This Week in Taiwan 0618-0624
June 19: An inauguration ceremony for the naval warship Yushan was held at the Zuoying military port. The flag presentation was presided over by Commander Tang Hwa of the Navy. However, the event was unique in that it was not open to the public and did not invite high-level government officials to attend. It is rumored that the Ministry of National Defense ordered to keep a low profile.
June 19: Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the United States met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Blinken expressed concerns about China's provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait but reiterated that the U.S. "One China" policy has not changed. He mentioned that if a crisis related to Taiwan were to break out, given that 70 percent of high-end semiconductors are produced in Taiwan, it may create a global economic crisis.
June 20: After the Straits Forum, attended by Kuomintang (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party officials, the Taiwan Affairs Office of mainland China's State Council announced that imports of Taiwanese custard apples will resume, and custard apples sold to the mainland must come from registered packaging factories and orchards. The KMT stated that this proves the importance of maintaining the existing political foundation, smooth communication channels, and active dialogues between both sides of the Taiwan Strait. According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, this is another propaganda campaign meant to divide Taiwanese society. Starting from 2021, the mainland Chinese authorities successively announced the suspension of importing Taiwanese fruits, such as pineapples, wax apples, and custard apples, due to quarantine issues.
June 20: The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced that export orders in May totaled US$45.68 billion, a decrease of 17.6 percent compared to the same period last year and marking a fall for nine consecutive months. From January to May this year, export orders decreased by about 20 percent, compared to the same period last year. The MOEA expects that export orders received in June will also decline by about 20 percent. It is still hard to say whether exports may turn positive for the whole year.
June 20: Vice President William Lai announced that in order to reduce the gap between public and private university tuition, the government will push as a major policy initiative to subsidize more than 50 percent of private university tuition fees. The Ministry of Education estimates that the measure will require annual funding of about NT$15 billion (about US$482 million). It was criticized by the opposition parties as pouring away money to grab youth votes. Experts point out higher education is not compulsory education, and that giving away higher education as a "gift" may hasten the decline of Taiwan's higher education.
June 21: The Legislative Yuan held a temporary session to confirm the nominees for the grand justices of the Constitutional Court, Judicial Yuan. Although the KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) refused to vote, the DPP's numerical advantage allowed the nominees Tsai Tsai-tsen, Chu Fu-mei, Chen Chung-wu, and You Po-hsiang to pass the confirmation threshold and become grand justices. All 15 incumbent grand justices are now appointed by President Tsai Ing-wen.
June 21: TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je proposed to restart the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services, indicating that what he opposed in the past was a "black-box" approval process that did not conform to democratic procedures rather than the agreement itself. The Executive Yuan responded that there is currently no societal consensus on restarting the services trade pact, which would only create more confusion. Presidential candidates should be cautious about this issue. KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih stated that Ko is often like this. That is, what he says before will completely differ from what he will do later.
June 24: The case surrounding feeding drugs to children at a kindergarten in New Taipei stirred controversy and turned into a political battlefront between the KMT and the DPP, severely damaging the momentum of KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih. The four children suspected to have barbiturates in their urine did not test positive. Hou's campaign team reported DPP presidential candidate William Lai and its spokeswoman Tai Wei-shan to judicial authorities for distributing false information and causing panic.