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| Taiwan Reviews ★ this site's world No. 1 in world No. 1 in 2020, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★ Top rankings since 1998 ★ |
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| Taiwan Reviews ★ this site's world No. 1 in world No. 1 in 2020, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★ Top rankings since 1998 ★ |
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★Taiwan reviews, an introduction to Taiwan by international & local organizations:
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Reviews on → |
★ Taiwan soft power | ★ Taiwan military | ★ Taiwan economy | ★ brief Taiwan |
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News
―
News brief: 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... Taiwan remains
sanguine despite Beijing sabre-rattling.
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.
Washington Post, 9-25-2019:
China’s growing dominance in the South Pacific is a
defeat for an America in retreat.
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. 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.
★
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★ No.1 on US Google by keyword "review Taiwan" , 3-20-2020, 1-26-2019, 1-23-2019
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pic:
This websites-group was
ranked No.1
by keyword
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Brief -
political status among Taiwan, China, USA
| 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 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...
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● CNN 6-17-2019: mass protests (in Hong Kong) emboldened anti-China elements in Taiwan.
● 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. 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.
● 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.
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● The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence “Open Hearing on China’s Worldwide Military Expansion.”, 5-17-2018 : 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...
● Washington Post, 1-5-2018 : Xi commanded China’s military to become “battle ready.” ...... Taiwan will turn “grave” because Taiwan’s government refuses to acknowledge that the island is part of China. .Taiwan needs to increase its defense spending considerably...“the outcome of the game [between China and Taiwan] is undecided".
● New York Times at 11-4-2017, the Pentagon report, May 2017: China’s military modernization has “eroded or negated many of Taiwan’s historical advantages (geography and the US support) ” in deterring a potential attack.
● Le Monde diplomatic of France, Mai 2016, depicted Taiwan as a trembling sweating rat (click for details), turning its back on an approaching huge cat (China), lifting high the banner "$O$" .
● FreeBeacon at 10-19-2017 : "China’s Xi Jinping Slams the Door on Taiwanese Appeals for Independence.". Washington Post at 10-18-2017: "Mr. Xi’s biggest applause line was a vow to 'never allow anyone. . . to separate any part of Chinese territory from China.' That would include...Taiwan."(19th CPC national Congress). Spiegel Germany, 1-9-2017, Global Times of China: "There is no room for negotiations" .
● New York times, 5-18-2017: 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 ... have left the military understaffed and in a state of low morale...
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☉
below each visual
parody, cartoon on
The dark
side of Tw. are
related or relevant reports or
comments
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Taiwan's travel & tourism - 10th in Asia
WEF <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness, Taiwan ranks 10th in Asia (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,...), Taiwan's prioritization of travel & tourism ranks world No.75
children & women trafficking in Taiwan
Traffickers
lure women from China and Southeast Asian
countries to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages
and deceptive employment
Traffickers reportedly take advantage of
Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy”
visa-simplification program to lure Southeast
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Taiwan, A pirate boat ?
● US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019
Although Taiwan met the minimum standards, separation of purview between the
Ministry of Labor (MOL) and the Fisheries Agency (FA), coupled with
exclusive info.
●
Green Peace,
5-2-2019: It remains our view that Taiwanese fisheries still have
many serious problems,
● <The Diplomat> (4-14-2016) : Taiwan's illegal fishing is 'out of control' - EU warned in 2015 Taiwan with a yellow card for illegal fishing till 6 '19. GreenPeace criticized Taiwan gov. for knowing this issue but does little.
● Washington Post 2-22-2018: Taiwan is No.2 fishing nation as measured by Global fishing Watch's Automatic Identification Sys., 2016. (wait & see how TW nw law works)
●
Lowy
Institute & <the
interpreter>, 5-2-2019:
◆
Taiwan
has so far refused to adopt the Work in Fishing Convention;
●
US
State Department’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices
(2018): Taiwan flagged the practices of
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◆ <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.
◆
pic. right: The China Times 3-29-2019 headline news: Defend 100%
freedom of speech, democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the
bone is not allowed.
The media have freedom to choose sides, but no any side should limit the
freedom, Taiwan government should not choose Orwellian administration. ◆ pic. left: Apple Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion: Freedom of speech is the bottom line which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling effect by fishing in trouble water. (https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20190329/38294369/)
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1.
reviews on Taiwan's soft power
★
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pic: This
websites-group was ranked No.1
ps: This site was ranked No.1 on US Bing and search.yahoo.com at 5-17-2018
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pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "review Taiwan" on US Google, 5-13-2018, 9-19-2017
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★★ "understand Taiwan in one minute" ! ★ TAIWAN in all aspects ...... Top rankings on internet !!
★
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international & local reviews on Taiwan |
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| soft power |
●
According to UK based Monocle's Soft Power Survey 2010 ~
2019, Taiwan has not been included in this global ranking list, Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's
countries Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand,
China, India, UAE, all of them reached "world top 20" at least once.
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privacy
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● New York Post 4-25-2020 : Taiwan
fights with CovID with "a
lot more authoritarian.",
"almost everyone is tracked.", "Children have their temperature taken at
school and are sent to the hospital if they have a fever." Taiwan govt. responded at 4-28-2020: Taiwanese would like to cooperate with our policy. ps: UDN 5-7-2020 editorial: No Taiwanese were told being monitored until govt. started its int'l propaganda campaign. UDN 5-9-2020 : Taiwan's infra-red thermograph (for CovID-19) in dept store, rapid transit station, made women almost naked, and triggered questions.
● 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)
● 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.
● 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 ● The United Daily News (聯合報) editorial opinion (9-19-2018) : "secret police"(「東廠們」) have been active around us ...
● Apple Daily, 11-25-2018, KMT's "Secret Police" sayings seriously damaged the image of ruling party (New York Times, 11-23-2018: Taiwan's ruling party was handed a major defeat in local elections).
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| freedom of expression |
● Five measures to reinforce Taiwan’s media: 1) establish regulations that effectively protect the independence of editorial departments from their employers and boards of directors 2) create in law a “duty of care” that would oblige online platforms to protect both users’ freedom of speech, and safety in regards to hate speech and manipulation 3) upscale the amount of financial resources allocated to public media outlets 4) support the emergence of new media outlets that aim to uphold journalistic ethics, through economic and fiscal incentives following a similar model to start-up development 5) emphasize critical thinking and media literacy in academic curricula and public education actions (brief) ● 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. ● 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 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.
