Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 November, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Su-ao, an urban township in northern Taiwan, is well known for its seafood restaurants and cold springs. This weekend, the Hakka community there hopes to revive an old tradition.

Firecrackers are blasted off at the start of a Hakka cultural festival because in the old days, they were thought to ward off wild animals and bad luck. This year, the Su-ao town is reviving the old tradition by holding an event offering lots of delicious local food, traditional crafts and arts.
[FULL  STORY]

Lawfare
Date: November 17, 2020
By Sean Quirk

An uptick in Chinese military activity around Taiwan and China Coast Guard presence at the Senkakus have kept the region on edge. Beijing seems keen to use military action short of war to test both maritime boundaries and the patience of officials in Taipei, Tokyo and Washington. Such a “shadowboxing” strategy is consistent with long-standing Chinese efforts that began at least in 2012 to “win without fighting” in the South and East China Seas. But the strategy is hardly novel, as it is a core premise in Sun Tzu’s Art of War: “to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” Resistance from Taiwan, Japan and the United States, however, shows little sign of breaking.

Fortress Taiwan

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held a large-scale military exercise in the provinces bordering Taiwan to simulate an island invasion on Oct. 10, coinciding with Taiwan’s National Day. The exercise demonstrated joint integration among China’s military branches and featured drones, special forces and airborne troops. A video released by Chinese state media depicted live-fire rocket launches and a nighttime amphibious landing. The same day, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a speech urging the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to engage in peaceful dialogue with the island nation. In addition to increased PLA live-fire exercises around Taiwan, PLA aircraft have continued to violate Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ)—airspace in which Taiwanese authorities identify, locate and control inbound aircraft—despite repeated protests from Taipei. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reports that nearly 40 days of PLA ADIZ incursions have occurred since mid-September.

Apart from shadowboxing PLA aircraft, Taiwan has been encountering another intruder: Chinese sand thieves. Civilian vessels from mainland China have reportedly been converging on Taiwan’s Matsu Islands (Mandarin: Mǎzǔ Lièdǎo) to extract sand, sometimes appearing in numbers of 400–500 Chinese vessels. The islands are more than 100 nautical miles from Taiwan but only 10 nautical miles from the mainland Chinese province of Fujian. Whether the Chinese vessels are dredging sand for commercial purposes or as an intimidation tactic is unclear. One Taiwanese analyst found the action analogous to the ADIZ incursions as a PRC gray zone tactic—coercive aggression below the threshold of war to exhaust Taiwanese resources responding to incursions. Taiwan has confiscated at least six Chinese sand dredgers this year, before fining the operators or selling the ships. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration also posted a video in October of one of its vessels using a water cannon to drive away a Chinese sand dredger.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese universities, government agencies scramble to address rising death toll

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/17
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The death of a young man on Tuesday (Nov. 17) marks the sixth suspected suicide incident involving a college student in Taiwan in the past nine days, prompting university administrators and government agencies to scramble for answers.

On Tuesday, a male National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) student was found to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, marking the sixth probable suicide attempt and fifth death by apparent suicide since a National Taiwan University (NTU) student plunged to her death on Nov. 9. In response, Taiwan Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) urged all schools to connect more closely with students in need of counseling.

According to statistics from suicide hotline Taiwan Lifeline International, there were 570,000 calls last year, but only 190,000 were connected. This connection rate of just 33 percent means the missed call rate is alarmingly high. Legislators are now calling on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to address the issue and conduct a review.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/17/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) Taiwan ranked No. 20 in the World Talent Ranking for 2020 released last week by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), maintaining its ranking from the 2019 version of the annual report.

In Asia, Taiwan ranked behind Singapore (9th) and Hong Kong (14th), but was ahead of China (40th), South Korea (31st) and Japan (38th).

Worldwide, Switzerland, Denmark, and Luxembourg are the top three performers this year, followed by Iceland and Sweden, according to the report published on Nov. 12.

The report is based on three factors: investment and development of home-grown talent; appeal — the ability of the country to tap into the overseas talent pool; and readiness — the availability of skills and competencies in the talent pool.    [FULL  STORY]

MEMORIAL SERVICE: President Tsai spoke at a service at Chihhang Air Base to honor captain Chu Kuan-meng, who died after ejecting from his F-5E on Oct. 29

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 18, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

An air force F-16 jet went missing off the east coast of Taiwan last night, and search and recovery operations were ongoing as of press time, the Ministry of National Defense said.

