• With increased cross-strait tensions, doubts have been raised about the future of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement
• Given that Taipei has benefited greatly from the trade pact, particularly during Covid-19, such a change would harm Taiwan’s economy and could endanger its de facto independence0

South China Morning Post
Date: 1 Jan, 20212
By: Jingbo Hua

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) has been the basis of economic collaboration between mainland China and Taiwan since it came into effect on September 12, 2010. However, as the 10-year anniversary of the agreement loomed this year, there was speculation that it could be terminated, especially given the decline in cross-strait relations under Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Surprisingly, both parties remained silent amid the rumours until mid-September, when a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council in Beijing said the agreement would be smoothly implemented as long as cross-strait relations develop peacefully. Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan said all signed agreements remained effective.

In other words, Beijing and Taiwan are not willing to alter the status quo.

In 2010, Ma Ying-jeou, then Taiwan’s president, explained that under the ECFA, Taiwan’s exports to mainland China would not be restricted by high tariffs any more, and Taiwanese investments and intellectual property in mainland China would be protected. Ma also promised that the ECFA would not open Taiwan’s market to labourers and more agricultural products from mainland China.    [FULL  STORY]

Taichung mayor openly criticized pork imports in meeting scheduled as private

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A video by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) looking back at the year featured many Taiwanese politicians but not Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), Taiwanese media noted Thursday (Dec. 31).

The Kuomintang (KMT) mayor recently had a run-in with AIT Director Brent Christensen, Washington’s top representative stationed in Taiwan, about the opening up of Taiwan to pork from the United States that has been treated with the leanness drug ractopamine. The government’s decision to lift a ban on the pork starting Friday (Jan. 1) has caused health concerns, with KMT politicians organizing protests and a petition drive for a referendum.

During their Dec. 16 meeting, Lu told Christensen directly about her opposition to the pork policy, a move which was condemned as ill-mannered and provocative by the mayor’s critics. The encounter had originally been scheduled as private, but the mayor unexpectedly opened it up to the media, the Liberty Times reported.

In the new video posted on Facebook Thursday, the AIT director was seen meeting with numerous senior Taiwanese politicians from all major parties, including New Taipei City’s KMT Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) but not Lu.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/31/2020
By: Lin Chang-shun, Liu Shih-yi and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) Taiwan's Constitutional Court on Thursday declared that current laws allowing convicted sex offenders to be held in a designated facility for therapy after completing their sentence are "mostly constitutional."

However, the court ruled it "unconstitutional" that the laws do not give convicted sex offenders a chance to express their opinion before making them undergo inpatient treatment after completing their prison term.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) should also ensure such therapy is undertaken as a form of rehabilitation rather than a punishment, it said. Currently the only such facility in Taiwan is inside Taichung Prison.

The court instructed the ministry to make adjustments to the current process within three years to protect the rights of ex-convicts.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 01, 2021
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

A rally in Taipei tomorrow in support of US President Donald Trump is planned by a coalition of pro-Taiwanese independence groups, who yesterday said that they would urge him to make a visit to Taiwan.

At a media briefing outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, members of the groups thanked the Trump administration for its support of Taiwan in the face of Chinese threats, holding placards that read: “We thank President Trump, protect Taiwan’s democracy.”

Preparatory Office of Autonomous Formosa Detached Territory of Japan secretary-general Tseng Ching-yuan (曾勁元) urged people to join the rally.

“Trump is a real friend and a big benefactor of Taiwan,” Tseng said. “So at this critical time, we should have a mass turnout to show our gratitude and give him support — and to safeguard Taiwan at the same time.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Iternational
Date: 30 December, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The Central Epidemic Command Center says that Taiwan is working to purchase 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and that vaccinations could begin as soon as March.

Taiwan has ordered over 4.7 million doses from COVAX and an additional 10 million from AstraZeneca. Health authorities are also in talks with a third vaccine maker, as well as with a number of companies with vaccines that are already in third-stage clinical trials.   [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: December 30, 2020
By: Vivian Hsiao

As Taiwan aims to become a bilingual nation in 2030, many cram schools and educational institutions are gearing up to meet the new requirements.

A Taiwan expat who recently came across an English cram school advertisement, however, pointed out many mistakes in a local promotion ad. This left him to wonder whether Taiwan will truly succeed in achieving its goal in ten years' time.

In a Twitter post, the English cram school ad showed a Caucasian teacher talking to a group of elementary-aged students in a supermarket, with the caption, “English using at the mall, outing with fun we learn more!”

Aside from the apparent misuse of the word “mall,” which usually refers to an “indoor shopping centre anchored by department stores,” the grammatical errors were also ridiculed by the foreigner who added a “face with tears of joy” emoji to the post.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/12/31
By  Taiwan News

(Taiwan News image)[/caption] TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As 2020 draws to a close, Taiwan News looks back at stories that made global headlines this year.

From the outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, to the California wildfires, the world entered the 2020s with a bang. We have compiled a list of 21 of the year's most newsworthy events to be remembered on the eve of 2021.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 12/30/2020
By Chang Hsiung-feng, Worthy Shen,
Yeh Chen and Chung Yu-chen

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Low-lying areas across Taiwan on Wednesday recorded their lowest temperatures this winter, with the arrival of a cold front, and the mercury is expected to drop further in the early hours of Thursday, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The weather station in Fugui Cape, New Taipei, registered a temperature of 7.7 degrees Celsius at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the coldest among the 18 weather stations in low-altitude areas where the season's lows were recorded, CWB forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said.

He forecast that the mercury will drop further late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, falling to around 6-8 degrees in northern and eastern Taiwan, with low-lying areas near mountainous areas seeing temperatures of 1-2 degrees. In central and southern Taiwan, temperatures of 9-10 degrees can be expected, Lin said.

As the cold front enveloped Taiwan, rime ice was seen Wednesday on trees in Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan, including in Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area, which is about 1.9 kilometers above sea level.    [FULL  STORY]

BELATED: South Korea would be the fair’s guest nation of honor, as originally planned for this year’s event, which was moved online due to COVID-19, the organizers said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 31, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Nobel Prize in Literature winner Kazuo Ishiguro and Stephenie Meyer, author of the famed Twilight series, are to hold virtual talks at the Taipei International Book Exhibition next month, the event’s organizers said yesterday.

The two writers are among the 46 international authors who are to address audiences via videoconferencing or prerecorded speeches, Taipei Book Fair Foundation director Wang Hsiu-yin (王秀銀) said.

In a prerecorded video Meyer would on Jan. 31 discuss her new book Midnight Sun, which tells the love story of the two main characters in the series from the male perspective, Wang said at a news conference.

Meanwhile, 2017 Nobel laureate Ishiguro, whose bestselling books include The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, would also appear in a prerecorded video address, Wang said, adding that the author is slated to speak on Jan. 30 on the subject “Creating with Humanity.”
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 29 December, 2020
By: Paula Chao

The Legislature has passed revisions to 38 laws to enable people who are 18 years old to exercise their civil rights and civic duties quicker. The move came after the Legislature lowered the legal age of adulthood from 20 to 18 last Friday by revising the Civil Code. 

The age revision will come into effect in January 2023.

The Legislature passed revisions Tuesday to the Income Tax Act, the Civil Associations Act, the Assembly and Parade Act, the Security and Exchange Act, the Estate and Gift Tax Act, among other things.    [FULL  STORY]