This Week in Taiwan 1227-0102
December 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.
December 30: Among the travelers who returned to Taiwan from the United Kingdom on December 27 were three confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), including one case involving a young man with a serious fever (case 792) which was confirmed by genetic comparison as the British variant of the virus, the first in Taiwan. From New Year's Day, Taiwan is strengthening border controls and banning foreign nationals without residence permits from entering the country for a period of one month. However, foreign, Hong Kong and Macao spouses, minor children, and those with project permits are not affected by the new policy. The Ministry of Education also instructed schools to suspend processing applications by overseas students.
December 31: The Executive Yuan announced that existing local self-government ordinances which mandate zero detection provisions for beta-adrenergic agonists (including ractopamine) are invalid, and new regulations will not be approved. Minister without portfolio Luo Bing-cheng stated that if local governments insist on fining related businesses, then higher-level government agencies will revoke such penalties, and civil servants who enforce the local self-government ordinances will be subject to discipline. The legal profession harshly criticized that, under the Civil Service Disciplinary Act, the Executive Yuan has no authority to intervene and subject local civil servants to discipline.
December 31: The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums will hike to 5.17 percent from the current 4.69 percent. In other words, employees earning NT$30,000 (about US$1,068) per month will see a premium increase of about NT$44 (about US$1.56), and the average employee will see a premium increase of NT$63 (about US$2.25). The premium increase for more than 70 percent of people will be within NT$70 (about US$2.50), approximately the cost of a bento box.
January 1: President Tsai Ing-wen delivered her 2021 New Year address. On lifting import restrictions on pork containing ractopamine, President Tsai appealed to the people's understanding with her utmost humility.
On the first day of Taiwan's opening to ractopamine pork, traditional markets and street food vendors selling meat all posted various "Taiwanese pork" certificates on their storefronts. Butcheries complained about going great lengths to explain and prove to customers the origin of their meat and calming customer concerns. Street food vendors reported a drop in business by about 30 percent.
January 1: More than 10 New Year countdown celebrations were scheduled throughout Taiwan. But in the interest of epidemic prevention, all but Taipei's decided to cancel and hold their events online. The New Year fireworks at Taipei 101, which lasted five minutes, were attended by only some 10,000 people, the poorest attendance ever for a New Year celebration.