This Week in Taiwan 1010-1016
October 11: In response to President Tsai Ing-wen's remarks that the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities as conspiring independence and provoking the mainland. According to the TAO, this is the source of tension and turbulence which threatens the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
According to the New York Times, Taiwan has become the center of confrontation between the United States and China. As the confrontation becomes more and more intense, the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait is undergoing a fundamental change. The stalemate on Taiwan’s future for decades has entered a dangerous new stage, and it may even ignite war regardless of international participation.
October 12: The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper of Harvard University, reported that due to the increasing unfriendly attitude of its partner Beijing Language and Culture University, the school's well-known summer Chinese learning program "Harvard Beijing Academy" will switch cooperation with National Taiwan University starting 2022 and be renamed the "Harvard Taipei Academy." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) stated on October 12 that it is delighted to see recent developments. According to MOFA, only in a free environment without censorship can the best learning outcomes be achieved.
October 12: The extrapolation plan for the third liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in the Guantang Industrial Park located in Guanyin District, Taoyuan underwent an environmental impact assessment by a review team for 3.5 hours. A total of 10 committee members, including the chair, asked for the plan to be corrected. They questioned that the increase in siltation after extrapolation would affect the ecology of algal reefs, and the local wind and waves would be detrimental to the work of ships. In particular, the north seawall, which the Ministry of Economic Affairs insists on leaving behind, will directly suppress the algal reefs. An environmental impact assessment involving the controversial disruption of algal reefs did not pass for the first time.
October 13: On October 12, Ambassador Shieh Jhy-wey, representative to Germany, posted a "flag confession" on Facebook, alleging that he mentioned the Republic of China and national flag for the first time at a National Day concert held by the representative office in Germany. According to Shieh, the national flag is bright red because of the bloodshed over decades in Taiwan and because people vomit blood while raising the flag. These remarks triggered strong dissatisfaction from the Kuomintang (KMT), which demanded a replacement for the unfit representative. The Office of the President responded that it respects the remarks of Representative Shieh.
October 13: The recall vote on Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) Legislator Chen Po-wei from Taichung will be held on October 23. When she responded to the case on October 13 at a central standing committee meeting of the DPP, President Tsai expressed her support for Chen for the first time, alleging that she did not want Chen to become a victim bullied by a whole party. KMT Chairman Eric Chu questioned whether President Tsai's public support also applies to drugs, gambling, and hit-and-run? He called upon President Tsai to join the KMT in recalling Chen and combat drugs, gambling, and hit-and-run.
October 13: When responding to interpellation by KMT Legislator Cheng Li-wun, Premier Su Tseng-chang called the female legislator "shameless" causing social uproar. Premier Su justified his remarks on October 13, claiming to counter traitors (Legislator Cheng is a former member of the ruling party). Chairman Eric Chu of the KMT, Chairman Jaw Shaw-kong of the Broadcasting Corporation of China, and Principal Chang Ya-chung of the Sun Yat-sen Academy successively condemned Premier Su for belittling a female legislator and being unable to control his emotions, setting the worst example for the public. They demanded that Premier Su apologize; President Tsai immediately replace the premier; and Premier Su should step down to take responsibility.
October 14: A 12-storey building in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung, caught fire at 2:40 AM. Within 10 minutes, the 1st to 4th floors fell into flames and burned for nearly five hours. There were many disadvantaged and elderly people with limited mobility who live above the 7th floor who had no time to escape in their sleep. Although firefighters tried their best to rescue 87 people, the fire still caused 46 deaths and 41 injuries. It was the worst fire in terms of casualty in Taiwan in 26 years and the worst in Kaohsiung's history. A couple is suspected of causing the disaster by burning incense to repel mosquitoes. The woman was taken into custody on suspicion of negligent manslaughter, while the man paid NT$60,000 (US$2,142) and was released on bail.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai and three deputy mayors bowed to apologize and promised to review the long-standing problem of old apartment buildings within the city.
October 15: Preliminary results have been obtained from the "AstraZeneca + Moderna" mix-and-match trials conducted by National Taiwan University Hospital. Dr. Chang Shang-chun, who convenes the team of experts at the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), stated that the trials received 200 subjects, and blood tests were administered 28 days after the second dose vaccine. The preliminary results indicate that the efficacies of "AstraZeneca + Moderna" and "AstraZeneca + BioNTech" are similar. Their antibody performance, regardless of the mix-and-match combination, are better than two doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.
October 16: TTY Biopharm had unsuccessfully sought to distribute Germany's BioNTech vaccines in Taiwan, suspected by some to be due to insider trading. On October 15, the Shilin District Prosecutors Office ordered the Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Justice, to search 26 locations and interview 26 people including General Manager Shih Chun-liang, who pleaded guilty. They traded about 300,000 stocks and made a profit of about NT$3 million (about US$107,141). On October 16, 17 people, including the general manager and Deputy General Manager Chu Chih-yuan, were released on bail.