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intlHumanRights.com,  https://Courageworld.ch  are sites of same group

 

 

 


   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2024-10-10, 2024-9-11, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024- 7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-18, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20,  2022-9-11, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-23, 2022-8-14, 2022-8-6, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-8, 2022-5-30, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6

 

 

                  

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia (Berlin Germany), 2024-10-10, 2024-9-12, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11,  2022-8-23, 2022-8-14,  2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-7, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-17, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-1, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020;   pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "Taiwan comments"  on Ecosia of Germany, 2023-8-22, 2023-2-28, 2023-1-21, 2022-12-12, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-19,

 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-1-30, 2022-1-26

 

 

 

    
   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo (Taiwan), 2024-10-10, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10,  2023-9-11,2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-9-4, 2022-8-22, 2022-8-14, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-6-9    pic.  : No.1 "comment Taiwan" (Chinese version) on Yahoo Taiwan , 2024-4-19, 2024-1-1, 2023-8-8, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-20, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-6, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-20  

 

 

 

 ★★
 pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, Top or No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-11, 2022-9-5, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-6-25, 2022-5-25

 

 

    

 pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on MetaGER.de of Germany, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2024-5-1, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2023-11-1, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4  

 

 

 


 
 pic.:  The web-sites group ranks No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia , 2024-10-10, 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-7-24, 2024-4-19, 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-11, 2023-11-1, 2023-10-10, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-10-13, 2022-9-23, 2022-9-12, 2022-9-5,
2022-8-20, 2022-8-13,  2022-8-7, 2022-7-18, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-10, 2022-6-7, 2022-6-1, 2022-5-23, 2022-4-16, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-1, 2022-1-30, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-1, 2021-11-21, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-20, 2021-10-3, 2021-6-27, 8-13-2020, 8-5-2020, 6-12-2020 5-21-2020, 2-28-2020, 1-17-2020, 1-11-2020, 12-18-2019,  12-1-2019, 11-26-2019, 11-7-2019; No.3 at 2023-3-23

 

 


 
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2024-8-31, 2024-8-8, 2024-8-2, 2024-7-24, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-5-16, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27 No. 2  "comment Taiwan" on DuckDuckGo , 2022-9-11  

 

 

pic. : No.1  "Taiwan comments"  on Microsoft Bing, 2024-8-8,  2024-7-24, 2023-11-1, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-6-16, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, This websites-group was ranked No.1 or 2 by keyword "Taiwan comments"  on Microsoft Bing, 2023-1-1, 2022-12-12, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-14, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-24, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-17, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-12

 

 

 


Latest news 
  full text

Taiwan Prepares for Trump's Return.

◆   Wall Street Journal 2024-11-18 Some in Taiwan say its survival as a self-ruled democracy is at stake, that it can't afford to spend what Trump demands on defense and that it would wither in the crossfire of a U.S.-China trade war.
 Taiwan's military spending is currently at 2.45% of GDP—a lower share than Singapore's 2.8% and South Korea's 2.7%;  In Washington, the percent of GDP is really seen as a proxy for your seriousness
.
◆   New York Times 2024-11-6 Some diplomats in Asia expect China to intensify pressure on Taiwan, if not invade the self-governing island it claims as its territory; and China may calculate that Mr. Trump would not go to war for a democracy that he has accused of “stealing” the microchip industry from the United States.  “With Donald Trump, there are large amounts of uncertainty,” said Lev Nachman, a political scientist, “And it's a matter of uncertainty that comes with great risk for Taiwan.”
◆   Washington Post 2024-11-6 Trump's statements this year that raise doubt about his willingness to come to the island democracy's defense and his misleading assertion that Taipei needs to pay the US for defense. Such rhetoric could “fan the flames of skepticism” about American intent at a time when the Taiwanese are “directly threatened by CCP disinformation aimed at undermining U.S. credibility”
◆   New York Times 2024-11-10 Taiwan's leading chip makers may face demands from the Trump administration to locate more production in the United StatesTaiwan has already been raising its military spending, partly under pressure from Washington. But Mr. Trump has said that Taiwan should raise military spending to 10 percent of its gross domestic product (from about 2.6 percent).  Sharply increasing military spending could be politically difficult for Taiwan's presidentBeijing, for its part, appears poised to exploit any signs of discord between Washington and Taipei.
◆   Fox News 2024-11-10 Trump's public comments might suggest that he would not be willing to put boots on the ground to face another global superpower in defense of a tiny island democracy (Taiwan).   there is hope among restraint groups that Trump will be focused on economic warfare with China – rather than military.   "We don't have that alliance with Taiwan, ... the Taiwan issue is a powder keg — it's exceedingly dangerous. "
◆   New York Times 2024-11-6 news briefing Many believe Trump's foreign policy changes could have a greater impact than anything since the start of the Cold War.

Trump could decide to do the true “America First” thing and withdraw completely, and basically say,  "defending Taiwan is not in our interest.”

◆   Bloomberg 2024-11-5 Taiwan's Economic Affairs Minister acknowledged that Trump could introduce measures that might prove harmful for Taiwan's semiconductor industry. But the impact will not be as severe as some anticipate.
◆  Reuters,  2024-11-6 From Taiwan to trade, China braces for more rivalry as close US presidential race endsTrump might try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to gain leverage in other areas, such as offering to restrain Taiwan's provocative actions in exchange for Beijing's compromise on trade.

 

Taiwan has a Trump problem

  The Atlantics, 2024-10-25 The shortcomings of Taiwan's military lend some validity to Trump's complaint that America's allies don't pay enough for their own defense and dump too much of the responsibility onto the United States—a burden that a second Trump administration might not be committed to bear.
  New York Times, 2024-10-26 Mr. Trump criticized Taiwan, saying that “they stole our chip business”,“They want us to protect, ... They don't pay us money for the protection... The mob makes you pay money, right?”America's heavy reliance on Taiwan's semiconductors has been a growing source of concern among U.S. officials, given China's ongoing threats to invade the self-governing island.

 

 Taiwan's Lai Ching-te and China's Xi JinPing congratulate Trump

◆ The Hill, 2024-11-6 Taiwan president congratulates Trump on victoryWilliam Lai Ching-te  posted on the social platform X. “I'm confident that the longstanding Taiwan-US partnership, built on shared values & interests, will continue to serve as a cornerstone for regional stability & lead to greater prosperity for us all.”
Trump has made several incendiary comments about Taiwan, saying it should have to pay the U.S. to defend the nation against China and that Taipei stole the United States's ability to make semiconductors. He has also called Chinese President Xi Jinping “brilliant.”
CNA, 2024-11-6 Robert O'Brien expresses thanks
Bloomberg, 2024-11-6 Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is considering trying to make a call to Donald Trump after his US election victory,  in a move that would likely be seen by Beijing as a sign of Taiwan seeking to assert independence. 
Lai has no plan to arrange a congratulatory call with Trump, the Presidential Office said in a statement ( 到目前為止沒有規畫致電表達祝賀之意)
 央視(CCTV), Dagens (UK), 2024-11-7 Xi Jinping Congratulates Trump, Pushes for Peaceful U.S.-China Future. Chinese President Xi Jinping personally called Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory, according to China's Foreign Ministry.  "History has shown that China and the United States benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Stable, healthy and stable Sino-American relations meet the common interests of both countries and the expectations of the international community," Xi stated, as reported by Ukrinform's own correspondent.He expressed optimism that both nations would continue to uphold principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutually beneficial cooperation.  "We look forward to further strengthening dialogue and communication with Washington and to managing differences responsibly, finding ways to expand cooperation for the benefit of both countries and the world," Xi added


  NY Times, 2024-10-22: The frequency of the exercises suggests that China is stepping up its intimidation efforts: The Chinese military has held two such large-scale exercises since Mr. Lai took office in May, the same number that it held over the previous eight years.  Wall Street Journal, 2024-10-17: China practiced a military blockade of Taiwan that is an all too real future possibility.  Short of Taiwan's surrender, a blockade may be President Xi Jinping's preferred option. All underscores the urgent need to buttress deterrence against a blockade or invasion. This means more civil defense training and military spending in Taiwan, and faster U.S. weapons delivery...The next U.S. President could easily face a Taiwan crisis  Foreign Affairs, 2024-10-16: By almost universal agreement, the Taiwan Strait has emerged as the most combustible flash point in the world.  Some have called on the United States to make an unequivocal commitment to defend Taiwan. Others have focused on enhancing Taiwan's defenses. A much smaller number of analysts have advocated cutting a deal with Beijing in which Washington ends its commitment to defending Taiwan and the island is left to fend for itself.  Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-10-16: Taiwan and other U.S. partners will need to contend with an increasingly capable and aggressive China and rising isolationism and protectionism in the United States. Trump's foreign policy pronouncements reflect sentiments held by many in the United States.

 

China's response to a speech by President Lai Ching-te in Taiwan's national day

◆  New York Times, 2024-10-13 China began holding military drills in areas surrounding Taiwan,  a response to a speech by President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan, who said that China had “no right to represent” the island and China and Taiwan were “not subordinate to each other” .  China did not say when the exercises would conclude.
New York Times, 2024-10-16 David Sacks, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said PLA's activities are coming closer and closer to Taiwan shores.   China's military drills were aimed at demonstrating its potential to choke Taiwan's access to food and fuel and block the skies and waters from which the United States and its allies would presumably approach in coming to the island's defense.  The drills send the message that Taiwan remains so sensitive, so important and crucial for the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party”, said Bonnie Glaser.
◆  Reuters, 2024-10-12 China threatens Taiwan with more trade measures after denouncing president's speech

 

◆  The American Conservative , 2024-10-11: Although there is widespread agreement in Taiwan that avoiding war is desirable, there is no consensus on whether deterrence through militarization is the best path forward. Conscription, currently set at a year, is far from adequate in preparing Taiwan's youth for the type of civic and military readiness found in nations like Israel or South Korea. There is a prevalent assumption,  that America will unquestionably intervene in the event of an invasion. A comprehensive strategy must also aim at fostering political unity, morale, and military readiness in Taiwan ◆   United States Institute of Peace, 2024-10-9: Bloomberg Economics has estimated a war with Taiwan would cost equivalent to 10% of global GDP —  China's GDP would suffer a 16.7% blow compared to 40% for what would be a devastated Taiwanese economyWith a far bigger economy than Russia's, China would have more leverage than Moscow to resist U.S.-led efforts to isolate it after an attack on Taiwan.

 

◆  Chicago Council on Global Affairs , 2024-10-8: Should China invade, Americans support arming Taipei but oppose direct military intervention.A narrow majority of Americans (51%) say the United States should encourage Taiwan to maintain the status quo rather than move toward independence (36%) or unification (4%).
 

If China were to invade Taiwan, would you support or oppose the United States: (% support)

  2024 2023 2022
Using the US military to airlift food and medical supplies to Taiwan 74 78  
Imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on china 72 75 76
Sending additional arms and military supplies to the Taiwanese government 59 62 65
SAending US troops to Taiwan to help the Taiwanese gov. defend itself against China 36 39 40
globalaffairs.org/research/public-opinion-survey/taiwan-americans-favor-status-quo

 

 

China's "coercion short of violence" strategy

◆  Associated Press, 2024-10-5 Beijing could wage an economic and cyber war to force a surrender from Taiwan without direct use of military power, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said in the report.  the U.S. government has yet to formulate a plan to respond to non-military tactics, giving Beijing flexibility in working to undermine Taiwan without triggering an outright response from Washington...
◆  Foreign Policy, 2024-10-4 Taiwan's greatest vulnerabilities extend beyond its military    ──     financial, cybersecurity, and energy risks that China could exploit.
◆  Foundation of Defense of Democracies, 2024-10-4 the “most likely” scenario: Sometime in the next decade, China will combine economic coercion, malicious cyber activity, and limited military moves short of kinetic attacks to break Taiwan's societal and/or economic resilience and force a major adjustment in its policy toward unification. fdd.org/analysis/2024/10/04/targeting-taiwan/
◆  Brookings, 2024-10-3 China's leaders appear determined to show directional progress toward their goal of asserting control over Taiwan. Beijing is pursuing two parallel paths, significant military build-up and "coercion without violence" to compel the people of Taiwan to accept some form of union with the People's Republic of China as a least bad option for Taiwan's future. Harris said in 2022 that the United States would “support Taiwan's self-defense, consistent with our longstanding policy.”. Trump's disdain for alliances and security partnerships, though, negatively impacted Taiwan by calling into question the reliability of America's security commitments. The common thread among these utterances is Trump (team) suggestion that Taiwan is too small and far away for the United States to feel obliged to defend.
◆  American Enterprise Institute , 2024-5-3 From Coercion to Capitulation: How China Can Take Taiwan Without a War / (1) uses economic carrots and sticks, information operations, and military escalation to convince the US and Taiwan that their cooperation directly precipitates further escalation (2) Economic warfare, cyberwarfare, sabotage, rigorous (and pseudo-legal) inspections of ships carrying goods to Taiwan, air and sea closures, electronic warfare, and propaganda (3) break the Taiwanese public's will to resist by intimidating supporters of resistance, sowing doubt and fear ...  (4) information campaigns aim to decrease the US public's and political leadership's willingness to support Taiwan.   aei.org/research-products/report/from-coercion-to-capitulation-how-china-can-take-taiwan-without-a-war/

 

◆  Economist, 2024-10-3: China is using an "anaconda strategy" to squeeze Taiwan.  "They are ready to blockade Taiwan at any time they want", Taiwan's navy commander warns. The number of PLA air incursions across the median line, has jumped more than five-fold, from January to August. The number of PLA ships operating around Taiwan has steadily risen, too, doubling... ◆  Brookings, 2024-10-3: China's leaders appear determined to show directional progress toward their goal of asserting control over Taiwan. Beijing is pursuing two parallel paths, significant military build-up and "coercion without violence" to compel the people of Taiwan to accept some form of union with the People’s Republic of China as a least bad option for Taiwan's future. ◆  Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-9-25:  today China's outmatches Taiwan's both in size and quality,  U.S. defense officials say it does not yet have the ability to carry out a successful amphibious assault on the island amid a U.S. military intervention on Taiwan's behalf. ◆  New York Times, 2024-9-25: Taiwan and U.S. Work to Counter China's Drone Dominance , a move that would also help blunt any threats posed to the island by China. “Security and intellectual property risks are real but manageable with the right safeguards”◆  Wall Street Journal, 2024-9-21: Supply bottlenecks had delayed delivery of weapon systems to Taiwan valued at more than $20 billion. Unlike Ukraine or Israel, Taiwan's geography as an island makes resupplying its military a bigger challenge. Military experts in the West are particularly concerned that China could try to force Taiwan to capitulate with a blockade.Taiwan needs to be as independent as possible to be able to replenish its weapon systems.
 Financial Times, 2024-9-19: The scale of China's military activity is getting larger and larger, and so it is harder to discern when they might be shifting from training to a large exercise, and from an exercise to war. military moves below the threshold of war poses challenge to Taiwan's defences.ft.com/content/3402d159-418c-4485-abb4-7e2155288d61     Brookings, 2024-9-16:What Taiwan most fears—an amphibious invasion—is currently  beyond the PLA's reach.Beijing has developed two different means—military and coercive—to achieve its political objective of unification Politico, 2024-9-11: Nearly three in four Americans are concerned about a potential invasion of Taiwan, according to the latest Reagan National Defense Survey.  And, Washington has fixated on a potential 2027 invasion scenario. But, China's Strategy To Annex Taiwan Is More About Cyber Power Than Firepower  full text

 

U.S. SEAL Team Six  ──   resisting China's invasion ?

Voice of America, 2024-9-14 the secret and precise combat characteristics of the  United States Navy's elite SEAL Team Six mean its role in resisting China's invasion of Taiwan would be very limited and the focus would be on carrying out special tasks.
Financial Times, New York Post, 2024-9-12 SEAL Team Six has spent more than a year training for possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.  However,  the US has so far declined to explicitly say it would come to Taiwan's aid if attacked.

 

"cyberwar" -  pro-Russian vs Taiwan

CNBC (USA), 2024-9-13 "a large number of foreign IPs launched invalid queries" on stock exchange network, resulting in “unstable service for a short period of time.  Local media reported this attack on the Taiwanese government and financial unites, including airports and tax bureaus by a pro-Russian hacker group in retaliation for comments made by Taiwanese President William Lai (Lai Ching-te) .cnbc.com/2024/09/13/pro-russian-hackers-crash-taiwan-stock-exchange-website-local-media-reports-.html
Daily Express (UK), 2024-9-3 Lai Ching-te  has mocked Vladimir Putin with a humiliating quip, saying his biggest ally China should take advantage of Russia being at its "weakest" and take back territory.

 

Economist, 2024-9-5: Taiwan needs to hold out long enough for friends to come to its aid, but polls suggest the will to resist rests, in turn, on whether Taiwanese think America will defend them.  Taiwan can do much to strengthen its defences but, alas, it can do little to influence American politics Wall Street Journal, 2024-9-2: Elbridge Colby's argument has always been that Taiwan isn't itself of existential importance to America. Rather, our core interest is in denying China regional hegemony over Asia. Taiwan is very important for that goal, but not essential Wall Street Journal, 2024-8-28: Elbridge Colby suggested the U.S. may not come to Taiwan's defense in the event of Chinese aggression. Robert O'Brien urged Taiwan to spend at least 5% of its gross domestic product on defense.

 

The Chair of TPP (third largest party), Ko Wen-je,  was arrested

 Financial Times (UK), 2024-9-6 Prosecutors' swift moves against Cheng (former premier 鄭文燦) and Ko Wen-je (Chairman of TPP) have prompted Taiwanese commentators to question whether president Lai was “cleaning house” of political rivals or pushing an anti-corruption crackdown to win back public support (divert attention from the current chaos in domestic politics.). ... investigators typically sounded out their superiors before proceeding with big cases, especially those involving vested interests or politicians. “In a case like this, a signal would have been given from above before they go and detain him".
Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-9-3 Ko Wen-je──accuses the government of attempting to “suppress” its opponents and the press and judiciary of “being the government’s political tools.”
 Asia Nikkei (Japan), 2024-9-5 Ko Wen-je accuses government of witch hunt ... and launched broadsides against the legal system and the press, accusing them of doing the bidding of President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party..."the judiciary and the media being the government's political tools" ( the KMT's most powerful lawmaker, that most legal professionals only listen to the DPP)

 

NBC News, Reuters, 2024-8-31: the use of China's tactics and strategies against Taiwan is still limited by the natural geographical environment of the Taiwan Strait and insufficient landing equipment and logistic capabilities, But China is speeding up development of a slew of new weapons, such as the H-20 bomber and hypersonic missiles and beefing up the number of nuclear warheads, and  China has other options to threaten Taiwan, such as inspecting foreign cargo ships Insider, 2024-8-29: Taiwan is rethinking its use of US-made anti-tank missiles after less than half hit their targets in recent combat drills   Business Insider, 2024-8-23: within the next six months, an aggressive, short-of-war campaign could force some of Taiwan's most vulnerable islands into a quarantine. Involvement by the US and its allies will be critical in maintaining Taiwan's resistance Atlantic Council, 2024-8-21: The period between delivery and integration is often invisible to the public.  The US should be focused not only on what Taiwan may need to deter and defeat China, but also on what can be quickly integrated into Taiwan's military.   National Public Radio, 2024-8-19: instead of just sending signals to Beijing or just sending weapons, arms to Taiwan, People really want to know whether the U.S. Navy or marine forces will help Taiwan to defend itself New York Times, 2024-8-21: President Biden approved in March a highly classified nuclear plan that reorients America's deterrent strategy to focus on the rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal. The Pentagon believes China's stockpiles will rival those of the U.S. and Russia over the next decade.   National Interest, 2024-8-17:Tensions between China and Taiwan threaten to boil over. Multiple experts, including this author, believe some kind of major Chinese move against the island democracy is at hand.  Instead of mirroring U.S. military capabilities, Taiwan should invest in anti-aircraft defenses, coastal defense batteries, hypersonic weapons, drones, and widespread civilian armament.   National Public Radio, 2024-8-19: instead of just sending signals to Beijing or just sending weapons, arms to Taiwan, People really want to know whether the U.S. Navy or marine forces will help Taiwan to defend itself   Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-8-9: Taiwan's President, Lai Ching-te, has unveiled plans to increase defense spending by nearly six percent.   Taiwan should do all it can to prepare for the worst and mounts a stiff resistance if deterrence fails. To that end, Taiwan's leaders should embrace a new defense spending target of five percent of GDP ( Israel's 2022 defense spending totaled 4.5 percent of GDP) and rapidly meet that goal through yearly double-digit percentage increases   Washington Post, Star and Strips, 2024-8-4: Taiwan's slow progress on boosting training concerns military experts ... Matt Pottinger says that Taiwan needs the political will and foresight to dedicate some of its best military officers to recruitment and instruction. “I'm really hoping that Taiwan makes these sacrifices"   National Interest, 2024-7-30:  Taiwan spends less as a percentage of GDP on its defense than the US. On top of that, Taiwan does not have a strong draft. Taiwan's politicians likely realize better than Washington that Taiwanese voters may not be as inclined to make the kind of heavy sacrifices that are necessary to defend their freedom as the Ukrainians, Israelis...   Bloomberg (2024-7-24): China squeezes Taiwan by targeting islands and fishing Sites  ──   The Chinese Coast Guard is now “constantly” patrolling east of the median line in the Taiwan strait;  It's likely that China will increasingly harass fishing boats and sightseeing boats to test Taiwan's response,  China's detention of the vessel may also be a subtle test of the US.

Taiwan's Annual Han Kuang exercise      ──   People don't realise the stage of infancy the military is in, said expert of the Atlantic Council.

 Newsweek , 2024-7-22 This year's drills are designed to better reflect the uncertainties of actual warfare...participating troops are not being briefed on where or when the "enemy" would strike and with what weapons systems, as a result of the added uncertainties of the new format,...assess how Taiwanese forces would handle a decentralized command structure in the event they are cut off from headquarters, as could happen should Chinese air strikes disable communications infrastructure before any invasion.
 Financial Times (UK), 2024-7-21 This year's drill pivots from scripted performances to realistic battlefield scenarios to address the Taiwan military's core problem, which is operational-level and tactical-level decision-making,”  The biggest problem was the general staff's planning process, they need to learn to adapt operational plans to a changing situation in wartime in rapid, live planning cycles.
  Barron's,  AFP (France),  2024-7-22 Japan has reportedly concluded that a ground landing in Taiwan by Chinese troops would now be "possible in less than a week" instead of the previous estimate of a month.

 

◆  Bloomberg, 2024-7-22: Taiwan's President risks angering China with 'National Identity' call Lai Ching-te urges DPP to protect Taiwan sovereignty. KMT lawmaker said it smacked of “ideology and nationalism” and was a sign that Lai was moving toward despotism Wall Street Journal, 2024-7-18: As if to remind everyone, Mr. Trump is casually signaling that the U.S. might not defend Taiwan from a Chinese assault. New York Times, 2024-7-16: many Taiwanese officials are convinced that their island will be vulnerable unless it quickly steps up preparedness.  some experts argue that the island should lengthen conscription — already extended recently to 12 months Bloomberg, TIME, 2024-7-11: China sent a record number of warplanes across a U.S.-drawn boundary in the Taiwan Strait—a move that comes as the new president of the archipelago mulls a trip that may include a stop in America Financial Times (2024-7-10):Experts warn that Taiwan remains woefully underprepared for war. A bigger challenge would be overhauling bureaucratic structures and procedures. War games and other assessments of Taiwan's defence readiness have repeatedly highlighted a lack of co-ordination between different government departments and the civilian and military bureaucracy.

 

China seized Taiwan boat with crew for fishing illegally -  a move could add to tensions between Beijing and President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan.

New York Times, 2024-7-3 China Seizes Taiwanese Fishing Boat in Latest Uptick in Tensions; Bonnie Glaser: China wants to demonstrate to Taiwan that it does not have control over air space and sea space...and sends a  signal to Lai that he is very close to their red lines and he had better not cross them.
CNN, 2024-7-3 China's coast guard detains Taiwan fishing boat near frontline islands; three Taiwan coast guard vessels answered a call for help but retreated to avoid conflict when they were outnumbered by their Chinese counterparts.
Bloomberg, 2024-7-3 China sees Lai as pushing for independence for the US-backed island...Officials in Taipei have also expressed concern that China will detain more individuals from the island to pile pressure on Lai.


Washington Post, 2024-7-1: China: Taiwan's
leadership, along with its supporters in the United States, is pursuing “separation” from China in “incremental” fashion.   Washington Examiner, 2024-7-2: Xi Jinping's regime is setting the legal and diplomatic table for a crackdown on Taiwan while blaming the United States for the growing possibility of war over the island democracy...  “The Chinese government has the right to expel this regime..."  The ominous rhetoric seems to express in part Xi's displeasure with Lai Ching-Te   The Atlantic Council, 2024-6-27: Taiwanese officials have rejected not only that interpretation but also Beijing’s claim that Taipei agreed to its view of “one China” when forming the “1992 consensus” at a semiofficial meeting in Hong Kong that year. The 'consensus' term was artificially coined nearly a decade after the meeting. There was no actual consensus, even according to Taiwan’s president in 1992, between Beijing and Taipei about the status of Taiwan with respect to the PRC.  Wall Street Journal, 2024-6-23: Lai Ching-te said he aimed to make Taiwan the “Asian center for the democratic drone supply chain."; Taiwan has the know-how to build its own unmanned aircraft, now it is a question of scale.  The overwhelming majority of the types of small, inexpensive drones that are having the greatest impact on battlefields are made in China New York Times, 2024-6-17 : the United States' chief representative in Taiwan advices: Avoid panic about China's combative language and moves, but don't grow numb to the risks  Financial Times, 2024-6-16 : China's President Xi Jinping told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that Washington was trying to goad Beijing into attacking TaiwanThe White House did not comment.
 

The US defends Taiwan ?

TIME, 2024-6-4 Asked by Time magazine whether The US might involve boots on the ground, US President Joe Biden said, "It would depend on the circumstances""we are not seeking independence for Taiwan nor will we in fact, not defend Taiwan if they if, if China unilaterally tries to change the status...Not ruling out using US military force. There's a distinction between deploying on the ground, air power and naval power, etc"

 

China's 'reunification' with Taiwan

Reuters, 2024-6-2 Prospect of peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan is being increasingly "eroded" by Taiwanese separatists and external forces, China says
Wall Street Journal, 2024-6-2
China is determined to subvert and manipulate the island's politics
Daily Express, 2024-6-3 China's Defence Chief asserted that China's military is prepared to engage forcefully, and warned of an imminent "perilous situation of war and danger"

 
Washington Examiner, 2024-5-31:  Foreign Affairs wrote that invasion does not appear to be China's preferred option. Beijing's more probable plan is to gradually intensify the policy: a creeping encroachment into Taiwan's airspace, maritime space, and information space. The United States must become more alert to the dangers posed by a slow strangulation of Taiwan. New York Times, 2024-5-27:“The United States must maintain the capacity to resist any resort to force or coercion that would jeopardize the security of the people of Taiwan,” Mr. McCaul, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said.    FoxNews, 2024-5-28 : House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul said : "These war games to intimidate and protest the election from China are probably the most provocative I've ever seen in terms of the numbers of ships and planes", "we will probably lose if China invaded Taiwan. Washington Post, 2024-5-20: Taiwan swears in new president, the ruling party DPP has transformed the island democracy into a bulwark against Chinese aggression and brushed off increasingly ominous threats from Beijing; the perception is that Lai Ching-te's policy could be more provocative compared to Tsai's policy New York Times, 2024-5-20: Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te vows to keep the island democracy safe in the face of Chinese pressure and wars raging abroad that have fed uncertainty over Western staying power.  "Peace through strength" is going to be his main posture     full text

 

China Launches Military Drills Around Taiwan as 'Punishment', 'Reprisals'

 New York Times, 2024-5-22 China took offense to Mr. Lai's assertion that  —  they “are not subordinate to each other” —  and his emphasis on Taiwan's democratic identity and warnings against threats from China. Beijing accused Mr. Lai of promoting formal independence for Taiwan ── the drill was “based on various stages of an invasion of Taiwan... might feature training to seize one of those islands.
BBC, 2024-5-23 the ongoing exercise is aimed at "simulating a full-scale armed invasion of Taiwan"... for the first time also targeted the Taipei-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and DongyinChina aims to show Taipei that its east is now exposed to Chinese attack, and to show the Americans that any effort to resupply or re-enforce Taiwan from the east is vulnerable to Chinese missile strikes and naval attack.
AFP, 2024-5-23 China holds war games around Taiwan, vows flowing blood CCTV : the drills were partly aimed at rehearsing an economic blockade of the island, "strangle" Taiwan's critical Kaohsiung port to "severely impact" its foreign trade,  and cut off "Taiwan's lifeline of energy imports" as well as "block the support lines that some US allies provide to 'Taiwan independence' forces".   General S. Sklenka described the exercises as "concerning" but not unexpected.
CNN, 2024-5-22 CCTV: creating an omnidirectional approach in pushing toward the island.  An expert ( at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peacecalls China's latest drills “an intimidation tactic, part of a pattern, not a sign of imminent war.” Beijing has a robust coercion kitbag from which it will mix and match, ratchet up and back and up again to signal its range of options to coerce and inflict pain
AFP, 2024-5-22 China slammed the inauguration speech of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as a " downright 'confession of Taiwan independence'"
   full text

 

Reuters, 2024-5-20: Lai Ching-te takes office as Taiwan's new president facing an angry and deeply suspicious China which believes he is a "separatist", and a fractious parliament with an opposition chomping at the bit to challenge him. Bloomberg, Yahoo, 2024-5-15: China said it would sanction five Taiwanese political commentators and roll out a law to punish “separatists,” moves aimed at piling pressure on incoming president Lai Ching-te just days before he takes office War On The Rocks, 2024-5-15: Zelensky: "I need ammunition, not a ride"; Whereas Ukraine was focused on acquiring military aid, Taiwan will almost certainly be asking potential allies to engage in a direct military intervention.  Instead of focusing on ideology, Taiwan might be better served by appealing to the core security interests of the United States and its regional partners. Foreign Policy, 2024-5-12: China and the U.S. are numb to the real risk of war The pair are dangerously close to the edge of nuclear war over Taiwan—again.  Business Insider, 2024-5-10: China is untangling its economy from the West. It could be preparing for long-term tensions — and an invasion of Taiwan. Newsweek, 2024-5-8: Taiwan must embrace a more dynamic defensive strategy that can independently deter, or at least stall, Beijing.  If China establishes a beachhead on Taiwan that can be reliably resupplied, defeat is a matter of time New York Times, 2024-5-3: U.S. officials came to think that Mr. Xi would try to invade only if he believed he would succeed in a relatively bloodless operation before American troops responded... U.S. SM-6 missile seemed right for the job. Bloomberg, 2024-5-2: "We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan...", Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said  in testimony to Congress.    Financial Times, 2024-5-3: Instead of trying to defeat China’s vastly superior air and naval forces head-on, Taiwan should ensure that any force attempting to come ashore would be slaughtered.  ABC News, 2024-5-1: The US is in a Cold War with China over Taiwan.  Taiwan is really existential to U.S. interests because of its position in the region; whoever controls Taiwan, really controls that Indo-Pacific region.  TIME, 2024-5-1:  Communist China's leaders “have to understand that things like that can't come easy,” Trump says, but he declines to say whether he would come to Taiwan's defense.  National Interest, 2024-5-1: To defend Taiwan, America needs to upgrade its defense-industrial base. Both America and its allies are now deeply preoccupied by events in other portions of the globe, which could lead the CCP to believe that it should strike while the United States is spread thin.  The Telegraph, 2024-5-1: this war chest like Beijing's hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons – not to enable an attack on Taiwan at a chosen date, but to ensure that with the balance of power changing in China's favour, it will not be needed.  Xi is betting on political disarray and disunity among the US and his Western allies  Wall Street Journal, 2024-4-30: Taiwan's economy got off to a strong start this year, boosted by strong exports as global demand for electronics picks up Business Insider, 2024-4-27: A host of warning signs point to China preparing for military action against Taiwan.  Military forces are being deployed nearer to Taiwan than ever, effectively shortening Taiwan's reaction time.   New York Times, 2024-4-23:  in the Foreign Aid Package, the House attached a provision that would allow the Pentagon to quickly provide Taiwan with more offensive weapons and provides billions more for the purchase of advanced U.S. weapons technology as the U.S. and Taiwanese governments continue to build up their alliances to deter China from invading the island. USNI News, 2024-4-23: Report to Congress on Taiwan Defense Issues - A key consideration for U.S. policymakers is whether and if so how to support Taiwan’s ability to defend itself in a possible cross-Strait conflict without triggering such a conflict. New York Times, 2024-4-18: The House is set to vote on a foreign aid package for Taiwan -  allow the Pentagon to quickly provide Taiwan with more offensive weapons and provides billions more for the purchase of advance U.S. weapons technology as the U.S. and Taiwanese governments continue to build up their alliances to deter China from launching an invasion  Asia Nikkei, 2024-4-16: NATO Defense College report: Nato could become involved in a potential Taiwan conflict if Chinese attack on Hawaii New York Times, 2024-4-10: China's “immediate focus is to push the incoming Lai Ching-te administration to adopt a more accommodating political stance on cross-strait relations.  China has brushed off Mr. Lai's offers to talk as insincere. On the other hand, Beijing has shown that it will court friendlier Taiwanese politicians, like Mr. Ma, who accept the framework for relations demanded by Beijing: that both sides accept that they are part of one China, even if they differ on what that means. New York Times, 2024-4-3: In a rare call, Biden spoke with Xi. China said that Xi had called for “concrete actions” to demonstrate a U.S. commitment not to support Taiwan's independence.   New York Times, 2024-3-28 : Taiwan's top diplomat says a Russian victory could embolden China to move against Taiwan and would fuel anti-American propaganda 

 

Taiwan has breached its commitments  ─   Taiwan's death penalty "progress" in 10 years

till 2015  2024

<BBC> , <Amnesty International> UK , 2012-12-22

Amnesty International has condemned Taiwan's move as "cold-blooded killing".

