Understanding Taiwan from News  
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Taiwan on world media  (台灣躍上國際新聞) ;       ●  News about China-Taiwan-US war ―  to click  English version,  Chinese version    


★ New York Times,  2021-11-18 ("What makes people happy" ): Most people in a Pew Research Center survey said that family made them the happiest.  The Australian(56%), New Zealander(55%), American(49%), English(46%), Swedish, Italian, Canadian etc surveyed ranked family first, their percentage is about 3-4 times of that (15%) in Taiwan, the % of Singapore and Japan is about 2 times of that in Taiwan.  Taiwanese ranked Material well-being above family.

　

Pew Research Center , 2021-11-18
   Where People find Meaning in Life
country Family Material well-being occupation
Australia 56% 22% 29%
NZ 55 19 29
Greece 54 13 25
US 49 18 17
UK 46 12 20
Sweden 45 22 37
Canada 42 22 26
Singapore 29 22 25
Japan 26 16 15
S. Korea 16 19 6
Taiwan 15% 19% 9%

　

     ★WSJ, 2021-11-17: Beijing’s arms buildup and menacing of Taiwan make U.S. directionlessness dangerous for the world.  Rather than risk a less feckless president after Mr. Biden, Mr. Xi may feel he has three years to act.  ★ WarOnTheRocks, 2021-11-18: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has abandoned asymmetric defense reform, Washington ought to step in to get Taiwanese defense reform back on track ★ FoxNews, 2021-11-17: Hannity: China 'bullies' Biden in meeting, "Basically his weakness guarantees Taiwan will be taken over by the Communist Chinese and Joe won't do a thing."★  NY Times, 2021-11-15: Biden and Xi meet amid tensions in an effort to keep “communication lines open” and avoid military action — American officials remain concerned that the chances of avoiding conflict may be diminishing.  click military for details

　

 ★ CovID-19 flare-up in Taiwan    (新冠肺炎專題)

●ABC news, 2021-9-29: Taiwan lawmakers brawl amid anger over COVID response.   The KMT party called recently shortened quarantine requirements for pilots a “big breach”.   many Youtubers' comments were supportive of the brawl. Some praised the Kuomingtang for “becoming stronger.   abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/taiwan-lawmakers-break-brawl-policy-speech-80276994

●Reuters, 9-28: Scuffles in Taiwan parliament, premier blocked from podium in COVID dispute .  The KMT members then scuffled with DPP counterparts and threw things at the dais...Taiwan's legislature does see unruly scenes from time to time and rivals have been known to punch each other.  news.yahoo.com/scuffles-taiwan-parliament-premier-blocked-102314300.html

●New York Post, 9-28:  In the ensuing melee, a few lawmakers were shoved to the ground and others poured out bottles of water onto their opponents.  Many had suspected the outbreak had come from pilots returning home who only had to do three-day quarantines. The original source of the May outbreak hasn't been officially confirmed.    nypost.com/2021/09/28/taiwan-lawmakers-brawl-during-policy-speech/


● Telegraph (UK), 2021-9-10: People think pilots are murderers because we brought back the virus’: Taiwan’s Covid scapegoats‘Imprisoned’ by quarantine and isolated from their families, flight crews have become social pariahs ...may be depressed and bullied to the point of doing fatal mistakes 民航駕駛成了台灣的 Covid 替罪羊與社會賤民， 誹謗、仇恨霸凌，歧視日益嚴重  telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/people-think-pilots-murderers-brought-back-virus-taiwans-covid/

　

●   TIME, 2021-7-25: Taiwan's president Tsai blamed the vaccine shortage on interference from Beijing, which didn’t stop her popularity from plunging...Terry Gou became Taiwan’s vaccine hero, he volunteered to buy five million doses of Pfizer-BNT vaccines for Taiwan   time.com/6083748/taiwan-vaccines-terry-gou-foxconn/
 ● New York Times, 2021-5-25: the emergence of more contagious variants in recent months, a relaxation of quarantine rules and a vaccine shortage gave the virus an opening...  The model citizen of the world now has become a bit of a problem child.(放寬隔離規則以及疫苗短缺給病毒打開了大門。世界模範公民變成了問題 兒童)  nytimes.com/2021/05/25/arts/music/taiwan-covid-shutdown-music.html

★ full text:  CovID-19 (English)  CovID-19 (Chinese 中文) 

　
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★ Seattle Times, 2021-8-14:  In Taiwan, big data turns pig’s blood and century eggs into hot pizza toppings  /    In 2019, Domino’s Pizza created the boba — a pizza served with sweet tapioca pearls as an homage to the popular bubble milk tea.  ... ramen and spicy hot pot pizza. It even made a pizza topped with durian — a thorny fruit ... The latest invention — featuring a street delicacy made of sticky rice and pig’s blood, and preserved eggs — broke Pizza Hut’s previous sales record set by the durian pizza.     “Every now and then, Taiwanese will go crazy over a new popular, well-talked about food” . “Taste does not seem to be their top priority.”  seattletimes.com/nation-world/in-taiwan-big-data-turns-pigs-blood-and-century-eggs-into-hot-pizza-toppings/

