The most troubling message coming out of Washington for Taipei is not any single statement but the cumulative effect of a series of signals suggesting that US President Donald Trump is rethinking Taiwan’s strategic value while viewing the US-China relationship through the lens of a transactional great-power bargain. The danger behind Trump’s new softness toward Beijing is a potential US-China bargain that undermines Taiwan’s core interests. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) recent state visit to Washington, Trump and Xi appeared to rewrite the history of World War II. In a Sept. 25 fact sheet on Xi’s visit, the White House said,
There was a moment, in 2015 or 2016, when Tulum was the coolest town on Earth. Every fashion magazine seemed to billboard the beach retreat on Mexico’s turquoise-water Caribbean coast as a mecca for global trendsetters. “Tulum style” came to describe a distinctive aesthetic — flowing fabrics, linen and crochet, neutral colors, bare feet, traditional craftsmanship — that blended rustic-chic, environmentalist and free-spirit ideals into the boho-luxe look of the moment. This effervescence bubbled to a peak in July 2018, when Vogue put modeling queen Gisele Bundchen on its cover, photographed in Tulum’s tropical forest in a printed floral Ralph
High-tech manufacturing in India, backed by billions of dollars in government subsidies, has attracted cheerleaders and critics. Optimists point to Apple Inc’s decision to build an alternative supply chain to hedge against China. A quarter of all iPhones now roll out of factories near Chennai, employing tens of thousands. Skeptics counter that much of this manufacturing is mere final assembly — screwdriver work that adds little value. The fact that a much smaller economy such as Vietnam exports more merchandise shows that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative remains more hype than reality, they said. One way to settle
With the local elections six weeks out, local daily news and talk shows are being filled with candidates’ campaign events, remarks, interviews, poll numbers, analysis and even fortune tellers making predictions for election results. However, the outcome is still ultimately decided by each citizen’s vote on election day. The Taipei mayoral election has become a focus of attention this year, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) rapidly gained support in an unconventional campaign, sparking a media sensation. Taipei has about 2 million eligible voters, and with a general turnout of about 70 percent, approximately 1.4
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