The executions - by shooting - "made a mockery of the authorities' stated commitment to abolish the death penalty".

"It is abhorrent to justify taking someone's life because prisons are overcrowded or the public's alleged support for the death penalty".

<Amnesty International>) 、 <European Parliament> ,   Dec. 23, 2012Taiwan has breached its commitments: EU

London-based Amnesty International organization ), 2015-6-5: a failure of political leadership
France (2012-12-6) has condemned the execution of six death-row inmates by Taiwan

<BBC> (Chinese version),  4.30.2014, <Focus Taiwan>, 5.1.2014: ... human rights groups questioned Taiwan's execution this time with political purpose (shifts the focus on China's trade agreement, and nuclear factory issue).  

 

★  DW (Germany), 2024-4-24:

 

☉ tv.Guardian, DW video: Taiwan's claim to be a regional bastion of human rights is undermined by its retention of capital punishment, activists say.


co-executive director of the Death Penalty Project
"Taiwan has said for many years that they're on a road to abolition,"  "But my question is, is that road too long politically and that not enough progress has been made politically to move away from the death penalty?"


the issue is often being used by Taiwan gov. as "some kind of political maneuvering."

 

 

7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Taiwan

New York Times, 2024-4-4 Taipei 101, once the tallest building in the world, still, some experts say that more needs to be done to either strengthen or demolish structures that don't meet standards, and such calls have grown louder in the wake of the latest earthquake.
USA Today, 2024-4-4 The island's two nuclear power stations remain unaffected.  Nvidia said it expects no supply disruptions from the earthquake.  Taiwan, prone to earthquakes, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where 90% of the world's temblors take place.  It felt strong in Taipei because of the “basin effect,” which occurs when earthquake reverberations become trapped in soft ground.
Fortune, 2024-4-4 TSMC said its fabrication plants recovered 70% of tools within 10 hours of the earthquake, and that its “critical tools,” such as its multimillion-dollar extreme ultraviolet lithography tools, remain unharmed...  its massive chip foundry mega-complexes are nearly quake-proof.
TIME, 2024-4-4 China offered earthquake aid to Taiwan—Taiwan's quick rejection likely stemmed, experts say, from lingering bitterness over how the 1999 earthquake was handled.
LA Times, 2024-4-4 Just recognizing that the fault didn't get near a major population center is probably the most important factor that reduced the damage.  Some residents voiced concerns about the alert system because not everyone was notified.
United Daily (聯合報), 2024-4-4 Why didn't most of Taiwanese receive government's national alert ?   Why did the government make such a serious misjudgment udn.com/news/story/7338/7876798?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

 

National Interest, 2024-3-30 : Xi Jinping's statement in December 2023 hinted at possible invasion plans. Experts suggest Taiwan should pivot to insurgency tactics, including bolstering coastal defenses, developing hypersonic weapons, deploying massive numbers of drones, creating electromagnetic spectrum jammers, and distributing small arms widely among the population. Fox News, 2024-3-27 : Taiwan stands as major line of defense against global war with China, A change in Taiwan's status might not directly threaten the U.S. homeland in the immediate term, but it would irreversibly alter regional dynamics in ways that would benefit America's chief geopolitical adversary   New York Times, 2024-3-24 : Larger, more menacing military actions are possible, especially after Mr. Lai's inauguration. Any conciliatory messages in Mr. Lai's presidential inauguration speech were unlikely to shift China's strategy -“The gray zone operations against Taiwan will become more intense" .   Mr. Xi probably won't make any big decisions over Taiwan before the United States' presidential election  War On The Rocks, 2024-3-21 : Military analysts have proposed denying air superiority to China via mobile surface-to-air missiles and drones and creating a “prickly fortress of sea denial” with road-mobile anti-ship missiles; The naval mines make it easier to channel Chinese forces into areas where they are most vulnerable to Taiwan's anti-ship missiles, gun batteries, and drones. 

 

Taiwan Confirms US Troops on Front-Line Islands Near China

Wall Street Journal, 2024-3-20 Taiwan acknowledges presence of U.S. troops on outlying islands /  The U.S. planned to expand its presence of troops in Taiwan to between 100 and 200 last year, up from roughly 30 in 2022. The U.S. and Taiwan have been largely silent on the deployment as they attempt to avoid agitating Beijing while they work to fortify Taiwan against a potential Chinese invasion.
Taiwan News, 2024-3-21 US commander denies permanently stationing troops on Taiwan's outer island

 

Wall Street Journal, 2024-3-18 : U.S. officials and military scholars have long believed that the expensive hardware is apt to get wiped out by China's much larger military, in the early stages of attack. For the past few years, Taiwan’s procurement, under U.S. pressure, has put more emphasis on asymmetrical weapons such as Harpoon antiship missiles, Himars rocket launchers and mines.  but if China amasses forces around the island in a blockade, or if Beijing's military establishes a firm beachhead on Taiwan, small, short-range weapons could be less effective at degrading the enemy, Taiwan says War On The Rocks, 2024-3-14 : U.S.  public support  for Taiwan, which is as high as it has ever been according to polls, supports aiding Taiwan to defend itself against China in the event of an attack, but consistently opposes any direct military intervention by the United States. Foreign Policy, 2024-3-14 : Taiwan imports  97 percent  of its energy through highly vulnerable maritime shipping routes. Any quarantine, blockade, or invasion of the island by China would devastate its ability to sustain basic services and critical infrastructure—not to mention the factories that produce approximately  90 percent  of the world's most advanced semiconductors. Solutions are in short supply. Financial Times, 2024-3-11 : Frequently, "grey zone", semi-hostile behaviour, is via fishing boats and coastguard vessels on the fringes of Taiwanese waters, designed, it seems, to keep testing and squeezing Taiwan.  China recently sharpened its rhetoric saying it must “fight” Taiwanese independence, rather than “oppose” it, its previous preferred formulation. CNN (2024-3-10) : the Economist declared that Taiwan was “the most dangerous place on Earth.”; The world's most dangerous place has only gotten more dangerous. Perhaps the extraordinary and rapid growth of China and the reality of America's dominant status made this inevitable, "destined for war" .  In the past, Communist China believed that it could wait (reunification) because time was on its side. But that premise is proving untrue. This issue will need to be managed rather than solved —All three sides should keep talking ... United States Institute of Peace (2024-3-5) : After Taiwan's election, China is now ratcheting up the pressure. China's efforts to change the status quo with Taiwan could lead to unintentional conflict. Associated Press (2024-3-5):  conquest over the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, driving Indian forces from their disputed border, and asserting control over islands in the East China and South China Sea all on Beijing's list of priorities. USNI.org, 2024-3-1: Report to Congress on Taiwan Defense and Military Issues / The archipelago's energy, food, water, internet, and other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable to external disruption.  Civil-military relations are strained...Taiwan's civil defense preparedness is insufficient, and its military struggles to recruit, retain, and train personnel.  it is not clear what costs—in terms of economic security, physical safety and security, and lives—Taiwan's people would be willing or able to bear in the face of possible PRC armed aggression...renewing U.S. debates about how to allocate limited resources to shore up Taiwan's resilience  New York Times, 2024-2-26: The P.L.A.'s now-normalized presence around Taiwan raises the risk of an accidental confrontation. Taiwan's response has been inconsistent and lacks transparency, which may further embolden Beijing...Taipei's approach to sharing information about Chinese activities with the public has not been fully transparent CNN, 2024-2-27: Today Xi is expanding China's military at a pace the world hasn’t seen in a century – since before World War Two. Xi's military build-up is, by comparison, larger than Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan combined.his ambitions in nuclear, space, and AI warfare are advancing at lightning speed...  characterized by a high degree of projective self-confidence and a lot less patient on the Taiwan issue.   Financial Times, 2024-2-27: Chinese research ships increase incursions near Taiwan Financial Times, 2024-2-23: In the past, China would only talk about the ‘one-China principle’, but now they have rolled it all into one with the push for unification VOA, 2024-2-23: Taiwan faces tough balancing act as China increases pressure Yahoo News, 2024-2-24: Trump wouldn't say definitively one way or the other whether he would defend Taiwan. DAVID SACKS: and actually blame Taiwan for taking America's semiconductor industry.  So I do think the US presidential election could be a real factor here. CNN, 2024-2-23: Xi takes a page from Putin as he vows to control Taiwan; Xi is expanding China's military at a pace the world has not seen in a century since before World War II.

Foreign Affairs, 2024-2-20       foreignaffairs.com/scared-strait  brief

Raymond Kuo, Michael A. Hunzeker, Mark A. Christopher GLASER, WEISS, AND CHRISTENSEN reply
(They) argue that Washington and Taiwan are not doing enough to assure Beijing of their intentions, in the process undermining deterrence in the Taiwan Strait.... providing more assurances will simply embolden Beijing to continue its threatening behavior.  Conditional, credible consequences are now essential to encouraging a less bellicose Chinese policy...when deterrence is needed against a determined and capable rival, assurances that are not reciprocated can quickly become concessions. we did not advocate an “assurance first” strategy that offers “concessions” to appease Beijing... the new military measures we think are needed for deterrence will be less effective if Beijing believes they are aimed at buttressing a unilateral assertion of independence by Taiwan or ... an alliance... China can attack out of fear.  They may believe that Taiwan can safely assert permanent sovereign independence as long as there is sufficient military might in place to dissuade Beijing from attacking. If so, they are hardly alone, but we strongly disagree.

 

  Financial Times, 2024-2-19: China coastguard boards Taiwan tourist boat. Rare inspection raises tensions around Taipei-controlled island of Kinmen just off the Chinese coast Taiwan national security officials worry about as it could disrupt supplies and undermine public confidence even without reaching the level of a full blockade CNN, 2024-2-19: China ramps up patrols near Taiwan's outlying islands following death of Chinese fishermen.  The patrols are likely to put Chinese coast guard vessels in closer proximity to their Taiwanese counterparts, potentially raising the risk of miscalculation and conflict. Foreign Affairs, 2024-2-16: A war over the island could easily cause a global depression.   A Chinese seizure of Taiwan could trigger a race among nations to develop their own nuclear arsenals as U.S. security guarantees lost credibility DW, 2024-2-16: Elbridge Colby: Taiwan's military preparation has "lagged behind the scale of the threat" despite some incremental progress. "Not really doing anything near what it would need to do to make itself more defensible" borders on "vaguely suicidal behavior"  CSIS.org , 2024-2-13: Specific interests, rather than democratic solidarity,  stability, rather than debates over Taiwan's sovereignty are more likely to drive engagement with Taiwan in most parts of the world  Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-2-8: Differences over Taiwan's status have fueled rising tensions between the island and the mainland.  Through its policy of strategic ambiguity, the US has for decades attempted to maintain a delicate balance between supporting Taiwan and preventing a war with China. But President Joe Biden has seemingly rejected the policy, stating several times that the US would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked. White House officials have walked back his comments, saying the policy has not changed, but ultimately, the president gets to decide how to respond.    

 

the Deaths of Chinese Fishermen That Taiwanese Forces Chased Away - tensions between China and Taiwan reached a new high

GT (China) ,  2024-2-26 Taiwan even used the phrase "rescue explanation of the overturned mainland speedboat" at a press conference, making the accident sound like the mainland fishing boat had accidentally capsized and Taiwan's vessel was there to rescue, blatantly spreading false information.  If the Taiwan authorities continue to disregard the mainland's sincerity, then they will bear the consequences and pay the cost. Calling off the "off-limit" or "restricted" waters in the Xiamen-Kinmen zones, realizing regular law enforcement patrols in the entire Xiamen-Kinmen waters, including boarding inspections of relevant ships  globaltimes.cn/page/202402/1307706.shtml
Associated Press, 2024-2-18 The fishermen's deaths are unusual despite the level of Chinese activity in the waters near Kinmen, which is closer to China than it is to Taiwan's main island
TIME, 2024-2-15 China: Taiwan's officials have long mistreated fishermen from the mainland and forcefully and dangerously seized mainland fishing boats, a pattern it claims led to the recent
Reuters, NBC News, 2024-2-18 China has condemned Taiwan's actions and labeled the death incident "wicked".  The deaths had caused “strong indignation” in China, and there is no such thing as ‘prohibited or restricted waters’.  China will strengthen its law enforcement activities and carry out regular patrols around a small group of Taiwanese-controlled islands off the Chinese coast as tensions rise over the deaths of two Chinese nationals
Daily Express (UK), 2024-2-18 China ramps up coast guard ships in Taiwan waters as tensions rise over fishermen deaths. Tensions between China and Taiwan have reached a new high.
DW (Germany), 2024-2-16 Inevitable Taiwan tensions in 2024
China Daily (China) , 2024-2-19

China: A callous act with disregard for human life. It has caused strong indignation across the mainland ; For many years, the mainland established reception facilities for Taiwan fishermen in numerous coastal areas, provided them assistance such as shelters and supplies, and rescued Taiwan fishing boats and fishermen,In contrast, the DPP Taiwan have, for some time, forcefully detained mainland fishing boats under various pretexts and treated mainland fishermen in a rude and dangerous manner, this was the key reason why the fatal incident occurred.  The mainland reserves the right to take further measures, and Taiwan will bear all consequences.

Taipei Times (Taiwan), 2024-2-16 Taiwan (MAC) : Coast guard's conduct appropriate -  they were legally performing their duties and had not erred in any way.  Chinese fishing vessels have been intruding into Taiwan's restricted or prohibited waters for a while to poach high-priced fish

 

  Newsweek, 2024-2-8: US Army special forces as a permanent arrangement train Taiwan troops in Penghu, Kinmen and Taoyuan; the permanent presence of American forces on the island was considered a possible trigger for a cross-strait shooting war  TIME , 2024-2-9: In an event of invasion, the first 48 hours are extremely important, because that’s the window within which China will take advantage of its geographic proximity, and it will take some time before the American Navy Indo-Pacific Command can respond to a major contingency,  “That's where the Philippines comes in.” Reuters, 2024-2-6: If an attack comes, the Pentagon believes Beijing will want to seize the capital as fast as possible and isolate the island's leadership; Stopping that would require rapid mobilisation -  but more than two million former conscripts receive no ongoing further training   New York Times, 2024-2-5 briefing: China's expanding nuclear arsenal - The weapons could also shape the future of Taiwan — if China gained confidence that it could use their existence to limit Western intervention in any conflict National Interest, 2024-2-2:  hybrid warfare operations still fit better into China's cost-benefit calculus. China's invasion of Taiwan seems unlikely in the short term. Instead, the military aspects of China's hybrid warfare operations may be more visible in the near future Reuters, 2024-1-31: Taiwan angered at 'unilateral' China change to Taiwan Strait flight path, saying it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to change the status quo for possible military means.

 

 ◆  the Lowy Institute Asia Power Index, 2023 Edition

  Taiwan China Japan Korea Singapore
Comprehensive Power No.14  down 15.2 2nd 3rd 7th 8th
Economic capability 8th  -1.2   down 13.0 2nd  87.0 3rd   5th 6th
Military Capability 11th  +2.1   up 21.7 2nd   68.1 6th   27.4 5th 9th
Resilience 18th   -5.9 down 24.7 3rd   70.4 11th  10th 14th
Future Resources 12th  up 6.5 2nd   72.9 5th 7th 11th
Diplomatic Influence  22th  -3.9   down 19.4 1st    91.5 3rd 6th 10th
Economic Relationships 12th  +0.6  up 11.1 1st   98.3 3rd 5th 4th
Cultural Influence 13th  -2.2   down 12.6 2nd   47.4 3rd 7th 9th
Defense Networks 16th  down 11.8 7th    23.7 3rd 4th 5th
power.lowyinstitute.org/countries/taiwan/

 

Bloomberg, TIME, 2024-1-31:China says the U.S. could abandon Taiwan if Trump wins the Presidency; In July, Trump avoided directly answering a query over whether as president he'd defend Taiwan if China attacked.

  New York Times, 2024-1-27:  The truth is that Taiwan hasn't been willing to make deep sacrifices for its own security.  It allocates a smaller share of G.D.P. to defense than the United States, Israel or Estonia; it is only now requiring a year of military conscription (for men); and it is phasing out nuclear power plants, which are critical for resilience in a blockade because they provide homegrown power when imports provide 98 percent of energy National Interest, 2024-1-27: the Atlantic Council reported that Taipei has a potential defensive force of 450,000 troops. Using the traditional three-to-one ratio of attackers to defenders to successfully mount an invasion, China would need more than 1.2 million troops. While an air campaign could bring Taipei to its knees and then the peace table, such an effort would utterly destroy the island's infrastructure in the process Economist, 2024-1-25: China is changing the status quo militarily and on the diplomatic stage. That bodes ill for the future. As China sees it, the more countries that adopt its view of Taiwan, the more cover it has to turn words into action New York Times, 2024-1-24: Some believe — it appears this may be Trump's view — that T.S.M.C. is so valuable that it might tempt China to try to grab Taiwan, and then bring the world to its knees.  Given how difficult it is to move production, the best way to safeguard the manufacturing of chips may be to work harder than ever to deter and avoid war in the Taiwan Strait. Wall Street Journal, 2024-1-19: The prospect that Taiwanese voters might never elect a Beijing-friendly government again could tilt China toward harsher methods to seek unification, including military force Washington Post, 2024-1-17:  The Taiwanese people showed they are not interested in becoming a pawn in the U.S.-China competition. Taiwan wants ties with both the US and China New York Times, 2024-1-17: A peaceful solution on Taiwan is slipping away.  Chinese law explicitly states that Beijing may use force if possibilities for peaceful unification are “completely exhausted.”.  Conflict between China and the United States just got a little more likely. New York Times, 2024-1-15: Taiwan's president-elect represents a setback for China Some U.S. officials have warned, China will be increasingly ready to try to seize or subdue Taiwan by force... Lai may have to watch his tendency for occasional off-the-cuff remarks, which Beijing could exploit and turn into crises.    New York Times, 2024-1-13: Mr. Lai's victory (in presidential election) forces Mr. Xi to face a lack of progress.  With Taiwan's sense of self and China's expectations in conflict, Mr. Xi is not expected to sit idly by Washington Post, 2024-1-10:  increasingly frequent warnings from China's strongman leader Xi Jinping that Beijing's rule here is “inevitable” — raising the prospect of a conflict that could draw in the United States New York Times, 2024-1-9: China suggests that another D.P.P. victory after eight years in power would intensify the risk of conflict. A warning from Taiwan about a satellite, erroneously called a missile in English, raised concerns about Chinese harassment days before an election. The rocket with a satellite steered off course into the skies above the atmosphere of southern Taiwan. The Hill, 2024-1-6: Often characterized as a proxy war between the superpowers, the reality of the situation is far more nuanced and indicative of a complex geopolitical chess game where, surprisingly, both the U.S. and China stand to gain regardless of the election's outcome Foreign Affairs, 2024-1-5: U.S. support for Ukraine diverts weapons from Taiwan but demonstrates resolve to China The Globe and Mail, 2024-1-5:The tragedy of Taiwan is that a clash with China is inevitable Telegraph, 2024-1-5: Super aircraft carrier Fujian is nearly ready for a China-Taiwan war New York Post, 2023-12-21: China's Xi Jinping warned Joe bluntly that Beijing will take Taiwan... It represents a clear escalation on China's part, moving from its longtime claim of ownership to notification of intent to take possession.  Brookings Institution, 2023-12-18: although China would respond to a Taiwan declaration of independence with a military campaign, Beijing knows that this would be quite risky, in part because the PLA is not ready to undertake such a complicated campaign; a wide-ranging campaign of coercion that includes displays of military force but a variety of non-military pressure and intimidation, a low-risk approach, targets the confidence of the people of Taiwan, and there are signs that it is gradually working. Economist, 2023-12-13: There is an argument from the us that although Taiwan is a key security interest for the us, it should stop saying that. Because that's going to provoke China, and the us should say it's up to the people of Taiwan and China to decide their future.  Taiwan's vice pres. candidate: Taiwan is a security interest primarily for the people of Taiwan. But Taiwan is also a security interest for the world.   Reporters Without Borders (RSF) , 2023-12-13: Taiwan is a country that suffers from one of the lowest trust rates in the media among democracies (28%) and where the media community is often criticised for disregarding journalism ethics... journalists suffer from a very polarised media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit at the expense of quality news reporting.

 

Taiwan's economy - compared with Asian countries

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Median wealth per adult (Credit Suisse, Research Institute, 2023 ) US$ 202,410 (world No.3) US$ 108,250
Mean wealth per adult (Credit Suisse, Research Institute, 2023 ) US$ 551,190 US$ 273,790
The average salary (Morgan McKinley, Business Insider, 2023) HK$ 36,583 (about TWD147,204) TWD 48,032 (plus overtime etc TWD 57,045) - storm.mg/lifestyle/4851897
Median salary (UDN, 2023-12-14) about TWD 84,000 about TWD 43,000
Market Capitalization  (UDN, 2023-12-14) more than double of Taiwan's about USD 1.7 trillion
At the end of 2022, Taiwan's per capita GDP amounted to $32,756 while Singapore's was $82,808, Japan and South Korea were at $33,815 and $32,255, respectively, according to the World Bank.

 

The Diplomat, 2023-12-11: Taiwan's election is not a turning point for US policy -  but- Continuity in U.S. support for Taiwan and hardening against China will face an inflection point if Biden is replaced by Donald Trump or some other candidate with strong “America First” leanings in the November 2024 elections The Guardian, 2023-12-9: Cracks are appearing in China's monolithic regime – and its leader might decide a military adventure will strengthen his grip on power Fortune, 2023-12-5: After Israel and Ukraine, Taiwan business leaders fear Taipei-Beijing tensions may trigger the next geopolitical conflict...the Republican-led House approved money only for Israel in November, defying Biden's request for spending for all three allies (Ukraine, Taiwan).  New York Times, 2023-12-4: Taiwan's presidential election candidates have focused on who can best handle the island's volatile relationship with China. But many voters, especially those in their 20s and 30s, say they are weary of geopolitics and yearn for a campaign more focused on their concerns, like rising housing costs, slow income growth and narrowing career prospects... could be a crucial factor in deciding the presidential election
 

western media  Taiwan's presidential election -  could reignite U.S.-China tensions
Washington Post, 2023-11-28 Beijing calls the race a “choice between war and peace” and it has escalated an intimidation campaign around the island democracy, taking Chinese military aggression in the Taiwan Strait to heights unseen in decades... a vote that could reignite U.S.-China tensions if Beijing takes the results badly.   brief
Washington Post, 2023-11-28 Our policy, therefore, has to be not truculence and deterrence but to make sure that push does not come to shove. That means ... scrupulously avoiding support for Vice President Lai Ching-te.  brief
CNBC, 2023-11-27 Chinese government has framed this elections as a choice between “peace and war, prosperity and decline.”  The outcome of Taiwan’s elections will likely go some way in influencing testy U.S.-China ties and impact security in the Asia-Pacific region more broadly.  brief
Bloomberg, 2023-11-26 an unprecedented third straight term in power for the DPP is by no means a foregone conclusion. After almost eight years in power, there's growing unhappiness with the party and a desire for change, especially among younger voters. brief
Reuters, 2023-11-28 China repeated its attacks on Lai and Hsiao "distorted facts and downplayed the harmfulness and danger of 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities to deceive voters in the 2024 leadership election in Taiwan"  brief
SCMP, 2023-11-29 Taiwan poll: DPP senses win with Lai-Hsiao ticket but Beijing might see 'war'

western media  Taiwan presidential election -  opposition alliance collapse
New York Times, 2023-11-24 even experienced observers baffled as to why the opposition parties would stage such a public rupture over who would be the presidential candidate on a unity ticket... , It really defies theories of coalition building.  Lai's party asserts Taiwan's distinctive identity and claims to nationhood, and has become closer to the United States.  China could respond by escalating menacing military activities around Taiwan, which sits roughly 100 miles off the Chinese coast.   brief
Economist, 2023-11-24 polls suggest the flurry of chaotic opposition negotiating has modestly bolstered both Mr Hou and Mr Ko. After eight years in power, the dpp is struggling especially with younger voters, who are suffering from high housing costs and low wages. Some also worry about a possible war with China.  brief
Bloomberg, 2023-11-24 There is zero chance that the unhappy trajectory in cross-strait relations gets reversed if Lai winsIt will certainly lead to a continuation and probable escalation of pressures and threats...will impact the nature of the US’s already tense ties with China.   brief
BBC, 2023-11-24 Mr Lai is not much of a campaigner. His poll ratings have gradually sunk, from over 40% in the summer to barely touching 30% now.   brief
VOA, 2023-11-24 analysts say will be a referendum on China relations. Beijing said Lai attempted to hide that he is a “pursuer of Taiwan independence” and an “instigator of war.” brief
Washington Post, 2023-11-24 Lai's advantage is largely thanks to disarray in the opposition camp. He has consistently polled around or just above 30 percent.     A win is not guaranteed. Public grievances against the ruling party have bubbled up during Tsai’s presidency, which has been hit by corruption scandals and grumbling from Taiwanese businesses about lost trade with China;  Lev Nachman:This election is becoming about who voters think is the safest choice for Taiwan。” brief
Reuters, 2023-11-24 China ties on the line as Taiwan opposition splits in dramatic feud,    potentially easing the way for the ruling party, which has defied Beijing's pressure, to stay in power.
TIME, 2023-11-24 collapse of the alliance is likely to consolidate both the KMT’s and the TPP's vote base on the one hand, as intensified conflicts usually can promote vote base consolidation and unity,  wing voters who have no stable identification with either party will be less likely to vote for [either of] them.”
Wall Street Journal, 2023-11-24 China isn’t backing off TaiwanThe U.S. will wish it had deterred the crisis when faced with these grim choices; Far better to avoid this conflict than to fight it in any form.

 

  Washington Post, 2023-11-21: Xi Jinping is sending ominous signals on Taiwan / on the most important issue in the relationship — Taiwan — Washington and Beijing are moving further apart. Xi's rhetoric indicates he's getting impatient with the status quo — and his actions are even more worrisome. Newsweek, 2023-11-21: an overwhelming majority (7/10) of people in Taiwan do not believe the United States is trustworthy, according to a new poll released on Monday. Most, however, were convinced by America's commitment to the island's safety.  

 

media Biden-Xi meeting
USA Today, 2023-11-15 Biden and Xi spar over Taiwan, Xi said there are no plans for military action, but stressed the need for an eventual resolution
Foreign Policy, 2023-11-15 Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet; As the latest crisis in the Taiwan straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.
France 24, 2023-11-15 Taiwan set to dominate talks as Xi meets Bidenfrom Beijing's perspective, the most important issue in the US-China relationship will be over Taiwan
New York Times, 2023-11-16 The two nations have spiraled into their worst relationship in four decades, and Biden’s primary goal was simple: Find a way to keep an increasingly bitter competition with China from tipping into conflict

 

  Washington Post, 2023-11-13: the United States’ Indo-Pacific Command now considers it harder to distinguish between Chinese military coercion and the full-scale mobilization that would presage an invasion...However, China probably remains years away from being capable of using civilian ships to support a successful cross-strait invasion   New Yorker, 2023-11-14: The war in Gaza, along with ongoing U.S. support of Ukraine, has prompted concern in some quarters that Taiwan could be left dangerously vulnerable   Economist, 2023-11-13: If William Lai, the DPP's candidate, wins in January, China may respond with a similar show of force or go further, enforcing a longer blockade, interfering with Taiwan's internet or creating more crises in the Taiwan Strait

  Bloomberg, 2023-11-10: The US's top general said he doubts Beijing plans to try to take Taiwan militarily   BBC, 2023-11-9: Beijing's espionage strategy has intensified and expanded beyond elite military circles. Taiwan did not have a robust system for restricting access to classified information until recently.   Economist, 2023-11-6: Invading Taiwan would be a logistical minefield for China; despite huge advances in many areas, it still does not have the troops, equipment, experience, command structures or logistics necessary to be confident of victory in a war over Taiwan  BBC, 2023-11-6:  in a conflict with China, Taiwan's navy and air force would be wiped out in the first 96 hours of battle. Under intense pressure from Washington, Taipei is switching to a "fortress Taiwan" strategy - The focus will switch to ground troops, infantry and artillery  -  Taiwan still cannot hope to deter China by itself. This is the other lesson from the war in Ukraine. There is now fierce debate in Washington about how far the US should go in supporting Taiwan    Economist, 2023-10-31: Taiwan's chips give the world an economic reason to protect the island from a Chinese invasion. But now America and China are competing to control the supply of these sophisticated chips. And that puts Taiwan in the middle of the two superpowers   Washington Post, 2023-10-31: China's bellicosity against Taiwan has ratcheted up. China now regularly makes military feints at Taiwan with naval and aerial incursions.    New York Times, 2023-10-29: Xi may decide to strike if he begins to feel that Taiwan is slipping further from his grasp, especially if the United States continues to bolster Taiwan's military and its own forces in the region. Taiwan must accelerate its shift toward investing in defense capabilities    Economist, 2023-10-26: In 2019 Xi Jinping, China's president, gave a speech linking the 1992 consensus with the mainland’s one-China principle and proposed a “one country, two systems” formula for incorporating Taiwan. That speech “set the tone” for a more assertive Chinese policy on Taiwan   Nikkei Asian Review, 2023-10-27: Taiwan still invests in conventional weapons at the expense of asymmetric capabilities, and it's "not clear whether the government has embraced asymmetric warfighting concepts   New York Times, 2023-10-21: Why we should fear China more than Middle Eastern war ? Only China is an arguable peer of the United States, only China's technological and industrial might can hope to match our own, and only China has the capacity to project power globally as well as regionally.   Newsweek, 2023-10-20: Pentagon Lists Six Possible Causes of China-Taiwan War: 1.  Formal Declaration of Independence 2. Undefined Moves Toward Taiwan Independence 3. "internal unrest" in Taiwan 4. Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons 5. Indefinitely Delayed Cross-Strait Dialogue on Unification 6. Foreign Military Intervention in Taiwan's Internal Affairs

 

Taiwan's presidential election

Newsweek, 2023-10-26 Taiwan Voters Must Choose Between 'War and Peace,' China Says
Economist, 2023-10-26 46% of voters are worried about a possible war between Taiwan and China in the next five years. KMT and TPP would need to work out an acceptable distribution of cabinet members. If they can fix these issues over the next month, Taiwan could be in for a very tight race.
日本Nikkei Asian Review Taiwan's election may open 'window' for better China ties. International Crisis Group warns that conflict risks are rising
Australia Financial Review, 2023-10-26 voters are torn in Taiwan - Inflation, housing affordability, energy prices and scandals are on the mind of the electorate. As well as whether China will invade, of course.
Reuters, 2023-10-26 Foxconn founder Terry Gou lies low in Taiwan election as China tax probe reverberates

 

  New York Times, 2023-10-16: Beijing is far less concerned with U.S. efforts to enhance its military posture in the region — the deterrence side of the equation — than with the political rhetoric, which is seen in China as proof ... supporting Taiwan's de facto independence...If the combination of deterrence and reassurance fails and China attacks Taiwan   Newsweek, 2023-10-16: The U.S. has known since no later than 2012——that Chinese surface-to-surface (STS) missiles can destroy U.S. aircraft carriers, or any other military asset that isn't submerged; Taiwan has storage capacity for 11 days of natural gas consumption. A Chinese blockade would force Taiwan's surrender in short order.  

 

Reuters, 2023-10-24 : Who is running to be Taiwan's next president?

