Published since 2019 by the Fair Winds Foundation and Association of Foreign Relations, Taiwan Weekly provides in-depth report and analysis of the major issues facing Taiwan.
January 5: Taiwan is approaching water shortage. The Council of Agriculture (COA) announced that it would suspend irrigation for nearly 28,000 hectares (about 69,190 acres) of land in the first phase. Accounting for earlier suspension of farm irrigation in Chiayi, Tainan, Taichung, Hsinchu, and Miaoli, the total suspended irrigation land area is more than 74,000 hectares (about 182,858 acres), more than 24 percent of the total irrigation area and the largest total area in two decades. The COA assessed that compensation for suspending irrigation due to the present drought, which persisted from the second phase last year to the first phase this year, will exceed NT$7 billion (about US$250 million).
DetailsThe tensions in the Taiwan Strait continued and the United States is about to see a transfer of power, new changes may emerge in the cross-strait relations.
DetailsAt the beginning of the new year, the leaders of both sides of the Taiwan Strait each mentioned their hopes for future cross-strait relations.
DetailsBecause of the ravaging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the global economy has seen a rare depression in a century, and the competition between the United States and China has promoted the transformation of the international order; some people have called year 2020 as the first year of an "Asian Century".
DetailsDecember 28: President Donald Trump of the United States signed on December 27 appropriations legislation worth $2.3 trillion. The legislation package included the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020, which calls for the normalization of arms sales to Taiwan, support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations, and review of Department of State guidelines for engaging with Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed welcome and gratitude.
DetailsFour months after President Tsai Ing-wen's sudden announcement to ease import restrictions on U.S. pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle over 30 months old, the Legislative Yuan passed all 9 executive orders to allow such imports on Christmas Eve with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) majority in the Parliament.
DetailsGrowing up in an authoritarian eras, I can say with certainty that authoritarian control does not require continuous use of a large police force.
DetailsThe Ministry of Culture stipulated that effective February 1, 2021, publishers in Taiwan must apply for prior MOC approval before they publish books authorized by mainland China and converted from simplified and traditional Chinese script.
DetailsDecember 20: Following the U.S. destroyer USS Martin's passage through the Taiwan Strait on December 19, China's aircraft carrier Shandong (CV-17) and four ships of its frigate forces sailed through the strait and continued to sail south. Taiwan's Armed Forces dispatched six warships and eight aircrafts to monitor the whole process. This is the second time that the Shandong aircraft carrier passed through the strait. According to the Ministry of National Defense, Shandong set sail south from Dalian Port in Liaoning Province and sailed through the strait on December 20.
DetailsClinical psychiatrist Su Wei-shuo, who asserted that ractopamine is harmful to human body, has allegedly "had his water meter checked" (a euphemism for certain citizen been visited to the residence by police in a gesture of intimidating political dissenters), and this incident led some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and several civic groups to stand out in support of Doctor Su.
Details