●
<United Daily
(聯合報)>
11-2-2018, headline news : Taiwan's National Security Bureau confirmed their
investigations of Facebook communities and others on the net, for monitoring,
controlling and collecting "controversial information" including
those "influence
national security", "slander
president", "disrupt social stability",
"distort policy" and
"disturb national
mechanism", "fight governmental prestige", "influence public mind and morale";
UDN critiques pointed out it's a political propaganda to block red China's influences, but
"Big Brother is watching you" almost for sure lead to "Chilling Effect". ● <United Daily (聯合報)> 11-3-2018, KMT legislator : all internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in all users' personal information/data (intel denied). Taiwan's intelligence "National Security Bureau" has been doing overall monitors on all Taiwanese. |
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| travel & tourism |
● ABC
Radio
National,
Australia, 2-27-2020:
What's
most
apparent
when
visiting
Taiwan
is
how
ordinary
it
is —
ordinary
in
the
sense
of
normal,
everyday,
functional.
● WEF <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness, Taiwan ranks 10th in Asia.
● why 5/6 bridges badly in need of repair have not been done ? government even has never made public the info. and where those bridges are. (ref. to United Daily, 10-9-2019, headline news)
● 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 collapsed like a snow-slide, the number of tourists to Kenting National Park(墾丁貓鼻頭) dropped 59%, to Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) dropped 43%, etc, because of the number of Chinese tourists declined a lot and local people don't like those sites - Apple Daily opinion 1-17-2018: expensive hotels, crowded traffic, getting ripped-off by greedy shops' ... ● People's Daily, the major official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, ( Opinion/editorial 8-4-2016): <Chinese tourists do not dare to visit Taiwan in the future without safety assurance> / Taiwan tour disasters are sort of man-made disasters , Taiwan tourism's major problems include loopholes in law and regulation 、careless mistakes in administration or not-good-enough system of organization, other malpractices are traveling load-bearing capacity 、road-traffic safety 、aviation safety 、road maintenance 、safety standard for tour bus 、Modified Automobiles/Fix-up tour bus、Low-end tour groups … tragic accidents happening again and again open Pandora's box, too many tourist victims reveal Taiwan tourism's problems, Taiwan authority tried to do something (亡羊補牢) each time a tragic accident occurred, but it seemed late and same kind of tragedies never cease. (《人民日報》8-4-2016 社論: 很多意外事故都存在著人禍 的影子，或是法規漏洞、管理疏失、或是體制不足。旅遊承載能力、道路安全、飛行安全、道路養護 、遊覽車安全標準、改裝車、低價團…一起起事故猶如打開了潘朵拉的盒子... ) ● Taiwan got low score and is ranking world No.87 in the index of "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) , based on <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> 2017. |
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aesthetic country
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●
Forbes (3-5-2017) "3 Things
Chinese Tourists Are Surprised To Find
When They Travel Abroad To Taiwan"
: "It’s not very modern !", " the wealth wasn’t
invested in architecture. So the cities
are full of decayed apartment blocks....
the housing isn’t as good.”.
●The Liberty Times and the China Times (3-10-2017) / local scholars : without overall urban renewal planning, Taiwan will never get rid of the bad name "ugly cities". ●Taipei City mayor Dr. Ko pointed out during a trip to Japan that Taipei is short of aesthetic elements or sense of beauty (欠缺城市美學/美感). / The China Times 1-26-2016. |
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human rights
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●
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. Judicial reform advocates pressed for greater public
accountability, reforms of the personnel system, and other procedural
improvements
;
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.Labor
laws do not cover domestic household workers, leaving them vulnerable to
exploitation.
Concerns about censorship were limited to efforts by the authorities in the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) to censor Taiwan media outlets based on the
business interests of their parent companies in the PRC.
● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 3-3-2017: Principal human rights problems are official corruption, exploitation of foreign workers, domestic violence; Other concerns are some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying; violations of legal working hours, lacking of barrier-free spaces and accessible transportation systems for persons with disabilities, particularly outside Taipei; a rise in child abuse and gender-biased sex selection. (report in 4-20-2018 is about the same)
● Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017: ◆ In 2013, an international review panel ( human rights experts and scholars) visited Taiwan and concluded :
(1) "The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" should be added to Taiwan Criminal
Law, and should be put into force AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
●
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)
●
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)
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| food & dining |
● UDN, 2-17-2019: Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out... ● 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) ● 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 ... ● UDN, 2-17-2019: Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out...
●
Food safety is
one of
biggest challenges to Taiwan /
The China Times. 8-6-2016,
●
Chang
Gung Mem. Hospital professor Yin 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>,
2016.
○
●
MicroPlastics were found in 44% tap
water samples, medical circle believes it's a very serious environmental
pollution, since something bad, e.g., Dioxin, Bisphenol A (BPA), PAHs, heavy
metal elements, may be brought into food chain, and then are/were accumulated in
human body...... we better use purified water by RO machine for safety.
Furthermore, mussels, oysters, clams
(扇貝與蛤)
were also found some microplastics...... brief - headlines of Apple
Daily, United Daily, 9-26-2018.
○
●
The
China Times,
5-21-2018 :
Taiwan food safety became nothing but a slogan for the government's
relaxation of pesticide residue standards in these 2 years.
TVBS,
9-12-2017 : Scholar (中興univ. professor 曾德賜) expressed the amount ( per hectare )
of application of pesticide in Taiwan was ranked world No.1, according to
India's study.
●
Taiwan is not included in EIU's Global
Food Security Index of 2017, China ranks No. 45 among 113 nations.
●
5 star hotel scandals
- A
book (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...
●
According
to The World's Best Restaurants (2017)
, Taiwan is not included in the list, Thailand got No.7, Singapore No.14, Japan
18th, HK 24th, Shanghai 41th. In sub-total, 5 Japanese , 4 Chinese, 3
Singapore, 2 Thailand, 1 Korean, 1 India restaurant(s) entered top 100.
○ |
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| democracy |
●
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). ● <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. ● 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. New York Times, 1-11-2020: Taiwan’s young and vibrant, if messy at times, democratic society.
