Chosunilbo (February 24)
“Koreans have become global pariahs.” Israel, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries now ban travel from South Korea or impose quarantines. This is all because the “government dragged its heels over banning visitors from China…. China has ordered half of its 1.4 billion population to stay home” and “knows that the most effective deterrent to an epidemic is to limit the movement of humans.” Yet, it continued to let “its citizens freely visit Korea and other countries” while Korea “obligingly left the doors wide open.”
Tags: Ban, China, Government, Hong Kong, Israel, Pariahs, Quarantines, South Korea, Taiwan, Travel
New York Times (August 12)
“In a purely rational world, Japan would lead a democratic alliance with South Korea, Taiwan and much of Southeast Asia to balance the might of China. In a world fueled by historical passions, America’s retreat will almost certainly drive South Korea even closer to China, while Japan… might pull back behind its sea walls, hoping to be left alone by untrustworthy alien powers.”
Tags: China, Democratic alliance, Japan, Might, Passions, Rational, Retreat, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, U.S.
Reuters (July 5)
“Investors watching the trade tit-for-tat between the United States and China may well have reason to fear the havoc a full blown conflict between the world’s two biggest economies could wreak on the global economy.” Furthermore, the collateral damage could be worse than that done to the principals. Due to global supply chains, countries like Taiwan, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Singapore could be equally if not more vulnerable” to fall out from the spat between the U.S. and China.
Tags: China, Collateral damage, Conflict, Czech Republic, Global economy, Hungary, Investors, Singapore, South Korea, Supply chains, Taiwan, Tit-for-tat, Trade, U.S., Vulnerable
Taipei Times (February 8)
“Tuesday night’s earthquake off the coast of Hualien County has again raised the issue of human fragility in the face of the power of nature and how the geological conditions that exist in Taiwan need to be respected.” Although “nuclear power is a relatively clean source of energy,” any benefits “could be wiped out overnight should a nuclear disaster happen, especially given the proximity of two of the three operational plants to the capital and within the nation’s most-populated area.”
Tags: Clean, Disaster, Earthquake, Energy, Fragility, Hualien, Nature, Nuclear power, Plants, Taiwan
Institutional Investor (January 18)
The “Taiwan election results present a challenge for Beijing.” Not only is Tsai Ing-wen the first female elected president, but the election brought her party, the Democratic Progressive Party, ”its first legislative majority.” Moreover, Tsai “is a strong supporter of independence for the island, presenting a challenge for leadership in Beijing who prefer to designate Taiwan as a breakaway faction of mainland China.”
Tags: Beijing, Challenge, DPP, Election, First female, Independence, Majority, President, Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen
Institutional Investor (December 14)
In Taiwan, “a regime change could cast a chill over relations with China and inject fresh uncertainty into the economy at a delicate time.” Since China accounts for 40% of its exports, Taiwan is taking an economic hit as China’s economy slumps. Things could get worse due to coming elections. Tsai Ing-wen is the leading presidential candidate and her party is independence leaning.
Tags: China, Delicate, Economy, Elections, Exports, Independence, Regime change, Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, Uncertainty
Washington Post (June 4)
“The tragic sinking of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River on Monday night produced a reflexive reaction from China’s communist authorities: censorship.” This could backfire. “Mr. Xi’s attempt to impose Stalinist-style information controls may not work in 21st-century China. His regime would foster more trust were it to follow the examples of neighbors such as South Korea and Taiwan, which live-streamed video of rescue efforts after recent disasters and encouraged debate about what went wrong. In attempting to shield the regime from criticism, Beijing’s censors are only adding to public embitterment.”
Tags: Censorship, China, Debate, Disasters, Rescue, Sinking, South Korea, Stalin, Taiwan, Tragic, Xi, Yangtze
Washington Post (March 22)
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”
Tags: Asia, Democracy, Dictator, Indonesia, Lee Kuan Yew, Prospered, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Values, Virtues, Western
New York Times (September 19)
“Taiwan obviously needs a stronger food-safety policy with meaningful penalties.” The latest in a series of food scandals involves the sale of nearly 650 tons of adulterated “gutter oil,” which was produced from unsuitable sources, such as restaurant waste, and sold as cooking oil. “The Taiwanese authorities need to be doing more than reacting to food-safety problems on an ad hoc basis to ensure that what people eat is safe.”
Tags: Adulterated, Authorities, Cooking oil, Food safety, Gutter oil, Penalties, Restaurant waste, Scandals, Taiwan
Wall Street Journal (August 6)
“Taiwan’s leaders have warned for years that economic isolation will damage the nation’s competitiveness. Now their worst fears may be coming true, and the consequences of resisting freer trade and economic reform are becoming clear.”
Tags: Competitiveness, Consequences, Damage, Economic isolation, Fears, Free trade, Leaders, Reform, Taiwan
