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News: ◆ Economist, 11-19-2020: : Why commercial ties between Taiwan and China are beginning to fray? geopolitical, competition, and generational change ◆ New York Times, 10-1-2020 : As China and the U.S. vie for tech dominance, Taiwan’s chip companies are feeling the heat. They are forced to heed American tech policy, but many of their customers — and their customers’ customers — are in China. ◆ Hudson.org, 9-23-2020: Senator Marco Rubio : Helping Taiwan to win an all-out conflict against China would not be a way to reach that goal, “That’s not possible.” Instead, Washington should assist Taipei “to have the capability to raise the cost of military adventurism there to a level that China’s not willing to pay...". ◆ VOA news, 9-21-2020: The increasing number of air force incursions from China is starting to fray nerves among ordinary Taiwanese, A Yahoo poll, as of early September, had found that 64% of Taiwanese worry about a conflict, but a lot of people’s fears are muted by perceptions that China is just sending a political signal, a big proportion of Taiwanese who think United States would defend Taiwan ◆ France 24, 9-16-2020: Taiwanese FM on China: 'After Hong Kong, Taiwan might be next' ◆ National Interest , 9-12-2020: Washington would establish “a new bilateral economic dialogue” with Taipei to “explore the full spectrum of our economic relationship—semiconductors, healthcare, energy, and beyond, with technology at the core.” ◆ US Defense Gov., annual Report to US Congress, 9-1-2020: The PRC appears willing to defer the use of military force as long as it considers that unification with Taiwan could be negotiated over the long-term and the costs of conflict outweigh the benefits ◆ N.Y. Times, 8-30-2020: Taiwan has moved to revamp Taiwan’s military doctrine and strengthen its reserves...Taiwan cannot count on US as a matter of strategy. ◆ Economist, 8-30-2020: The island cannot rely on American help, but armed conflict remains unlikely

The People’s Daily, 10-15-2020 , Global Times, 10-15-2020: “Don’t say we didn’t warn you" (「勿謂言之不預」)...

http://www.nexttv.com.tw/NextTV/News/Home/LatestNews/2020-10-17/275597.html

Taiwan, Next TV, 壹新聞, 10-17-2020The People’s Daily《告台灣情治部門書》full text : http://js.people.com.cn/BIG5/n2/2020/1015/c359574-34350271.html

● Economist,10-22-2020: The People’s Daily, (CCP’s mouthpiece《人民日報》), carried a commentary... using a phrase—“Don’t say we didn’t warn you (ps: Taiwan intelligence)” — that has preceded Chinese military action against other countries in the past
● After China's mouthpiece, People's Daily or XinHua editorial issued a severe warning "Don’t say we didn’t warn you" in 1962、1967、1978，Chinese PLA started military operations against Indian and Vietnamese troops respectively.
● The People's Daily in Nov. 2019 sent a warning "Don’t say we didn’t warn you" to Hong Kongers, in the next year China cracked down HK, and passed a national security law on Hong Kong.
● This time the People’s Daily put its warning to Taiwan's intelligence in "opinion" , instead of "editorial" column as before, and on "7th edition" instead of 1st~4th edition as before, ... therefore, it's serious but not as severe as before, probably a warning for coercion or "gray zone" actions such as blockage or economic intervenes, or a pressure expecting Taiwan's giving up ... those sort of psychological war.
● Washington Post (7-22-2020) : In 2019, Xi (Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for unification talks or face annexation by force. Soon later PLA's warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait "median line" ( "the de facto cease-fire line") first time ever since 1949, according to Newsweek 8-12-2020, and the PRC deliberately ratcheted up tensions till now.
● SCMP (Hong Kong), 10-20-2020: ... unusually strong language in a recent commentary in People's Daily invoking the phrase “don’t say we didn’t warn you”, serves as a reminder, which was targeting a big rise in the number of Taiwanese intelligence agents active on the mainland, but was aimed at a much wider audience.

