Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Ma Ying-jeou’s last desperate tactic

Masahiro Matsumura

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Sunday dispatched two armed patrol boats, which were later followed at a distance by a military vessel, to the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) centered on Japan’s Okinotori Islands in the western Pacific. This was his response to the Japan Coast Guard’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing boat illegally operating there, followed by the release of its detained captain after payment of bail. Ma claims that Japan’s law enforcement is unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) because the Okinotori is a rock that cannot serve as the basis of the EEZ.

Quiet revolution on rough ground

Lee Min-yung 李敏勇

New government, Same nation. Therein lies Taiwan’s dilemma.

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) new government is taking shape. By all appearances it seems as if it means to take a conservative, steady path forward, steering clear of party politics. Anyone hoping for a major revolution is probably going to feel a little disappointed.

Ma’s erratic maneuvers put regional ties at risk

Gerrit van der Wees

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has always prided himself — particularly vis-a-vis the US — that he would follow a low-key approach, and would pull “no surprises.”

However, this appearance was mainly designed for US consumption: the reality is quite different, as Ma has pulled one surprise after another, particularly in relation to US allies in the region, Japan and the Philippines.

China can track mobiles through satellite system

Taipei Times

China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System is pictured in an undated photograph.
Screengrab from the Internet

China’s Beidou Satellite System (北斗衛星) poses an information security risk to Taiwan in that the satellite is able to track smartphone users via embedded malware in devices with Chinese-manufactured chips directly tied into the system or phones manufactured in China, according to the latest mobile device security report that the Ministry of Science and Technology submitted to the Legislative Yuan.

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