The domestic travel boom is a double-edged sword, boosting tourism revenue but straining limited resources. There’s a first time for everything, like booking a table for one at a pizza restaurant. I did so recently at the insistence of Tsao Yu-lin, owner of the Blueshine B&B on Taiwan’s Matsu islands, even ordering the pie in…
Few people are more qualified to comment on the respective responses to COVID-19 by the U.S. and Taiwan than Tsung-mei Cheng. A native of Taiwan, she has lived in the U.S. for many years and is currently a health policy research analyst at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Her late…
Taiwan’s tourism sector needs to start planning now for how it will deal with the post-COVID-19 environment. My older brother Seth, despite repeated invitations, has yet to make it to Taiwan and has never expressed more than occasional fraternal interest in the country and culture that’s been the cornerstone of his younger brother’s life. But…
Besides making Taiwan one of the safest places on Earth, the Tsai administration’s adept handling of the COVID-19 crisis has brought additional benefits in the diplomatic sphere. Most notably, Taiwan’s public health achievements in the face of the coronavirus provided the rationale for last month’s visit to Taipei by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human…
A bi-weekly snapshot of Taiwan business news stories brought to you by CommonWealth and AmCham Taipei’s TOPICS FarEasTone and APT Sign 5G Deal FarEasTone (FET), Taiwan’s third largest telecom operator by market share, and Asia Pacific Telecom Co (APT) announced in early September that they will begin partnering to provide 5G services on Taiwan’s 3.5GHz…
AmCham Meets with President Tsai AmCham Taipei Chairman CW Chin and several AmCham staff members met with President Tsai Ing-wen at the Presidential Office on August 18. Speaking with the group, President Tsai called attention to the deepening U.S.-Taiwan partnership in light of a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation signed during the…
Kaohsiung Elects Chen Chi-mai Chen Chi-mai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected mayor of Kaohsiung on August 15, defeating Jane Lee from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Wu Yi-jheng of the Taiwan People’s Party. The special election follows the recall in June of the KMT’s Han Kuo-yu. After losing to…
Taiwan’s initiative in easing restrictions on imports of U.S. beef and pork should bolster its case in favor of a bilateral trade agreement. President Tsai Ing-wen’s August 28 announcement that Taiwan’s restrictions on the import of American pork and beef would be relaxed made clear that the objective was to clear the way for Taiwan…
The end of summer always seems to come with a lot of changes. We are pleased that the Taiwan government has finally relaxed its rules with respect to the importation of American pork and beef products. This issue has long been a sticking point for the U.S. government, and it is important that progress is…
AmCham Taipei’s 2020 Hsieh Nien Fan banquet was held successfully at the Grand Hyatt Taipei on August 25, despite a long postponement from the original March schedule due to the disruptions of COVID-19. Under the circumstances, this year’s celebration was especially meaningful, bringing together nearly 700 AmCham members and guests, including more than 130 government…