◆ Forbes, 8-30-2020: Taiwan simply does not have enough firepower to defeat a Chinese invasion without the help of the U.S. military ◆ National Interest, 8-28-2020: Could China Successfully Blockade Taiwan? China hopes direct action will yield clean and swift results, letting it present Asia, America, and the world a fait accompli — a done deal ◆ Wall Street Journal 8-30-2020: Fearing Hong Kong’s Fate, Taiwan Moves to Bolster Its Military Against China. N.Y. Times, 8-17-2020: U.S. Tries to Bolster Taiwan’s Status, Short of Recognizing Sovereignty. US Naval Institute, Proceedings, Aug. 2020: 2021 U.S. political transition would be an even more vulnerable time than usual for U.S. decision-making... such an opportunity would only appear every few decades...for achievement of a long-held goal — to bring Taiwan back into China. CNN, 8-14-2020: What Taiwan needs form the US is a strong stable marriage not a hot passionate romance ... a long-term antagonistic relationship between the US and China wasn't sustainable after November... Taiwan needs to think about it. Daily Express, 8-13-2020: World War 3: China 'ready' for conflict with US over Taiwan row ... Peking University Bo: there could be parties with the US military aiming to create a small-scale and “controllable” conflict with their Chinese counterparts. MirageNews (Australia), 8-11-2020: Q: red line for the U.S. in terms of us going in and defending Taiwan? Pompeo: We thoroughly intend to uphold our obligations and commitments with respect to the historical understandings between the United States and China on Taiwan. CNN, 8-11-2020 : Beijing's warplanes have only crossed Taiwan Strait "median line" ( "the de facto cease-fire line") intentionally three times since 1999 (ps: Newsweek, 8-12-2020: since 1949) -- once in March 2019, in February of this year, and again on Monday (Azar met with Taiwan President Tsai). aljazeera, 8-11-2020: Taiwan's top diplomat tells visiting US health secretary that Chinese pressure is making 'life increasingly difficult' . NewsWeek, 7-21-2020: Once military conflict breaks out - A slight plurality of 31 percent assigned blame to Chinese President Xi Jinping, while 30 percent of respondents said they believed both Xi and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen were responsible and 24 percent blamed Tsai. Daily Mail, 7-22-2020: China has made several 'simulated' military attacks on Taiwan. Daily Express (UK) 7-21-2020: WAR will break out between China and the US in the South China Sea if Beijing violates the alliance agreement between America and Taiwan. Bloomberg 7-20-2020: Beijing is no doubt waiting to see the outcome of the U.S. presidential election before taking any more significant actions. National Interest 7-18-2020: This will be much more difficult and costly than Hong Kong has been, but make no mistake: for these (CCP) people, that cost is deemed as necessary and they will gladly pay it. Unless the United States binds itself to protect the independence of Taiwan on pain of war, Taiwan is next. Asia Times, 7-20-2020: US tech giants exposed if China takes Taiwan ... Even an unsuccessful invasion of Taiwan would cause a supply chain disruption. Fox News 7-16-2020: US appears to change policy on Beijing’s ‘unlawful’ actions in the South China Sea and thus opens the legal floodgates to a potential military response. ecns.cn 7-17-2020: China: Two sides of Taiwan Strait should jointly safeguard China's sovereignty over the islands and reefs in the South China Sea and their adjacent waters, Foreign Affairs, 7-8-2020: Given how little Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong has cost it to date, we are concerned that Beijing will draw the wrong conclusions about the costs of future coercion against Taiwan. FoxNews 7-8-2020: The passage of a national security law on Hong Kong has put Taiwan on edge, with pro-democracy activists fearing that Beijing will soon have the self-ruled island in its crosshairs. Washington Post 7-7-2020: The Hong Kong security law could be China’s blueprint to deal with the ‘Taiwan problem'...China has arguably moved a step closer to preparing for war with the island democracy . National Interest 7-6-2020: China and Taiwan Could Be Headed Towards a Showdown... New York Times, 7-2-2020: The possibility of a military conflict between China and Taiwan remains remote, experts say, because the costs for Beijing would be extraordinary, including significant casualties and damage to its international standing. Yet the two sides are moving farther and farther apart, with little appetite for compromise. USA Today 7-5-2020: Taiwan has never been more important to American interests. LOWY institute 7-9-2020: Xi isn’t such a realist when it comes to Taiwan. Beijing views Taiwan in largely political terms – preoccupied with “the great trend of history” towards unification. New York Times, 7-2-2020: The (HK) security law is raising fears in Taiwan. Foreign Affairs, 6-18-2020: A strategic miscalculation might involve Chinese leaders choosing to blockade or attack Taiwan in the near term or midterm based on a set of strongly held beliefs about the United States as a declining power ... L.A. Times 5-20-2020: the ruling Democratic Progressive Party advocates Taiwan’s formal independence, something Beijing says it will use force to prevent. Foreign Policy 5-20-2020: Taiwan would reject being ruled by China in the same way Hong Kong is now. The Guardian, 5-20-2020: Beijing also responded swiftly to Tsai’s speech and said China would never leave any room for “Taiwan independence separatist activities”. Washington Post, 5-21-20: As U.S.-China rhetoric grows harsher, new risks emerge with Taiwan drawn into the mix. Financial Times 5-19-2020 : Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of coronavirus epidemic. New York Times 5-19-2020: US is Using Taiwan as a Pressure Point (TSMC in Arizona ...) in Tech Fight With China. Nikkei news Japan ( Nihon keizai shinbun, 日本経済新聞 ) , 5-20-2020: TSMC to Arizona may weaken Taiwan's security. New York Times, 5-12-2020, Pew Research Center: (Taiwanese) 52% support closer economic ties with China, only 36% favor closer political ties. Foreign Policy 5-15-2020: Beijing were to interpret ...... coronavirus as a uniquely advantageous moment, a Chinese military strike on Taiwan at this moment is unlikely... ... but a low level of risk is not the same as zero risk. National Review 5-13-2020 : The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission: China Has Increased Military Pressure on Taiwan during Pandemic ( FP 5-15-2020 : dozens of PLAAF aircraft crossed the centerline twice). FOXnews 4-9-2020, CNBC 4-8-20: WHO chief addresses death threats, racist insults from Taiwan. The China Times, 4-10-2020 editorial : Cyber bullying from Taiwan notorious in international . L.A. Times 1-10-2020 ~ 1-11-2020: Taiwan election... a vote guided by anxiety about China ... Taiwan's president sweeps to reelection, setting the stage for chilly relations with China . Bloomberg 1-9-2020: Slow income growth and aging society post challenge ahead, Taiwanese income-per-person, income per capita, lowest of Four Tigers. Diplomat 1-3-2020: Taiwan anti-infiltration act targets at curbing Chinese influence but critics say it threatens the country's democracy. (brief) New York Times, 9-5-2019: This Is How a War (USA) With China Could Begin. The Independent (UK),11-25-2019: Taiwan president Tsai's ruling party denounced “The enemy of democracy is China. At present Taiwan's most ambitious opponent, competitor, is also China”. WSJ (Wall Street Journal) 9-20-2019: It’s clearly a big win for China having the two largest allies of Taiwan in the Pacific drop so quickly... New York Times 9-20-2019: As Taiwan Loses Influence, China Gains Ground in Race With U.S. ; Washington Post 9-25-2019: China’s growing dominance in the South Pacific is a defeat for an America in retreat. WEF <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness, Taiwan ranks 10th in Asia, Taiwan's prioritization of travel & tourism ranks world No.75; L. A. Times, 8-1-2019: The indefinite suspension (Chinese individual tourists to TW) is likely to prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as well as a blow to cultural interplay. New York Times 4-10-2019: The US considers Taiwan's political status to be undetermined ... Taiwan Relations Act. calls for Taiwan's status to be determined by peaceful means. Daily Mail (UK) 4-1-2019: Taiwan blasts China for "reckless and provocative" incursion by 2 fighter jets across a largely respected line dividing the 2 sides in the Taiwan Straits. Reuters 2-25-2019: US Navy ships pass through strategic Taiwan Straits, riling China. (UDN 4-1-2019: Chn protests US pass thru 3 times in this yr.) New York Times 1-19-2019: Most of Taiwan’s 23 million people are in favor of maintaining the island’s de facto independence without taking any formal moves that might bring a military response from China. Le Monde France 1-2-2019: Le président chinois « n’exclut pas » la force pour récupérer Taïwan. BBC UK 1-2-2019: The US is by far Taiwan's only ally...most other countries seem happy to accept the current ambiguity... New York Times 11-28-2018: Will Taiwan Be the First Domino to Fall to China? Washington Post, 8-20-2018: Taiwan's precarious role in the China-US spat (Trump adm.'s Taiwan policy is unpredictable, situation is undeniably risky for Taiwan); CBS News 11-14-2018: If the United States had to fight China in a war over Taiwan, Americans could face a decisive military defeat. / National Defense Strategy Commission ; Annual Report to US Congress ( Military and Security Developments Involving the PRC ), 8-17-2018: Much of Beijing’s defense budget is focused on developing the capability to unify Taiwan by force; USA Today 5-18-2018: Xi JinPing has signaled that China will seek to reclaim its historical properties by 2049. Bloomberg news 3-14-2018: Taiwan will suffer even more, as it gets caught in the middle between a stronger China and a inward-looking US... New York Times at 11-4-2017, the Pentagon report, May 2017: China’s military modernization has “eroded or negated many of Taiwan’s historical advantages (geography and the US support) ” in deterring a potential attack. Spiegel Germany, 1-9-2017, Global Times of China: "There is no room for negotiations" ("Es gibt keinen Raum für Verhandlungen")

Taiwan's soft power vs. Asia's soft power

Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in Monocle's Soft Power survey ranking list, so Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE. for details : click Soft Power
　

world best surveys	Taiwan's rankings in top 25~30 list	comparison with other Asia & Pacific countries
2019/2020 Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland	failed	No. 8 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 17 New Zealand, No. 19 S Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
US News: 2020 Best Countries Overall The Best Countries in the World	n/c	No.3 Japan, No.5 Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No. 15 China, No. 16 Singapore , No. 20 Korea, No.22 UAE , No.25 India, No. 26 Thailand, No. 30 Qatar
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey	failed	No. 3 Japan, No.8 Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 19 China, No. 21 Singapore, No. 25 India
2018/2019 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy	failed	No.5 Japan, No. 10 Australia, No. 18 NZ, No. 20 S. Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey	failed	No. 4 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 19 China, No. 22 Singapore, No. 24 India
2017/2018 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy	failed	No.6. Japan, No. 8. Australia, 18. NZ, No. 20 Singapore, No. 21 S. Korea, No. 25. China
2016/2017 Monocle's Soft Power survey	failed	No. 3 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 20 China, No. 23 Singapore, No. 24 India
2015/2016 Monocle's Soft Power survey	failed	No. 4 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 21 China, No. 23 Singapore

★ According to a survey of 2020, Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea No. 9 on "enterprise", Japan ranks No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement", Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No any Asian country ranks top 10 on "education" and "govt."
　

★ Best Countries overall in 2020: 1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan 4 Germany 5 Australia 6 UK 7 USA 8 Sweden 9 Nederland 10 Norway 11 NZ 12 France 13 Denmark 14 Finland 15 China 16 Singapore 17 Italy 18 Austria 19 Spain 20 Korea 21 Luxembourg 22 UAE 23 Russia 24 Portugal 25 India 26 Thailand 27 Greece 28 Brazil 29 Israel 30 Qatar 31 Saudi Arabia 32 Malaysia 33 Mexico 34 Poland 35 Turkey

Taiwan's hard power military

Taiwanese military vs. Chinese military

Taiwan military

opinions
● Foreign Policy, 10-19-2020: Taiwan needs huge arsenals of mobile missile launchers, armed drones,
and mines; developing an army that can surge
tens of thousands of troops to any beach in an hour backed by a million-strong reserve force trained
to fight guerrilla-style in Taiwan’s cities and jungles.
it could take a decade to retool the Taiwanese and U.S. militaries to mount an effective defense of the island.
With China’s rapid military buildup, that may be time that Taiwan does not have
● New York times, 8-30-2020: Taiwan's Lawmaker said Taiwan’s military needs to improve a lot
● Forbes, 8-30-2020: Taiwan simply does not have enough firepower to defeat a Chinese
invasion without the help of the U.S. military
　