● <UDN> editorial,12-6-2018: Taiwan's democracy exists in name only ...
●
Taiwan government damages university
autonomy - rejecting the president selected by NTU committee. ● There's neither democracy on campus (colleges) nor university autonomy, / Apple Daily, opinion, 5-1-2018 ● <Foreign Policy> 2015: Taiwan politics belongs to corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties. ● The United Daily - Opinion, 3-7-2017 : Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's democracy just skin-deep... the people's "livelihood" was sacrificed for politics ... |
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| Social security |
●《
United Daily,
聯合報》,
Presidential election page, 1-6-2020:
The Police headquarter denied the state machine pressured them to
inspect fake news, but the Nationalists Party showed police internal
document to prove the police were push by
performance merit, rewards or punishments
to check fake message on internet, so police were lying
(pic. left)
●《 United Daily, 聯合報》, opinion, 1-6-2020: Taiwan police interviewed nationals everywhere for their reposting messages or pressing facial symbols on the net.
● More than 10 Korean media, e.g., Yonhap News Agency (韓聯社), Donga Ilbo (東亞日報), and largest web portal Naver, reported in Jan. 16, 2017 in large scale or great length to lash out Taiwan's bad social security. ●《 BBC》UK, 3-29-2016 "The whole society's safety net has loopholes " . ●《 The China Times》(6-9-2016 Opinion-editorial) : Taiwanese police do duty without dignity/honor. |
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| judiciary |
●
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, 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-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 ● 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... ●Taiwan's Minister of Judiciary and secretary of Justice Ministry issued progress report of judicial reform ― Public trust in judges is always low, the protection mechanism of lawsuit right is still not good enough (UDN 2-13-2018). ● United Daily 2-27-2018: Taipei mayor Ko said that Taiwan's jail and prison are good only for those have no connections at all. ("監獄是關沒有辦法的人") ● Apple Daily, opinion, 3-14-2018 : Survey <2017台灣社會信任調查> shows that Taiwan judicial official's / law enforcement officer's public trust is the second last. ● National Chung Cheng university's survey (head-page of the Liberty Times, 2-23-2016) found: more than 84% Taiwanese people don't believe judges, nearly 80% Taiwanese don't believe the impartiality of Taiwan's prosecutors, and public trust on Taiwan judiciary system keeps falling down in the past 8 years. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018: the justice ministry was insufficiently independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of politicians. ●Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen declared that no such injustice (The rich get off scot-free, the poor get the death sentence ) should be repeated, and blasted (5-20-2016) Taiwan justice earning no Taiwanese people trust. ● The United Daily, 3-6-2017 : Taiwan's judiciary still work as hatchet man for KMT. (陳師孟) |
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| transportation |
●
Lancet Planetary Health
(April 10, '19):
"The 4th worst for rate of kids
getting Asthma from traffic air pollution"
●《
China Times》,
Taiwan,
4-12-2019 : the government was criticized that lacking intention to
improve air pollution. ● BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017): "Bus Crash Horror !" - Taiwan's "safety standards need to be improved". A few days later another fatal bus accident occurred.
● Apple Daily,
Opinion-Editorial (2-15-2017): Such
a high casualty rate (bus crash) most likely ranks No.1 among all civilized states in the
world, public opinions and official blames are useless at all, because they saw
right through the government, called government's bluff ...
●
The United Daily (2-15-2017,
front-page): So many self-criticisms in the past never stop next
disaster !
● Fatal
train
accidents
●
2018 :
Taiwan Train Accident in biggest curve in
Taiwan Kills at Least 18 and Injures about 187 Others
( ps: CTV (中視新聞)
19:45pm, 10-22-2018, Prosecutor: over-speed might be the cause
of accident, other suspicious points under investigation
include "Automatic Train Protection (ATP)" being turned off,
abnormal track, etc; ps2: CTV 20:30pm, 10-22-2018 : speed
140km, should be 80km or 65 km)
●
1981:
a collision in Miaoli County, in the island’s
northwest, killed 31 people
● Taiwan's aviation safety - MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years" . |
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| housing |
●
<CTS
HD>,
5-23-2016 1:25pm,
"華視新聞雜誌":
17 million
Taiwanese people ( totally 23 million population) live in "potential
danger"
(潛在危險)
houses,
according to
<遠見>
study,
Taiwanese people gave a "failure" score (53.5) on "living safety". ●《The Liberty Times》Taiwan, 2-24-2017 : Keep eating nothing and drinking nothing for 33+ years to buy a new house in Taipei ! Taipei's Ratio of House Price to Income is 33.3 times, New Taipei city is 20.25. ● Lloyd's City Risk Index 2015-2025 analyses the potential impact on the economic output (GDP risk) of world's major cities, Taipei was ranked world No.1 - within the next 10 years, ● Amnesty International (The London-based organization), 2-25-2015: The organization concerns Taiwan’s inhabitation (housing and land) rights issues. |
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|
●
poor and weak - even some government's
logos are similar to western's, Taiwan very seldom won award in Cannes
Ad. festival France. ●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 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 ● It's a big shame again that Taiwan government used the photo of Washington Dulles int'l airport (old Taiwan airport is a cheap-copy, very similar to Dulles) on Taiwan's new passport. |
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|
●
The Liberty Times,
1-4-2016/
Taipei City mayor Dr. Ko: Taiwanese have been patient sufferance of so many politically bullies
and toying (and killings),
hence lost
confidence and passion, Taiwan only has
obedient,
docile citizens who surrendered to their "lord", those some of Taiwanese
revolted,
resisted or rebelled were all killed by their rulers, the rest
of Taiwanese are docile citizens, their children or
descendants are even more docile. ● The China Times, 3-24-2018, public opinion: Li Ao (李敖) in 1999 wrote that Taiwan already became a shadow, very realistic ( profit oriented, snobbish ), short-sight society (淺碟, 現實, 短視). ● Forbes (3-5-2017) : Taiwanese "People are ominously courteous". |
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|
●
<The
United Daily>, headline news, 12-7-2019 ★ ● <The United Daily>, 8-26-2019: <名人堂> 楊志良: "The gap between the poor and the rich became largest ever !" ★ ● <中國時報 The China Times>, editorial opinion, 10-4-2019: The productivity of those consumer goods (lifestyle) industries (such as general business, wholesales, retail, food, logistics/distribution, cosmetology & hair salon, early childhood care, hotel, etc industries with low salary and dark future ) most Taiwanese people work on is pretty low in general； in contrast, the new rich in Computer and electronics industries lead a great life，this leads to an unstable society。
● <United Daily news 聯合報>, head page, 12-10-2016: The word of 2016 selected is "苦" ("hardship", "pain"). |
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|
● Next TV news
(5-25-2019,
20:44, 壹新聞 壹電視 )
reported that
Taiwan government kept adjusting the price of more and
more drugs to cover the deficit of medical insurance
system, which resulted in more and more brand drugs
withdrawing from Taiwan (e.g.,
TIENAM)
, because cheap-price generic drugs made in Taiwan are
not as curative effective as brand drugs, Physicians
worry there's no good medicines for patients .... Besides,
Apple Daily (6-4-2017):
Taiwan medical service's critical problem ――
Preventive Health-Care service is behind.
