Op Ed

Film award snub is an opportunity lost

The mainland movie industry not taking part in Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards denies the opportunity to win the hearts of film fans across the strait

South China Morning Post
Date: 10 Aug, 2019

Amid growing political tensions in the run-up to Taiwan’s elections, the movie industry on the mainland will not take part in the island’s Golden Horse Award, dubbed the “Chinese-language Oscars”, in November. This is in line with the escalating pressure from Beijing following the ban on individual travelling to the self-ruled island.

. But the opportunity to win the hearts of many who follow mainland movies across the strait, upon which mutual understanding and acceptance could be built to foster constructive political discourse and beyond, will also be lost.The prestigious award ended on a sour note last year, with mainland actors and actresses snubbing the after-ceremony dinner in response to the 

pro-independence remarks made by an award-winning Taiwanese director [2]

 in her acceptance speech. The situation was further compounded by a social media post by the independence-minded leader Tsai Ing-wen, dismissing the 1992 consensus that there is only one China.

With Tsai gearing up for re-election in January, stepping up criticism against the mainland and using Hong Kong’s turmoil for scoring political points, Beijing may think it needs to toughen the stance accordingly. But the boycott and travel ban come with a price. The travel ban is estimated to cut visitor numbers by as many as 700,000 over the next six months, amounting to NT$28 billion (HK$7 billion) in lost revenue.

While the damage inflicted on the island’s economy cannot be ignored, the mainland travel industry is expected to suffer as well. In the case of the film award, the damage appears to be even more one way. Not only does it hurt the professional pride and honour of mainland moviemakers and performers, the platform to win the hearts and minds of the Taiwan public is also lost.    [FULL  STORY]

OPINION: Taiwan Should Treat Huawei as a National Security Threat

The News Lens
Date: 2019/08/08
By: David Evans

Photo Credit: CNA

Huawei's low-cost economic benefits are no longer sufficient for Taiwan to overlook the security risks it poses.

If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can find one silver lining to the Hong Kong protests which continue to dominate international headlines on a weekly basis, it is that the Huawei story has been pushed out of the public eye.

But it is only a matter of time before the issues around Huawei rear their heads again.

Since 2018, United States President Donald Trump has levied tariffs on Chinese products and prompted the CCP’s retaliatory measures. While the world increasingly focuses on the U.S.-China trade war, Huawei is caught in between the two superpowers. The China-based company has taken the global spotlight this year, largely due to major data security flaws in its 5G products.

5G services have started to roll out around the world. Huawei, the world’s largest manufacturer of telecommunications technology, would expect to take an important role in the global development of the new network infrastructure. However, the Chinese company’s close ties to the CCP have made many western countries reluctant to integrate their technology into a risky piece of infrastructure.
[FULL  STORY]

OPINION: Cigarette Smuggling Scandal Reveals Problems in Taiwan’s Bureaucracy, Not Politics

While the media and politicians attack the Tsai administration for the cigarette smuggling scandal, it is best to remember that the problem lies within Taiwan’s deep-rooted bureaucracy.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/07/25
By: Milo Hsieh

Photo Credit: CNA

On July 22, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) stood up against the National Security Bureau (NSB), one of Taiwan’s most powerful intelligence agencies.

During a press conference, Huang alleged collusion between the NSB and China Airlines and asked, “How is it possible for that many cigarettes to be purchased legally when one could not even see cigarettes on China Airlines’ preflight duty-free website?”

Having conducted the investigation himself and tipped off several law enforcement officials, Huang revealed an attempt by NSB members to smuggle over NT$6 million (US$200,000) worth of cigarettes into Taiwan.

According to Taipei Times, NSB official Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) ordered 9,200 cartons of cigarettes via China Airlines, then hid them in the airline’s duty-free storage at Taoyuan International Airport. Returning from a recent state trip to the Caribbean with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Wu attempted to abuse his security clearance to bypass Taiwanese customs but was arrested at the airport.    [FULL  STORY]

Worsening US-China conflict presents grave challenges for Seoul

Diplomatic impasse

The Korea Times
Date: 2019-06-096
Opinion

Tension is growing between the U.S and China following news reports that the Trump administration is challenging Beijing’s one-China policy.