personnel ( soldiers, officials )	◆ Taiwan’s Military Is a Hollow Shell. US Defense Department officials have privately expressed dismal assessments regarding Taiwan's current force level and reserve system. ◆ armor, mechanized infantry, and artillery units are always in desperate shortage of enlisted soldiers ◆ few front-line units have more than 80 percent of their positions filled / Foreign Policy, 2-15-2020; https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/15/china-threat-invasion-conscription-taiwans-military-is-a-hollow-shell/ ◆ Taiwan's active force down to under 200,000 (the exact number is classified). The nearly two million reservists exist in name only... / New York times, 5-18-2017 ◆ The ROC (Taiwan) Armed Forces number approximately 300,000, and reserves reportedly total 3,870,000. / Wikipedia, May 2020 ◆ Taiwan began to phase out mandatory conscription for all young men, which was deeply unpopular, in favor of an all-volunteer force; 4 months of compulsory service ... training is "insufficient to meet the challenges posed by the increasing threat (RAND, '17) / New York times, 8-30-2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/world/asia/taiwan-china-military.html ◆ Only 310 thousands out of 770 thousands of qualified reservists were called up for short-term military training, from 2015 to 2017, 61 thousands of those escaped the duty / Formosa TV news, 8-3-2018, storm.mg 10-15-2019 ◆ only 84,000 are demobilised volunteer force soldiers, the best-trained and most motivated group / Financial Times, 7-12-2020 ◆ Taiwan’s military is also not in the most optimal state. For instance, Taiwanese males serve only four months of conscripted military service, in comparison to over 20 months for Singaporean men and at least 18 months for South Korean men. / Hong Kong Free Press 7-15-2020 ◆ Reserve force is short of both officers and sergeants, their speciality far match the position / United Daily, 10-2-2020
strategy	◆ To against the threats of cyber warfare, cognitive warfare, and ‘unrestricted’ warfare from China , we ( Taiwan ) work to bolster our defense capabilities, future combat capacity development will also emphasize mobility, countermeasures, and non-traditional, asymmetrical capabilities (unconventional arms)” / Taiwan president inauguration speech, Voice of American, 5-20-2020 ◆ so called asymmetrical capabilities in Taiwan is only skin-deep / United Daily , editorial, 6-6-2020 ◆ Taiwan's weird strategy: Facing PLA's attacks, Taiwan's warplanes stay inside tunnels, warships leave Taiwan, once the US military comes to rescue, they will return and join the war / Apple Daily, 8-14-2020 tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200814/KDQ5JJAYQUR5JLE6EIIXK5VJM4/
firepower	◆ France forced Taiwan to withdraw its request to upgrade 20-year-old Mirage fighters ... F-16 A/B and F-CK-1 fighters are growing tired; 60 or 70 new fighters and a few missiles won’t really change the balance of power. And heavy tanks – especially if they lack trained crews – won’t do much to stop a Chinese invasion / Forbes, 8-30-2020 ◆ A whole lot of Taiwan’s weapons don’t work. / Forbes, 9-4-2020 forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/09/04/which-of-taiwans-old-weapons-still-work/#340d2ee156a2 ◆ only 30% of Taiwan's tanks are in running condition with functional weapons. / Business Insider, 10-9-2020 ◆ China could wipe out Taiwan’s navy and air force ... Many insiders are accordingly pessimistic about its ability to hold out. / Economist,10-9-2020 ◆ the PLA could, without invading, destroy Taiwanese military, power and telecom facilities, embargo oil imports, cut cyber connectivity, then take advantage of the psychological impact on Taiwan to press for negotiations / Politico,10-8-2020 ◆ Today China has more and better conventional forces than Taiwan. / Forbes, 6-3-2020 ◆ China has ｎｕｃｌｅａｒ　ｂｏｍｂ，Neutron bomb， hydrogen bomb, Taiwan has none of those. / Next TV news, 5-8-2020 ◆ Three Taiwanese presidents Lee (李登輝後期)、Chen(陳水扁)、Tsai(蔡英文) squandering those "bonus for peace" military budget and underestimating the demand of national defense, lead to shortage of arms-deal budget. / United Daily , editorial, 6-6-2020 ◆ Taiwan military strength is ranked No. 26 , China PLA No. 3 / Global FirePower, 2020 ◆ A major obstacle is that countries that might sell it the most sophisticated weaponry are increasingly reluctant to do so for fear of provoking China, ... / New York times, 11-4-2017
military logistics system	◆ The logistics inside the military remain so abysmal ... The army likely has no clue how many tanks or guns actually mission-capable ... / Foreign Policy, 8-20-2020 ◆ only 30% of Taiwan's tanks are in running condition with functional weapons. The outdated hardware stands in stark contrast to China's massive and increasingly modern force / Business Insider, 10-9-2020 ◆ Taiwan lacks enough supplement of all items of military equipments / United Daily (聯合報社評), opinion, 5- 7- 2020
morale	◆ Taiwan's famous politician : “Taiwan can’t face the might of China alone, We can’t fight China on our own". in spite of Economist , NY Times (8-30-2020) advised Taiwan not to rely on the US military ... / NY Times, 11-24-2020 ◆ As China Threatens War, Nearly Everyone in Taiwan Wants Peace: Poll / Newsweek, 10-28-2020 ◆ Taiwan’s preparedness and its will to fight both look shaky / Economist,10-9-2020 ◆ “Their underlying thinking is that PLA has grown to be too strong for us to fight militarily anyway... Taiwan should just focus on putting up a good show of being tough, buy enough U.S. weapons for display, and pray that Americans come to our rescue / Foreign Policy, 8-20-2020 https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/20/taiwan-military-flashy-american-weapons-no-ammo/ ◆ Policies put forward by the Kuomintang and the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party have left the military understaffed and in a state of low morale... / New York times, 5-18-2017 ◆ Taiwan fears uptick in military threat from China in wake of coronavirus epidemic ... / Financial Times 5-19-2020
combat experience	◆ Taiwan’s army has trouble with training across the board. Many insiders are accordingly pessimistic about its ability to hold out. / Economist,10-9-2020 ◆ The military combines 4 drills to one per year for battle and propaganda-show, affecting training effect , high percentage of military officers hence are not familiar with combat mission. / ref to China Times, 7-7-2020, opinion www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200707004603-262105?chdtv 蘭寧利》; https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20200707006231-260417?chdtv
discipline	◆ The practice of judicial system has proved not as good as military criminal code to educate and train the military discipline. A soldier's 洪仲丘 'torture to death" sparks massive protest around 2013, the military court was hence no longer to judge the troops . / The China Times, 7-17-2020, editorial
budget	◆ High personnel expense pushes aside the logistics and maintenance budget, the govt. needs to plan special budge to purchase arms. / The China Times, 7-17-2020, editorial ◆ Taiwan would increase Taiwan’s defense budget by 10 percent, on top of a 5 percent increase the year before. That would raise military spending to more than 2 percent of gross domestic product / New York times, 8-30-2020

Taiwan's travel & tourism - 10th in Asia

World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness from 30th down to 37th. Taiwan ranks No.10 among Asian countries. for details : click tourism
　

WEF travel & tourism category	Taiwan's rankings and/or score	comparison
prioritization of travel and tourism	No75	Singapore No.6 , Hong Kong No. 11
Natural & cultural resources	No.58 score 2.6	China No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2, 5.0, Spain No.3, 5.7, Japan No.7, 5.3, Indonesia No.18, Thailand No.21, Korea No.24, Vietnam No.26, Malaysia No.31, HK No.40, Philippines No.46, Sri Lanka No.52, Nepal No.56
Natural resources	No. 87	Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
cultural resources & business travel	No. 36 score 2.6	China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness	No. 78	China 5.7
Health & Hygiene	No.43, score 6	score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia
international openness	No. 60	only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security	No. 26	human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18
ps: Compared to the report of 2017, Taiwan significantly tightened visa requirements (37th down to 119th), waning cultural resources and business travel (26th to 36th) and recalibrated figures showing a drastic reduction in protected areas (20th to 118th). For full details : http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_2019.pdf

According to World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55, "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69 in 2015), "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's world top 5 indexes such as "World heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites".
comment Taiwan travel and tourism, No.1 on internet, pls. click for details

US News & World Report 2020, Asian countries' world influence rankings
Cultural Influence	No. 6 Japan, No. 8 Australia, No. 9 Singapore, No. 16 China, 17. NZ, 18. Thailand, 20. Korea, 22. UAE, 30. India, 35. Qatar, 39. Malaysia, 40. Saudi Arabia, 41. Phil	Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion
Quality of Life	No.5 Australia, No. 8 nz, 14. Japan, 15. US, 19. China, 20. Singapore, 23. Korea, 25. UAE, 27. Malaysia, 28. Thai., 30. India, 31. Philippines, 32. Indonesia, 33. Vietnam, 36. Qatar	Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well
Heritage	No.6 India, No. 9 Thailand, 10. Japan, 11. China, 18. USA, 21. Vietnam, 22. Singapore, 27. Australia, 29. Indonesia, 30. Korea, 32. Malaysia, 37. NZ	A deep vein of history courses through these countries
Adventure	No.5 Thailand No.7 Nrw Zealand, 10. Australia, 17. Philippines, 25. Singapore, 29. Malaysia, 33. USA, 34. Japan, 38. Vietnam, 40. India	The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust
www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings

Michelin Stars (2020) comparison among Asian cities
Michelin Guide cities	number of starred restaurants	number of 3-stars restaurants	number of 2 stars	1 star
Tokyo	226	11	48	167
Hong Kong, Macau	85	10	19	56
Kyoto	100	8	21	77
Osaka	111	3	16	79
Seoul	31	2	7	22
Singapore (新加坡)	44	2	5	37
Taipei (台北)	26	1	6	19
Shanghai (上海)	23	1	2	20

★

　

　
　
● Public trust on Taiwan's judges is about the lowest, compared with OECD member countries
　
● The Liberty Times, 2-23-2019 : National Chung-Cheng University survey shows about 80% Taiwanese people do not trust judges, only 32% are satisfied with Taiwanese prosecutors. (https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/1269488) The percentage is about as low as that of Korea
― the worst judicial system country in OECD ( Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ) in 2019.
● Korea Times, 7-2-2020 (www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2020/07/162_292043.html): OECD surveyed 37 member countries by asking how many of every
1,000 people trust their own court systems. The result shows Korea had the lowest numbers of all countries surveyed.
Various surveys in Korea also show that two out of three Koreans do not trust the courts.
● Taiwan Judicial Reform Committee (司改會) survey 7-18-2020: 64% Taiwanese people do not trust judges. (https://www.storm.mg/article/2861744)

● National Chung-Cheng University survey 3-4-2020 shows only 36.4% Taiwanese people trust judges (deptcrc.ccu.edu.tw/index.php?option=module&lang=cht&task=pageinfo&id=132&index=1 )
　

　

★ Taiwan "judicial Independence" was ranked No. 13 among Asia & Pacific countries

	WEF (World Economic Forum) Judicial independence 2019 rankings , The Global Competitiveness Report
Asian country rankings	No.1 New Zealand 89.2(score) 2(world rank), No.2 Japan 86.5 5, No.3 Hong Kong 84.1 8, No.4 Australia 82.9 10, No.5 Singapore 77.4 14, No.6 Saudi Arabia 77.1 16, No. 7 UAE 75.4 20, No.8 Qatar 73.3 23, No.9 US 70.4 25, No.10 Jordan 69, No. 11 Malaysia 68.7, No. 12 Kuwait 59.5 , No.13 Taiwan 59.4 , No. 14 China 58.2
link	www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf
ps	WEF Judicial independence 2017/2018 rankings : China's rank was better than Taiwan's, both are at about same level

Horrible Judicial system in Taiwan !
Taiwan presidents should be ashamed ...
　

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● The United Daily, 10-31-2020, https://udn.com/news/story/7321/4977543

      Taiwan's judiciary spends lots of money on advertising themselves, but, the truth us Taiwan's justice always made a detour whenever encountering the power and the rich people. (司法砸錢宣傳遇權貴卻轉彎)   The Supreme Court (最高法院大法庭) has many cases to solve, but no one wants to touch sensitive issues.
● The United Daily, 7-14-2020, udn.com/news/story/7339/4699302
     Taiwan's president has never talked about anti-corruption, in recent years, the prosecutors and investigation gov. have not solved any big corruption cases, unlike lots of crack-downs in old days, instead, they focus on New National Security cases. No wonder Taiwan president insists abolishing Special Investigation Division (SPD) .

● The Liberty Times, 7-1-2020 ( Avoid judicial monsters ) : The main reason that the public do not trust the justice is lacking of external supervision (外部監督力量) and hence quite many controversial legal judgments were out there。https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/paper/1383385

● The China Times, 5-27-2020 : The public trust on Taiwan's prosecutors was suffered severe injuries from the Minister's "guides" and "leads" (部長下指導棋重傷檢察公信力)
       https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20200527000524-260118

● The United Daily, 5-16-2020, https://udn.com/news/story/121092/4567513 (從人權到新威權變調的司法正義)

       The ruling party DPP has been more "authoritarian" than the way "authoritarian" government in old days was, no wonder the first thing the public have not satisfied with is the judicial reform. Many question the judicial system was reduced to be the government's tool ― to strengthen monitoring the public, and many worries, their political opponents

● The United Daily, 5-20-2019    How long can Taiwan judiciary stand being lynched and tortured ? ( 司法還能忍受多久的凌遲？)

       The Control Yuan (監察院) and the Prime Ministry (行政院) repeatedly have taken judiciary as sacrifice-offering (司法當祭品)
● The Liberty Times, 7-1-2020 劍青檢改：Taiwan's Control Yuan was reduced to political "hit-man". https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/paper/1383386
　

　

　 Index of judiciary
Asian countries

2020 Economic Freedom Index Judicial Effectiveness, Asian countries scores: Singapore 92.9, Australia 86.1, UAE 84.6, New Zealand 79.1, Hong Kong 76.8, China 76.3, Malaysia 74.6, Saudi Arabia 72.3 , Japan 71.4 , Taiwan 70.1, China's rank was better than Taiwan's

Rule of Law Index 2020
　
No. 7 New Zealand, No. 11 Australia, No. 12 Singapore, 15. Japan, 16. Gong Kong, 17. R.Korea, 21. USA, 47. Malaysia, 59. Indonesia, 69. India
worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/documents/WJP-ROLI-2020-Online_0.pdf

The ROC on Taiwan, has its own constitution, independently elected president and military forces, However, Taiwan's image and brand personality were tarnished or damaged for having benefits by any means, and having principal human rights problems. What's Taiwan's true colors?

● Ethics of Taiwan politicians : The Liberty Times, editorial (7-21-2020) reports only 2.3% Taiwanese politicians are trustworthy and have professional ethics, according to a survey half year ago, 56% Taiwanese note elected representatives (lawmakers, councilman, etc) care their own interest, only 9.3% think they care "national interest". Washington Post (7-22-2020) reports: In a major speech in January 2019, Xi (Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for unification talks or face annexation by force. However, Taiwan's government was tight-lipped about this ultimatum, so that even famous commentator and analyst know nothing about it, otherwise pro-Independence Tsai I. W. may not easily continue in presidential office in Jan. 2020, because, according to National Interest (6-16-2020): more than 60.3 percent of the respondents opposed Taiwan's independence if it is followed by China’s military invasion...

● freedom of speech : < Reporters Sans Frontieres> (RSF, France) , 4-18-2019: Taiwan’s journalists are suffering from a very polarized media environment dominated by sensationalism and the pursuit of profit. Although President Tsai Ing-wen has said she wants to continue developing press freedom in Taiwan, few concrete measures have been taken to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of the public debate. Beijing is exploiting this weakness by putting pressure on Taiwanese media owners, who often have business interests on the mainland. ● UDN 12-7-2019 editorial: The number of fake news spread by Pan-Green coalition (ruling party) is far more (and more vile) than that sent by ordinary people ● The China Times 12-14-2019 editorial : the gov. seriously harmed free speech by investigating those messages shared or published on the net by the masses ● Apple Daily 3-29-2019 editorial opinion: Democracy & Freedom of speech is the bottom line which should never be lost, the government should not create chilling effect by fishing in trouble water. The China Times 3-29-2019 headline news: Democracy on the surface, anti-democracy to the bone is not allowed. ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019: the impact of the concentration of media ownership on freedom of the press, self-censorship continued. ● N.Y. Times 12-3-2019: Social media platforms are another key battleground (Chn-TW): Nearly 90 percent of Taiwan’s population is active on them, and traditional news outlets have been known to republish fake posts without fact-checking. According to Reuters, Chinese government agencies have paid Taiwanese news outlets to publish pro-Beijing content. freedom of speech

● corruption : United Daily, opinion, 8-3-2020: Corruption in parliament seems never end. Apple Daily, headline editorial, 8-3-2020 (https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200803/BQXMSWTYOVERHBPGLUKPXAA5LQ/) lawmakers of same party shared illegal benefits or covered each other, and usually won't disclose political rivals' greasy palms, that's Taiwan's political culture and 'ecology'. Liberty Times, 5-25-2020: Univ. presidents' graft or malfeasance was heard frequently. Transparency International 1-29-2019: Taiwan has stagnated in the Corruption Perspective Index rankings since 2011 with its score 61~63 (dropped 2 spots this year), in contrast, South Korea improved by 3 points in 2017. In platform presentation at 12-25-2019, Nationalist Party (KMT) Presidential candidate Han criticized Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate current President Tsai has allowed top officials around grow very corrupt, Tsai refuted KMT was more serious, People First Party candidate Song said that speaking of corruption and unfair judiciary, KMT and DPP are about the same. Apple Daily (12-7-2018) editorial : Taiwan's corruption is off the charts by collusions between government officials and business owners, furthermore, Taiwan's underworld going wild to assist government officials, business and some elected representatives (e.g., legislators) in corruption has been ahead of most corrupt countries, e.g., China, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam, the stinky rotten food-chain crossing pan-Blue (Nationalist, KMT) and pan-Green (DPP) resurges after Taiwan's elections... <UDN> editorial (聯合報社論) 11-14-2019／Taiwan's democracy turns into grave 。 (民主設計的良意，如今變成私欲墳場 https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4163629) corruption