The China Times, (7-4-2017)
: "patients centered" is
nothing but a slogan.
● 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 ● 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, 2012 BBC news : www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate) , not to mention big issues. ● Apple Daily, 12-30-2017: Amending Taiwan's medical service law is criticized as "Decriminalization", patients in Taiwan will be difficult to put to the proof in their legal cases.
●
<Transparency
International>
(
July 9,
2013) study :
"Have you or anyone in your
household paid a bribe to one of these 8 services in the last 12 months?"
Taiwanese
people think the institution needed to be paid bribery most is judiciary
system, second is Taiwan's
medical and health services,
the number of Taiwanese paying a bribe is higher than global average. (
Apple Daily 7-10-2013,http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20130710/35139300/
)
●Taiwan's medical & health performance is so successful (e.g. life expectancy, infant mortality and maternal mortality, are better than U.S., although we spent only one-quarter of USD (PPP) in health expenditure.) that former leader of health government, Dr. Ye Ching-chuan, was invited to testify at an US senate committee hearing on this issue |
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|
shopping/commodity-price |
● World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan's "price competitiveness" ranks world No. 78. ● (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015).
● In Swiss UBS's "most expensive cities" report, Taipei's commodity price was ranked No. 26, worse than the rank (No.42) in last time. (9-18-2015) ● UK's Economist Intelligence Unit - Liveability Country Level Index (2015), evaluates "Cost of Living" of Taipei as "72" (scores 1~131, "1" means the cheapest, e.g., Mexico City is "73"). ● According to 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, Taiwan's "hotel price index" ranks world No. 82, "Purchasing power parity" ranks world No. 64, "price competitiveness" ranks No. 38. ● Forbes (3-5-2017): Things are cheap ! Taiwan’s a good bargain, explaining the glut of self-guided tourists from China who voluntarily go shopping in Taipei. Some tourists also wonder if the prices reflect weakness in Taiwan’s overall economy. ● The China Times, 9-14-2015, shows the average price of 5 star hotels for Taiwanese tourists is NT dollars10494, price of 4 star hotels is NT5591 |
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|
|
● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-11-2020 : In the new legislature, a record 38 percent of lawmakers were women. ABC Radio National, Australia, 2- 27-2020: 42 per cent of Taiwan's legislators (law makers) are women; it's the only Asian nation to have legislated same-sex marriage.
● <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) ● Amnesty International (The London-based organization), 2.25.2015: The organization concerns Taiwan's gender discrimination. Taiwan’s passage of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the enactment of laws to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by 2017 were important starts, but still have to be fully implemented.
|
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|
athletics |
● In 2016 Rio Olympics medal tally statistics, Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) got 1 gold, 2 bronze, ranks world No. 50, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
int'l fraud |
● United
Daily, 10-23-2019, editorial: Taiwanese telecom frauds run
wild the entire world to damage Taiwan's image.
● Taiwan is notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world, damaging the image of Taiwan / EBC TV 4-9-2017 6:54am ● Taiwan largely sees these telecom frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather than liability... / quora ● Taiwan's legislators and judicial system don't have a sense of shame on releasing so many int'l telecomm scammers and fraud groups committing the crime across the world (United Daily, 8-24-2016 opinion-editorial ). |
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|
entertainment/circus |
● Taiwan police
declared crack down prostitution business, however,
those Taiwanese male aged
above 20
(2.33 million men per yr.
,ps1)
Prostitution business in Taiwan are, firstly, Thai
massage parlors (「掛羊頭賣狗肉」的按摩店(或養生館)), second, call-girls
controlled by agents, thirdly, individual working studio
or so-called one-woman
brothel
(「一樓一鳳」).
●The United Daily (8-19-2015): The area with highest density of night clubs ("酒店") / specialized profession ("特種行業",a beautified term of sex related business including massage parlors ) in Taipei city locates LinSen N. Rd. stretching from JinZhou street to ChangChun Rd. |
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|
Liveability |
●《 United Daily 聯合報》 4-12-2019 headline news - Lancet Planetary Health (April 10, '19): "The 4th worst for rate of kids getting Asthma from traffic air pollution" 《中國時報 China Times》, Taiwan, 4-12-2019 : the government was criticized that lacking intention to improve air pollution.
●《 United Daily 聯合報》 9-6-2019: "the root of all evil - high real estate price", Taiwanese politicians kept trying to earn sudden huge profits by their secret weapons - distorting tax rates, land-value assessing, changing land category, and wrongly using political power (在稅率、估價上，行種種遷就現實的扭曲，成為炒作地價法寶，配合變更地目千倍差價，借助公權力圖謀暴利，乃成大小政客的聚寶盆 ... / 馬凱)
● 《Apple Daily 蘋果日報》, 9-28-2019: "the root of all evil", the biggest injustice : land trades ( 台灣萬惡之源、台灣最大的不公不義: 土地交易... 很多避稅手段) , in the past decades, the richest Taiwanese earned huge fortune by land-trades. ● According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Global Liveability Report of 2017, Taipei ranks No. 60 among 140 cities, based on 30 factors related to education resource, safety, health care, infrastructure, environment, etc. Asia's Tokyo No. 13, Singapore 35, HK 45. |
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|
Political status |
●
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...
