Landslide Electoral Win for President Tsai Incumbent presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on January 11 won a landslide victory against her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opponent, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, defeating him by almost 20 percentage points. Tsai, who garnered a record-breaking 8.17 million votes (57.13%), in her victory speech…
Chinese Defector Makes Espionage Claims Australian media on November 23 reported that a man claiming to be a former Chinese intelligence agent had defected to Australian authorities in October, requesting asylum there. Wang Liqiang, 23, whose wife and young child currently live in Australia, claims to have taken part in several espionage activities. These include…
Low rating for credit conditions brings down Taiwan’s overall ranking. Poor performance in one category — regarding legal rights in obtaining credit — has dragged down Taiwan’s overall rating in the World Bank’s recently released 2020 Doing Business survey of 190 countries and economies. In the latest edition, Taiwan fell back two places from last…
Foreign Dignitaries Attend National Day Observance of the 2019 National Day – also known as Double Ten because it occurs on October 10 – featured Taiwan’s new immigrant communities and attendance by a large number of foreign dignitaries. More than 6,000 Taiwanese living abroad returned for the celebration, the highest number in three years. A…
I’ve attended many conferences this year. I’ve heard a lot of speeches. One of the most interesting and hard-hitting so far was a talk recently given by Charlene Barshefsky, the top trade negotiator for the U.S. from 1997 to 2001. She spoke last month at AmCham Hong Kong’s annual China Conference, which should be a…
Solomon Islands, Kiribati Cut Ties with Taiwan After months of uncertainty regarding whether Taiwan would lose yet another ally to China, the government of the Solomon Islands on September 16 voted to switch diplomatic recognition to the PRC, ending its 36-year formal relationship with Taiwan. Its decision followed statements made by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign…
Sale Of F-16Vs to Taiwan Gets U.S. Approval Following quickly after Taiwan’s US$2.2 billion purchase of tanks, missiles, and other military hardware from the U.S. in July, the Trump administration in August approved the additional US$8 billion sale to Taiwan of 66 F-16V fighter jets, also known as the F-16 Viper. Although in keeping with…
Protests in Hong Kong Over Extradition Law In June, mass protests erupted in Hong Kong in opposition to a proposed extradition law that would have allowed accused criminals to be sent to China (as well as Taiwan) for trial. The bill was introduced following the murder of a young woman at the hands of her…
U.S., Taiwan Observe 40 Years of the TRA To participate in celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act and establishment of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. sent a delegation to Taiwan led by former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan. The delegation also included Eddie Bernice Johnson,…
The absence of diplomatic ties hasn’t deterred the establishment of collaboration in a host of different fields. During this commemoration year for the Taiwan Relations Act, Taiwan and the U.S. can take satisfaction from knowing that 40 years and the loss of formal diplomatic relations haven’t dimmed the deep-seated friendship and widespread cooperation between them….
