1.  Taiwan Soft Power

Taiwan failed to enter UK based Monocle's Soft Power Survey ranking lists of 2010 till 2019,  Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE, all of them entered top 20 list at least once.    The Monocle's Soft Power Survey ranks nations according to their culture, politics, business, diplomacy and education rather than their financial or military power.   Japan ranks No.3 in 2019's survey.
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 ~ 2019/2020, compiled by PR company Portand Communication and University of Southern California.  

Asian countries in 2019,  Japan(No.5), S. Korea(20), Singapore(21), China(27) are top 30.
The top 30 nations of 2018 are 1. UK, 2. France, 3. Germany, 4. US, 5. Japan, 6~30 are Canada, Swiss, Sweden, Nederlands, Australia, Denmark, Italy,
Norway, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Austria, NZ, Ireland, S Korea, Singapore,   Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Czech, China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, 2017's rankings are 1.  France  2. UK  3. USA  4. Germany  5.  Canada   6. Japan  7.  Swiss  8. Australia   9. Sweden  10.  Holland  11. Denmark  12. Norway  13.  Italy  14.  Austria  15.  Spain   16.  Belgium  17. Finland  18. NZ   19. Ireland  20.  Singapore   21. S. Korea   22.  Portugal  23.  Greece   24.  Poland   25.  China  26.  Russia  27. Czech  28.  Hungary   29.  Brazil  30.  Turkey. ( China's scores of 2018:   digital 30, enterprise 22,  education13,  culture 9,  engagement 9,  gov. 30,  polling 28)

★  "understand Taiwan in one minute"  !   ★  TAIWAN    in all aspects  ★  Review Taiwan   Top rankings on internet !!

★ Taiwan's cultural creativity  : artists―shortage of creativity & vivid imagination ! government―lacking of forward thinking ...

        ☉ The China Times,  headline news  at 12-24-2017:  The total value of Taiwan's cultural & creative production was far behind of that of Korea, Korea's value in publication is about 6 times larger than Taiwan's,  Film industry 6 times, TV 3.5 times, Advertising 3 times, Pop-music 6 times bigger than Taiwan's,  Taiwan lacks of updated related laws and policy ― no focus, no direction, no institute, original creativity is not encouraged, the industry field is divided, without integrated marketing......  ☉ The China Times 8-15-2017:   The output value of Taiwan's cultural & creative production in '12 - '13 declined 9.28%, in contrast, Taiwan's neighbor countries increased, China 14.27%, Malaysia, Philippines 8+%, Korea 0.65% ... Taiwan's cultural & creative industry even failed to create a "bubble", the reason is lacking of original creativity. / The China Times, 8-15-2017 
        ☉ The United Daily (1-10-2016): 3 major political parties' presidential candidates all ignore cultural policy and direction in their election debates. 
        ☉ The Liberty Times 4-6-2016:   The Liberty Times of Taiwan, 4-6-2016:  The government took the lead to  ignore copy-rights, Taiwan became "an island of Plagiarism".

survey to find political persecutions

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◆ Taiwan's soft power & cultural creativity ....   see below:

Tourism   Full analysis pls. click  Taiwan Tour&Travel

 "Formosa" means "a beautiful island", however, some media of both Taiwan and China (新週刊New Weekly) comment top point of interest in Taiwan is Taiwanese people itself. (an ambassador from S. America said so too)  

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.   In the overall ranking list, Asian country Japan got No.4,  China No.13,  Hong Kong No.14,  Korea No.16, Singapore No.17,  Malaysia No.29,  Thailand No.31,  UAE  No.33,  India No. 34,...
　

◎ World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017 <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).   Taiwan has excellent scores on "Mobile Network coverage", "ATM", etc, but those least likely are main attractiveness to international sightseers that Taiwan needs most.   Taiwan is not be included in top 30 countries in <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> from 2011 till 2015, In 2015's report, Japan No.9, Singapore 11th, HK 13th,  China No.17 ; 2011 ranking - No.10 Singapore, no.12 HK, no. 13 Australia, no. 19 New Zealand, no.22 Japan, no.32 Korea, no.35 Malaysia.

United Daily, opinion, 12-30-2017 : Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism decreased 300 billion dollars.  To promote tourism just in number of tourists, Taiwan's new mission “New Southbound Policy”  gave up the national principle of mutual benefit and equity, led to illegal drug trafficking and neighbor countries' anger, and illegal collectivized-workings by foreign "visitors".    Taiwan's advertisements only focus on "cheat eats" by using some widely-known stars.   All these remind us a Chinese tourists slang "you will regret for your entire life if coming to Taiwan".

◎ <the China Times> 5-26-2015: "We should pay attention to a poll on the net in Hong Kong, it says Taiwan is the most disappointed place for the tour, because Taiwan's night market is the only place worth to visit." (<media commentary> scholar's view "掉漆的文創")

◎ UK's Economist Intelligence Unit ― ● "Liveability Cities" report (Aug. 2015) ranks Taipei world No.60 (Taipei's Tourism leader 簡余晏 8-20-2015 expressed the ranking will go up in next year, hopefully), ● Mercer's "Quality of Living" ranks Taipei world No. 83, and gives another city Tai-Chung world No.99, ● Monocle's "Quality of Life" top list includes no Taipei.    ● According to 2009  ECA int'l "the Best Place to Reside"，Taipei ranks No.57,  Asia top 3 are Singapore 、HK、Tokyo( both world No.15)。● 2010 rank :  Taipei No.55、 Singapore is still global No. 1.