● democracy : Reuters, New York Times, 7-14-2020: Violence and protests inside the chamber are not unusual in Taiwan. New York Times, 1-11-2020: Taiwan’s young and vibrant, if messy at times, democratic society. Economist EIU Democracy Index 2019 shows Taiwan is "Flawed democracy", 2019's overall score is lower than 2015's and 2016's, the scores of "political culture", "political participation" are low (5.63, 6.11). N.Y. Times 12-3-2019: soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks. they continue to allow community leaders, farmers’ associations and even organized-crime figures to buy votes. <China Times> 2-26-2020, editorial: more and more uncontrolled admin. power and withered legislative power, freedom of speech was suppressed by admin. and judicial power at all levels, ...as for political culture, partisan, stand and ideology matter. Apple Daily, editorial, 12-14-2019: Taiwan gov. shows authoritarianism political culture, ignoring and being hostile to those critics. Apple Daily, editorial, 12-7-2019: in this bad election morality age, Taiwan president becomes a low threshold, min. qualification criteria position, and a laughingstock. <Foreign Policy>, 2015: Taiwan politics belongs to mega-corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties. <UDN> editorial,12-6-2018: Taiwan's democracy exists in name only ...; <United Daily News>, editorial opinion, 6-23-2019: The operation of democracy usually strays off most public-opinions, ... fail to solve the adverse situation of reversing democracy; <United Daily News>, Opinion, 3-7-2017: Now it seems hard to keep Taiwan's skin-deep democracy ... the people's "livelihood" was sacrificed for politics ... democracy & freedom

● justice : US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019 pointed out that justice ministry was insufficiently independent and conducted politically motivated investigations of politicians (in <Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government> section), ... ● The United Daily, 1-6-2020, editorial: Taiwanese don't trust law-enforcement because of government abusing power and playing with the law. ● The Liberty Times, head-line news, 3-16-2019: Taiwan PM is not satisfied with Judicial reform :● The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018: Taiwan P.M. (賴清德): Taiwan has not made significant progress on judicial reform, which is roiling with public discontent; <The United Daily>, 06-18-2016, head page news: Taiwan's prosecutors admit usually following order to conclude legal cases. <USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices>, 2016-2018, and media of Taiwan: Taiwan's justice ministry was insufficiently independent, public trust on Taiwan's judiciary system keeps falling down. <United Daily>, opinion column, 12-16-2017: Taiwan's public voice with a heavy heart : The prosecutors should abide by the law too... don't be a political tool. <UDN>, 2-13-2018: Taiwan's Minister of Judiciary and secretary of Justice Ministry issued progress report of judicial reform ― Public trust in judges is always low, the protection mechanism of lawsuit right is still not good enough. judiciary

● int'l pirate : Green Peace, 5-2-2019: It remains our view that Taiwanese fisheries still have many serious problems, both environmental and social, and that the need for reform is clear and urgent. Lowy Institute & <the interpreter>, 5-2-2019: Taiwan ...illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing... Taiwan has so far refused to adopt the Work in Fishing Convention. EU warned in 2015 Taiwan with a yellow card for illegal fishing till 6 '19. US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019: fishermen working on Taiwan-flagged and -owned fishing vessels experience non- or under-payment of wages, long working hours, physical abuse, lack of food or medical care, denial of sleep, and poor living conditions while indebted to complex, multinational brokerage networks. Migrant fishermen have reported senior crewmembers employ such coercive tactics as threats of physical violence, beatings, withholding of food and water, and pay deductions to retain their labor. Freedom House, June 2019: labor advocates report poor implementation, citing ongoing mistreatment and abuse of foreign fishermen on Taiwanese vessels.

● privacy : People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary: Taiwan's Intelligence strictly monitors its own people, which is called "Green Terror". New York Post 4-25-2020 : Taiwan deals CovID with "a lot more authoritarian.", "almost everyone is tracked.". Apple Daily, 11-10-2020: each person's health & medical data/information was forced without agreement of the party to be opened on purpose of business and academic use(澄社). The United Daily News (聯合報) , editorial, 3-31-2019 : Taiwan is a backward country on personal-data protection. Taiwan plans to sell general public's personal data and digital human rights (e.g., people's medical health data without giving any notice ), peep at whatever on the net , and even monitor all the citizens, nothing people would normally notice ... (brief https://udn.com/news/story/7338/3728815) ; ● EU General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR was given to effect at 5-25-2018, Taiwan is far behind, even is going in an opposite way / Apple Daily 蘋果日報, 5-28-2018, National Taiwan University Law School professor 林鈺雄 privacy

● secret police : The United Daily News, editorial opinion (9-19-2018) : "secret police" (「東廠們」) have been active around us ... The Liberty Times, head-page, The China Times, head-page, 12-8-2018: Taiwan P.M. (賴清德): "Secret Police event" (「東廠事件」) has seriously damaged public trust on the government...; Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found their cyber-forces to secretly attack targets... , the dark force are mean, base, cruel and dark to destroy target's image and reputation, they executed without moral bottom line and military discipline (brief). The United Daily News, editorial 11-30-2019: The state machine was abused as government's "tributaries". UDN 11-3-2018, Intel. sys. (NSB) confirmed their investigations of Facebook and other's communities on the net. All internet platform service providers in Taiwan were requested to hand in all users' personal information/data (intel denied). <Apple Daily (蘋果日報)> 11-7-2018 editorial opinion: by whatever name ( "secret police" or "national security bureau") it is called, what "it" did secretly were always more than what it admitted. ● Taiwan's Intelligence and secret-agent systems keep on governing the country ... they're true Prime Minister (行政院長), ...So many suspected political murder cases remain unsolved (ref to 2018.7.26【政經看民視】 FTV, "政經看民視", 7-26-2018; SET(三立電視), 9-24-2013 "Secret agents govern the nation (特務治國)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBdZCdYrwF4; Era TV, 年代電視, 9-22-2013; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1b4R2m6K3g; "Secret agent systems resurgence to control the nation (特務復辟治國)" repression, oppression

● int'l fraud : United Daily, 10-23-2019, editorial: Taiwanese telecom frauds run wild the entire world to damage Taiwan's image. CTV evening news, 12-14-2017, EBC TV, 4-9-2017, UDN opinion, 12-24-2017: Taiwan is notorious for its fraud crimes all over the world. quora, 4-16-2016: Taiwan largely sees these telecom frauds/phone scammers as an asset rather than liability... China Times, 11-7-2017: It's not easy for Taiwan to clean its bad name of 'fraud-crime empire' because "Rome is not built in one day". (Asia Association of Police Studies, secretary general) international fraud

● torture & cruelty : Taiwan is far behind and keeps stalling legislating a new law against torture and other cruelty, conclusively advised by international review panel ( Philip Alston, law professor at New York University; Eibe Riedel, former member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Jerome Cohen, law professor at New York University; and Nisuke Ando, professor emeritus at Kyoto University, etc. ) (ref. to Apple Daily, headline, 12-9-2017) Taiwan's opposition party vice presidential candidate, NTU professor Lin Ruey-Shiung, was subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (French AFP ,Dec. 1, 2011 , Thailand's Bangkok Post, Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland, etc. ), Taiwan gov. denied this. ● State violence and white terror (product of state violence) return in Taiwan (United Daily, opinion, 12-21-2017, 12-27-2017). Taiwan's Facebook "Green terror" suppressed free expression...... (Wikipedia 2017, The China Times, public opinion, 11-18-2017). The key-point is state violence (Apple Daily, opinion, 8-16-2013).

