News brief: ◆
N.Y. Times, 8-30-2020: Taiwan
has moved to revamp Taiwan’s military doctrine and strengthen its
reserves...Taiwan cannot count on US as a matter of strategy. ◆ Economist, 8-30-2020: The
island cannot rely on American help, but armed conflict remains unlikely ◆ Forbes, 8-30-2020: Taiwan simply
does not have enough firepower to defeat a Chinese invasion without the help of
the U.S. military ◆ National Interest, 8-28-2020:
Could China Successfully Blockade Taiwan? China hopes direct action will yield
clean and swift results, letting it present Asia, America, and the world a
fait accompli — a done deal ◆ Wall Street Journal 8-30-2020: Fearing
Hong Kong’s Fate, Taiwan Moves to Bolster Its Military Against China. N.Y. Times, 8-17-2020: U.S.
Tries to Bolster Taiwan’s Status, Short of Recognizing Sovereignty.US Naval Institute,
Proceedings, Aug. 2020: 2021 U.S. political transition would be an even more
vulnerable time than usual for U.S. decision-making... such an
opportunity would only appear every few decades...for achievement of a
long-held goal — to bring Taiwan back into China.NY Times, 8-15-2020:
Beijing continues to take a tough stance on Taiwan, but is dialing down its
belligerence to avoid provocative moves that might give President Trump more
opportunities to attack.
CNN, 8-14-2020: What
Taiwan needs form the US is a strong stable marriage not a hot passionate
romance ... a long-term antagonistic relationship between the US and
China wasn't sustainable after November... Taiwan needs to think about it.
Daily Express, 8-13-2020:
World War 3: China 'ready' for conflict with US over Taiwan row ... Peking
University Bo: there could be parties with the US military aiming to create a
small-scale and “controllable” conflict with their Chinese counterparts. MirageNews
(Australia), 8-11-2020: Q: red line for the U.S. in
terms of us going in and defending Taiwan? Pompeo: We thoroughly
intend to uphold our obligations and commitments with respect to the
historical understandings between the United States and China on Taiwan.
CNN,
8-11-2020 :
Beijing's warplanes have only
crossed Taiwan
Strait "median line" ( "the de facto cease-fire line")
intentionally three times since 1999 (ps: Newsweek, 8-12-2020:
since 1949) -- once in March 2019, in
February of this year, and again on Monday (Azar met with
Taiwan President
Tsai).
aljazeera, 8-11-2020: Taiwan's top diplomat tells visiting US health
secretary that Chinese pressure is making 'life increasingly difficult' . NewsWeek,
7-21-2020: Once military
conflict breaks out - A slight plurality of 31 percent assigned
blame to Chinese President Xi Jinping, while 30 percent of respondents said they
believed both Xi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen were responsible and 24
percent blamed Tsai. Daily Mail, 7-22-2020: China has
made several 'simulated' military attacks on Taiwan.
Daily Express
(UK) 7-21-2020:
WAR will break out between
China and the US in the South China Sea if Beijing violates the alliance
agreement between America and Taiwan.
Bloomberg 7-20-2020:
Beijing is no doubt waiting
to see the outcome of the U.S. presidential election before taking any more
significant actions. National Interest 7-18-2020:
This will be
much more
difficult and
costly than Hong
Kong has been,
but make no
mistake: for
these (CCP) people,
that cost is
deemed as
necessary and
they will gladly
pay it. Unless
the United
States binds
itself to
protect the
independence of
Taiwan on pain
of war, Taiwan
is next.
Asia
Times, 7-20-2020: US tech giants exposed if China takes
Taiwan ... Even an unsuccessful invasion of Taiwan would cause a supply chain disruption. Fox News 7-16-2020:
US appears to change
policy on Beijing’s ‘unlawful’ actions in the South China Sea and thus opens
the legal floodgates to a potential military response.ecns.cn 7-17-2020: China:
Two sides of Taiwan
Strait should jointly safeguard China's sovereignty
over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters,Foreign
Affairs, 7-8-2020: Given how little Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong has
cost it to date, we are concerned that Beijing will draw the wrong
conclusions about the costs of future coercion against Taiwan. FoxNews 7-8-2020:
The passage
of a national
security law on Hong
Kong has put Taiwan on edge, with pro-democracy
activists fearing that Beijing will
soon have the self-ruled island in its crosshairs. Washington
Post 7-7-2020: The Hong Kong security law could be China’s blueprint
to deal with the ‘Taiwan problem'...China has
arguably moved a step closer to preparing for war with the
island democracy
. National Interest 7-6-2020:
China and Taiwan Could Be Headed Towards a Showdown... New York Times, 7-2-2020: The
possibility of a military conflict between China and Taiwan remains remote,
experts say, because the costs for Beijing would be extraordinary, including
significant casualties and damage to its international standing. Yet the two
sides are moving farther and farther apart, with little appetite for
compromise. USA Today 7-5-2020: Taiwan has never been more important to American
interests. LOWY institute 7-9-2020: Xi isn’t such a realist when it comes to Taiwan.
Beijing views Taiwan in largely political terms – preoccupied with “the
great trend of history” towards unification. NewsWeek
6-5-2020: If Washington does not act comprehensively and urgently, it could be
Hong Kong today and Taiwan next.The
diplomat 6-3-2020:
the 3 flashpoints
(Taiwan, HK, S. China Sea)
that could turn a
US-China cold war hot
... dangerously close to a tipping point
where even a
small action would serve as a catalyst that lets
slip the dogs of war. Express
(UK), 6-3-2020: South China Sea warning: All-out war fears erupt as Beijing
rejects Taiwan peace plan.
Financial
Times 6-3-2020 : shrill rhetoric would make many believe that an assault on Taiwan could
be imminent... Washington
Post, 5-30-2020:
The threat, China's vows
to 'smash' any Taiwan independence move as Trump weighs sanctions, raised the
prospect of a regional conflict that could draw in the United States......the rapid
deterioration in relations, already at their worst in decades.Economist:
5-29-2020 How far will China go? China has launched rule by fear not just
over Hong Kong, but also over the South China Sea and Taiwan.
L.A.
Times 5-20-2020: the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party advocates Taiwan’s formal independence, something
Beijing says it will use force to prevent.
Foreign Policy 5-20-2020: Taiwan
would reject being ruled by China in the same way Hong Kong is now.
The Guardian, 5-20-2020: Beijing also responded swiftly to Tsai’s speech and
said China would never leave any room for “Taiwan independence separatist
activities”. Washington Post, 5-21-20: As U.S.-China
rhetoric grows harsher, new risks emerge with Taiwan drawn into the mix.
Financial Times 5-19-2020 : Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from
China in wake of coronavirus epidemic. New York Times,
5-12-2020, Pew Research Center:
(Taiwanese) 52%
support closer economic ties with China, only 36% favor closer political
ties.
Foreign Policy 5-15-2020: Beijing
were to interpret ...... coronavirus as a uniquely advantageous moment, a
Chinese military strike on Taiwan at this moment is unlikely... ...
but a low level of
risk is not the same as zero risk.
New York Times 5-19-2020: US is
Using Taiwan as a Pressure Point (TSMC in Arizona ...) in
Tech Fight With China. Nikkei news Japan ( Nihon
keizai shinbun, 日本経済新聞 ) , 5-20-2020: TSMC to Arizona may weaken Taiwan's security. DailyMail
UK, France 24 ,
4-20-2020: CoronaVirus: WHO chief hits back (by "Taiwan didn't report
any human-to-human transmission," , "Taiwan's email was only seeking further
information.") at
Trump's claims
(White
House 4-15-2020: WHO kept Taiwan's lead from the public). FOXnews 4-9-2020, CNBC 4-8-20:
WHO chief addresses death threats, racist insults
from Taiwan.
The China Times,
4-10-2020
editorial :
Taiwanese Cyber bullying notorious worldwide.Guardian UK, 3-28-2020: U.S.
increases support for Taiwan internationally by a new law Taipei Act, China
threatens to strike back. Reuters
2-26-2020:
Taiwan should continue to
show goodwill to China during coronavirus outbreak and not give Beijing an
excuse to attack the island as a way of relieving “internal pressure”
...
Chinese public opinion believes people in
Taiwan lack sympathy about China’s virus outbreak...L.A. Times 1-10-2020 ~ 1-11-2020:
Taiwan's president
sweeps to reelection, setting the stage for chilly
relations with China .
Bloomberg 1-9-2020:
Slow income growth and aging society post challenge ahead, Taiwanese
income-per-person, income per capita, lowest of Four Tigers. WSJ (Wall Street Journal)
9-20-2019: It’s clearly a big win for
China having the two largest allies of Taiwan in the Pacific drop so quickly... New York Times
9-20-2019: As Taiwan Loses
Influence, China Gains Ground in Race With U.S. ;WEF <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows
Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness, Taiwan
ranks 10th in Asia, Taiwan's
prioritization of travel & tourism ranks world No.75;L. A. Times, 8-1-2019:
The indefinite suspension
(Chinese individual tourists to TW)
is likely to
prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as
well as a blow to cultural interplay.Daily Mail (UK)
4-1-2019: Taiwan
blasts China for "reckless and provocative" incursion by 2 fighter jets
across a largely respected line dividing the 2 sides in the Taiwan Straits.
Japan Times, 4-1-2019:
China's move also comes less than a week after the U.S. sent ships through the
strait ( mission was unusual) — the third
time in as many months...those sailings have likely been interpreted by China as
implicit support for self-ruled Taiwan. Reuters 2-25-2019: US Navy ships
... riling China.
ABC.net Australia: Chinese fighter jets cross Taiwan Strait after
Tsai urges Pacific pushback against Beijing.New York Times 1-19-2019: Most
of Taiwan’s 23 million people are in favor of maintaining the island’s de
facto independence without taking any formal moves that might bring a
military response from China. Le Monde France 1-2-2019: Le
président chinois « n’exclut pas » la force pour récupérer Taïwan.
BBC UK 1-2-2019: The US is by far
Taiwan's only ally...most other countries seem happy to accept the current
ambiguity... New York Times 11-28-2018: Will Taiwan Be the First Domino to Fall to China?
New York Times, 11-23-2018: China said the results
(Taiwan votes in elections) reflected a desire of Taiwanese for better
relations with the mainland...
Economic growth, employment and pension
reforms were among key issues in the elections.
Le Monde (France), 11-24-2018: A Taïwan, des élections sous influence chinoise.Washington Post, 8-20-2018: Taiwan's precarious
role in the China-US spat (Trump adm.'s Taiwan policy is unpredictable...
situation is undeniably risky for Taiwan);
CBS
News 11-14-2018:
If the United States had to
fight China in a war over Taiwan, Americans could face a decisive military
defeat. / National Defense Strategy
Commission
; Annual Report to US Congress (
Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC ),
8-17-2018:
Much of Beijing’s defense budget is
focused on developing the capability to unify Taiwan by force;
USA Today 5-18-2018: Xi
JinPing has signaled that China will seek to reclaim its historical
properties by 2049.
Freebeacon 5-17-2018 : 2020—the
deadline that [Chinese supreme leader] Xi Jinping has given the [People's
Liberation Army] to be ready to invade Taiwan. The US subcommittee
hearing (4-17-2018) Rep. Ted Soho,
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific:
Seems likely Xi will force the issue (unification) in his life time.
Bloomberg
3-14-2018: Trump's "Taiwan card"
(to annoy
China when needed)
is China's real worry.
Deutsche Welle 3-17-2018: China has reacted
angrily to the bill (Trump signed <Taiwan Travel Act> which paves way for
official exchanges with Taiwan, and identifies
indirectly
(?) Taiwan as a country
― "visits to a country by United States cabinet members
...".)
Bloomberg news 3-14-2018: Taiwan will suffer even more, as it gets
caught in the middle between a stronger China and a inward-looking
US... New York Times at 10-19-2017: China's Xi
(in 19th CP
Congress Speech) "called for the
return of
Taiwan, a
self-governing
island, to
mainland Chinese
control", only
“with patriots playing the principal role.”..."the line that won the loudest
applause" ―― "We will
never allow anyone, any organization, or any political party, at any time or
in any form, to separate any part of Chinese territory from China".
FreeBeacon
at 10-19-2017 : "China’s
Xi Jinping Slams the Door on Taiwanese Appeals for Independence.".
Spiegel
Germany, 1-9-2017, Global
Times of China:
"There is no room for negotiations" ("Es
gibt keinen Raum für Verhandlungen").
Le
Monde Diplomatique of France, Mai 2016, depicted Taiwan (click
for details ! )
as a
trembling sweating rat ,
turning its back on an approaching huge cat (China), lifting high the banner "$O$"
.
