs associated with the project, the China Times newspaper said.

A long-range early warning radar system, priced at about NT$40 billion, will allow the military to detect and track incoming ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, it said.

Beijing | Sept 1

AFP - China on Wednesday launched live-fire naval exercises in the Yellow Sea, state media said, after voicing opposition to similar war games to be staged there by the United States and South Korea.

The Beihai fleet of the navy of the People's Liberation Army will conduct a "live ammunition drill" through Saturday in waters off the eastern coast near the city of Qingdao, Xinhua news agency reported.

The report said many of the planes, vessels and battlefield weaponry to be used in the exercises were unveiled at the National Day military parade on October 1 last year, when China celebrated 60 years of Communist rule.

** China intensifies military build-up against Taiwan: reports ~ yawn

Taipei | July 8

AFP -

Ruling and opposition lawmakers brawl as discussions start on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)">(AFP)

Several Taiwanese lawmakers were injured Thursday as rival politicians clashed on the first day of a parliamentary debate on a controversial new trade pact with China.

Wu Yu-sheng, a member of the ruling Kuomintang party, was hospitalised after being hit in the face with what appeared to be a small clock thrown from a distance, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

"He was bleeding after he was hit in the corner of the eye, and doctors had to stitch him up," Premier Wu Den-yih, also of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang,
told reporters.

Another legislator from the anti-China opposition Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, was also sent to hospital for treatment after he said he was thrown off the podium by a group of opponents. "It hurt a lot," he said.

At least two more lawmakers reported minor injuries during the clash, which erupted immediately after the meeting started and meant there was no actual debate on Thursday.

Negotiators from Taiwan and China signed the ECFA last week, in the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former rivals, who split after the end of civil war in 1949.

Kuomintang politicians have hailed the ECFA, saying it will bolster the island's economy, but the opposition claims it will undermine Taiwan's de facto independence.

This is all well and good. There is no question China is a bit steamed by our arms package to Taiwan. But reading between the lines in this article by Reuters makes it pretty clear the Chinese aren't going to do any of the things the military thinkers are proposing:

Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country boost defense spending, adjust PLA deployments, and possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.

China does pre-announce moves like this via it's official media, but as the article makes clear, this isn't the case here:

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) plays no role in setting policy for China's foreign exchange holdings. Officials in charge of that area have given no sign of any moves to sell U.S. Treasury bonds over the weapons sales, a move that could alarm markets and damage the value of China's own holdings.

Reuters just needs newsprint and this is just pro-forma Chinese outrage venting to domestic politically constituencies. Moving along now.

CBC/AP | January 30

CBC - China's defence ministry said Saturday it would suspend military exchanges with the United States and impose sanctions on companies selling weaponry to Taiwan over Washington's planned $6.4-billion US arms deal with the island.

China took a similar step in 2008 after the former Bush administration announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan — the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations.

Beijing claims the self-governing Taiwan as its own territory, while the United States is Taiwan's most important ally and largest arms supplier.

The United States does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation, but the U.S. government says it's bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to ensure the island is capable of responding to Chinese threats. China has more than 1,000 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Beijing | Jan 8

AFP - China's defence ministry warned on Friday that US approval for sales of upgraded missile equipment to Taiwan "severely" undermined trust between the US and Chinese militaries, Xinhua reported.

"We urge the United States to respect China's core interests," the state news agency quoted spokesman Huang Xueping as saying.

"The US side clings obstinately to the Bush administration's plan of arms sales to Taiwan, which severely undermines the mutual trust between the two militaries.

"It also brings a severe obstacle to the improvement and development of China-US military ties," Huang said. "We reserve the right of taking further actions."

His comments came after a US official in Taipei said the US Defense Department had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan, part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.

"The US Defense Department awarded Lockheed Martin Corp the contract to provide Patriot missile defence systems to Taiwan as part of a big arms deal approved by Congress in 2008," said the spokesman with the American Institute, the US de facto embassy in Taipei.

Taipei | Dec 29

Reuters - Taiwan's parliament agreed to amend a food sanitation law to ban certain U.S. beef imports on Tuesday, amid widespread fears over mad cow disease on the island and potentially straining ties with the United States.

Legislators will vote on the issue early next year, Wang Jin-pyng, president of the island's legislature said, after the ruling Kuomintang and opposition Democratic Progressive Party came to an in-principle agreement to reinstate the ban.

Under the deal, minced beef, cow offal and beef from cattle above 30 months old will not be allowed for import into Taiwan, the government-backed Central News Agency reported.