LAI CHING-TE Lai and Tsai Ing-Wen say only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
HOU YU-IH strongly denies being pro-Beijing, and will restart talks with Beijing.
KO WEN-JE China should propose a new framework for engagement with Taiwan and explain what Beijing has to offer

 

  BBC, 2023-10-16: A spooked and lonely Taiwan looks for new friends. Perhaps the most fertile ground for making new friends is in the young democracies of Eastern Europe Increasingly Taipei relied on its chequebook to hold on to a dwindling list of allies, mainly in the form of aid and investment.    AP, Washington Post, 2023-10-12:  the Hamas-Israel war “blew up so suddenly,” prompting Taiwan to up its ability to forecast possible threats. Russia’s full-on invasion of Ukraine has also raised concerns that China may act against Taiwan, possibly with Moscow's backing   Newsweek,  2023-10-12: Since war broke out in the Mideast, some with hawkish views in the U.S. have suggested that Taiwan needs to take its self-defense seriously   VOA News,  2023-10-13: some Taiwanese citizens worry China could see an opportunity to attack Taiwan if Washington were to be dragged into the conflict in the Middle East. Lev Nachman said a Chinese attack on Taiwan in the coming days is unlikely.    AP, Reuters, 2023-10-10: Taiwan seeks 'peaceful coexistence' with China, president says, Differences between Taiwan and China must be resolved peacefully, and maintaining the status quo is "critical" to ensuring peace   VOA, 2023-10-5: US warns China cost for blockading Taiwan to be 'Very High'  BBC, 2023-10-5: Most analysts agree that Taiwan's military - a shrunken army, outnumbered navy and old artillery - would be no match against a far more powerful China.    CNN, 2023-10-3: Taiwan gears up for its presidential election in January, with the island's foreign policy and relations with China a central issue in the race alongside more bread and butter issues like the cost of living and stagnant wages    The Diplomat, 2023-10-3: US support could prove to be a sore point in Washington's approach to regional capitals if relations deteriorate between Taiwan and Southeast Asian nations over human rights violations - the way Taiwan treats its large population of migrant workers has far-reaching ramifications  AP, 2023-10-3:  a decades-old agreement between Taipei and Beijing means that Taiwanese teams can only compete internationally if they don't use the name - or flag - of Taiwan...China has strayed in recent years from the agreement to call Taiwan “Chinese Taipei” at international sporting events. Official Chinese media now call it “China Taipei” - suggesting it is part of China - instead of “Chinese Taipei,” which implies more of an ethnic or cultural similarity.  
 

  Washington Post, 2023-9-28: Taiwan launches the island's first domestically made submarine for testing

NewsWeek, 2023-9-29 A senior researcher at RAND: The relatively shallow, choppy waters of the Taiwan Strait were well-suited for masking submarines but also harder to operate in.  Policy experts in the U.S.  have urged Taipei to adopt an asymmetric defense strategy based on "lots of small, deadly things—anti-ship missiles, anti-air missiles, etc.—that would make Taiwan a porcupine." Such an approach would become more useful, and submarines less so
CNN, 2023-9-28 While the Taiwan Strait might be too shallow for submarines to operate in, the vessels could be most useful when deployed to target Chinese warships in the Bashi channel – which separates Taiwan from the Philippines – and the waters between Taiwan and Japan’s westernmost islands.  China has planned for a major naval engagement with the US outside the first island chain, around the Philippine Sea”.
BBC, 2023-9-28 National University of Singapore Drew Thompson:  the "centre of gravity" for any China-Taiwan naval conflict would not likely be in the deep waters off the island's east coast, where submarines would be most effective in...Instead, the main theatre of war would be in the shallower waters of the west coast facing mainland China...The submarine is not optimised for a counter invasion role...
Defense News, 2023-9-29 Reuters has also reported that that Taiwan had recruited engineers and retired submariners from the U.S., U.K., Australia, South Korea, India, Spain and Canada to work on the program
Forbes, 2023-9-28 In CSIS's war games, Chinese escorts, aircraft and submarines usually sank around a fifth of the deployed subs every three or four days throughout the weekslong war. In the end, perhaps a dozen or more subs lay wrecked at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, tombs for thousands of submariners.
The Diplomat, 2023-9-30 Some see the Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program as a poor use of scarce defense resources on a prestige project ;   The ODC ( typically utilizes large numbers of cheaper, smaller, shorter-range, and more survivable weapons systems.) appears to have fallen out of favor as a result of institutional opposition, even though the United States has sought to pressure the government to focus on less gold-plated procurement projects.
PS:
 CNN, 2023-9-28: President Tsai Ing-wen hailed this as a significant milestone. “The submarine is an important realization of our concrete commitment in defending our country”. Newsweek, 2023-9-29: Taiwan's former military leader who heads the submarine program said that the slated eight Hai Kun-class boats would bolster the country's defenses to the point that "I don't think we will lose a war.".

 

   Economist, 2023-9-26: Taiwanese voters will in effect be asked to decide whether Taiwan should remain aligned with America in strengthening deterrence against a possible Chinese invasion,... the one-fifth of voters who are not aligned with any party and could be a decisive bloc.   The Daily Caller, 2023-9-24: Asia-Pacific security chair at Hudson Institute warns that the PLA has never fielded a more comprehensive and lethal set of capabilities than it does nowChina has been preparing for the possibility of fighting the U.S. over Taiwan going back to around 1996 or 1997 after realizing Washington intended to preserve the status quo of Taiwan's semi-autonomy, experts explained.  

 

  Report to Congress on Taiwan Defense Military Issues
news.usni.org/2023/09/26/report-to-congress-on-taiwan-defense-military-issues

Advantages  including geography and climate.
Challenges (1)  the PLA now is able, or will soon be able, to execute a range of military campaigns against Taiwan.
(2) 
Civil-military relations are strained... The archipelago's energy, food, water, internet, and other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable to external disruption.  Taiwan's civil defense preparedness is insufficient, and Taiwan's military struggles to recruit, retain, and train personnel.  At a societal level, it is not clear what costs in terms of economic security, safety and security, and lives Taiwan's people would be willing or able to bear
.

  In Times Higher Education 2024, National Taiwan University ranks behind Asian countries - China, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, S. Korea.   In Quacquarelli Symonds,QS  UK 2024, National Taiwan University ranks behind Asian countries - China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, S. Korea, Malaysia.  In CWUR 2023 National Taiwan University ranks behind countries of Asia & Pacific, Japan, S. Korea, China, Australia, Israel, Singapore.   In Nature Index 2023, National Taiwan University ranks No.208 behind China, Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, India.

 

  New York Times, 2023-9-18:  China sends record number of military planes near Taiwan. China is also testing and eroding the island's vigilance, seeking to wear away its military equipment and personnel, and remind Taiwanese politicians and voters of China's military might.  Taiwan expert: The sorties appeared to signal “China's dissatisfaction with the recent developments in strengthening military and economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and the United States” Modern War Institute at West Point, 2023-9-14:  Many experts incorrectly predicted that an invasion would be too costly for China's already shrinking economy  given the inevitable global backlash.   The capital city can reasonably be anticipated to quickly fall into the grip of PLA forces, every Taiwan citizen should be a resistance member : Preparing for a Chinese occupation    Financial Times, 2023-9-15:  opinion polls in Taiwan show public confidence is shaky in Washington's assurances.  Taiwan opposition candidate to push US for clarity on defence commitments, Some US officials are likely to bristle at KMT demands for more explicit backing from Washington.  full text

 

 

China's economic crisis     news.yahoo.com/china-economic-woes-could-raise-220300203.html  Michael Martina   businessinsider.com/joe-biden-china-unlikely-invade-taiwan-economy-property-crisis-g20-2023-9   Huileng Tan

Reuters, 2023-9-12 :  the Republican chair of a U.S. congressional committee on China says China's economic slowdown could increase the risk of Beijing taking military action toward Taiwan
Insider, 2023-9-11: Biden says China is unlikely to invade Taiwan now because Beijing just too busy with its own economic crisis


  Associated Press, 2023-9-9: The U.S. and the Canadian navies sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in a challenge to China's sweeping territorial claims Washington Examiner, 2023-9-6:  Former President  Donald Trump  hinted that he would not order a U.S. military intervention against  China  were it to attack  Taiwan   American Legion, 2023-9-6: Some predictions have estimated war could break out as early as 2029.  Dr. Shelley Rigger, a Davidson College professor, acknowledges that such forecasts are made with careful thought, research and analysis. Still, she says, it's a situation in flux.   Chicago Tribune, AP, VOA News, 2023-9-2: Taiwan's government is racing to counter China, but many on the island say they don't feel the threat. That may be partly due to the nuanced views many Taiwanese hold of China.  Many say they are attracted to their much larger neighbor’s dynamic economy, and its shared language and culture. Others are simply numb to hearing about the threat in their backyard.   CNN (2023-8-30): US approves first-ever military aid to Taiwan through program typically used for sovereign nations  The Hill (2023-9-1): the first time the U.S. has provided military assistance under FMF to Taiwan and the second time it's given it to a non-nation-state, the first being to the African Union. Council on Foreign Relations, 2023-8-30:  Taiwan Announced a Record Defense Budget: But most important, the proposed budget still falls far short of what the island should be investing in defense. Ironically, the smallest growth in Taiwan's defense budget in half a decade is coming at a time when defense spending should be accelerating to confront the growing threat that Taiwan faces. In practice, Taiwan needs procuring more anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, investing in rapid mining capabilities, developing drones and unmanned underwater vehicles, expanding domestic defense industrial capacity, and hardening critical infrastructure. Wall Street Journal, 2023-8-29: Ramaswamy says The US currently doesn't even recognize Taiwan as a nation.  Democrates and Republicans both unquestioningly endorse the "One China" policy and embrace "strategic ambiguity" toward the island.  No other presidential candidate is willing to commit to militarily defending Taiwan   

 

 

 Taiwanese Divided on US Military Sales /  VOA News , 2023-9-6

 66.5% of the respondents support U.S. military sales to Taiwan
43.1% of respondents think U.S. military sales to Taiwan will further increase tension across the Taiwan Strait. Whereas 37.8% think U.S. military sales can help maintain peace between China and Taiwan
Taiwan rarely has the autonomy to decide what types of weapons it wants to purchase from the U.S. Rather, the deliverables often seem to have been “decided” for Taiwan

there are often deeper political meanings behind U.S. military sales to Taiwan.  These military sales should be conducted more discreetly, rather than publicly announcing these programs

 the U.S. provides more offensive weapons for Taiwan through military sales, they believe it increases the risks of prompting a potential Chinese military attack on Taiwan.

voanews.com/a/taiwanese-divided-on-us-military-sales-amid-growing-chinese-threats/7256298.htm

 

 Atlantic Council, 2023-8-23:  full-fledged invasion of the island would be difficult. But there are other scenarios, such as a blockade, that would paralyze life on the island and make a Chinese invasion a lot easier... many Taiwan's people didn't want to believe in the possibility of a full-scale invasion.  In the event of a PRC invasion of the island, the West will come to Taiwan’s aid, with the United States taking the lead, but the most important part should be done by the Taiwanese. We can’t be more Taiwanese than they are themselves.

 

Taiwan presidency -  Lai (DPP), Ko, Hou, Gou (opposition)

BBC, 2023-8-29 Opinion polls also show that around 40% of voters are pretty solid supporters of the ruling DPP. That means the ruling party can be beaten. But to have any chance the opposition would have to unite around a single candidate.  Now Taiwan's opposition vote will be split three ways
Economist, 2023-8-29 The opposition would not end the tensions, but it would probably reduce them by placating China. A win for Mr Lai, might have the opposite effect.
Washington Post, 2023-8-28 Taiwanese voters could either fuel or dampen the mounting tensions. Their choice is between a ruling party determined to maintain Taiwan's political independence, and an opposition that sees closer ties with China as the only viable path.
Wall Street Journal, 2023-8-25 analysts said Lai's lead could erode by the time voters cast their ballots in January, given Taiwan's reputation for volatile politics.
Reuters, 2023-8-28 Any split on the non-DPP side would mean Lai's sure victory in January.
Terry Gou's main theme in his pre-campaign events has been that the only way to avoid war with China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, is to get the DPP out of office.
AP, The Hill, 2023-8-28 Terry Gou announces run for Taiwan presidency. He has received criticism that he was splitting the vote,“I will definitely not allow Taiwan to become the next Ukraine”.  He has received criticism that he was splitting the vote

 

  Reuters, 2023-8-25: Taiwan reported renewed Chinese military activity around the island, including 13 aircraft entering Taiwan's "response" zone,  Taiwan could not judge whether China's drills that started Saturday had formally ended   (Reuters, 2023-8-26: Taiwan has not reported any Chinese military aircraft in its territorial air space, though it has said planes have come close to island's contiguous zone, which is within 24 nautical miles (44 km) of its coast.)   Wall Street Journal, 2023-8-25: analysts said Lai's lead could erode by the time voters cast their ballots in January, given Taiwan's reputation for volatile politics.

 

US Congress CRS Report, 2023-8-24  - Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12481

 Civil military relations are strained for historical, political, and bureaucratic reasons. The archipelago’s energy, food, water, internet, and other critical infrastructure systems are vulnerable to external disruption. Civil defense preparedness is insufficient, ... Taiwan's military struggles to recruit, retain, and train personnel. It is not clear what costs—in terms of economic security, well-being, safety and security, and lives—Taiwan's people would be willing or able to bear ...
persistent, low-level, non-combat operations that analysts say are eroding Taiwan's military advantages and readiness... unmanned combat aerial vehicle flights near and encircling Taiwan, and reported flights of unmanned aerial vehicles in the airspace of Kinmen...The normalization of PLA operations ever closer to Taiwan's main island in peacetime could undermine “routine” operations or exercises to obscure preparations for an attack.  If the PLA were to use such operations as cover for an imminent attack, it could significantly shorten the time Taiwan would have to respond
many observers argue that Taiwan's military is insufficiently equipped to defeat a possible PRC armed attack.  observers have raised concerns about impediments to the timely delivery of U.S. defense items to Taiwan.

 

TIME, 2023-8-21 :  China stops importing Taiwan's mangoes after Beijing announced naval and airforce drills as a “stern warning” to what it called Taiwan independence forces. It has reacted angrily to the transit of Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te through the U.S., having also condemned his remarks about Taiwan’s status in an interview with Bloomberg  Washington Post, 2023-8-20:  The election of a third consecutive DPP administration would confirm that Beijing’s attempts to bring Taiwan under its closer control through coercion and intimidation are failing.  Although Lai is currently leading in the polls, opposition candidates who are much friendlier to Beijing might be able to amass a majority if the three top contenders chose one to rally around  New York Times, 2023-8-19:  In warning to Taiwan, China Announces joint air and sea drills, so far, China's response after Mr. Lai's visiting the US appears more muted than it was in April, or last August, Chinese leaders may grasp that menacing, large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan could work in Mr. Lai's favor by pushing more support to his party in presidential election New York Times, 2023-8-12:  Taiwan vice president's visit, however low-key, is also likely to prompt an escalation of Chinese military flights and naval maneuvers near Taiwan, bringing into focus the risks of real conflict over its future.     New York Times, 2023-8-11: large-scale missile attacks or saturation attacks would likely overwhelm Taiwan's air defense systems A real fighting on the ground at the airport and using infantry forces imply that Taiwan had already lost the war in the air. "By the time , it will be, more or less, over" New York Times, 2023-8-8: In the political debate, Taiwanese nationalists often emphasize the existence of the Indigenous groups as evidence that Taiwan has its unique origins, of which the Chinese culture is only a part... Even though the Indigenous groups make up only 2 percent of Taiwan's population, they’re an important part in the narrative of Taiwanese nationhood.

 

  Lai Ching-te 'stopover'

New York Times (2023-8-14 news brief, 2023-8-12) A Taiwanese presidential contender walks a fine line... it's likely that he'll be more muted...Expect restraint...And his visit, however low-key, is also likely to prompt an escalation of Chinese military flights and naval maneuvers near Taiwan, bringing into focus the risks of real conflict over its future. nytimes.com/2023/08/12/world/asia/taiwan-us-china-lai-ching-te.html
NPR (2023-8-12) Taiwan's Vice President is stopping by the U.S. this week, under China's watchful eyeU.S officials pointedly refer to Lai's trip as a transit, meaning a stop for logistical, rather than political, purposes.  
DW (2023-8-12) Beijing labeled Lai  — a separatist and a "troublemaker."
BBC ( 2023-8-14) China accused Washington of engaging Taiwan in political activities under the guise of a stopover.  Mr Lai's visit comes at a low point in US-China relations, with Taiwan emerging as the biggest flashpoint.  Mr Lai has previously called himself - to Beijing's displeasure - a "pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence".  bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66495368?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA)   Derek Cai
France 24 ( 2023-8-14) China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue, and is a constant source of friction between Beijing and Washington
CNN (2023-8-13) China calls him a “troublemaker through and through.”. China deplores and strongly condemns the US decision to arrange the so-called ‘stopover'.
 AFP (2023-8-13) China on Sunday vowed "resolute and forceful measures" over a weekend trip by Taiwan Vice President William Lai to the United States

Lai has been far more outspoken about independence than Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, to whom Beijing is already hostile as she refuses to accept its view that Taiwan is a part of China.   news.yahoo.com/china-vows-forceful-response-over-035750831.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 Wall Street Journal (2023-8-12) China's leaders have more to think about as they weigh a response.  While it serves Beijing's interests to have better relations with Washington at this moment,” that doesn't mean the Chinese leadership would shy from taking strong action on Taiwan, if they deem it necessary  msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-visit-by-taiwan-vice-president-puts-china-in-a-bind/ar-AA1fbCxI   Chun Han Wong, Joyu Wang, Charles Hutzler
VOA (2023-8-11) experts think Beijing will launch a military response to Lai’s stopovers in the U.S., but the scale will depend on how "official-looking" his trip is. "This includes who he meets with, what he says, and how public those meetings are" ... any reaction deemed too provocative could help increase Lai's chance of winning the election. However, she added that Beijing also worries about sending the wrong signal if its responses are deemed too weak.  voanews.com/a/analysts-us-taipei-aim-to-keep-taiwan-vp-transit-stops-low-key-/7220905.html

 

 New York Times, 2023-8-8:  the P.L.A. Rocket Force (which manages conventional and nuclear missiles) being central to future conflicts  — is under a shadow.  This unexplained shake-up suggests suspicions of graft or other misconduct  JustSecurity.org, 2023-8-7: A recent Council on Foreign Relations task force report  about "U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era" warns that "deterrence is steadily eroding in the Taiwan Strait and is at risk of failing, increasing the likelihood of Chinese aggression. New York Times, 2023-8-4: TSMC's chairman rejected the idea of the "silicon shield",“China will not invade Taiwan because of semiconductors. China will  not  not  invade Taiwan because of semiconductors”Mr. Liu said, "It is really up to the U.S. and China: How do they maintain the status quo, which both sides want?"     The WEEK UK, 2023-8-1: Taiwan's leaders generally believe Chinese efforts to incorporate the island into its political system will be attempted through economic coercion rather than military action report by the RAND Corporation stated that the island nation does not spend enough on defence, and what it does goes on “antiquated systems”. Economist, 2023-7-28: Joe Biden believes donating weapons to Taiwan will help forestall a war across the Taiwan Strait. The military move may instead provoke a new crisis. Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-28: Taiwan amps up Chinese-Invasion drills to deliver a message - War could happen   Kyodo News (Japan), 2023-7-28: The military balance between China and Taiwan is "rapidly tilting to China's favor" , and "the gap appears to be growing year by year."  , Japan' said in its 2023 white paper  

 

Fox News, 2023-7-28  
The coming China war over Taiwan - The US should fight alongside allies, not in their place

a critical question – is Taiwan committed to its own defense? There are multiple indications that the answer is no.
perhaps most alarmingly, some Taiwanese youth, it turns out, are reluctant to die for their country.Research in 2018: Large numbers of young Taiwanese were "apathetic toward the military and averse to service." 
Biden must show leadership now, before it’s too late, and force Taiwan to participate much more in its own defense...
foxnews.com/opinion/coming-china-war-over-taiwan-needs-american-leadership-before-too-late   Rebekah Koffler

 

 

comparisons
Chinese military  Taiwan's military
The Guardian, 2023-8-7: the more dramatic parts of China's documentary on Taiwan invasion are pledges by PLA soldiers from various divisions to give up their lives in a potential attack on Taiwan.   ── “If the conditions were too difficult to safely remove the naval mines in actual combat, we would use our own bodies to clear a safe pathway for our [landing] forces,” said  a frogman; “fighter jet would be the last missile rushing towards the enemy" said a pilot.   .theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/07/chinese-soldiers-pledge-to-sacrifice-their-lives-in-documentary-on-taiwan-invasion  Associated Press Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-5: The professionalism and motivation of Taiwan's military are a particular concern, ... “A lot of young people who signed up for the four-year volunteer force decided to pay a penalty and dropped out early because they say they had come for the money—not to fight and not to die"wsj.com/articles/taiwan-china-ukraine-russia-hong-kong-military-war-517b87d?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo    Yaroslav Trofimov    Joyu Wang

 

#MeToo in Taiwan

New York Times, 2023-7-27 our society remains patriarchal and hierarchical. Under Confucian values, women obey their fathers and their brothers and eventually their husbands. People are expected to respect and yield to their elders and superiors — in short, the powers that be... In a collectivist culture like ours, the burden of being nice and preserving group harmony falls on those with less power and authority nytimes.com/2023/07/27/opinion/taiwan-women-metoo.html 
Reuters, 2023-7-28 Despite Taiwan's reputation as a progressive bastion in a conservative region - the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage...to confront a problem long shrouded in shame and silence.   Victims of abuse often stay silent due to what experts say is a tradition of victim-blaming, cultural pressure, and unequal power relationships.   reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/years-after-metoo-first-swept-world-taiwan-races-respond-2023-07-28/   Sarah Wu   

 

  Financial Times, 2023-7-24:  so-called salami-slicing tactics that Beijing is employing right now are slowly changing the status quo, and could eventually deprive Taiwan of the ability to defend itself.  Some defence experts therefore believe that the US military's strategy for deterring China is misdirected because it is focused too much on an outright invasion, rather than these pressure tactics.  Lowy Institute, 2023-7-17:  the RAND assessed that just two US allies in the Indo-Pacific – Australia and Japan – could be expected to help the United States. Moreover, this would likely just lie in the realm of “limited support”... similar to that which the United States and its allies imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine  Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-15:  Simulations by the CSIS found the U.S. could likely block a Chinese takeover of Taiwan with the support of allies such as Japan and Australia.  But Keio University prof. said he think 90% of Japanese people would say 'no' at this point to the question of 'whether you are willing to risk your life to defend Taiwan'     National Interest, 2023-7-15:  With the intensification of competition between China and the United States and the gradual deterioration of China's international situation, it is increasingly preferable for China to unify Taiwan earlier rather than later...  it is likely that Beijing will act early against Taiwan... National Review, 2023-7-15: Obviously Xi is pushing for the US to treat Taiwan as a local conflict between two fuedng Chinese neighbors and stay out of the fight  Reuters, 2023-7-14:  US needs to speed up delivery of weapons like air defence systems and those that could target ships from land to Taiwan  in the coming yearsMilley said the United States was looking at whether it needed to change where some U.S. forces were based within the Asia Pacific.  ◆   CNN, 2023-7-14:  it may become too late for Washington to come to Taipei's rescue if large amounts of PLA planes and ships are already on station around the island. The longer the delay in reacting to PLA buildups, the less time available to match or counter that buildup. The US margin of advantage is too slim to achieve success if its forces move too late  ◆  Bloomberg, 2023-7-13: Taiwan #MeToo scandals push Tsai government to toughen equality laws.  The scandals contrast with the island's image as one of Asia's most progressive societies: 1st to legalize same-sex marriage, but“Speaking up takes a lot of courage, because speaking up in this culture may lead to victim shaming.”◆   CNN, 2023-7-11: NATO Secretary General  summed up the US-led alliance's collective concerns that what is happening in Ukraine today could occur in Asia tomorrow.   Sky News, 2023-7-12: A war over Taiwan – a conflict cause mass casualties and destruction, international trade would plunge, supply shortages of essential goods would pile up and inflation would surge  The Guardian, 2023-7-9: while the war in Ukraine has underlined the importance of civilians in helping to fend off a powerful invader, only a fraction (annually, to 260,000) of 2 million reservists are thought to be combat-ready...  the drills lack urban warfare or modern weaponry instruction.

 

National Interest, 2023-7-16    -   Willing to fight ?

China Taiwan
a study conducted by Adam Y. Liu and Xiaojun Li, 55 percent of the respondents supported “launching a unification war ” while 33 percent opposed it ...  another online survey in ThinkChina and Taiwan Inside, 53.1 percent supported armed unification with Taiwan, while 39.19 percent opposed it among Chinese elites.  Instead of making a commitment to defend their territory, most Taiwanese people have a huge hope to rely on external support, particularly from the United States... extension of the compulsory conscription program received backlash from younger Taiwanese.

 

  Atlantic Council, 2023-7-7: Taiwan, is one of the world's most energy-insecure economies, relying on maritime imports for about 97 percent of its energy. Beijing appears increasingly capable of launching a quarantine, blockade,...    Council on Foreign Relations, 2023-7-7: U.S. reliance on Taiwanese chips gives it a major stake in preserving peace in the Taiwan Strait but does not make a war between China and Taiwan less likely.  While Taiwan’s dominance of semiconductor production ... is unlikely to act as a “silicon shield". Wall Street Journal, 2023-7-5:  Taiwan is far from ready, many U.S. officials and analysts say. Taiwan's military budget is still only 2.4% of the GDP—compared with about 5% in Israel.  The professionalism and motivation of Taiwan's military are a particular concern.  A lot of young people who signed up for the volunteer force decided to pay a penalty and dropped out early because " they had come for the money—not to fight and not to die" ◆  RAND, Jun. 2023: Taiwan is vulnerable to defeat by China within 90 days  — a posited minimum amount of time required for the United States to marshal sufficient forces to carry out a major combat intervention in East Asia. A well-led and socially cohesive Taiwan might be able to mount a determined resistance for a long time, but, without a robust U.S. military intervention, China... would allow it to eventually subjugate the island.  NPR, 2023-7-3:  More than 100 accusations of sexual harassment and assault have rocked Taiwan... — showing the gap between laws meant to protect victims and their implementation. CBS News, 2023-7-2:  if China invaded Taiwan, it could very well kick off in outer space, with both sides targeting the other's satellites that enable precision-guided weaponry. Cyber attacks on American cities and the sabotage of ports on the West Coast of the U.S. mainland could  follow ◆ Economist, 2023-6-29:   if a war did break out, even severe sanctions might do little. The conclusion was that the best time to plan sanctions is before they are needed.  National Interest, 2023-6-29:  it could require considerable time—potentially several months—for the United States to mobilize sufficient U.S.-based combat power to augment forward... the weaker Taiwan's political leadership and its military are, the earlier and more robust the U.S. intervention must be to maximize the prospect that Taiwan will avoid defeat. TIME, 2023-6-26:  Taiwan needs to overhaul its reserves. Taiwan also needs to improve its resilience by addressing shortfalls in energy, water, and food security. It should also do more to incentivize companies to diversify their operations away from China FoxNews, 2023-6-26:  Chinese officials reportedly pressed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Washington's stance regarding the upcoming 2024 elections in Taiwan during his trip to Beijing (induce Washington's cooperation against  Lai Ching-te Atlantic Council, 2023-6-21:  China has deep global economic ties that make full-scale sanctions highly costly for all parties. G7 responses would likely seek to reduce the collateral damage of a sanctions package by targeting Chinese industries and entities that rely heavily and asymmetrically on G7 inputs, markets, or technologies. Taiwanese officials might not support economic countermeasures against China and opt for a de-escalatory response. Given the depth of economic ties between China and Taiwan, ... Public opinion would likely be divided   Council on Foreign Relations, June 2023:  If China were to annex Taiwan and base military assets, such as underwater surveillance devices, submarines, and air defense units on the island, however, it would be able to limit the U.S. military's operations in the region and in turn its ability to defend its Asian allies. ... it is at stake ... the ability to preserve U.S. access and influence throughout the Western Pacific    FoxNews, 2023-6-19: Blinken says US 'does not support Taiwan independence' ◆ New York Post, 2023-6-19: Blinken ruffles feathers by stating US "does not support Taiwan independence" – as an inappropriate kowtow to America's greatest adversary.   Bloomberg, 2023-6-16 : Henry Kissinger believes military conflict between China and Taiwan is likely if tensions continue on their current course The Diplomat, 2023-6-17:  Taiwan has abandoned asymmetric defense reform in all but name, War on the Rocks: Instead, Taiwan is now planning to deter an invasion by threatening to retaliate with missile strikes against the Chinese homeland and by pitting Taiwanese units in direct combat against the vastly superior People's Liberation Army   Foreign Affairs, 2023-6-15: The Chinese military is now moving in an even more dangerous direction.  For too long, Taipei focused on the combat capabilities of its active-duty force of less than 200,000 soldiers while neglecting to prepare its 23 million civilians to resist Chinese aggression. Taiwan remains extremely vulnerable. It relies on imported energy, food supplies, and medical equipment, ...  National Interest, 2023-6-15:  If China launches an invasion without first destroying America's military assets in the region, its ships will be left vulnerable to attack. However, if it launches a preemptive strike on U.S. forces, especially on American soil in Guam, it will experience the full wrath of a vengeful United States   Washington Post, 2023-6-14: Biden and Xi recognize that war between the two nations would be suicidal for both. They understand that the most dangerous flash point is Taiwan. While the nations’ differences over Taiwan are irreconcilable, irreconcilable does not mean unmanageable    L.A. Times, 2023-6-13:  Taiwan's relationship with China is one of the most contentious and defining issues that presidential candidates will have to grapple with in the January election. While the majority of Taiwanese support preserving the status quo, politicians are deeply divided on how to do so as tensions worsen, even within their own parties.        