● food safety : The China Times, 10-20-2018 opinion (editorial) https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 : Taiwan's food safety failed again and again, Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event in this year. Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event, in contrast, Taiwan did nothing about it. Even worse, Taiwan officials hide Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to baby related business ― indulge business to retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods. Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's only, and humblest request ？? (brief) UDN, 2-17-2019: Gov. did not declared poison eggs until almost sold out... ● The China Times (中國時報), 2-28-2019, opinion (editorial) questions Taiwan officials are trying very hard to hide the epidemic state of Marek's virus in chicken eggs ...○food scare

● drug base : Taiwan is narcotic drugs producing & selling center of Asia (The China Times <Want Weekly>, 9-18-2019). Taiwan was already reduced to be a 'kingdom' of producing narcotic drugs. (United Daily, headline news, 11-2-2017) Philippine President Duterte ... blaming Taiwan-based organised crime behind all this drug traffic... for using his country as a shipping hub. (Reuters, 9-27-2017, The Straits Times, 9-29-2017) Duterte: Triad supplying illegal drugs to PH is based in Taiwan, not China (inquirer.net, 9-26-2017). Taiwan is scandalous for being a major drug transit center & a major drug exporting country, part of Taiwanese government including Judicial sys. refused to improve this issue. (UDN Opinion, 11-6-2017, The China Times, head-page & focus, 4-4-2017, The Liberty Times, 5-12-2017) illegal drugs

● children & women trafficking : US state government - 2019 Trafficking in persons report, Jun. 2019: in the last five years, human traffickers subject foreign men and women to forced labor and sex trafficking in Taiwan, and traffickers subject local men and women to forced labor and local women and children to sex trafficking. ... take advantage of Taiwan and foreign women’s and children’s drug addictions to subject them to sex trafficking. Taiwan traffickers increasingly use the internet, smartphone apps, livestreaming, and other such online technologies to conduct recruitment activities, often targeting child victims, and to mask their identities from law enforcement. Exploitation of foreign workers, official corruption, some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc (USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018).

● life protection : The government has not well taken its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property - why 5/6 bridges badly in need of repair have not been done ? government even has never made public the info. , where are those fatal bridges are?? (ref. to United Daily, 10-9-2019, headline news) why are there so many tall buildings located on the fault-zone? why are poor architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ? why are those shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to risk millions of old houses and human beings? (ps: may face death in 6 magnitude quake) (full text: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/2974813 聯合報社論／斷層帶上何以建了那麼多高樓？ 2-8-2018, https://udn.com/news/story/7338/2977079 勿讓軟腳樓成坑殺人命陷阱 2-9-2018, https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/daily/20180209/37928659花蓮都更爛政客 2-9-2018)

● life protection (2) :Taiwan is dishonest and 'cruel' ― trying to hide, block, delay public-health news, e.g., poisoned eggs, PCV virus vaccine, and Bird-flu more than one time (1-2-2018 UDN udn.com/news/story/7266/2908720, Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating at home. (The China Times. 8-6-2016, <食品不安全的年代如何自保>, 2016, etc.), 2012 BBC news : www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate) , not to mention big issues. ● The China Times 5-9-2018 column : This is an EVIL state apparatus ... The China Times 5-26-2018 column : The government likes to conceal bad news, put paper over the cracks, e.g., air pollution, rupture of diplomatic relationships, ...http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180509000843-260109● Apple Daily 12-11-2019, headline news: Taiwan's air pollution is bad to worse, about half population were endangered by PM2.5 and PM10 from top 10 hazardous level companies (China Steel, Taichung Power plant, etc) ● Taiwan administration's policy led to air pollution, toxic pollution in the land and sea ... (The China Times, 1-7-2018 台灣海陸空污染毒害，山海變色 http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180107000465-260114。Daily Mail (UK) 7-14-2017 : Shocking underwater video from Taiwan shows ocean floor littered with plastic (bottles) garbage)

● transportation safety United Daily News 1-20-2020: The death rate caused by traffic accidents in Taiwan is 5 times that in Japan. The SUN, BBC (UK) 2-13-2017: "BUS CRASH HORROR!" , Taiwan's tour bus "has come under fire in recent months over safety standards"... MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years".●Taiwan's aviation safety●

● Labor rights USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 3-11-2020: The right to strike remained highly regulated. Teachers, civil servants, and defense industry employees do not have the right to strike. Workers in industries such as utilities, hospital services, and telecommunication service providers are allowed to strike only if they maintain basic services during the strike. Authorities may prohibit, limit, or break up a strike during a disaster. For all workers, the law divides labor disputes into “rights disputes” and “adjustment disputes.” Workers are allowed to strike only in adjustment disputes, which include issues such as compensation and working schedules. The law forbids strikes in rights disputes related to violations of collective agreements and employment contracts. foreign laborers

● social security The China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial: Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens.

● discrimination USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 3-11-2020: Activists for LGBTI rights said due to victims’ reluctance to lodge formal complaints, discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases. There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV/AIDS. US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 3-13-2019 Foreign and PRC-born spouses were reportedly targets of social discrimination outside and, at times, inside the home. Discrimination against LGBTI persons was more widespread than suggested by the number of court cases. Employment discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS continues, Taipei officials pressured a magazine reporter to drop an investigative report about the city’s breach of personal information for more than 3,000 AIDS patients.

Harvard professor Dr. Joseph Nye advised in 2010 that hard and soft power enable Taiwan to deal with China and expand its international space. Brookings at 1-22-2018 commented that Increasing “soft power” is a low-cost, high-return strategy for Taiwan. However, Taiwan's soft power was behind that of some other Asian's countries, Japan and China, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE. Taiwan failed to be included in UK based Monocle's Soft Power list 2010 ~ 2019 and Soft Power 30 by USC Center on Public Diplomacy, 2017 ~ 2018. Taiwan's military power was recently cut down by half and is in a state of low morale, Taiwan's administration made a core defense strategy to resist Chinese PLA for 2 weeks, and made assumption that then American sons and daughters will always risk their lives to protect our home.

world's most livable cities ... include Taiwan's ?
Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in the top ranking list of the world's most livable cities

world's most livable cities
world best surveys	Taiwan's rankings in top list	comparison with other Asia & Pacific countries
The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking 2019	failed in the top 50	No.2 Melbourne, No.3 Sydney, No.4 Osaka (Japan), No. 7 Tokyo, No.10 Adelaide, No.12 Auckland (NZ), No.15 Wellington (NZ), 18 Brisbane (Aus) , No. 38 Hong Kong, No. 40 Singapore, No.57 Seoul (Korea), Taipei behind
Monocle's Quality of Life survey 2019	failed in the top list https://monocle.com/film/affairs/quality-of-life-survey-top-25-cities-2019/	No.2 Tokyo (Japan), No.11 Melbourne (Australia), No.13 Sydney, No.16 Hong Kong, No.17 Kyoto (Japan), No.21 Auckland (NZ), No.22 Fukuoka (Japan), 23 Brisbane, 25 Singapore
Deutsche Bank Liveability Survey	not included in the top list https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000494405/Mapping_the_world%27s_prices_2019.pdf	No. 2 Wellington (NZ), No. 7 Melbourne ( Australia ), No.10 Sydney, No.14 Tokyo No.16 Auckland (NZ), No.17 Dubai (UAE), No. 23 Singapore, No. 26 Saudi Arabia Riyadh, No. 29 Seoul (Korea), No. 33 India Bangalore, No. 39 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, 44 Hong Kong, 46 India Delhi, No. 48 Shanghai (China), No. 55 Beijing
Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019, EIU (Economist UK), NEC	failed in the top 20	No.1 Tokyo, No.2 Singapore, No.3 Osaka (Japan), No.5 Sydney (Aus), No. 8 Seoul (Korea), No10 Melbourne, No. 20 Hong Kong
Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI ) , Z/Yen. Mar 26, 2020	No.75	top 7: N.Y., London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, HK, Beijing; Taipei No.34 in 2019
ArchDaily / The World's Most Livable Cities in 2019	failed in the top 20	No. 3. Auckland, New Zealand, 11. Sydney, Australia, No.15. Wellington, New Zealand , No.17. Melbourne, Australia
The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking 2018	failed in the top 50	No.2 Melbourne (Australia), No.3 Osaka (Japan), No. 7 Tokyo (Japan) , No.10 Adelaide (Australia), No.12 Auckland (NZ) Wellington (NZ) ... ... (omitted), Taipei 58
The EIU's Global Liveability Index Ranking 2017	failed in the top 50	No.1 Melbourne, No. 5 Adelaide, No. 7 Perth, No. 8 Auckland (NZ), No.11 Sydney, No.13 Tokyo, No. 14 Osaka, No.16 Brisbane, No. 20 Wellington (NZ), No. 35 Singapore, No.45 Hong Kong, No.58 Seoul (Korea), No.60 Taipei

EIU (Economist UK)'s Global Liveability Index evaluates stability, healthcare, culture&environment, education, Infrastructure