◆  Taiwan tourism got trouble since 2014~2015 till present,  what's gov. solutions to save it ?

 ◆  2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015

 ◆  Country Brands Index 2014/2015

Taiwan's score :	Taiwan's score location - "Countries" (left lower place)
Taiwan locates in "Countries" category, a lowest area  ―   having below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions. Critera : ◎tourism / Value for money, Range of attractions, Resort & lodging options, Would like to visit for a vacation, Food ; ◎HERITAGE & CULTURE / Historical points of interest, Heritage, art & culture, Natural beauty; etc.	◎“Country brands” – Countries that have above average perceptions across both the Status and Experience dimensions and have measurable competitive advantages over their peers as a result. ◎ “Experience countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards dimensions relating to Heritage & Culture, Tourism and Made In. ◎ “Status countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards attributes relating to Value System, Quality Of Life and Business Potential. http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-country-brand-index-2014-15
◎ top 20 countries: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, United States, Australia, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Finland,Singapore, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Korea. ◎ top 20 most influential cities:  NY, London, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Dubai,  HK, Singapore, New Delhi, SaoPaulo, Rio De Janeiro, LA, Rome, Toronto, Seoul, Mumbai

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Visual Communication

Taiwan government logo, UN for Taiwan logo, state-run enterprises logo, Taiwan's universities annual event logo ......  etc,  suspiciously are cheap-copy works.  Similar visual designs're everywhere in Taiwan.  Taipei is going to hold a  sort of "City of Design" international event soon ??

Some examples are listed as below:

(1)		(2)		(3)
logo of Taiwan's government	world logo appeared earlier	world logo appeared earlier	logo of Taiwan's government	Asian (Korea) metro's logo (appeared earlier)	design by Taiwan's best university

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ps:  Both use same ideas ― "sharp knife tree, dangerous gear-wheel lawn"   
       Pic. at right side is an ad. for <Creative Ideas Exhibition of Taiwan Cultural Industry, Taiwan>, Eslite bookstore ( Taiwan's pride, a cultural landmark of Taiwan)

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  "comment Taiwan restaurants" rank No.1 on US Google, 10-15-2018, 3-15-2018
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	weird Taiwan tourism advertisement : Dining  X Taipei Cambridge dictionary: "X" represents (1) unknown / a number, or name or thing that is not known or stated (2) mistake /  the answer is not correct (3) delete / to remove something (4) kisses ps: Taiwan suffered food safety problem for years : ref to The China Times, 5-21-2018, TVBS 9-12-2017, details
pic.: Travel advertisement in Taipei Taiwan, summer 2018   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwyuCsmMqTM

●  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)

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pic.: TVBS (Taiwan) 2-10-2018: experts expressed their concern or scares of eating Basa fish imported from Vietnam.   Some international experts like Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise doesn't recommend consumers buy Basa, some states of the US even banned Basa, for using illegal antibiotics, questioning polluted Mekong river and the practices used to farm Basa, those factors. Some 5 star hotels in Taiwan seemed love to serve cheap-price Basa ―  however, they used English name Bassa or Balsa ( not fish name ), instead of Basa,  but, the Chinese name used is Basa for sure,  2 chefs answered me those were imported from Vietnam. pic. left is a hot dish served by a Taipei's 5 star hotel buffet restaurant,  "Thailand steamed Bassa fish"  (photo at 4-24-2018);  Pic. right is another top hotel   Sheraton Taipei's buffet food -   "Balsa" fish ( photo in Nov. 2017 ).   Once their kitchen staff told me "balsa" is deep sea fish.

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◆ World famous 5 star hotel hides fish name on the sign-plate, we can't even know which is sea fish or fresh-water fish ? quora (2015) had some discussions about "why don't westerners eat river fish?".   Independent UK 1-11-2015: Chemicals in fresh water fish put health at risk -  according to a new report, they may be putting their health at risk...  Singapore's  foodie TV program < Cook  Eat  China > likes to ask chef the fish name before they try.   Medical book <you can conquer cancer> (target readers include patients and healthy people)advised to know what-about before eating fish or seafood ...... ◆ pic. left: World famous hotel Shangri La's in Taipei at 5-18-2018: upon my question, the kitchen man answered it's Dory fish ("多利魚")，but had no idea about sea fish or fresh water fish (rivers, lakes, etc).   Taiwan's CTS TV news (華視新聞) at 4-27-2017 reported  (news.cts.com.tw/cts/life/201704/201704271863633.html#.Wv6-Rjoh2Uk): all Dory fishes in Taiwan were fake,  foodie gourmets have been fooling for a long times !   Dory then were renamed as Basa   ―  a fresh-water fish farmed in Vietnam, S.E. Asia 。 Real John Dory is also named as Cat Fish, the author had many in Florida's  buffet restaurant (even "none star" restaurant marked fish name ),  however, in Taiwan's "5 star" hotel can only eat fake Dory ??? ◆ pic. right:  Another world famous 5 star hotel (Sheraton grand Taipei,  headqtr in USA) in Taiwan also hide the fish name  (5-17-2018)。 Westerners tourists may like to know they're eating sea fish or fresh-water fish ?

