This Week in Taiwan 0814-0820
August 15: Following the visit by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the United States House of Representatives to Taiwan, Senator Ed Markey led another five-member Congressional delegation to Taiwan. This is the fifth American Congressional delegation visiting Taiwan this year. During his meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen on the morning of August 15, Markey stated that during this time of uncertainty, more efforts must be made to ensure peace and stability in Taiwan. He also stated that Taiwan has shown incredible self-restraint and prudence in responding to this greatest challenge.
August 16: After former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien had his master degree conferred by the National Taiwan University's (NTU) Graduate Institute of National Development revoked due to thesis plagiarism, his advisor, incumbent Director-General Chen Ming-tong of the National Security Bureau, was also accused of violating academic ethics. Chen has decided not to continue teaching part-time courses at NTU in the new academic year. However, since Chen did not resign, the school will continue to investigate whether he violated academic ethics.
August 16: Several media sources revealed that the thesis paper of former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien was written by his assistant Yang Ling-yi. Both the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) candidates for Taoyuan mayor, Chang San-cheng and Lai Hsiang-ling, believe that if Lin's paper is confirmed to be ghostwritten, then it involves fraud. President Tsai, who nominated Lin, and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Yun-peng who supported his Taoyuan mayoral campaign until the end, should both come forward and apologize.
August 16: This year, property and casualty insurance companies have paid NT$47.5 billion (about US$1.5 billion) in claims for epidemic prevention insurance, and claims for vaccine insurance broke the NT$10 billion mark, reaching NT$10.32 billion (about US$342 million). A total of NT$57.8 billion (about US$1.9 billion) have been paid for epidemic prevention insurance this year, and the cumulative amount for claims has exceeded the premiums received by 10 times, far exceeding profits made by the property insurance industry in the past three years.
August 18: President Joko Widodo of Indonesia confirmed that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to attend the Group of 20 summit in Bali in November. Since President Joe Biden of the United States is also expected to attend, it will be interesting to observe how the three leaders interact.
August 18: The Office of Trade Negotiations, Executive Yuan, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced the official launch of the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade. The first round of negotiations is expected to start in September, and a total of 11 issues will be discussed severally. The goal is to sign a high-standard and economically meaningful trade agreement when negotiations are concluded.
August 19: Mainland China's General Administration of Customs suspended the import of grouper from Taiwan since June 13, citing the detection of banned drugs. The Consumers' Foundation announced the results of a random test of grouper on the market, all of which passed the drug test. The non-profit organization, however, criticized government officials for deliberately provoking a spiral of hostility across the Taiwan Strait, thereby shifting the focus to cover up the ineffective management of grouper production and marketing by competent authorities. Minister Chen Chih-chung of the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, blasted the foundation as the "Consumers' Foundation of the People's Republic of China."
August 19: The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) announced a simple life table for 2021. The average life expectancy of people in Taiwan is 80.86 years, specifically 77.67 years for men and 84.25 years for women. The average life expectancy of men and women is the second highest in history. Among special municipalities, Taipei City has the longest life expectancy of 84.17 years. According to the MOI, long-term observation shows that the average life expectancy in Taiwan is on the rise.