Month: April 2016

Vietnam Activists Call for Protests over Fishkill: Obama Petitioned

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan speaks during a press briefing over an environmental crisis concerning mass fish deaths in central Vietnam on April 27, 2016.
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 4 Comments , , ,

Environmental and social activists in Vietnam are calling for protests May 1 after a massive fish-kill, and the government’s failure to act against industrial giant Formosa Plastics Group. While the Vietnam government claimed Wednesday that they have no proof the environmental disaster was linked to the Formosa Group’s steel mill in Ha Tinh Province, they have called for the company to dig up an illegal pipeline that citizens believe discharged toxic chemicals into the ocean. The government has also sent

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Asylum Seeker Escapes China in Tiny Toy Inflatable Boat

A man and a patrolman pack up an inflatable toy boat used to cross from China to Taiwan
Stupid Stuff 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A man from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province was caught by patrolmen on Little Jinmen Island in the early hours April 28, after rowing a toy inflatable boat from Xiamen in the middle of the night. The patrolmen spotted the man in the tiny boat about 50 meters from the shore at around 5.15 a.m. When he landed, they arrested the man and took him in for questioning. Mr. Qian, a 43 year old man from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, claimed

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Pingtung Wandan Mud Volcano Erupts

mud flowing from holes in a rice paddy in Pingtung Wandun township
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A mud volcano erupted in Pingtung County this morning. Around 9 a.m. this morning mud began flowing from 5 holes that appeared in rice paddies about 50 meters west of Huang Yuan Holy Temple in Wandan township. A farmer discovered the mudflow in his rice field this morning. The area is the site of periodic eruptions, but the exact site of the eruptions varies from year to year. From 2013 until last year, the periodic eruptions occurred further east at

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Taiwan Company Under Fire for Fish Kill in Vietnam

A Vietnamese villager shows dead fish washed up on the beach
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

officials could not have anticipated the unprecedented scale of the disaster. ~deputy prime minister, Trinh Dinh Dung A Taiwanese-owned steel mill in Vietnam’s Ha Tinh Province is being blamed for a marine ecological disaster after tonnes of dead fish washed up near a waste-water pipeline that extends 1.5 kilometers into the sea. Vietnam’s normally staid state-media is on the attack (The Nation). Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corporation (Bloomberg). According to media reports

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China Wants Floating Nuclear Power Plants in the South China Sea

An artists impression of a floating nuclear power station
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

China’s Global Times reported Friday that state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation has plans to build a fleet of floating nuclear power stations to support maritime operations, including those in the South China Sea, where China has built up a series of artificial islands. In January, Xu Dazhe, the director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, told reporters that China was planning to develop floating nuclear energy plants. Xu said that developing nuclear power-generating capacity was part of the country’s five-year

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The Sacred Ibis Runs Rampant in Taiwan

Sacred Ibis grazing in Taiwan
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments ,

The African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus), a bird revered in ancient Egypt, and associated with the god Thoth, is posing an environmental threat in Taiwan. Members of the species escaped from a zoo 20 years ago and now number an estimated 1000 individuals, of whom around 500 inhabit a wetland in Changhua County. A group dedicated to the conservation of wild birds in Taiwan will join local farmers to help reduce numbers of the invasive species starting in May 2016.

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The Presidential Private Parts Controversy

Ma Ying-jeou warming up for a race at National Tsing-hua University in Taiwan
Media Issues Politics 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , ,

A controversy erupted yesterday, Saturday April 23, when a picture was uploaded to Facebook which allegedly showed out-going President Ma Ying-jeou with his private parts exposed while he was warming up for a road race. The story of the compromising photograph being disseminated on the Internet led President-elect Tsai Ing-wen to issue a statement on her own Facebook page exhorting the media and individuals not to report on or show the picture, as it compromised the dignity of the office

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US Supports Democratic Taiwan amidst “China’s Growing Pains”

Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Daniel R. Russel, Assistant Secretary of the US State Department Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs reiterated that the USA supports a democratic Taiwan, and stands for universal values and human rights. The statement was made at The University of Southern California during a conference of China and East Asia analysts under the banner of “China’s Growing Pains.” Mr Russel emphasized that “China policy is a subset of our Asia policy, and not the other way around.” “The context

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Marine Volunteers Celebrate 200th Clean-up Operation

A volunteer extracts a tangled mass of fishing line from a reef in southern Taiwan
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

A team of scuba divers who started efforts to clean up the marine environment around XiaoLiuqiu Island six years ago, celebrated their 200th expedition with an exhibition to draw attention to the problem of discarded waste in the ocean. Increasing numbers of green sea turtles returning to Xiaoliuqiu to breed, has made them feel their efforts have not been in vain. Yesterday, April 19, the team launched an exhibition that includes photographs of their underwater endeavors, and displays of various

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Three Dead Dolphins Washed Up on Taiwan’s East Coast

Dolphins washed up on a beach on the East coast of Taiwan in 2016
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Three dead dolphins were found washed up on the shore near Fengbin Township in Hualian County yesterday, April 18, 2016. Coast Guard personnel brought the carcasses onto the beach and contacted the Taiwan Cetacean Society, who dissected the animals took samples back to their lab to attempt to identify the cause of the deaths. Reporters asked whether recent earthquake activity may be a contributing factor, but the marine biologists were not willing to speculate. Coast Guard personnel helped bury the

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