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◆ pic. left: Weird !! the deep fried fish in world well-known Grand Hotel Taipei buffet restaurant has no any remarks (July 2018)，upon my question, the kitchen said it's snapper (鯛魚), then John Dory,  eventually said Taiwan is very "good" at this, so he does not know what it exactly is. ◆ pic. right:  CTS (華視新聞) 4-27-2017(news.cts.com.tw/cts/life/201704/201704271863633.html#.Wv6-Rjoh2Uk) reported Dory in Taiwan are fake!  For details pls ref to the CTS website as above.

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◆ pic.: Famous 5 star hotel buffet's tofu (豆腐皮, July 23, 2018) did not have any sign, upon my req., they answered it's not GM-free soybean, therefore, some sign must be there

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pic.: United Daily (聯合報) 6-10-2017: Gov. urged eating raw fish as SOON as possible !!  12 minutes after those raw fish slices left cold-storage (7c), the number of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus (腸炎弧菌) keeps growing double every 20 minutes (倍數滋生) or so,   in normal temperature (常溫 30c~),  ... ref to https://udn.com/news/story/7186/2512857;TVBS,11-1-2016. 　 ◆ Shangri La's Hotel in Taipei Taiwan (6F, 8-28-2018) expressed, their raw fish slices leaving cold-storage will display on serving plates for 45 minutes for customer's taking.  All their raw seafood (Tuna, Swordfish, Great Amberjack(紅魽), etc) came from DonGun(東港), Taiwan.   ◆ Sheraton (9-12-2018) said they don't set time limit to display raw fish slices because of a cold generator being installed below (used ices before).   I have not check if the temperature is good enough.   ◆ A Hong Kong media revealed some widely-known Japanese restaurant in Taiwan displayed raw fish and other sushi more than 30 minutes.  A famous M.D. said (TVBS, 8-15-2018) displaying no more than 30 minutes suppose fine for sushi with a cover to keep it cold.  ◆ Taiwanese gov. (食藥署) reminded eating raw fish slices without being kept in low temperature is easy to get stomach ache、diarrhea, etc ◆ A scholar in Liberty times (9-5-2018) suggested taking raw Cobia and Tuna, which are more expensive than raw Salmon.   Sheraton chef said (9-12-2018) Cobia is more expensive than Tuna and Salmon.   Most 5 star hotels' salmon were imported from N. Europe.   A top M.D. of NTUH told me European raw fishes are better than those from Taiwan ocean (can't rule out pollution problem).

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◆ pic. left: watermelon, grape, tuna in Sheraton buffet (top~bottom) 　 　 　 ◆ pic. middle:  tuna in Shangri La's Taipei (8-9-2018) 　 　 　 ◆ pic. right: Tuna  and  Salmon in S Hotel  (9-12-2018

◆ Raw Tuna fish slices -  how do you choose for 100% safety ??       No  too beautiful-color ones !    No dark brown (tan) ones ! ◆ University studies (高雄海科大) found that 80% of raw fishes (Cobia, Tuna, Sword-Fish, Tilapia 鯛) in Taiwan market were stained ――  business men pump CO. (carbon monoxide) into those fishes in an enclosed space for beautiful or bright color look /  CTS TV news, 2-20-'06 ◆ Fishes adding CO is illegal in Europe, Korea, Singapore, etc, because of possible food-poisoning, or even causing Sepsis to die / Epoch Times, 2-20-'06  ◆TVBS 8-15-2018: M.D.江守山 commented Taiwanese government ignoring pumping CO into fishes which is illegal in Taiwan (法律禁止  政府未執法) ,  therefore Taiwanese have risk of eating slough and some unknown consequences.   Some other business people used chemical addictives (e.g., 檸檬酸鈉) to keep raw-fish's color unchanged.   Red meat fishes after being frozen are still "bright red" colour might be "processed" meat.  (ref. to 《食在安心》book by 江守山) ◆ ETtoday News : Cutting red-meat fishes like Tuna to slices made its Myoglobin (「肌紅蛋白」)，iron having oxidized and its meat becoming tan or brown in color.  Brownish-red colored meat can indicate spoilage.   Taiwanese gov. advised that people should avoid eating those brown colored, or drying out, or no longer elastic fish meat, which were cut long time ago.   Eating cooked fish is perfect safe.  (health.ettoday.net/news/1017291) ◆ United Daily News (聯合報元氣網) , 9-23-2014:  blackfin (blue-fin) tuna toro belly meat should be fresh and red, ruddy, rich oily (油脂豐富),  Those darker or red with black tone in color are not fresh ones (暗紅色或偏黑), but carbon monoxide processed fish are beautiful red colored, and unchanged all the time. ◆ 三立新聞 (3-6-2018 , SET TV news): Fresh raw fish meat are red, ruddy or rosy in color (紅潤)、no fishy smell 、 elastic or bit chewy (彈性) (https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=354695) ◆ Daily Mail, UK reported an American guy having raw Salmon almost every day had a 167 cm parasite in his stomach.  ◆ 今周刊(1-19-2018): The best way to avoid parasites and bacteria, e.g., Listeria monocytogenes or Vibrio parahaemolyticus , is eating cooked fish. (www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/80731/post/201801190019)