● Taiwan's university rankings in Asia, Quacquarelli Symonds，QS UK, 2021
ranks	Taiwan	Malaysia	China	Korea	Hong Kong, Macau	Singapore	Japan
1~15			15. Tsinghua University Beijing 　　 23. Peking University Beijing		22. University of Hong Kong	No. 11. National University of Singapore 　　 No.13 Nanyang Tech. Univ. Singapore	24 University of Tokyo
26~50			34. Fudan University, Shanghai 　　 47. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai	37. Seoul National University, Seoul 　　　 39. KAIST Korea	27 Hong Kong Univ. Science & Tech. 　　 43 Chinese Univ HK 　　 48. City University of Hong Kong		38. Kyoto University
51~60		No. 59 Universiti Malaysia	53. ZheJiang Univ.				56. Tokyo Institute Tech.
60~80	66. National Taiwan University (台灣大學)			69. Korea Univ. 　　 77 Pohang U Science Tech	75. Hong Kong Polytechnic University		72. Osaka U Japan 　 79. Tohoku U Japan
80~100			93. U Science & Tech China	85. Yonsei U Korea 　　 88. SKKU Korea
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2021 QS Quacquarelli Symonds，QS UK 　 QS 2020 Asia universities, top 15 rankings : subtotal number : Singapore ( 2 ), Hong Kong ( 3 ), Japan ( 2 ), Korea ( 3 ), China ( 4 ), Malaysia ( 1 ), Taiwan ( 0 ) 　　 ★ In <Nature Index> , "2019 Tables: Institutions, about 32 universities in China, 8 universities in Korea, 6 Hong Kong universities, 9 univ. in Japan, 2 universities in India, 2 in Singapore, one in Saudi Arabia ranked higher than all Taiwan's Taiwan's higher education

Introduction of Taiwan

"We call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan", president Tsai has told BBC UK at Jan. 15, 2020, but later BBC changed it to "the Republic of China (Taiwan)". This self-governing island country lies roughly 100 miles off the coast of southeastern China ( Taiwan's small island, Kinmens, just one mile off China ) . Taiwan's current population around 24 million is roughly the same as Australia’s, close to New York's, but the area of Australia is 207 times larger than Taiwan's, that of NY is about 4 times Taiwan's. Taiwan's climate is subtropical.

Taiwan's travel and tourism competitiveness is ranked No.10 among Asian nations, Taiwan's soft power has never entered top 30, losing Asia-Pacific's Japan, Australia, NZ, China, Singapore, Korea, UAE, India, Thailand, Qatar in recent years. Taiwan's higher education is ranked about No.7~9 in the region, Taipei is behind other AP cities Melbourne, Sydney, Osaka (Japan), Tokyo, Adelaide, Auckland (NZ), Wellington, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc in EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking 2019. Taiwan's justice ministry was insufficiently independent (USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices , 2018, 2019; http://intlhumanrights.com/PoliticalPersecutionsTaiwanENG.htm ). CTN opinion (4-12-2019): Taiwan's three presidents should be ashamed of Taiwan's judiciary.

To contrast China's 'authoritarian', Westerners gave too many fulsome compliments to Taiwan's democracy, however, Taiwan's democracy is "Flawed" ( Economist EIU Democracy Index '19 released in 2020) , and even is at surface level or in name only. N.Y. Times, 12-1-2019: soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks. they continue to allow community leaders, farmers’ associations and even organized-crime figures to buy votes. The Liberty Times, 1-12-2020, editorial: The administration's rottenness smells already.... It has shown a retrogressive trend in recent years, the freedom of speech, publication, assembly etc were persecuted by excuses such as national security (NHU paper, Jun. '20). Taiwan not only harm its democracy for national security, but also harm its national security for democracy. Now China keeps inching closer to Taiwan, hence western experts (e.g., Foreign Policy, 10-28-2020, Financial Times (UK), 7-12-2020 ) warned Taiwan to make urgent defense reforms such as increasing the existing four-month conscription and improving reservist systems, but, Taiwanese politicians are afraid to discuss this issue with the public for months because they believe Taiwanese people are not willing to sacrifice, and considering electoral realities, Taiwan’s leaders don't want to shift to a policy could be deeply unpopular among the young voters courted by the ruling party (DPP), according to Foreign Policy (10-19-2020). New York Times (5-18-2017) criticized Taiwan's nearly two million reservists "exist in name only" - but nothing big has changed till present. Besides, Taiwan lacks good separation & balance of powers between the ruling party and the opposition, the executive and the legislative, the government and the media. The press freedom is ranked No.43 in 2020. At end of 2020, Taiwan shuts Pro-China TV channel in battle over press freedom first ever since Taiwan’s liberation, which could have a "chilling effect, strongly impacting press freedom".

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has identified that Taiwan as part of its territory and its most important core interest, since the Kuomintang (Nationalists or KMT) government retreated to the island in 1949 following defeat in the Chinese civil war. China has traditionally used a double strategy of “carrot and stick” towards Taiwan, on one hand, it has vowed to reunite this "breakaway province" by force if necessary, and has been ramping up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan since president Tsai I.W. (2016 ~) refused to recognise the "1992 consensus" a 'pseudo'-agreement made by Taiwan's KMT party and the Chinese Communist Party, that proclaimed "the existence of only one China ”, but “ with different interpretations ” (being free to decide which side was legitimate.). In early 2019, CCP Xi openly equates One Country Two Systems with the 1992 Consensus to eliminate other interpretations. Under China's political development and strengthening its trade ties to our allies, Taiwan is diplomatically isolated, has only 15 formal relation allies till middle of 2020 (Taiwan lost Salvador etc 3 allies within half yr. China rankled TW president's visit to NASA - LA Times 8-20-2018), most of them are little, unknown countries. On the other hand, China took the strategy " Allowance of economic benefits to Taiwan"("讓利", such as ◆ charming Taiwan by offering preferential treatment in a soft power bid / le monde diplmatique may 2019; ◆ 40% exports from Taiwan to China / CTN 5-30-2020; ◆ mainland China remains the largest market outside Taiwan for Taiwanese workers and companies, with around 1 million Taiwanese working there / German Institute for Int'l and security affairs, 2-7-2020 ◆ encouraging tourists to Taiwan. / WEF <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness, Taiwan's overall score ranks 10th in Asia. ◆ L.A. Times, 8-1-2019: The indefinite suspension of individual travel visa is likely to prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as well as a blow to cultural interplay. ) so that Taiwanese people may have higher tendency toward unification with China, Taiwanese understood this interdependence is unavoidable, but over-dependence is risky. Modern Diplomacy (EU) at 6-9-2020: Roughly 26 percent of Taiwan’s trade is with China, which is its largest trading partner. China has replaced US as No 1 destination for Taiwanese export accounting for approximately 40% of total exports (Hong Kong included). New York Times 12-3-2019: Trade between China and Taiwan exceeded $181 billion in 2017, up from about $35.5 billion in 1999. Global Times 9-8-2020: Taiwan enjoys a surplus of nearly $100 billion with the mainland every year.

President Tsai (ruling party DPP) in her inauguration speech at 5-20-2020 reiterated that Taiwan calls for stability in China relations but would reject being ruled by China in the same way Hong Kong is now (semiautonomy), and announced TW will revise the constitution which may be interpreted by Beijing as a ploy to formalize Taiwan's independence. In the annual meeting of China’s parliament, there was no mention of the word "peaceful" in front of “reunification”, departing from the standard expression Chinese leaders have used for at least four decades, an apparent policy shift that comes as ties with Taipei continue on a downward spiral (Reuters 5-22-2020). Washington Post (7-22-2020) reports: In a major speech in January 2019, Xi (Chinese president) offered an ultimatum to Taiwan to come to the table for unification talks or face annexation by force. Then, in Mar., the PLA warplane crossed the Taiwan Strait "median line" that has served as a "de facto border" (Newsweek, 8-11-2020) or "the de facto cease-fire line" ( Japan's asia nikkei review, 8-13-2020) for the first time since the end of Chinese civil war in 1949 (Newsweek, 8-12-2020). However, Taiwan's government was tight-lipped about this ultimatum, a everyone's life-and-death issue, otherwise pro-Independence DPP's candidate Tsai I. W. may not easily continue in presidential office in Jan. 2020, because, according to National Interest (6-16-2020): more than 60.3 percent of the respondents opposed Taiwan's independence if it is followed by China’s military invasion... Foreign Affairs (9-2-2020): fewer than ten percent support pursuing independence.

The United States, Taiwan's most important protector, “acknowledges” there is one China and Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially “recognized” Taiwan as part of China. The US Congress passed a law ("Taiwan Relations Act") to commit the US to defend Taiwan's sovereignty, and provide necessary 'defensive' services. Many countries seem welcome this ambiguity. Yomiuri Shimbun, Opinion, 6-22-2017 stated the US is the key to keep the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait ("米国は台湾の防衛力強化を担っており、台湾海峡の平和と安定のカギを握る"。). But the U.S. does not have an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan, despite Taiwan's leaders made an assumption that American will always come to protect this island, and made a core policy to resist Chinese PLA for about 2 weeks only, former president Ma was lashed out by many DPP politicians and pan-Green media for his opinion ― The US won't come to rescue in time. The US Naval Institute's <Proceedings> (Aug. '20) and two authors (former CIA director and top official) were sort of put down for similar reason.