New York Times at 11-4-2017:
Chinese
aircraft routinely
probe Taiwan’s airspace ... aircraft carriertraversed
the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan's
travel & tourism
-
10th
in Asia
World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report>released at 9-4-2019 shows
Taiwan had the sub-region's largest
decline in competitiveness from 30th
down to 37th.
Taiwan ranks
No.10 among Asian countries.
for details : click
tourism
WEF travel & tourism
category
Taiwan's rankings and/or score
comparison
prioritization of travel and
tourism
No75
Singapore No.6 , Hong Kong
No. 11
Natural & cultural resources
No.58 score 2.6
China No.1, score 6.0 ,
France No.2, 5.0,
Spain No.3, 5.7, Japan
No.7, 5.3, Indonesia No.18,
Thailand No.21, Korea No.24,
Vietnam No.26, Malaysia No.31,
HK No.40, Philippines No.46,
Sri Lanka No.52, Nepal No.56
Natural resources
No. 87
Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore
No.120
cultural resources & business
travel
No. 36 score 2.6
China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness
No. 78
China 5.7
Health & Hygiene
No.43, score 6
score worse than Korea, Japan,
Mongolia
international openness
No. 60
only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security
No. 26
human resource & labor market:
Taiwan No.18
ps: Compared to the report of 2017, Taiwan significantly tightened
visa requirements (37th down
to 119th), waning cultural
resources and business
travel (26th to 36th) and
recalibrated figures showing
a drastic reduction in
protected areas (20th to
118th).
According to
World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report>(released at 4-6-2017),
Taiwan's
most important indexes for
promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness
of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches,
mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks
world
No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks
No.55, "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69
in 2015), "Price Competitiveness"
ranks
No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No.
89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's world top 5 indexes such as
"World
heritage natural sites" as well as
"World heritage cultural sites".
comment
Taiwan travel and tourism, No.1 on
internet, pls. click for details
Taiwan's
soft power
vs.
Asia's soft power
Till 2020,
Taiwan has not been included in Portland or USC Soft Power survey ranking list,
so Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations
, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand,
China, India, UAE.
for details : click
Soft
Power
world best surveys
Taiwan's rankings
in top 25~30 list
comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
2019/2020
Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland
failed
No. 8 Japan, No.9 Australia,
No. 17 New Zealand, No. 19
S Korea, No. 21
Singapore, No. 27 China
Japan, Australia,
New Zealand,
S.
Korea, Singapore,
China, UAE ,
India, etc, were in the top 25
list
★
According to a survey of 2020,
Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea
No. 9 on "enterprise", Japan ranks
No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement",
Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan
ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No
any Asian country ranks top 10 on
"education" and "govt."
★
Best Countries overall in 2020: 1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan
4 Germany 5 Australia 6 UK 7 USA 8 Sweden 9 Nederland
10 Norway 11 NZ 12 France 13 Denmark 14 Finland 15 China
16 Singapore 17 Italy 18 Austria 19 Spain 20 Korea 21
Luxembourg 22 UAE 23 Russia 24 Portugal 25 India 26
Thailand 27 Greece 28 Brazil 29 Israel 30 Qatar 31 Saudi
Arabia 32 Malaysia 33 Mexico 34 Poland 35 Turkey
●
UNESCO’s list of intangible
cultural heritage /
https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists
Unlike Singapore's hawker culture, Taiwan's night market culture was not
selected
ranks
Asian country
heritage items selected
1
China
40
2
Korea
24
3
Japan
20
4
Mongolia
15
5
India
13
6
Indonesia
10
7
Saudi Arabia
8
8
Cambodia
5
9
Philippines
4
10
Qatar
3
10
Malaysia
3
10
Pakistan
3
13
Thai
2
14
Singapore
1
14
Sri Lanka
1
14
Vietnam
1
14
UAE
1
18~3X
Myanmar, Laos, Nepal
0
Taiwan
0
◆
sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-hawker-culture-gets-nod-included-unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-140941296.html
12-16-2020: Singapore’s
hawker culture was officially approved on Wednesday (16 December) to be
inscribed into UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of
humanity. The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers
for nourishing a nation’s stomach and spirits. Taiwanese
like its night market culture, but was not selected.
New York times, 8-30-2020:
Lawmaker said Taiwan’s military needs to improve a lot
personnel
(
soldiers, officials )
◆
Taiwan’s Military Is a Hollow Shell.
US Defense Department officials have privately expressed dismal
assessments regarding Taiwan's current force level and reserve system.
◆
armor, mechanized infantry, and artillery
units are always in desperate shortage of enlisted soldiers
◆
few front-line units have more than 80 percent of their positions filled
/
Foreign
Policy, 2-15-2020;
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/15/china-threat-invasion-conscription-taiwans-military-is-a-hollow-shell/
◆
Taiwan's active force down to under 200,000 (the exact number is
classified). The nearly two million reservists exist in name only... /
New York times, 5-18-2017
◆ The ROC
(Taiwan) Armed Forces number approximately 300,000,
and reserves reportedly total 3,870,000.
/
Wikipedia,
May 2020
◆
Taiwan began to phase out mandatory
conscription for all young men, which was deeply unpopular, in favor of
an all-volunteer force; 4 months of compulsory service ... training is
"insufficient to meet the challenges posed by the increasing threat
(RAND, '17) /
New York times, 8-30-2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/world/asia/taiwan-china-military.html
◆
Only 310 thousands out of 770 thousands of qualified reservists
were called up for short-term military training, from 2015 to 2017, 61
thousands of those escaped the duty /
Formosa TV news, 8-3-2018, storm.mg 10-15-2019
◆
only 84,000 are demobilised volunteer
force soldiers, the best-trained and most motivated group /
Financial Times, 7-12-2020
◆
Taiwan’s military is also not in the most
optimal state. For instance, Taiwanese males serve only four
months of conscripted military service, in comparison to over 20 months
for Singaporean men and at least 18 months for South Korean men.
/
Hong Kong
Free Press 7-15-2020
◆
Reserve force is short of both officers and sergeants, their speciality
far match the position / United Daily,
10-2-2020
strategy
◆
To against the threats of cyber warfare,
cognitive warfare, and ‘unrestricted’ warfare from China , we
( Taiwan ) work to bolster our defense capabilities, future combat capacity
development will also emphasize mobility, countermeasures, and
non-traditional, asymmetrical capabilities (unconventional arms)” /
Taiwan president inauguration speech, Voice of American, 5-20-2020
◆
so called asymmetrical capabilities in
Taiwan is only skin-deep
/
United
Daily
,
editorial, 6-6-2020 ◆
Taiwan's weird strategy: Facing PLA's
attacks, Taiwan's warplanes stay inside tunnels, warships leave Taiwan,
once the US military comes
to rescue, they will
return and join the war /
Apple Daily, 8-14-2020
tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200814/KDQ5JJAYQUR5JLE6EIIXK5VJM4/
firepower
◆
China
could wipe out Taiwan’s navy and air force ... Many insiders are accordingly pessimistic
about its ability to hold out. /
Economist,10-9-2020
◆
the PLA could, without invading, destroy
Taiwanese military, power and telecom facilities, embargo oil imports,
cut cyber connectivity, then take advantage of the psychological impact
on Taiwan to press for negotiations /
Politico,10-8-2020
◆
France forced Taiwan to withdraw its
request to upgrade 20-year-old Mirage fighters ... F-16 A/B and
F-CK-1 fighters are growing tired; 60 or 70 new fighters and a few
missiles won’t really change the balance of power. And heavy tanks –
especially if they lack trained crews – won’t do much to stop a Chinese
invasion / Forbes,
8-30-2020
◆
A whole lot of Taiwan’s
weapons don’t work.
/
Forbes, 9-4-2020
forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/09/04/which-of-taiwans-old-weapons-still-work/#340d2ee156a2
◆
Three Taiwanese presidents Lee (李登輝後期)、Chen(陳水扁)、Tsai(蔡英文)
squandering those "bonus for peace" military budget and underestimating the demand of
national defense, lead to shortage of arms-deal budget. /
United
Daily
,
editorial, 6-6-2020
◆
Today China has more and better
conventional forces than Taiwan. /
Forbes, 6-3-2020 China
has
ｎｕｃｌｅａｒ ｂｏｍｂ ，Neutron
bomb，
hydrogen bomb, Taiwan has none of those. /
Next
TV news, 5-8-2020
◆
A major obstacle is that countries that
might sell it the most sophisticated weaponry are increasingly reluctant
to do so for fear of provoking China, ... /
New York times, 11-4-2017
◆
Taiwan military strength is ranked No. 26
, China PLA No. 3 /
Global FirePower,
2020
military
logistics system
◆
The logistics inside the military
remain so abysmal ...
The army likely has no clue how
many tanks or guns actually mission-capable ... /
Foreign Policy, 8-20-2020
◆
only
30% of Taiwan's tanks are in running
condition with functional weapons. The
outdated hardware stands in stark contrast
to China's massive and increasingly modern
force / Business
Insider, 10-9-2020
◆
Taiwan
lacks
enough supplement of all items of military equipments /
United
Daily
(聯合報 社評),
opinion,
5-
7- 2020
morale
◆
NY Times, 11-24-2020:
Taiwan's famous politician screams: “Taiwan can’t face the might of
China alone, We
can’t fight China on our own".
◆
“Their underlying thinking is that PLA has grown to be too strong for us to
fight militarily anyway... Taiwan should just focus on putting up a good show of being tough,
buy enough U.S. weapons for display, and
pray that Americans come to our rescue /
Foreign Policy, 8-20-2020 https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/20/taiwan-military-flashy-american-weapons-no-ammo/
◆
Taiwan’s
preparedness and its will to fight both look shaky /
Economist,10-9-2020
◆
Policies put forward by the Kuomintang and the independence-leaning
Democratic Progressive Party have left the military understaffed and in
a state of low morale... /
New York times, 5-18-2017
◆
Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of
coronavirus epidemic ... /
Financial Times
5-19-2020
discipline
◆
Taiwan’s army has trouble
with training across the board. /
Economist,
10-9-2020
◆
The
practice of judicial system has proved not as good as military criminal
code to educate and train the military discipline. A soldier's
洪仲丘 'torture
to death"
sparks massive protest around 2013,
the military court was hence no longer to judge the troops .
/
The China Times, 7-17-2020,
editorial
budget
◆
High personnel expense pushes aside the
logistics and maintenance budget, the govt. needs to plan
special budge to purchase arms. /
The China Times, 7-17-2020,
editorial
◆
Taiwan would increase Taiwan’s
defense budget by 10 percent, on top of a 5 percent increase the year
before. That would raise military spending to more than 2 percent of
gross domestic product /
New York times, 8-30-2020
world's
most livable cities ... include
Taiwan's ?
Till 2020,
Taiwan has not been included in the top ranking list of
the world's most livable cities
EIU (Economist UK)'s
Global Liveability
Index
evaluates
stability, healthcare, culture&environment,
education, Infrastructure of each country
《Economist》UK , EIU
「The
Safe Cities Index 2019
」
https://safecities.economist.com/safe-cities-index-2019/
Taiwan is worse than its neighbors Singapore, Japan, China, Korea,
Australia, NZ ...
Taiwan's "personal security"
dropped 14 places compared with the previous report
●
personal security :
No.1
Singapore 3 HK 4 Tokyo 5 Wellington 7 Osaka 10 Sydney 12 Dubai 15 Seoul
16 Melbourne 20 Taipei
●
Infrastructure security :
No.1
Singapore 2 Osaka 4 Tokyo 7 Sydney 7 Melbourne 9 Wellington 14 Seoul 18 HK
24 Taipei
●
Digital security:
No.1
Tokyo 2 Singapore 11 Osaka 11 Sydney 11 Melbourne 17 Seoul 22 HK
23 Taipei
●
Health security:
No.1
Osaka
2 Tokyo 3 Seoul 8 Singapore 10 Taipei
★
World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report>released at 9-4-2019 shows
Taiwan's "safety & security" got an Eastern Asia-pacific average score 6.0, and
is worse than Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore.
★
《
China Times 》,
11-11-2020 , editorial:
Malaysian
newspaper thinks Taiwan apparently an extremely unsafe place because two
Malaysian ladies were murdered (one was cut-to-pieces) in Taiwan within one
year. A poll by KMT shows 48.9% Taiwanese thinks social security is
worse than before.
