‘TROJAN HORSE’ SCHEME: The comment that a bridge would allow China’s PLA to easily launch an attack shows ‘a lack of backbone,’ Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said
Critics accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of being oblivious to national security concerns after he proposed constructing a bridge to link Kinmen and China’s Xiamen (廈門). Ko, who is also the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, made the proposal when presiding over the opening ceremony of the party’s office in Kinmen on Saturday. He said the bridge could solve Kinmen’s population, electricity and garbage problems, as well as serve as a shortcut for leaving or entering Taiwan without traveling via Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport). He also proposed building a hospital in Kinmen to attract people who are seeking medical treatment in
OVER THE HUMP: In a seven-day period ending on Wednesday, the nation reported 366,628 new cases, down 19 percent from the 451,358 reported in the previous week
The nation might further open up to more arrivals in the next two months, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 48,283 new local COVID-19 cases, down from more than 50,000 in the previous few days. Taiwan on Wednesday last week introduced a plan to allow up to 25,000 arrivals per week as part of efforts to gradually reopen borders, which includes reducing mandatory quarantines for inbound travelers from seven to three days, followed by four days in “self-initiated epidemic prevention.” The quota covers inbound Taiwanese arrivals, businesspeople and migrant workers. Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is monitoring Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ship movements near Taiwan, after the Japanese Ministry of Defense disclosed that Chinese vessels made a rare voyage between Yilan County and Japan’s Yonaguni. The Japanese ministry on Wednesday said that two Chinese navy ships on Tuesday diverted from their usual route of entering the Pacific Ocean via the Miyako Strait and for the first time traveled there between Yilan and Yonaguni. The Japan Self-Defense Forces said that it picked up the presence of China’s Type-056A Jiangdao-class corvette 220km north of Yonaguni at 9am on Tuesday. The
CECC UPDATE: Officials said the definition of a confirmed COVID-19 case has been revised to include those who are positive in a PCR home test confirmed by a doctor
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that it would probably list monkeypox as a category 2 notifiable communicable disease today or tomorrow. The WHO is to convene an emergency committee meeting today in accordance with the International Health Regulations to discuss whether the spread of monkeypox to 39 countries, including 32 non-endemic countries, constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. On Tuesday, the Singaporean Ministry of Health confirmed its first imported case of monkeypox, which is also the first case reported in Southeast Asia. South Korea yesterday reported its first confirmed case of monkeypox — a South Korean national who
DRAFT SENATE NDAA: The US’ policy would be to maintain its armed forces to deter China from using military force to unilaterally change the ‘status quo’ with Taiwan
Both houses of the US Congress have made progress on their respective drafts of an annual defense policy bill — the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — that includes provisions to strengthen defense-related engagement with Taiwan. In the US Senate, the Armed Services Committee on Thursday said that it had passed a draft version of the NDAA for fiscal year 2023 in a bipartisan 23-3 vote and had sent it to the full Senate for consideration. A summary released by the committee said that the draft bill would require engagement with Taiwanese officials to develop and implement a multi-year plan for the
China’s chip industry is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, after US sanctions on local champions — from Huawei Technologies Co (華為) to Hikvision Digital Technology Co (海康威視) — spurred appetite for homegrown components. Nineteen of the world’s 20 fastest-growing chip industry firms over the past four quarters, on average, hail from the world’s No. 2 economy, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. That compared with just eight firms at the same point last year. Revenue at China-based suppliers of design software, processors and gear vital to chipmaking is increasing at several times the pace of global leaders Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co
‘HIDDEN GEM’: The city earned plaudits for its low crime rate, world-class healthcare system, cheap cost of living and easy public transportation
Taipei has been named the 10th best city in the world for quality of living in an annual survey by the editors of Monocle, a UK-based global affairs and lifestyle magazine. The survey, which is to be published in the magazine’s July/August issue, selected the world’s top 25 cities based on factors including cost of living, retail, hospitality, culture and access to green spaces, as well as feedback from Monocle correspondents. Taipei’s 10th place finish was one place down from a year earlier. The survey ranked Copenhagen as the world’s best city, with Zurich, Lisbon, Helsinki and Stockholm rounding out the top five.