　

      

　

  pic. : No.1 "understanding Taiwan" on Microsoft Bing, 2022-3-22, 2022-1-30, 2021-12-27, 2021-12-17, 2021-9-23, 2021-8-24, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-24, 2021-6-3, 2021-5-15, 2021-4-22, 2021-3-30,  3-14-2021, 3-2-2021, 1-28-2021, 1-4-2021 

　

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Taiwanese superstition
★  Guardian, 2021-8-30: Covid changes Taiwan's Ghost Month - “many temples are closed ... This year the ceremony is not open for humans!”theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/30/not-open-for-humans-covid-changes-east-asias-ghost-month-but-free-spirits-remain
Some suspicions are still common among younger generations. A recent survey of Taiwan office workers found a third of respondents avoid working overtime during Ghost Month. The poll found 40% of office workers had reported strange encounters in the late hours. More than 70% reported “eerie sounds” from office corners, while others said they heard footsteps, saw windows open on their own and elevators arrive on their floor without being called, or heard toilets flushing in an empty bathroom

　

★  BBC, 2021-4-14, Crisps have a sacred role in Taiwan's office culture.  ‘Kuai Kuai’,  this savoury product  end up assuming near-mythical protective properties... on or around vital machines in many of the island’s laboratories, banks and even hospitals to ensure the machines continue to do their jobs.   the crisps, whose name means ‘listen to me’ or ‘obey’, ‘behave’ or ‘be good’ in both Mandarin and Taiwanese...The bags also cannot be used as amulets beyond their expiration date, so...usually swapped twice a year –  Lunar New Year, and the Ghost Festival . Those in the tech world say the snack shouldn’t be consumed, otherwise you technically void its protective warranty.  Kuai Kuai can even be found at Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s premier research institute. (Chinese: 在台灣，一種鹹味零食在辦公文化中具有神聖的作用，且呈現出近乎神話般的保護性，許多實驗室、銀行甚至醫院的重要機器也放置這種袋裝的“乖乖”，以確保高科技機器繼續運作。“乖乖”中文意思是''服從'，但食品到期後神奇功能便會消失，因此通常每年更換兩次-農曆新年初、及七月“鬼節”。而且科技界人士說，不要吃這種零食，否則其保護性也會失效。“乖乖”甚至出現在台灣首屈一指的研究機構: 中央研究院。bbc.com/worklife/article/20210414-the-good-luck-snack-that-makes-taiwans-technology-behave

　

★  BBC, 2-10-2021, "Why Taiwan has 'luck-improvement services' ": There’s a pervasive idea running through Chinese culture that things aren’t random, Stevan Harrell, emeritus anthropology professor at the University of Washington said, “There’s a belief in order: there’s some sort of order behind everything.” Many people believed in a simple maxim: “tian zhuding” (“heaven decides”).  Some higher power has plans for each person on Earth, traditional Chinese belief also holds that “heaven never seals off all the exits” – there is always a way out.  “We call [this attitude of openness] ‘youbai youbaoyou’,” (有拜有保庇)“, It doesn’t matter if you believe in gods. If you pray, you’ll be blessed.” So, even the upscale Eslite Bookstore has a cosmological self-help section chock full of do-it-yourself fate-improvement guides.  People in the Chinese-speaking world seem particularly preoccupied with luck, from boarding gates to high-stakes baccarat tables and school exams to political races, (Even politicians are compelled to publicly try their luck, visiting temples to draw fortune sticks ...) yet while many countries have their own superstitions and rituals.  brief (Chinese: 為什麼台灣人特別重視轉運? 雖然許多國家都有迷信風俗，然而台灣從登機口到學校考試到政治選舉，人們似乎特別關注運氣，有時連政 客也被迫公開到寺廟抽籤試運。華盛頓大學 教授認為: 在中國人文化中有個普遍的想法，事情不是随機的，沉迷於過去的歷史使 “人們相信一切背後都有某種秩序”，即"天註定''，但同時，傳統信仰也認為，雖然天命使臣民之間保持秩序，並進而維持和平，一些 位高權重的人為升斗小民製定了人生計劃，但小民力圖掌握自己命運於是"有拜有保庇“，即使高檔的誠品書店都充斥著改運指南。 有個台灣人曾前往大陸的大華興寺，迷信 地認為將硬幣扔進一隻龍石雕的嘴中就會懷孕，不久後，他的妻子果然懷孕了，還是個男孩。 ) http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20210210-chinas-enduring-obsession-with-luck 
　

★CNBC,3-8-2021:Taiwan faces worst drought in 56 years.  China Times, 3-10-2021:Taiwan president prays for rain in temple.   chinatimes.com/opinion/20210309006128-262101?chdtv  Diplomat, 2021-3-12: Taiwan prays for rain as drought threatens chip production.

