This Week in Taiwan 1212-1218
December 12: While Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang presented a briefing at the Summit for Democracy organized by the United States, the video was cut off momentarily, leaving only the audio. According to media reports, Tang used a map which marked Taiwan and China in different colors, implicating the U.S. "One China" policy.
The Department of State stated that the disappearance of Tang's video was unintentional. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the United States has explained that it was a technical issue. The U.S.-Taiwan relationship remains stable and friendly.
December 12: A fire broke out in the morning at the Taiwan Power Company's Wanlong substation in Taipei. A high-voltage tower in Zhonghe District, New Taipei, was also affected and caught fire. The incident caused power outage for more than 305,000 households in Greater Taipei. Taipower was able to restore power within 15 minutes for 90 percent of the affected customers, but some customers were out of power for more than three hours. Experts question that due to the lack of power, Taipower has to frequently reduce the voltage and frequency of the power supply, which could easily damage consumer electronics.
December 14: German manufacturer Merck announced that it will invest about NT$17 billion (about US$611 million), including establishing a large-scale semiconductor fabrication facility and applied research and development center, creating about 400 job opportunities.
December 16: Although the government has introduced measures to curb real property speculation, the real estate market remains hot. The Central Bank launched a fourth wave of policies to cool the housing market. The four major regulations include capping the percentage of high-priced residential mortgages and residential mortgages for the third property and beyond for natural persons to 40 percent of the purchase price effective December 17.
December 16: The Navy invested more than NT$900 million as part of its domestic ship production plan to build four fast mine-laying boats, all of which were delivered. Admiral Liu Chi-pin, commander of the Navy, indicated that rapid mine-laying operations can achieve the purpose of preventing and delaying the enemy's landing operations.
December 16: A F-16 fighter jet of the Air Force crashed into a mountain during the Han Kuang exercise three years ago, killing Major flight officer Wu Yen-ting. Wu's parents later received 12 pieces of his corpse and sued the Air Force Command for a state compensation of NT$22 million (US$791,637). The Taipei District Court awarded a compensation of more than NT$4.66 million (about US$167,683), the first instance in which a national compensation was awarded for a military jet crash. The Air Force Command expressed respect for the judgment but will appeal some issues that it lost.
December 17: Following two confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) at an epidemic prevention hotel in Taipei, another eight confirmed cases broke out at an epidemic prevention hotel in Taoyuan. According to the virus gene sequence, seven were diagnosed with the Delta variant, and the Central Epidemic Command Center classified the incident as cluster infection.
December 17: In order to prevent the outflow of sensitive technology, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will restrict Taiwanese technology companies from selling mainland Chinese assets, and semiconductor and panel firms must undergo review and approval by a task force on key technologies. In the future, Taiwanese companies must also seek advance approval if they intend to sell shares of mainland Chinese businesses.