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◆ best restaurants
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      1. Luc Besson's movie "Lucy"  shooting in Taiwan particularly includes Din Tai Fung ―  which is not only the most famous Taiwanese restaurant but also even a landmark of Taiwan, however,             

    2. Michelin Guide Taipei was released at 4-10-2019, Taiwanese cuisine was not valued very high, only 4 restaurants won 1 star each,   3 starred chefs are from Hong Kong (Canton) and Macau.     The total number of stars and starred restaurants of Taiwan are much less than those of Shanghai, HK, Macao, and Singapore, in both 2019 and 2018.     Furthermore, unlike those in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taiwan's night-market, street food failed to won any Michelin star.  

      3.   According to  "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" (2018) , Thailand Bangkok's Gaggan consecutively got in the first place,  the number of Japanese restaurants selected is 11, Hong Kong & Macao 10,  Thailand 9、Singapore 7,  Korea and Taiwan both are 3, but Korea won the 11th grade, the best ever position that Taiwan got in this year is the 15th  (RAW, 18th MUME,  47th Shoun Ryugin),  China got the 8th position.  https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/asia-50-best-restaurants-2018/index.html

      5.  Miele Guide (2012) :  No any Taiwanese restaurant is included in top 20 Asian restaurants list.

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◆ Food - night markets

     Best night-market-food in Taiwan : oyster omelet (introduced by Discovery channel of USA) ―  it is most typical Taiwanese food( street snack everywhere in night markets), but not exquisite & elaborated food.  a TV program expressed many oyster omelets use peanut (fatal aflatoxin was found in some cases) powder and some unknown ingredients/addictives.    intro. to Taiwan cuisines

◆ Food - scandals

    ●  5 star hotel restaurants scandals -  A book (Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taiwan Veterans General Hospital's physician Jiang So-San江守山M.D.'s "食在安心" (10-2014)) said many 5 star hotel restaurants don't wash vegetables ...  some 5 star hotels made sashimi raw fish slices by using fresh-water fishes, this may increase the probability to get cancer  (for details 台灣餐廳  or  台灣美食Taiwan Night Markets ) ; Epoch Times (大紀元, 3-14-2017):Okura Prestige Tpe (大倉久和, a 5 star hotel) sold expired frozen shrimps, molded taro (vegetable 芋) etc;   SETN news ( 三立新聞 5-16-2016): Some 5 star hotels in northern Taiwan sold black-hearted expired seafoods ;  LTN (5-17-2016): 5 star hotels Ambassador and Howard (國賓、福華) clarified this news;   Apple Daily (蘋果日報 6-7-2016): Sheraton (喜來登) 's white shrimps contained bleaching agent (漂白劑)，4 times higher than the legal standard，Ranina (Spanner crabs 旭蟹) contained heavy medal Cadmium poisoning (重金屬镉) 14% higher than the standard...;  Apple Daily (蘋果日報 7-2-'13): Taiwan's tourist hotels' food ingredients expired 2 years,  only 3 out of 21 hotels passed the security check and sanitary examination etc conducting by Taiwan Administration, e.g., Shangri-La's (tnn) did not separate their cutting tools for cooked foods and raw foods;     FTV news, 5-18-2017: 13 ingredients / materials expired in a 5 star hotel in Taiwan;  CTI TV news (5-17-2017, 19:33): What can we eat in Taiwan? people are uneasy for food here...   

○ ●  Chang Gung Mem. Hospital professor Yen M.D. (顏宗海, Doctor, Univ. of London ): Minimize the times of dining out to protect your health ! ( ref. to book <食品不安全的年代如何自保>("how to survive in this bad food-security time", April 2016)) 

     ●  Dean of National Taiwan Normal University - graduate school of Chemistry,  Dr. Gaston J. C. Wu (化學所長吳家誠教授)'s book <Those black-heart products toxin-experts never buy ("毒物專家絕不買的黑心商品")> (Nov. 2013): Most of the time I eat at home, and has never dined out in street-side shops / small-eat markets (路邊攤), because those small-eat shops usually/always do not meet the minimum standards of cleanliness. 

     ●  Taiwan's food  safety scandals  :  poisonous, black hearted food in Taiwan for 20-30 years, click for details  
     Major world media like The New York Times and The Economist (11.29.2014) comment a series of food safety scandals is one of few main factors causing the KMT, Taiwan's ruling party, has suffered one of its worst electoral defeats since Chiang Kai-shek and his forces fled to the island at the end of Chinese civil war in 1949.

