Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/06/2020
By: Yang Sz-ruei and Elizabeth Hsu

Photo courtesy of a bystander[/caption] Tainan, Dec. 6 (CNA) A pickup truck carrying a firecracker firing machine and firecrackers burst into flames during a religious procession in Tainan, southern Taiwan on Saturday, with police retrieving the body of an eight-year-old girl from the vehicle after firefighters extinguished the blaze.

If Taiwan is to succeed in its digital strategy, there needs to be a fundamental mindset shift toward investing in Taiwan’s industries and citizenry.

The Diplomat
Date: December 05, 2020
By: Roy Ngerng.   

Taiwan’s government is in the process of setting up a new digital ministry in order to spur the development of the digital industry, with the supposed aim of integrating the various digitalization strategies of multiple existing agencies and streamlining their implementation. Among Taiwan’s key digitalization strategies is the Digital Nation and Innovative Economic Development Program (DIGI+) 2017-2025, which aims to “drive [the] industry to adopt digital development,” “realize a fair and active internet society with equal digital rights,” and “bridge the digital divide in rural areas.”

However, while these objectives are commendable, Taiwan has its work cut out for it.

Does Taiwan’s Wealth Inequality Impede Digital Adoption?

For one, Taiwan still pales in comparison with the other advanced countries in terms of internet access – Taiwan’s mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 population ranked only 23rd globally in 2019 while fixed-broadband internet subscriptions per 100 population ranks 46th. The percentage of internet users among the adult population in Taiwan ranked 14th. This is by no means low – internet users comprise 92.8 percent of the population in Taiwan as compared to 95.9 percent in South Korea, 94.7 percent in the Netherlands, 89.7 percent in Germany, and 84.6 percent in Japan. But in Taiwan, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector ranks as the largest in the world as a share of GDP (and in fact saw the fastest growth in the value added to GDP between 2010 and 2017). In monetary terms, Taiwan also ranks as having the ninth largest ICT sector globally. In addition, Taiwan’s export market share in the computer, electronics, and optical industry ranks among the world’s largest as well (Taiwan’s exports comprise 5.58 percent of global exports, as compared with the United States’ 7.26 percent and South Korea’s 6.76 percent). That raises a question as to why there exists a disparity between Taiwan’s production capabilities versus individual access.    [FULL  STORY]

Boost for Taiwan tech firms as Chinese buyers shun products made-in-America and order more display panels to make smartphones, notebook PCs and television sets

AsiaTimes
Date: Dec 06, 2020
By: Ralph Jennings

(ATF) Taiwan, a global hub for high-tech hardware manufacturing, has already become a refuge from the Sino-US trade dispute and a new place for Chinese buyers to source semiconductors as Beijing and Washington spar over access to US technology.

Now China is giving Taiwanese tech firms another boost as they shun made-in-America: a run on orders for display panels to make smartphones, notebook PCs and television sets.

In October, companies in China placed 68.5% of the $2.27 billion in total orders for a Taiwan export category headlined by displays, Taiwanese government data show. China’s orders for the month went up 15.8% compared to October a year ago so they could manufacture devices for telework worldwide.

Chinese electronics builders had been ordering from Taiwan for years and gotten their parts as well from Samsung Display and BOE, which is based in Beijing. Chinese smart-phone giants and Taiwanese manufacturers with China factories are among the takers.    [FULL  STORY]

For those who lose phone signals in the mountains, dial 112, which can connect to emergency services

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/060
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Two men were found dead on Friday (Dec. 4) and Saturday in separate incidents after they went solo mountaineering early this week.

Hsinchu County Fire Bureau said that it received a request for help on the night of Nov. 29 from the family of a 64-year-old man surnamed Chien (錢). The relatives reported that Chien went to climb Nalo Mountain in Hsinchu County alone, but he did not return home as scheduled the same day, according to CNA.

Search teams consisting of firefighters, volunteers, and Hsinchu Forest District Office staff immediately began looking for Chien in the area he was suspected to have gone missing.

