Taiwan rallies for black Americans and Hong Kong
Last Saturday, June 13, was a big day as both Black Lives Matter and a Hong Kong group held events in Taipei. The BLM rally saw at least 500 attend to learn and speak out against racism and police violence against African-Americans. Taiwanese aboriginal speakers also spoke about their experiences of discrimination and marginalization.
At the Hong Kong rally, hundreds also gathered for the one-year anniversary of the anti-extradition law protests that have since expanded into a pro-democracy movement. Civic groups called for Taiwan’s government to take action to help Hong Kongers seeking asylum after the imposition of a feared national security law.
I wrote about discrimination in Taiwan, which happens in both systematic and discreet forms, with the exploitation of workers and students from developing countries especially severe.
Taiwan is building up a stockpile of essential supplies such as food and medical equipment in preparation for future pandemics.
Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang spoke to the Telegraph about “nerd immunity,” techniques used to defeat online Chinese disinformation campaigns.
Domestic tourism has been surging in Taiwan, not surprisingly, and hotels and tour operators are expecting good business for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival weekend holiday on June 25-28.
The government has extended all visitor visas for 30 days for the fourth time, enabling people who entered Taiwan on visitor or landing visas before March 21 to stay in the country. However, this extension does not apply to people who had already overstayed their visas before March 21.
Taiwan’s coronavirus cases are 445 as of today, June 17, while deaths remain at seven. No locally transmitted cases have been seen for 66 days.
Commonwealth Magazine provides a good wrap-up of the whole Han Guo-yu debacle that ended in a historic mayoral recall.
The US should sign a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, argues this commentator in The National Interest.
Taiwan plans to train 2,000 teachers to teach entirely in English within four years. This is in order to facilitate the government’s plan to turn Taiwan into a “bilingual nation.”
For a brief moment, Taiwan’s baseball league shone in the world’s spotlight, after it became the first to resume in the coronavirus era, then the first to allow fans into the stadiums.
Canadian-born Taiwanese Emilio Estevez Tsai is the first-ever football (soccer) player of Taiwanese descent to play in the Netherlands. Tsai made his debut for Taiwan last year in a World Cup qualifier against Australia, where he raised eyebrows despite Taiwan’s 7-1 loss.