This Week in Taiwan 1106-1112
November 6: Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is mired in a controversy about his marital fidelity. Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin of the Kuomintang (KMT) posted photos on Facebook exposing that after dining at an upscale restaurant with a minimum consumption of NT$80,000 (about US$2,562) and appearing slightly drunk, Chen held hands and hugged the shoulder of Lee Ya-ling, deputy superintendent of the Songde branch of the Taipei City Hospital, while her husband was beside her. Hsu questioned Chen's morality.
November 7: The campaign office of Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an stated that during the tenure of Premier Su Tseng-chang, his daughter's company "Two Three Design" directly or indirectly undertook government contracts, receiving a total of NT$42.45 million (about US$1.3 million), an average of NT$14.15 million (about US$453,224) a year, breaching the premier's promise of no bidding at any level of government. Chiang's office criticized Premier Su for pretending honesty but in reality allowing his family members to undertake government projects.
November 10: President Joe Biden of the United States confirmed on November 9 that he will have face-to-face talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside the Group of 20 (G20) summit next week to discuss Taiwan, trade, and other issues. Biden stated that he hopes the two sides will draw "red lines" on those issues but that he would not make fundamental concessions.
November 11: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the United States will brief Taiwan officials on the meeting between Biden and Xi after their bilateral summit on November 14. He believes that Taiwan should feel assured of U.S. support. In response, Spokesman Zhao Lijian of mainland China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the briefing is bad-natured, and China is firmly opposed to it.
November 10: Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė announced on November 7 that the Lithuanian Trade Representative Office will begin operations in Taiwan.
According to Ambassador Eric Huang, representative to Lithuania, on November 10, Taiwan will invest €10 million in Lithuania to assist establishing semiconductor production lines there.
November 11: The George W. Bush Presidential Center announced that President Tsai Ing-wen will participate in the "Struggle for Freedom" conference by video conference on the evening of November 16 (Taiwan time) and will meet with former President George W. Bush of the United States and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine by video conference. According to the Office of the President, the invitation proves that Taiwan, which is at the forefront of democracy and freedom, is receiving great attention and support from the international community.
November 11: The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by more than 1,200 points, driving a double surge in Taiwan's stock and foreign exchange markets. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) swept away its haze of falling share prices for three consecutive quarters and rebounded NT$34 to NT$441.50, leading Taiwan stocks to surge 541 points in the intra-day session, closing at 14,007.56 points.
The exchange rate of the New Taiwan dollar also appreciated to 31.50, rising by 4.95 or 1.58 percent, the largest single-day appreciation rate in 23 years, closing at 31.41. The rate is a new high in nearly two months.
November 12: Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Dwight Howard joined the Taoyuan Leopards team in Taiwan's T1 League. The team started selling four home games at noon on November 10, with a total of 60,000 tickets, which were all sold out in just 10 minutes. At the franchise press conference on November 12, Howard stated with confidence that he came to Taiwan to win, not only to lead the team to win the championship but also to act as a mentor and support the growth of younger players.