This Week in Taiwan 0923-0930
September 23: The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) released the industrial production index for August, which dropped by 10 percent year-on-year. The economy is not showing signs of improvement, and the MOEA stated that the probability of a fourth-quarter turnaround has decreased. If the figure does not turn positive in October, then industrial production may remain dark until the end of the year, and the annual production index is expected to see a decline. The National Development Council also announced the business climate index for August, for which the 10th consecutive blue light indicates sluggish economic performance.
September 24: With the continued controversy over the safety of imported eggs, demand for purchasing local eggs has increased. The Egg Merchants Association decided to raise prices for the second time this month, with both producer and wholesale prices reaching new highs for the year. According to a poll by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, dissatisfaction with the Executive Yuan has exceeded 40 percent, with those "satisfied" dropping sharply by 9.2 percentage points from last month. Support for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is at 30.3 percent, down 6.5 percentage points, while support for the Kuomintang (KMT) is at 23.1 percent, up 6 percentage points; support for the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) is at 17.1 percent.
September 25: The fire at Launch Technologies Company's Pingtung plant killed nine and injured hundreds more, including four firefighters who died in the line of duty. The Pingtung County Government believes that the factory falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), while the MOEA believes that inspections should be carried out by local fire departments, resulting in a blame game between them. There have been renewed calls for firefighters to unionize.
September 27: According to the latest poll by ETtoday News, if the KMT cooperates with the TPP, a ticket consisting of the KMT's Hou Yu-ih as presidential candidate and the TPP's Ko Wen-je as vice presidential candidate, or vice versa, would have a support rating 5 percentage points higher than a hypothetical combination consisting of the DPP's William Lai as presidential candidate and Hsiao Bi-khim, representative to the United States, as vice presidential candidate. According to a poll conducted by China Times, support for a "Hou-Ko" ticket has risen to 40 percent, surpassing 32.6 percent support for a "Lai-Hsiao" ticket. According to a poll by United Daily News, if they can successfully integrate, Hou and Ko can reverse their fortunes regardless of whether independent candidate Terry Gou runs or not.
September 27: The anniversary celebration of the DPP changed tone. Party founder and former legislator Wei Yao-chien came to the scene to protest, holding up a banner saying that the DPP has become a dictatorial, corrupt, and evil party. Wei stated that under the control of the New Tide Faction, the DPP has become a Leninist organization, with collusion between politics and business leading to corruption and deviation from the expectations of the people of Taiwan.
September 27: According to an exclusive report by China Times, the United States agreed in 2022 to allow Taiwan's Air Force to conduct live-fire exercises with Patriot III missiles on the island without having to travel far to the United States. However, due to the proximity of both sides of the Taiwan Strait and concerns about missile parameter safety for allies such as the United States and Japan, as well as Palau's desire for the United States to deploy Patriot missiles there, the Air Force conducted live-fire exercises with Patriot III missiles in Palau in August under U.S. military arrangements with a "100 percent hit rate."
September 28: The launch ceremony of Taiwan's first domestically produced submarine prototype, the Haikun, was held. Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, the convener for domestic submarine production, stated that if harbor testing is completed before May next year, there will be an opportunity for sea trials. However, he denied that the Haikun would be delivered by May. According to plans, the Haikun class prototype will be combat-ready by 2025, and another domestically produced submarine will be introduced in 2027.
September 29: Opposition cooperation in the 2024 presidential election is being closely watched. The Ko campaign proposed using public opinion polls to select the strongest opposition candidate and have the loser withdraw. Hou's campaign stated that such discussions should not be held now, as it is not time yet. They believe if both sides keep good intentions and work hard towards the shared goal of defeating DPP presidential candidate William Lai, the time will come.