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★Taiwan reviews, an introduction to Taiwan by international & local organizations:
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★ Taiwan soft power | ★ Taiwan military | ★ Taiwan economy | ★ brief Taiwan |
0. Brief , Taiwan's political status
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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...
● USA Today 5-18-2018: Xi JinPing has signaled that China will seek to reclaim its historical properties by 2049. Freebeacon 5-17-2018 : 2020—the deadline that [Chinese supreme leader] Xi Jinping has given the [People's Liberation Army] to be ready to invade Taiwan. |
● Washington Post, 1-5-2018 : 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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1.
reviews on Taiwan's soft power
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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 ● ●
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Daily Mail (newspaper
UK), 7-14-2017
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● 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/
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● 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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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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● CTV evening news, 12-14-2017 19:19pm: Taiwanese fraud crimes are really all over the world. ● UDN opinion 12-24-2017: Taiwan became international nuisances & social harms
● Taiwan is notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world, damaging the image of Taiwan / EBC TV 4-9-2017 6:54am
● Taiwan's legal system is extremely tolerant of the scammers. Not matter how much money was involved in a scamming case / https://www.quora.com/Does-Taiwan-rely-on-the-fraud-industry-heavily, /4-16-2016
● Taiwan largely sees these telecom frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather than liability... / quora
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Taiwan's
legislators and judicial system don't have a sense of shame on int'l
telecomm scammers
issue
/
ref to United Daily News (聯合報), Opinion
8-2016
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pic:
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BBC UK, The SUN
(2-13-2017): "BUS CRASH HORROR !"
Taiwan's "safety
standards need to be improved".
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CNN, Newsweek, 2-4-2015:
Taiwan has had a poor
aviation safety record
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Taiwan, A pirate boat ?
● <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. 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)
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★★
"understand
Taiwan in one minute" ! ★ TAIWAN in all aspects ★
Review Taiwan
Top rankings on internet !!
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Taiwan politicians buried people alive
★◆ in quakes of mag 6 |
◆ Taiwan government (including local gov.) has not well taken its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property - ● why are there so many tall buildings located on the fault-zone? ● why are poor architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ? ● why are those shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to risk millions of old houses and human beings ??
(full text: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2974813 聯合報社論／斷層帶上何以建了那麼多高樓？ 2-8-2018, https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2977079 勿讓軟腳樓成坑殺人命陷阱 2-9-2018, https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180209/37928659花蓮 都更 爛政客 2-9-2018) |
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Taiwan state apparatus 'fully' support freedom of expression ! You can scream as loud as you want The louder you scream, the more I enjoy ... more readings: ◆ State violence and white terror (product of state violence) return in Taiwan (United Daily, opinion, 12-21-2017, 12-27-2017). ◆ This is an EVIL state apparatus (column, CTN, 5-9-2018): Taiwan has shown a general tendency toward pandering state apparatus, surrendering in mind control ... http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180509000843-260109 ◆ Abusing power to invade citizen's rights, going old route of anti-democracy are their nature (United Daily, opinion, 12-20-2017). https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2886710 ref to https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2897025。http://udn.com/news/story/7338/2179800。 ◆ Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's skin-deep democracy ... the people's "livelihood" was sacrificed for politics ...The United Daily - Opinion, 3-7-2017
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international & local reviews on Taiwan |
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| travel & tourism |
●
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...
)
● 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' ... ● 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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| soft power |
●
According to UK based Monocle's Soft Power Survey 2010 ~
2018, 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.
● Taiwan also failed to be listed in 2017's Soft Power 30 Study, compiled by PR company Portland Communication and University of Southern California. |
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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,
3-3-2017:
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 |
●
Food safety is
one of
biggest challenges to Taiwan /
The China Times. 8-6-2016, an interview to Taiwan president Tsai I. W.
●
Chang
Gung Mem. Hospital professor Yin M.D. (殷宗海,
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.