In late October, Taiwan said it would reopen its markets to U.S. bone-in beef and cow offal, ending a six-year import ban that was in place over fears of mad cow disease.

Taiwan first issued the ban on all U.S. beef in December 2003, but opened its markets to boneless U.S. beef in 2006. It kept the ban on bone-in beef such as ribs and T-bone steaks.

Taipei | Sept 7

AFP - Taiwan's premier quit Monday over the government's handling of last month's deadly typhoon as the China-friendly administration struggled to end its worst crisis since it came to power.

Liu Chao-shiuan's surprise announcement ended weeks of speculation about the political fallout of Typhoon Morakot, which was the worst to hit Taiwan in half a century and killed over 600.

"Someone has to take political responsibility," Liu told a hastily-called press conference. Later Monday, a spokesman for President Ma Ying-jeou said the chief secretary of Taiwan's ruling party had been named as the new premier.

"The president decided to appoint Wu Den-yih, the secretary general of the Kuomintang party, as the new premier," Wang Yu-chi told reporters.

Liu's resignation comes after severe public criticism of the way the government tackled the typhoon. Anger over the government's response to the crisis has proved its toughest challenge since taking power over 15 months ago.

imagine that!

Tania Branigan/Beijing & Justin McCurry/Tokyo | Aug 10

The Guardian - • Up to 600 people feared buried as record rainfall hits island
• China evacuates 1 million from east coast provinces
• Deadly tropical storm Etau triggers floods in Japan

Hundreds of people are missing in a village in Taiwan after it was buried by a mudslide when typhoon Morakot struck the island yesterday morning, a police official has reported.

At least 34 people have died and millions of others been affected across east Asia after Morakot and a separate tropical storm battered China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan.

Southern Taiwan suffered its worst flooding for half a century as the typhoon dumped up to 2.5 metres (8.2ft) of rain.

The official, surnamed Wang, said around 100 people from Hsiao-lin village, in Kaohsiung county, had been rescued by military helicopter or other means, according to Associated Press.

Lin Chien-chung, a rescued resident, told the Taipei-based United Evening News he believed 600 people were buried in the mudslide and that it covered "a large part" of the village. Hsiaolin is thought to have around 1,000 inhabitants.

Taipei | July 9

AFP - Sex workers in Taiwan have cautiously welcomed a government plan to legalise prostitution, but the scheme is being opposed by an alliance of women's groups who fear it will breed crime and violence.

A red-light area similar to Amsterdam's famed canalside sex-for-sale district has been proposed for the capital Taipei, with legal and zoning measures due in place within six months.

Prostitutes and their supporters say they see a ray of hope after many years of campaigning for legalisation to protect them from both customers and police, but some are concerned about being moved into special zones.

Taipei | June 15

DPA - Three Taiwan university students have invented a motorcycle helmet
that can generate electricity and power a scooter's lights.

Cheng Shiu University outside the south-western city of Kaohsiung announced the invention Friday, saying it plans to find a factory to mass-produce the helmets.

The students fixed five tiny fans that are also generators onto the front of the helmet so that when the motorcycle starts running, wind blow the fans and the fans produce electricity, said Professor Chen Feng-shih, who supervised the invention.

Through a Bluetooth wireless transmitter, the power is sent to the motorbike to power the scooter's front and back lights, brake light and direction indicators.

It can also power a pair of direction indicator and brake lights on the back of the helmet.

May 21

BBC - A large number of goats in Taiwan may have died of exhaustion because of noise from a wind farm.

A farmer on an outlying island told the BBC he had lost more than 400 animals after eight giant wind turbines were installed close to his grazing land.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it suspects that noise may have caused the goats' demise through lack of sleep.

The power company, Taipower, has offered to pay for part of the costs of building a new farmhouse elsewhere.

A spokesman for the company said the cause of the goats' deaths still needed to be investigated, but that it doubted the goats died from the noise.

Taipei | May 15

AFP - Taiwan's pro-independence opposition will take to the streets this weekend in what they say will be the biggest anti-China rally since the island's Beijing-friendly administration came to power.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is hoping for a turnout of 300,000 for the march through downtown Taipei, and for a further 100,000 to attend an all-night sit-in protest in the presidential office square.

"We want to tell the world that Taiwan's future is not up to President Ma Ying-jeou or the Kuomintang (KMT)," DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang said, ahead of Ma's first anniversary as the president.