 

National Interest, 2023-6-20  nationalinterest.org/feature/are-taiwanese-confident-americans-will-defend-them-206566
“How confident are you that the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China were to start a war against Taiwan?”
a web survey (implemented by Macromill Embrain)

  overall DPP KMT TPP
not at all confident 26.61% 3.23% 55.63% 32.12%
not very confident 37.92 23.12 29.38 48.91
fairly 27.96 48.92 12.50 16.79
very confident 7.51 24.73 2.50 2.19


 

 

 

pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on AOL, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-28, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-31, 2023-5-1, 2023-4-30, 2023-3-31, 2023-3-23, 2023-2-28, 2023-2-6, 2023-1-21, 2023-1-14, No.1 or top "comment Taiwan" on AOL, 2022-12-12, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-18-2020,  12-05-2019; No.3 at 2022-7-19,  top 3 on US Yahoo, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-19

 

#MeToo in Taiwan


  New York Times, 2023-6-25: A torrent of sexual harassment accusations has prompted questions about the state of women’s rights on an island democracy ... entrenched sexism that leaves women vulnerable at work, and a culture that is quick to blame victims and cover up accusations against powerful mennytimes.com/2023/06/25/world/asia/taiwan-harassment-metoo.html
CNN, 2023-6-10:
The fallout from the #MeToo revelations risks adding more uncertainty to the all-important presidential race. Taiwan, priding itself on gender equality, is facing its own reckoning over sexual harassment.   Most sexual harassment victims were told to "let it go" ... Such culture of self-sacrifice is deep rooted in Taiwan's political reality, where the "big picture" often comes above everything else.  Only when it happens across society – including in more conservative circles,  will it be the real #MeToo moment.  edition.cnn.com/2023/06/10/asia/taiwan-metoo-netflix-wave-makers-intl-hnk/index.html
 The Guardian, 2023-6-8:  The belated #MeToo reckoning has exposed the deeply patriarchal norms that still govern Taiwanese society. while these accusations had played out in the court of public opinion, in formal legal proceedings they were unlikely to succeed.  theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/08/taiwan-ruling-party-rocked-sexual-harassment-claims-metoo AmyHawk
 ABC Australia, 2023-6-24: Young women, since they were children, they are already taught to protect themselves, or try to tolerate this kind of inconvenience (accept harassment).  Sexual harassment and sexual assault are prevalent in all kinds of power relationships. The impact of the Netflix show Wave Makers (造浪者)has been huge, and it resonated with young Taiwanese women, s

criptwriter Chien says the show struck a chord because of the prevalence of sexual harassment in Taiwanese society. 
  abc.net.au/news/2023-06-24/taiwan-metoo-movement-triggered-by-netflix-show-wave-makers/102505174 
 Washington Post, 2023-6-7:  The #MeToo accusations have caused the DPP's favorability ratings to plummet just as Taiwan gears up for a tough election campaign. The ruling party risks losing to the nationalist Kuomintang.  people across Taiwan have now come forward with experiences of harassment by university professors, doctors, directors and baseball umpires. But the government has until now been slow to respond to reported cases of sexual harassment.    msn.com/en-us/news/world/hit-netflix-show-sparks-a-wave-of-metoo-allegations-in-taiwan/ar-AA1cefPH    Vic Chiang, Meaghan Tobin
Wall Street Journal, 2023-6-7: Sexual misconduct allegations roil Taiwan's U.S.-friendly ruling partywsj.com/articles/sexual-misconduct-allegations-roil-taiwans-u-s-friendly-ruling-party-5b0d8894 Joyu Wang  Wenxin Fan
Women's rights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023
City liveability index, Mar. 2023   -   Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

score

cities in Asia

90+ Melbourne, Sydney, Aucland, Adelaide, Osaka(Japan), Perth, Tokyo(Japan), Brisbane, Wellington, Singapore
 80-90 Seoul(Korea), Hong Kong(Chn),  Busan(Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Kaohsiung, Taichung
60-80 Noumea, Nantong, SuZhou, Beijing, ShenYang, Shanghai, etc
top 5 cities: Vienna 98.4,  Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver ... No.10 Osaka, Aucland 96
Score out of 100*  five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

 

news
TIME, 2023-6-7:  in the event of a potential conflict between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, most Europeans would prefer to stay out of it.… It's only when such events happen when we would really be able to see whether European perceptions and attitudes have changed or not  Economist, 2023-5-31:  Taiwan's would-be presidents all promise a way to peace. Sadly, it is not entirely within their power. The next president will take office with the island at the centre of a bubbling superpower showdown  Washington Post, 2023-5-31:  Why are tensions so high?  China increasingly sees the US as abrogating its “One China policy,” which has been the basis of relations since 1979. ◆ IG Financial Times, 2023-5-31: Fearing a potential conflict in Asia, western companies are looking to move production out of Taiwan. But turning away from the self-ruled island will come at a high price for manufacturers   New York Times, 2023-5-30: Taiwan ambassador says Ukraine's success against Russia will deter any consideration or miscalculation that an invasion can be conducted unpunished, without costs, in a rapid way Washington Post, 2023-5-29: Choosing Taiwan over Ukraine is frighteningly misguided. Yes, China is a greater military threat than present-day Russia.  A turn toward Taiwan will most likely cause us to fail in both places. Reuters, 2023-5-27:  Failure to back Ukraine would send signal to China about taking Taiwan, Sen. Graham says Sky News (Australia), 2023-5-28: nuclear umbrella push divides Taiwan Analysts warn the agreement could be globally catastrophic as it would mean the US could use nuclear weapons if Taiwan was attacked. Financial Times, 2023-5-21: Putin's war in Ukraine has "set back" China's ambitions to invade Taiwan, Hillary Clinton said The Guardian, 2023-5-22: over 90% of the world's semiconductors are made in the place many US officials think could be the site of the next global conflict: Taiwan. US efforts to stifle China's chip industry are thought to be part of a wider plan to hinder Beijing's preparations for war The strategy seems to be working. Reuters, 2023-5-20: "war is not an option", Taiwan president says Washington Examiner, 2023-5-19: The top-line fact in the weapons to Ukraine or Taiwan debate Taiwan's defense spending remains absurdly inadequate. It's also feasible that Taiwan may elect a new government in 2024 that lacks sufficient resolve to fight China. In contrast, Ukraine has shown not just the resolve to fight against overwhelming odds, but the spirit to win. ◆ New York Times, 2023-5-19 : Truss: only if more people visit Taiwan and more speak up for Taiwan, will the Chinese Communist Party realize that many people are paying attention to Taiwan, and so they should not act rashly ◆ New York Times, 2023-5-17  :  faced with voters who have been alarmed by Beijing's aggression toward the island, the Kuomintang is placing its hopes on a popular local leader (Hou Yu-ih) with a blank slate on the thorny question of China.    Washington Post, 2023-5-18:it is now a very serious question whether the United States can defeat a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. To avert war with China, the U.S. must prioritize Taiwan over Ukraine   The Hill, 2023-5-17:  Washington must dispense with its misguided policy of strategic ambiguity and make clear that it will defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression.  Washington Post, 2023-5-12: military commitments are unlikely to endure under pressure unless they serve U.S. strategic and economic interests. Washington and Taipei share a vital interest in Taiwan's independence New York Times, 2023-5-11: Taiwan's world-dominating microchip sector was built by its strategic asset, TSMC’s skilled employees. But a demographic crisis, demanding work culture and flagging interest threaten its lead   Nikkei Asia (Japan), 2023-5-11:  the upper echelons of Chinese leadership intend for it to spread, at least to a certain extent.  —   deciding to forcibly unify Taiwan now would be unrealistic and even dangerous. DW (Germany) , 2023-5-11:  Japan's public reluctant to defend Taiwan should China invade, but soaring defense spending and the upgrading of Japan's naval and air capabilities, in particular, indicate that the military is preparing itself in helping fend off any Chinese attack Foreign Policy in Focus, 2023-5-10:  Unlike Russia, China seems unwilling to sacrifice the country's economic well-being on the pyre of nationalism  19FortyFive, 2023-5-10: By stacking their heaviest punches upfront, Beijing thinks that they can render the Americans so dazed and confused — inflicting so much damage at the outset of a fight — that Washington will stand down and abandon Taiwan The Hill, 2023-5-9: lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also warned that Taiwan is ill prepared to fend off a military invasion or withstand a blockade Taiwan News, 2023-5-9:  Defense minister says Taiwan will not let US 'blow up TSMC' during Chinese attack , in response to a suggestion by U.S. Congressman Seth Moulton that the U.S. should warn China that it would "blow up" Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) if it attacked Taiwan. Air and Space Forces, 2023-5-1: There's little evidence that the Taiwanese are headed in that direction, and are heeding U.S. advice to make themselves a military “porcupine,”Glaser said   le Monde, 2023-4-30: China's military exercises in the Taiwan Strait are a reminder of how fragile the island's status quo is   The Nation, 2023-4-26:  A Chinese invasion of Taiwan, however, would look very different, involving giant air and sea battles and, in all likelihood, immediate US intervention...any such engagement would almost certainly brush up against the nuclear threshold—and very likely cross it.   AP, 2023-4-22: Lawmakers war-game conflict with China, the toll on all sides is staggering.  Alarmed and alienated allies in the war game leave Americans to fight almost entirely alone in support of Taiwan. CNN, 2023-4-20:  complaints at high levels of both the Taiwanese and US governments about the lack of preparation and poor morale in the Taiwanese military   New York Times, 2023-4-18: Fear of China is pitting Taiwan's people against each other   Brookings, 2023-4-17: the Taiwan voters are deeply pragmatic. a significant majority of the Taiwan voters are in the middle   TIME, 2023-4-12:  Xi understands that the risks of Pyrrhic victory – or even of defeat – are real. At a time when China is emerging from the world's most draconian lockdown and its worst economic slowdown in decades New York Post, 2023-4-8: House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul has said the US may send troops to Taiwan should China invade the self-governed island.
 

 

 

 

Reuters Report (reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2023/taiwan)
Trust in Taiwan's news overall: 28%; Trust in news I use: 35%; Trust score in 2017/2018: 31%, score in 2022/2023: 28%.   Due to the intense competition in the media market and the interventions of owners, trust in news (28%) remains among the lowest in our survey. In the polarised media landscape, many brands with political colours are less trusted, whereas business publications tend to have higher levels of trust. PTS (55%) remains one of the most trusted brands this year, after internal improvements.

 RSF, <Reporters Sans Frontieres>, France, 2023: Taiwan's World Press Freedom Index - score 75.54, rank 35.

 

 

 

Elbridge  Colby, a leading voice for a new “pivot to Asia.” John Walters, Hudson Institute CEO
He wants to see the U.S. concentrate efforts on deterring war in the Pacific, even if that means abandoning European interests. the U.S. simply does not have the capability for building the alliance system Walters envisions or supplying it with the requisite arms and ammunition to fight wars with two great powers at once; It will take well into the 2030s before we're in much better shape; before Chinese leader Xi Jinping moves on Taiwan, the U.S. should put in place immediate measures to attack the key segments of that CCP economic and military power Ukraine Is No Distraction From Asia.”;  the US can fend off Russian and Chinese revanchism simultaneously; aggression must be met by strong American alliances with key countries, including both Taiwan and Ukraine; the kinds of weapons needed in Ukraine and Taiwan are different enough that supplying one will not substantially affect the other; most Republicans on Capitol Hill remain strong supporters of UkraineUkraine will help generate (US) domestic resolve to fight for Taiwan. 
washingtonexaminer.com/news/inside-right-debate-ukraine-taiwan  2023-6-1

 

 

 

discrimination in Taiwan

Taipei Times, 2023-6-12: Taiwanese government actively courts Chinese tourists by the hundred thousand, immigration authorities hand out insult after insult to people whose skins are a bit too brown... the reality of its suicidally discriminatory immigration policies is painful for those of us who live and work here. Besides, over 1,000 nurses, have come from Hong Kong and are unable to obtain residency to work
.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2023/06/12/2003801383

 

 

 

Associated Press, 2023-5-2: Unclear who would help Taiwan in a war: Taiwan foreign minister

Japan S. Korea
 Asahi News, 2023-5-1: Asahi poll: 80% of voters said they are worried that Japan would be caught up in the armed conflict if the United States and China clashed over Taiwan, 56% want only SDF rear support to U.S. in event of Taiwan crisis. Which approaches to prioritize for its national security?  70% selected “deepening the relationship with China,” far more than the 26 % who chose “strengthening defense capabilities.”


Responsible Statecraft, 2023-5-2: It is naïve, however, to expect Japan to automatically fight China if the United States intervened militarily.   If Japan were to assume a neutral stance, China might be encouraged to use military force to realize its aim to bring Taiwan under its control. Recent war games conducted by the CSIS suggests that the United States would lose a conflict over Taiwan if it were unable to access bases in Japan. 

 

 

 The Diplomat, 2023-3-21: South Korea Will Stay Out of a Taiwan Strait War  Seoul’s desire to limit the damage in its relations with Beijing is strong enough that strikes on South Korean territory that killed only Americans would not necessarily bring South Korea into the war as a combatant against China.
South Korea would limit its support to actions near the low end of the spectrum – strong diplomatic statements, symbolic economic sanctions, and behind-the-lines re-supply of U.S. forces returning from battle.  

 

Axios, 2023-5-2: South Korea would be unlikely to consider sending troops into the Taiwan Strait. But the U.S. could pull some of its own 30,000-strong contingent out of Korea, and would likely expect  Seoul to play a key support role.  That could leave Seoul exposed to retaliation from China, and more vulnerable to North Korea

 

  asahi.com/ajw/articles/14898395  responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/05/02/should-japan-defend-taiwan/    k. sugawa   thediplomat.com/2023/03/south-korea-will-stay-out-of-a-taiwan-strait-war/    axios.com/2023/05/02/taiwan-war-us-philippines-japan-korea-australia  d. lawler, b. a. ebrahimian

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's President  is expected to meet Speaker McCarthy, Beijing will decide how strongly it wants to respond

New York Times, 2023-4-6 Despite the combative words, any retaliation by Beijing may be tempered by the difficult calculations facing China's leader, including over Taiwan's coming presidential race - could hurt the presidential hopes of the Nationalists, which favors stronger ties with China  nytimes.com/2023/04/06/world/asia/taiwan-mccarthy-china.html  Chris Buckley and 
New York Times, 2023-4-5 Walking a Tightrope: Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, who recently visited the United States, has edged closer to America while trying not to anger China   nytimes.com/2023/04/05/us/politics/mccarthy-tsai-taiwan-china.html
New York Times, 2023-3-29 President Tsai Ing-wen risks a show of force from Beijing Beijing just lured Honduras to abandon diplomatic ties with Taipei in what many saw as pre-emptive punishment for her trip. nytimes.com/2023/03/29/world/asia/taiwan-president-us-china.html
Bloomberg, 2023-3-29 Tsai is unlikely to use this moment to “push boundaries" , partly to avoid "accusations of being provocative by Taiwanese voters.". Any Tsai meeting with McCarthy "puts the ball in Beijing's court"  news.yahoo.com/china-warns-taiwan-leader-mccarthy-031352507.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
CNN, 2023-3-30 Beijing warns of ‘severe impact’ on US-China relations as Taiwan’s leader lands in New York
CNBC, 2023-3-30 Taiwan leader's meeting with McCarthy could provoke a ‘big’ reaction from China, says analyst
Washington Post, 2023-3-29 When Honduras switched allegiance from Taipei to Beijing last week, it put the diplomatic future of Taiwan in a more precarious position washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/29/honduras-taiwan-china-allies-relations/
Newsweek, 2023-3-31 "Tsai's visit to the U.S. can be seen as a face-saving way for the U.S. to avoid another Pelosi-like fiasco from which it is still paying a price in global standing,""At the same time, Ma's visit to China shows there is strong desire on both sides of the Taiwan Straits for a peaceful solution."  msn.com/en-us/news/world/what-two-taiwan-trips-mean-for-fate-of-most-dangerous-us-china-issue/ar-AA19komh  Tom O'Connor
Bloomberg, 2023-3-31 The expected California meeting with McCarthy was considered a concession: At the request of the Taiwanese government, McCarthy decided to put off a potential trip to Taiwan until after presidential elections next year and instead host Taiwan’s leader on US soil.  msn.com/en-us/news/world/white-house-tries-to-keep-china-calm-while-taiwans-tsai-visits-the-us/ar-AA19il7y   Jenny Leonard and Cindy Wang
The Guardian, 2023-3-28 (ex president) Ma Ying-jeou's "we are all Chinese" message is starkly at odds with vision of Tsai Ing-wen, who seeks support from Washington.   Taiwan caught between superpowers as rival leaders visit China and US theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/28/taiwan-leaders-visit-china-us-ma-ying-jeou-tsai-ing-wenTaipei

 

 

 

Honduras ditching Taiwan raises larger geopolitical concerns

AP, Washington Post, The Hill, 2023-3-15 thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-international/honduras-ditching-taiwan-raises-larger-geopolitical-concerns/   ... a blow to the Biden administration, which has rather fruitlessly tried to convince countries in the region to stick with Taiwan. Taiwan, a U.S. ally,...also exemplifies the American government is “losing it’s grasp on” Latin America
L.A. Times, 2023-3-15 The switch would leave Taiwan recognized by only 13 countries as China spends billions to win recognition of its “one China” policy.   msn.com/en-us/news/world/honduras-to-seek-official-ties-with-china-spurning-its-long-relationship-with-taiwan/ar-AA18EeCH
Bloomberg, 2023-3-15 Tsai Ing-wen has worked to raise the self-governing island’s profile on the world stage during her tenure. Tsai says Taiwan deserves broader recognition and greater support given its status as a democracy. msn.com/en-us/news/world/taiwan-may-lose-official-ally-as-honduras-mulls-china-switch/ar-AA18Du8h

 

 

 

 

Pew Research org., 2023-3-2
US respondents' views about a hypothetical conflict between China, Taiwan differ by question wording

  a conflict between China and Taiwan China invade Taiwan Taiwan declared Independence, China invaded
support China 8% 7 10
support Taiwan 45% 49 40
remain neutral 47% 44 50
when the scenario involves Taiwan declaring independence. Under this hypothetical, 46% of Democratic respondents say the U.S. should support Taiwan, compared with 28% of Republicans.
pewresearch.org/decoded/2023/03/02/testing-survey-questions-about-a-hypothetical-military-conflict-between-china-and-taiwan/

 

 

 

General's memo spurs debate: Could China invade Taiwan by 2025?    The Hill, 2023-2-2, USA Today, 2023-2-3, FoxNews, 2023-2-3

US generals, officials, experts, law-makers China invade Taiwan by ?
CIA Director William Burns Xi has ordered military to be ready for Taiwan invasion by 2027
Philip Davidson, the former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (Jan. 2023) China may attack Taiwan — even just its small, outer islands — by 2027
Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command predicted war by 2027
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday (Oct., 2022) Chinese could attack Taiwan before 2024...or a potentially a 2023 window
Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Oct., 2022) on a “much faster timeline” than previously thought.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner (July, 2022) “only a matter of time”
Minihan, the leader of Air Mobility Command 2025
Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow focused on U.S.-China relations at the Center for a New American Security, before 2027,  a crisis or incident that could spiral out of control
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul agreeing with the assessment on “Fox News Sunday.”
Sen. Todd Young (Ind.) 2025
House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.)  the 2025 timeline for such an event was “not only not inevitable” but “highly unlikely,”
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey 2025 ,  a“bad judgment”
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Nov. 2022) it will be “some time” before the Chinese have the military capability to invade Taiwan.
news.yahoo.com/general-memo-spurs-debate-could-110000282.html

 

 

 

The Guardian, 2023-1-1: Ukraine is in the headlines now. But a whole new world of conflict is about to eruptTaiwan, North Korea, Iran and Palestine are all potential flashpoints  

NBC, 2022-12-27:
Taiwan to extend military conscription to one year, citing threat from China

WSJ, 2022-12-27 a once politically unpalatable move that has become imperative in the face of growing concerns about a Chinese attack and intensifying competition between Washington and Beijing. wsj.com/articles/taiwan-to-extend-mandatory-military-service-11672129529
PBS, AP2022-12-27 The White House welcomed the announcement on conscription reform, saying it underscores Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense and strengthens deterrence...mong the youngest demographic group of 20-24, however,  only 35.6 percent said they would support an extension pbs.org/newshour/world/taiwan-extends-compulsory-military-service-from-4-months-to-1-year
CNN, 2022-12-27  Chinese soldiers can only make an amphibious landing after taking control of the air and the sea...before they land, there will likely be bombing and blockade, and we need people to deliver goods and guide residents to air raid shelters  edition.cnn.com/2022/12/27/asia/taiwan-military-conscription-intl-hnk/index.html
Washington Post, 12-27 It had been a widely debated topic for a long time, but faced with Chinese threats, the government was left little room to be hesitant   washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/27/taiwan-military-mandatory-service-china/
Mainichi Japan , 2022-12-28 The change is said to have come at the request of the United States
 
mainichi.jp/english/articles/20221227/p2g/00m/0in/058000c
GT (China), 2022-12-27 "a deplorable decision" made under US pressure  /   the DPP authorities might incorporate some conscripts into the "cyber army" to engage in collecting intelligence and conduct information warfare against the mainland, given their relatively weak capabilities on the real battlefield. ...expecting that the US may ask Taiwan authorities to increase the defense budget to purchase more US weapons and ensure the island's military is in line with US strategy. globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282753.shtml    12-27

 

 

 

News
  Bloomberg, 2023-3-31: Washington's planned subsidies to “hollowing out” its world-beating chip industry, or that US defense strategists hope to provoke a war over Taiwan to ... cripple the People's Liberation Army — have gained noticeable traction   Economist, 2023-3-29: a Taiwanese policy adviser frames voters' choice as one between “peace or war” ...The  DPP has criticised KMT's  "embracing appeasement”, but it, too, worries about conflict   Taiwan is losing its friends.  Economist (2023-3-28) :With China's wallet growing ever larger, Taiwan may instead need to hope that historical ties help to sustain the loyalty of its few remaining diplomatic partners   AFP (2023-3-28): Latin America has been crucial to the diplomatic struggle between Beijing and Taipei since they separated in 1949, after the Chinese civil war....the decision by Honduras was a blow to Washington    Foreign Affairs, 2023-3-21: J. Chen Weiss: Alarm Over a Chinese Invasion Could Become a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.  Economist, 2023-3-9: War is no longer a remote possibility, because an unstated bargain has frayed. Taiwan could resist an attack on its own only for days or weeks, any conflict could escalate quickly into a superpower confrontation. USNI, 2023-3-21: U.S. Needs Air Superiority, Ship-Killing Weapons to Defend Taiwan, Pacific Air Forces Commander Says... he doesn’t think China wants to engage in this fight. Foreign Policy Research Institute, 2023-3-9: Taiwan's "porcupine strategy" calls for Taiwan to arm itself with thousands of mobile anti-ship and anti-air weapons, sea mines, drone strike systems, and other smaller, mobile systems. While it still struggles with two challenges: a continued preference for big-ticket defense systems, and US delays in delivering weapons Economist, 2023-3-6: Taiwan's fate will, ultimately, be decided by the battle-readiness of its people  Reuters, 2023-3-5: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan...Taiwan holds presidential and parliamentary elections in early 2024 and tensions with China are likely to dominate campaigning  USNI, 2023-3-2:  Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl testified before the House Armed Services Committee that he does not think China will attempt to invade Taiwan before 2027.  Reuters, 2023-2-28: The threat of China invading Taiwan has moved to the centre of global money managers' risk radars and is factoring in their investment decisions,"China wouldn't have to invade Taiwan or actually get hot to just cause a stir in that part of the market" ◆  Washington Post, ABC news, 2023-2-27: CIA chief:  Xi Jinping has instructed his country's military to “be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan; China has some doubt on ability to invade Taiwan   New York Times, 2023-2-27: the Chinese are prepared to wage a much broader type of warfare that would reach deep into American society. The U.S. economy is heavily dependent on Chinese resources and manufactured goods EurAsian Times, 2023-2-26:  "No Boots On Ground': Majority Of US Voters' Chicken Out’ From Sending Soldiers To Taiwan To Battle China New York Times, 2023-2-22: TSMC might have been forced to set up a factory in the United States because of political considerations, but so far, the Phoenix project has yielded very little benefit for TSMC or Taiwan. Bloomberg, 2023-2-22: Holding off the PLA for two weeks is a key goal of Taiwan's military because it would allow time for the US and other allies to come to its aid. Economist, 2023-2-18: China still relies on Russia for certain crucial military components, which makes the friendship central to any plans China might have to invade Taiwan  (CBS  2023-2-19: China considering providing "lethal support" to aid Russian invasion of Ukraine, Blinken says◆Washington Post, 2023-2-20:  growing concern — conviction even — that war between the United States and China could be coming. The U.S. should deter — not provoke — Beijing over Taiwan.   NY Times, 2023-2-15: An active denial strategy that focuses on supplying defensive weapons to U.S. allies and a lower-profile, more agile deployment of U.S. forces in the region would raise the costs of Chinese military action without exacerbating China's own sense of insecurity Bloomberg, 2023-2-5:   the US position on the island remains equivocal. The intention is to avoid provoking Beijing, yet the consequence is to weaken deterrence. Washington Post, 2023-2-3: (China's) state-run People's Daily said the United States must drop its “obsession” with containing China.   Washington Post, 2023-2-2: Japan must do more, and faster, to avert war over Taiwan...Crudely, Japan seems to be prepared to push back against only Chinese assets that are clearly poised to attack its sovereign territory. New York Times, 2023-2-1: The United States is increasing its military presence in the Philippines , the Philippines is among the most geographically close to Taiwan...is crucial to countering China in the event it attacks Taiwan    The Hill, 2023-1-23: the U.S. defense industrial base is not currently equipped to support a protracted conventional war...How do you effectively deter if you don’t have sufficient stockpiles of the kinds of munitions you’re going to need for a China-Taiwan Strait kind of scenario?   Modern War Institute at West point, 2022-12-19: Taiwan has mostly accepted the need to shift to a “porcupine strategy” ... implementation has been slow. And Taiwan has neglected to cultivate the guerrilla-style resistance forces that will be necessary to counter an occupation.   Wall Street Journal, 2023-1-26:  Will the U.S. Really Defend Taiwan? Washington is strategically unprepared for a crisis and Biden's policies are hampering deterrence   Bloomberg, 2023-1-21: A more effective structure would de-emphasize vulnerable combat aircraft and surface ships and emphasize instead land-based anti-air and anti-ship capabilities. This is what some commentators have called the "porcupine strategy"  New York Times, 2023-1-21: Glaser warns that symbolic victories may not be worth the cost of provoking China ... "But the bottom line is, this is a fight over symbolism" said Dan Blumenthal  War On The Rocks, 2023-1-20:  Training, Not Arms Sales, Should Be the New Priority    USA Today, 2023-1-20: Taiwan's envoy to the US says her island has learned lessons from Ukraine's war that will help it deter, defend against an attack by China. Among the lessons: preparing for the kind of all-of-society fight Ukrainians are waging against Russia AFP, 2023-1-21:  Blinken sees lower US tensions with China but risks on Taiwan WSJ, 2023-1-19: The Heritage Foundation's latest 'Index of U.S. Military Strength' warns of declining power in the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Taiwan  is ramping up its spending on defense but its conscription and readiness are underwhelming. CNN, 2023-1-20:  In Taiwan, ex-conscripts feel unprepared for potential China conflict Economist, 2023-1-19: TSMC  is playing a subtle game of diplomacy in which its business interests come first   France 24, 2022-12-26: Seventy-one warplanes deployed by China in war drills - the largest reported incursion to date  
 

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on swisscows ( Switzerland search engine  ), 2024-2-28, 2024-1-23, 2024-1-1, 2023-11-1, 2023-9-11, 2023-8-22, 2023-8-8, 2023-7-4, 2023-6-22, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-10, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020

 

 

 

CNN, 2023-3-28: In 2023's “Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Taiwan ranks No. 9 among Asia's countries, Taipei ranks No. 17 among Asia's cities, Taipei's Mume restaurant ranks No. 45 in top 50 restaurants, the number of Taiwan's restaurants entering top 50 is the least in recent 10 years.  Taipei's Logy ranks No. 57, but its chef is a Japanese.  Tapei's Adachi Sushi ranks No. 87, Kaohsiung's Liberte ranks No. 96.

 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023
theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50

rank

countries with the most wins

 number of restaurants selected rank

cities with the most wins

number of restaurants selected
1 China   (Hong Kong 5, Shanghai 2, ShenZhen 1, Macau 2, Beijing 1) 11 1

Bangkok (Thailand )

9
2 Japan    (Tokyo 7,  Osaka 1, Wakayama 1, Kyoto 1) 10 2

Singapore

9
3 Thailand  (Bangkok 9) 9 3 Tokyo (Japan) 7
4 Singapore 7 4 Hong Kong (China) 5
5 S. Korea 4 5 Seoul (S. Korea) 4
6 India 3 6 Shanghai (China) 2
7 Philippines 2 7 Macau (China) 2
8 Vietnam 1 8 Manila (Philippines) 2
9 Taiwan 1 9 Osaka (Japan) 1
No.1 Le Du (Thai.), No.2 Sezanne (Japan), No.3 Nusara (Thai.), 4. Den (Japan), 5 Gaggan Anans (Thai.)...No. 45 Mume (Taiwan Taipei)

 

Bangkok has long been considered a world capital when it comes to street food. But these days, its fine dining scene is proving to be just as alluring.  Though most of the winners on the list are fine dining restaurants, one street food eatery managed to break through the pack – Bangkok’s Michelin-starred Raan Jay Fai

10 Wakayama (Japan) 1
11 Mumbai (India) 1
12 New Delhi (India) 1
13 Chennai (India) 1
14 ShenZhen (China) 1
15 Kyoto (Japan) 1
16 Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) 1
17 Taipei (Taiwan) 1
18 Beijing (Chn) 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biden "U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan"

 
Chicago Tribune, 2022-9-23 Biden pokes at China again over Taiwan. At what cost to US national interests?  if China needs to be confronted militarily (and that's unlikely), Taiwan is precisely the wrong place to try to do that   chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-taiwan-china-biden-tensions-20220922-tjd6rxcmozgunew3djsycoodsa-story.html
 CNN (US), 2022-9-20 looks like the US has moved from ambiguity to deterrence...  Biden's remarks don't necessarily equate to how he would behave in a real crisis. edition.cnn.com/2022/09/19/world/joe-biden-taiwan-answer-analysis/index.html  
Washington Examiner (US),
2022-9-
20
wrong to commit to Taiwan's defense unambiguously,  two key concerns here. (1) Taiwan's defense spending remains ludicrously low in face of the existential threat it faces. (2) It's one thing to tell a pollster that you're willing to fight and die for your country. It's a different thing to take painstaking steps to prepare for that eventuality. And the hard truth is that far too few Taiwanese are currently taking those steps msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-two-problems-with-bidens-taiwan-defense-pledge/ar-AA120KGw
Japan Times (Japan), 2022-9-20 Cornell prof. called Biden's remarks “dangerous",  this new combo (a pledge to send troops + decisions about independence are Taiwan’s) suggests an unconditional commitment, U.S. is issuing Taiwan a blank check japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/09/20/asia-pacific/politics-diplomacy-asia-pacific/biden-taiwan-remarks-uncertainty/
Bloomberg, 2022-9-20 “Such comments will do more to feed Beijing's sense of urgency than they will bolster deterrence” Taiwan's leaders could move closer to independence    msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-s-vow-to-defend-taiwan-makes-us-policy-shift-explicit/ar-AA123qxX
 Politico, 2022-9-19 The big question is, what are the costs we're really willing to pay?” Stanford's Skylar Mastro said. politico.com/news/2022/09/19/biden-leaves-no-doubt-strategic-ambiguity-toward-taiwan-is-dead-00057658
Washington Post, 2022-9-19 Yet presidential pronouncements alone can only deter China so much... Congress should provide Mr. Biden and his successors with a stronger set of legislative instructions washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/biden-china-taiwan-60-minutes/

DW (Germany), 2022-9-19 scholars: "it can lead to very different results than what Biden might be thinking he has the capacity to do,"," US "strategic ambiguity is becoming more strategic and less ambiguous." dw.com/en/biden-us-forces-would-defend-taiwan-if-china-invades/a-63166248
Le Monde (France), 2022-9-19 Alors que l’occupant de la Maison Blanche a tenu des propos forts sur le dossier taïwanais dimanche soir, la Chine a dénoncé « une grave violation de [son] engagement important à ne pas soutenir l’indépendance de Taïwan .   lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/09/19/joe-biden-affirme-que-les-etats-unis-defendraient-taiwan-en-cas-d-invasion-chinoise_6142183_3210.html
 France 24 (France), 2022-9-19  most explicit statement so far on the issue, something sure to anger Beijing.Biden's Asia policy czar, Kurt Campbell, has in the past rejected any move to "strategic clarity" over Taiwan, saying there were "significant downsides" to such an approachmsn.com/en-gb/news/world/biden-says-us-forces-would-defend-taiwan-if-china-invades/ar-AA11YIsO
Daily Express (UK), 2022-9-19 Bonnie Glaser: " if Mr Biden makes such pledges he needs the "capability" to back them up, If President Biden plans to defend Taiwan, then he should make sure the U.S. military has the capability to do so", “"Rhetorical support that isn't backed up by real capabilities is unlikely to strengthen deterrence express.co.uk/news/world/1671100/Joe-Biden-Taiwan-China-Xi-Jinping-CBS-Nancy-Pelosi-White-House-ont
Bloomberg (US), 2022-9-19 Expert Bonnie Glaser: China has long assumed that the US would intervene to defend Taiwan, so these statements don’t change PLA plans, Prof. Lev Nachman: The worry is that this will exacerbate Taiwan's current high-tension moment rather than reduce it.。” Bloomberg     msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-says-us-would-defend-taiwan-from-unprecedented-attack/ar-AA11Yf55
Washington Post (US), 2022-9-19 Biden’s most hawkish comments on Taiwan yet  /  The implications for that are huge. This is still in the realm of the hypothetical, but it’s a majorly consequential hypothetical that now includes a firm commitment — whether that firm commitment is technically official policy or not    washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/19/biden-taiwan-china-defense/
Global Times (CHN) , 2022-9-19 his most explicit answer so far on the question, which analysts believe suggested a shifting process in Washington's decades-long "strategic ambiguity" policy  ...not only his personal views, but also those in his White House team and various political forces on Capitol Hill.  China clearly knows that the US is trying to erode its "one-China policy." If the US moves further toward such "strategic clarity" that is entirely targeted against the Chinese mainland and supports Taiwan's pro-independence behaviors, we will certainly have diplomatic, military and economic countermeasures for them, Xin said.   globaltimes.cn/page/202209/1275600.shtml 
The Conversation  (Australia),
2022-9-20
so does this support mean economic aid, supply of weapons or U.S. boots on the ground? China and Taiwan are left guessing if – and to what extent – the U.S. will be involved in any China-Taiwan conflict.    news.yahoo.com/biden-again-indicates-us-defend-181440760.html

 

 

 

 

 

Can "silicon shield" protect Taiwan?

New York Times, 2022-9-9 Taiwan is protected by something far more subtle —The "silicon shield"...If it is clear that China will be better off with a steady flow of chips from Taiwan, peace is likely to prevail
New York Times, 2022-8-29 Analysts debate how much protection China's reliance on Taiwan gives it.  Some argue that calculations over supply chains are insignificant in a decision over war.
 National Interest, 2022-5-15 Taiwan's “silicon shield”—the name for a strategy that entrusts the island's defense to both Chinese and American reliance on its semiconductors—is an outmoded concept that burdens the United States, emboldens Taiwan, and fails to deter China
VOA News, 2021-5-10 Song Hong, assistant general director at the Institute of World Economics and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences  shrugged off the geopolitical implications of Taiwan’s silicon shield, saying that China views Taiwanese issues as domestic affairs and will not be deterred from its goals by U.S. action
Fox News, 2022-8-26 Why would the U.S. fight China over Taiwan, Trade is the key reason and the aforementioned importance of semiconductor production is the glue

 

 

 

 
 New York Times, 2022-9-9: Now, Taiwan is protected by the "silicon shield"... “The most advanced category of mass-produced semiconductors —  is known as 5 nm. Taiwan TSMC makes about 90 percent of them. U.S. factories make none.” If it is clear that China will be better off with a steady flow of chips from Taiwan, peace is likely to prevail.  nytimes.com/2022/09/09/business/silicon-markets-china-taiwan.html

 

Taiwan dominates the global production of computer chips /   BBC, 2022-1-12, source: The Military Balnce, IISS 2021

Taiwan S. Korea China Other
65% 18% 5% 12%

news.yahoo.com/china-taiwan-really-simple-guide-142542268.html


  New York Times, 2022-1-25:  
75 percent of production takes place in East Asia.  Ninety percent of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan...China could use economic coercion, cyber operations and hybrid tactics to try to seize or harm Taiwan's semiconductor industry — Biden promised he would work to bring production of semiconductor chips back to the United States.  nytimes.com/2022/01/26/us/politics/computer-chip-shortage-taiwan.html

  CBS, 2022-7-8: Taiwan accounts for 64% of the total chip foundry market, according to data from TrendForce. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, accounted for 53% of total foundry revenue in 2021, according to TrendForce.  cnbc.com/2022/07/08/why-tensions-between-china-and-taiwan-are-on-the-rise.html
 

 

 

 

 

World's Best Hospitals 2023
by Newsweek
comparison among Asia's selected 12 countries

newsweek.com/rankings/worlds-best-hospitals-2023

Asia's rank

country

total number of top 250  hospitals

1 Japan 18
2 S. Korea 18
3 Australia 7
4 Singapore 5
5 Israel 3
6 India 3
7 Thailand 1
8 UAE 1
9 Taiwan 1
10 Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia 0
Taiwan's NTU Hospital ranks world No. 249
Asia's China,  etc are not included in survey list - 28 countries
Opinion - Why is Taiwan behind ?