Advertisement     a long time loser

My article in <the United Daily News> (Oct. 2007) mentions Taiwan's ad. creativity has been lousy for a long time,  In the past 10 years, Taiwan is about in the last place in Cannes Ad. festival, world best ad. contest (Even Vietnam, Philippines, red China are bit better than Taiwan).  Till  early of 2017, Taiwan still only has small number of winnings in int'l ads & creativity contests. 

 Take Taiwan's national ads : "UN for Taiwan" (Taiwan to join the UN ) , as an example :

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As for Taiwan's business ads. or TV commercials obtaining winning records in int'l ad. festivals, are not all so original,..... or/and not very sharp-witty, e.g., making love with an insect symbolizes insecure sex, or stick out (very out) the tongue to make a funny face, ...... are student-level ideas.

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Animation (comment Taiwan's best awards in world's best contests)

Tamkang Univ.'s paper concludes Taiwan animation's 1st problem is "short of creativity".    Very few Taiwan's researches 're working on this subject - Creativity.  (Taiwan  animation currently is only expertise at drawing tech.)

◎   comment Taiwan's international winning animation films in 2011.

More clever Picasso-inspired  ideas have already been developed years ago, please click to see !

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Music/songs

An essay <China Tames Rebellious Side of Rock "n" Roll> in <New York Times>, likened today's Red Chinese pop music culture to the politically enforced conformity  of the Cultural Revolution, the core of songs is "have fun", culture has become an empty vessel, there are few hints of angst, alienation , or any but the mildest expression of teenage rebellion.

Taiwan's pop music was tamed by political pressure in the past, the "opposition culture" in Taiwan's music field was almost eliminated.

Today's music is in a money-oriented environment.

Very few people notes an usual case :  two most popular singers, Wu-bai and S.H.E. (hottest in China too) sing 2 same-name songs, namely all the same as Chinese translation of "Brave New World" - a classic literature regarding man-handled white-terror tyranny.   S.H.E. seems so happy and exciting while singing this song.

In contrast, Apple Computer's famous commercial <1984> comes from another white-terror literature  "1984" written by Orwellian.   Ad. research papers mention one reason it succeeds ( the most remarkable US ad campaign, although aired only once ) is that people are curious about the mystery/puzzle -  a tyranny in a free country.

Certainly, the <1984> despises human-controlled tyranny.

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Arts

United Daily 10-31-2019: Plagiarism again in Taiwanese design field !!  an art-work in Tai-Nan art festival copied UK's, another art-work on train (government's project) copied Russian's ...... All Taiwanese designers should respect themselves and take these cases as a lesson.

Critiques in UDN (10-24-2019) :  Design field thinks culture & arts are nothing but decorative, fine arts belittle commercial arts, etc ... the arts should take the lead for the fusion of tech. and culture ( for details pls. read https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4122342 ) .

Apple Daily, opinion, 7-20-2018 :  Taiwan ( Taiwanese everywhere) lacks of aesthetics accomplishments,  particularly those in power can allocate resources have "really turn me off" taste (倒盡胃口),  Taiwan's public art works are too vulgar to be endured (俗不可耐), and some are sort of cheap-copy works (仿冒竊).

Dec. 8, 2012 : To everyone's surprise, 2 out of 3 artists in Taiwan government's selection for participating Italia Venice Biennale are foreigners !  This means Taiwan does not have talented artists??

Many Asian countries have great ambition to do city-marketing by arts expo.,  there're 8 arts biennales will be taken place in Sept. 2008.

Taiwan is one of them -   <Asia Arts Biennale > was held till Feb. 2008.

Taiwan's largest news introduced (with a large-sized picture) an expo.  artwork  -  world brand's logos are spread on human bodies, this work seems to symbolize "Globalizing" phenomenon.

However, the idea "logo body" already appeared a number of times in,  i.e., <Your Logo Here, photos from S. Cal. 2004-2006>, and some logo tattoo works .......

More sharp-witty and more difficult ideas appeared in cartooning field at least 13 years ago, i.e., Japanese Yomiuri international cartoon contest.

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Architecture    no aesthetical & creative astonishment

◆ Taiwanese architects were forced to be "construction supervisors" instead of "designers" by the government's policy,  this  finally rouse architects' angers after enduring 10 + years,  most major public architecture projects went to international architects for "unjust treaties" made by the administration. / head-line news of The United Daily, 7-17-2017

below are Taiwan's "shop-front" or "Face-valued" buildings :

An article by VIP professor in Taiwan major newspaper (2002) asserted  :  " Copy is humanism spirits" 、 " How can we enjoy & bear those original designed  architecture by Taiwanese !? "

ps1:  Taiwan's Pavilion at Shanghai's World Expo. (China)  ―   an ordinary architecture, far worse than UK's Pavilion (based upon the same construction cost and land-space).

ps2:  another contrast 

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Film/movie

● Taiwan film industry lacks good scripts and talented directors (till present 2017) ― in details,  3 major troubles :

(1)  Taiwan likes to 'create'  some abstract/obscure symbols attracting very very few people.  Using Eastern exotic flavor was another very useful strategy for attending world film contest.   Shortage of  witty & creative idea led to Taiwan film industry's death.