However, just 32 per cent of 1,019 people surveyed this week by the TVBS cable news network backed the march, which organisers said is aimed at stopping the island's sovereignty from being undermined by the KMT's close ties with China.

Forty-four per cent said they opposed the rally.

Taipei | Feb 5

AFP - Taiwan is considering building a bridge to mainland China in the latest sign of warming ties between the cross-Strait rivals, an official said Thursday.

President Ma Ying-jeou asked Taiwan's top economic planners to conduct a feasibility study when he visited Kinmen, a Taiwan-controlled fortified island group off the Chinese mainland, in August.

The bridge would link Kinmen with Xiamen, a city in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian, at a cost of up to NT$13.2 billion (US$390.5 million).

"President Ma inquired about the progress of the feasibility study last night," presidential office spokesman Wang Yu-chi told reporters.

But Wang denied reports that the president "ordered" construction of the proposed bridge, saying the final decision would depend on the results of the study.

Dec 31

AFP - Chinese President Hu Jintao called Wednesday for military dialogue with Taiwan, in another sign of rapidly improving ties between the former arch enemies.

"The two sides can pick the right time to engage in exchanges on military issues and explore setting up a military and security mechanism to build mutual trust," Hu said.

This would help "improve the situation in the Taiwan Straits and lessen military and security concerns" he said in a speech broadcast live on national television.

Hu made the call in an address to mark the 30th anniversary of a message from China to "compatriots in Taiwan" which called for reunification of the two sides by peaceful means.

December 23

BBC - Two giant pandas have begun their journey from China to Taiwan, a gift from Beijing to a self-governing island it considers part of Chinese territory.

Fortified by a breakfast of carrots and steamed buns, the pandas left the mountains of Sichuan for the airport in the provincial capital, Chengdu.

Hundreds of security guards and armed police have been deployed on the route.

A BBC correspondent says the high security reflects the sensitivity of any event that involves Taiwan.

Roads to Chengdu airport have been closed and a flight chartered specially for the pandas.

The pandas are China's gift to Taiwan amid warming ties.

Taipei | Nov 13

AFP - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian has not eaten since being detained over a corruption probe, in protest at what he insists is a politically-motivated investigation, his lawyer said Thursday.

Chen, whose pro-independence stance in office set him against Beijing, has repeatedly accused the island's China-friendly government of being behind the allegations of embezzlement, money laundering, taking bribes and forgery.

Chen had only drunk water since entering a detention centre early Wednesday and had not eaten a proper meal since late Tuesday, lawyer Cheng Wen-long said.

"He intends to stop eating in protest," Cheng told reporters after visiting the former leader, who he said was "in an okay condition now."

A court ordered Chen locked up Wednesday, capping 24 hours of high political drama that saw a defiant Chen led away in handcuffs, taken to hospital after saying he had been beaten by police, and then finally put behind bars.

Taipei | Nov 6

AFP -

The streets of central Taipei came to a standstill on Thursday as tens of thousands of protesters chanted slogans and blew air horns to protest closer ties with China being promoted by their leaders.

The demonstrators were determined to express their outrage at the presence of Chen Yunlin, Beijing's top negotiator on Taiwan affairs, who was heading a large delegation of Chinese officials and business people visiting the island.

Demonstrators said they were also angry that a meeting between Taiwan's democratically-elected President Ma Ying-jeou and Chen had been moved forward by several hours, a move they suspected was to avoid any discomfort for the Chinese official with a show of widespread public anti-China sentiment.

Ma had been embarrassed by demonstrations on Wednesday that saw Chen trapped inside a building for several hours before police could secure him safe passage back to his hotel.

Tania Branigan | Beijing | Nov 5

The Guardian - China and Taiwan moved closer to overcoming six decades of hostilities today, as they signed deals drastically expanding direct flights and allowing shipping links across the Formosa strait.

The agreement follows a dramatic thaw in relations over the last six months, since the election of Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou. The island broke away from the mainland at the end of the civil war in 1949.

Beijing and Taipei have agreed to set aside contentious political issues to work on improving economic links - important to both at a time of worldwide gloom.

October 3

BBC - The US government has notified Congress of plans to supply Taiwan with arms worth more than $6bn (£3.4bn).

The sales include advanced interceptor missiles, Apache helicopters and submarine-launched missiles.

Correspondents say the decision is likely to anger China, which regards Taiwan as its territory and opposes US military support of the island.

The move could also complicate efforts to get North Korea, an ally of Beijing, to end its nuclear programme.

The US Defence Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) said the sales would "help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region".