Taiwan appears to be making progress in pursuing a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the U.S. September’s visit of Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, while brief, was a strong indication of the U.S. government’s desire to move ahead on strengthening economic relations with Taiwan. Still, a lot of work needs to be done to move…
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…
I’m excited to say that we’re planning to give our voting members a chance to make a little history at our Annual General Meeting in November. That’s when they will be able to decide whether our organization should become the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan. Why do we want to do this? And why…
Describe the moment when you realized you were in love with Taiwan. That was the discussion prompt a few months ago that someone posted in the community of Taiwan watchers on Twitter. It inspired a wonderful conversation, with many people describing travel adventures or culinary discoveries. Some shared stories about friendships and acts of kindness….
Publishing a White Paper during normal times is a massive task. It’s extremely challenging to get scores of busy business leaders working for competing companies in 25 different industries to find the time to meet and agree on what their top issues are. Then they need to work with the AmCham Taipei staff to draft…
I recently posted a photo on Instagram of my family celebrating my youngest daughter’s birthday at one of her favorite restaurants, Saffron 46, enjoying crispy samosas and scallops in curry while the Taipei 101 skyscraper was twinkling in the background. A friend in New York commented: “Wow, you get to go out to eat in…
One of Taiwan’s biggest struggles is getting its voice heard in a noisy world. That’s partly because so few global news companies have offices here staffed with full-time, seasoned correspondents. Many of the big-named media brands – AP, Dow Jones, Reuters – slashed their budgets and started closing or drastically downsizing their bureaus in Taiwan…
I have never felt prouder of Taiwan. The way the country – both the people and government – have dealt with the ongoing coronavirus crisis has been incredibly impressive. The public has been relatively calm and brave. The officials have been transparent, proactive, and professional. Indeed, so far Taiwan’s response to the outbreak has been…
My teenage daughter is interested in Taiwan’s political culture, so I took her to President Tsai Ing-wen’s election victory celebration. Amid the cheers, chants, and the occasional air horn, I heard something that I’ve never noticed before at a political event in Taiwan. It was the sound of people speaking Cantonese. A lot of Hong…
I love the sounds of the Feng Cheng restaurant, one of my favorite places to eat in Taipei. I try to sit by the kitchen door, so I can hear the stove, roaring as loud as a blast furnace smelting iron. There’s a crackle and sizzle as the cook tosses something – maybe shrimp –…