●
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 |
●
Taiwan government damages university
autonomy - rejecting the president selected by NTU committee. Apple Daily 4-29-2018 head page, United Daily news 4-29-2018 : Taipei mayor Ko : a dummy made this policy to seriously harm university autonomy, former president Ma: ridiculous ! is Taiwan a civilized and legal society ? president Tsai : respect the educational gov. decision. Hong Kong City University president: The gov. damaged university autonomy, is lower than the warlord 100 yrs ago, and is not qualified to have international recognition. Taiwan University : express regrets and strong objections. ● 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 |
● 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 |
●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 |
●
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 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 ! |
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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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● <United Daily news 聯合報>, head page, 12-10-2016: The word of 2016 selected is "苦" ("hardship", "pain"). |
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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 |
●
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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● <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, | |
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int'l fraud |
●
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 |
● 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. | |
|
Political status |
●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;
|
★
★
★
★
PS :
(1) Monocle's soft power survey:
|
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.
★
★
★
| ◆◆ |
◆◆◆
pic: This
websites-group was ranked No.1
by keyword "review Taiwan" on
English Bing,
pic.: This website was ranked No.1 on Yahoo search by keyword "review Taiwan" at 2-22-2018
|
p No.1 |
★
| ◆◆ |
pic: This
websites-group was ranked No.1
|
pic: This websites-group was ranked
top by keyword "review Taiwan"
|
★
★
★
2.
reviews on Taiwan's military power
★
◆ The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence “Open Hearing on China’s Worldwide Military Expansion.”, 5-17-2018
(1) China's “infatuation with Taiwan” ?
a visceral nationalistic design ...“if Taiwan survives as a democracy [it] undermines the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party”
(2) USA curb China ?
the US could soon be completely driven out of the Asia-Pacific region if Beijing is allowed to continue on its current course unopposed.
(3) Congressional hearing recommended
deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Asia, showing strong support for Taiwan, and exposing human rights abuses in China as immediate steps that could curb Beijing
○
◆ 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
◆
◆ 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 ] |
★
★
"understand
Taiwan in one minute" ! ★ TAIWAN in all aspects ★
Review Taiwan
Top rankings on internet !!
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★
★
4.
a
brief introduction
of TAIWAN ROC
military
The
People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that the
Republic of China (Taiwan) government is illegitimate,
has vowed to retake
the
renegade
province ruled by
"Taiwan authority",
after Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists
government and forces were defeated by Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist
Party and relocated to Taiwan
in 1949. Many countries
seem welcome the current ambiguity - Washington
“acknowledges” there is one China and Taiwan is part of China,
but has never officially “recognized” Taiwan as part of China, and
passed a law to sell Taiwan defensive weapons,
stressed that any attack by China would be considered of "grave concern" to
the US.
Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun (読売新聞),
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')
。However, the New York Times at 11-4-2017
pointed out that the US
military "intervention now would confront a more potent Chinese military",
“China’s
military modernization has “eroded or negated many of Taiwan’s historical
advantages (geography
and the US support) ” in deterring a potential attack.
”.
Washington Post at 1-5-2018 said many senior officials regarded Taiwan as
a "roadblock to
Washington’s
smooth relations
with
China", "the turd in the
punchbowl".
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).
Because Taiwan’s government refuses to acknowledge this island is part of
China, some analyst predicts that China has accelerated its timetable to
2020 for taking over the island by military means.
Taiwan president Tsai said at 12-29-2017 that Chinese leader was not
supposed to attack Taiwan
("應該不是決策思考範圍內"),
she corrected herself at 1-22-2018 in SETN that the possibility of a war
won't be ruled out. Tsai
declined to endorse the so-called "1992
Consensus" that both side are part of “one China,” allowing each side its
own interpretation of what that means.
Till
May 2018,
the Chinese military has conducted a series of
provocative,
aggressive
operations, e.g., "patrol circling"
passing through 1st island chain and an aircraft carrier passing through
Taiwanese territory (Taiwan Strait median line), to test the waters or
prepare for an eventual future attack against Taiwan.