         ☉  Taiwan's movies fail to create better humour like "Lost in Beijing" ( red Chinese film banned by CHN gov.) .
         ☉   Taiwan's all-time grossing film, <Cape No.7>, is not a stylish witty comedy (some world best media positioned this film as comedy), but attracts lots of Taiwanese (particularly southern Taiwanese) by some simple ideas( i.e., sort of slapstick) and Taiwanese grass-roots culture elements.  
         ☉  Taiwan's <You are the Apple of My Eye> of 2011 is very popular in TW, HK and Chn, but most of it's boyish humors are not witty & stylish, this film attracts audiences by stoking collective memory of their youngsters age.
PS: In 2012, Taiwan's films only won 2 awards in Taiwan's Golden Horse film festival (China and HK won most awards), which is the worst in latest 20 years.   In 2014, Taiwan was bit better, won 3 out of 23 awards in total.

(2)   Taiwan government used to do political propaganda/comm. by using movies,  till now days Taiwan's government still thinks highly of things helpful to win political elections, besides, Taiwan government's movie policy already gave up to WTO, U.S., Hollywood.

(3)  Taiwanese spent little on arts, and taste not too good - many people prefer real things, like money.

● TV soap opera series : Taiwan's TV opera series focus on "charming leading-actors/actress" (not giving importance to the content) to attract audiences, so Korean, Japanese, red Chinese TV series are better & more popular.   United Daily (12-28-2014): Taiwan's TV opera are not original.  UDN (critique C2, 6-21-2015): Taiwan's drama crisis/ lacking of budge, passion, actor/actress.
● Variety show/program of assorted entertainment: UDN 7-22-2018: Among all creative & cultural industries, Taiwan's audio & visual industry has closest relationship with China's, but Taiwan's entertainment shows are too 'slapstick" for Chinese people.    This sort of shows were very popular and was the reason or excuse that Taiwanese people don't like going to theater watching movies, but till 2013, those stuffs were not fresh enough and already behind China's, some paper even questioned Taiwan's variety show/program of assorted entertainment : "Are they incurable?" (4/7/'13 UND).  United Daily (12-26-2014):  Taiwan needs creativity.  Apple Daily (8-31-2015) : Taiwan's entertainment show from bad to worse, the gap between Taiwan and China becomes bigger, Taiwan's TV field in risk !

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Cartooning

About 10 years ago, ROC on Taiwan government together with <The United News> system organized a Taiwanese team to participate in Euro's largest humour contest, ＜Kokke Heist Humour & Cartoon Festival ＞，only 3 artists (including Zola Zu) were selected.

Recently Taiwanese cartoon artists have shown little talents on Taiwan International Cartoon Contest sponsored by Taiwanese government,

Almost all juries withdrawn from <Courage World Cartoon Contest> (ranking world No. 1 for some years) , due to "seems political" reasons .   

Both animation and cartooning need creativity, but at present Taiwan doesn't have that environment.   

Taiwan youngsters like "Kuso" stuffs, however, formula/routine mind is not good enough for cartoon creativity.  

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ps: Taiwan has (only a few) world class cartoonists.

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Product Design

(1 )  Taiwan's best-selling cultural creativity :

Recently, Taiwan's best-selling & widely known product , "Chinese Fortune(or Rich) God figure toy", is based on Taiwanese superstition (Apple Daily: 88%of college students believe ghost -  ps2  ), and eagerness for money,

Taiwan's figure-toy design just simplified Chinese Gods' complicated appearance to little cute mascot, in contrast, int'l designs for gods are more witty, i.e.,

  
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( 2 )  best-selling cultural products for int'l tourists

A major design periodical comments:  <National Palace Museum>'s rich treasures is the key to success of Taiwan's Cultural & Creative Industry.

However, <NPM> seems to look down upon the talent of Taiwanese designers.

<NPM> should designs Chinese treasures, and makes witty, humorous artworks  to represent Taiwan's modern arts.   Western tourists suppose like to buy souvenir with Chinese culture & flavor created by ourselves.    "Mercenaries" cannot represent Taiwan to Olympics.

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ps: "tech. oriented" product design like <idea> contest, <if> contest is not discussed in here

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Medical

● Apple Daily (蘋果日報, 4-15-2019), United Daily (聯合報, 4-14-2019) ... : Going easy route, lacking of ethics, MDs advised using Da Vinci for even a minor operation,  38 hospitals were suspected of making false report about Da Vinci surgery to illegally obtain benefits from national insurance up to NTD 3.5 billion.

● Apple Daily 6-30-2018 pointed out Taiwan's medical service has no good preventive health care and health promotion, and will worsen within next 10 years for political factors.