Washington Post 9-25-2019: China’s growing dominance in
the South Pacific is a defeat for an America in retreat.
New York Times
9-20-2019:
As Taiwan Loses Influence, China Gains
Ground in Race With U.S.
●
●
Quartz , 11-25-2018 :
● 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.” ●The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that the Republic of China (Taiwan) government is illegitimate, referring to it as the "Taiwan Authority". The ROC, however, with its own constitution, independently elected president and armed forces... since Chiang Kai-shek (leader of the KMT, Taiwan's ruling party most of time) and his forces fled to the island at the end of Chinese civil war in 1949. ● 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. ● Washington Post, 1-2-2017: The United States “acknowledges” that there is one China and that Taiwan is part of China. But the United States has never officially “recognized” Taiwan as part of China. ● The condition of Beijing's envoy (senior official) visiting Taiwan since the 1949 communist revolution is seeing no ROC national flag. Taiwanese government agreed and confiscated some flags in a rally... / LTN 11-06-2015 ● <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 ◆ 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.
◆ 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) ◆ The bill identifies (indirectly) Taiwan as a country - "visits to a country by United states cabinet members ...".
pic. left: ROC (Taiwan) national flag;
|
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★
★
|
● pic1: Ocean pollution in Taiwan coast
Daily Mail (UK)
7-14-2017
: ● ●
● Taiwan ignores environmental protection (ocean garbage clean-up) of 90% coast-line of Taiwan island for large garbage-distributions... / United Daily, 5-30-2017 ● ●
●
Daily Mail (newspaper
UK), 7-14-2017
● ●
● pic 4: Next Magazine (Apple Daily), front-page, 4-6-2017 - ocean and river pollution by Taiwanese
●
Asian's
biggest sewage treatment plant in Taiwan's New Taipei, skipped the
process of
removing contaminants from
wastewater and
disposed dirty and disgusting
water into the sea for probably 4-5 years, witnesses confirmed.
/ Next, front-page, 4-6-2017
● NO justice ! The courthouse judged enterprise's disposing 5000 ton cancer-producer strong acid and waste water into the river-creek (color changed to dark yellow ) and endangering the natural environment is no guilty ! / headline news of Apply Daily, 9-30-2015 http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20150930/36807420/
|
● pic. 2: "Taiwan is scandalous for drug exporting !!" / The China Times, headline news, 4-4-2017; pic. 3: Taiwan was already reduced to be a kingdom of producing narcotic drugs, United Daily, 11-2-2017, headline news. ● ●
● Taiwan administration's anti-drug is a phony show / The China Times, 7-26-2017 ● ● ● Taiwan's image ― notorious for being a major drug transit center & a major drug exporting country UDN 4-7-2018 opinion : Taiwan delivered huge amount of drugs to Philippines, and taught terrorists how to fight the gov. by using drugs ...
● Police of Japan and Australia already labeled Taiwan as "High Risk" illegal drug-exporting country ● ● ● Taiwan got bad records in The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) for the law and law-enforcement problems / United Daily, 4-11-2017
● Drug-abuse in Taiwan is too serious to stop / Apple Daily, Opinion, 5-15-2017 ● ● ● Based on Japan's statistics, Taiwan is its No.3 drug resource country ...... ● ● ● Philippines President Duterte (9-26-2017) : Triad supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China / inquirer.net Philippines President: All illegal drugs came from Taiwan / UDN, opinion, 10-20-2017
● 50 packs (bags) of drugs were found in Taiwan's air force major base / United Daily News 4-7-2017
ps: Dioxin & Fipronil in Taiwan
● ● ● "Wanna murder people?" Official certification CAS for food includes not , but Dioxin was already inside many people's body, probably was over the limit , TW government has never done source-control, never stop contaminants (pollutant, e.g., plastic, inks from industry, fly-ash from incinerator, etc) going to our environment. Pollution has exited 12 yrs, and never end / Apple Daily, head-page, 4-22-2017 ● ● ● United Daily, opinion, 8-26-2017 : Taiwanese are mad at the administration was so careless that too many loopholes for business to illegally use chemical... TW gov. randomly inspected some farms and found Fipronil in sample chicken-eggs exceeding 30 times Euro. standard ● CT 8-23-2017 : Taiwan's pesticide control on foods only half-done. ● ●
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★
★
PS :
(1) Monocle's soft power survey:
|
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey |
|||
| 1 | France | 16 | Nederland |
| 2 | Germany | 17 | Finland |
| 3 | Japan | 18 | Norway |
| 4 | Canada | 19 | China |
| 5 | Swiss | 20 | Belgium |
| 6 | UK | 21 | Singapore |
| 7 | Sweden | 22 | Ireland |
| 8 | Australia | 23 | Austria |
| 9 | USA | 24 | India |
| 10 | Portugal | 25 | Brasil |
| 11 | New Zealand | ps: Asia & Pacific countries marked | |
| 12 | Italia | ||
| 13 | Spain | ||
| 14 | Denmark | ||
| 15 | Korea | ||
|
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey |
|||
| 1 | Canada | 16 | Nederland |
| 2 | Germany | 17 | Korea |
| 3 | France | 18 | Finland |
| 4 | Japan | 19 | China |
| 5 | UK | 20 | Belgium |
| 6 | Swiss | 21 | Austria |
| 7 | USA | 22 | Singapore |
| 8 | Sweden | 23 | Ireland |
| 9 | Australia | 24 | India |
| 10 | Italia | 25 | Brasil |
| 11 | Denmark | ps: Asia & Pacific countries marked | |
| 12 | Portugal | ||
| 13 | New Zealand | ||
| 14 | Spain | ||
| 15 | Norway | ||
|
2016/2017 Monocle's Soft Power survey |
|||
| 1 | USA | 16 | Norway |
| 2 | Germany | 17 | Korea |
| 3 | Japan | 18 | Finland |
| 4 | UK | 19 | Brasil |
| 5 | France | 20 | China |
| 6 | Australia | 21 | Austria |
| 7 | Canada | 22 | Belgium |
| 8 | Sweden | 23 | Singapore |
| 9 | Swiss | 24 | India |
| 10 | Danmark | 25 | Poland |
| 11 | Italy | ps: Asia & Pacific countries marked | |
| 12 | Spain | ||
| 13 | New Zealand | ||
| 14 | Holland | ||
| 15 | Portugal | ||
★
|
2015/2016 Monocle's Soft Power survey |
|||
| 1 | Germany | 16 | Norway |
| 2 | USA | 17 | Austria |
| 3 | UK | 18 | Finland |
| 4 | Japan | 19 | Portugal |
| 5 | France | 20 | Belgium |
| 6 | Australia | 21 | China |
| 7 | Sweden | 22 | Brazil |
| 8 | Swiss | 23 | Singapore |
| 9 | Danish | 24 | Poland |
| 10 | Canada | 25 | Turkey |
| 11 | Spain | ||
(2) Taiwan failed to be listed in 2017's Soft Power 30 Study, compiled by PR company Portland Communication and University of Southern California. The top 30 nations 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.
