Radio Taiwan International
Date: 27 November, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua says it will not be feasible to label shipments of imported US pork based on whether they contain the additive ractopamine. Wang’s remarks came during a report to the Legislature on Friday morning. 

Taiwan is set to ease import restrictions on US pork containing ractopamine on January 1. In recent weeks, the government has been seeking to finalize rules regarding the import, distribution, and sale of US pork.     [FULL  STORY]

Mothership
Date: November 28, 2020
By: Julia Yeo

The PlayStation 5 (PS5) was officially launched on Nov. 12, 2020 in a select few countries including Singapore, and was released in the rest of the world on Nov. 19, 2020, excluding Indonesia, China, and South America.

The PS5's sales were met with overwhelming success, with fans all over the world trying to get their hands on it, due to the limited stock at launch.

Taiwan man sold PS5 off after wife found out it wasn't an air purifier

A man from Taiwan shared his encounter with a PS5 reseller in a Facebook post on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/280
By:  Central News Agency

More than 60,000 people took part in the 11th Kaohsiung Pride parade — the largest crowd in its history — under the theme of "We! Around You!" in the southern city Saturday, according to the organizers.

The parade began at around 2 p.m. in front of Dayi Park in the city's Yancheng District and marched along Dacheng Street and Wufu 3rd Road, across the Love River, before making a loop back to the starting point.

The city government also showed its support by raising rainbow flags at its Siwei and Fongshan offices.

Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) posted a Facebook message with a photo of a city initiative to paint a pavement at the Pier-2 Art Center in rainbow colors, saying that "love and tolerance is one of the most beautiful things about Taiwan."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11./28/2020
By Emerson Lim and Chen Yun-yu

Taipei, Nov. 28 (CNA) The United States will work with Taiwan to deal with "pressing challenges" in the post-COVID-19 era, focusing on health, prosperity, security and democracy, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said on Saturday.

Christensen made the statement in a keynote speech titled "U.S.-Taiwan Partnership in a Changing World" at a forum that discussed the trend of de-globalization due to the pandemic.

"The U.S. launched an effort earlier this year to partner with Taiwan in supply chain restructuring," Christensen said, pointing out the risks of relying too much on a single country for critical materials that have come to light as a result of the pandemic.

Christensen said the restructuring focuses on diversifying and bringing supply chains closer to the end-user, ensuring that countries like China do not hold supply chains hostage for political purposes, and collaborating with like-minded partners to develop new supply chains based on shared values, standards and practices.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 26 November, 2020
By: Paula Chao

Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua says the government will investigate why Taiwan’s state-run oil group sold a 35% stake in an African oil field to a Chinese enterprise. Wang was speaking Thursday.

The oil group is called CPC Corporation, Taiwan. The group has found an oil field in the African country of Chad, and an initial shipment of 950,000 barrels of crude oil from the field is due to arrive in Taiwan in early December.

However, it has been reported that the group sold a 35% stake in the field to a Chinese enterprise with ties to the Chinese military back in 2016. That was before the then opposition DPP took power from the KMT.      [FULL  STORY]

Newsweek
Date: 11/26/20
By: John Feng

The mayor of Taiwan's third-largest city has warned Beijing not to underestimate the island's will to defend itself, after a Chinese official admitted Wednesday that the regime was preparing a watch list of pro-independence supporters.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai called for more "mutual respect," saying the actions of the Chinese leadership would only cause further "dislike" for Beijing among the island's 23 million inhabitants.

"China must understand Taiwan's determination for national security and self-defense," Chen said. "So don't underestimate us."    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News 2020 list of restaurants and hotels in Taipei that serve Thanksgiving dinners

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/26
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — For those longing for a Thanksgiving dinner in Taipei in 2020, including turkey with all the fixings, Taiwan News has created a list of restaurants and hotels that offer either dine-in opportunities or Thanksgiving hampers for carrying out.

Many places require reservations in advance, so one should move quickly before all the spots are gobbled up as Turkey Day nears.

Prices for the meals vary greatly from one establishment to another. On the list of venues below, the approximate cost for a Thanksgiving spread will be indicated by the number of dollar signs in parenthesis: $ for NT$490-$799; $$ for NT$800-$999; $$$ NT$1,000-$2,000 $$$$ for NT$2,001+
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/26/2020
By: Yu Hsiang, Liu Kuan-ting, Liu Chien-shen and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday released a five-point plan for the regulation of American pork products, in an effort to ease public concerns over residues of the livestock drug ractopamine, before Taiwan opens its market to such imports from the United States next year.

At a Cabinet meeting, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the measures will allow the government to closely supervise imported pork "from Customs to the kitchen" and to safeguard the health of the Taiwanese people.

First, American slaughterhouses and meat processing plants that are exporting to Taiwan for the first time will be required to obtain authorization from Taiwanese health authorities, pending on-site inspections, Su said.

When the various products arrive at Taiwan Customs, they will be assigned new Commodity Classification Code numbers to make it easier for the government to track the origin and domestic distribution of the product, he said.    [FULL  STORY]