NON-TYPICAL: Apart from Atsani, storms in autumn missed Taiwan, rainfall has been lower and average temperatures have been higher, a CWB forecaster said

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 25, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

The current water shortage is expected to worsen in the next few months, with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday forecasting a colder, dryer winter than normal.

With winter starting next week, the bureau at a media briefing outlined the expected conditions through February and reviewed autumn’s significant weather events.

Weather Forecast Center director Lu Kuo-cheng (呂國臣) said that autumn this year had three major characteristics:

First, 13 tropical storms and typhoons formed from September to this month, up from 11 in the same period last year, Lu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 23 November, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan is a model for countries hoping to combat fake news while at the same time maintaining their democracy. She spoke about Taiwan’s experience during the opening ceremony for the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats’ (CALD) 13th General Assembly, on Monday. 

President Tsai was speaking in her capacity as Chair of the Democratic Progressive Party. 
FULL  STORY]

USNI News
Date: November 23, 2020
By:: Mallory Shelbourne

China’s foreign ministry says it’s planning a response in protest of a U.S. Navy admiral’s reported trip to Taiwan.

“The Chinese side will, according to how the situation develops, make a legitimate and necessary response,” said Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, as reported by Reuters.

Reuters reported over the weekend that Rear Adm. Michael Studeman, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s intelligence directorate, went to Taiwan for an undisclosed trip.

The Defense Department declined to comment on the visit and China’s potential response in a statement to USNI News.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese man celebrates 23rd birthday tied to pole dance jeep

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/23
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over the weekend, video surfaced showing a bizarre birthday ritual involving a man being tied to a pole dancing jeep in southern Taiwan.

Instead of the standard pole dance performance for a wedding or funeral, a young man appears to have been "kidnapped" to take part in an elaborate birthday parade. At 9 p.m. on Saturday evening (Nov. 21), a male user of the Facebook group Baoyuan Commune (爆廢1公社) posted a video with the caption "My poor friend is having his birthday and he was tied to a pole dance jeep. He's just now finally passed Tainan's Dawan Road."

In the video, a scantily clad woman in a halter top, skintight shorts, white stalkings, and white high-heel shoes can be seen standing on the roof of a jeep while grasping a pole in one hand and a microphone in another. She can then be heard saying, "I'd like to first apologize to tell all our friends at the scene if we're disturbing you, I'm sorry! But you only celebrate your 23rd birthday once! Let's join together and help him have a birthday he'll never forget!"

She then called on bystanders to join in, exclaiming, "Can you all shout happy birthday with me? One, two, three … Happy Birthday … Yeah!" Next in the frame appears a man standing motionlessly as he is tied tightly with what appears to be several layers of plastic wrap to a dance pole on the trailing jeep, followed by at least two more jeeps with pole dancers at the ready.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/23/2020
By: Yeh Su-ping and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) hosted the first consultation meeting to discuss Taiwan's "2030 Bilingual Country" policy on Monday, during which she hoped the English proficiency of Taiwanese could improve over the next decade.

In a speech at the closed-door meeting, released afterwards by the Presidential Office, Tsai said mastering English is important for Taiwanese to talk about Taiwan and its values in the international community.

People should be more connected to the world, now that the international community has noticed the presence of Taiwan and the values it represents because of its success in stopping the spread of COVID-19, Tsai said.

Making Taiwan bilingual by 2030 is a policy initiated by Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in 2018 when he served as premier. In June that year, Lai specified the "2030 Bilingual Country" plan as a major national policy.    [FULL  STORY]

PATH TO DISRUPTION: Local government leaders are China’s gateway to influencing the nation, and a lack of oversight gives Beijing an opportunity, a campaigner said

Taipei Times
Date: ov 24, 2020
By: Chen Yu-fu and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Civic groups yesterday urged legislators to create councilor-at-large seats in local governments to attract more young people to local leadership positions and to root out party cronyism.

The long-standing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) system of partisan clientelism, of which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is also guilty, must be given up to allow room for local talent and smaller parties, Economic Democracy Union president Lin Hsiu-hsin (林秀幸) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

The nation cannot keep allowing party factions to run local governments, she said, calling on legislators to amend the Local Government Act (地方制度法) to allow for councilor-at-large seats, without changing the overall number of seats.

The nation’s local governments are its testing ground for democracy, but also its Achilles heel, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 20 November, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

A nice juicy A5 wagyu steak might be the most decadent slab of meat there is, but it’ll probably break the bank. “Move over, wagyu!” says Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture. Taiwanese farmers have developed a cheaper and similar premium beef alternative. The secret? Feeding cattle sweet potatoes.

Taiwan produces 200,000 metric tons of sweet potatoes annually, but 20% never make it to market because they’re not up to standard. Throwing out the imperfect product is just plain wasteful. That’s why Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture has stepped in to do something about trashing the tubers. By mixing probiotics into the sweet potatoes and incorporating them into cattle feed, Taiwan has produced beef with marbling and taste that rivals USDA Choice beef from America. Some beef is even good enough to be classified as USDA Prime!   [FULL  STORY]

American B-52 Bombers + Quickstrike Mines=Bad news for China if it tries to invade Taiwan.

The National Interest
Date: November 20, 2020
By: David Axe 

Here's What You Need To Remember: Dispersing B-52s across a wider area could help to protect them from attack. It’s not for no reason that the Air Force in recent years has begun sending B-52s to the Australian air base in Darwin.

China steadily is building up the forces it could deploy in an attempted invasion of Taiwan. The Chinese navy is acquiring aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships while the Chinese army and marine corps add modern fighting vehicles and the air force trains for intensive air-to-air combat.

But in crossing the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese invasion fleet would face not only Taiwanese forces, but probably Americans forces, as well. The United States is obligated by law to assist in Taiwan’s defense. A U.S. Air Force wing commander in August 2019 revealed one form U.S. intervention could take.

Bombers. Dropping mines. Lots of them.    [FULL  STORY]

Non-profit says vaping, HTP businesses running rampant amid lax government control

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/20
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The authorities have been called upon to enforce a crackdown on heated tobacco product (HTP) shops in Taipei, which some fear could have a detrimental effect on younger Taiwanese.

The John Tung Foundation (JTF), a non-profit organization promoting the public’s wellbeing, raised alarms that an American tobacco company has opened a HTP shop in Xinyi District. The move is a blatant challenge to the country’s bid to tighten tobacco controls as an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act is pending legislative review, it said.

The proposed amendment seeks to expand the scope of smoking bans, raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 20, and prohibit electronic cigarettes (vapes), however HTP products will only be subject to regulation, not entirely banned. This has drawn the ire of anti-smoking groups, which insist all non-traditional tobacco merchandise should be forbidden.    [FULL  STORY]