FDI in Taiwan Slashed, Investment from China Mixed Applications by foreign companies to invest in Taiwan in the first five months of the year was down 6% on the same time a year ago, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry’s Investment Commission says 1,260 foreign direct investment (FDI)…
Panama Switches Allegiance from Taiwan to China Panama President Juan Carlos Varela announced on Monday that the Republic of Panama had severed ties with Taiwan and had established diplomatic relations with China instead. Panama and China announced that Panama now “recognizes that there is only one China in the world” and that Taiwan is part of Chinese…
The government is seeking to strengthen trade, investment, tourism, education, and cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia may be close to Taiwan geographically, but Taiwanese traditionally tended to see its people as little more than a source of cheap labor. Even in academia, says Edwin Yang, an instructor in the College of…
US senators introduce bill to encourage high-level visits to Taiwan Six U.S. senators jointly introduced the Taiwan Travel Act on May 5 to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels. The draft bill states that Congress believes the U.S. government should allow officials at all levels, including cabinet-level national security officials,…
Taiwan Human Rights Advocate Held in China While on a trip to China, Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che was seized by the authorities on March 19 and held incommunicado before China finally announced that he had been arrested for “activities endangering national security,” according to media reports. As of press time, Lee, an instructor…
Uber Returns to Taiwan Market Two months after hitting pause on its Taiwan operations, Uber is back running in Taipei under a new business model. The popular ride-hailing service surprised the local market announcing it had formed a new partnership with car rental companies. Uber suspended its Taiwan operations on Feb. 10 after incurring fines of up to NT$328.5…
U.S. Frigates Join Navy. More on the Way? The Taiwan Navy took possession of two refurbished U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates on March 16 at a cost of around US$190 million. The two frigates are equipped with AN/SQR-19 Multi-Function Towed Array Sonar (TACTAS), a system for the long-range passive detection of enemy submarines which was…
Sunflower Movement Activists Found Not Guilty On Friday, March 31, a group of 22 Taiwanese political leaders and activists were found not guilty of all charges related to the occupation of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s Parliament, on March 18, 2014. The 22 activists included Sunflower Movement protest leaders Lin Fei-fan, Chen Wei-ting, and Huang Kuo-chang…