★
★
★
★
2.
reviews on Taiwan's military power
full text :
Taiwan
military
★
● 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 ◆ so called asymmetrical capabilities in Taiwan is only skin-deep / United Daily , editorial, 6-6-2020 |
|
firepower |
◆
China
has
ｎｕｃｌｅａｒ ｂｏｍｂ ，Neutron
bomb，
hydrogen bomb, Taiwan has none of those. /
Next
TV news, 5-8-2020 ◆ Three Taiwanese presidents Lee (李登輝後期)、Chen(陳水扁)、Tsai(蔡英文) squandering those "bonus for peace" and underestimating the demand of national defense, lead to shortage of arms-deal budget. / United Daily , editorial, 6-6-2020 ◆ 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... ◦
◆ 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.
|
|
★
◆
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.
○
A ◆ The New York times, 11-4-2017: 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."
★
◆ 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, 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 )
○
◆ The US Defense Gov. Report of 2017
|
|
|
| ○
○ |
 ○ |
|
|
★
◆ 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
○●
◆
LTN
3-5-2017 / military power of China VS Taiwan
|
China |
Taiwan |
||
|
army ground forces |
ground troops (地面部隊) |
400000 | 130000 |
|
Field Army (集團軍) |
8 | 3 | |
|
war chariot, tank (戰車) |
2800 | 1100 | |
|
artillery; cannon (火砲) |
3900 | 1600 | |
|
Navy |
destroyer warship (驅逐艦) |
16 | 4 |
| guided missile frigate(飛彈巡防艦) | 40 | 22 | |
| Amphibious landing/assault ship(兩棲登陸艦) | 28 | 14 | |
| submarine (傳統動力潛艦) |
38 | 4 | |
|
Air Force |
fighter (aircraft) (戰鬥機) |
130 | 384 |
|
bomber (轟炸機) |
200 | 0 | |
| military transport aircraft (運輸機) | 150 | 19 | |
|
special mission aircraft (特輸任務機) |
75 | 25 | |
★
★
喵◆ 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
https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2016%20China%20Military%20Power%20Report.pdf
| Taiwan Strait Military Balance in 2015, Naval Forces | |||
| China | China | Taiwan | |
| Total | East and South Sea Fleets | Total | |
| Aircraft Carriers | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Destroyers | 23 | 16 | 4 |
| Frigates | 52 | 40 | 22 |
| Corvettes | 23 | 14 | 1 |
| Tank Landing Ships/ Amphibious Transport Dock | 30 | 28 | 14 |
| Medium Landing Ships | 22 | 16 | 0 |
| Diesel Attack Submarines | 57 | 38 | 4 |
| Nuclear Attack Submarines | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Ballistic Missile Submarines | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Coastal Patrol (Missile) | 86 | 68 | 45 |
★
| Taiwan Strait Military Balance in 2015, Air Forces | |||
| China | China | Taiwan | |
| Total | Within range of Taiwan |
Total
|
|
| Fighters | 1,700 | 130 | 384 |
| Bombers/Attack | 400 | 200 | 0 |
| Transport | 475 | 150 | 19 |
| Special Mission Aircraft | 115 | 75 | 25 |
★
| Taiwan Strait Military Balance in 2015, Ground Forces |
| China | China | Taiwan | |
| Total | Taiwan Strait Area | Total | |
| Personnel (Active) | 1.25 million | 400,000 | 130,000 |
| Group Armies/Army Corps | 18 | 8 | 3 |
| Infantry Divisions | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| Infantry Brigades | 23 | 7 | 5 |
| Mechanized Infantry Divisions | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Divisions | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Mechanized Infantry Brigades | 25 | 8 | 3 |
| Armor Divisions | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Armor Brigades | 17 | 7 | 4 |
| Amphibious Armor Brigades | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Army Aviation Brigades and Regiments | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| Artillery Brigades | 22 | 9 | 5 |
| Airborne Divisions | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Marine Brigades | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Tanks | 7,000 | 2,800 | 1,100 |
| Artillery Pieces | 8,000 | 3,900 | 1,600 |
○●
○◆ 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")
○
◆ New York Times, 5-18-2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/opinion
● Taiwan's military is understaffed and in a state of low morale.
●
Taiwan's active force was cut 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 Chinese Invasion Threat> by Ian Eastonct., Oct. 3, 2017
Secret Military Plan: Invade Taiwan by 2020
 |
●
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.
|
|
pic.: Headline of Apple Daily, Oct. 6, 2017 |
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2017/10/05/2003679744; http://freebeacon.com/natiChina’s |
◆ Apple Daily, 4-20-2018, headline news : a survey poll by 台灣民主基金會
|
|
|
◆
pic. left: Apple Daily, 4-20-2018,
headline news : a Survey poll by 台灣民主基金會 ☉ Taiwanese youth fight against Chinese military force for unification - 67.7% yes, 24.9 % no, 7.4 % others
◆
pic. right: China Times,
4-21-2018, Opinion: Taiwan National Security Survey conducted by Duke
University and NCCU of Taiwan
|
◆ Taiwan's muscle show
|
news brief
|
●
Apple Daily, 5-30-2016:
Taiwan declared no other air forces are allowed to show
their muscle in Taiwan air space ...