★
《Liberty
Times 》,
11-12-2020:
Crimes of violence kept
worsening
―
in recent 5 years,
the number of four major crimes（恐嚇取財、傷害、妨害自由、刀械槍枝）gradually increases from 20732
in 2015 to 24638 in 2019 in all six major cities, according to statistics.
subtotal number : Singapore ( 2 ), Hong Kong ( 3 ), Japan ( 2 ),
Korea ( 3 ), China ( 4 ), Malaysia ( 1 ), Taiwan ( 0 )
★
In
<Nature Index> ,
"2019 Tables: Institutions,
about 32 universities in China, 8
universities in Korea, 6 Hong Kong universities, 9 univ. in Japan,
2 universities in India, 2 in Singapore, one in Saudi Arabia
ranked higher than all Taiwan's
WEF Judicial
independence 2017/2018 rankings :
China's rank was better than Taiwan's,
both are at about same level
introduction of Taiwan
★ㄇE
in
"We
call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan", president Tsai has told BBC
UK at Jan. 15, 2020, but later BBC changed it to "the Republic of China
(Taiwan)". This
self-governing
island country
lies roughly 100 miles off the coast of southeastern China (
Taiwan's small island, Kinmens, just one mile off China
)
. Taiwan's current populationaround
24 million is roughly the same as Australia’s,
close to New York's, but the area of Australia is 207 times larger than
Taiwan's, that of NY is about 4 times Taiwan's. Taiwan's
climate is
subtropical.
Taiwan's travel and tourism competitiveness is ranked No.10 among Asian nations,
Taiwan's soft power has never entered top 30, losing Asia-Pacific's Japan, Australia, NZ, China, Singapore, Korea, UAE, India, Thailand, Qatar
in recent years.Taiwan's higher education is ranked about No.7~9 in the
region,
Taipei is behind other AP cities Melbourne, Sydney, Osaka
(Japan), Tokyo, Adelaide,
Auckland
(NZ), Wellington, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Singapore,etc
in EIU's
Global Livability Index Ranking 2019. Taiwan's justice ministry was insufficiently
independent(USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices , 2018, 2019;
http://intlhumanrights.com/PoliticalPersecutionsTaiwanENG.htm
). CTN opinion
(4-12-2019):
Taiwan's three presidents should be ashamed of Taiwan's
judiciary.
To contrast China, Westerners gave so many
fulsome compliments
to Taiwan's democracy, however,
Taiwan's democracy
is "Flawed"
( Economist
EIU Democracy Index '19 released in 2020)
,
and
even
at surface level or in name only, it has
shown a retrogressive trend in recent years, the freedom of speech,
publication, assembly etc were persecuted by excuses such as national
security.
Taiwan lacks good separation & balance of powers between the ruling party
and the opposition, the executive and the legislative, the government and
the media. The Liberty Times, 1-12-2020, editorial: The administration's rottenness
smells already....
It has
shown a retrogressive trend in recent years, the freedom of speech,
publication, assembly etc were persecuted by excuses such as national
security
(NHU paper, Jun. '20).Taiwan
not only harm its democracy for national security, but also harm its national security
for democracy.
Now China keeps inching
closer to Taiwan, hence western experts (e.g., Foreign Policy,
10-28-2020, Financial Times (UK), 7-12-2020 ) warned Taiwan
to make
urgent defense
reforms such as increasing the existing four-month conscription and improving
reservist systems, but, Taiwanese politiciansare afraid to discuss this issue with the public
for months because they believe Taiwanese people are not willing to sacrifice, andconsidering electoral realities,
Taiwan’s leaders don't want to shift to a policy could be deeply unpopular among the young voters courted
by the ruling party (DPP), according to Foreign Policy (10-19-2020). New
York Times
(5-18-2017) criticized Taiwan's
nearly two million reservists "exist in name only" - but nothing big has changed till
present.Besides, Taiwan lacks good separation & balance of powers between the ruling party
and the opposition, the executive and the legislative, the government and
the media. The press freedom is ranked No.43 in 2020. At end of 2020, Taiwan shuts Pro-China TV
channel
in battle over press freedom first ever since Taiwan’s liberation, which could
have a "chilling effect, strongly impacting
press freedom".
The
People's Republic of China (PRC)
has identified
that
Taiwan
as part of its territory
and its
most important core interest, since the Kuomintang (Nationalists
or KMT)
government retreated to the island in 1949 following defeat in the Chinese
civil war.China has traditionally used a double
strategy
of
“carrot
and
stick”
towards
Taiwan,
on
one hand,
it has vowed to
reunite this "breakaway province" by force if necessary,
and
has been ramping up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan
since president Tsai I.W.
(2016 ~)
refused to recognise the "1992 consensus" a
'pseudo'-agreement
made by Taiwan's KMT party and the Chinese Communist Party, that proclaimed
"the existence of only one China ”, but “ with different interpretations ” (being
free to decide which side was legitimate.).
In
early 2019,
CCP Xi openly equates One Country Two Systems with the 1992 Consensus to
eliminate other interpretations. Under China's political development and strengthening its trade ties to our
allies,
Taiwan is diplomatically isolated, has only 15 formal relation allies till
middle of 2020
(Taiwan lost Salvador etc 3 allies
within half yr. China rankled TW president's visit to NASA - LA Times
8-20-2018),
most of them are little, unknown countries. On the other hand,
China
took the strategy
" Allowance
of economic benefits to Taiwan"("讓利",
such as
◆
charming Taiwan by offering preferential treatment in a soft
power bid / le monde
diplmatique may
2019;
◆
40% exports from Taiwan
to China
/ CTN 5-30-2020;
◆
mainland
China
remains
the
largest
market
outside
Taiwan
for
Taiwanese
workers
and
companies,
with
around
1
million
Taiwanese
working
there
/ German
Institute
for
Int'l
and
security
affairs,
2-7-2020
◆
encouraging tourists to
Taiwan. /
WEF <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows
Taiwan had the sub-region's largest
decline in competitiveness,
Taiwan's
overall score ranks 10th in Asia.
◆
L.A. Times, 8-1-2019:
The indefinite suspension
of individual travel visa is likely to
prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as
well as a blow to cultural interplay. ) so that Taiwanese people may have higher
tendency toward unification with China, Taiwanese understood this
interdependence is unavoidable, but over-dependence is risky. Modern Diplomacy (EU) at 6-9-2020:
Roughly 26 percent of Taiwan’s trade is with
China, which is its largest trading partner. China has replaced US as No 1
destination for Taiwanese export accounting for approximately 40% of total
exports (Hong Kong included). New York Times
12-3-2019: Trade between China and Taiwan exceeded $181 billion in 2017,
up from about $35.5 billion in 1999. Global Times 9-8-2020:
Taiwan enjoys a surplus of nearly $100 billion with the mainland every
year.
President Tsai (ruling party DPP) in her inauguration speech at 5-20-2020
reiterated that Taiwan calls for stability in China relations but would
reject being ruled by China in the same way Hong Kong is now (semiautonomy),
and announced TW
will revise the constitution which
may be interpreted by
Beijing as a ploy to formalize Taiwan's independence. In
the annual meeting of China’s parliament,
there was no mention of the word
"peaceful" in front of “reunification”, departing from the standard
expression Chinese leaders have used for at least four decades,
an
apparent policy shift that comes as ties with Taipei continue on a downward
spiral
(Reuters 5-22-2020). Washington Post
(7-22-2020)
reports:
In a major speech in January 2019, Xi
(Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for
unification talks or face annexation by force. Then, in Mar., the PLA
warplane
crossed the Taiwan Strait "median line" that has served as a "de facto border"
(Newsweek, 8-11-2020)
or "the de facto cease-fire line"
( Japan's asia nikkei review,
8-13-2020) for the
first time since
the end of Chinese civil war in 1949
(Newsweek, 8-12-2020).
However, Taiwan's government was
tight-lipped
about this
ultimatum,
a
everyone's life-and-death issue, otherwise pro-Independence
DPP's candidate Tsai I. W. may not easily continue in presidential
office in Jan. 2020,
because, according to
National Interest (6-16-2020):
more than 60.3
percent of the respondents opposed Taiwan's independence if it is followed
by China’s military invasion... Foreign Affairs (9-2-2020):
fewer
than ten percent support
pursuing independence.
The United States, Taiwan's most important protector,
“acknowledges” there is one China and Taiwan is part of China,
but has never officially “recognized” Taiwan as part of China. The US
Congress passed a law
("Taiwan Relations Act") to
commit
the US to defend Taiwan's sovereignty, and provide necessary 'defensive'
services.
Many countries
seem welcome this ambiguity. Yomiuri Shimbun, Opinion,
6-22-2017 stated the US is the key to keep the peace and stability across
the Taiwan Strait ("米国は台湾の防衛力強化を担っており、台湾海峡の平和と安定のカギを握る"。).
But the U.S. does not have an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan,
despite Taiwan's leaders made an assumption that
American will always come to protect
this island, and
made a core policy to
resist Chinese PLA for about 2 weeks only, former president Ma was lashed out by
many DPP politicians and pan-Green media for his opinion
―
The US won't come to
rescue in time.
The US Naval Institute's <Proceedings> (Aug. '20) and two authors (former
CIA director and top official) were sort of put down for similar reason.
The US Dept. Defense report
(9-1-2020) shows that
China-Taiwan military
balance has tilted in favor of the China's side,
Foreign
Policy (2-15-2020) even names Taiwan’s military is a 'Hollow Shell', and
comments (8-20-2020)Taiwan should
just focus on putting up a good show of being tough, buy enough U.S. weapons
for display, and pray that Americans come to our rescue.
Beijing regards reunification of the mainland and Taiwan is priceless
and
a"sacred
mission” ,
'do
or die'
prestige issue. The
policy of
“strategic ambiguity” the US applying for 40 years is unlikely to deter a
confident and
"more potent"
China with growing military capabilities any more, but
there have been no moves from the US to shift strategic ambiguity
to strategic clarity
― hot debates
about
passing
Taiwan Defense Act
are still going on among military specialists and within the Pentagon. Hudson.org,
9-23-2020: Senator Marco Rubio :Helping Taiwan to win an all-out conflict against China would not be a
way to reach that goal, “That’s not possible.”
Instead, Washington should assist Taipei “to have the capability to
raise the cost of military adventurism there to a level that China’s not
willing to pay...".
New York Times 9-5-2019: it would also be a catastrophe if Taiwan were blockaded or squashed
into submission, because Taiwan is the source of 90+
% of the most advanced
computer chips, and stands in the way of
any Chinese projection into the Pacific.
In May 2020, the US asked
TSMC in Taiwan
to build a factory in Arizona as a
"Pressure Point"
in tech. fight with China
(N.Y. Times, 5-19-2020)
, which may
weaken Taiwan's
security
(Japan's日本経済新聞
Nikkei news, Nihon keizai shinbun ) .
The
LOWY Institute ( Australia ),
6-16-2020
: treating Taiwan as a
conduit to frustrate Beijing imperils Taiwan’s security.
Reuters
8-27-2020:
China has refused to
talk to Tsai, believing
she is
a separatist bent on
declaring a Republic of
Taiwan.
Taiwan is
the 7th largest economy in Asia. Global Wealth Report
(Credit
Suisse,
Oct.,
2018) shows Taiwanese wealth per adult, at USD
212,375, is
close
to
that
of
W.
Euro., (UK
USD
279,048, France USD
280,580) and
Singapore (USD 283,118
), Hong Kong (244,672),
but nation's share world wealth (1.3%) is less than USA(31%), Japan(7.5%),
China(16.4%) and Korea(2.2%). Singapore's
GDP per adult is more than 2 times Taiwan's. In
Global Wealth Report
of 2019, in terms of Wealth per Adult, Taiwan is behind other Asian countries like Hong Kong
(world No.2),
Australia
(4th),
NZ
(5th),
Singapore
(6th),
Japan. United Daily, editorial, 12-3-2019: The amount of average
regular monthly earnings of nationals of last year is NTD38,000
(USD1200)
which is NT100+ less than that of 2001.
★
Taiwan was one of the world's top producers of computer technology,
relying upon importation of key components and
advanced technology from the US (
e.g.,
semiconductor ) and Japan,
Taiwan's high-tech sector is falling behind
for lacking of key tech. and its low pay to attract university-educated talent.
(Taiwan lacks key tech. to make a large bus
/ CTN , 3-29-2017) Taiwan's
GDP per capita retreated successively in recent years, UDN
(1-28-2019)
reported
GDP per capita of
Shanghai, Beijing, GuangZhou and
SenZhen
all were closed to that of
Taiwan.
China's GDP from 2016 till 2018 each is about 23 times the number of Taiwan's, one province
(GD's GDP) alone is 2+ times Taiwan's (ref. to CTN, 3-14-2019).