(1) Taiwan got highest CovID death rate in Asia and entire world again and again.
/  "Medicine should be prescribed but not prescribed, medicine should be taken but not taken",  bad record of "failure to administer CovID remedy/medicine in time" Bloomberg, 2021-7-25: Taiwan's medical care system is also run on a tight budget to keep costs affordable Newsweek: These are challenging times for hospitals. COVID-19 put unprecedented stress on health systems.

(2) Not patient-centered /  not easy to register clinic, 2-5 minutes for clinic diagnosis,
7-10 waiting days in emergency room to be hospitalized, shortage of some excellent medicines and newest equipments, the number of MDs per 10000 is very low, turnover rate of the nurses is high, some chronic disease items' score very low, poor internationalization, national health insurance ceiling issue, not to value privacy, medical disputes,  not enough resource for rural patients and the disadvantaged...

 

Newsweek: Among the hallmarks of great hospitals, however, are not just first-class care, first-class research and first-class innovation. The very best institutions also share another quality: consistency. The world's best hospitals consistently attract the best people and provide the best outcomes for patients as well as the most important new therapies and research. 

 

 

 

New York Times,  2023-2-16,  News briefing
CovID death per 100,000 people since 2020
comparison among Asia's countries

Australia Taiwan S. Korea Indonesia Japan New Zealand Singapore China (official count)
74 70 65 59 55 50 30 6
China's official toll includes only infected people who died in hospitals

 

 

 

 

Economist, 2022-3-12: Taiwan ranks top 10~11 on the crony-capitalism index
Rich folk in autocratic countries remain vulnerable to the whims of dictators
Rent-seeking entrepreneurs tend to use their relationships with the state to maximise profits.  some are
characterised by the modern equivalent of the robber barons in late-19th-century America.

 

Economist, The crony-capitalism index
Billionaire wealth as % of GDP, 2021   Ranked by crony-sector wealth

1(1) Russia 8(7) Indonesia
2(2) Malaysia 9(12) Thailand
3(4) Singapore 10(11) China
4(3) Philippines 11(10) Taiwan
7(9) India 20(19) Japan

The crony-capitalism index
Billionaire wealth as % of GDP, 2016 Rankedby crony-sector wealth

1 Russia 9 India
2 Malaysia 10 Taiwan
3 Philippines 11 China
4 Singapore 12 Thailand
7 Indonesia 19 Japan

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan proposes large rise in defense spending specifically to acquire new fighter jets and other projects to boost naval and air capabilities (news, 2022-8-25)
Taiwan  vs.  US

Taiwan VS. US's "porcupine"  weapons

The US disagrees Taiwan's requests for big-ticket weapons


Financial Times, 2022-8-19:
Intensified military pressure from China has reinforced Taiwan's desire to acquire large weapons platforms such as warships and fighters...widens gulf on procurement policy between Taipei and its main arms supplier

ft.com/content/0d492ad7-9346-4c9e-b186-834c6fc75e85


Economist, 2022-5-10:
These flashier purchases are politically popular... Some of Taiwan’s political and military leaders believe it is more important to counter such “grey zone” attacks than to prepare for an invasion. A full-scale assault has long been hypothetical, after all, while incursions have increased every year
WEEK (UK), 2022-5-12: Taiwan plans to “throw a thousand tanks at the beachhead” in the event of a Chinese invasion that could result in “brutal tank battles”

United Dialy (Taiwan), 2022-5-19 : Can the guerrillas of Stinger missiles and Javelin missiles really block the Russian main force in Ukraine?

  The China Times (Taiwan), 2021-10-26 : Urban guerrilla warfare will turn cities into ruins and cause a large number of civilian casualties
Foreign Policy, 2020-8-20 : “Their underlying thinking is that PLA has grown to be too strong for us to fight militarily anyway... Taiwan should just focus on putting up a good show of being tough, buy enough U.S. weapons for display, and pray that Americans come to our rescue

Financial Times, 2022-5-17: Washington was right to push Taipei to focus procurement more on the threat of invasion, but that forcing its hand was counterproductive.

 

 

War on the Rocks, 2022-8-22: flashy F-16 sales do little to defend Taiwan from China's missile force. warontherocks.com/2022/08/the-fourth-taiwan-strait-crisis-is-just-starting/

Financial Times, 2022-8-19:Washington is trying to force Taipei to prioritise “asymmetric” weapons — systems that exploit an adversary’s weakness instead of trying to match its strengths.

 

Business Insider, 2022-8-21: expensive equipment such as fighter jets, helicopters, and tanks to prepare against a possible Chinese invasion, defense experts say these would easily be destroyed by an attacker, according to the Journal's report. businessinsider.com/taiwan-learns-ukraine-porcupine-strategy-defend-against-china-2022-8

 

New York Times, 2022-5-7: US presses Taiwan to buy missiles and smaller arms for asymmetric warfare (Suited to Win Against China);  But some Taiwanese defense officials are resistant.
FoxNews, 2022-5-12: Taiwan may not have military equipment to defend itself against Chinese invasion warns Rep. McCaul
Politico, 2022-5-11: The Biden administration is rebuffing some of Taiwan’s requests for big-ticket weapons,...these expensive items, while fine for peacetime operations, would not survive an all-out assault from the mainland.
Economist, 2022-5-10: expensive conventional equipment such as tanks, battleships and submarines — are hard to hide and easy to strike with a missile a "porcupine" strategist would focus on agile and concealable weapons
Politico, 2022-5-19: the U.S. effort to reshape Taiwan’s military has taken on new urgency since the Russian invasion...the administration would no longer support arms sales for Taiwan “outside their definition of ‘asymmetric’ defense,”
WSJ , 2022-5-8: F-16s Are the Wrong Way for Taiwan to Defend Itself
National Interest, 2022-5-15: One important task has been to tailor the provision of defensive weapons to the needs of Taiwan’s military—procuring Stingers and Javelins rather than Abrams tanks and Seahawk helicopters.
◆ Foreign Policy , 2020-10-19 : Taiwan's leaders have gravitated toward military showpieces
Diplomat, 10-5-2020: Taiwan needs mobile systems,long-range surveillance armed drones...

 

 

 

 

 

 China published a white paper titled
"The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era"

GT, 2022-8-10 the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan hinges on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation... it will create huge opportunities for social and economic development in Taiwan and bring tangible benefits to the people of Taiwanglobaltimes.cn/page/202208/1272637.shtml
GT, 2022-8-24 The latest white paper actually signals an invitation to the Taiwan compatriots to participate in the future institutional arrangements,...Ironically, the DPP does not allow Taiwan people to participate in the institutional arrangements after reunification   globaltimes.cn/page/202208/1273805.shtml
NY Times, 2022-8-15  The 2000 paper said nine times that negotiations between Taiwan and China to determine that framework would be conducted on “equal footing,” or other similar language. But that pledge appeared only once in the new paper    nytimes.com/2022/08/15/world/asia/china-taiwan-us.html
 Reuters, 2022-8-10 A line in the 2000 white paper that said "anything can be negotiated" as long as Taiwan accepts that there is only one China and does not seek independence, is missing from the latest white paper.  reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-withdraws-promise-not-send-troops-taiwan-after-unification-2022-08-10/
Forbes, Reuters, 2022-8-10 ...in two previous white papers on Taiwan, in 1993 and 2000, that it "will not send troops or administrative personnel to be based in Taiwan" after achieving unification ... is missing from the latest white paper.
ABC news , Australia,
2022-8-1
1
China says there are "profound historical and cultural ties" with Taiwan..."Its economy is highly complementary with that of the mainland."...Taiwanese citizens who would "enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region".   msn.com/en-au/news/australia/why-does-china-want-taiwan-when-its-already-so-big-and-rich-the-answer-is-about-more-than-land-and-money/ar-AA10z5KJ
 NBC, 2022-8-10 ... reiterated its desire for “peaceful reunification.” But it did not rule out the use of force as a “last resort taken under compelling circumstances,” without specifying what those circumstances might be   nbcnews.com/news/world/is-taiwan-worried-china-threat-invasion-pelosi-visit-rcna41964
United Daily (聯合報), 2022-8-11 這是更為強硬的表態,除了對內部十四億人有所交代,也對國際社會明確堅定表達北京看法,同時也想加大對台軟、硬兩手力度 udn.com/news/story/10930/6528208?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub10930_pulldownmenu_v2
China Daily,
2022-8-12
The white paper received a warm response and wide support from Chinese people at home and abroad, and the DPP authorities' misinterpretation cannot deny that "one country, two systems" is a peaceful, democratic, good-faith and win-win solution   chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/12/WS62f58be5a310fd2b29e71b7a.html
full text:  https://www.scio.gov.cn/zfbps/32832/Document/1728489/1728489.htm

 

 

 

 

Contrast    Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996 and 2022

New York Times, 2022-8-5 the U.S. military had ordered the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan to “remain on station” in the region but some distance from the entrance to the Taiwan Strait.... during a crisis in 1996, when President Bill Clinton moved aircraft carriers closer to the strait.  (PS: and conducted large scale drills  zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/台灣海峽飛彈危機 ) nytimes.com/2022/08/04/world/asia/taiwan-china-military-drills.html
New York Times, 2022-8-4 ... failing to move more naval forces into the region, the United States would be perceived by Mr. Xi as less committed to the region than Mr. Clinton was a quarter century ago.
United Daily (Taiwan) , 2022-8-5 The drill has been conducted under US tacit permission, which shakes the policy of peaceful resolution...  udn.com/news/story/11091/6515486?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub11091_pulldownmenu_v2
  USA Today, 2022-8-6 National Security Council:U.S. would postpone intercontinental ballistic missile test scheduled... reducing the risks of miscalculation and misperception news.yahoo.com/china-halts-climate-military-ties-152347684.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
   Global Times (China), 2022-8-5 the US Navy's Ronald Reagan carrier strike group retreated hundreds of kilometers eastward overnight, after the PLA announced live-fire exercise zones east of the island

 

 

 

China's Missiles over Taiwan  in 2022-8-5

  CNN, 2022-8-4 missiles flying over the island marked a significant escalation
New York Times, 2022-8-3 China's CCTV stated that one of the missiles flew over Taiwan, marking another escalation of Chinese pressure on the island and risking serious miscalculation.
New York Times, 2022-8-25 sending at least four high over the island itself, according to Japan
War on the Rocks, 2022-8-22 Some five to nine missiles passed over Taiwan en route to targets east of the main island 

 

 

 

News
TIME, 2023-1-7:  the threat of a costly armed engagement may encourage Beijing to pursue non-military scenarios to try to coerce Taiwan under its control.  Washington Post, 2023-1-9: Taiwan needs to be prepared to withstand a lengthy siege but has not stockpiled nearly enough energy, food, medicine or ammunition. It has only about 10 days of natural gas supplies in reserve... Unfortunately, a lot of Taiwanese still don’t seem to grasp how perilous their situation is. ◆ CNN, 2023-1-9: CSIS War game suggests Chinese invasion of Taiwan would fail at a huge cost to US, Chinese and Taiwanese militaries  ◆ The WEEK (UK), 2023-1-10:  Bloomberg:“calls growing” among American politicians for a commitment to get involved if Beijing invades the island.  Forbes, 2023-1-9:  the extended-range JASSM-ER that helped to win the war in CSIS War game Asia Nikkei, 2023-1-6: reserves, supposedly 2 million strong, are a paper force, with "no way whatsoever" to reinforce existing units in combat The American SPECTATOR, 2023-1-5: coming crisis over Taiwan is now popularly treated as a foregone conclusion...What is more likely is that China will wait a while longer, probably until the early 2030s.    Forbes, 2023-1-2: Economics, often takes a back seat to geopolitics and national pride (questions of sovereignty and  the hyper-sensitivities of China's leadership) The Hill, 2023-1-3: America's ‘strategic ambiguity’ on Taiwan gets more dangerous by the day  Financial Times, 2023-1-2: Taiwan's move to extend military conscription will not address broader strategic shortfalls... expert has long urged them to build a territorial defence force, a force which could operate as an urban guerrilla under a more decentralised command The Guardian, 2023-1-1: Ukraine is in the headlines now. But a whole new world of conflict is about to eruptTaiwan, North Korea, Iran and Palestine are all potential flashpoints The Hill, 2022-12-30: Mark Esper says Taiwan is “not prepared enough” for a potential Chinese invasion The Guardian, 2022-12-30: Extending conscription may make Taiwan feel safer – but at the cost of alienating its young people  Deutsche Welle, 2022-12-30: US support for Taiwan is double edged: both essential to its survival, and risking dragging Taiwan into a much bigger conflict.

 

 

 

 

Washington Post, 2022-8-17: if there's a crisis on Taiwan, Americans say~
(
msn.com/en-us/news/world/what-americans-think-about-china-and-taiwan/ar-AA10L80C)

65 percent support sending additional arms and military equipment to Taiwan
 62 percent support having the U.S. Navy prevent China from imposing a blockade around Taiwan
only 40 percent favor sending U.S. troops to help the Taiwanese government defend itself.
2021 Chicago Council Survey 46 percent of Americans were willing to explicitly commit to defend Taiwan from attack.

 

 

 

China's "staging the largest-ever People's Liberation Army exercises around Taiwan" (Newsweek,2022-8-5)     
WHY ?? 

 NY Times, 2022-8-25  They were meant to intimidate Taiwan and the United States   nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/25/world/asia/china-taiwan-conflict-blockade.html
 NY Times, 2022-8-4 Stanford scholar: “Under the guise of signaling, they’re trying to basically test their ability to conduct complex maneuvers that are necessary for an amphibious assault on Taiwan.” nytimes.com/2022/08/03/world/asia/taiwan-china-military-exercises.html    
 Business Insider, 2022-8-5  "a show of force to respond to Pelosi's visit" and "to exhibit [China's] displeasure" and "presumably to deter the US or other countries from undertaking visits like this ..."  "readiness to respond to Taiwan provocations"    news.yahoo.com/chinas-missile-launches-military-drills-211102958.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
 AFP (France), 2022-8-6 a former CIA Asia analyst:  main purpose with its military exercises was to change that status quo."The Chinese want to show... that a line has been crossed by the speaker's visit."
American University Professor:
Beijing's message was meant to signal that China can alter the power balance in the region if it chooses. "The Chinese seriously believe that the United States has not been respecting their interests on the Taiwan issue"   news.yahoo.com/us-china-relations-risk-long-215317757.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

 The Times (UK), 2022-8-6

Chinese jets menace Taiwan in an end to diplomacy

Global Times (Chn), 2022-8-5

Some Taiwan-based media hyped that the mainland's economic punishment could antagonize the public...    "If the mainland opts for economic sanctions, it may terminate the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)"...  Taiwan had a trade surplus of more than $170 billion with the Chinese mainland in 2021.  globaltimes.cn/page/202208/1272245.shtml
NY Times, 2022-8-8 not only to intimidate Taiwan and the United States, but also to appease a domestic audience that had seemed disappointed by what it perceived as an insufficiently bellicose posture.  cn.nytimes.com/asia-pacific/20220808/china-exercises-taiwan/zh-hant/dual/
BBC, 2022-8-9 this may possibly intimidate South East Asian neighbours which have rival claims to the South China Sea   bbc.com/news/62460809
PS: Wall Street Journal,2022-9-19: China Is Capable of Blockading Taiwan, U.S. Navy Commander Says NY Times, 2022-8-29: Analysts debate how much protection China’s reliance on Taiwan gives it. Some argue that calculations over supply chains are insignificant in a decision over war  SCMP, 2022-8-21: PLA adopts nuclear deterrence to stop foreign intervention on Taiwan: analysts NY Times, 2022-8-11: Taiwan, which has struggled with accidents and morale in the face of such a would-be foe as China. By many accounts, Taiwan's forces are poorly equipped and understaffed Economist, 2022-8-10: Ms Pelosi's visit has allowed Beijing to move to a new level of military activity unchallenged, which will make it harder for America to defend Taiwan.  ◆ Washington Post, 2022-8-11: Beijing is now focusing on taking the island by force, not through peaceful reunification New York Times, 2022-8-7: After China's Military Spectacle, Options Narrow for Winning Over Taiwan  ; Reuters, 2022-8-7: The ability to enforce a blockade would give Beijing leverage to bring Taiwan to the negotiating table ;A former Chinese defence official :"Seeing how the U.S. and its allies responded to the drills, how confident can Taiwan leaders be in counting on them to come to the rescue should the PLA attack?"

 

 

 

WHY?   Taiwanese people "don't worry" China's "the largest and most sophisticated military exercises" around Taiwan island ??

CNN, 2022-8-
8: Taiwan's foreign minister says : "I worry that China may really launch a war against Taiwan," But the mood in Taiwan remained calm, with life carrying on as usual with packed restaurants and crowded public transport.

NBC, 2022-8-10:   nbcnews.com/news/world/is-taiwan-worried-china-threat-invasion-pelosi-visit-rcna41964  
A:
many residents say they are used to intimidation by Beijing ..." I don't think China will attack because our rockets can also reach Beijing and Shanghai" ;
Experts:
 many residents in Ukraine reacted with disbelief to Russia's long-signaled invasion...whether Taiwan is being too complacent.?   people in Taiwan need to take this more seriously, they don't fully appreciate the circumstance they're in,...
New York Times, 2022-8-9:  many watching from outside Taiwan seemed to expect Taiwanese to be “hysterically” stockpiling food and crafting evacuation plans ... a Taiwanese girl says: "Taiwanese people appearing calm in the face of rising tension is not due to ignorance or naïveté, but because this is accepted — even internalized — as a part of being Taiwanese”.

United Daily (Taiwan ) , 2022-8-11:  A poll showed that about 60% of the respondents were not worried about further military conflict between mainland  China and  Taiwan, which surprised foreign media,  Some posts on the net reflect what Taiwanese people's thought, "because China PLA won't attack us", " we are used to it" ," we have been intimidated two or three times per year" ... It appears too many intimidations made our people NUMB !


 

PS: NDTV, 2022-8-25: Taiwan Army Reservists Stoic But "Not Ready" For War Against China   ndtv.com/world-news/taiwan-army-reservists-stoic-but-not-ready-for-war-against-china-3284620

 

 

 

 

War on Taiwan

Foreign Policy,2022-9-8: strategic priorities, budgets, and acquisition limitations, are preventing Taipei from laying in the critical war-reserve materiel it would need to against PLA War on the Rocks, 2022-9-7: In Taiwan, many young citizens concluded that conscription was a waste of time and a tedious chore....those with political connections seek to be posted in cities rather than at the border or in the field. Bloomberg , 2022-9-7: China Invading Taiwan Is ‘Distinct Threat’◆ Weekend Australian , 2022-9-7: Best way to avoid war is to arm Taiwan  NY Times, 2022-9-4: Washington is increasingly wary that an emboldened China might invade Taiwan in the coming years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 Pelosi visiting Taiwan       
CNN, 2022-7-29:
potentially triggering the worst cross-strait crisis in decades

 
NY Times, 2022-8-2 China is preparing a hostile response of some sort...This is an exceptionally dangerous situation, perhaps more so than Ukraine,...Much of America’s military industrial complex is busy arming Ukraine, which could hamper efforts to bolster weapons shipments to Taiwan.   nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/taiwan-pelosi.html
 CNN, 2022-8-2 China's eventual response -- perhaps, for example, an incursion into Taiwanese airspace, was unlikely to cause a war but would push the rivals closer to a danger zone.  edition.cnn.com/2022/08/02/politics/pelosi-taiwan-risks-greater-instability-us-china-analysis/index.html
NY Times, 2022-7-28 Nancy Pelosi's Trip to Taiwan Is Too Dangerous! The United States and China are on a collision course in the Taiwan Strait  nytimes.com/2022/07/28/opinion/china-us-taiwan-pelosi.html 
NY Times, 2022-7-31 Mr. Xi may feel pressure to show a tough stance — possibly including military action...ahead of an important Chinese Communist Party Congress this fall.    The Biden administration has grown increasingly worried that China’s leader, Xi Jinping, might try to move, perhaps with force, against Taiwan within the next year and a half.   nytimes.com/2022/07/31/world/asia/pelosi-taiwan-china.html
 Global Times (China), 2022-7-28  China's defense ministry issues fresh, rare warning: The US should not underestimate the crisis and possible disastrous results it will bring to the Taiwan Straits if Pelosi ultimately makes the trip... if the US does not pull back but keeps challenging the guardrail, the price will be beyond US capabilities to pay"...  The rare expressions "yanzhen yidai" (嚴陣以待),  PLA "will not sit idly by" (不會坐視) were used (in Korea war and Vietnam war).  -  China will not sit idly by if US troops crossed the 38th parallel. globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271693.shtml
Global Times, 2022-7-28 Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this," Xi said  via telephone,...  it is certain that if Pelosi insists on her provocative plan of visiting Taiwan, she will face serious and unbearable consequences.    globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271696.shtml
 GT(China), 2022-7-29 it is time for Washington to slam on the brake of its radical moves on the Taiwan question!
NBC News, 2022-7-29 GT former editor :  "If the US can't restrain her (Pelosi), let China restrain her & punish her","PLA Air Force will surely make her visit a disgrace to herself and to the US." nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pelosi-leading-delegation-asia-friday-taiwan-visit-still-undecided-rcna40535
Guardian, 2022-7-31 Nancy Pelosi confirms Asia trip but does not mention Taiwan...analysts say she may yet do so in unofficial capacity 
theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/31/nancy-pelosi-confirms-asia-trip-but-does-not-mention-taiwan
 TIME, 2022-7-28  there's a good chance that Beijing could sanction Pelosi personally...time.com/6201447/joe-biden-xi-jinping-taiwan-china/
 NPR, 2022-7-28 President Biden looks to ease tensions with Xi over Taiwan
npr.org/2022/07/28/1114314905/biden-and-chinas-xi-discuss-tensions-over-taiwan
 Reuters(UK),  2022-7-29 "So far, there are few indications in Chinese official statements, nor online or domestic media, which would suggest that China is considering more serious military action at this time, although that could change"  news.yahoo.com/analysis-despite-xis-fire-call-003612894.html

 

 


 

 

          
pic. left: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Lycos, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-24, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-7, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-18-2020,12-05-2019;  pic. right:   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Search Encrypt, 2023-6-16, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-20, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-24, 2022-8-13, 2022-8-7, 2022-7-29, 2022-7-1, 2022-6-25, 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020 No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ekoru (New Zealand), 2022-6-18, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7,  2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-20212-20-2021,1-19-2021, 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

 

 


 
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Dogpile, 2023-5-1, 2023-1-21, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-13, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-8, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-12, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-2-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020;  No. 2  "comment Taiwan" on Dogpile,  2022-8-7,  No. 3 at 2022-7-19

 

 

 

  pic.:  No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-20, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-16, 2022-3-3, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-29, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-9, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-25, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-11, 2021-12-9, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-27, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-18, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-12, 2021-11-6, 2021-10-22, 2021-9-18, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-7-15, 2021-7-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-22, 2021-6-14, 2021-6-3, 2021-5-26, 2021-5-14; among top ranks at 2022-8-23, 2022-8-17; No2 "comment Taiwan" on Google, 2022-4-5, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-23, 2022-3-22

 

 

 

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2023-1-1, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-6, 2022-7-19, 2022-7-6, 2022-6-24, 2022-6-16, 2022-5-29, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-6, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-16, 2022-4-10, 2022-4-3, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-9, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-24, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-12, 2021-12-10, 2021-12-7, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-27, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-20, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-10, 2021-11-1, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-19, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7  

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 / top "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-5-16, 2022-4-26, 2022-4-13, 2022-4-9, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-5, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-7, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-20, 2022-1-15, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-8, 2022-1-6, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-27, 2021-12-21, 2021-12-15, 2021-12-10

 

 

 

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Japan ( most popular search engine in Japan ), 2022-8-10, 2022-5-23, 2022-5-16, 2022-5-7, 2022-4-26, 2022-3-29, 2022-3-22, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-17, 2022-3-9, 2022-3-6, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-19, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-2-5, 2022-1-31, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-21, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-26-2021, 1-19-2021, 12-5-2020, 11-28-2020, 11-9-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-10-2020, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-5-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020; No. 2 "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Japan at 2022-8-7, 2022-7-22, 2022-7-19, 2022-7-10, 2022-7-7, 2022-4-16, 2022-4-10,  2021-6-2 


 

 

            

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on Google Japan, Google Hong Kong and Google Taiwan, 2022-2-28, 2022-2-25, 2022-2-21, 2022-2-18, 2022-2-14, 2022-2-11, 2022-2-8, 2022-1-28, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-21, 2022-1-9, 2021-12-31, 2021-12-10, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-20, 2021-11-17, 2021-11-9, 2021-10-8,  2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-4-30, 2021-4-14, 3-26-2021, 03-08-2021, 02-26-2021; No.3 at 2022-4-26, 2022-4-13  

 

 

 

 

 

2022  Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries

 Michelin cities

number of 3 stars

num. of 2 stars

number of 1 star

total num.

Tokyo (Japan) 12 41 150 203
Hong Kong 7 12 52 71
Kyoto (Japan) 6 19 83 108
Osaka (Japan) 3 11 82 96
Singapore 3 7 41 51
Macau 3 5 7 15
Seoul (Korea) 2 7 24 33
Shanghai (China) 2 8 37 47
Taipei (Taiwan) 1 6 24 31
TaiChung City (Taiwan) 0 1 4 5
Kaohsiung (Taiwan) 0 0 2 2
TaiNan City(Taiwan) 0 0 0 0
Users/88695/Downloads/20220830_PR-MG_TTTK-2022.pdf
guide.michelin.com/th/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-singapore-2022-new-starred-restaurants
   2022-7-12
guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-seoul-2022-eng

guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-hong-kong-macau-2022-unveiled-today-with-11-newly-starred-restaurants

guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/the-michelin-guide-kyoto-osaka-2022-is-unveiled-en
michelin.com/en/press-releases/michelin-guide-2022-shanghai/
guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-tokyo-2022-eng     2021-11-29

 

 New York Times, 2022-8-18: Taiwanese cuisine — layered, distinct, multiethnic ...has been shaped by many cultural forces, including the island's Indigenous tribes,  long-established groups of Fujianese and Hakka people; Japanese ;  Chinese immigrants in 1949+...   nytimes.com/2022/08/16/dining/taiwanese-cuisine.html

 

 

 

 

China's possible response to Pelosi's trip to Taiwan

US News, 2022-7-19 China Signals a Military Response to a Taiwan Visit by Pelosi
NY Times, 2022-7-25 ...Pelosi's trip. Better to postpone rather than risk war.
Washington Post, 2022-7-23 Key U.S. allies in Asia have expressed concerns about a visit that they believe will be viewed provocatively washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/23/pelosi-taiwan-trip-biden-military-concerns/
Washington Post, 2022-7-21 Biden: U.S. military opposes Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/21/biden-china-nancy-pelosi-taiwan-military/
Washington Post, 2022-7-22 The U.S. military certainly is not prepared to fight two major wars simultaneously  washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/nancy-pelosi-should-ignore-china-biden-go-to-taiwan/
EurAsia Times, 2022-7-23 US Worried That China Could...Shoot-Down ‘Invading’ Aircraft 
France24, 2022-7-25 Biden's administration which fears the trip may cross red lines for China -- and that there is no exit path ... China might feel that they have to do something dramatic    france24.com/en/live-news/20220725-as-pelosi-eyes-taiwan-trip-us-anxious-on-china-red-lines
CNN, 2022-7-22 China could seek to declare a no-fly zone over Taiwan...China could also respond by flying fighter jets further into Taiwan's self-declared air defense zone, which could trigger a response from Taiwan and the US       edition.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/pelosi-taiwan-china-concerns/index.html
FT,2022-7-25 Taiwan fears fallout from planned Nancy Pelosi visit threatens US security commitment ... China might retaliate against Taiwan if Pelosi went ahead with her trip.  ft.com/content/8145aa97-1c46-4e5e-9ec8-1afa139a4a54
Global Times (China), 2022-7-25 Pelosi's visit may accelerate a military showdown  globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271380.shtml  
Global Times (China), 2022-7-22  "...extremely drastic diplomatic and military measures against the US, and the US cannot afford to face such a response"..."Biden's reaction suggested that the conclusion from military is very likely definitive and it will amount to cancelling Pelosi's trip."   globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1271152.shtml
Global Times (China), 2022-7-19 If Pelosi goes to Taiwan, it will be a huge historic mistake for Washington...Defense Minister Wei Fenghe (Jun.2022): "If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight, and we will fight at all costs." "It would be a huge historic mistake for Washington to let these words fall on deaf ears."
Bloomberg, 2022-7-22 responses from China: Missile Test Near Taiwan or Flying Over Taiwan or  Shadowing Pelosi’s Trip, etc   finance.yahoo.com/news/china-might-respond-taiwan-visit-102743247.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
 

NY Times, 2022-7-25: Chinese leaders might try to move against the self-governing island over the next year and a half — perhaps by trying to cut off access to all or part of the Taiwan Strait New York Times, 2022-7-26: The risks to Taiwan from Chinese aggression have gained urgency since Russia's attacks on Ukraine... a sea-and-air invasion of Taiwan would be difficult for China to pull off in the near term. Instead, it could do so piecemeal The Hill , 2022-7-26: The longer the Biden administration continues delaying and stinting its support for Ukraine without enabling Kyiv to halt and reverse Russia's invasion, the more precarious both Ukraine's and Taiwan's positions become ◆ CNN,2022-7-25: Under Xi, a rising wave of nationalism has swept China, and support for "reuniting" with Taiwan  possibly by force  is running high ◆ Washington Post, 2022-7-23: Many Asian leaders have voiced fears that Russia’s effort to take over Ukraine could embolden China to move aggressively into Taiwan le Monde (France), 2022-7-21: China appears determined on using force in Taiwan DW (Germany),2022-7-22: Japan defense report warns Russia's invasion of Ukraine could encourage China to act against Taiwan Business Insider, 2022-7-21: CIA chief: the Ukraine war likely won't shake China's resolve to invade Taiwan FoxNews, 2022-7-20: CIA director 'wouldn't rule out' near-term Taiwan invasion Asia Nikkei (Japan), 2022-7-20:  Taiwan's ex-defense chief calls for sweeping military reforms FoxNews, 2022-7-7: Chinese diplomat says 'reunification' with Taiwan near  

 

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Taiwan's travel & tourism - 13th in Asia
 

STATISTA: Leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)

  

statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/

Asia Rank

country

score

world Rank

1 Japan 5.4 4
2 Australia 5.1 7
3 China 4.9 13
4 Korea Rep. 4.8 15
5 Hong Kong 4.8 16
6 Singapore 4.8 17
7 New Zealand 4.7 18
8 Malaysia 4.5 25
9 Thailand 4.5 29
10 UAE 4.4 33
11 India 4.4 34
12 Indonesia 4.3 36
13 Taiwan 4.3 37

 

 

 

WEF (World Economic Forum) , May 2022
world Travel and Tourism Development Index
weforum.org/reports/travel-and-tourism-development-index-2021/digest

world rank Asia's rank economies/countries score (global average : 4.0)
1 1 Japan 5.2
2 2 USA 5.2
7 3 Australia 5.0
9 4 Singapore 5.0
12 5 China 4.9
15 6 S. Korea 4.8
19 7 Hong Kong 4.6
25 8 UAE 4.5
27 9 New Zealand 4.5
32 10 Indonesia 4.4
33 11 Saudi Arabia 4.3
36 12 Thailand 4.3
38 13 Malaysia 4.3
43 14 Qatar 4.3
52 15 Vietnam 4.1
54 16 India 4.1
74 17 Sri Lanka 3.7
75 18 Philippines 3.7
84 19 Mongolia 3.6
n/a n/a Taiwan n/a
statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Japan%2C%20the%20United,a%20TTDI%20score%20of%205.1.

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's travel & tourism - 10th in Asia

 

 

World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness from 30th down to 37th.    Taiwan ranks No.10 among Asian countries.   for details : click tourism
 

WEF travel & tourism category Taiwan's rankings and/or score comparison
prioritization of travel and tourism   No75  Singapore No.6 ,  Hong Kong No. 11
Natural & cultural resources No.58  score 2.6 China  No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2,  5.0,  Spain  No.3, 5.7,   Japan No.7, 5.3,   Indonesia No.18,  Thailand No.21,  Korea No.24,  Vietnam No.26,  Malaysia No.31,  HK No.40,  Philippines No.46,  Sri Lanka No.52,  Nepal No.56
Natural resources  No. 87 Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
 
cultural resources & business travel No. 36  score 2.6 China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness No. 78 China 5.7
Health & Hygiene  No.43,  score 6 score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia
international openness No. 60 only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security No. 26 human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18
 ps: Compared to the report of 2017,  Taiwan significantly tightened visa requirements (37th down to 119th), waning cultural resources and business travel (26th to 36th) and recalibrated figures showing a drastic reduction in protected areas (20th to 118th).