But,
CTV evening news(11-27-2016), 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, stop them. ps: Chinese troops repeated doing this again and again in 2016 ~ 2017. ◆ ● Forbes, 5-21-2013: Taiwan president beset by low approval rate because of weakness against foreign countries, even including Philippines, a backward country dared to hurt Taiwan, ... ◆ ● The China Times, 3-29-2017: Taiwan lacks key tech. to make a coach (large bus). |
★
◆ editorial cartoons by Zola Zu
★
|
|
● 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,...
VS
● Taiwan has been watched by the super power for years......
|
|
† Taiwan's sky, our air-space ?
★
|
|
★
★
"understand
Taiwan in one minute" ! ★ TAIWAN in all aspects ★
Review Taiwan
Top rankings on internet
!!
★ Facebook
free expression
★★
★
★
3.
reviews on Taiwan's economy & GDP
◆◆ In Global Wealth Report of 2019 by Credit Suisse, Taiwan is alongside with Italia, Germany in terms of wealth per adult.
◆ 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 |
○
◆ 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.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/world-economy/73782/rigid-systems-holding-back-taiwan-development
https://www.sinica.edu.tw/ch/news/4880
○
○
◆ 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.
◆
◆ 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
|
||
Global Wealth Report 2016 by credit-suisse Research Institute, Nov. 2016
Taiwan's average level of wealth, at USD
172,800, is similar to that of W. Europe. Over the entire 2000 –
2016 period, wealth per adult grew by 59% in USD terms.
Taiwan has a high saving rate and well-developed financial institutions, so
it is not surprising that the composition of household wealth is skewed
towards financial assets. The latter now make up 64% of total assets.
Debt is relatively modest, equaling 13% of gross assets.
Taiwan has
comparatively high average wealth and only moderate wealth inequality.
20% of the adult population have wealth below USD 10,000, that is not high
compared to 73% worldwide. 38% percent of adults in Taiwan
have wealth over USD 100,000 which is almost five times greater than the
worldwide average of 8%.
|
Taiwan |
||
| Population | 23 million | |
| Adult population | 19 million | |
| GDP | 32,647 USD per adult | |
| Mean wealth | 172,847 USD per adult | |
| Median wealth | 63,134 USD per adult | |
| Total wealth | 3.0 trillion USD | |
| US dollar millionaires | 356 thousand | |
| Top 10% of global wealth holders | 8,727 thousand | |
| Top 1% of global wealth holders | 528 thousand | |
|
|
|
|
Pic.: Taiwan's
wealth distribution relative to world in %
Median wealth per adult by country : ● Taiwan USD 63134,
●
Singapore USD 101386,
|
Pic.: wealth per adult / Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2016 :
|
◆ 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.
◆ Taiwan's economy and China
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)
|
Economy |
●
Taiwan's economy is highly reliant on China,
Forbes. 2015/11/26 <Top 10 China Dependent Countries>: Taiwan ranks world No. 2 ― Taiwan(EWT -9.56%), has held up fairly well despite the fact that 26% of its exports are China bound. A whopping 16% of its economic output is dependent on China. ● Taiwan's Economic growth rate(yoy) (%) is estimated (2017) as 1.92. Economic growth rate (yoy) (%) is 2.88 (2016 4th QTR initial statistics by the government). ● For details pls. see section 3. below. |
|
|
Economic freedom |
●
Heritage.Org 's Economic freedom index 2017 gave Taiwan overall score 76.5, Singapore and Hong Kong rank
top 2. ● <United Daily news >,《The Liberty Times》Taiwan, 2-25-2017: Taiwanese employee's real wages (average monthly) of last year is lower than that of 16 years ago. The average amount of the real ,monthly wages of about 70% employee is less than NT40000(USD1300), 36.72% is less than NT30000. The youth's low salary is a serious problem, jobless rate is still high.
|
○
◆ https://tradingeconomics.com/taiwan/gdp
| Taiwan GDP | Last | Previous | Highest | Lowest | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP Growth Rate | 0.15 | 0.94 | 5.64 | -5.07 | percent |
| GDP Annual Growth Rate | 2.10 | 2.60 | 17.06 | -8.12 | percent |
| GDP | 523.01 | 530.04 | 530.04 | 42.30 | USD Billion |
| GDP Constant Prices | 4034977.00 | 3997376.00 | 4034977.00 | 604229.00 | TWD Million |
| Gross National Product | 4310588.00 | 4594814.00 | 4594814.00 | 99800.00 | TWD Million |
| Gross Fixed Capital Formation | 870419.00 | 963504.00 | 964529.00 | 8907.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Agriculture | 46828.00 | 60392.00 | 72053.00 | 39800.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Construction | 94847.00 | 96112.00 | 121071.00 | 41088.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Manufacturing | 1206114.00 | 1138212.00 | 1275942.00 | 130647.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Mining | 3156.00 | 3744.00 | 15925.00 | 2701.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Public Administration | 271017.00 | 267595.00 | 280931.00 | 85791.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Services | 2559778.00 | 2686530.00 | 2686530.00 | 317742.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Transport | 116527.00 | 117446.00 | 119140.00 | 20691.00 | TWD Million |
| GDP From Utilities | 28535.00 | 29459.00 | 61237.00 | 5349.00 | TWD Million |
The gross domestic product (GDP) measures of national income and output for a given country's economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and services produced within the country in a stipulated period of time. This page provides - Taiwan GDP - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Taiwan GDP - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on August of 2017.
Compare GDP by country :
| Last | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 18569.10 | Dec/16 | USD Billion | |
| 11885.66 | USD Billion | ||
| 11199.15 | USD Billion | ||
| 4939.38 | USD Billion | ||
| 3466.76 | USD Billion | ||
| 2618.89 | USD Billion | ||
| 2465.45 | USD Billion | ||
| 2263.52 | USD Billion | ||
| 1849.97 | USD Billion | ||
| 1796.19 | USD Billion | ||
| 1529.76 | USD Billion | ||
| 1411.25 | USD Billion | ||
| 1283.20 | USD Billion | ||
| 1232.09 | USD Billion | ||
| 1204.62 | USD Billion | ||
| 1046.00 | USD Billion | ||
| 932.26 | USD Billion | ||
| 857.75 | USD Billion | ||
| 770.85 | USD Billion | ||
| 659.83 | USD Billion | ||
◆
◆ The China Times system (June 2017), WHO: Taiwan ranks world No. 3 in the case-number of being under anti-dumping investigation.