In addition to Chinese and English, Chunghwa Post Co’s (中華郵政) ATMs now offer user interfaces in Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai and Japanese, the postal company said yesterday. Chunghwa Post last year began to revamp the user interfaces of its more than 3,000 ATMs nationwide to include four more languages following a suggestion by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱). The company has ATMs all over the nation and should take the lead in offering a multilingual user interface, Chung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee. Taiwan is now home to approximately 670,000 migrant workers, including 237,000 from Indonesia, 234,000 from
PAYOLA PROPAGANDA: Using streamers to spread false information is a new tactic, as outside forces often sponsor a particular group through businesspeople, a minister said
The Ministry of Justice has become aware of “external forces” paying Internet streamers to make false statements in an attempt to influence November’s nine-in-one elections, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said yesterday. Tsai made the remarks in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), the contents of which were aired yesterday. The ministry is continuing to monitor such behavior and would strive to combat cognitive warfare tactics, he said. Attempts to influence Taiwanese politics by giving Internet personalities and streamers money and having them spread false information is a new tactic, Tsai said. “External forces have been known
Five hundred days after being infected with COVID-19, only 30 percent of 260 people studied retained a sufficient number of antibodies to protect them from future infections, a study commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control found. Of the 30 percent, those with the highest number of antibodies had either been vaccinated after recovering from the disease, or had experienced severe symptoms, the centers said, adding that based on the findings, it recommends that people who have had COVID-19 still get vaccinated. The centers commissioned National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to perform the study using data from Jan. 22, 2020 to
Taiwan yesterday reported its first case of monkeypox, a man who recently returned from Germany. On Monday, four days after his return, the man developed a fever, a sore throat, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes and a rash, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in a statement. He sought medical attention two days later, and his case was reported to the CDC as a suspected monkeypox infection, the CDC said, adding that his test results returned earlier yesterday. The man, who had been studying in Germany, is quarantining in hospital, the agency said. The health conditions of five listed contacts — three medical
GLOBAL STRATEGY: Indo-Pacific alliances need reinforcement to prevent Chinese occupation of Taiwan, which would threaten Japan, Hawaii and Australia, Pompeo said
The US should officially recognize Taiwan as a free, independent nation and establish official diplomatic ties, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Friday. Every US president since Harry Truman has considered Taiwan’s existence to be of utmost importance to US national security, Pompeo said. Taiwan is a principal US partner in technology and economic matters, and if China were to capture Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, it would severely hamper the US economy, Pompeo said. Should China occupy Taiwan, it would severely weaken US influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its surrounding areas,
The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee yesterday passed its version of the US annual defense policy bill — the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023 — which includes provisions for enhancing military ties with Taiwan. The committee passed the draft bill in a 57-to-one vote early in the morning, following 16 hours of debate. A draft of the bill released by US Representative Adam Smith on Monday said it would reiterate that the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances” form the cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Beijing’s rising hostility toward Taipei contravenes the principle that the future of Taiwan
The passage of a US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft through the Taiwan Strait on Friday was aimed at countering China’s claims to the waterway and its “systematic expansion” in the region, local military experts said. The flight of the maritime patrol reconnaissance plane was a response to China’s assertion that the Taiwan Strait is not international waters, Institute for National Defense and Security Research analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said. It was also aimed at countering the expansion of China’s military presence in the region, for example its aircraft incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) and warships sailing through waters claimed
NO COMORBIDITIES: The girl died of encephalitis, the sixth COVID-19-related death of the disease this year and 19th death of a child from the virus, the center said
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 52,213 new domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases and 171 deaths from the virus, including a four-year-old girl, who had been diagnosed with encephalitis, and a 19-year-old man, who had underlying health conditions. “The caseloads are usually higher on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but they [yesterday] fell 7.3 percent from the day before,” Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Chuang, who is the CECC’s spokesman, said that most cities and counties reported a drop in new cases, and the CECC expects fewer than 50,000 new cases today. The center said that 150 of
CHINA CONCERNS: Support of Taiwan would show democracies in the Indo-Pacific that the US would protect the interests of its allies, US Senator James Risch said
US President Joe Biden should enhance cooperation with Taiwan to counter China’s attempts to seize control of global trade, US lawmakers said at a tech forum in Seattle this week. The event, titled “New Horizon: Taiwan-US Cooperation on the NextGen Digital Technology,” was organized by the US-based National Bureau of Asian Research think tank and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto diplomatic mission to the US. The Biden administration should do more to bolster ties with Taiwan, which is a key US partner in the research and development of next-generation technologies being menaced by China, US Senator James
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced the establishment of a national ship model testing center in Kaohsiung, saying the move “shows the Taiwanese will to defend their country to the world.” The indigenous shipbuilding program — one of the Tsai administration’s signature defense initiatives — was conceived to bolster the nation’s military strength and shipbuilding industry, she told an event marking the center’s founding at Kaohsiung Software Technology Park. Taiwan’s five-decade-old shipbuilding industry is esteemed worldwide for the quality of its ships, which now range from motorboats to large cargo ships and warships, she said after noting the importance of Kaohsiung to
A US government spokesperson again called on Beijing to cease military intimidation of Taiwan after the Chinese military on Tuesday sent 29 military aircraft into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the third-highest single-day total this year. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure, and intimidation against Taiwan,” a spokesperson of the US Department of State, who asked not to be named, told reporters in an e-mail response when asked to comment on the latest incursions. “We have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We will continue to assist Taiwan
As Taiwan is facing global crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is again time to take stock. In terms of public health, Taiwan has made it through the COVID-19 challenge quite well. By combining masking, vaccinations and border controls, it has achieved a sufficiently protective herd immunity and is expected to end quarantine requirements for incoming travelers by the end of the summer. What about Ukraine? Here, Taiwan must assess four key players in its region. The first is Russia, which must be seen as a developing enemy. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Ukraine declared
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