For full details :  http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_2019.pdf

 

According to  World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55,   "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69 in 2015), "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's world top 5 indexes such as "World heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites".
comment Taiwan travel and tourism, No.1 on internet, pls. click for details

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's travel & tourism - not on top 10 list
 

The World Tourism rankings   are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization 
Most visited destinations by international tourist arrivals


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings 

Asia Pacific Rank

destination (country)

int'l tourists arrivals '19
(million)

int'l tourists arrivals '18
(million)

1 China 65.7 million 62.9 million
2 Thailand 39.8 38.2
3 Japan 32.2 31.2
4 Malaysia 26.1 25.8
5 Hong Kong 23.8 29.3
6 Macau 18.6 18.5
7 Vietnam 18.0 15.5
8 India 17.9 17.4
9 S. Korea 17.5 15.3
10 Indonesia 15.5 13.4

 

 

 


Taiwan's tourism & travel    vs.    CovID-19

 

Reuters, 2022-9-5: Taiwan to resume visa free entry for some countries in latest reopening step  news.yahoo.com/taiwan-resume-visa-free-entry-063459045.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
◆  Washington Post, 2022-6-2:   a poll this week found that 70 percent of Taiwanese wanted the government to retain stricter border control policies.    washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/02/taiwan-covid-relaxed-border-policy/

◆  DW (Germany), 2022-5-20: Taiwan's tourism industry in crisis (Taiwan 'is not ready to face an outbreak at this level) dw.com/en/is-taiwan-learning-to-live-with-covid/a-61878438
Asia Nikkei (Japan), 2022-6-2:  Taiwan's lengthy success in keeping out COVID-19 is complicating the island's path away from a pandemic posture as a relaxation of travel curbs fuels a record spike in cases; Taiwan ranks world 113 th in Nikkei CovID-19 Recovery Index.   asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Taiwan-s-COVID-success-story-hits-snag-with-shift-to-reopening
New York Times, 2022-4-4:
South Korea and Singapore that are reopening the borders, Taiwan has opened only for foreigners who come for business  nytimes.com/2022/04/04/world/asia/taiwan-relaxes-its-quarantine-measures-even-as-it-confronts-an-outbreak.html

aljazeera, 2022-4-14: Taiwan's COVID-hit tourism stews as island shuns global reopening. 

Taiwan is a rare holdout in Asia that remains closed to tourists and still mandates quarantine for arrivals.
aljazeera.com/economy/2022/4/14/for-taiwan-tourism-frustration-as-island-misses-global-reopening

AFP, France24, 2022-4-7: Taiwan will move away from a zero-Covid policy and instead focus on tackling the most severe infections...One sticking point could be lacklustre vaccination rates...Vaccination rates among the elderly, the most vulnerable demographic, are also low.  france24.com/en/live-news/20220407-taiwan-to-move-away-from-zero-covid-strategy-minister

New York Times, 2022-3-5: Since Tuesday, people in Taiwan have no longer been required to wear masks in settings where they were previously mandatory, both indoors and outdoors: exercising, taking selfies and group photos, driving with household members, in spas and in video broadcasts, speeches and lectures... Taiwan's record (20,717 cases and 853 deaths ) is low by the standards of the hardest-hit countriesnytimes.com/live/2022/03/05/world/covid-19-tests-cases-vaccine
Reuters, 2022-4-3: Taiwan says new CovID cases won't affect re-opening plans.

 

Diplomat, 2022-2-3:Taiwan, is bucking the trend and is one of the few places still sticking with its zero-COVID strategy.thediplomat.com/2022/02/how-long-will-taiwan-stick-to-its-zero-covid-approach/

The Guardian, 2021-11-8: Cost of Taiwan’s pursuit of Covid zero starts to show   In 2019 there were more than 29 million international arrivals in Taiwan. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic and prior to vaccines, the figure dropped to 3.9 million. So far this year there have been just 335,000.“Taiwan sacrificed international collaboration in commerce and exchange.”despite the toll on tourism, trade and lifestyle there is no plan to reopen   theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/08/how-long-can-you-maintain-it-cost-of-taiwans-pursuit-of-covid-zero-starts-to-show
New York Times, 2021-10-29: China is now the only country still chasing full eradicationThe approach is unsustainable.  China may find itself increasingly isolated, diplomatically and economically, at a time when global public opinion is hardening against it.

 

Economist, 2021-10-9 Asian countries are abandoning zero-covid strategies Despite the risks, they are right to do so.  Yet those with a good first act in the pandemic are struggling in the second. 

 

 aljazeera, 2021-11-26: Taiwan continues to pursue an isolationist "zero CovID-19" policy.  Taiwan's border restrictions remain some of the strictest in the world.
  aljazeera, 2021-11-17 (brief): Asia'cautious stance is increasingly at odds with Europe and North America; mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong sink deeper into isolation under a strict “zero COVID” policy, even Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia are following a middle path under which non-essential travel remains tightly restricted.
 

 

 

 

 

2021  Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries

 Michelin cities

number of 3 stars

num. of 2 stars

number of 1 star

total num.

Tokyo (Japan) 12 42 158 212
Hong Kong 10 18 59 87
Kyoto (Japan) 7 19 84 110
Osaka (Japan) 3 12 81 96
Singapore 3 5 41 49
Seoul (Korea) 2 7 34 43
Shanghai (China) 1 10 32 43
Taipei (Taiwan) 1 7 21 29
 
 

China Times - Want Weekly, No.185: To emergently save dying tourism,
Taiwan government spent NT90,000,000 (USD3 millions) to have <Michelin Guide> in Taiwan. 


 BBC, 2022-3-30: Today, stinky tofu ( that's reminiscent of sour milk and rotting garbage) is still primarily a street food throughout Taiwan, where it's as synonymous with the country's outdoor night markets as beef noodle soup.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's COVID-19 performance

World Index

Taiwan's ranks

link

Nikkei CovID-19 Recovery Index, as of Jun. 30 (released at 2022-7-7)日本Nikkei新冠復甦指數 排在全球第 112 位 (亞太最後一名)  
Nikkei CovID-19 Recovery Index, as of Aug. 31 (released at 2022-9-9)日本Nikkei新冠復甦指數 台灣排名第 57 , behind Vietnam, Cambodia, UAE, S. Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Mongolia, China, Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, etc asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Recovery-Index/China-slips-in-COVID-recovery-ranking-with-fresh-lockdowns
Statista, 2022-7-27: Coronavirus (COVID-19)  death rate, in countries with confirmed deaths and over 1,000 reported cases
as of April 26, 2022, by country
台灣排名第 143, behind NZ, Singapore, Australia, S Korea, Qatar, Mongolia, Israel, Laos, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India, Nepal, etc statista.com/statistics/1105914/coronavirus-death-rates-worldwide/
Nikkei CovID-19 Recovery Index, as of Jul. 31 日本Nikkei新冠復甦指數 台灣排名第 79 , behind Cambodia, Vietnam, UAE, S. Korea,  China, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Mongolia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia,  etc asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Recovery-Index/Japan-tumbles-in-COVID-recovery-ranking-as-infections-surge
Bloomberg's CovID Resilience Ranking, 2022-6-29 台灣排名倒數第2 bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/
Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking   2022-5-27 台灣排名倒數第3  Taiwan ranks the 3rd from the end    bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/spanish.html
Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking   2021-10-28  "3-month case fatality rate ", 7.7 %, 台灣排名倒數第1 bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/
Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking  2021-9-28  "3-month case fatality rate ", 13.4 %, 台灣排名倒數第 bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/

full details
 

 

 

 

 

                                                             Num. of physicians in Taiwan from '12 to '20               https://www.statista.com/statistics/860217/taiwan-physician-number/

yr

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

number

40,938 41,965 42,961 44,006 44,849 46,356 47,471 49,542 51045

increase

  1,027 996 1,045 843 1,507 1,115 2,071 1503

 

 

 

 

 
A
ccording to WEF<Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 9-4-2019), Taiwan's Health & Hygiene (including "physicians density" ) score 6.0 is worse than that of No.16 Japan, No. 17 Korea, and Australia, Mongolia.   According to  WEF<Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's "Physician density" ranks pretty bad   ―   world No. 65 (No. 57 in 2015's report)
According to Wikipedia (2021-5-5) and Liberty Times (2020-1-6),  Taiwan's doctor-to-population ratio (see pic. below) almost hit lowest in Asia, behind Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam...even Myanmar...

Taipei Medical University professor  comments Taiwan's medical quality is no longer good.  Taiwan's former medical chief 楊志良 (chinatimes.com/opinion/20210804005734-262104?chdtv) criticizes that the health & medical system has been damaged. 
 

 

 

 

   
 

Wikipedia (2022-3-12) : physicians density in Asia

Asia's rankings country  physicians
per 10,000 people
1 Qatar 77.4
2 N Korea 33
3 Australia 32.7
4 Lebanon 32
5 Mongolia 28.4
6 New Zealand 27.4
7 Jordan 25.6
8 UAE 25.3
9 Saudi Arabia 24.9
10 Japan 23
11 Korea 21.4
12 Singapore 19.5
13 China 14.9
14 Malaysia 12
15 Philippines 12
16 Vietnam 11.9
17 Iran 9
18 Pakistan 8.3
19 Indonesia 8
20 India 7
21 Myanmar 6.1

 

22 Iraq 6.1
23 Thai 3.9
24 Laos 1.8
25 Cambodia 1.7

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_number_of_physicians

Doctors per 10,000 people in Taiwan

  Taipei Southern and Eastern Taiwan (Kaohsiung, PinTung, TaiTung, PonHo), remote places
physicians (內科醫師) 5.01 2.12
surgeon (外科醫師) 1.77 0.82
Pediatrics (小兒科) 1.11 0.46
Obstetrics & Gynecology (婦產) 0.86 0.42
Accident & Emergency (急診) 0.82 0.47
Liberty Times, 2020-1-6;talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1343896

 

 

 

 

 Lancet / Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services
Taiwan and some other countries of Asia & Pacific

 

Lancet, universal health coverage

Singapore 92 77 100 98 95 93 99 99 75 100 94 99 93 89 99 77 100 100 76 95 79 94 100 100
Japan 96 60 100 92 97 98 95 99 78 92 98 100 99 97 100 99 98 100 83 96 92 89 100 98
Korea 89 78 100 78 97 97 99 100 43 96 96 99 99 92 99 100 88 66 70 95 99 76 99 96
Australia 89 88 85 92 91 96 100 99 85 99 87 98 100 86 100 100 88 78 70 92 67 67 100 98
NZ 83 83 80 76 90 95 100 100 79 100 92 99 85 89 98 83 76 72 62 83 57 64 99 99
Kuwait 82 85 66 89 95 98 100 97 83 99 73 87 74 91 81 73 85 92 66 80 69 77 100 99
Qatar 80 71 69 59 99 93 100 99 67 97 72 85 69 91 78 75 97 49 58 97 60 95 100 97
Taiwan 79 96 84 75 100 98 100 99 46 99 88 93 89 97 91 90 82 44 55 55 89 73 99 97
Chn 70 96 70 75 98 99 99 90 32 97 72 91 60 88 86 66 43 80 61 41 86 65 98 98
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30750-9/fulltext

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services, 2020-10-17

 

 

 

 

World's Best Hospitals 2022

newsweek.com/worlds-best-hospitals-2022

world rank country Asia hospital
No.12 Singapore Singapore General Hospital
No.13 Japan The University of Tokyo Hospital
23 Japan St. Luke's International Hospital
30 S. Korea Asan Medical Center
43 S. Korea Samsung Medical Center
46 Japan Kameda Medical Center
55 S. Korea Seoul National University Hospital
70 S. Korea Severance Hospital - Yonsei University
76 Japan  Kyushu University Hospital
78 Japan Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine
87 S. Korea Catholic Univ. of Korea - Seoul St. Mary
89 S. Korea Seoul National University - Bundang Hospital
98 Singapore National Univ, Hospital
number of selected hospitals in top 100 list  -  S. Korea : 6; Japan: 5 ; Singapore: 2

World's Best Hospitals 2021, Newsweek, Statista
www.newsweek.com/best-hospitals-2021

rank country Asia hospital
No.8 Singapore Singapore General Hospital
No.16 Japan The University of Tokyo Hospital
18 Japan St. Luke's International Hospital
34 S. Korea Asan Medical Center
42 S. Korea Seoul National University Hospital
43 Japan Kameda Medical Center
62 Japan  Kyushu University Hospital
71 Japan Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine
73 S. Korea Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine
76 S. Korea Severance Hospital - Yonsei University
84 Japan Kyoto University Hospital
87 S. Korea Seoul National University - Bundang Hospital
91 Japan Kurashiki Central Hospital
97 S. Korea Korea University - Anam Hospital
number of selected hospitals - Japan: 7 ;  S. Korea : 6; Singapore: 1
101-200 S. Korea
101-200 India 2  All India Institute of Medical Sciences - Delhi, Medanta The Medicity
101-200 Thailand 1   Bumrungrad International Hospital
101-200 Singapore 2   Gleneagles Hospital,  National University Hospital
101-200 Japan 10
total number of selected hospitals - Japan: 17 ;  S. Korea : 12 ; Singapore: 3; India: 2; Thai: 1

PS:  There's no any Taiwan's hospital was selected in 2020 and 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 


migrant workers in Taiwan     https://intlhumanrights.com/TaiwanForeignWorkers.htm
 

world media

foreign laborers abuses

The Guardian, 2022-5-9, (theguardian.com/world/2022/may/09/once-a-zero-covid-poster-child-taiwan-learns-to-live-with-the-virus) Taiwan is now dealing with an “Omicron tsunami”. In factories, migrant workers have once again been discriminated against with unequal rule enforcement and eased restrictions  
Financial Times (UK), 2021-6-22
ft.com/content/4269650e-7660-4b80-b294-f81b4368784c
"It has now become extremely common for employers to lock their migrant workers up... ”
The New York Times, 2021-6-18
nytimes.com/2021/06/18/world/asia/taiwan-migrant-labor-covid.html
In Taiwan, some foreign tech workers are confined indoors to tackle an outbreak; Activists say that the measures discriminate against migrant laborers.
Heritage Org., 2021 Index of Economic Freedom In "Labor Freedom" index, Taiwan ranks No. 91 worldwide
 The Guardian (UK), 2021-5-16

theguardian.com/world/2021/may/16/lockdowns-and-panic-buying-in-taiwan-as-covid-cases-rise

Many foreign laborers from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, entered Taiwan by the name of care-taker but actually illegally worked in these porn parlors in Taipei's Wanhua district,
Brookings, 2021-6-25, brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/06/25/taiwans-vitality/  the harsh lockdowns in crowded dormitories of mostly Southeast Asian workers at some technology manufacturing companies have underscored the discrimination that has long been present in Taiwan against peoples of certain nationalities
Business Insider, 2021-5-20 businessinsider.com/taiwan-covid-19-paradise-health-politics-policy-cdc-2021-5 Taiwan ... double standards and stigma still found their way.
Equal Times org., 2021-7-30 (equaltimes.org/taiwan-s-foreign-factory-workers?lang=en#.YQSC6i7iu70) Taiwan’s foreign factory workers face rights violations amid latest Covid outbreak.  “We feel like prisoners. It’s like the company controls every aspect of our lives !"  
US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2021-3-30 Foreign workers were often reluctant to report employer abuses for fear the employer would terminate their contract
RT TV news (Russia), UDN, 2022-1-24 Two Indonesian migrant laborers got penalty fine in the amount of NY$100,000 (about USD 3,300) for stepping out of their CovID-19 quarantine hotel room for about one minute.

 

 

 

 

 

Julius Baer Group's Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2022  (2022-6-15)
The rankings are done after analyzing the cost of residential property, cars, airfare, business school and other luxuries.  
nBloomberg: These are the world's most expensive cities to live in if you're rich
nFinancial Review: If you like luxury, these are the world’s most expensive cities

1 Shanghai, China with four items ranked at the very top and the highest weighted-average price increase (30%).
2 London  
3 Taipei, Taiwan moved up the ranking, mostly due to the prices of shoes, bicycles, and wine.
4 Hong Kong  
5 Singapore  
6 Monaco  
7 Zurich, Swiss  
8 Tokyo, Japan is the city which slid the furthest (previously 2nd), driven by 13 items ranking lower than in the previous year and an average depreciation of -8.8% on the Japanese yen.
9 Sydney, Australia  
10 Paris, France  
11. New York  12. Sao Paolo  13. Milan   14.  Dubai   15. Bangkok
juliusbaer.com/sg/en/news/julius-baer-publishes-global-wealth-and-lifestyle-report-2022/#:~:text=Shanghai%20is%20still%20the%20most,average%20price%20increase%20(30%25).

 

 

 

globalpropertyguide.com  

House Prices/GDP per Capita in Taiwan compared to Asia
The formula is: (Price per square metre / GDP per capita)*100

rank country ratio
1  India 627.55x
2 Cambodia 227.93x
3 China 145.62x
4 Philippines 135.02x
5 Vietnam 104.97x
6 Thailand 89.22x
7 Indonesia 72.00x
8 Hong Kong 65.59x
9 Taiwan 46.11x
10 Japan 41.98x
11 Malaysia 36.71x
12 Singapore 27.14x
globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/Taiwan/price-gdp-per-cap

 

    New York Times ,  2021-10-15: Taiwan has a spotty record when it comes to fire safety... raise questions about whether the self-governing island,... had overlooked basic safety concerns in the rush to develop... 
  VOAnews ,  2022-4-1: Taiwanese investigative magazine Commonwealth reported last year that Taiwan is undergoing its biggest real estate boom since the 1980s. Today, even small housing units in Taipei can command prices exceeding $1 million,...housing prices across six cities including Taipei rose more than 30% between 2019 and 2021.  Much of the inflated prices in housing is fueled by the long running problem of property speculation in Taiwan and very little social housing.    voanews.com/a/survey-shows-young-taiwanese-lack-savings-are-highly-indebted-/6510937.html
  New York Times ,  2021-10-16: The Kaohsiung building (46 killed in a fire) is one of many aging structures across the island that have fallen into severe disrepair as a result of weak management and government neglect...  the lack of support for Taiwan's rapidly aging population... older buildings that had been constructed under outdated safety guidelines were often overlooked   nytimes.com/2021/10/15/world/asia/taiwan-building-fire.html
  《 Bloomberg》 ,  2021-7-1 (bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-01/taiwan-s-red-hot-housing-defies-challenges-from-covid-to-china?srnd=prognosis) :  Taiwan home prices may reach new highs by the end of the year, residential and office deals in Taiwan's six largest cities surged 27.9% in April from a year earlier....The government is not bringing its ultimate game to fight the overly-hot market. 
 

 

★  numbeo.com/property-investment/country_result.jsp?country=Taiwan

city Price to Income ratio Price to Rent ratio, city center Affordability Index
Taipei 32.09 72.56 0.53
New Taipei City 21.48 63.59 0.77
Taichung 21.07 64.02 0.79
Kaohsiung 13.61 39.95 1.20

 finance.yahoo , 12-30-2020, (finance.yahoo.com/news/retire-taiwan-costs-visas-more-215449948.html), SmartAsset  (smartasset.com/retirement/retire-in-taiwan

Purchasing an apartment in Taiwan, is significantly more expensive than in the U.S.  
When it comes to renting, Taiwan is still significantly cheaper than in the U.S. In the average city center in America, a one-bedroom apartment costs an average of $1,346 per month. In Taiwan, the same apartment costs about $485 per month. If you were to choose a three-bedroom apartment, it would cost $2,156 in the U.S. and $1,132 in Taiwan.
 

 

 

  OECD,orgUnited Daily2022-4-9: 

The percentage of social housing representing all dwellings

Singapore 80% Holland 34.1%
Hong Kong 30.4% Denmark 21.4%
UK 16.7% S. Korea 8.9%
EU 7.5% Taiwan goal: 2%
 oecd.org/social/social-housing-policy-brief-2020.pdfudn.com/news/story/121823/6220288?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub121823_pulldownmenu_v2

 

 

 

★  <United Daily > editorial, 2022-4-15 (udn.com/news/story/7338/6240482?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub7338_pulldownmenu_v2):

misery index, Taiwan

yr. 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
misery index 4.38 5.06 4.29 3.62 5.94 6.4(Q1)

chinatimes.com/opinion/20220426004891-262101?chdtv  2022-4-27 editorial

 

 

 

 

 

US military would defend Taiwan ?

New York Times, 2022-5-23: Biden Says U.S. Military Would Defend Taiwan if China Invaded, dispensing with the “strategic ambiguity” traditionally favored by American presidents ...The White House quickly tried to deny ..., Mr. Biden’s unscripted declaration put Japan in a complicated position. nytimes.com/2022/05/23/world/asia/biden-taiwan-defense.html


Guardian, 2022-5-23: Biden's Taiwan vow creates confusion not clarity – and raises China tensions  theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/23/biden-taiwan-china-strategic-ambiguity-us-foreign-policy
Wall Street Journal, 2022-5-23:
“We agree with the One China policy and all the attendant agreements we made. But the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, would just not be appropriate,” Mr. Biden said.wsj.com/articles/biden-says-u-s-would-intervene-militarily-if-china-invaded-taiwan-11653286228
New York Post, 2022-5-23:
White House walks back Biden Taiwan defense claim for third time in 9 months  nypost.com/2022/05/23/white-house-walks-back-biden-taiwan-defense-claim-again/

Politico, 2022-5-23:The president's “strategic ambiguity” backtrack may hasten Taiwan Strait conflict, observers say
Economist, 2022-5-23: the gap between presidential statements and official policy is giving rise to a new form of ambiguity—strategic perhaps; or maybe simply incoherent 

economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/05/23/what-is-americas-policy-of-strategic-ambiguity-over-taiwan


BBC, 2022-5-23:Biden vows to defend Taiwan in apparent US policy shift
TIME, 2022-5-23:president Biden's Vow To Defend Taiwan Is Bold but Incredibly Risky
Bloomberg, 2022-5-23:Biden Misspeaks on Taiwan, Says US Military Would Intervene

AFP, CBS News, 2022-5-23: President Joe Biden said Monday the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, in one of the most forceful and overt statements of American government support for Taiwan in decades. Beijing was quick to respond, ... "No one should underestimate the firm resolve, staunch will and strong ability of the Chinese people in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity" .  cbsnews.com/news/biden-china-taiwan-us-military-recession-monkeypox/

Global Times, 2022-5-23: Biden's remarks on ‘intervening militarily’ in Taiwan question not gaffe but signals hollowing out one-China policy..."Sending troops is military interference, offering weapons and military intelligence and conducting rescue can also be interpreted as 'intervening militarily'... the US... will have no time and no willingness to come to Taiwan's rescue.  globaltimes.cn/page/202205/1266390.shtml
New York Times, 2022-5-24:  Asked if he would send in troops if China attacked Taiwan, Biden said, “The policy has not changed at all.”

 

 

 

 

 

What Should The US Do If China Invades Taiwan ?   TIPP Poll  2022-3-2 ~ 3-4, 1318 adults, online survey

  come to defense of Taiwan
directly via MILITARY action
economic sanctions combination of military action
 and economic sanctions
allow China to take Taiwan not sure
overall 14% 27% 23% 6% 29%
Democrats 15 33 22 6 24
Republicans 16 27 27 n/a 25
Independents 11 22 24 9 34
Conservatives 17 27 28 6 21
Moderates 12 26 19 6 36
Liberals 15% 32% 25% 5% 22%
19fortyfive.com/2022/04/a-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan-what-response-would-americans-support/     TIPP Insights

 

 

 

 

" Strategic Clarity"  -  US defend Taiwan

Strategic Ambiguity

 Independent, 2022-4-19: Japanese former PM 安倍):China are permanent, veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, the UN’s mediation function cannot be relied upon for conflicts in which they are involved... Ukraine is an independent state beyond any doubt, Taiwan is not....Unlike in Ukraine, Chinese leaders could claim that any invasion of Taiwan that China launches is necessary to suppress anti-government activities in one of its own regions, and that such acts therefore would not violate international law...The time has come for the US to make clear that it will defend Taiwan against any attempted Chinese invasion.

Japan Times, 2022-4-19: U.S. 'strategic ambiguity' over Taiwan must end! US policy of ambiguity toward Taiwan is now fostering instability in the Indo-Pacific region, by encouraging China to underestimate U.S. resolve...  
The Guardian, 2022-4-24: a switch from “strategic ambiguity” to clarity ... would prompt a major reaction from Beijing and might not enhance deterrence
 Economist, 2022-4-23: Promising to fight for Taiwan, as some advocate, would do little to deter China, which already assumes America will do so. And such a promise would, at the very least, cause a diplomatic crisis...President Joe Biden has said explicitly that America will not join the fighting (in Ukriane) for fear of starting “World War III”.
Foreign Policy, 2022-4-26: U.S. security cooperation is a more powerful demonstration of commitment than any declaration of intent.
 L.A. Times
, 2022-4-23: It will never be in America's interests to join a military confrontation over Taiwan that could quickly escalate to involve the use of nuclear weapons.

 

 

 

 

 

Will the US defend Taiwan ??
 

   ☉  NY Times, , 2022-5-24: Former presidents have hinted that the United States would fight for Taiwan but have otherwise remained studiedly vague...Taiwan's defense budget... remains scandalously low 
☉ Breaking Defense, 2022-3-11: Until recently, President Tsai has appeared reluctant to discuss
how Taiwanese citizens can help defend their country...
Politico, 2022-3-14: Taiwan's military may be rightly criticized for its poorly coordinated forces, and its government has been hesitant to invest in its own defense... ...China's deep integration into the global economy and the leverage of Beijing's $1,068 billion in treasury bonds would make Western sanctions more painful to implement
Foreign Policy, 2020-10-19 :  Given these electoral realities, Taiwan's leaders have gravitated toward military showpieces — while hoping that the United States will save the day if China ever attacks.   It could take a decade to retool the Taiwanese and U.S. militaries to mount an effective defense of the island.... With China’s rapid military buildup, that may be time that Taiwan does not have. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/19/china-keeps-inching-closer-to-taiwan/
TIME, 2022-3-18: most analysts say that the island would not be able to stop a full-scale invasion on its own—and Ukraine's situation has sparked debate over whether anyone would come to Taiwan's aid
 

The US won't

The US will


Times (UK), 2021-12-10: The US won't fight to save Taiwan or Ukraine
Washington Examiner, 2022-03-10:
The Biden administration may have encouraged China further when the White House walked back Biden's off-the-cuff commitment that the U.S. would defend Taiwan.
Washington Post, 2022-3-9, Politico, 3-15-2021:Trump indicated (in 2019) America might not come to Taipei's defense in the event of a Chinese invasion"If they invade, there isn’t a f---ing thing we can do about it."
  FoxNews, 2021-11-17: Hannity: "Basically his weakness guarantees Taiwan will be taken over by the Communist Chinese and Joe won't do a thing."

◆  ABC News, 2022-3-14: "Taiwan is a major interest of the US but a core interest of China...The loss of Taiwan will cause a complete overthrow of the Chinese regime. Thus, China will fight to win or die, but the US will not."
 Washington Post, 2021-10-15:  The United States does not want war with China over Taiwan
 Bloomberg, 3-14-2021:  the US will intervene. What reason is there to believe that the United States will sacrifice the lives of its own children to defend Taiwan?
 FoxNews, 2021-8-21: Newt Gingrich: After Afghanistan debacle, Biden ‘can't possibly protect’ Taiwan
CNN, 2021-10-15 :  Biden has also been determined to keep the US out of foreign conflicts.
Washington Post, 2021-10-11 : The problem is: We must have both the force with which to deter the Chinese and the legal authority to employ it. And right now, we do not...Under the War Powers and Taiwan Relations acts, the president has no legal authority, without the express authorization of Congress, to use military force to defend Taiwan...The legal limitations on a president’s ability to respond quickly could all but ensure a Chinese fait accompli. Simply put: The president has no legal authority to react in the time necessary to repel a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and deter an all-out war.
Reuters, 2020-12-10: Newsham says: “How do you defend Taiwan? All I can hear is that the United States will intervene,” ... “What reason is there to believe that the United States will sacrifice the lives of its own children to defend Taiwan?”
Breaking Defense, 2022-3-11:“With the PLA [People’s Liberation Army]’s significant and capable counter-intervention capabilities, the Taiwanese people must understand that a US-led coalition can only come to their aid if Taiwan can hold out for an extended period of time, regardless of a security commitment,” Kanapathy added.
 
Express (UK), 6-30-2020: China attack on Taiwan will NOT be salvaged by US in major new warning  
 
Foreign Policy, 2021-4-5Taipei can't rely on a guarantee of U.S. aid
 N.Y. Times , 8-30-2020: "Taiwan cannot count on US as a matter of strategy"
 Economist , 8-30-2020: "The island cannot rely on American help".
  The Hill, 2020-8-25: Biden apparently believes the TRA constricted the president’s inherent powers when applied to Taiwan as a U.S. national security concern. In the event of a sudden attack by China on Taiwan, consultation with Congress prior to responding would cause disastrous delay, allowing China to overrun Taiwan. 
  Global Times (China), 2021-8-18: The US failed in all its main post-WWII wars in Asia..To maintain the illusion that the US will continue backing the island will finally exhaust Washington as time goes on. Therefore, the US will eventually have to accept the reunification of the mainland and the island of Taiwan...If the US wants to change that new status quo through a war, it will have to bet its national fate. Washington has no reason to do so. 
 

 Nippon (Japan), 2022-3-24: Were China to launch an armed attack on Taiwan at this time, the PLA could face a grueling and costly battle on multiple fronts, with the US military springing to the island's defense...

 

 DW (Germany), 2022-2-28: Nachman says "The US would likely intervene if Taiwan is attacked by China,"...Analyst Glaser says that the US would likely intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan unprovoked.

 

 Wall Street Journal,  2022-3-2: many military analysts assume the U.S. would directly intervene to fight on Taiwan's side.

 

   The Guardian (UK), 2021-10-5 :The prevailing mood among Washington insiders is to fight if China attempts to conquer Taiwan. hard reality that fighting China over Taiwan risks an almost-certain military defeat – and gambles we won’t stumble into a nuclear war. The best that could be hoped for would be a pyrrhic victory in which we are saddled with becoming the permanent defense force for Taiwan (costing us hundreds of billions a year and the equally permanent requirement to be ready for the inevitable Chinese counter-attack).

 

 Brookings.edu , 2021-10-27

“Devise and implement a defense strategy capable of defending the first-island-chain nations, including Taiwan.” This could be understood as meaning that the United States itself would take direct military action to defend Taiwan, instead of just helping Taiwan to defend itself.