Taiwan's
中研院
(Academic Sinica
'17)
warned that Taiwan
will fall into
“middle-income” limbo (15-30 countries will catch up with it)
in the next 10 years if it fails to deal with “three evil hands”, the law,
environmental assessments, and Taiwan-China relations.
★
country
GDP per capita
(USD)
Singapore
64
thousands
Hong Kong
48
thousands
South Korea
30+
thousands
Taiwan
just set up a goal USD 30 thousands to reach
★
The ROC on Taiwan,
has
most of the
characteristics of an independent state,
however, Taiwan's image and brand personality suffered
for getting benefits by any means ( as Confucius
analects : "窮斯濫"
) and
having some principal human rights problems
as below:
○
●
Ethics of Taiwan
politicians
: The
Liberty Times, editorial (7-21-2020) reports only 2.3% Taiwanese politicians are
trustworthy and have professional ethics,
according to a survey half year ago, 56% Taiwanese note
elected representatives (lawmakers, councilman, etc) care
their own interest, only 9.3% think they care "national interest".
Washington
Post (7-22-2020) reports: In a major speech in January 2019, Xi
(Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for
unification talks or face annexation by force.
However, Taiwan's government was
tight-lipped
about this
ultimatum,
so that even famous commentator and
analyst
know
nothing about it,
otherwise pro-Independence Tsai I. W. may not easily continue in presidential
office in Jan. 2020,
because, according to National Interest (6-16-2020):
more than 60.3
percent of the respondents opposed Taiwan's independence if it is followed by
China’s military invasion...
○
●
corruption
:
United Daily, opinion, 8-3-2020:
Corruption in parliament seems never end.
Apple Daily, headline editorial,
8-3-2020
(https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200803/BQXMSWTYOVERHBPGLUKPXAA5LQ/)
lawmakers of same party shared
illegal benefits or covered each other, and usually won't disclose political
rivals' greasy palms, that's Taiwan's political culture and 'ecology'.
Liberty Times, 5-25-2020: Univ. presidents'
graft or malfeasance
was heard frequently.
Transparency International 1-29-2019: Taiwan
has stagnated in the Corruption Perspective Index rankings since 2011 with
its score 61~63 (dropped 2 spots this year), in contrast, South Korea
improved by 3 points in 2017. In
platform presentation at 12-25-2019, Nationalist Party Presidential
candidate Han criticized President Tsai has allowed top officials around
grow very corrupt, Tsai refuted KMT was more serious, People First Party
candidate Song said that speaking of corruption and unfair judiciary, KMT
and DPP are about the same. Apple Daily (12-7-2018) editorial : Taiwan's corruption is off the charts
by collusions between government officials and business owners,
furthermore, Taiwan's underworld going wild to assist government officials,
business and some
elected representatives (e.g., legislators) in corruption has been ahead of
most corrupt countries, e.g., China, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, the stinky
rotten food-chain crossing pan-Blue (Nationalist, KMT) and pan-Green (DPP)
resurges
after Taiwan's elections... Liberty Times, 1-12-2020, editorial: The
administration's rottenness (腐壞氣息)
smells already.
○
● freedom
of speech
:
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 3-11-2020:
Journalists said they faced pressure
from management to submit news stories to complement or support the content
of paid advertisements. <
Reporters
Sans Frontieres>
(RSF, France) , 4-18-2019:
Taiwan’s journalists are suffering
from a very
polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the
pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to
continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been
taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to
raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness
by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business
interests on the mainland. ●
China Times,
editorial <中時社論>
, 3-9-2020:
Political power
forms threats (penalty fine and suspending the license) to certain media ... Secretly bullying
by (gov.-related) cyber force.●
UDN 12-7-2019 editorial: The number of fake news spread by Pan-Green coalition
(ruling party) is far more (and more vile) than that sent by ordinary people
●
Apple
Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion:
Democracy &
Freedom of speech is the bottom line
which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling
effect by fishing in trouble water. ● The
China Times 12-14-2019
editorial : the gov. seriously harmed free speech by investigating those
messages shared or published on the net by the masses● The
China Times 3-29-2019
headline news: Democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the bone, is
not allowed.
●
US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019:
the impact of the concentration
of media ownership on freedom of the press, self-censorship continued.
●
N.Y. Times 12-3-2019:
Social media platforms are another key battleground
(Chn-TW): Nearly 90
percent of Taiwan’s population is
active
on them, and traditional news outlets have
been known to republish fake posts without fact-checking. According to Reuters,
Chinese government agencies have paid Taiwanese news outlets to publish
pro-Beijing content.
○
● democracy
:
Reuters, New York
Times, 7-14-2020: Violence and protests inside the chamber are not unusual
in Taiwan.
New York Times,
1-11-2020: Taiwan’s
young and vibrant, if messy at times,
democratic society. Economist
EIU Democracy Index 2019 shows Taiwan is "Flawed democracy",
2019's overall score
is lower than 2015's and 2016's, the scores of "political culture",
"political participation" are low
(5.63, 6.11).
N.Y. Times
12-3-2019:
soft underbelly of
Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.
they continue to
allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
organized-crime figures to buy votes.
<China Times>
2-26-2020,
editorial:
more and more uncontrolled admin. power and withered legislative power,
freedom of speech was suppressed by admin. and judicial power at all levels, ...as
for political culture, partisan, stand and ideology matter.
<Foreign
Policy>, 2015:
Taiwan politics belongs to
mega-corporations (not the people) and is
controlled by the political parties.
Apple
Daily, editorial, 12-14-2019: Taiwan gov. shows authoritarianism political
culture, ignoring and being hostile to those critics. Apple
Daily, editorial, 12-7-2019: in this bad election morality age, Taiwan
president becomes a low threshold, min. qualification criteria position, and
a laughingstock. <United Daily>
editorial 1-8-2020,
<UDN>
editorial (聯合報社論)
11-14-2019／Taiwan's democracy turns into grave 。
(民主設計的良意，如今變成私欲墳場
https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4163629)
<UDN> editorial,12-6-2018:
Taiwan's
democracy exists in
name only ...;
<United Daily News>,
editorial opinion,
6-23-2019: The
operation of democracy usually strays off most public-opinions, ...
fail to solve the adverse situation of reversing democracy; <United Daily News>,
Opinion,
3-7-2017:
Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's
skin-deep
democracy ...
the people's "livelihood" was
sacrificed for politics ...
○
●
justice :
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 3-11-2020:
Some political commentators and
academics, publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and
prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases.
US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019 pointed out
that
justice ministry was
insufficiently independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of
politicians (in <Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government>
section), ... ●The
United Daily,
1-6-2020, editorial:
Taiwanese
don't trust law-enforcement because
of
government abusing power and playing with the law.
:
● The
United Daily,Focus, 11-30-2019:
The
prosecutors and Taiwan's 'FBI' were questioned a lot for years for their
political investigations and conducts ...in recent years, the judiciary
giving services to DPP almost became a routine...:●
UDN 10-20-2019: politics overrode justice
●
The Liberty Times, head-line news, 3-16-2019: Taiwan PM is not
satisfied with Judicial reform
●
The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018:
Taiwan
P.M. (賴清德):
Taiwan has not
made significant progress on judicial reform, which is roiling with public
discontent;
●<The
United Daily>,
06-18-2016,
head page news:
Taiwan's prosecutors admit usually
following
order to conclude legal cases. ● <USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices>, 2016-2018, public trust on Taiwan's judiciary system keeps falling down.
●
<United Daily>, opinion column, 12-16-2017: Taiwan's public voice
with a heavy heart :
The prosecutors should abide by the law too... don't be a political tool.
●
children
& women trafficking
:
US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019:
in the last five years, human traffickers
subject foreign men and women to forced labor and sex trafficking in Taiwan, and
traffickers subject local men and women to forced labor and local women and
children to sex trafficking. ... take advantage of Taiwan and foreign women’s
and children’s drug addictions to subject them to sex trafficking. Taiwan
traffickers increasingly use the internet, smartphone apps, livestreaming, and other such online
technologies to conduct recruitment activities,
often targeting child victims, and to mask their
identities from law enforcement.
●
pirate
:
Green
Peace, 5-2-2019: It remains our view that Taiwanese fisheries still
have many serious problems, both environmental and social, and that the need
for reform is clear and urgent.
Lowy
Institute & <the
interpreter>, 5-2-2019: Taiwan ...illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU)
fishing...
Taiwan has so far refused to adopt the Work in Fishing Convention.
EU
warned in 2015 Taiwan with a yellow card for illegal fishing till 6 '19.
US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019: fishermen
working on Taiwan-flagged and -owned fishing vessels experience non- or
under-payment of wages, long working hours, physical abuse, lack of food or
medical care, denial of sleep, and poor living conditions while indebted to
complex, multinational brokerage networks. Migrant fishermen have reported
senior crewmembers employ such coercive tactics as threats of physical violence,
beatings, withholding of food and water, and pay deductions to retain their
labor.
Freedom
House, June 2019:
labor advocates report
poor implementation, citing ongoing mistreatment and abuse of foreign
fishermen on Taiwanese vessels.
● privacy :
People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary:
Taiwan's Intelligence strictly monitors its own people, which is called
"Green Terror".New York Post 4-25-2020 : Taiwan
deals CovID with "a
lot more
authoritarian.", "almost everyone is tracked.".
The
United
Daily
News
(聯合報) ,
editorial, 3-31-2019
:
Taiwan is a backward country on
personal-data protection.
Taiwan
plans to
sell
general
public's
personal
data and
digital
human
rights
(e.g.,
people's
medical
health
data
without
giving
any
notice ), peep
at
whatever
on the
net
,
and
even
monitor
all the
citizens,
nothing
people would normally notice ...
(brief
https://udn.com/news/story/7338/3728815) ;
●
EU
General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR was given to effect at 5-25-2018,
Taiwan is far behind, even is going in an opposite way
/ Apple
Daily
蘋果日報, 5-28-2018,
National Taiwan University
Law School professor
林鈺雄
●secret
police :
The
United
Daily
News,
editorial opinion
(9-19-2018) :
"secret police"
(「東廠們」)
have been active around us
... The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018:
Taiwan P.M.
(賴清德):
"Secret
Police event"
(「東廠事件」)
has seriously damaged
public trust on the government...;
UDN 11-3-2018, Intel. sys. (NSB) confirmed their
investigations of Facebook
and other's communities on the net.
All internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in all users' personal information/data
(intel denied).
<Apple
Daily (蘋果日報)> 11-7-2018 editorial opinion: by whatever name
( "secret police" or "national security bureau") it is
called,
what
"it" did secretly
were always more than what it admitted.
●
Taiwan's
Intelligence and secret-agent systems keep on governing the country ... they're
true Prime Minister
(行政院長),
...So many
suspected political murder cases remain unsolved
(ref to
2018.7.26【政經看民視】 FTV,
"政經看民視", 7-26-2018;
SET(三立電視),
9-24-2013
"Secret agents govern the nation (特務治國)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdZCdYrwF4;
Era TV,
年代電視,
9-22-2013;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1b4R2m6K3g;
"Secret
agent
systems
resurgence
to
control
the
nation
(特務復辟治國)"
●
fraud : United
Daily, 10-23-2019, editorial: Taiwanese telecom frauds run
wild the entire world to damage Taiwan's image. CTV
evening news, 12-14-2017, EBC TV, 4-9-2017, UDN opinion,
12-24-2017:
Taiwan is
notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world.quora,
4-16-2016:
Taiwan largely sees these telecom
frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather
than liability... China Times, 11-7-2017:
It's not easy for Taiwan to clean its bad name of 'fraud-crime empire'
because "Rome is not built in one day". (Asia
Association of Police Studies, secretary general)
●torture
& cruelty :
Taiwan is far behind and
keeps stalling
legislating a new law against torture and other
cruelty,
conclusively advised by
international review
panel
( Philip Alston, law
professor at New York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York
University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, etc. ) (ref. to Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017)
Taiwan's
opposition party
vice
presidential candidate, NTU professor Lin
Ruey-Shiung,
was subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (French AFP
,Dec. 1, 2011 ,
Thailand's Bangkok Post, Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland,
etc. ),
Taiwan gov. denied this. ●
Liberty
Times
6-7-2019
:
Control
Yuan's new mission -
against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
/ Pavel Doubek
●
United Daily,
editorial, 5-6-2019: Control Yuan should work for underprivileged people,
not only cover their own politicians. ●
State violence and
white terror
(product of state
violence)
return in Taiwan (United Daily, opinion, 12-21-2017, 12-27-2017). Taiwan's Facebook
"Green terror" suppressed free expression...... (Wikipedia 2017, The China
Times, public opinion, 11-18-2017). The key-point is state
violence (Apple Daily, opinion, 8-16-2013).