The fire bureau said that after several days’ search, Chien was found dead in a forest under the summit of Nalo Mountain on Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

SCIENCE CONFERENCE: China has become powerful within UNESCO, and it is shameful to see the organization constricting Taiwanese scientists, a member of a think tank said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 07, 2020
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwanese are to be excluded from participating in all UNESCO-affiliated events, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) has confirmed, sources said yesterday.

The confirmation came after Taiwanese researchers — some at institutions abroad — had their applications to join a conference last month rejected.

The ICTP — an organization run jointly by the Italian government and UNESCO — is holding a virtual conference on quantitative biology, which began on Monday last week and runs until Friday next week.

Registration for the conference was open until Nov. 15, but Taiwanese at various institutions around the world posted on Twitter and elsewhere over the past week that their applications had been rejected.    [FULL  STORY]

Bloody-Disgusting
Date:  December 5, 2020
By: Mike Wilson

Talk about flying under the radar. Netflix today has released the first episode of their adaptation of Red Candle Game’s Detention. The series, based on Red Candle Games’ 2017 horror adventure game, is the first Mandarin series collaboration by Netflix, which teamed up with the Taiwanese broadcaster Public Television Service to bring it to life.

Just to be clear, this series is a separate entity entirely from the 2019 movie directed by John Hsu. The Netflix series uses an entirely new cast, and each episode has been given a run time of 60 minutes.

And yes, for traditionalists, Netflix is staggering the release of each episode to coincide with Public Television Service’s broadcasts.     [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: December 5, 2020
By: Frank Fang

TAIPEI, Taiwan—About 5,400 people from all walks of life gathered in Taipei’s iconic Liberty Square on Dec. 5, in an annual tradition known as character formation that shines a light on an ongoing persecution in China. 

Dressed in yellow, blue, or white, the participants were separated into groups before they filed orderly to sit on their allocated mats that matched color. These mats were arranged to make up a large composition, with an image of a book called “Zhuan Falun” at its center. Zhuan Falun is the main book of teachings for the spiritual practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. 

The book sat above a lotus flower. Above and below this image were nine traditional Chinese characters, which read, “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance are Good.” The three values are the core principles of Falun Gong. 

Above the Chinese characters were multiple yellow strips, representing rays of light. 
[FULL  STORY]

Joe Biden adviser Stanley McChrystal says Chinese missiles have changed the game

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The United States is running out of time to counter China’s military rise and prevent an attack against Taiwan, according to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden adviser and retired General Stanley McChrystal on Friday (Dec. 4).

In an interview with news website Axios, the former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan warned of China’s military capacity. He said the PLA has strengthened more rapidly than generally assumed and Biden should not be complacent about the threat.

Time is running out for the U.S. and its allies to try and prevent China from seizing Taiwan, he said. “My concern would be, we wake up one morning and China has just done a fait accompli. They have just showered Taiwan with rockets,” he told Axios.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/05/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Dec. 5 (CNA) Two Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes entered Taiwan's southwest Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that day.

Taiwan's Air Force responded by scrambling planes and deploying air missile defense systems to monitor the Chinese aircraft, in addition to issuing radio warnings until the PLA planes left the area, the MND said.

The Chinese planes included one Y-8 anti-submarine plane and one Y-8 tactical reconnaissance aircraft, according to the ministry.

It was the fourth such incursion this week, the MND said.    [FULL  STORY]

FERRIED BY BUSES: The Taiwan Railways Administration said it expects to clear the railway line of debris on Tuesday at the earliest, as long as there are no new landslides

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 06, 2020
By: Cheng Wei-chi and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

About 30,000 people yesterday were diverted to intercity buses after a landslide in northeastern Taiwan the day before damaged a railway line and resulted in disruptions to services provided by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).

The TRA said it is continuing to liaise with bus companies and hopes to increase the number of trips to expedite the transportation of passengers.

The landslide deposited 3,800m3 of rock, dirt and debris onto a section of tracks between Rueifang (瑞芳) and Houtong (猴硐) stations in New Taipei City at about 9am on Friday, disrupting transportation.

One train traveling near the site barely avoided running into the towering mound of debris, stopping about 30m from where the side of a hill alongside the tracks had collapsed, after being alerted by TRA staff monitoring the area, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]