Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation, Association of Foreign Relations and Taipei Forum that provides coverage and perspectives into the latest developments in Taiwan.
Besides Vaccine Shortage, Taiwan Faces More Dangerous Pandemic Complications
The highly anticipated unblinding of the Phase II clinical trial of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine produced by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corporation (MV) was successful on June 10.
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Is Taiwan's Democracy Also Critically Ill？
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has worsened; public grievances are boiling over; and President Tsai Ing-wen's approval ratings continue to falter.
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This Week in Taiwan 0606-0612
June 6: The rainy season and typhoon Caiyun brought abundant rainfall to Taiwan. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua, who heads the Central Drought Disaster Response Center, announced that the mechanism in Miaoli, Taichung, and northern Changhua where water would be supplied for five days but suspended for two days per week would be lifted immediately. The red-light water-use restriction this time lasted some 61 days, breaking the previous historical record of 54 days in Taipei in 2002. It is expected that current water conditions will be stable until the end of July.
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Japan, U.S. Vaccines Aid Should Make Tsai Administration Ashamed
The 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Japan arrived in Taiwan June 4, while the United States committed to donate 7 million doses of vaccine to Asian countries including Taiwan.
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Foreign Policy ≠ Vaccine Policy
One outcome from Taiwan's failure to date to timely acquire a sufficient quantity of vaccines is that what in reality should be a commercial relationship between the manufacturers and Taiwan’s government, has unnecessarily become a foreign policy matter that certain Taiwan politicians and other individuals in Taiwan are seeking to exploit.
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Wave of U.S. Travel for Vaccines Highlights Taiwan's Government Dysfunction
Recently, the Taoyuan International Airport has once again become lively after a long period of time.
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This Week in Taiwan 0530-0606
May 31: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation in Taiwan remains challenging. The government has not procured vaccines effectively, while efforts by companies and private groups to purchase vaccines themselves persistently face bureaucratic obstruction. Critics suspect that the government is betting unreasonably on the development of domestic vaccines and question that government officials are trying to manipulate the stock prices of certain pharmaceutical companies. President Tsai Ing-wen personally held a press conference in which she responded that the government has conducted an internal investigation, and no politically appointed officials have problems related to stock trading. Specific allegations will be investigated strictly in accordance with the law. However, the efforts behind experts developing vaccines baseless should not be undermined by baseless claims.
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China's Cognitive Warfare a Self-Staged Act？ Prosecution to Promptly Investigate
The pro-government writer Lin Wei-feng was caught feigning to be pro-China, posting messages on PTT, a popular online bulletin board system, mocking Taiwan's epidemic prevention policy, and attacking the epidemic prevention platform created by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, thereby creating a fake impression that China is waging a cognitive war against Taiwan.
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DPP Plays Pro-China, Acting Out “Cognitive Warfare” Imagined by President Tsai
In an effort to divert the attention of the public from her administration's poor performance in containing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, President Tsai Ing-wen has recently played the card of "cognitive warfare," but this has unexpectedly exposed a litter of cockroaches within the ruling party’s own house.
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Vaccine Politics versus "Same Island, One Fate"
As the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen was preparing to celebrate the first anniversary of her second term, the recent wave of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections broke out in Taiwan, once acclaimed for being a role model in epidemic prevention.
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