● Taiwan only ranks world 45th position in Lancet's Healthcare Access and Quality Index released in 2017 (based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2015: a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study   2015),  some chronic disease items got very low or failure scores, e.g.,   Leukemia score 49,  Kidney disease 50, Gallbladder & biliary 57, Hypertensive Heart Disease 60,   diabetes mellitus 58, etc.  http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(17)30818-8.pdf

● United Daily News (5-30-2017): The biggest problem of Taiwan's medical care is too short diagnostic time, without a completed examination in most cases, usually, patients are already in serious condition when symptom became clear. / Dr. Huang D.F., president of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center
● FTV (4-16-2017, 民視) comments medical Doctors' social status is lower than before.   Taiwan's current social value system is rapidly changing the culture in medical circle.    Dean of NTU medical school (張上淳) advised that physicians
always keep in mind a love-based, "patient-centered", and humanistic-care thinking   
● The book "Exposing the truth of modern medical circle in Taiwan" ("誤診誤醫", published by the China Times, 2012; by Xu Da-Fu  ) criticizes : Taiwan's hospitals focus on profit/benefit and ignore patients' rights , The whole medical circle already went the wrong route...

◎ Surgery / Taiwan's excellent surgeons perform many operations simultaneously - happened quite often in Taiwan...
◎ Medicines /  the quality of prescription medicines in Taiwan is from bad to worse...
◎ Bribery / the institution needed to be paid bribery most is judiciary system, second is Taiwan's medical and health services ...
◎ full text pls. ref. to   Taiwan's Hospitals and physicians (M.D.s)

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Women's rights

●  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019 pointed out that Victims of rape and domestic violence did not report the crime for fear of social stigmatization, and various nongovernmental organization (NGO) and academic studies estimated the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times higher than the number reported to police.   Some abused women chose not to report incidents to police due to social pressure not to disgrace their families.    <The United Daily >,  3-16-2018: Taiwan's gender equality - A long long way to go !  Taiwan passed (United Nations already passed 30+ years ago at 1979) the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) , valid from Jan. 1, 2012, but, Taiwan's women rights status is still similar according to the US report released in 2013 ~ 2018, In 2015, the number of reporting for rape or sexual assault  is only 850 less than that in previous year.     The Gov. study showed (3-2-2019) the number of  Domestic Violence in 2018 is 138637, which increases about 1% compared to previous year. 

●  The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , released at 4-20-2018

        Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and domestic violence. Many victims did not report the crime for fear of social stigmatization, and various NGO and academic studies estimated the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times the number reported to police.

women work: Women were promoted less frequently, occupied fewer management positions, and worked for lower pay than men, earning on average 83 percent of their male counterparts’ income in 2015... a survey in 2016 showed 3.5 percent of women have been sexually harassed at work, yet 80 percent of these cases went unreported.

●  <The United Daily 聯合報>,  3-16-2018 (prime news edition)

         Taiwan president Tsai I. W. : Taiwan still have a not short way to reach gender equality (台灣離性別平等  還有一段路要走)
         <The United Daily 聯合報>,  3-16-2018 (林志潔, professor and member of national judicial reform committee)
          The judge made mistakes again and again,  Taiwan's gender equality - A long long way to go !

● The China Times <中國時報> 3-8-2018: according to investigation/survey, 80% female physicians met sexual harassment, ... a female physician of Cathy Hospital had different views and said the percentage of harassment to nurse probably higher because they are young and in lower status  (8成女醫曾遭性騷擾, 女醫反應兩極 ... brief)

●  <Apple Daily>, 4-3-2018: According to a survey by Taiwanese government, 180 thousands of career women suffered sexual harassment, only 40-50 thousands reported to their company, others chose to keep silence... <蘋果日報> 4-7-2018: The number of sexual harassment on campus reported is up to 1400 per year.

●  The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , released at 3-3-2017:   Violence & discrimination against women is one of Taiwanese principal human rights problems for years.   In 2015, the number of reporting for rape or sexual assault  is only 850 less than that in previous year.      Apple Daily news (12. 25. '14) reported that the percentage of  those Taiwanese male aged above 20 visiting porn business (2.33 million men per yr. ) ranked world No.1.  The annual value of production of Taiwan's sex industry's is at least USD 200 million.  Prostitution is violence against women / ref to <Prostitution : violence with no name>, "Prostitution et Societe", 2010, "Int'l Day for the Elimination of Violence against women", 11-25-2016 France.   Taiwan government is the main criminal to harm women's rights in large scale.

●   The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , released at 3-3-2017:   spousal rape, and domestic violence. Many victims did not report the crime for fear of social stigmatization, and various nongovernmental organization (NGO) and academic studies estimated that the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times the number reported to police.  Women were promoted less frequently, occupied fewer management positions,...

　

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Sports/Athletics

●  In 2016 Rio Olympics medal tally statistics, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) only got 1 gold, 2 bronze, ranks world No. 50, compare to previous years, 5 medals in 2000, 2004, 4 medals in 2008, 2 medals in 2012；Other Asian nations -  China ranks No.3, Japan No.6,  Korea No. 8,  Australia No 10,  N.Z. No.19,  Iran  25, North Korea No. 34, Thailand No. 35, Indonesia No. 46, Vietnam No.48, Taiwan No. 50

●  Taiwan just held 2 world scaled athletic events that have ever seen in Taiwan's history :

World Games Kaohsiung Taiwan &  Deaflympics Taipei : comments & critiques  click to see how they showed Taiwan's culture and creativity.