The F-16 disappeared from radar screens at 6:07pm 9 nautical miles (17km) northeast of Hualien Air Base, two minutes after taking off from the base as part of a nighttime training exercise, the ministry said.

The F-16, serial number 6672, was piloted by Colonel Chiang Cheng-chih (蔣正志), it said.

A National Rescue Command Center statement said that a Black Hawk helicopter and Coast Guard Administration vessels had been dispatched to the area to locate the aircraft and its pilot.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/15/2020
By: Flor Wang and Chen Yun-yu

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) A Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine military aircraft and another Y-8 surveillance plane flew into Taiwan's southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) Sunday, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

In response to the incident, which has become an almost daily occurrence in recent months amid escalating cross-Taiwan strait tensions, Taiwan's Air Force scrambled jets to chase off the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings and mobilized air defense systems to monitor their movements, the MND said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

EXPLORING OTHER OPTIONS: As the RCEP free-trade deal is led by China, Taiwan would find it challenging to join the partnership, the foreign ministry said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 16, 2020
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Lin Liang-sheng / Staff reporters

Taiwan would strive to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as it would be challenging for the nation to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) given China’s dominance in the latter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The RCEP was signed by 15 Asia-Pacific nations on the last day of the virtual ASEAN summit yesterday, becoming the world’s largest free-trade agreement.

The 15 nations are the 10 ASEAN members — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — and Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Taiwan would find it substantially difficult to join the RCEP, as it is led by China, the ministry said, adding that, as such, Taiwan’s main goal regarding regional economic integration is to push for participation in the CPTPP.    [FULL  STORY]

NZME
Date: 14 Nov, 2020
By: Jamie Seidel

For the first time in 40 years, Taiwan has confirmed a contingent of US special forces is on the island to train its troops.

It's a move that could escalate tensions with Beijing.

A statement from Taiwan's Naval Command is the first time such high-level military co-operation has been admitted in decades, reports Taiwan News.

Groups of US special forces attending annual joint training operations in the small democracy is nothing new. What is new is the acknowledgment of the arrangement.

"This marks the first public confirmation of US military exchanges involving US Marines in Taiwan since the cessation of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the United States in 1979," the national news service reports.    [FULL  STORY]

Island's success the result of staunch commitment to democratic ideals

OPINION

Nikkei Asia
Date: November 15, 2020
By: Daniel Twining

Dr. Daniel Twining is president of the International Republican Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that supports democracy. He formerly served as a member of the U.S. State Department's Policy Planning Staff and as the foreign policy adviser to U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated trends toward authoritarianism and instability, it was clear that the Asia-Pacific region would face a crisis of democracy in 2020.

How would countries weather the strain on democratic institutions by strongmen who reject pluralism and bristle at criticism? Would nations that rely upon aid from the major powers continue to seek partnerships with Western democracies, or succumb to China's increasingly aggressive campaign of authoritarian influence?

These questions have only become more pressing as states struggle to cope with the governance challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, and as China exploits the chaos of its own making to undermine political independence in Hong Kong and beyond.
[FULL  STORY]

MOFA thanks global community for speaking up against Taiwan’s WHA exclusionTaiwan News
Date: 2020/11/14
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday (Nov. 14) that Taiwan has received heightened support from countries around the world for its request to join the World Health Assembly (WHA).

In a statement, MOFA mentioned the strong international support for Taiwan's inclusion in global health conversations during the 73rd WHA meetings in May and November. It said 14 countries requested the World Health Organization (WHO) grant Taiwan approval to attend WHA with observer status.

MOFA said Taiwan's diplomatic allies, including Nauru, Eswatini, the Marshall Islands, and Honduras, praised the "Taiwan model" and defended it against Chinese representatives. It added the U.S. Ambassador in Geneva, Andrew Bremberg, presented a three-minute video to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom to highlight Taiwan's importance in the global management of the coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from the WHA session, several world leaders have openly supported Taiwan's request to join the WHO this year, said MOFA. These include former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo and Health Secretary Alex Azar, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, German Deputy Foreign Minister Niels Annen, and British Minister of State Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.    [FULL  STORY]