Taiwan National Security Survey conducted by
Duke University and NCCU of Taiwan found that once China-Taiwan war happens,
more than 60% Taiwanese yield or give up & run away
(The China Times, 4-21-2018, Opinion).
★
economy
& diplomatic
Although Taiwan is
not the most important figure in PRC's int'l-strategy chessboard, Beijing
also keeps increasing steadily diplomatic pressure on Taiwan,
the number of Taiwan's
formal diplomatic-relation allies has fallen to
19
till May 2018, more may be in trouble any time. On the other hand,
China
applied the strategy
"offering
economic benefits to Taiwan"("讓利"
such as encouraging tourist to Taiwan)
so that more Taiwanese will have higher
inclination
toward unification with mainland,
then more than
two-thirds of Taiwan’s outward foreign direct investment is to China
―
Taiwan's leading trading partner,
Taiwan earned surplus nearly USD120 billion from China in 2017.
The majority of Taiwanese are concerned about
the potential problems in deeper economic integration with the mainland,
in spite of that realistic Taiwanese knew
this interdependence
is unavoidable,
83
percent chose "bread" over "romance" (state independence).
United Daily survey at 11-20-2017 found the percentage of Taiwanese having
good perception on Chinese people and communist government increased to 49%
and 40%, at the same time Chinese aircrafts terrorized Taiwan by routinely
flying around this island
(UDN,
11-20-2017).
Le Monde diplomatic of France,
Mai '16,
reported the
economies of both sides were complementary, now compete each other.
Taiwanese
are gradually being excluded from the Chinese chain of production and
supply. (Mais les économies des deux rives, qui étaient complémentaires,
entrent désormais en concurrence.
Les entreprises taïwanaises
sont progressivement exclues de la mise en place d’une chaîne de production
et d’approvisionnement chinoise ... )
○
Today's Taiwan has the 7th largest economy in Asia, and the 22nd-largest economy in the world. Latest Global Wealth Report (Credit Suisse, Nov., 2017) shows Taiwan's mean wealth per adult, at USD 188,081, is close to that of UK (USD 278,038), France (USD 263,399). Taiwan was one of the world's top producers of computer technology, but its high-tech sector is falling behind for lacking of key tech. and its low pay. Taiwan's GDP per capita retreated successively in recent years. In contrast, China's GDP in 2016 is about 23 times the number of Taiwan's, five Chinese provinces topped Taiwan already.
The ROC on Taiwan,
has
most of the
characteristics of an independent state,
however, Taiwan's image suffered
for getting benefits by any means ( as Confucius
analects : "窮斯濫"
) and
having some principal human rights problems
as below:
○
● Exploitation of foreign workers, official corruption, some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc (USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018).
● Taiwan largely sees these telecom frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather than liability... (quora, 4-16-2016); Taiwan is notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world ( EBC TV, 4-9-2017, UDN opinion, 12-24-2017, CTV evening news, 12-14-2017 ). 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, China Times, 11-7-2017)
●
Philippine
President Duterte
...
blaming Taiwan-based
organised crime behind all this drug traffic... for using his country as a
shipping hub.
(Reuters,
9-27-2017, The Straits Times, 9-29-2017) Duterte: Triad
supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China (inquirer.net, 9-26-2017).
Taiwan was already reduced to be a 'kingdom' of producing narcotic drugs.
(United Daily, headline news, 11-2-2017) Taiwan is notorious
for being a major drug
transit center & a major drug exporting country, part of Taiwanese
government refused to put efforts to improve this issue.
(UDN Opinion, 11-6-2017, The China Times, head-page & focus, 4-4-2017, The Liberty
Times, 5-12-2017)
●
The
Diplomat (4-14-2016) :
Taiwan's illegal fishing is 'out of
control', GreenPeace criticized Taiwan gov. for knowing this issue but
does little -
EU warned
since 2015 Taiwan with a yellow card for illegal fishing, Taiwan failed to
improved this till Fall 2017.