●food
safety :
The
China Times,
10-20-2018 opinion (editorial) https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 :
Taiwan's food safety failed again and again,
Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event
in this year.
Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event,
in contrast, Taiwan did
nothing about it. Even worse, Taiwan officials hide
Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to
baby related business
―
indulge business to
retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods. Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's
only, and humblest request ？?
(brief)
UDN,
2-17-2019:
Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out... ●
The China Times (中國時報), 2-28-2019,
opinion (editorial) questions Taiwan officials are trying
very hard to hide the
epidemic state
of Marek's virus in chicken eggs ...
●
drug base :
Taiwan is
narcotic drugs producing
& selling center of Asia
(The China Times <Want Weekly>, 9-18-2019).
Taiwan was already reduced to be a 'kingdom' of producing narcotic drugs.
(United Daily, headline news, 11-2-2017)
Philippine
President Duterte
...
blaming Taiwan-based
organised crime behind all this drug traffic... for using his country as a
shipping hub.
(Reuters,
9-27-2017, The Straits Times, 9-29-2017) Duterte: Triad
supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China (inquirer.net, 9-26-2017).
Taiwan is scandalous for
being a major drug
transit center & a major drug exporting country, part of Taiwanese
government including Judicial sys. refused to improve this issue.
(UDN Opinion, 11-6-2017, The China Times,
head-page & focus, 4-4-2017, The Liberty
Times, 5-12-2017)
●
exploitation
:
Freedom House, June 2019:
labor advocates report poor implementation, citing ongoing
mistreatment and abuse of foreign fishermen on Taiwanese vessels.
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018:
Exploitation
of foreign workers, official corruption, some media
self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc
. US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019: Foreign
workers were most susceptible to forced labor, especially when serving as
crew members on Taiwan-flagged fishing vessels. Mistreatment and
poor working conditions for foreign fishermen remained common.
●
life protection
: The government
has not well taken
its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property
-
why are there so
many tall buildings located on the fault-zone? why are poor
architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ? why are those
shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to
risk millions of old houses and human beings?
(ps: may face death in 6
magnitude quake)
(full text:
https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2974813
聯合報社論／斷層帶上何以建了那麼多高樓？ 2-8-2018, https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2977079
勿讓軟腳樓成坑殺人命陷阱 2-9-2018,
https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180209/37928659花蓮 都更 爛政客
2-9-2018)
●
life protection
(2)
:Taiwan is dishonest and 'cruel'
―
trying to hide, block, delay public-health news, e.g., poisoned eggs, PCV virus
vaccine, and Bird-flu more than one time (1-2-2018 UDN
udn.com/news/story/7266/2908720, Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating
at home.
(The China Times. 8-6-2016,
<食品不安全的年代如何自保>,
2016, etc.),
2012
BBC news :
www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate)
,
not to
mention big issues.
●
The
China Times 5-9-2018 column :
This is an EVIL state
apparatus ...
The China Times 5-26-2018
column : The government likes to conceal bad news, put paper over the
cracks, e.g., air pollution, rupture of diplomatic relationships, ...http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180509000843-260109●
Taiwan
administration's policy led to air pollution, toxic pollution in the land
and sea
...
(The
China Times,
1-7-2018 台灣海陸空污染毒害，山海變色
http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180107000465-260114。Daily
Mail (UK) 7-14-2017 : Shocking
underwater video from Taiwan
shows ocean floor littered with plastic
(bottles) garbage)
●
●
transportation
safety United Daily News 1-20-2020: The death rate caused
by traffic accidents in Taiwan is 5 times that in Japan.
The SUN, BBC (UK)
2-13-2017: "BUS CRASH HORROR!" , Taiwan's tour bus "has come under fire
in recent months over safety standards"... MSN, Reuters,
EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a
poor
aviation safety record in recent years" , full text
Taiwan's aviation
safety
●
●
Labor rights
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 3-11-2020:
The right to strike remained
highly regulated. Teachers, civil servants, and defense industry employees
do not have the right to strike. Workers in industries such as utilities,
hospital services, and telecommunication service providers are allowed to
strike only if they maintain basic services during the strike. Authorities
may prohibit, limit, or break up a strike during a disaster. For all
workers, the law divides labor disputes into “rights disputes” and
“adjustment disputes.” Workers are allowed to strike only in adjustment
disputes, which include issues such as compensation and working schedules.
The law forbids strikes in rights disputes related to violations of
collective agreements and employment contracts.
●
●
children
& women trafficking
:
US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019:
in the last five years, human traffickers
subject foreign men and women to forced labor and sex trafficking in Taiwan, and
traffickers subject local men and women to forced labor and local women and
children to sex trafficking. ... take advantage of Taiwan and foreign women’s
and children’s drug addictions to subject them to sex trafficking. Taiwan
traffickers increasingly use the internet, smartphone apps, livestreaming, and other such online
technologies to conduct recruitment activities,
often targeting child victims, and to mask their
identities from law enforcement.
illegal migrants
!
●
●
social
security
The
China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial:
Due to bad Income distribution,
Taiwan's social security (offender rate)
worsens.
●
●
discrimination
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 3-11-2020: Activists for LGBTI rights said due to victims’ reluctance to lodge formal
complaints, discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than
suggested by the number of court cases.There
was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against
persons with HIV/AIDS.
US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019
Foreign
and PRC-born
spouses were reportedly targets of social discrimination outside and, at times,
inside the home. Discrimination against LGBTI persons was more
widespread than suggested by the number of court cases. Employment
discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS continues, Taipei officials
pressured a magazine reporter to drop an investigative report about the
city’s breach of personal information for more than 3,000 AIDS patients.
Taiwan
tried to
follow US academic
Joseph Nye's notion of applying power by persuasion and attraction rather
than coercion or force
to
deal with China and
expand its international space.
Brookings at 1-22-2018
commented that Increasing “soft power” is a low-cost, high-return strategy
for Taiwan.
However,
Taiwan's soft power performed worse than that of China and Asian's
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE.
Taiwan failed to be included in UK based Monocle's Soft Power list 2010 ~
2019 and Soft Power 30 by USC Center
on Public Diplomacy, 2017 ~ 2018.
Taiwan's
military hard power was reduced by half (the
number of active forces) and is in a state of low morale,
Taiwan's leader made a
defense strategy to
resist Chinese PLA for 2 weeks, and
made assumption that
then American sons and daughters will always risk
their lives to protect our home.
<Foreign Policy> names Taiwan President Tsai as one of
leading thinkers of 2016
for "Poking the bear" / 12-14-2016
Salmon is poking the
bear ? Taiwan suffers in danger !
●
The
Interpreter
, The
LOWY Institute ( Australia ), 6-16-2020 :
treating Taiwan as a conduit to
frustrate Beijing imperils Taiwan’s security.
Already many in China’s
party-state suspect that the US intends to promote Taiwan independence, ...
The
risk here is that U.S. policy encourages an overreaction from China, upsetting
the
cross-straits status quo or whatever remains of it, and
then the United States abandons Taiwan to deal with the consequences.
◆DW (Germany)
,11-10-2020:The
Biden administration will have to make it quite clear
from the outset whether it
is ready to go to war for Taiwan's sake
◆
Japan
Sankei Shimbun (產經新聞),10-29-2020:Japan's
DM
岸信夫:
Given military imbalance
of
both sides, anything can happen, Taiwan must be very cautious
◆
WSJ,10-13-2020:
continued ambiguity in the face of Xi's escalating rhetoric and provocative
movements by his armed forces
in the Taiwan Strait presents the greater risk of
a confrontation as dangerous as the Cuban Missile Crisis
◆
Bloomberg news 3-14-2018: In the future, Taiwan will suffer even more,
as it
gets caught in the middle between a stronger China and a
inward-looking US...
◆
Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News,10-12-2020: We should defend Taiwan... Yet, to be
effective as a deterrent, Beijing has to see it as
a defensive move by
Washington, aimed at preserving the status quo, and not as part of a new
offensive against China
◆
Economist,10-9-2020:
China
could wipe out Taiwan’s navy and air force ... Taiwan’s preparedness and
its will to fight both look shaky.
Many insiders are accordingly pessimistic
about its ability to hold out.
◆
New York Times at
4-18-2018: The
U.S. and Taiwan are seen
as heading in a direction that is getting perilously close to
Chinese
red lines...... (Taiwan president Tsai stated)
" Many people say we are pawns of other people ......"
◆ CNN 2-19-2020:
TW president: "What we are expecting is, after withstanding the first
wave of
Chinese attacks ourselves, the rest of the world would stand up to exert
strong pressure on China" ....
"Taiwan as an underdog facing down the growing might of Beijing"
...
●●
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 by keyword "introduction to Taiwan"
on Bing at 6-21-2020, 4-20-2020, 4-10-2020,
10-6-2019,
8-17-2019, 8-1-2019, 6-27-2019, 4-29-2019
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 by keyword "introduction to Taiwan"
on Yahoo earch engine at 10-6-2019, 8-5-2019, 4-28-2019,
5-24-2018, 4-13-2018, 3-30-2018, 2-25-2018, 1-28-2018, 2-20-2018
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 by keyword "introduction to Taiwan"
on Euro. MetaGER.de at
10-6-2019,
8-17-2019, 8-5-2019
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 by keyword "introduction to Taiwan"
on Baidu of China at
10-6-2019,
8-4-2019
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 by keyword "introduction to Taiwan"
on Yippy at 10-6-2019,
4-29-2019,
3-8-2019
pic. This
websites group was ranked No.1 on AOL at 4-29-2019
pic.
This website
was ranked No.2 on Lycos
by keyword "Introduction to Taiwan" at
3-8-2019; No.1 "introduction of Taiwan" on US WebCrawler
at 2-25-2018, 12-11-2017 (the upper 3 are ads.); No.2
"introduction to Taiwan" at 6-18-2018
pic. This
websites group was ranked No.1 on Hotbot at 3-8-2019,
No.2 "introduction to
Taiwan" on Yahoo Taiwan ,
3-8-2019
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.2 "introduction of Taiwan"
and "introduction to Taiwan"
on Google at 6-18-2018, No.3 at 3-8-2019, 4-29-2019
pic. :
This websites group was ranked No.1 "introduction to Taiwan"
on Euro. MetaGer.de at 4-29-2019, 6-18-2018
●
Taiwan
Taiwan
Economy
○
●
United Daily, editorial, 11-5-2019:
Taiwan's economy is really back
to top of
Four Asian Tigers
(HK, Singapore, Korea, TW)? https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4144692○
●
BBC UK 1-2-2019 What's behind the
China-Taiwan divide? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538
The US is by far Taiwan's most important friend, and its only ally.
Given the huge divide between these two positions, most other countries seem
happy to accept the current ambiguity, whereby Taiwan has most of the
characteristics of an independent state, even if its legal status remains
unclear.
... links between the two peoples (ps: Chinese, Taiwanese) and economies
have grown sharply. Taiwanese companies have invested about $60bn (£40bn) in
China, and up to one million Taiwanese now live there, many running
Taiwanese factories.
Some Taiwanese worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others point
out that closer business ties makes Chinese military action less likely,
because of the cost to China's own economy...
●
Taiwan votes in
elections, Nov. 2018
●
New York Times, 11-23-2018:
Economic growth, employment and pension
reforms were among key issues in the elections...China said the results
(Taiwan elections) reflected a desire of Taiwanese for better
relations with the mainland...
●
Quartz , 11-25-2018 :
Taiwan’s elections have given Beijing much to
celebrate (https://qz.com/1473960/taiwans-elections-have-given-beijing-much-to-celebrate/)
●
Le Monde (France), 11-24-2018 : A Taïwan, des
élections sous influence chinoise
●
Wall Street Journal
,
11 25 2018:
A great virtue of Taiwan’s voters is that
they’re pragmatic, a useful trait for an island under threat of a Chinese
invasion. That pragmatism was on display in local elections Saturday that
rebuked President Tsai Ing-wen while refusing to ban nuclear power.
●
Reuters UK
, 11-26-2018:
Beijing told Reuters simply: “They’re really happy.”
●
SET news, Taiwan, 11-26-2018:
英國路透社一針見血，認為中國是這次選舉的最大贏家，而華盛頓郵報和法國世界報也都認為，中國是左右這次選舉的最大關鍵
●
New York times, 12-13-2016 : Today,
more
than
two-thirds
of
Taiwan’s
outward
foreign
direct
investment
is to
China,
which is
also
Taiwan’s
leading
trading
partner.
