Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/23/2020
By: Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, June 23 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday called on Taiwan's military to remain vigilant in the wake of frequent incursions by Chinese Airforce planes into the nation's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the past few weeks.

In her address during a conferral ceremony where she promoted 20 senior military personnel, the president said China continues to pressure Taiwan militarily by increasing the frequency with which it sends military aircraft and vessels to operate near the nation's waters and airspace.

The armed forces need to closely monitor the waters and airspace around the country to keep the nation safe, she added.

Tsai made the comments a day after two Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's ADIZ on Monday for a second day in a row and the sixth time in seven days.    [FULL  STORY]

E-nternational Relations
Jun 22 2020
By: Saber Salem

Over the past two decades, there has been an unprecedented growth and expansion in the level and magnitude of Sino-Taiwan aid competition in the Pacific region. The two Asiatic economic giants have been appropriating colossal sums of their aid funds to the developing and least developed island nations for diplomatic recognition. It is believed that it will not take long for China to overtake Australia as the largest creditor to the region after it “committed to spending more than four times as much as Australia” (Lyons, 2018). In 2017, China pledged US$4 billion to the island nations for high visibility infrastructure projects across the region (Lyons, 2018). Taiwan has equally been persistent in its pursuit of diplomatic recognition to garner international support through aid diplomacy.     

The Sino-Taiwan rivalry goes back to 1950s when the US intervened in Taiwan Strait following the Korean War and prevented the complete Chinese takeover of the island nation and annexing it to mainland China. Enjoying support from the United States, Taiwan continued  to compete with China for diplomatic recognition globally (Atkinson, 2010). The Republic of China (ROC) enjoyed the luxury of occupying the UN Seat. In 1971, however, ROC lost the UN Seat to People’s Republic of China (PRC) by failing to gather enough international support and backing. The US and its allies also recognised PRC in a bid to isolate the Soviet Union. Thus, the US reduced its level of cooperation with Taiwan and increased it with China. The US also encouraged its allies Japan and Germany to engage more with China, so much so, that during 1970s Japan was China’s biggest foreign aid donor constructing airports, seaports, railways, roads and hydropower dams (Nowak, 2015).

Furthermore, as the UN permanent seat and veto right was bestowed upon PRC, Taiwan fought back and intensified its diplomatic competition with China by providing development aid to cash-starved countries around the world in return for diplomatic recognition. This Sino-Taiwan diplomatic soft war coincided with the wind of decolonisation that was sweeping through the developing and underdeveloped world. The newly independent nations were in desperate need for foreign assistance to address their burgeoning socio-economic needs. Bearing that in mind, China and Taiwan both started pumping aid for diplomatic recognition to the newly de-colonised nations around the world particularly to the small island nations of the Pacific. To Taipei’s dismay, Beijing had an upper hand over Taiwan because of it's "U(N Leverage".    [FULL  REPORT]

isinfo about the government’s handling of the outbreak risks derailing the public health response

Medium
Date: Jun 22, 2020

As part of our effort to broaden expertise and understanding of information ecosystems around the world, the DFRLab is publishing this external contribution. The views and assessments in this analysis do not necessarily represent those of the DFRLab.

Since COVID-19 broke out in Taiwan in late January, a surge of disinformation has emerged surrounding the current status of the outbreak and the government’s management of it. Social media posts and messages have spread claims that the Taiwanese government is covering up the number of coronavirus infections in the country. The number of purported cases in these posts range from a daily increase of a couple of hundred to several thousand. According to latest statistics from Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of June 22, 2020, there have been 446 confirmed infections and seven deaths.

Main disinformation narratives circulating in Taiwan

Disinformation in Taiwan regarding the coronavirus outbreak has typically targeted the government’s handling of it, alleging that the coronavirus is out of control in the country or that public health officials are concealing the number of cases.    [FULL  STORY]

Indian spring 'festival of colors' held in Taipei on Sunday

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/22
By:  Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Due to its extraordinary handling of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), Taiwan on Sunday (June 21) was the only country so far this year to hold a Holi festival, and proceeds from the event will go to efforts to fight the disease in India.

The festival, hosted by Mayur Indian Kitchen (MIK), was titled "Taipei Holi2020 @ Thanking Taiwan for Helping India Charity Event" and took place at Taipei's Dajia Riverside Park. Although the event usually sees 800 attendees, delays caused by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and the scorching hot June weather led to a smaller turnout of 130 this year, according to organizers.

At the festival, attendees from more than 20 nations enjoyed food, drinks, music, dance, watercolors, and cultural performances, according to the organizer and owner of MIK restaurants, Mayur Srivastava. "Most importantly (there is) a COVID-19 free environment because of the wonderful efforts by the various bodies of the Taiwan government to contain the virus."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/22/2020
By: Yeh Kuan-yin and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, June 22 (CNA) Apple Daily Taiwan, one of the country's major Chinese language newspapers, announced Monday plans to lay off 140 employees or 13 percent of its total workforce, in the wake of falling revenue over the past few months due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The daily newspaper, known for its sensationalist reporting, said in a press release that layoffs will be staggered, without providing a time table.

The paper said 75 of the layoffs will be in its sales and administrative departments while the remainder will come from the editorial teams for its print and online news section.

Calling the decision "heartbreaking," the company pledged to lay off employees in accordance with Taiwan's Labor Standards Act.    [FULL  STORY]

The KMT's proposed revision of its policy toward China misses the point. Taiwan has largely moved on from the KMT's basic approach towards China.

The News Lens
Date: 2020/06/20
By: Hiro Fu

The swift downfall of Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu was only the most recent setback for the Kuomintang (KMT) in 2020. After appearing ascendant in the 2018 elections, the party lost both the presidential and parliamentary elections to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in January, and watched on the sidelines as credit for Taiwan’s successful Covid-19 response redounded to the DPP.

A poll conducted by the Taiwan Brain Trust in April estimates that less than 10 percent of Taiwanese believe that the KMT best reflects citizens’ personal political ideologies. This sense of crisis is the context for the KMT’s new proposal on the 1992 consensus. 

But the proposal doesn’t address the crux of the KMT’s unpopularity: its continuing fixation on cross-strait discourse, while Taiwan has largely moved on. 

The background: 1992 consensus

The KMT’s cross-strait policy has in recent years rested on the 1992 consensus, which refers to the idea that there is an understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in which each side acknowledges “one China,” but allows each party to provide its own interpretation of what China refers to.    [FULL  STORY]

Primate killed one man after booze dried up, will spend rest of life in zoo 'prison'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/21
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An alcoholic monkey in northern India India has been sentenced to life behind bars after going on a rampage and injuring 250 pedestrians when his supply of booze ran out.

According to Liberty Times, the six-year-old pet monkey, Kalua, received a life sentence of solitary confinement at India's Kanpur Zoo earlier this week after he indiscriminately attacked people across the Mirzapur district, resulting in one death. Many of the victims, primarily women and girls, had to have plastic surgery to repair the bite wounds left by the simian.

Local authorities said Kalua was formerly owned by an "occultist" who routinely supplied him liquor to drink, which turned him into an alcoholic. They said the monkey became very aggressive three years ago when his owner died and left him no avenue to acquire more alcohol.    [FULL  STORY]