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.
This Week in Taiwan 0516-0522
May 17: Following the major power outage across Taiwan on May 13, the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) announced emergency regional power cuts on the evening of May 17. According to Taipower, this time was indeed a "power supply problem." The main reason is that the first generator at the Xingda Power Plant failed in the afternoon, and it took a long time to shut it down and repair. In addition, due to the current water shortage, hydropower was insufficient to support the large demand of residential electricity at night. The incident affected some 1.2 million households for nearly two hours. President Tsai apologized to the people and stated that like the people, she found the situation hard to accept.
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New Measures Implemented as Virus Alert Raised to Level 3 in Taiwan
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic situation took a downturn as a spike of 180 confirmed cases were reported in Taiwan on May 15, 2021, in which 164 cases were in the municipalities Taipei and New Taipei.
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Failed Coronavirus Screening, Minister Chen a Fraudster
Infectious respiratory diseases come and go without a trace, and it is impossible to stop them with aimless protection.
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Taiwan Should Care More About American Politics
It wasn't so long ago that those in Taiwan could be forgiven for directing their attention outside of American politics.
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This Week in Taiwan 0509-0515
May 10: It is reported that the Penghu Defense Command, Huadong Command, and the 6th, 8th, and 10th Regiments of the Army will be renamed to five Combat Zones. Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng confirmed this on May 10 and expressed hopes that this arrangement will enable commanders of combat zones to better coordinate the army, navy, and air forces and strengthen the joint combat capability of the military. This move will change the status quo in Taiwan where army generals serve as theater commanders.
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Gang Members Sends DPP into Governance Crisis
It started with some emboldened men in black dress broke into, at daybreak, the Zhonglun branch police station of the Songshan Precinct in Taipei and maliciously smashed computer monitor yet without legal investigation of this "Songshan Riot."
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If the President Loved Democracy as Deeply as She Protected Party
The family of Chao Chieh-you, which was presumed to be an organized crime syndicate, involved itself in the gang members controversy.
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DPP Puts Chains on Already Caged Referendum
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chiao-hui, the daughter of Premier Su Tseng-chang, recently sponsored a bill to amend the Referendum Act.
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This Week in Taiwan 0502-0508
May 3: In response to the dispute surrounding the algae reef referendum, the Executive Yuan announced some changes to the extrapolation plan of the CPC Corporation's third natural gas terminal. The government plans to push out the industrial port by an additional 455 meters, or approximately 1.2 kilometers from the shore, without dredging or damaging the algal reef. But project completion will be delayed by 2.5 years and supply natural gas June 2025, with an increased budget of NT$15 billion (about US$541 million).
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The Economist Describes Taiwan as Most Dangerous Place on Earth, Scholars Concerned
The cover image of the most recent issue of The Economist places a radar map with Taiwan in the center, a mainland Chinese flag to the left, and an American flag to the right, symbolizing the fierce rivalry between China and the United States.
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