Taiwanese
has
emerged
a
consensus
that
some
degree
of
economic
interdependence
with
China is
unavoidable
but that
overdependence
is
risky.
Beijing’s
strategy
of
giving
Taiwanese
economic
benefits
so that
Taiwanese
will
become
more
inclined
toward
unification
has not
been
successful
...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/asia
○
●
Washington
Post, 1-5-2018 : China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner and China is
Taiwan’s main destination for outbound investment; 40 percent of Taiwan’s
exports flow to China and a fifth of Taiwan’s gross domestic product derives
from its economic ties to the mainland.
○
●
Credit
Suisse,
Oct.
18,
2018
:
country
Wealth per adult(USD)
GDP per adult
Total wealth (bn)
Share of world wealth
quality
United States
403,974
81,425
98,154
31.0%
Good
Singapore
283,118
75,242
1,289
0.4 %
Satisfactory
France
280,580
55,668
13,883
4.4%
Good
United Kingdom
279,048
54,621
14,209
4.5%
Good
Japan
227,235
47,980
23,884
7.5%
Good
Germany
214,893
57,955
14,499
4.6%
Good
Taiwan
212,375
31,146
4,065
1.3 %
Satisfactory
China
47,810
12,147
51,874
16.4%
Good
Global Wealth Rpt.,
http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=77A4E912-A32D-8E84-CC8C21144CEE52E2
Global Weaalth Databook,
http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=777FDF0E-E060-F608-52DAF97E062CC35B
Taiwan
is
the
22nd-largest
economy
in
the
world,
and
its
high-tech
industry
plays
a
key
role
in
the
global
economy.
(Taiwan
has
a
developed
capitalist
economy
that
ranks
as
the
22th-largest
in
the
world
by
purchasing
power
parity
(PPP)
)
It
is
ranked
highly
in
terms
of
...
economic
freedom,
and
human
development...These
SMEs
usually
produce
products
on
an
original
equipment
manufacturer
(OEM)
or
original
design
manufacturer
(ODM)
basis,
resulting
in
less
resources
spent
on
research
and
development.
Due
to
the
emphasis
of
the
OEM/ODM
model,
companies
are
usually
unable
to
make
in-depth
assessments
for
investment,
production,
and
marketing
of
new
products,
instead
relying
upon
importation
of
key
components
and
advanced
technology
from
the
United
States
and
Japan.
/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan
○
●
BBC, UK,
6-14-2017:
Taiwan
has
become
one of
Asia's
big
traders.
It is
considered
to have
achieved
an
economic
miracle,
becoming
one of
the
world's
top
producers
of
computer
technology.
/
Taiwan
country
profile
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16164639
○
●
Credit
Suisse,
Nov.
15,
2017
:
Global Wealth report 2017, Country summary
Country
Mean wealth per Adult (USD)
Median wealth per Adult (USD)
Taiwan
188,081
87,257
Japan
225,057
123,724
Singapore
268,776
108,850
France
263,399
119,720
UK
278,038
102,641
Compared to the world as a whole, Taiwan has high average
wealth and only moderate wealth inequality.
http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=A6E9E182-E39B-0353-6751EB076EF35159
Credit
Suisse,
Dec.
2016
:
Taiwan,
Asia
Tiger
-
Taiwan's
average
level
of
wealth,
at
USD
172,847,
is
well
above
that
of
most
countries
in
the
Asia-Pacific
region,
and
similar
to
that
of
Western Europe.( Taiwan's mean wealth per adult, at USD
172,847, is
about
same as
that
of
France USD244,400
or
Germany
USD185,175, Taiwan's median wealth per adult USD 63,134, is about in the same
level with France USD 99,923, Canada 96,664.)
●
United
Daily,
Opinion,
12-5-2017
:
The
average
monthly
salary
of
Taipei
employee
(in
the
amount
of
NT
43500)
is
behind
that
of
Beijing's
(rmb
9900,
equal
NT46000
),
Shanghai
is
at
the
third
(about
NT
43000).
/
智聯招聘survey.
●
Academia Sinica of Taiwan,
10-5-2017
: Taiwan
Economic
Competition and
Growth Strategy
Policy Proposal
(中央研究院《臺灣經濟競爭與成長策略政策建議書》)
The country will
fall into
“middle-income”
limbo in the
next decade if
it fails to deal
with “three evil
hands” that are
stalling the
economy ...
the
law,
environmental
assessments, and
Taiwan-China
relations—that
could leave
Taiwan stuck in
the so-called
“middle-income
trap” and see at
least 15 (-30)
countries catch
up with it in
the next 10
years.
Its
economic growth
rate has reduced
rapidly. In the
past ten years,
its average
economic growth
rate has dropped
to 3.82%, which
is lower than
other Asian
countries such
as South Korea
and Singapore.
●
Forbes 4-23-2017, "Taiwan's Once Mighty High-Tech Sector
Is Falling Behind Because Of Low Pay" :
Taiwan used to be an indispensable part of
the world high-tech supply chain. Now the island that derives a fifth of its
economy from the likes of PCs, tablets and smart phones for export is unsure how
long all that can sustain. The most often cited reason: Taiwan isn’t keeping up
in software, which in today’s terms means mobile apps and artificial
intelligence as well as the stuff Microsoft does for PCs....Pay
for university professors is too low to attract world-class people from overseas
to teach... https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2017/04/23/taiwans-once-mighty-high-tech-sector-is-falling-behind-because-of-low-pay/#204190537b43/Asia
/#BigBusiness
○○
●
The China Times, opinion, 11-7-2017, The
United Daily, opinion, 11-10-2017: Taiwan's industries are short of 5 core
elements : electricity and water supply, labor, land and talented persons.
○
●
Le Monde of France, Mai '16,
reported the
economies of both sides were complementary, now compete each other.
Taiwanese
are gradually being excluded from the Chinese chain of production and supply. (Mais les économies des deux rives, qui étaient complémentaires,
entrent désormais en concurrence.
Les entreprises taïwanaises
sont progressivement exclues de la mise en place d’une chaîne de production
et d’approvisionnement chinoise ... )
○
●
National Policy Foundation
,
7-16-2009
One problem of Taiwan's high tech
industry is lacking of key technology ... http://www.npf.org.tw/2/6142
○
●
People's Daily of China (international edition), 11-12-2017
:
China's GDP in 2016 is about 23 times the number of Taiwan's, five Chinese
provinces' (GuanDong, JiangSu, ShanDong, ZheJiang, HeNan ) GDPs topped Taiwan's GDP
already, in 3-5 years, 10 provinces might top Taiwan.
(brief , UDN, 11-13-2017)
China
26.3% Hong Kong 13.7% United States
12% Japan 7% EU
8.8%
(2016
est.)
China
19.1% Japan 17.6% United States
12.5% EU 10.6%
South
Korea
6.3%
(2016
est.)
○
Taiwan's
industries
Main industries
Electronics,
communications
and information
technology
products,
petroleum
refining,
armaments,
chemicals,
textiles, iron
and steel,
machinery,
cement, food
processing,
vehicles,
consumer
products,
pharmaceuticals
Agricultural:
Rice,
corn,
vegetables,
fruit,
tea;
pigs,
poultry,
beef,
milk;
fish
Natural:
Small
deposits
of coal,
natural
gas,
limestone,
marble,
and
asbestos
●
●
●
Taiwan
Taiwan
diplomatic isolation
○
●
Daily Mail (UK)
4-1-2019: Taiwan
blasts China for "reckless and provocative" incursion by 2 fighter jets
across a largely respected line dividing the 2 sides in the Taiwan Straits.
Japan Times, 4-1-2019:
China's move also comes less than a week after the U.S. sent ships through the
strait ( mission was unusual) — the third
time in as many months...those sailings have likely been interpreted by China as
implicit support for self-ruled Taiwan.
Reuters 2-25-2019: US Navy ships
... riling China.
ABC.net Australia: Chinese fighter jets cross Taiwan Strait after
Tsai urges Pacific pushback against Beijing.
●
<Taiwan Travel Act>
(Trump signed at 3-16-2018):
◆
NHK Japan, 3-17-2018
The
legislation aims to encourage mutual visits between US and Taiwanese officials at all
levels.
(https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180317_08/)
◆
The
Diplomat,
3-3-2018
US Paves Way for
High-Level
Exchanges With Taiwan
(https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/us-paves-way-for-high-level-exchanges-with-taiwan/)
◆ New York Times,
3-17-2018
China’s Foreign Ministry said it had lodged “stern representations” with the
United States, saying the law sent a
“seriously wrong
signal” to the
forces of Taiwan
independence.
(https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/03/17/world/asia/17reuters-usa-taiwan-china.html
;
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-taiwan-china/china-says-resolutely-opposed-to-new-u-s-law-on-ties-with-taiwan-idUSKCN1GT0I9)
◆ Deutsche Welle, 3-17-2018 :
China has
reacted angrily
...
"severely
violate the
one-China
principle, the
political
foundation of
the China-US
relationship."
Taiwan ... calling it
a "friendly
move"
◆ Global Times of China, 2018: <Taiwan Travel Act> is a bill to
destroy Taiwan. ◆
People's Daily online (China
人民日報 海外版) 3-17-2018: "annoy
China, fool Taiwan !"("戲耍台灣
挑臖大陸")
◆
UDN Taiwan (台灣聯合報) 3-18-2018:
KMT Legislator : The US uses Taiwan as pawn to annoy China ... (
台恐成夾心餅干); Joseph Bosco
(former defense official): China won't win a general confrontation against the
US (translation).
○
●Washington Post,
1-5-2018: For
years, most analysts in the United States generally accepted the idea that
Taiwan’s status as a de facto independent democracy was unsustainable as China’s
economy and military rose to dominate Asia. Statesmen such as the late
Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew and Henry Kissinger both predicted that Taiwan’s
unification with China — under Chinese terms — was inevitable.
●Washington Post,
11-9-2017:
“Many have debated here in Taiwan
whether President Trump will trade Taiwan in exchange for China’s position in
North Korea,” ...... “But ... even if President Trump makes such an offer,
President Xi would say no: ‘Taiwan is not in your hands. It’s in mine.’”
The China Times, opinion,
11-11-2017: President
Xi thinks the advantage of Taiwan issue is in Beijing's side,
it's not necessary to trade anything for Taiwan with Washington.
○
●
New York
times,
12-13-2016:
In
Presidential
inaugural
speech,
Tsai
referred
to the
Constitution
of the
Republic
of China
and the
legislation
governing
cross-strait
relations,
both
imply
the
acceptance
of a
“one
China”
framework.
●
Yomiuri
Shimbun,
Japan,
Opinion,
5-22-2016
(読売新聞)
:
「台湾独立」志向の強い民進党の蔡英文主席が総統に就任した。台湾蔡新総統対中「現状維持」の意思示した
http://editorial.x-winz.net/ed-13620
(Tsia I.
W. with
strong
tendency
toward
"Taiwan
Independence"
expressed
"maintain
status
quo" in
her
Presidential
inaugural
speech
)
○○
○
●
Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan, Opinion, 6-22-2017
(読売新聞「社説」)
:
中国が台湾を孤立させる動きを強め、波風を立てている。軍事、経済両面での優位を背景にした圧力は、中台間の緊張を高めるだけだ。...中国の一連の外交攻勢は、台湾を自国の一部とする「一つの中国」原則を、台湾の蔡英文政権に認めさせる狙いだろう。...台湾の住民の間では、中国に政治的、経済的にのみ込まれることへの警戒感が強く、「中国離れ」が加速しているためだ。...米国は台湾の防衛力強化を担っており、台湾海峡の平和と安定のカギを握る。(The
US is the key to keep the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait)
○
●
Le
Monde diplomatique,
France, mai 2016: "politiL’Amérique
centrale lâche Taipei" /
Les deux rivaux du détroit de Formose
ne luttent pas à armes égales et, pour Taipei, l’isolement diplomatique
menace. (The two rivals of the
Taiwan Straits do not
fight on equal terms , the diplomatic isolation threatens Taiwan
)
○○
●
Singapore's
The
Straits
Times,
11-9-2017
:
Taiwan
is the
most
important
issue in
Sino-US
ties, Xi
tells
Trump
“The Taiwan issue is the most important, most
sensitive core issue in China-US relations, and concerns the political basis
of the China-US relationship,” ... China “hopes that the US side continues
to scrupulously abide by the ‘one China’ principle, and prevents
disturbances to the broader picture of China-US ties”, Xi added.
Trump told Xi that the United States government upheld and stuck to the “one
China” policy, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.
