A rare look at Kinmen
Kinmen is a tiny and overlooked part of Taiwan but it is also on the frontlines of interactions with China, whether economic or military. The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at the island which is located right next to the Chinese city of Xiamen, Fujian.
Politico interviews Taiwan’s recently-appointed envoy to the US, Hsiao Bi-khim.
The KMT has pulled out of the Straits Forum in Xiamen this year after Chinese state broadcaster CCTV claimed the KMT would be coming to beg for peace.
A Taiwanese birding association has been expelled by BirdLife International for refusing to sign a document promising not to promote Taiwan independence.
Taiwan is sending a military delegation to Israel to study its reserve forces. Given the similarities between the two countries and the vast disparity in their military forces (for eg. almost all Israeli men and women must serve in the military and for three years whereas in Taiwan, most men serve four months), this sounds like a good idea.
Does Taiwan’s success during the coronavirus pandemic actually hinder it from progressing in other ways? Possibly, according to a Commonwealth article.
Taiwan is doing well in terms of global recognition but to really live up to its claim to being a progressive island, I argue that Taiwan needs to also truly open up to immigrants and refugees.
More than US$38 billion in investment has been brought to Taiwan by Taiwanese companies since January 2019, driven by the US-China trade war and the Taiwan government’s enticements.
A number of Taiwanese companies have been caught importing masks made in China and falsely labeling them as made in Taiwan or, in the latest case, from Malaysia. As a result, the Ministry of Economic Affairs says it will now approve imported masks.
Audrey Tang is profiled by Commonwealth Magazine, which focuses on her interesting childhood. Tang experienced serious bullying in Taiwan, spent a year in Germany when her father was pursuing a doctorate, and then was home-schooled from age 14 by very open-minded parents after returning to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Hakka people’s pig festival is raising some concerns over animal cruelty. The festival sees farmers parade the carcasses of huge pigs weighing many hundred kilograms in a competition for the heaviest pig. The issue is that to get the pigs to become as big as 860 kilograms, they are fed so much that they can’t even move or stand. Besides animal rights, there is the issue of preserving cultural traditions, especially for a minority like the Hakka. It must be noted that the pigs have not always been so heavy, with the article claiming the pig sizes became “turbocharged” in the 1980s and 1990s.