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Summary

(1) Not easy to upgrade "Made in Taiwan" to "Create in Taiwan",  since Taiwan has very few experts in creativity. (government does not think highly of them)

(2) Most Taiwanese professors (PhD) do theoretical studies, don't have talent (some even are not interested ) on witty creativity/design. 

(3) Ph.D usually is required for college teacher position, it's one criterion for Taiwan government to evaluate all schools.  Un-talented teachers can't train students to be talented.

(4) Taiwan's society and people don't think important of arts, culture, creativity, etc.  

(5) Taiwan government official in univ. paper said Taiwan doesn't have that kind of environment for creativity.  
     Creativity needs freedom,  democracy, and people's independent personality,  government officers don't like creativity, which means extra risk.

(6) Taiwan should fight "diamond cut diamond" with western nations in major fields , instead of going backdoor (or side-door) by exotic local culture, Eastern mysterious flavor, obscure codes, etc.

(7) Taiwan government used to give less budget to cultural field, and use e.g., movie as propaganda/comm. tool.   Taiwan needs int'l friends, but uncreative films won't attract enough audiences.

(8) Taiwanese government kicks cultural creativity to the corner in most time, in that creativity seems no use for political election, but requires extra efforts on social controls/adm.

(9)  Taiwan's government prefers to use his own men.

(10) Taiwanese youngsters love heavy slapstick 、silly "Kuso" stuffs ("young-designers" policy is wrong).
     Taiwanese adults' imaginative power  is bounded, thinking in a roundabout/evasive way,  their tastes are lousy .......  pls. see 2 examples as below :

	artworks introduced by Taiwan's largest news:	western artwork earlier
	Merging Mao's photo  &  Tian-an-men Square of Beijing with "Miki mouse" (to symbolize Red China's westernization  )	Morphing Mao with "Miki mouse" (to symbolize China's westernization  )
		is Biro Mihaly: A haboru borzalmai ellen, Plakat Budapest, Europe, at 1912. http://www.hnm.hu/utils/Gallery.php?ItemID=213&PicNum=9
	fighter planes pass Tian-an-men Square, and drop human-beings as bombs ps: this painting price 10 times from 2005 to 2008	using youngsters as artillery bullets (appeared earlier)

to be continued, if necessary

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Taiwan needs medicine, not cosmetic

ps2:  Other researches : finger-pointing moon results in that ear will be cut (28.3%) , chopstick knock bowl results in being a beggar (22.3%),  swimming in July (Lunar) results in un-luck (64.7%), whistling after sunset will encounter ghost (37%), pregnant woman using scissors will give birth to an abnormal baby(32%)  - reported by <Apple Daily>5.29.2005  (largest and best news evaluated by university) 

  2. Taiwan's hard power

 ●  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

 

 ●  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.

   ●  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:

●   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/)

●  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.

● 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 ...

● 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.

●   Eastern Taiwan's anti-aircraft military force needs to be improved soon, but in recent years, Taiwan has been limited to international reality and financial difficulties, therefore focused on main forces' (F16, IDF/F-CK-1, etc) functional improvement, instead of developing or purchasing new-generation jet fighters, Taiwan looks forward to having F35B, but it may take more than 10 years in the queue.  / brief - The Liberty Times, 2-5-2017.

●  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 or the international community,”  echoing a strategy that has been at the core of Taiwan’s defense doctrine for decades......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,...The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 commits the United States to defend the island’s sovereignty, providing “such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary” ... US latest arms sales " short of the major systems that could give Taiwan a real edge."

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●  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/

 /  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/opinion    (ps: China's Baidu, 10-15-2017: Taiwanese reservists 3 million in total )
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●   The US Defense Gov. Report of 2017

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●  LTN 3-5-2017  / military power of China VS Taiwan

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●喵US Annual Report to Congress, 2016

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People Republic of China

https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2016%20China%20Military%20Power%20Report.pdf

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● Economist (special edition 2017): Taiwan will turn into a tiger again.   ●Taiwan declared no other air forces are allowed to show their muscle in Taiwan air space/ Apple Daily,  5-30-2016,...
     CTV evening news11-27-2016, United Daily News 11-30-2016: China's military aircraft-fighters (much stronger than TW air force) flied past around Taiwan and passed through 1st Island Chain, Taiwan air force did not intercept them. 

● Taiwan lacks key-tech to make a large bus / the China Times, 3-29-2017

● Taiwan president beset by low approval rate because of weakness against foreign countries, even including Philippines, a backward country dared to hurt Taiwan, not to mention military strong ones, China, Japan, etc.  ref. to Forbes, 5-21-2013.

● Taiwan politics belongs to corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties.   <Foerign Policy> 2015.

★  "understand Taiwan in one minute"  !   ★  TAIWAN    in all aspects  ★  Review Taiwan   Top rankings on internet !!

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   3. comment Taiwan in all aspects

Other Soft Power
As for other items of Taiwan's soft power, according to Reporters without Borders (RSF), Taiwan's press freedom (speech freedom) ranks No. 45 (always behind No. 45 since 2008), Taiwan's human rights, judicial system, high-ranking officials' corruption, women's rights, abuses of international/foreign workers, death penalty ( capital punishment ) etc need to be improved.