According to the latest news reports, the U.S. Department of Defense categorized Taiwan as a “country” in its “Indo-Pacific Strategy Report” released last week. It is feared that the wording could signal Washington’s plan to abandon its longtime adherence to the one-China policy. The report named Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand and Mongolia, as countries that “contribute to U.S. missions around the world” and referred to them as “reliable capable and natural partners.”

Another sign of the grave U.S.-China situation can be seen in their differences over reports that the U.S. plans to sell weapons worth $2 billion to Taiwan, including tanks.

Beijing has expressed serious concerns over this issue.     [FULL  STORY]

30 years after Tiananmen massacre, Taiwan shows another way for China

CNN
Date: April 15, 2019
By: Margaret Lewis and Jeffrey Wasserstrom

(CNN)Thirty years ago Monday, the most important Chinese mass movement of the last half-century began when Beijing students gathered to mourn Hu Yaobang, a reformist official.

Soon, massive crowds calling for change were converging on the central plazas of dozens of Chinese cities. On May 20, the government imposed martial law in Beijing, whose Tiananmen Square was the site of the largest rallies. Two weeks later, on June 4, the movement ended after soldiers fired on unarmed civilians on the streets of the capital.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has ruled the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since its founding in 1949, has never allowed an official investigation into the killing. The massacre’s death toll remains unknown, but at least several hundred civilians and perhaps ten times that were slain.

Thanks in part to the iconic photo of the “Tank Man” standing up to the armed might of the CCP, June 4 is famous around the world, but discussion of what happened on 6/4 — known as liusi in Chinese — remains heavily censored in China and public mourning of the victims is forbidden.

This concerted effort to blot out memory of a 30-year-old event is not unprecedented, and there are parallels in the handling of an earlier massacre across the Taiwan strait. This one, known as 2/28, took place in 1947 in Taipei, the largest city and capital of Taiwan, which is officially known as the Republic of China (ROC).

For decades, the Nationalist Party (KMT) whose soldiers carried out the 2/28 massacre prevented official investigation of the bloodshed. The size of the death toll thus remains uncertain, though it is believed to be between several thousand and 25,000.
In 1977, 30 years after 2/28, the KMT continued to ban all discussion of the event.

In 1977, Taiwan was still, like today’s PRC, under one-party authoritarian rule.
A key reason the memories of the 1947 massacre threatened the KMT in 1977 and memories of the 1989 massacre threaten the CCP now is that, in each killing, soldiers touted as benevolent defenders of the people behaved like brutal invaders.
Today however, Taiwan is a democracy, and 2/28 is marked nationwide as Peace Memorial Day. What can we learn from the similarities between the massacres — and that the KMT eventually apologized for 2/28?    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese ship to bring back new South China Sea data

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/04/01
By: Tsai Peng-min and Chi Jo-yao

Photo courtesy of Taiwan Ocean Research Institute

Taipei, April 1 (CNA) Taiwan’s largest research vessel will bring back extensive oceanographic and meteorological data on the South China Sea when it returns to Taiwan on Tuesday after completing its first research voyage, the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) said Monday.

NARLabs’ “RV Legend” will arrive at Anping Harbor in Tainan after a 25-day trip aimed at collecting data on the evolution of the sea’s basin, the formation of tsunamis, and the weather of the Western Pacific Ocean, according to an NARLabs statement.

The ship collected data on the sea’s mid-ocean ridge, magmatic activity, and underwater boundary between the Earth’s crust and mantle that will offer “unprecedented and high-quality scientific data” on why the sea’s floor stopped splitting apart some 15 million years ago, the NARLabs said.

Another aspect of the ship’s research was capturing data on a 4,000-meter mountain in the middle of the ocean using a multi-beam echo sounding system that generated a digital underwater terrain model.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s elections show it is a ‘beacon of democracy’

The Washington Post
Date: December 2, 2018
By: Letters to the Editor

The results of Taiwan’s Nov. 24 local elections, the equivalent of the midterm elections in the United States, demonstrated Taiwanese citizens’ ability to express their will freely and peacefully at the ballot box [“Taiwanese president to quit party leadership after wins by pro-China rivals,” The World, Nov. 26].