 

 

 

 

 

   
  China-Taiwan-USA

 

 Asia Nikkei (Japan), 2022-7-20:  Taiwan's ex-defense chief calls for sweeping military reforms FoxNews, 2022-7-7: Chinese diplomat says 'reunification' with Taiwan near  Washington Post, 2022-7-3:  these steps (asymmetric warfare) may not be enough to repel a far more powerful opponent like China. Taiwan's mandatory military service ... spend more time doing menial labor than learning combat skills. Tactics taught are comparable to those (Gulf War or the Vietnam War) N.Y. Times, 2022-6-19: A Looming Threat /  ...Taiwan politicians have electoral considerations. Extending military conscription, for example, would probably not be very popular New York Times, 2022-5-23: Biden Says U.S. Military Would Defend Taiwan if China Invaded, dispensing with the “strategic ambiguity” traditionally favored by American presidents  New York Times, 2022-5-7: US presses Taiwan to buy missiles and smaller arms for asymmetric warfare (Suited to Win Against China);  But some Taiwanese defense officials are resistant. Wall Street Journal, 2022-5-4: Since the Chinese economy is 10 times as large as the Russian economy, effective sanctions would be virtually impossible to enforce. Taiwan's lack of preparedness is increasingly dangerous. Washington Post, 2022-5-4:  China won’t repeat Putin's Ukraine mistakes in Taiwan. Economist, 2022-4-20: the main lesson that China will draw from Ukraine is the need for speed—ideally achieving victory within days; Taiwan can learn ...Fighting spirit and the right Western arms may stymie a powerful foe  Japan Times, 2022-4-19: U.S. 'strategic ambiguity' over Taiwan must end! US policy of ambiguity toward Taiwan is now fostering instability in the Indo-Pacific region, by encouraging China to underestimate U.S. resolve...   Wall street Journal, 2022-4-18: Kyiv's successful use of internet to counter Moscow highlights Taiwan's reliance on undersea internet cables that China could cut Daily Mail, 2022-4-10: China accelerates work on more than one HUNDRED missile silos that could house nuclear weapons capable of reaching U.S. soil -  to deter America from intervening in conflict over Taiwan FoxNews, 2022-4-4: "It's not if China moves into Taiwan, it's when" Foreign Policy, 2022-3-31:  the largest group of experts (over 46 percent) reported that the events in Ukraine will have no effect on China's calculus New York Times, 2022-3-24: Mr. Xi could see Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine as a parallel to military actions he could take to seize Taiwan New York Times, 2022-3-20: If Russia succeeds in overtaking Ukraine, it increases the danger for Taiwan    Economist, 2022-3-5: Taiwan's sloth in reforming its defence capabilities and strengthening its deterrence    Washington Post, 2022-3-4: Taiwan's leaders try to calm fears over Ukraine invasion, but citizens worry their island will be next Economist, 2022-2-26:  Parallels with Taiwan colour Asian views of the war in Ukraine - Some fear a Chinese invasion has become more likely New York Times, 2022-2-23: With some seeing parallels to Ukraine, Taiwan steps up its defenses  CNN, 2022-2-3: China's leaders may be watching Ukraine with an eye on Taiwan USA Today, Yahoo, 2022-2-10,  brief: Taiwan was pressured (by the IOC) to reversed their decision to skip Olympics opening ceremony..."Chinese Taipei" , the label implies a link to China... younger people have said they feel increasingly distant culturally from the other side.   (sports.yahoo.com/yes-taiwan-olympics-winter-games-220617465.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall) Brookings, 2022-2-7: why is unification so unpopular in Taiwan? It's the PRC political system; A majority of our respondents — 56% — said Taiwanese culture was similar to Chinese culture.  72% rated China's government as at least somewhat unfriendly.  brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/02/07/why-is-unification-so-unpopular-in-taiwan-its-the-prc-political-system-not-just-culture/  ◆ SCMP, 2022-2-12: “China's theory of victory is that... punishment and intimidation would eventually inflict enough pain and psychological stress that Taiwan would capitulate to Beijing's rule,”scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3166797/war-over-taiwan-among-five-likely-conflict-scenarios-pla-us    Washington Post, 2022-1-24: Defending Taiwan is a worthy goal. But are we ready for heavy casualties? it would be a grave mistake for the United States to promise to defend Taiwan without preparing its public — and its soldiers — for the tough fight they could face ◆ New York post, 2022-1-21: Rep. Michael McCaul predicts Chinese invasion of Taiwan after Winter Olympics   France24, NY Post, Daily Mail(UK), 2021-12-30: China warns US will pay 'unbearable price' for backing Taiwan NY Times, 2021-12-10: As China has built up its military presence, the U.S. has sought to widen its alliances in the region. A major potential flash point is Taiwan Times (UK), 2021-12-10: The US won't fight to save Taiwan or Ukraine Bloomberg, 2021-12-7: War With Taiwan Would Be a Huge Gamble for China's XiDeaths, economic sanctions and possible defeat are all deterrents Financial Times (UK), 2021-12-5: US defence chief warns of China ‘rehearsals’ for attack on Taiwan; Lloyd Austin cites concern over scale and frequency of Beijing’s military sorties Reuters, Foxnews, NBC, Hill, 2021-12-3: Blinken says any move by China to invade Taiwan would have 'terrible consequences NY Times, 2021-11-29:  China is developing advanced weapons, leading U.S. officials to push for the first nuclear talks   The Hill, 2021-11-22:  as things currently stand, the U.S. can't deter Beijing ◆  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. ◆  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. ◆  CBS, 2021-11-16:  Biden's virtual summit with China's Xi focuses on "managing strategic risks" like Taiwan...while there had been no major breakthroughs The Guardian, 2021-11-16: Biden-Xi virtual summit: leaders warn each other over future of Taiwan ...the US is increasingly nervous about the rapid development of Chinese conventional and nuclear military forces. Reuters, 2021-11-11: U.S. and allies would 'take unspecified action' if Taiwan attacked - Blinken New York Times, 2021-11-10: Europe’s economic interests in China are huge, and the focus on Taiwan is still a minority effort. Europe is both reluctant and badly equipped to get involved militarily in the Indo-Pacific in the face of Washington’s intense focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan. ◆ TIME, 2021-11-3: The U.S. Risks Catastrophe if It Doesn't Clarify Its Taiwan Strategy  Brookings, 2021-11-1: the asymmetric approach has been stretched beyond recognition in recent years by a recalcitrant MND WSJ, FoxNews, 2021-10-25: the island's military is riven with internal problems...Among the most pressing concerns are poor preparation and low morale among the roughly 80,000 Taiwanese who are conscripted each year and the nearly 2.2 million reservists. Hill, 2021-11-1: Now there is real danger that, encouraged by Biden's recent shift toward a more conciliatory approach  toward China, Xi will move against Taiwan NY Times, 2021-10-22: Biden Said the U.S. Would Protect Taiwan. But It's Not That Clear-Cut.  American presidents have spent decades trying to sidestep the question of how forcefully the United States would come to the aid of Taiwan if China invaded it or, more likely, tried to slowly strangle the island in an effort to force it back under the control of the mainland.

 

  Reuters  2021-10-23 : analysts dismissed the president's remark (US has a commitment to defend Taiwan) as a gaffe it was "patently not true". "A confused  U.S. policy,  weakens  deterrence"    DW (Germany), 2021-10-23: "In fiscal year 2020, Taiwan was  the largest customer of US arms... growing pressure from Congress to ... explicitly commit to defending Taiwan and thus to deterring Beijing....Washington is "slowly adjusting" its course. Washington Post, 2021-10-22: Biden delivered straight talk on Taiwan — contradicting a deliberately ambiguous U.S. policy. Did he misspeak? ...Biden, like others before him, appears to be grappling with the often obtuse language of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship Global Times, 2021-10-22: 'Defend Taiwan' can hardly be seen as a slip of the tongue Daily Mail (UK), 2021-10-22:   CNN, 2021-10-15 : China isn't about to invade Taiwan. But the two sides are on a dangerous path; In June, a poll found 25.8% want to move toward independence. The majority opinion was to stick with the status quo for now. CNN, 2021-10-14 :China-Taiwan tensions are raising fears of a conflict. In Taipei, however, people don't seem worried. Many believed the Chinese government would never really go ahead with it... "games played by the upper class." ,"I think it is more important to earn money"

 

NY Times, 2021-10-9 : "starting a fire" : US and China enter dangerous territory over Taiwan... with potential to ignite military conflagration and reshape the regional order   Diplomat , 2021-10-22: CNN, 2021-10-15 :  Biden has also been determined to keep the US out of foreign conflicts. China, Taiwan tensions spark debate inside Biden admin. 2027 , a key year in which Beijing could try to take Taiwan by force if peaceful unification has not yet been achieved  Lowy Institute, 2021-10-14 :Would a war over Taiwan be legal? The conventional legal answer favours China...all of this may be academic precisely because the United States is unlikely to go to war over Taiwan. POLITICO, 2021-10-14 : Taiwan increasingly becomes a powder keg, a mishap or miscalculation could lead to confrontation while Chinese and American ambitions are at odds.  Taiwan’s own strategy is the mirror image — delaying China long enough for the U.S. and its allies to show up in force. Washington Post, 2021-10-11 : The problem is: We must have both the force with which to deter the Chinese and the legal authority to employ it. And right now, we do not. Congress must untie Biden’s hands on Taiwan BBC, 2021-10-6 :China-Taiwan military tensions 'worst in 40 years'  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwanese people were asked if they agreed that "There will be war between China and Taiwan eventually"
 / BBC, 2022-1-12, source: Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, research at Oct. 2021

strongly agree 7% strongly disagree 23.7%
partly agree 21.1% don't know/no opinion 7.6%
partly disagree 40.6%

news.yahoo.com/china-taiwan-really-simple-guide-142542268.html

 

 

 

 

Chinese and Taiwanese armed forces / BBC, 2022-1-12, source: TrendForce 2021

  China Taiwan
Active duty personnel 2,035,000 163,000
Ground Force 965,000 88,000
Navy 260,000 40,000
Air Force 395,000 35,000
Strategic missile Forces 120,000 0
Strategic Support Force 145,000 0
Other Forces 150,000 0

news.yahoo.com/china-taiwan-really-simple-guide-142542268.html

 

 

 

Global Fire Power  /   globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=taiwan

For 2022 China Taiwan
world rank 3 of 140 21 of 140

Wall street Journal, 2022-3-29:
Moves under discussion in Taiwan are still far from the kind of major revamp that some experts in the U.S. and elsewhere say is needed to upgrade Taiwan's military
 L.A. Times, 2022-3-20: over much of the last decade, Taiwan moved in the opposite direction: It cut the size of its regular army and reduced the training of its reserves.
 Breaking Defense, 2022-3-11: Until recently, President Tsai has appeared reluctant to discuss how Taiwanese citizens can help defend their country... the Taiwanese people must understand that a US-led coalition can only come to their aid if Taiwan can hold out for an extended period of time
◆ Economist, 2022-3-5: Taiwanese, seem too uninterested to fight to defend their land.... Taiwan's sloth in reforming its defence capabilities...(brief)
Washington Post, 2022-1-25
 Taiwanese military has limited-to-no experience.

Brookings, 2021-11-1 :  the asymmetric approach has been stretched beyond recognition in recent years by a recalcitrant MND  

WSJ, FoxNews, 2021-10-25 :  the island's military is riven with internal problems...Among the most pressing concerns are poor preparation and low morale among the roughly 80,000 Taiwanese who are conscripted each year and the nearly 2.2 million reservists.
WarOnTheRocks, 2021-12-6: Taiwan claims it must expend significant political capital and effort to convince its population to fight a prolonged war of attrition.  Asking the Taiwanese people to prepare for a long and bloody war of attrition — one that might become a fool's errand if the US ultimately decides to stay on the sidelines.
Global Times, 2021-12-28:  Survey: more than 52.1 percent of people believe the Taiwan authorities are not ready for a war with the Chinese mainland, and 51.3 percent said they do not want to personally or let family members go to the battlefield,  globaltimes.cn/page/202112/1243629.shtml  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Comment Taiwan

 

Ethics of Taiwan politicians :  New Yorker (2022-11-21):  When the Chinese test-fired the ballistic missiles, Tsai Ing-wen didn’t tell the public that they flew over the island; that became known only after it was announced by Japanese leaders. When a Chinese drone flew into Taiwan's airspace, Tsai Ing-wen's government reacted with similar reserve... the government looks like it doesn't know what it's doing,” al jazeera, 2022-5-30:  Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" billKMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction   Guardian, 2021-7-12: China accused Taiwan has rejected China's offers as fake altruism. ... putting politics above its people   United Daily, 3-11-2021, editorial: smear, fragmentation, low dirty means ... Pan Green's propaganda campaign already beyond the critical point of morality. udn.com/news/story/7338/5309442  China Times, 3-12-2021: Ruling party ignoring bottom line of morality is grief of the country.  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...   Taiwanese personality

●  democracy :   Economist, 2022-11-29: many Taiwanese are tired of squabbles over national identity, especially after Ms Tsai’s refusal last year to accept an offer of much-needed vaccines from China ... Wall Street Journal, 2022-11-28: Taiwan Ruling Party's election drubbing could ease tension with China and persuade Chinese leaders that they can peacefully influence politics there.     US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 :  In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.    al jazeera, 2022-5-30: Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" billKMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction. United Daily(聯合報) , 2022-5-9, editorial:  Taiwan's news reports seem to be free, but in recent years, the speech market has tended to be "Homogeneity" (單一化); particularly, the state apparatus controls the media very deeply USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: There were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in Presidential election.  Economist EIU Democracy Index 2019 shows Taiwan is "Flawed democracy", overall score is lower than 2015's and 2016's, the scores of "political culture", "political participation" are low (5.63, 6.11).  <DW> of Germany (Chinese edition, 12-25-2020) and <RFI> of France (Chinese edition, 12-27-2020) both quoted <Yazhou Zhoukan > (亞洲周刊) criticizing Taiwan's new democratic authoritarianism.  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.  <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.  <UDN> editorial,12-6-2018: Taiwan's democracy exists in name only ...;  <United Daily News>, editorial opinion, 6-23-2019The operation of democracy usually strays off most public-opinions, big-data became a sharp-weapon for politicians to manipulate the will of the people ... 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 ... <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)  democracy & freedom

 freedom of speech  :   US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20 : Reporters faced the threat of legal action under the liberal libel laws. US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : CTi News was forced off the air after the National Communications Commission declined to renew its broadcast license. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed the decision was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.   RSF, <Reporters Sans Frontieres>, France, 2022-5-3: Taiwan's press freedom situation has been "impaired" by some "serious problems".   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to freedom of expression, including for the press. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party.   Global Times, 2021-3-29 : Taiwan DPP's dark "online army" underbelly in misinformation campaign ,  the DPP's "online army" which manipulated and meddled in an online public opinion field of more than 20 million people on the island.   "The DPP can collude with social media such as PTT, Facebook, print media, electronic media, and TV programs".    globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219763.shtml   ●  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. Oxford university (UK) Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Only 24% Taiwanese trust in local news which remains one of the lowest in Oxford survey.  < Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF, France) , 4-18-2019:  Taiwan’s journalists are suffering from a very polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business interests on the mainland. ●  China Times, editorial <中時社論> , 3-9-2020: Political power forms threats (penalty fine and suspending the license) to certain media ... Secretly bullying by (gov.-related) cyber force.  Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found cyber-forces who are mean, base, cruel and dark to destroy target's image and reputation by secretly ways, without moral bottom line ...  UDN 12-7-2019 editorial: The number of fake news spread by Pan-Green coalition (ruling party) is far more (and more vile) than that sent by ordinary people    Apple Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion: Democracy & Freedom of speech is the bottom line which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling effect by fishing in trouble water.   The China Times 12-14-2019 editorial : the gov. seriously harmed free speech by investigating those messages shared or published on the net by the masses    The China Times 3-29-2019 headline news:  Democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the bone is not allowed.  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019: the impact of the concentration of media ownership on freedom of the press, self-censorship continued. N.Y. Times  12-3-2019:  Social media platforms are another key battleground (Chn-TW): Nearly 90 percent of Taiwan’s population is active on them, and traditional news outlets have been known to republish fake posts without fact-checking. According to Reuters, Chinese government agencies have paid Taiwanese news outlets to publish pro-Beijing content.  freedom of speech

 Family  New York times, Pew Research Institute, 2021-11-28:  unlike most other countries put family first, Taiwanese ranked Material well-being above family.  Marry for money not love

 

●  justice:   National ChungCheng University (ccu.edu),   2023-2-13: study found the percentage of Taiwanese trust in the judges is 32.8%. National ChungCheng University, 2022-2-14: study found 2/3 Taiwanese are not satisfied with the quality of judgment of criminal cases   United Daily, editorial , 2022-1-25 : More people suffered fear from invisible and delicate social control and threats by DPP government' flank and judiciary (prosecutor, police) ...   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Some political commentators and academics, however, publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases.   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.    judiciary

 

 corruption
TaiwanPlus, 2023-3-6:

  China Times, 2023-6-26:  Taiwan ruling party's corruption - structural, collective and overall (結構性、集體性、全面性貪腐) ;  has already crossed the bottom line, and being out of control. chinatimes.com/opinion/20230626004425-262101?chdtv   brief   Voice of America, 2022-11-23:  "black gold"-"heijin." Corruption in Local Politics   Avios, 2022-6-28: Scandals and corruption have plagued the Taiwanese armed forces  Economist, 2022-8-2: Taiwan needs to do more to combat corruption and waste in its armed forces  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 :13 high-ranking officials, 79 mid-level, 93 low-level, and 18 elected officials were indicted for corruption.  the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Yuan referred six officials to the Control Yuan for criminal investigation, including former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu, former prosecutor general Wu Ying-chao, and two others for investigation of noncriminal misconduct... In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption.   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.  China Times, editorial , 2022-6-1,  "The whole DPP party backups corruption, a shame of Taiwan's democracy": When the corruption scandal broke out in 2008, all DPP members gave ex-President Chen Shui-bian a cold shoulder, Chen's daughter 陳幸妤 was mad and shouted"Has anyone in DPP not taken money from my father ?? ", which shocked all fields, therefore, pan-Green Coalition has been involved in Chen's case.(綠營因此遭扁綁架事出有因) 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.   corruption

●  medical  :  Taiwan ranks No. 249 in World's Best Hospitals by Newsweek and Statista in 2023    Bloomberg's CovID ranking: Taiwan's 3-month case-fatality rate ranks the last twice in 2021  Lancet / Measuring universal health coverage  Taiwan is behind countries of  Asia& Pacific like Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Australia, NZ, Kuwait, Qatar    Only one Taiwan's hospital was included and ranked No. 249 in Newsweek's top 250 "World's Best Hospitals" in 2023   Guardian (UK), 2022-5-9: The death of a two-year-old boy last month highlighted communication failures exacerbated by Taiwan’s entrenched bureaucracy.   al jazeera, 2022-5-30: The fatalities have notably included the sudden deaths of several very young children, which many Taiwanese attribute to failures of the healthcare system.     China Times, editorial, 2021-9-8: The government ignores human lives of high-risk older populations.  Using vaccine to draw votes is "cold-blood", "losing their souls "  chinatimes.com/opinion/20210907005525-262101?chdtv   United Daily, editorial, 2021-9-4: Taiwan's vaccination policy is based upon government's selfishness and special purpose. National Taiwan University professor, King ChwanChuen2021-9-1: CDC should not turn into a election campaign center.  UDN 2021-5-31, editorial: Taiwan's government fails to purchase enough CovID-19 vaccines, and stop civil org. to purchase from the west for saving its political face.  Till end May, patients are not easy to apply for and have CovID-19 medicine, which cause more deaths, Taiwan cares money more than human lives   hospitals,   CovID19

 pirate USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  some indigenous rights advocates argued a large amount of indigenous land was seized and privatized decades ago, depriving indigenous communities of the right to participate in the development of these traditional territories.  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 China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-23: 23 millions of Taiwanese household administration data and 28 millions of labor insurance data have been leaked and were sold to fraud groups - all personal data of Taiwanese were sold out, Taiwan government looked the other way as its citizens were in fraud for leakage of their personal data   US Naval Institute   , May, 2022 : Taiwan has extensive networks of closed-circuit TV cameras, and issued a national health insurance smartcard that tracks medical histories. Amnesty International, June, 2021 :The government took several measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, some of which threatened the right to privacy.    People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary: Taiwan's Intelligence strictly monitors its own people, which is called "Green Terror".  The China Times (中國時報), 1-6-2021:  the human rights protected by the Constitution has been in danger for a long time... The government had not admitted the "skynet - electronic fence" until law-makers questioned them a number of times...  New York Post  4-25-2020 : Taiwan deals CovID with "a lot more authoritarian.", "almost everyone is tracked.". Apple Daily 11-10-2020: Taiwanese health & medical data/information was forced without agreement of the party to be opened on purpose of business and academic use.  The United Daily News (聯合報) , editorial, 3-31-2019 Taiwan is a backward country on personal-data protection.   Taiwan plans to sell general public's personal data and digital human rights (e.g., people's medical health data without giving any notice ), peep at whatever on the net , and even monitor all the citizens,  nothing people would normally notice ...   (brief https://udn.com/news/story/7338/3728815) ;  EU General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR was given to effect at 5-25-2018, Taiwan is far behind, even is going in an opposite way  / Apple Daily 蘋果日報, 5-28-2018,  National Taiwan University Law School professor 林鈺雄    privacy


 
secret police  Law maker (2023-6-2): What an authoritarian era in Taiwan ? (「這是什麼威權時代嗎」) /  Dr. Su Hung-dah (蘇宏達), dean of the College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, reveals he was threatened by National Security Bureau ( state machine ) that "we can watch your LINE" (a popular online app. )   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  Members of the security forces committed some abuses.    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...;   Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found their cyber-forces to secretly attack targets... ,  the dark force are mean, base, cruel  and dark to destroy target's image and reputation, they executed without moral bottom line and military discipline  (brief).   The United Daily News, editorial 11-30-2019: The state machine was abused as government's "tributaries".   UDN 11-3-2018,  Intel. sys. (NSB) confirmed their investigations of Facebook and other's communities on the net.  All internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in all users' personal information/data (intel denied).    <Apple Daily (蘋果日報)> 11-7-2018 editorial opinion:  by whatever name ( "secret police" or "national security bureau") it is called, what "it" did secretly were always more than what it admitted.  Taiwan's Intelligence and secret-agent systems keep on governing the country ... they're true Prime Minister (行政院長), ...So many suspected political murder cases remain unsolved  (ref to 2018.7.26【政經看民視】 FTV, "政經看民視", 7-26-2018;  SET(三立電視), 9-24-2013 "Secret agents govern the nation (特務治國)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdZCdYrwF4;  Era TV,   年代電視, 9-22-2013; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1b4R2m6K3g; "Secret agent systems resurgence to control the nation (特務復辟治國)"   repression, oppression

●  int'l fraud :   United Daily (聯合報), editorial, 2023-5-11 : Taiwan government got no grades on fighting fraudIn today, Taiwanese crimes of fraud have spread all over the world, the criminal methods have deteriorated to abducting people, selling human organs, defrauding money by using the name of the administration...The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-8: The head of fraud group,「im.B借貸媒合平台」, has close connection with DPP's top ranking officials such as deputy premier    Reuters, DW (Germany), 12-31-2020: Chinese court sentences 29 Taiwanese deported from Spain / In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese nationals, suspected of committing telecoms fraud overseas...   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)     international fraud 

 torture & cruelty :   Global Times, 2022-12-19:  There are forces on the island who are mentally controlling the Taiwan people...   justsecurity.org, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13:  international human rights review panel urges to ban torture and other cruelties  Global Times (globaltimes.cn/content/1209528.shtml), 12-9-2020: Taiwan authority ‘persecutes mainlanders, pro-reunification activists' by 'Political persecution, framing charge' .    Taiwan is far behind and keeps stalling legislating a new law against torture and other cruelty, conclusively advised by international review panel ( Philip Alston, law professor at New York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, etc. )  (ref. to Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017)  Taiwan's opposition party vice presidential candidate, NTU professor Lin Ruey-Shiung, was subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (French AFP ,Dec. 1, 2011 , Thailand's Bangkok Post,  Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland, etc. ), Taiwan gov. denied this.      State violence and white terror (product of state violence) return in Taiwan (United Daily, opinion, 12-21-2017, 12-27-2017).     Taiwan's Facebook "Green terror" suppressed free expression...... (Wikipedia 2017, The China Times, public opinion, 11-18-2017).   The key-point is state violence (Apple Daily, opinion, 8-16-2013)  repression, oppression

 food safety  : United Daily (經濟日報社論),  2023-2-1: Food safety is an anxious issue for Taiwanese people  Global Times,  2022-9-17 : DPP authority is sacrificing the people's interests for their political ends.   the Taiwan authorities detected Caesium-137 in the batch of konjaku jelly powder since the island in February relaxed a decade-long ban on imports of "nuclear food"  from Japan.   Scientific Reports Journal, Food Navigator Asia, 2-9-2021: Fish fraud findings: Almost 20% of fish in Taiwan found to be mislabelled - study (Taiwan food scare, including 5 star hotel restaurant foods  which the website revealed earlier in 2017).   The China Times, 10-20-2018  opinion (editorial)   https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 Taiwan's food safety failed again and again,  Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event in this year.  Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event, in contrast, Taiwan did nothing about it.   Even worse, Taiwan officials hide Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to baby related business indulge business to retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods.  Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's only, and humblest request ??   (brief)    UDN, 2-17-2019: Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out...   The China Times (中國時報), 2-28-2019,  opinion (editorial) questions Taiwan officials are trying very hard to hide the epidemic state of Marek's virus in chicken eggs ...

int'l drug base : Statista 2022-11-18: Offense against narcotics hazard prevention act ranks No.2 crime by the Number committed in Taiwan in 2021 

:"patrols of the coast became almost nonexistent and, as a result, it was easy to smuggle guns and drugs into Taiwan. Taiwan is narcotic drugs producing & selling center of Asia (The China Times <Want Weekly>, 9-18-2019).  Taiwan was already reduced to be a 'kingdom' of producing narcotic drugs. (United Daily, headline news, 11-2-2017)   Philippine President Duterte ... blaming Taiwan-based organised crime behind all this drug traffic... for using his country as a shipping hub. (Reuters, 9-27-2017, The Straits Times, 9-29-2017)   Duterte: Triad supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China (inquirer.net, 9-26-2017).    Taiwan is scandalous for being a major drug transit center & a major drug exporting country, part of Taiwanese government including Judicial sys. refused to improve this issue. (UDN Opinion, 11-6-2017, The China Times, head-page & focus, 4-4-2017, The Liberty Times, 5-12-2017)    illegal drugs

 exploitation ,   children & women trafficking US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20: A rise in the number of reports of child sexual exploitation cases;  The NGOs called for increased prosecutions and heavier penalties. USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2022-4-12 the number of male victims of child sexual exploitation was increasing and that male and female minors of indigenous heritage were targeted at higher rates than those of other ethnic groups.  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30:  NGOs raised concerns regarding online sexual exploitation of children and reported sex offenders increasingly used cell phones, web cameras, live streaming, apps, and other new technologies to deceive and coerce underage girls and boys into sexual activity.   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.   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018:  Exploitation of  foreign workers,  official corruption,  some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc.     prostitution

●  life protection  : NY Times, 2021-10-15: Taiwan has a spotty record when it comes to fire safety... severe disrepair as a result of weak management and government neglect.  Skyrocketing housing costs in Taiwan’s cities — and a rapidly aging population — have exacerbated these issues in recent years and have outpaced the government’s efforts to resolve them...  Nature, 2023-6-22:  Despite concerns from several nations and international groups (but Taiwan goes down on its knees) , Japan is pressing ahead with plans to release water contaminated by the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean China times, 2021-10-15 Behind the fire sea in Kaohsiung building (城中城) is the government's discrimination and indifference to those underprivileged group who can not afford buying fire-fighting equipments UDN 2021-4-1: foolish energy policy kills our lungs, people in southern and middle of Taiwan increasingly got related diseases ●  Apple Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The bane of Taiwan- backward infrastructures, e.g., no early-warning system for railway train, pollution in stream, dam, reservoir deposition The government has not well taken its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property - why 5/6 bridges badly in need of repair have not done ?  government even has never made public the info. and where those bridges are. (ref. to United Daily, 10-9-2019, headline news)   why are there so many tall buildings located on the fault-zone? why are poor architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ? why are those shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to risk millions of old houses and human beings? (ps: may face death in 6 magnitude quake)    (full text: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2974813 聯合報社論/斷層帶上何以建了那麼多高樓?  2-8-2018,  https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2977079 勿讓軟腳樓成坑殺人命陷阱 2-9-2018,  https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180209/37928659花蓮 都更 爛政客   2-9-2018)

life protection (2) : UDN, 2023-6-6: Taiwan government tries to hide the safety risk - Taiwan Power's 四接 in Keelung Port - a significant risk  CIA Fact Book, Dec. 10, 2021: air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017 USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times higher than the number reported to police.   ●  United Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The death rate of traffic accident (8+ per day) is higher than hat of many backward countries.  Large-bus structure is problematic - Jerry-built or bad safety specification. So many gods are hidden in the detail   UDN 1-2-2018 udn.com/news/story/7266/2908720,  The China Times. 8-6-2016, <食品不安全的年代如何自保>, 2016, etc : Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating at home.  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.  ref to BBC news :  www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate.   Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens (China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial).    The China Times 5-9-2018 column : This is an EVIL state apparatus ... The China Times 5-26-2018 column : The government likes to conceal bad news, put paper over the cracks, e.g., air pollution, rupture of diplomatic relationships, ...http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180509000843-260109  Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017. Apple Daily 12-11-2019, headline news: Taiwan's air pollution is bad to worse, about half population were endangered by PM2.5 and PM10 from top 10 hazardous level companies (China Steel, Taichung Power plant, 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/20180107000465-260114Daily Mail (UK) 7-14-2017 : Shocking underwater video from Taiwan shows ocean floor littered with plastic (bottles) garbage)

 transportation safety  CNN (2022-12-6): Taiwan's 'living hell' traffic is a tourism problem.  Taiwan is notorious for its dangerous roads.   UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: NY Times, CNN: train carrying 490 derails /  Serious transportation accidents repeat -  all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system  and reform failure  United Daily News 1-20-2020:  The death rate caused by traffic accidents in Taiwan is 5 times that in Japan.   The SUN, BBC (UK) 2-13-2017: "BUS CRASH HORROR!" , Taiwan's tour bus  "has come under fire in recent months over safety standards"...   MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years" .   transportation   Taiwan's aviation safety

 Labor rights  Le Monde diplomatique (France),  2023-2-14: Most migrant workers to higher-income Taiwan incur substantial debt to finance their fees, which binds them to their employers’ whims and exploitation while they pay it off.  US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12: Large enterprises frequently made it difficult for employees to organize an enterprise union through methods such as blacklisting union organizers from promotion or relocating them to other work divisions.  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: The right to strike remained highly restricted.  24 percent of foreign fishermen suffered violent physical abuse; 92 percent experienced unlawful wage withholding; 82 percent worked overtime excessively.    , 3-16-2021the U.S. Labor Department placed Taiwan on its 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.   National Geographic, 11-25-2020 : Wildlife crimes and human rights abuses plague Taiwanese fishing vessels ...illegal dolphin catching, shark finning, and physical and verbal abuse ...  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  The right to strike remained highly regulated. Teachers, civil servants, and defense industry employees do not have the right to strike. Workers in industries such as utilities, hospital services, and telecommunication service providers are allowed to strike only if they maintain basic services during the strike. Authorities may prohibit, limit, or break up a strike during a disaster. For all workers, the law divides labor disputes into “rights disputes” and “adjustment disputes.” Workers are allowed to strike only in adjustment disputes, which include issues such as compensation and working schedules. The law forbids strikes in rights disputes related to violations of collective agreements and employment contracts.    foreign laborers

●  underworld gang & politics : Global Times, 2022-11-28:  black (underworld) gold politics and nepotism severely violated what the DPP had pledged to the people   China Times,  2022-11-27: Tsai's DPP has entangled with Mafia, has abused of power and corrupted (黑道纏身、濫權腐化 United Daily, editorial, 2021-5-7: The underworld gang links with the legal syndicate, or the gangsters parasitize the political party, which certainly leads to deviation and collapse of the adm. order.  (udn.com/news/story/7338/5439377?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2)   Apple Daily, 2021-5-7:   the country has been ruled by "black-gold" gangsters and bureaucratic factions. The "big guys" of gangs can decide or influence which democratical representatives will reach the stage of electoral campaigns for law-makers, city-councilors, ....  President Tsai won't be able to crack down gangsters.  ( brief from  tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210507/AWDMO7WLEBCAZCIYHGO7UBA4DA/  趙少康)    democracy


 social security  
TaiwanPlus, 2023-5-4: The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-5: The "Social security net" is proved to be broken -  they fail to protect citizens' personal basic data/information Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-23:  all opposition parties blast the government not fulfilling its promise to patch the loophole of social security network.  Next TV news 壹新聞》, 2021-11-23, 12:11: a big loophole in our social security net.   The China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial: Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens.   World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan's "safety & security" got an Eastern Asia-pacific average score 6.0, and is worse than world No.5 Hong Kong, No. 6 Singapore , No. 7 UAE,  No. 10 New Zealand,  11 Qatar,  13 Japan, 19 Australia,   23 Saudi Arabia.   《Economist》UK , EIU The Safe Cities Index 2019    Taiwan's "personal security" dropped 14 places compared with previous yrs. report,  Taiwan is worse than neighbors Singapore, Japan, China, Korea...     police

 discrimination  Taipei Times, 2023-6-12:  immigration authorities hand out insult after insult to people whose skins are a bit too brown... the reality of its suicidally discriminatory immigration policies is painful for those of us who live and work here.   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: The majority of sex discrimination cases reported in 2019 were forced resignations due to pregnancies. Scholars said sex discrimination remained significantly underreported.   There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV or AIDS.   USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  Activists for LGBTI rights said due to victims’ reluctance to lodge formal complaints, discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases.  There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV/AIDS.   US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019  Foreign and PRC-born spouses were reportedly targets of social discrimination outside and, at times, inside the home.   Discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases.  Employment discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS continues, Taipei officials pressured a magazine reporter to drop an investigative report about the city’s breach of personal information for more than 3,000 AIDS patients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Times Higher Education ,  World University Rank 2022

Rank Taiwan China Korea Hong Kong, Macau Singapore Japan
1~70  
 

 

16  Peking University Beijing

 

 

 

16   Tsinghua University Beijing
 

 

 

60   Fudan University Shanghai

 

 

 54  Seoul National University Seoul


 

 
 

30  University of Hong Kong

 

49  Chinese University of Hong Kong

 

 

66  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

 

21   National University of Singapore

 


 

46   Nanyang Technological University

 

35  University of Tokyo
 

 

 

61  Kyoto

University

 

70~100  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

75   Zhejiang University Zhejiang


 
84   Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai

 

 

88  University of Science and Technology of China Anhui

 

 

 

99  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon

 

91  Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ. 
 

