Taiwan’s military is set to receive a windfall in the form of a five-year special budget focused on indigenous defense capabilities. Under the Six Core Strategic Industries initiative, the domestic defense supply chain is growing, though foreign technology still plays an integral role. Since early 2020, Chinese military aircraft have regularly intruded into Taiwan’s southwest…
Chipmaking undergirds the Six Core Strategic Industries initiative, particularly in the area of digital and information technology. The Six Core Strategic Industries policy, which the Tsai Ing-wen administration launched in 2020, builds upon the 5+2 Innovative Industries initiative of Tsai’s first term to capitalize on global supply chain changes and catalyze Taiwan’s industrial transformation. Amid…
Extending free vaccination to males could reduce the spread of the human papilloma virus, which is the primary cause of both cervical and oropharyngeal cancer. The human papilloma virus (HPV) is a leading cause of several types of cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two types of HPV (16 and 18) cause 70%…
Despite a successful national screening program, the incidence of colorectal malignancies has not significantly decreased in recent years. Colorectal cancer has been among the most common malignancies in Taiwan for more than a decade, and it has had a relatively high mortality rate. About 15,000 people are diagnosed with the disease in Taiwan every year,…
Taiwan hit its target of administering the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine to 25% of the population before the end of July, but herd immunity remains a long way off. In roughly eight weeks, Taiwan’s vaccination rate has increased from less than 1% to more than 30%. Large donations from Japan (3.34 million doses…
The COVID-19 outbreak that began in mid-May has brought hotels to their knees. Without a larger relief package, some may not survive. For most of the coronavirus pandemic, domestic tourism has been a bright spot for Taiwan’s hotel industry. Many hotels and B&Bs outside of Taipei – which is more reliant on the international market…
With no end to the pandemic yet in sight, it may take years for the travel industry to fully recover. In the short term, the leisure market has the best prospects. As Taiwan faces a difficult coronavirus outbreak, imagining the future of travel in the country is a challenge. After all, besides containing the outbreak,…
COVID-19 has given a modest boost to online shopping in Taiwan, with platforms such as Momo, PChome, and Shopee strengthening their market positions. In a world struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan is an outlier. The island nation has staved off the mercurial contagion, with dramatic implications for public health and the economy. One of…
The ROC’s two territories in the region have strategic and political significance, yet both are difficult to defend. Taiwan’s Coast Guard in March twice conducted live-fire drills on the Pratas Islands – known in Chinese as the “Dongsha” – located in the South China Sea 450 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung. Such exercises were rare in…
Military planners say asymmetric platforms will boost Taiwan’s overall warfighting capabilities, raising the cost to Beijing of an invasion. The People’s Republic of China has been threatening to annex Taiwan by force for seven decades. The threat has not been credible until recently, with the ruling Communist Party becoming increasingly emboldened by the country’s rapid…