In an Oct. 4 speech, Vice President Pence pointed out that “America will always believe that Taiwan’s embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people.” Indeed, Taiwan’s emergence and resilience as a “beacon of democracy” at the forefront of a giant authoritarian neighbor is one of the great political success stories by all accounts. As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted in an unequivocal message after the elections: “The United States congratulates Taiwan on another successful round of free and fair elections. Your hard-earned constitutional democracy is an example for the entire Indo-Pacific.”

Working with like-minded trade and security partners such as the United States, with shared values of democracy, the rule of law, a market economy and human rights, Taiwan will continue to strive to assure a better and brighter future in the international community.

Stanley Kao, Washington

The writer is the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.
[SOURCE]

Taiwan’s Democratic Model

The government writes that its voters cherish the right to vote.

The New York Times
Date: Dec. 6, 2018 

The new American Institute in Taiwan under construction in Taipei in May.CreditCreditIsaac Lawrence for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Yi-Zheng Lian sounds a cautionary note in “China Preys on Taiwan’s Openness” (Op-Ed, Nov. 29), worrying that if Taiwan falls to the Chinese Communists, Hong Kong “could be next.”

It may have escaped Mr. Lian’s notice, but Hong Kong’s fate was sealed in 1997 when it was handed over to the Chinese Communists, and notwithstanding the promises made to allow the colony some degree of autonomy, Beijing’s heavy hand has continued every year to close into a fist, breaking those promises, bit by bit, almost since the handover itself.

Taiwan’s voters are pragmatic, and their hard-earned democracy allows them to vote incumbents failing to serve their interests out of office. The right to vote is also something that Taiwanese people deeply cherish and are willing to defend.

Taiwan recognizes the threat of disinformation campaigns and is developing countermeasures to strengthen transparency. To think that Taiwan would so easily let go of its freedom is a mistake.    [FULL  LETTER]

OPINION: The Races to Watch at This Weekend’s Taiwan Elections

What to watch for at the polls this Saturday.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/11/19
By: By Lauren Dickey, The Interpreter

Credit: Reuters / TPG

On Saturday, the people of Taiwan will head to the polls to cast ballots for more than 11,000 officials. Taiwan’s citizens will vote for the mayors of the “big six” special municipalities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Also up for election are 13 county commissioners, about 900 councillors, 56 indigenous district representatives, nearly 2,300 local representatives, and over 7,700 borough wardens.

Despite the scale of candidates and positions in this year’s local elections, Taiwan’s domestic political environment is unlikely to change overnight. Much like midterm elections in other democracies, these elections are a barometer for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under President Tsai Ing-wen and a prelude to presidential and legislative elections in 2020.

This year’s elections are likely to provide a clearer sense of how satisfied the general public is with the DPP.

The local elections are the first test for the DPP since it stepped into power following the 2016 presidential and legislative elections. This year’s elections are likely to provide a clearer sense of how satisfied the general public is with the DPP. Domestic issues – ranging from the economy to marriage equality and energy supplies – are likely to influence how the people of Taiwan choose to vote.    [FULL  STORY]

As I See It: In sticking it to Taiwan, it’s been a busy summer for China

telegram.com 
Date: Sep 2, 2018
By: Don Feder

It’s been a busy summer for China – thinking up new and exotic ways to attack Taiwan, the neighbor over which it absurdly claims sovereignty. For Beijing, nothing is too petty in this regard.

The mandarins of the People’s Republic targeted Taiwan on three fronts.

On April 25th, China’s Civil Aviation Administration ordered international airlines to remove all references to Taiwan from their websites, unless it was designated part of Mainland China. They were given 90 days to comply or face unspecified penalties. The White House called the demand “Orwellian nonsense.”

The airlines did Beijing’s bidding. The last week in July, those that fly to Taiwan (including American, United and Delta) told Beijing they would toe the party line.

Now, you can no longer fly to Taiwan or its capital city, Taipei. Instead, you can go to “Taiwan, China” or the “Taiwan Region of China” or “Taipei, China” (none of which actually exist), perpetuating the myth that when you go to Taipei, you’re traveling to a city in the People’s Republic of China.

In reality, Taiwan was governed from the Mainland for, at most, four of the last 123 years, from the end of World War II to the end of China’s civil war. It was never part of the People’s Republic. The seat of its government is Taipei, not Beijing. Its president and legislature are democratically elected, not appointed by the Communist Party. Its people are among the freest in Asia, not subjects of a government in which they have no say.
[FULL  STORY]