 

   
PS:    National Taiwan University (台灣大學) only got No. 113        more Taiwan's universities
Times Higher Education ,  World University Rank 2022 

timeshighereducation.com

 

 

 

 

 

 


Nature Index ,  
2022 Tables: Institutions  

www.natureindex.com/news-blog/nature-index-annual-tables-twenty-twenty-one-country-comparisons-difficult-year

ranks Taiwan China Korea Hong Kong, Macau Singapore Japan
1~100  
7.  USCT  China

 

8  Peking University Beijing

 

9.  UCAS China

 

10.    Nanjing Univ.

 

13.  Tsinghua University Beijing

 

17. ZheJiang Univ.

 

25.    SJTU    Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai

 

 

28.  Fudan Univ.

 

30  Sun Yat-sen University Guangdong

 

 

38  Nankai Univ.

41.  SUSTech China
 

43. SiChuan Univ.


49.  WuHan Univ. 
 

53.  SooChow Univ.

 
54  Xiamen Univ. 


58.  Jilin  U. 

 

61.  Tianjin  U.

 

63.  HUST 

 

84.  Hunan  U.

 

85. ECNU

 

88.  ShanDong  U.

 

96. HIT

  

99. Tongji U.  

 


 
 
  51.  Seoul National University Seoul

 

 

 


56.   Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


98  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

 


 35  University of Hong Kong

24.    National University of Singapore

 

 

 

 

42.   Nanyang Technological University

 

4  University of Tokyo
 

 

 

32  Kyoto

University

 

 

 

 

57.  Osaka Univ. 

 

 

66.  Tohoku Univ.

 

 

80.
Nagoya Univ.

 

89.  Tokyo Tech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 


 

 


 

 

 

 

113.  KAUST, Saudi Arabia ; 

132  NTU, Taiwan  (台灣大學)       
180.   India Institute of Science,  India  ;

others between 101-200 omitted; 

 

 

 

 

 

Quacquarelli Symonds,QS  ,  UK,  2022   

ranks Taiwan Malaysia China Korea Hong Kong, Macau Singapore  Japan
1~25    
 

17.  Tsinghua University Beijing
 

 

18.   Peking University Beijing
 

 
 
 

 

22.    University of Hong Kong

 

 

 

No. 11.   National University of Singapore

 

 

No.12. Nanyang
 Tech. Univ. Singapore

 

23.  University of Tokyo
 

 

26~60     31.   Fudan University,  Shanghai

 

 

45.

ZheJiang Univ. 

 

50.    Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai

36.  Seoul National University, Seoul

 

 

 

41.  KAIST  Korea

 

34. Hong Kong Univ. Science & Tech.

 

 

39. Chinese Univ HK

 

 

53. City University of Hong Kong 

 

 

33.  Kyoto

University

 

 

56. Tokyo Institute Tech.

60~100 68.   National Taiwan University

(台灣大學)  

 No. 65 Universiti Malaya   74. Korea Univ.

 

 

79. Yonsei U 

81. POSTECH

 

97. SKKU Korea

 

66.  Hong Kong Polytechnic University    

75. Osaka U  Japan

 

 

 79. Tohoku U Japan

               
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2022
QS  Quacquarelli Symonds,QS  UK

 

 

 

 

 

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%

 

 

 

 

Taiwan's press freedom
RSF 2022-5-3  rsf.org/en/index

Sociocultural context Reuters Institute survey in 2021: The Taiwanese have one of the lowest levels of trust in media amongst democracies
Political context The media landscape, although free, is impaired by a strong political polarisation, undeclared advertising, sensationalism, and the pursuit of profit which hinders the work of journalists and can prevent citizens from accessing objective information.
Legal framework Over the past decades, few concrete measures have been taken by consecutive Taiwanese governments to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of public debate.
Economic Indicator  No .49,  Social  Indicator No 57,  Legislative  Indicator  No 40,   Political  Indicator No33, No. 38 Press Freedom Index

 

 

 

Reuters Report 2022

  proportion that trusts
 most news
most of the time
proportion who
mostly read news
 in text
proportion who
think news org.s
in their market
are politically
 far apart
proportion who
accessed news
via email in
the last week
Thailand 53 56 48 16
Japan 44 67 26 13
Singapore 43 65 16 16
Australia 41 61 29 17
Hong Kong 41 60 36 14
India 41 58 33  
Indonesia 39 69 18 13
Philippines 37 47 32 18
Malaysia 36 63 23 15
S. Korea 30 58 15 10
Taiwan 27 54 38 12
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-06/Digital_News-Report_2022.pdf

 

 

Trust in news ?   Reuters Institute, 2021

Trust in news overall    31% Trust in news I used   38%
Trust in news  in search 29% Trust in social media   21%
Public service television remains the most trusted in our survey, followed by the economic news media (CommonWealth and Business Weekly). The rest of the news brands in the polarised media landscape are trusted by one group, but distrusted by another.

 

 

 

 

 Telegraph (UK), 2022-5-6: Taiwan faces the daunting prospect of a vertical trajectory of infections that could trigger unprecedented death rates 

 

 


STATISTA, 2022-4-19
Coronavirus (COVID-19) death rate in countries with confirmed deaths
and over 1,000 reported cases as of April 7, 2022, by country

 

Taiwan's CovID death rate is highest among major countries in Asia & Pacific
 

country Death rate(%) Confirmed cases number of deaths
Taiwan* 3.38 25,225 853
Indonesia 2.58 6,026,324 155,464
Sri Lanka 2.49 662,342 16,486
Cambodia 2.25 135,834 3,055
Pakistan 1.99 1,526,093 30,361
Philippines 1.61 3,680,244 59,422
Bangladesh 1.49 1,951,903 29,123
India 1.21 43,031,958 521,530
Saudi Arabia 1.2 751,404 9,053
China 0.88 1,495,380 13,098
Malaysia 0.82 4,280,591 35,192
Thailand 0.68 3,807,908 25,788
Vietnam 0.43 9,980,464 42,712
Japan 0.42 6,830,997 28,462
Laos 0.36 188,985 684
Australia 0.13 4,910,819 6,495
South Korea 0.12 14,778,405 18,381
Singapore 0.11 1,123,886 1,287
New Zealand 0.06 741,987 426
statista.com/statistics/1105914/coronavirus-death-rates-worldwide/   2022-4-19

 

 

 

Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2021,   2021-3-25

 rankings     theworlds50best.com/stories/News/asias-50-best-restaurants-2021-the-list-in-pictures.html

 top 10 restaurants :  No. 1.  The Chairman, HK, China   2. Odette, Singapore  3. Den, Japan  4. Le Du, Thailand  5. Gaggan A. , Thailand 6. Suhring, Thailand   7.  Florilege , Japan   8. La Cime, Japan   9.  Narisawa, Japan   10. Mingles, S. Korea

  number of top 40
in each Asian country:

 China  9,    Japan  9,      Singapore  6,   Thailand  5,   Taiwan 4,   S.  Korea 3,   India 2

 

 


 

 

Transparency International, Taiwan's corruption index ranks No. 7 in Asia & Pacific in 2021

Transparency Int'l   ,  CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX, 2021

country of Asia & Pacific score
New Zealand score 88  No.1
Singapore   No.4
Hong Kong No. 12
Australia No. 18
Japan No. 18
UAE No. 24
Bhutan No. 25
Taiwan score 68 No. 25
transparency.org/en/cpi/2021

US 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , 2021-3-30

        state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/   Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption Authorities prosecuted officials including incumbent and former legislators involved in a high-profile bribery case.
 

 

 

 

 

worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP-INDEX-21.pdf

Rule of Law, Adherence to the rule of law 2021 / World Justice Project
No.7 No.13 No.15 No.17 19 20
New Zealand Australia Japan Singapore Hong Kong S. Korea
Liberty Times, 2021-1-27: Public trust on Taiwan's judges is 26.7%, about 10% lower than that in previous year
news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/3450901

 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-31, 2021-12-24, 2021-12-4, 2021-10-10, 2021-10-8, No.2 at 2021-11-29 

 

 

 


 pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2021-12-31, 2021-10-23
 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-1, 2021-12-25, 2021-12-7, 2021-12-4, 2021-11-23, 2021-11-21, 2021-11-16 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-1-31, 2021-10-11, 2021-10-8, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-31, 2021-8-23

 

 

 

 

Credit Suisse, Research Institute

Global Wealth Databook 2021, June 2021  -   countries of Asia & pacific

  GDP per adult 2020 Median wealth
per adult 2020
Wealth
per adult 2000
Wealth per adult 2020 Financial wealth per adult 2020 Non-Financial wealth per adult 2020 Total wealth (USD bn) share of world wealth
Australia 69318 238072 108656 483755 246617 330565 9268 2.22
China 13394 24067 4247 67771 33102 41874 74884 17.9
Hong Kong 54245 173768 167949 503335 365478 195518 3167 0.76
Japan 46812 122980 191446 256596 179081 109795 26931 6.44
Korea 37340 89671 50503 211369 96543 158446 8981 2.15
Macau 96840 - 88546 271679 - - 146 0.03
Singapore 69049 86717 107007 332995 223443 158825 1627 0.39
Taiwan 32371 93044 92298 238862 184061 83761 4690 1.12
US 83265 79274 215146 505421 417248 152945 126340 30.20

credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html

 

 

 

 

 

 n US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.

nUSA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30 There were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in  Presidential election in 2020. 

N.Y. Times, 12-1-2019: the soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks. 
They continue to allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
 organized-crime figures to buy votes
 
( NY Times, opinion :
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/opinion/china-taiwan-election.html ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

GDP per capita (Norminal) Ranking
Taiwan - No.10 in Asia & Pacific

country/economy (Asia) 2021 world rank 2020 world rank
Singapore 66263 ($) 8 59795 ($) 7
Australia 62619 9 52905 10
Qatar 61791 10 54185 9
Hong Kong 49485 20 46657 15
New Zealand 48349 21 41165 21
UAE 43538 24 38661 25
Macau 42107 25 35621 27
Japan 40704 26 40089 24
Korea 35196 29 31638 29
Taiwan 33402 32 28358 32

statisticstimes.com/economy/projected-world-gdp-capita-ranking.php

 

VOAnews, 2022-4-1: At $913 a month, Taiwan's minimum wage is considered extremely low for an advanced economy, Taiwan has just generally struggled with this culture of a really weak wage environment.  Survey: More than 20% of Taiwanese under the age of 40 say they lack savings and 65% report they are in debt, only one-third of respondents said their income exceeds their expenses,... Some 41.8% of respondents said their debt was high enough that they felt economic pressure.
 

 

 

 

 

 

worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country

Personal Freedom Score, Freedom Index 2022 / World Population Review
No.1 score 9.62 No.4 No.15 No.23 No.30 No.38 No.46 No.55 No.59 No.123 No.140 No.147
Vietnam Qatar Philippines Australia Malaysia Thai. New Zealand Hong Kong China S. Korea Japan Taiwan
Economic Freedom Score, Freedom Index 2022 / World Population Review
- No.9 No.17 No.17 60 63 65 72 No.75, score 6.97 114
Singapore Vietnam India Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Australia Japan Taiwan China

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bloomberg, Nov. 25, 2021  

"Winners and Losers" from a year of ranking Covid resilience

 Pandemic MVPs - Only 7 places never fell into the bottom half of the ranking

world rank country of Asia & Pacific Asia's rank
4/53 U.A.E. 1
6 S. Korea 2
8 Mainland China 3
9 Hong Kong 4
10 Saudi Arabia 5
12 Japan 6
13 Australia 7
17 New Zealand 8
20 Singapore 9
30 Pakistan 10
31 Taiwan 11
32 Bangladesh 12

moneyweb.co.za/news/international/winners-and-losers-from-a-year-of-ranking-covid-resilience/
Taiwan successfully eliminated and kept out Covid in the first year , now it is in the bottom half among 53 countries

 

Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking: Taiwan's 3-month case fatality rate in 2021-9-28, 13.4%; 2021-10-28, 7.7%, both are world worst

 

 

 

 

 
   

 

 
 
 

 

Financial Times (UK), 2021-10-7 : US special forces secretly training Taiwan’s military; rotations had been occurring for at least a decade... the disclosure could further raise tensions. ◆ Reuters, 2021-10-5 : experts say the island could likely only hold out for a few days in the event of a Chinese attack unless the United States quickly came to its aid Politico, 2021-10-5 : while a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is not imminent...We should think of China’s approach to Taiwan not as a bifurcated decision between war and peace but instead a continuous pressure campaign that can take various lethal and non-lethal forms   Guardian, 2021-10-5 :The prevailing mood among Washington insiders is to fight if China attempts to conquer Taiwan. hard reality that fighting China over Taiwan risks an almost-certain military defeat – and gambles we won’t stumble into a nuclear war.   CNN, 2021-10-4 :professor in Switzerland: "As long as Taiwan doesn't take irreversible steps toward independence/greater autonomous presence on the international scene," combat is unlikely Financial Times (UK), 2021-9-16 :Taiwan is failing to reorient its military towards an asymmetric strategy, US defence experts are growing exasperated over the Taiwan military’s reluctance to decisively act on their instructions.  New York Times, 2021-9-13 : if China has any hope of winning a war across the Strait, its military would have to move fast, before the United States has time to respond... the Chinese economy would suffer more ◆ Nikkei Asia (Japan), 2021-9-10: Will Xi move on Taiwan? History warns he might ◆  Reuters, 2021-9-1 :Taiwan says China can 'paralyse' its defences, threat worsening  

 

 
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

       

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google2022-2-1, 2021-11-5,  2021-11-1 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-2-1, 2021-10-11

 

 

 

 

          
pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "Taiwan comments "  on Yandex of Russia, 2022-2-14, 2022-1-13

  pic.:   The website group was ranked No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on Yandex of Russia, 2022-2-14, 2021-11-9, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-19

 

 

 

 

 

Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking    2022-1-27

Quality of Life (Asia & Pacific )

Economy human development community mobility% GDP growth forecast% universal health care
UAE 0.89 -10.6 4.4 63
Saudi Arabia 0.85 -14.4 5.9 64
Singapore 0.94 -11.2 4 92
Hong Kong 0.95 -5.3 3 -
mainland China 0.76 -2.7 5.2 70
S. Korea 0.92 -2.6 3 89
Japan 0.92 -13.4 2.9 96
Australia 0.94 -24.9 3.9 89
New Zealand 0.93 -13.5 3.6 83
Taiwan 0.92 -4.2% 3.3 79

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/

 
Reuters, 2022-4-3: Taiwan says new CovID cases won't affect re-opening plans. United Daily, 2022-4-8, editorial: Taiwan's testing capacity and medication are obviously not good enough - Remdesivir only 16,000,  Paxlovid 4,000+ available.  udn.com/news/story/7338/6223069?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2  China Times, editorial, 2022-4-8: on average, one out of 1000 people can have antiCovID medication  chinatimes.com/opinion/20220407004272-262101?chdtv

 

 

 

 

 

 

world's most livable cities  ... include Taiwan's ?

 top ranking list of the world's most livable cities

 

world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top list
comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2021 failed top 10  
The World's Best Cities to Live In 2020 failed top 10 1. Tokyo Japan, 3. Singapore, 5. Melbourne Australia, 8 Seoul Korea, 10. Sydney Australia
Monocle's Quality of Life survey 2021 9 Taipei 1. Denmark, 2. Swiss, 3. Helsinki, Finland, 4. Stockholm Sweden, 5. Tokyo, Japan, 6. Vienna  7 Lisbon, 8. Auckland, 9 Taipei, 10. Sydney
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2019  failed in the top 50 No.2  Melbourne,  No.3  Sydney,  No.4 Osaka (Japan), No. 7 Tokyo,  No.10  Adelaide,  No.12 Auckland (NZ),   No.15 Wellington (NZ),   18 Brisbane  (Aus) ,    No. 38 Hong Kong,  No. 40 Singapore,   No.57  Seoul (Korea),  Taipei behind   
Monocle's Quality of Life survey 2019 failed in the top list

https://monocle.com/film/affairs/quality-of-life-survey-top-25-cities-2019/

No.2 Tokyo (Japan),  No.11 Melbourne (Australia), No.13 Sydney,  No.16 Hong Kong,  No.17 Kyoto (Japan),  No.21 Auckland (NZ), No.22 Fukuoka (Japan),  23 Brisbane  25 Singapore
Deutsche Bank Liveability Survey  

failed in the list https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000494405/Mapping_the_world%27s_prices_2019.pdf
 

No. 2 Wellington (NZ),    No. 7 Melbourne ( Australia ),  No.10 Sydney,   No.14 Tokyo  No.16 Auckland (NZ),  No.17 Dubai (UAE), No. 23 Singapore,   No. 26 Saudi Arabia Riyadh,  No. 29 Seoul (Korea),  No. 33 India Bangalore,  No. 39 Malaysia  Kuala Lumpur,   44 Hong Kong,   46 India Delhi,  No. 48   Shanghai (China), No. 55 Beijing
Safe Cities Index (SCI)  2019,   EIU (Economist UK), NEC failed in the top 20 No.1  Tokyo, No.2  Singapore, No.3 Osaka (Japan),  No.5 Sydney (Aus), No. 8 Seoul (Korea), No10 Melbourne, No. 20 Hong Kong  
ArchDaily / The World's Most Livable Cities in 2019 failed in the top 20 No. 3. Auckland, New Zealand, 11. Sydney, Australia,  No.15. Wellington, New Zealand , No.17. Melbourne, Australia  
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2018  failed in the top 50 No.2 Melbourne (Australia),  No.3  Osaka (Japan),  No. 7  Tokyo (Japan) ,  No.10       Adelaide  (Australia),   No.12 Auckland (NZ)    Wellington (NZ) ... ... (omitted),  Taipei 58
 The EIU's Global Liveability Index Ranking   2017  failed in the top 50  No.1  Melbourne,  No. 5  Adelaide,  No. 7  Perth,
No. 8 Auckland (NZ),  No.11 Sydney,  No.13  Tokyo,  No.  14  Osaka,  No.16 Brisbane,   No. 20 Wellington (NZ),  No. 35 Singapore,  No.45  Hong Kong,  No.58  Seoul (Korea),  No.60   Taipei  

EIU (Economist UK)'s  Global Liveability Index evaluates stability, healthcare, culture&environment,  education,   Infrastructure

 

 

 

 

 

 


Taiwan's soft power
 
world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top 25~30 list
comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index 2022 failed 1. US, 2. UK, 3. Germany, 4. China, 5. Japan, 6. France, 7. Canada, 8. Swiss, 9. Russia, 10. Italy
Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index 2021 failed 1. Germany,  2. Japan, 3. UK, 4. Canada, 5. Swiss, 6. US, 7 France, 8. China, 9. Sweden, 10. Australia, 11. Korea, 12 Holland, 13.  Russia, 14. Norway, 15. Denmark, 16 NZ, 17. UAE, 18. Iceland,    19. Italia, 20. Singapore
US News: 2021 Best Countries Overall failed top 10 2. Japan,  5. Australia   7. New Zealand
2020 Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index ,
 top 60
n/c https://brandirectory.com  No. 4 Japan, 5 China, 13 Aus,  14 Korea,  18 UAE,  20 Singapore,  22 NZ,  26 SA 27 India
2021 Monocle's
Soft Power survey
included 1. Germany, 2. S Korea, 3. France, 4. Japan, 5. Taiwan, 6. Swiss, 7. New Zealand 8. Sweden, 9. Greece, 10. Canada
2020 Monocle's Soft Power survey listed No.1 Germany, No. 2. Korea, 3. France, 4. Japan, 5. TW, 6 Swiss, 7. NZ, 8 Sweden, 9 Greece, 10 Canada
 2019/2020 
Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland
failed No. 8 Japan, No.9  Australia, No. 17 New Zealand,  No. 19  S Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2020 Best Countries Overall
The Best Countries in the World
n/c No.3 Japan, No.5  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand,
No. 15 China, No. 16 Singapore , No. 20  Korea,
No.22 UAE , No.25  India,  No. 26  Thailand,
No. 30  Qatar
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey failed No. 3 Japan, No.8  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 21  Singapore,  No. 25 India
2018/2019 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy failed No.5 Japan, No. 10 Australia, No. 18 NZ, No. 20 S. Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey failed No. 4 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 22 Singapore, No. 24 India
2017/2018 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy failed No.6. Japan,  No. 8. Australia,  18. NZ,  No. 20 Singapore, No. 21 S. Korea,  No. 25.  China
2016/2017 Monocle's
Soft Power survey
failed No. 3 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 20 China,  No. 23 Singapore, No. 24 India
2015/2016 Monocle's
 Soft Power survey
failed No. 4 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 21 China,  No. 23 Singapore
 

 

 

 

  According to a survey of 2020, Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea No. 9 on "enterprise",  Japan ranks No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement", Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No any Asian country ranks top 10 on "education" and "govt."
 

Best Countries overall in 2020:  1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan  4 Germany  5  Australia  6  UK  7 USA  8 Sweden  9 Nederland  10  Norway  11 NZ  12 France  13 Denmark  14  Finland  15 China  16 Singapore  17  Italy  18  Austria  19 Spain  20  Korea  21  Luxembourg   22 UAE  23  Russia  24 Portugal  25  India  26  Thailand  27  Greece  28  Brazil  29  Israel  30  Qatar  31  Saudi Arabia   32 Malaysia   33 Mexico  34  Poland  35  Turkey

 

 

 

Bloomberg CovID Resilience Ranking    2021-10-28

Quality of Life (Asia & Pacific )

Economy Rank community mobility% GDP growth forecast% universal health care
UAE 3 -0.2 2.3 63
Saudi Arabia 15 -11.1 2.4 64
Singapore 39 -20.7 6.5 92
Hong Kong 21 -5.4 6.7 -
mainland China 28 -7.8 8.2 70
S. Korea 14 3.6 4 89
Japan 16 -11.1 2.4 96
Australia 30 -19.2 3.8 89
New Zealand 32 -12.7 5.3 83
Taiwan 47 -10.9% 6 79

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/

 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2022-1-6, 2021-10-12, 2021-10-6, 2021-10-3, 2021-9-18, 2021-9-6, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-7-15, 2021-7-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-22, 2021-6-14, 2021-6-3, 2021-5-26, 2021-5-14 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventure /  The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust

US News : usnews.com/news/best-countries/adventure-rankings

Asia Rank 2021

country of Asia-Pacific

world rank 2021

world rank 2020
1 Thailand 5 5
2 New Zealand 7 7
3 Australia 8 10
4 Philippines 17 17
5 Singapore 18 25
6 Malaysia 25 29
7 Japan 28 34
8 Indonesia 32 35
9 Vietnam 40 38
10 India 41 40
a study by George Washington University placed adventure tourism into three categories: physical activity, cultural exchange and interaction with the environment.

 

 

 

Travel and Tourism Index by country in Asia

worldatlas.com/articles/51-best-travel-and-tourism-countries-in-the-world.html

Asia Rank

country

index score

1 Australia 4.98;  7th
2 Japan 4.94;  9th
3 Singapore 4.86  ; 11th
4 Hong Kong 4.68; 13
5 New Zealand 4.64; 16
6 China 4.54; 17
7 UAE 4.43;  24
8 S. Korea 4.37; 29
9 Taiwan 4.35; 32
10 Thailand 4.26; 35
factors: business environment, security, health and basic sanitation standards, labor and human resource,
cultural heritage, natural resources, air transport infrastructure

 

 

 

International tourism receipts /  Asia-Pacific countries

international tourism: data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL

Asia Rank

country of Asia-Pacific

receipts  US$ million '19

1 Thailand 60521
2 Japan 46054
3 Australia 45709
4 Macau 40060
5 China 35832
6 India 30720
7 Hong Kong 29043
8 S. Korea 21628
9 Singapore 20052
10 Malaysia 19823
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

further more info.: worlddata.info/tourism.php

 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-15, 2021-10-3, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-6-2020, 11-9-2020

 

 

 

 

                                
   pic. :  This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan" on MetaGER of Europe at 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-1,  2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 10-11-2020, 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-17-2020, 12-31-2019, 12-18-2019, 10-23-2019    (3 items above are advertisements);No.2 at 2022-6-18;
    pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Excite, 2022-3-4, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020, 12-05-2019 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 US News & World Report 2021,  Asian countries' world influence top 30 rankings  

Cultural Influence No.5  Japan   No. 7  S Korea   11. China  12. UAE   15. Singapore  16. Australia   19. NZ  22. Thailand    25. India Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion
Quality of Life 6. Australia   10. NZ   13. Japan  16. Singapore  18. S Korea   23. China   24. UAE    28. Malaysia   29. Thailand Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well
Heritage 6. India   7. Thailand    10. Japan   12 China   23. Australia  25. Vietnam  26. Indonesia   28. NZ A deep vein of history courses through these countries
Adventure 5. Thailand   7. NZ   8. Australia  17. Philippines   18. Singapore  25. Malaysia  28. Japan popular travel destinations to fulfill your wanderlust
Agility 2. Australia   5. Singapore  6. S Korea   7. Japan   9. NZ  13. China  21. UAE   27. Qatar  30. India adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive
Open for business 6. NZ   11. Malaysia  12. Australia   14. Singapore   17. Thailand   20. Sri Lanka   21. Vietnam   22. Indonesia   25. Philippines  26. Japan market-oriented countries
Social Purpose 1. Canada  2. Denmark  3. NZ   4. Sweden  5 Nederland  6. Norway   7. Finland  8. Australia  9 Swisss   10. Austria   11. Germany  12. Belgium   13. Ireland  14. UK  15. France  16. Portugal  17. Italy  18. Spain   19. US   20. Japan Residents of certain countries can often come together to support certain causes they feel strongly about: human rights, the environment and  freedom
www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings

 

 

 

 

Times Higher Education ,  World University Rank 2021 

ranks Taiwan China Korea Hong Kong, Macau Singapore Japan
1~70  
20   Tsinghua University Beijing
 

23  Peking University Beijing
 

 

70   Fudan University Shanghai

 

 

 60   Seoul National University Seoul


 

 
39  University of Hong Kong

56  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
 
56  Chinese University of Hong Kong

 

25   National University of Singapore
 
47   Nanyang Technological University

 

36  University of Tokyo
 

 

54  Kyoto

University

 

70~100  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

97   National Taiwan University

(台灣大學)


 

87  University of Science and Technology of China Anhui

 

 

94   Zhejiang University Zhejiang


 
100   Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai

 


 
89   Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Seoul

 

 

 

96  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon

 

 
 

 

   
Times Higher Education ,  World University Rank 2021 

 

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2021/world-ranking#!/page/3/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

 

 

 

 

 


Taiwan's university rankings in Asia, 2020

Times High Education ,  World University Rank 2020 
 

  ranks Taiwan China Korea Hong Kong, Macau Japan Singapore
1~100  
23   Tsinghua University Beijing
 

24  Peking University Beijing
 

 

80  University of Science and Technology of China Anhui

 

 64   Seoul National University Seoul
 
 89   Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) Seoul

 

35  University of Hong Kong

47  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
 
57  Chinese University of Hong Kong

 

36  University of Tokyo
 

65  Kyoto
University

 

 

25   National University of Singapore
 
48   Nanyang Technological University

 

100~200 120   National Taiwan Univ. (台灣大學)
107   Zhejiang University Zhejiang
 

109   Fudan University Shanghai
 

144  Nanjing University Jiangsu
 
157   Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai

 

110  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Daejeon
 
146  Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) Pohang
 
179  Korea University Seoul
 

197  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) Seoul

 

126  City University of Hong Kong
 
171  Hong Kong Polytechnic University
 

 

   
200~300   251 ~ Sun Yat-sen University Guangdong  201–250   Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) Ulsan
 
 
251-300 Tohoku University
 
251-300 Tokyo Institute of Tech.

 

 
300~400  351–400  National Tsing Hua University (清華大學)

 

 

351–400  Taipei Medical University


301–350  Beijing Normal University Beijing
 
301–350  Huazhong University of Science and Technology Hubei
 
301–350  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) Guangdong

351–400  Nankai University Tianjin
 

301–350  Kyung Hee University Seoul
 
351–400  Hanyang University Seoul

 

301–350 

University of
 Macau

 
301-350
  Osaka University
 

 

301-350
  Nagoya University


 

351-400 
University of
Occupational
and Environmental Health

 

PS: population comparison (~ 2018) :
HK 7.45 million  ,  Singapore 5.63 million, Macau  630 thousands
 

Taiwan 23.78 million,
more than the total num. of the 3 above

 


QS 2020 Asia universities top 15 rankings :

1. National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore  2.Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)  3. The University of Hong Kong 4. Tsinghua University, China  5. Peking University, China  6.  Zhejiang University, China 7. Fudan University, China 8. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 9.  KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology  10. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)  11. Seoul National University, Korea  12. Korea University  13. The University of Tokyo, Japan  13. Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia  15. Kyoto University, Japan

subtotal number : Singapore ( 2 ), Hong Kong ( 3 ), Japan ( 2 ),  Korea ( 3 ), China ( 4 ), Malaysia ( 1 ), Taiwan ( 0 )

 

   In <Nature Index> ,  "2019 Tables: Institutions,  

about 32 universities in China, 8 universities in Korea, 6 Hong Kong universities, 9 univ. in Japan,
2 universities in India, 2 in Singapore, one in Saudi Arabia 
ranked higher than all Taiwan's

Taiwan's higher education

 

 

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27

 

 

 

  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-9-16, 2021-8-3, 2021-8-1, 2021-7-8 

 

 

 

              
 pic. :  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Webcrawler, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11,  2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-8-4, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-19-2021,10-3-2020, 8-13-2020
 

 

 

 

            

  pic. left:  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on StartPage ( Dutch search engine  ), 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2,  2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-6-2021

  pic. right:  No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on EntireWeb ( Swedish search engine  ), 2022-2-8, 2021-11-11, 2021-10-23, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-1, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-6-2021

 

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on QWANT ( most well-known French search engine  ), 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

 

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo search engine , 2021-9-26, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-6-2020, 11-9-2020

 

 

 

             
 pic. left:  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Baidu ( largest search engine in China  ), 2021-4-14, 2-20-2021,1-19-2021, 8-13-2020
 pic. right:  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo Taiwan, 2022-2-8, 2021-11-10, 2021-10-8, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-19, 2021-9-7, 2021-8-22, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Mocrosoft Bing, 2021-10-21, 2021-10-8, 2021-10-2, 2021-9-27, 2021-9-23, 2021-9-7,  2021-8-22, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-27, 2021-6-2, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-14, 3-23-2021,  3-8-2021, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 1-1-2021, 12-12-2020, 11-28-2020, 11-11-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-1-2020, 9-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 8-2-2020

 

 

 

           

  pic. left:  The site-group was ranked No. 1 by  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-4-14,
2021-4-3, 2021-3-26, 3-8-2021, 02-25-2021  

  pic. right:   The site-group was ranked No. 1 by  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 01-24-2021  

 

 

 

              

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, Dec. 6, 2020, 11-11-2020, 10-10-2020 

 

 

 

                   
   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 11-9-2020, 11-1-2020, 10-30-2020, 10-10-2020

 

 

 

 


  pic.:   No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2021-8-22, 2021-5-9, 2021-5-1, 2021-4-26, 2021-4-17 

 

 

 

 

    

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 01-01-2021, 12-20-2020  

 

 

 

 

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 12-12-2020, 11-24-2020, 11-16-2020, 11-14-2020

 

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 10-10-2020, 10-3-2020, 7-1-2020

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 8-13-2020, 7-1-2020, 6-19-2020
 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 10-3-2020,
 9-1-2020, 8-28-2020

       

 

  No.1 "comment Taiwan" on Yippy (IBM), 2021-4-14, 2-20-2021, 1-19-2021, 10-3-2020,  8-13-2020, 1-18-2020, 12-05-2019 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Bing, 10-1-2020, 8-13-2020, 4-26-2020

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ASK, 10-11-2020, 4-26-2020, No.2 at 10-3-2020, 8-13-2020

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Japan Excite, 10-11-2020, 8-13-2020, 5-19-2020


  pic.  : No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 8-13-2020, 6-12-2020, 5-19-2020, 1-10-2020

   Top  "comment Taiwan" on Yahoo search engine, 4-26-2020


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 5-11-2020

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 5-10-2020

 

 

 


  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on US Google, 2-28-2020, 2-5-2020, 1-16-2020, 1-11-2020, 1-10-2020

 

 

 
   pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on Yahoo search engine at
2-28-2020, 1-17-2020, 12-31-2019, 12-18-2019, 11-27-2019 
This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan" on ASK at  1-18-2020, 8-24-2019 , 9-24-2019

 

 


   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 1-11-2020, 1-10-2020

 

 
   
 

 

          
  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 1-10-2020
  
No. 1  "comment Taiwan" (Chinese version) on ecosia of Europe (Berlin Germany), 1-10-2020

   No. 1  "comment Taiwan" on Google, 1-4-2020 (test in Taipei)

 

 

           
 


 pic.: No.1 "comment Taiwan" on US Google,   11-11-2019 

 

 This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at
 9-22-2019, 9-24-2019 

  This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at
 9-19-2019   9-11-2019
 


 

   No. 1 on Google by keyword "comment Taiwan"  ,
 1-5-2018, 12-10-2017, 11-1-2017,  , 5-29-2017,1-1-2017

 

 

 

   pic.:  This website was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China
 by keyword "comment Taiwan", both in English and Chinese,  at 
1-30-2018

 

              home

 

 ps: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on US Google at 6-27-2019  (test at Taipei city gov., TW) 

 

 

  This website was ranked No.1,2, 3 on MetaGER of Germany
 by keyword "comment Taiwan" at 
1-30-2018, 7-2-2019