　

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★   BBC, 2021-5-6 : The case of a boy who is fighting for his life after being slammed to the floor 27 times during judo practice by his coach and classmate has shocked Taiwan - but it has also highlighted what critics say is a culture of turning a blind eye to abuse against children.  The culture" leads many people to not fully respect children's rights. It's better now, but Taiwan really lags behind other developed countries in this aspect of human rights" . The judicial system also tends to side with teachers, Prosecutors in his son's case did not charge the teacher with causing injury, arguing the family had to prove his injuries were connected to the abuse.  bbc.com/news/world-asia-56967974  (Chinese: 一名男童在教練與同學的柔道練習中被摔倒27次後重傷，為自己的生命而戰，這震驚了台灣-但也突顯了一種對孩童虐待行為視而不見的文化;  “我們的文化導致許多人不完全尊重兒童權利。台灣在人權方面確實落後於其他發達國家。司法系統也傾向柔道教練，檢察官沒有指控造成傷害)

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★  Taiwan's chip industry

Axios, 4-9-2021 Taiwan is home to 92% of the world's leading-edge chip manufacturing operations ...That's because most companies that design chips today — Qualcomm, Nvidia and Apple among them — don''t actually do the manufacturing, instead relying on companies like TSMC. If Taiwan's chip production were permanently disrupted,...estimates it would take three years to build enough capacity to replace it. That's why many in the industry are calling for the U.S. to be clearer about its support for Taiwan and, at the same time, to encourage investment in domestic chip production (Chinese:當今大多數設計芯片的公司實際上並不製造，而是依靠台積電（TSMC）之類的公司 如果台灣的芯片生產受到永久性破壞，估計，將需要三年時間建設來替代台灣。這就是為什麼業內許多人呼籲美國更加清楚其對台灣的支持，同時鼓勵國內芯片生產。 )  axios.com/threats-to-taiwan-nightmare-tech-847c1f30-d878-4eb9-b749-b2f17487dd91.html  
WSJ, 2021-6-19

The World Relies on One Chip Maker in Taiwan, Leaving Everyone Vulnerable / Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s dominance poses risks to the global economy, amid geopolitical tensions and a major chip shortage  wsj.com/articles/the-world-relies-on-one-chip-maker-in-taiwan-leaving-everyone-vulnerable-11624075400

Reuters,  2021-5-6 U.S. Commerce Dept. pressing Taiwan to supply more chips to U.S. automakers..."the medium- and long-term solution, though, is like very simply making more chips in America."  

finance.yahoo.com/news/u-commerce-dept-pressing-taiwan-172303485.html   

Taiwan News, 2021-5-22 AIT (US): Taiwan should not regard TSMC as a guaranteed security blanket, U.S. believes China will sacrifice economic interests to achieve political goals.美國警告台灣不能將台積電當作護國神山，中国會為了達成政治目標犧牲經濟利益taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4208369
Reuters,  2021-4-14 Biden... a broader effort to bolster the domestic chip industry. He’s also proposed $50 billion to support chip manufacturing and research (Chinese:拜登加強美國國內芯片產業) reuters.com/article/us-semiconductor-shortage-packaging-focu-idUSKBN2C01AL
Foreign Policy, 2021-4-14 Taiwan and China Are Locked in Economic Co-Dependence /  Cross-strait trade hit a record last year, including indirect trade through Hong Kong and Macao, with Taiwan’s exports representing some 70 percent of the total...The largest proportion of Taiwanese exports is sophisticated electronics, especially cutting-edge semiconductors that China lacks the ability to produce.. (Chinese:兩岸貿易去年創新紀錄，包括透過港澳的間接貿易，台灣對中出口約佔總出口70％，此提振了台灣經濟，也符合北京經濟一體化政治統一的手段。面對美國加諸售中半導體及技術的限制使兩岸陷入經濟依存關係)
GT, 3-1-2021 Taiwan maintains advantage in chip manufacturing. However, it doesn't mean that Taiwan's chip sector has occupied a non-substitutable stance so that it could be "weaponized" against Chinese mainland, South Korea and Japan possess competitiveness and eagerly longing for expansion of market share in Chinese mainland. (Chinese:台灣芯片(chips)並非無可取代， 無法成為對付中國大陸的“武器”，韓日也具有競爭力，並渴望擴大大陸的市場 ) globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1216945.shtml
Reuters, 2021-4-23 Taiwan does face other challenges, not least from China where President Xi Jinping has made semiconductors a strategic priority; Samsung Electronics as Taiwan's most serious competitor and also able to match TSMC's advanced chipmaking   finance.yahoo.com/news/taiwan-minister-sees-years-growth-070009822.html   (Chinese:乾旱未造成影響, 但台灣面對習戰略與韓高品質芯片挑戰)
Reuters, 2021-4-14 Taiwan says its chip firms will adhere to new U.S. rules blacklisting China supercomputing entities (Chinese: 台灣依美國政策不對大陸超級電腦出口晶片)  

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