●
United
daily
News,
opinion
10-11-12017
:
In Fact,
President
Tsai
one-sided
abandoned
in 2016
"The
1992
Consensus"
(「九二共識」),
which
violates
her
promise
to
"maintain
the
cross-strait
status
quo"
https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2749610?from=udn-catelistnews_ch2
UDN
10-11-2017
: China
officially
responded
Tsai's
speech
at
Taiwan's
National
Day that
“Only by
adhering
to the
one-China
principle
and
opposing
Taiwan
independence
can
relations
between
the
sides
develop
with
peace
and
stability”.
UDN
opinion,
10-20-2017:
Chinese
leader
Xi's
"China
dream"
can't
come
true
without
retaking
Taiwan.
○
●
BBC -
Taiwan country profile 6-14-2017:
China
insists
that
nations
cannot
have
official
relations
with
both
China
and
Taiwan,
with the
result
that
Taiwan
has
formal
diplomatic
ties
with
only a
few
countries.
/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16164639
○
●
Spiegel
Germany, 1-9-2017,
<Donald
Trump:
Chinesische
Staatszeitung
warnt
USA
wegen
Umgang>
Die
staatliche
chinesische
Zeitung
"Global
Times"
hat den
künftigen
US-Präsidenten
Donald
Trump
gewarnt,
von der
"Ein-China-Politik"
abzurücken.
"Das
chinesische
Volk
würde
die
Regierung
auffordern,
sich zu
rächen",
hieß es
im
Leitartikel
des
Blattes,
das zum
Zentralorgan
der
Kommunistischen
Partei "Renmin
Ribao"
gehört.
"Es gibt
keinen
Raum für
Verhandlungen"
/ if "US
President
Donald
Trump to
abandon
the
one-China
policy."
"The
Chinese
people
would
call on
the
government
to take
revenge,"
"There
is no
room for
negotiations"
...
(Global
Times,
China)
○
●
US News, 10-9-2017:
Taiwan's relations
with Beijing have deteriorated sharply since Tsai, ... took office last
year, with China suspecting she wants to push for the island's formal
independence, a red line for Beijing. China
has cut off a regular dialogue mechanism with Taiwan, ramped up military
drills around
the island and stepped up int'l pressure to limit Taiwan's diplomatic
footprint.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-10-09/taiwan-president-tsai-pledges-to-defend-islands-freedoms
○
●
The
China
Times,
10-15-2017,
Wikipedia,
9-27-2017
:Taiwanese
premier
William
Lai
advocates
"Taiwan
independence
in
realistic
way ("務實台獨")”,
but
"Taiwan
was an
independent
country
called
the
Republic
of
China,
it had
no need
to
declare
independence."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan
○
●
Mexican
newspaper
El Sol
de Méxicoformer,
2008:
(former)
President
Ma:
the
China-Taiwan
relations
are
neither
between
two
Chinas
nor two
states.
It is a
special
relationship.
the
sovereignty
issues
between
the two
cannot
be
resolved
at
present,
the
"1992
Consensus",
currently
accepted
as a
temporary
measure
until a
solution
becomes
available.
○○
●Washington Post,
11-9-2017:
“Many have debated here in Taiwan
whether President Trump will trade Taiwan in exchange for China’s position in
North Korea,” ...... “But ... even if President Trump makes such an offer,
President Xi would say no: ‘Taiwan is not in your hands. It’s in mine.’”
The China Times, opinion,
11-11-2017: President
Xi thinks the advantage of Taiwan issue is in Beijing's side,
it's not necessary to trade anything for Taiwan with Washington.
○
●
The
United
Daily of
Taiwan,
11-12-2017,
commented
Trump Xi
meeting
―
one of 3
possibilities
is the
US may
break
the
pattern
"USA and
China
jointly
control
Taiwan"(「美中共管」),
China
may play
(or most
of)
the role
to
control
Taiwan.
●
Le Monde
diplomatique,
France,
"Taïwan en quête de souveraineté économique",
mai
2016:
selon laquelle il n’est pas nécessaire
de proclamer l’indépendance car Taïwan est déjà un Etat indépendant et
souverain. C’est certainement le sens qu’elle donne au « statu quo »
(
'it is
not
necessary
to
proclaim
independence
because
Taiwan
is
already
an
independent
and
sovereign
state.
This is
certainly
the
meaning
it gives
to
<status
quo>'
)
●
Financial
Times 5-19-2020 : Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of
coronavirus epidemic, with
increasingly frequent incursions into airspace traditionally respected as a
safety buffer zone. Taipei was at additional risk from the escalating dispute
between the US and China.
Taiwan military vs. China military
Taiwan military
opinions
personnel
(
soldiers, officials )
◆
Taiwan’s Military Is a Hollow Shell.
US Defense Department officials have privately expressed dismal
assessments regarding Taiwan's current force level and reserve system.
◆
armor, mechanized infantry, and artillery
units are always in desperate shortage of enlisted soldiers
◆
few front-line units have more than 80 percent of their positions filled
/
Foreign
Policy, 2-15-2020
◆
Taiwan's active force down to under 200,000 (the exact number is
classified). The nearly two million reservists exist in name only... /
New York times, 5-18-2017
◆ The ROC
(Taiwan) Armed Forces number approximately 300,000,
and reserves reportedly total 3,870,000.
/
Wikipedia,
May 2020
strategy
◆
To against the threats of cyber warfare,
cognitive warfare, and ‘unrestricted’ warfare from China , we
( Taiwan
) work to bolster our defense capabilities, future combat capacity
development will also emphasize mobility, countermeasures, and
non-traditional, asymmetrical capabilities (unconventional arms)” /
Taiwan president inauguration speech, Voice of American, 5-20-2020
firepower
◆
China
has
ｎｕｃｌｅａｒ ｂｏｍｂ ，Neutron
bomb，
hydrogen bomb, Taiwan has none of those. /
Next
TV news, 5-8-2020
◆
Taiwan military strength is ranked No. 26 , China PLA No. 3
/
Global FirePower, 2020
◆
A major obstacle is that countries that might sell it the most
sophisticated weaponry are increasingly reluctant to do so for fear of
provoking China, ... /
New York times, 11-4-2017
military
logistics system
◆
Taiwan
lacks
enough supplement of all items of military equipments /
United
Daily
(聯合報 社評),
opinion,
5-
7- 2020
morale
◆
Policies put forward by the Kuomintang and the independence-leaning
Democratic Progressive Party have left the military understaffed and in
a state of low morale... /
New York times, 5-18-2017
◆
Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of
coronavirus epidemic ... / Financial Times
5-19-2020
●
CNN 2-19-2020 exclusive interview with
Taiwanese president Tsai I. W. , CTN 5-2-2020: Tsai:
"What we are expecting is, after withstanding the first wave of Chinese
attacks ourselves, the rest of the world would stand up to exert strong
pressure on China" .... "Taiwan as an underdog facing down the
growing might of Beijing" ... But chinausfocus.com at May 04 , 2018
reported
Missouri State University
professor D. Hickey's comment :
the U.S. does not have an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan.
Reuters
2-26-2020:
Taiwan should continue to
show goodwill to China during coronavirus outbreak and not give Beijing an
excuse to attack the island as a way of relieving “internal pressure” ... Chinese public opinion believes people in
Taiwan lack sympathy about China’s virus outbreak... Reuters 5-22-2020:
In
the annual meeting of China’s parliament,
there was no mention of the word “peaceful” in front of
“reunification”, departing from the standard expression Chinese leaders have
used for at least four decades, an
apparent policy shift that comes as ties with Taipei continue on a downward
spiral. Foreign Policy
5-15-2020:
Beijing were to interpret ... coronavirus as a uniquely
advantageous moment, a Chinese military strike on Taiwan at this moment is
unlikely ... but a low level of risk is not the same as zero risk. National Post (Canada),
5-15-2020: China and the U.S. ramp up military activity near Taiwan...
◦
●China's
Military Power Report / annual Report to US Congress (2019),
5-2-2019
Military and Security Developments involving P.R.C. 2019
★
"China could use missile attacks and precision
air raids against air defence systems, including air bases,
radar sites, missiles, space assets, and communications
facilities to degrade Taiwan's defences, neutralise Taiwan's
leadership, or break the Taiwan people's resolve," ...
aljazeera news said at May 3, 2019 that
much of China's military doctrine is focused on self-ruled
Taiwan,
China might take if Beijing decides to use
military force on Taiwan, including a comprehensive campaign
"designed to force Taiwan to capitulate to unification, or
unification dialogue.
The Liberty Times suggests Taiwan taking
"asymmetric warfare". Apple Daily (headline news)
5-4-2019 said that the possibility of the blockade or a limited
war by PLA is smaller than that of air raid, rockets, or
amphibious landing. (see pic. right)
usni.org said at 2019/05/03 that Taiwan is the
primary focus of amphibious assault and sea-based missile launch
capability improvements made in 2018 by China’s People’s
Liberation Army (PLA), the PLA Navy and PLA Marine Corps.
●The
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence “Open Hearing on
China’s Worldwide Military Expansion.”, 5-17-2018
(1)
China's “infatuation with Taiwan” ?
a visceral nationalistic design ...“if Taiwan survives as a democracy [it]
undermines the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party”
(2) USA curb China ?
the US could soon be completely driven out of the Asia-Pacific region if Beijing
is allowed to continue on its current course unopposed.
(3)
Congressional hearing
recommended
deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Asia, showing strong support for Taiwan,
and exposing human rights abuses in China as immediate steps that could curb
Beijing
○
●
CBS news 11-14-2018:
U.S. military might "struggle to win, or perhaps lose" war with
China or Russia
the
National Defense Strategy Commission: "It might struggle to win, or
perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia." ...
"If the United States had to fight Russia in a Baltic contingency
or China in a war over Taiwan," the report warned. "Americans could face a
decisive military defeat." (
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-military-might-struggle-to-win-or-perhaps-lose-war-with-china-or-russia-report-says/)
○
●
Annual Report to US Congress (8-17-2018):
Military and Security Developments Involving
the People’s Republic of China 2018
https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018_China_Military_Power_Report.PDF
A new method was applied to make
these tables below:
○
●USA
Today 5-18-2018: Xi JinPing has signaled that China will seek to reclaim its
historical properties by 2049.
Freebeacon 5-17-2018 : 2020—the
deadline that [Chinese supreme leader] Xi Jinping has given the [People's
Liberation Army] to be ready to invade Taiwan.
○
●
Washington Post,
1-5-2018,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/01/05/can-china-really-take-over-taiwan/?utm_term=.e66214694331
Can China really
take over
Taiwan?
Xi commanded China’s military to become
“battle ready.”
......
threatening that
relations with
Taiwan will turn
“grave” because
Taiwan’s
government
refuses to
acknowledge that
the island is
part of China. A
leading Chinese
analyst predicts
that China has
accelerated its
timetable to
2020 for taking
over the island
by military
means......Taiwan
needs to increase its defense spending considerably...“the outcome of the game
[between China and Taiwan] is undecided".
○
●
The US subcommittee
hearing (4-17-2018) Rep. Ted Soho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
Asia and the Pacific:
Seems likely Xi will force the issue (unification) in his life time.
●
United States think tank the RAND Corporation,
Taiwan
News, 2-2-2018, Apple Daily 2-3-2018,
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3353460
Likelihood of successful
Chinese attack against Taiwan rising: RAND Corp. China's jets
and missiles can damage U.S. and Taiwan air bases
According
to RAND, which specializes in military affairs, the balance in the Taiwan Strait
has been moving in China’s favor as the communist country was continuing to make
progress in its preparations and training ...
○
●
BBC,
12-3-2016
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34729538
The pivotal role of the US was most
clearly shown in 1996, when China conducted provocative missile tests to try and
influence Taiwan's first direct presidential election. In response, US President
Bill Clinton ordered the biggest display of US military power in Asia since the
Vietnam War, sending ships to the Taiwan Strait, and a clear message to
Beijing...
○
●
New York times, 11-4-2017: “(Taiwan)
needs to resist a Chinese military attack for two weeks and wait for help from
the United States...” ......Taiwan’s armed forces, by contrast (Chn), have
fallen way behind, struggling to recruit enough soldiers and sailors — and to
equip those they have. A major obstacle is that countries that might
sell it the most sophisticated weaponry are increasingly reluctant to do so for
fear of provoking China,...... US latest (summer 2017) arms sales " short of the
major systems that could give Taiwan a real edge."
