The legislature is expected to loosen the current restrictions on media shareholding by government or political entities. BY TIMOTHY FERRY AND DON SHAPIRO The Legislative Yuan is currently considering draft amendments to Taiwan’s three primary media laws that would allow limited investment in electronic media operations by government, political parties, and the military. Current regulations…
Mobile phones are all the rage in Taiwan, with over 29 million devices in use in a society of 23 million people, according to research by Berkshire Hathaway’s Business Wire. That market penetration of 127% compares to what Statista calculates to be just 81% in the United States. Nearly all of Taiwan enjoys 4G network…
A draft Telecommunications Management Act aimed at modernizing the regulatory structure has been sent to the legislature. Despite the immense technological advances that have profoundly shifted the telecommunications industry over the past decades, Taiwan’s telecom sector continues to be regulated by a law dating back to 1958. Taiwan has long been aware of its need…
The conviction of a Chinese student for spying and allegations of self-censorship by universities are provoking heated debate about cross-Strait educational exchanges. In September, a former Chinese student in Taiwan was convicted of spying for the People’s Republic of China and sentenced to 14 months in prison. Zhou Hongxu, a native of Liaoning Province, allegedly…
Demand for English classroom courses remains strong. But student numbers are dwindling amid a low birth rate, weak economy, and the challenge from e-learning. In the mid-2000s, Taiwan still had a faint flavor of the Wild Wild East. Parties in nightclubs lasted well past sunrise, and revelers often spilled out onto the street. Complaints about…
Back in the days before China was open to Americans for language study – and before so many U.S. high schools and colleges began offering Mandarin as a foreign-language option – Taiwan was the default destination for budding Sinologists. The most prestigious institution for pursuing Chinese language studies in that era was the Inter-University Program…
More international students are coming to pursue graduate degrees, but a more global outlook will be needed to capitalize on this trend. Tomas Swinburne came to Taiwan by way of Beijing, where he found life stifling. “Taiwan is just a lot more pleasant,” says the 25-year-old Irishman, who won a scholarship from the Ministry of…
The government has undertaken various initiatives to promote the island as a center for learning Mandarin. The global craze to learn Chinese has moved in tandem with China’s rise, with the number of students surging since the mid-2000s. Even Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s five-year-old daughter Arabella has been part of the trend, enabling her…
With the U.S. tech giant ready to launch three iPhone models this year, Taiwanese suppliers and transporters expect a big boost in business. The Taiwan technology sector is often criticized for lacking viable brands. In the consumer electronics category, the number of big names can be counted on one hand, and these companies have generally…
The flagging handset maker sold part of its mobile-phone business to Google and is expected to turn its focus to virtual reality. In early 2013, Gerald Fu decided to buy his first smartphone. He went with Taiwan’s HTC “because I thought it was better than a mainland Chinese brand and cheaper than an iPhone,” says…
