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…
DPP Retains 2 Seats In By-elections Following the thrashing of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the municipal elections in November at the hands of the Kuomintang (KMT), the DPP managed a slight comeback in by-elections for four vacant seats in mid-March. It retained two seats in electorates in New Taipei City and Tainan…
2019 Lantern Festival Spotlights Pingtung This year’s national lantern festival was hosted by the southern county of Pingtung and held in the national scenic area of Dapeng Bay. The event highlighted the foods, products, and landscape of Pingtung. Normally the main lantern features the animal on the Chinese zodaic for which the year is named…
The Tsai administration is making an effort to pursue “transitional justice.” Will it be healing or divisive? February 28, 1980 has gone down in Taiwan’s history as the date of one of the nation’s most gruesome unsolved murders. An intruder entered the ground-floor apartment of opposition politician Lin Yi-hsiung and fatally stabbed his mother and…
Speaking at AmCham Taipei’s 50th annual Hsieh Nien Fan banquet at the Grand Hyatt on March 21, Alex Wong, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, staunchly reaffirmed American government support for Taiwan. Stating that “the United States has been, is, and always will be Taiwan’s closest friend and partner,” Wong said “the…
Taiwan Welcomes the Year of the Dog Taiwan celebrated the Chinese New Year on February 15 with warm temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius in the north and as high as 30 degrees Celsius in the south. President Tsai Ing-wen addressed the nation at the start of the holiday, which ran through February 20, first offering…
PV Taiwan Expo Highlights Green Energy The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), in cooperation with SEMI Taiwan and the Taiwan Photovoltaic Industry Association, hosted PV Taiwan 2017, Taiwan’s leading solar industry trade show, October 18-20 at the Nangang Exhibition Center. Taiwan has the world’s second largest solar cell manufacturing industry after China, with some…
China Enshrines Xi at 19th Party Congress China held its Nineteenth Party Congress October 18-24 in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The event gathered 2,280 delegates representing the party’s 89 million members and all of China’s provinces, including Taiwan, reflecting China’s longstanding claim to the island. The party congress, held every five years…
US$3b Infrastructure Spend Clears First Reading The budget for the Tsai administration’s US$3.29 billion first phase of a major infrastructure project passed an initial reading in Taiwan’s parliament this week. The passage of the legislation for the so-called “forward-looking infrastructure plan” was marred by physical clashes in the Legislative Yuan as opposition Kuomintang lawmakers tried…
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)…