○
●
US Dept of State, U.S. Relations With Taiwan 9-13-2017:
The United States insists on the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait
differences, opposes unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and
encourages both sides to continue their constructive dialogue on the basis of
dignity and respect. /
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35855.htm
○
●
New York times, 5-18-2017:
Beijing’s
belligerence
presents
an
existential
threat
to
Taiwan, Chinese
leaders
have
long
vowed to
take
Taiwan
by force
if they
deem
necessary
... For years, the political establishment in Taipei has delegated
responsibility for responding to Beijing to the United States.
Taiwan's
leaders
have
gutted
the
military
and
continued
to base
defense
planning
on the
assumption
that the
United
States
would
always
come to
the
rescue. Policies
put
forward
by the
Kuomintang
and the
independence-leaning
Democratic
Progressive
Party
have
left the
military
understaffed
and in a
state of
low
morale...
Taiwan's
active
force
down to
under
200,000
(the
exact
number
is
classified).
The
nearly
two
million
reservists
exist in
name
only...
Taiwan’s defense policies are largely a result of deep distrust between the
military and politicians. The military has struggled with wide-range scandals/
● Why China Can't Conquer Taiwan in a War
, 11-17-2017 Zachary Keck
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-china-cant-conquer-taiwan-war-23254
A new study by Michael Beckley
(Tufts University), published in the academic journal International Security argues that China’s neighbors
could thwart Chinese military aggression through anti-access/area denial
strategies with only minimal U.S. assistance. ... if China was far
more successful than the United States had been in those conflicts, Beijing’s
ability to execute an amphibious invasion is still far from certain. For
instance, Beckley notes that only ten percent of Taiwan’s coastlines are
suitable for an amphibious landing, which would allow Taipei to concentrate its
forces on a few key areas. Chinese forces trying to land would likely be
severely outnumbered...
○
○
●
The Heritage
Foundation, The
Index of U.S.
Military
Strength, 2017
China’s
provocative
behavior has
expanded to
include militarization
of islands that
it has built in
highly disputed
international
waters in the
South China Sea.
China has also
adopted
aggressive naval
tactics to
intimidate such
neighboring
countries as
Japan and the
Philippines... the 2017 Index concludes that the current U.S. military
force ... certainly would
be ill-equipped
to handle two
nearly
simultaneous
major regional
contingencies
... / http://index.heritage.org/military/2017/assessments/
○
●
<The
Chinese
Invasion
Threat>
by Ian Eastonct, Oct. 3, 2017
:
China has finalized a
clandestine plan to invade Taiwan in 2020 by launching missile attacks, blocking
the nation’s air and sea space, and carrying out amphibious landings,
Washington-based think tank Project 2049 Institute research fellow Ian Easton
said. ...China,
would "almost
certainly" fail in its full-scale invasion of Taiwan but its military
appears driven to prepare and carry out such an attack.
○
○
●
New York times, 10-19-2017:
https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20171019/china-xi-jinping-party-congress/dual/
○
Chinese president Xi
delivered the line that won the loudest
applause of his marathon speech: “We will never allow anyone, any organization,
or any political party, at any time or in any form, to separate any part of
Chinese territory from China.”
Apple Daily, 10-20-2017, "ShaoKang
Zhao Fax" column:
Only 800+ words (out of 32000+ words
in total) in Xi's speech at the 19th Communist party congress mentioned Taiwan,
Taiwan issue seems not so important to Xi JinPing.
○
●
国家政策研究基金会 NPF
National Policy
Foundation in Taipei,
Taiwan;
10-7-2017 CTN
The peace of Taiwan Strait before 2025 depends US military forces (台海安全 仍繫於美軍是否介入...最大的不確定性仍是「美軍是否介入」，且在2025年之前，美軍相對中共仍有明顯優勢，與其說押注與否，不如說是因「美軍不可測」的因子無法排除。)
/ http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20171007000342-260119
●
●
New York
Times
4-1-2019: Taiwan
protests China jets crossing center of Taiwan Strait, a
provocation that seeks to alter the status quo ... an intentional act.
Taiwan News, 6-28-2019:
U.S. Senate passes pro-Taiwan defense bill calling for more patrols in
Taiwan Strait. Reuters 6-27-2019:
Canadian navy ships sailed
through Taian strait amid
tension with China (Such
passages upset China ...
In April, Beijing condemned a
French decision to send a
frigate through the Strait as
illegal)
Japan Times, 4-1-2019: the U.S. sent ships through the
strait
( mission was unusual) ...
UDN
7-28-2017, 11-20-2017,
Global times, 12-12-2017,
CTV 12-17-2017: China's
military terrorized Taiwan by aircraft-fighters routinely
flying around
("patrol circling")
Taiwan and passing
through 1st Island Chain...China fighters only
take 14 minutes to reach Taiwan from mainland
https://udn.com/news/story/10930/2610183
Apple Daily 1-18-2018: China's submarine
"patrol
circling"
at 1-11-2018
United
Daily survey at 11-20-2017 found the percentage of
Taiwanese having good perception on Chinese people and
communist government increased to 49% and 40%
pic.: Taiwan ( the white
color island on the map)
Population：23.54 million
Area：36,194
square
kilometers
Peoples：Han
Chinese (97%),
Aborigines (2%)
Languages
: mainly
Mandarin,
Taiwanese
●
Economist (special edition
2017): "Taiwan will turn into a tiger again "
●
Global Wealth Report &
Global Wealth Databook by
credit-suisse Research Institute, Nov. 2016: "Taiwan,
Asia Tiger"
●NY
Times 5-22-2017: Taiwan leader continued to base defense
planning
on the assumption that the United States would always
come to the rescue...
Taiwan
has reduced its
active force
(by half)
●NY Times
12-13-2016 In Taiwan president Tsai's inaugural speech,
Tsai referred to
the Constitution
of the Republic
of China and the
legislation
governing
cross-strait
relations, both
of which imply
the acceptance
of a “one China”
framework.
pic. left: ROC (Taiwan) national flag
can not be used in most places in the world,
since China's "one China" policy keeps suppressing Taiwan's
international space;
pic. right: Chinese Taipei flag for participating in
int'l events, e.g., Olympics Games.
●
●
●
China has finalized a
clandestine plan to invade Taiwan in 2020 by launching missile attacks, blocking
the nation’s air and sea space, and carrying out amphibious landings,
Washington-based think tank Project 2049 Institute research fellow Ian Easton
said.
●
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) raised doubts over
the time frame Easton asserted, saying that he did not think it is very precise.
●China,
according to the book <The Chinese Invasion Threat>, would "almost
certainly" fail in its full-scale invasion of Taiwan but its military
appears driven to prepare and carry out such an attack.
Annual Report to US Congress (2017):
Military and Security Developments Involving
the People’s Republic of China 2017
https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2017_China_Military_Power_Report.PDF
○
○
○
ps: Apple daily, 11-28-2017: Chinese air crafts flying to first island
chain include H-6K (轟 6K) bomber from Shaanxi, center of China.
Taiwan's interpreting China's military capacity should no longer be
limited to only their coastal (Taiwan Strait) military air force.
(brief
- author 林穎佑 faculty of int'l affairs graduate school, National
ChungCheng University)
○●
○
●
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS,UK, www.iiss.org), the
military balance 2018 press statement - The annual assessment of global military
capability and defence economics, 2-14-2018
In 2017 Beijing showcased more advanced military systems
... are challenging the global predominance of the United States and its allies
... https://www.iiss.org/en/publications/military-s-balance
China's modernisation of its armed forces is
processing faster than many experts expected ... (ref to Apple
Daily, opinion, 2-21-2018, "共軍非必勝 國軍非必敗")
○
★
●
Apple Daily,
12-19-2017
head-page, focus ; data
from Taiwan's national defense gov.
pic. left: China military capacity VS Taiwan;
pic. right: Chinese air force did lots of "patrol circling" (flying
around Taiwan and passing through 1st island chain ).
Source: Apple Daily News, head-page and focus news,
12-19-2017
○●
○
●
US
Annual Report to Congress,
2016
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Annual Report to Congress:
Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
外國觀光旅客來台日均消費 source
from TW gov., Apple Daily, Aug., 2019
★
BBC, UK, 7-31-2019: the number of Chinese tourists (in time) in
2015 is about 4.18 million, dropped to 2.7 million on 2018
(https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-49178224
7-31-2019)
★
Telegraph, UK, 7-31-2019: China remains
the top source of tourists, with close to 2.5 million visiting last year
Chinese
visitors and tourists to Taiwan
(in millions) , Direct
flights between Chn and TW
began at 2008, DPP (Green)
in power from 2016
source: Asia Nikkei
4-30-2019, Taiwanese government
data 2018/2019
area
population人口
number of tourists
(person in time)
旅遊人次
times倍數
Hong Kong
7.3 million
65.1 million
1:9
Macau
0.65 million
35.9 million
1
: 55
Singapore
5.6 million
18.5 million
1
: 2.3
Taiwan
23
million
11.25 million
1
: 0.5
●
New
York Times, 7-31-2019, CNN
8-1-2019: China, an Eye on Elections,
rising cross-strait tensions, bans
solo tourists from heading to Taiwan. L.A. Times, 8-1-2019:
The indefinite suspension is likely to
prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as
well as a blow to cultural interplay.
Independent UK 8-1-2019: It is a
blow for Taiwan’s tourism industry.
●
China remaining the top source of
tourists to Taiwan is because,
LA Times
at 8-1-2019 said that (1)
satisfying a curiosity, an important
channel for knowing Taiwan (2) flights
of no more than 2~3 hours (3) strong
cultural and deep historic connection
(4) religious, architectural and
cultural similarities, the result of
migration from China to Taiwan that
began hundreds of years ago (5) take
home new information from Taiwan’s
newspapers, news websites and television
channels, all free of censorship unlike
on the mainland (6)
stoking business.
●
Asia Nikkei
4-30-2019:
Since 2016, China has attempted to
punish Tsai (DPP) by reducing tour
groups to Taiwan, but inbound tourists
have steadily set records surpassing 11
millions for the first time last year...
●
The United Daily 3-7-2019: Taiwan's
tourism output value is suffering wallet
homicide ! the deficit of foreign
exchange is NT1728 billions, the deficit
of the number of tourists is 5570
thousands.
● Liberty Times 8-28-2019: Taiwan may loss
35,400 million dollars from the gross
annual value of tourism in the second
half of 2019. United Daily
(8-17-2019, editorial) : Very most part
of Taiwan's current tourism difficult
situation is caused by
cross-Taiwan-Strait policy.
United Daily (8-22-2019, editorial) :
Pension reform might be among key issues
in Taiwan's tourism, because public
servants, military and education field
no longer support domestic
travel as much as before.
United Daily (8-28-2019, Focus) : Visa-free and allowance can save
tourism? Lots of allowances were given to domestic tourists, but the
number of Taiwanese traveling overseas hit new high again and again.
United Daily (8-23-2019) : Taiwan
president Tsai: tourism won't go old
route, current policy is to balance
tourists flow, stimulate domestic
demand, increase consumption-amount,
satisfy tourist's appetite by bubble tea
and local cuisine. The
United Daily, editorial opinion,
7-15-2019 : An American economist Tyler
Cowen was surprised at that Taipei was
spinning its wheels, remains 85%
unchanged (making smallest differences
among Asian cities), motorcycles, small
lanes ... everywhere, in contrast,
GuangZhou city (廣州) has changed 90%, HK,
Seoul, Singapore made huge differences
only within 10 years ...
●
According to
World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel
and tourism competitiveness report>(released at 4-6-2017),
Taiwan's
most important indexes for
promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness
of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches,
mountains, wildlife, etc)
ranks
world
No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks
No.55, "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69
in 2015), "Price Competitiveness"
ranks
No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No.
89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's strong indexes such as
"World
heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites"
(world top 5).
Taipei mayor Ko just mocked tourism of Hong Kong and Singapore,
however, they are very ahead in "Business Environment"
and "Ground & Port infrastructure"
(world top 2),
"Airport infrastructure" (world No.5 & 6 vs Taiwan no. 42 ), "Safety & security"
( No.5 and No.6 ) 。
Taiwan has excellent scores on "Mobile Network coverage", "ATM",
etc,
but those least likely are main attractiveness
to international sightseers that Taiwan
needs most. According to
government statistics "visitor arrivals
by purpose in 2016", only 7.61%
foreigners came for business,
conference, exhibition, most visitors
are for pleasure, so we should not focus
on WEF's overall score and ranking for
Taiwan.
●
●
Apple
Daily, opinion, 2-12-2018: lacking of
monument elements, mature cultural
creativity, and inexpensive tour-site
hotels ... shallow, careless,
low-end quality led to an extremely low
return visitor rate to Taiwan.
Apple
Daily, Headline news 1-15-2018:
Taiwan tourism collapse
introduction of Taiwan