◆ http://www.focus-economics.com/countries/taiwan
|
Taiwan Economy Data |
|||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
| Population (million) | 23.2 | 23.3 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 23.5 |
| GDP per capita (USD) | 21,044 | 21,344 | 21,894 | 22,696 | 22,469 |
| GDP (USD bn) | 489 | 498 | 512 | 532 | 528 |
| Economic Growth (GDP, annual variation in %) | 3.8 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 0.8 |
| Consumption (annual variation in %) | 3.1 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 1.5 |
https://www.dgbas.gov.tw/point.asp?index=1
resource from Executive Yuan ROC Taiwan at 3-13-2017
| 經濟成長率Economic growth rate(yoy) (%) | 2.88 | [ 2016 4th QTR initial statistics ] |
|---|---|---|
| 經濟成長率Economic growth rate(yoy) (%) | 1.92 | [ 2017 prediction/forecast ] |
| 名目GDP (百萬元) | 17,461,748 | [2017 prediction/forecast ] |
| 平均每人GDP pc (USD) | 23,827 | [2017 prediction/forecast ] |
| 平均每人GNI pc (USD) | 24,607 | [ 2017 prediction/forecast ] |
★
★
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brief introduction
of TAIWAN ROC
Taiwan reviews
"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)". Tsai 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. Beijing responded immediately that China would never leave any room for “Taiwan independence separatist activities”. 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. While analysts believe an invasion is unlikely, Chinese state-owned media point out China’s military might has been able to effectively overwhelm the Taiwan military and deter the US. According to Reuters 2-26-2020, excuses to attack Taiwan might include relieving “internal pressure” , Taiwan's lacking sympathy about China’s virus outbreak ( 91.5% of Chinese and 95 percent of Taiwanese population is of Han descent, who have relations, investments and inseparable linkages with their relatives in mainland ; Over two million Taiwanese live in China, and over 20 per cent have married there.) . China issued an "Ultimatum" ("Don't say I didn't tell u") in Nov. 2019 to Hong Kongers, then passed National Security Law for HK in May 2020, similarly, China's state-run hawkish media shouted same "Ultimatum" to Taiwan in April 2020. ( Taiwan zipped its mouth about Chinese president Xi offered an ultimatum in January 2019 to Taiwan to come to the table for unification talks or face annexation by force. ) Financial Times (UK), 5-19-2020 : Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of coronavirus epidemic. After "poking the bear (China)" for a few years, Taiwan in Fox News at 5-27-2020 warns Taiwan is next on Chinese agenda ( military actions ) and asks for international support.
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 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.
To achieve the
goal of reducing dependence on China by increasing commerce with other Asian
countries, Taiwan needs to make more reforms to increase competition and
openness (heritage.org).
○
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 United States, Taiwan's most important protector, takes the policy "strategic ambiguity" ―― “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. But the U.S. does not have an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan (www.chinausfocus.com, May 04 , 2018). Japan's 読売新聞 (Yomiuri Shimbun) and Singapore's Straits Times (4-24-2018) comment that China must not intimidate Taiwan, while the China-Taiwan military balance has tilted in favor of the Chinese side, a situation must not occur in which the U. S. and China deepen their antagonism over Taiwan. 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"。). Economist 5-28-2020: a suggestion in American law that America might come to Taiwan's aid were the island to be attacked...... America should make clear that doing so would be extremely dangerous. 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 2 weeks only. But, the New York Times at 11-4-2017 pointed out that Taiwan’s historical advantages (geography and the US support) in deterring a potential attack has been “eroded or negated” in that Chinese military is "more potent". Foreign Policy (2-15-2020) describes 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. Washington Post at 1-5-2018 reported many senior officials regarded Taiwan as a "roadblock to Washington’s smooth relations with China", "the turd in the punchbowl".
★
However, China's Global Times at 1-10-2018 stated "many forces" in the US are still supporting Taiwan as a "leverage against China" (Bloomberg 3-14-2018: some US national security hawks, VOAnews, 3-23-2018 : John Bolton (Trump's new National Security Adviser) has long argued that Washington can play a "Taiwan card" to compel Beijing's attention for its potentially destabilizing actions in East Asia and the South China Sea. ). The U.S. and Taiwan are seen as heading in a direction that is getting perilously close to Chinese red lines...... 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... The LOWY Institute ( Australia ), The Interpreter, 6-16-2020 : treating Taiwan as a conduit to frustrate Beijing imperils Taiwan’s security.
New York Times at 4-18-2018: Mr. Trump questioned why the US should be bound by the One China policy if Beijing will not budge on trade ... 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" (N.Y. Times, 5-19-2020) , which Japan's日本経済新聞 ( Nikkei news, Nihon keizai shinbun ) points out may weaken Taiwan's security. At 5-7-2020 Taiwan's intelligence chief stated we won't get involved in dispute between the US and China in Western Pacific near Taiwan. United Daily's editorial (1-4-2020, 5-22-2020) worried Taiwan functioning as a chess piece at front-line to block China in American's containment chessboard may become a sacrifice-piece or cannon fodder.
★
Till May 2020, the Chinese military has conducted a series of provocative, aggressive operations, such as dozens of PLAAF aircraft crossed the centerline twice. New York Post, 4-15-2020: the 12th time in the past three weeks that American military planes had been detected near the area (Taiwan’s airspace). The China Times 5-8-2020 editorial: US B-1B group came 3 times strategically. This likely was interpreted by China as implicit support for a self-ruled Taiwan, riling China. CBS News 11-14-2018, the National Defense Strategy Commission: If the United States had to fight China in a war over Taiwan, Americans could face a decisive military defeat, or struggle to win. ( brief from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-military-might-struggle-to-win-or-perhaps-lose-war-with-china-or-russia-report-says/) The Australian, 5-18-2020, The Times (UK): In 2030, American would be defeated in a sea war with China and would struggle to stop an invasion of Taiwan, according to a series of 'eye-opening' war game carried out by the Pentagon. Express (UK) 6-30-2020: China attack on Taiwan will NOT be salvaged by US in major new warning.
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...○○
● 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. ●
● 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.
● 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 ...
● 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.
● 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).
● 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)
● 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 : 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
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