● The United Daily, 06-18-2016, head page news : Taiwan's prosecutors usually follow order to conclude legal cases. Taiwan's justice ministry was insufficiently independent, public trust on Taiwan's judiciary system keeps falling down (USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices of 2017, all media of Taiwan, 2015 ~ 2017).
● Taiwan politics belongs to corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties (Foreign Policy, 2015). Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's skin-deep democracy ... the people's "livelihood" was sacrificed for politics ... (United Daily News, Opinion, 3-7-2017 )
● Taiwan is far behind to make new laws against torture and other cruel. (ref. to Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017) Taiwan's opposition party vice presidential candidate, NTU professor Lin Ruey-Shiung, was subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (French AFP ,Dec. 1, 2011 , Thailand's Bangkok Post, Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland, etc. ), Taiwan gov. denied this.
● 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, opinion, 11-18-2017) The key-point is state violence (Apple Daily, opinion, 8-16-2013).
● Taiwan is dishonest and 'cruel' ― trying to block or hide, delay public-health news, e.g., poisoned eggs, PCV virus vaccine, and Bird-flu more than one time (1-2-2018 UDN, 2012 BBC news : www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate) , not to mention big issues.
● Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating at home. (The China Times. 8-6-2016, <食品不安全的年代如何自保>, 2016, etc.)
● 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 Taiwanshows ocean floor littered with plastic (bottles) garbage)
etc.
○
○
Taiwan tried to follow US academic Joseph Nye's notion of applying power by persuasion and attraction rather than coercion or force to deal with China and expand its international space. However, Taiwan's soft power performed worse than China and Asian's Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE. Taiwan's military hard power was reduced by half (the number of active forces) and is in a state of low morale, Taiwan's leader made a defense strategy to resist Chinese PLA for 2 weeks, and made assumption that then American sons and daughters will always risk their lives to protect our home. full text
○
| Taiwan Review ★ this site's world No. 1 in 2017~18, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★ |
○
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Taiwan, a
"kingdom" of mask ―
● Taiwan's environmental quality (serious air pollution, bad water) was ranked almost the last in all OECD countries / 9-21-2015 China Times
● Taiwan built an environment to kill legally , for its PM2.5 air-pollution-control standard 15 years behind / dean, College of Public health, National Taiwan University, UDN (headpage), 10-16-2017, 1-4-2016 Liberty Times.(http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/paper/945998).
● Taiwan, in the lower ranks, placing 54th out of 57 nations in the CCPI with regards to cutting down carbon emissions and other greenhouse
gases. / Taipei Times, 11-23-2017
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2017/11/23/2003682785 the "culprit" is too many coal-fired power generation - Taiwan government's policy.
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★
★
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pic: A visual parody
cartoon of satire & humour ―
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★
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pic. former US president Bush was in Taiwan's restaurant - Beijing Do It True |
pic: Taiwanese
Presidential Office Building ―
this original Japanese governor
office which was a symbol of
Japanese power's colonial
domination sparked a controversy
about moving to new place for
transitional justice.
Taipei mayor Ko also stated it's
really weird ! In
the dinner of Ma-Xi meeting, the 1st time highest-ranking meeting since
1949, Communist Chinese leader Xi JinPing mentioned "Presidential
Office" to Taiwan's leader Ma
―
probably both friendly and satirical ...
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●
●
|
USA
Country Reports on Human Rights practices,
One of Taiwan's principal
human rights social stigmatization. Various nongovernmental
organization (NGO)
and academic studies assaults was seven to 10 times the number reported to police.
|
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where's Birds Flu ...?
Taiwan (TW) is dishonest and 'cruel'
―
2012
BBC
news :
www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news
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† |
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★
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pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "Understand
Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 4-11-2018, 1-12-2018, 8-18-2017, 5-4-2017;
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TAIWAN |
★
| ★ |
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pic: No.1 rankings by keywords "comment Taiwan", "understand Taiwan", "review Taiwan", at 4-11-2018, 1-12-2018, Nov. 1, 2017, Sept. 2, 2017
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★
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pic: This
websites-group was ranked No.1
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◆ |
★
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pic.3
★