The US Dept. Defense report (9-1-2020) shows that China-Taiwan military balance has tilted in favor of the China's side, Foreign Policy (2-15-2020) even names Taiwan’s military is a 'Hollow Shell', and comments (8-20-2020) Taiwan should just focus on putting up a good show of being tough, buy enough U.S. weapons for display, and pray that Americans come to our rescue. Beijing regards reunification of the mainland and Taiwan is priceless and a "sacred mission” , 'do or die' prestige issue. The policy of “strategic ambiguity” the US applying for 40 years is unlikely to deter a confident and "more potent" China with growing military capabilities any more, but there have been no moves from the US to shift strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity ― hot debates about passing Taiwan Defense Act are still going on among military specialists and within the Pentagon. Hudson.org, 9-23-2020: Senator Marco Rubio : Helping Taiwan to win an all-out conflict against China would not be a way to reach that goal, “That’s not possible.” Instead, Washington should assist Taipei “to have the capability to raise the cost of military adventurism there to a level that China’s not willing to pay..."

New York Times 9-5-2019: it would also be a catastrophe if Taiwan were blockaded or squashed into submission, because Taiwan is the source of 90+ % of the most advanced computer chips, and stands in the way of any Chinese projection into the Pacific. In May 2020, the US asked TSMC in Taiwan to build a factory in Arizona as a "Pressure Point" in tech. fight with China (N.Y. Times, 5-19-2020) , which may weaken Taiwan's security (Japan's日本経済新聞 Nikkei news, Nihon keizai shinbun ) . The LOWY Institute ( Australia ), 6-16-2020 : treating Taiwan as a conduit to frustrate Beijing imperils Taiwan’s security. Reuters 8-27-2020: China has refused to talk to Tsai, believing she is a separatist bent on declaring a Republic of Taiwan.

Taiwan is the 7th largest economy in Asia. Global Wealth Report (Credit Suisse, Oct., 2018) shows Taiwanese wealth per adult, at USD 212,375, is close to that of W. Euro., (UK USD 279,048, France USD 280,580) and Singapore (USD 283,118 ), Hong Kong (244,672), but nation's share world wealth (1.3%) is less than USA(31%), Japan(7.5%), China(16.4%) and Korea(2.2%). Singapore's GDP per adult is more than 2 times Taiwan's. In Global Wealth Report of 2019, in terms of Wealth per Adult, Taiwan is behind other Asian countries like Hong Kong (world No.2), Australia (4th), NZ (5th), Singapore (6th), Japan. United Daily, editorial, 12-3-2019: The amount of average regular monthly earnings of nationals of last year is NTD38,000 (USD1200) which is NT100+ less than that of 2001.

Taiwan was one of the world's top producers of computer technology, relying upon importation of key components and advanced technology from the US ( e.g., semiconductor ) and Japan, Taiwan's high-tech sector is falling behind for lacking of key tech. and its low pay to attract university-educated talent. (Taiwan lacks key tech. to make a large bus / CTN , 3-29-2017) Taiwan's GDP per capita retreated successively in recent years, UDN (1-28-2019) reported GDP per capita of Shanghai, Beijing, GuangZhou and SenZhen all are closed to that of Taiwan. China's GDP from 2016 till 2018 each is about 23 times the number of Taiwan's, one province (GD's GDP) alone is 2+ times Taiwan's (ref. to CTN, 3-14-2019). Taiwan's economic experts (中研院 '17) warned that Taiwan will fall into “middle-income” limbo (15-30 countries will catch up with it) in the next 10 years if it fails to deal with “three evil hands”, the law, environmental assessments, and Taiwan-China relations.

country	GDP per capita (USD)
Singapore	64 thousands
Hong Kong	48 thousands
South Korea	30+ thousands
Taiwan	just set up a goal USD 30 thousands to reach

★ Taiwan Shuts Pro-China TV Channel in Battle over Press Freedom
media	Cti TV side	NCC side
Reuters 11-18-2020	...citing evidence of interference from a Beijing-friendly tycoon amid fears over China's campaign to win support on the island. there was no evidence that CTi had received Chinese government funding. and key shareholder Tsai has previously rejected accusations of newroom interference. Taiwan's main opposition party, said it opposed the decision, as it could have a "chilling effect, strongly impacting press freedom"	CTi had been fined for several violations such as failure to check facts and endangering the public interest
Bloomberg 11-18-2020	Taiwan Shuts Pro-China TV Channel in Battle over Press Freedom TV station says its closure is politically motivated the latest example of the often fraught relationship between press freedom and concerns over Chinese influence in Taiwan’s fiercely competitive media landscape. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-18/f-16-disappears-off-taiwan-s-eastern-coast-fate-still-unclear	NCC says Chung T’ien News violated broadcast regulations The key issue is its largest shareholder Tsai Eng-meng is directly and indirectly involved in the production of news programs
Guardian, 11-18-2020	“Today is the darkest day for freedom of the press and freedom of speech in the 30 years since Taiwan’s liberation,” CTi has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for Beijing and lobbying against the Democratic Progressive party (DPP) government, led by Tsai Ing-wen, and in favour of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/18/pro-china-tv-station-in-taiwan-ordered-off-air-over-disinformation	Pro-China TV station in Taiwan ordered off air after Taiwan’s media regulator found it had failed to address serious and frequent findings of bias and disinformation. CTi had devoted 70% of its airtime to the KMT mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu, who unsuccessfully challenged Tsai in the presidential election. In January, CTi was fined for airing false statements by a KMT politician without factchecking or interrogating the claims before broadcast
AFP, Yahoo News Australia, 11-18-2020	Many of the large media outlets are openly partisan, backing Beijing-friendly politicians or their opponents "It is completely and utterly hypocritical for governments to invoke press freedom only when it fits their agenda," tweeted KMT chairman Johnny Chiang. 　 It called for NCC to make public all the evidence it examined and apply the same standards to all future license reviews regardless of their political orientation.https://au.news.yahoo.com/taiwan-pulls-plug-china-friendly-100647362.html	He has sparked criticism in the past for being overtly pro-Beijing and imposing his political preferences on the media outlets he owns. The NCC accused Tsai of making direct and indirect interventions in news coverage by CTi. One example was a false report that local farmers had to dump massive quantities of pomelo fruit last year because they were unable to sell their produce to mainland China as relations soured.
Times of India, 11-18-2020	The channel, which vowed to fight the decision in court, says the government is seeking to silence those who do not support its policies.	Taiwan's government has repeatedly said China has stepped up efforts, including a media campaign, to infiltrate and gain influence on the democratic island
SCMP, 11-18-2020	CTI: The Tsai government has closed CTi; press freedom is dead!	CTi is seen as pro-China and the decision marks the first time the regulator has effectively shut down a television news station It cited evidence of editorial interference from major shareholder Tsai Eng-meng
The Straits Times, 11-18-2020	The rejection of CTi cable's request is the first time Taiwan has shut, even though indirectly, a television news station since the regulator, the National Communications Commission was set up in 2006. The decision provoked immediate anger from CTi and Taiwan's main opposition party, which called it an attack on media freedom.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-cti-cable-shut-down-china-tycoon-tsai-eng-meng-13585436	CTi had been fined for several violations such as failure to check facts and endangering the public interest
Focus on Taiwan, 11-18-2020	at the time of the hearing that the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) government was looking to close the station, effectively threatening Taiwan's media freedom CTiTV called the day "the darkest" for the freedom of press and speech since martial law was lifted over 30 years ago. In denying the license renewal based on two reasons -- the number of complaints that led to fines imposed on the station and the interference of a major shareholder -- the NCC "ignored the issue of political manipulation and disregarded communication theory and practice," CTiTV said. "Under the NCC's current standards, every news stations in Taiwan should be shut down,"	Though CTi News submitted eight measures during the review process to improve the situation, Chen contended that none of them would have eliminated the interference of major shareholders in its news.
China Times, editorial 11-19-2020	Freedom of the press is dead! ! ! The ruling authorities ignored the Constitution's guarantees for freedom of speech. The National Communications Commission (NCC) betrayed the establishment purpose of the Constitutional Freedom of Speech stipulated in Article 1 of its Organic Law and decided to shut down the CTI News Channel. This was a naked, a blatant political ruling. NCC finished the assignment Taiwan president Tsai gave. In the 2018 elections, CTI TV stood on the opposite side of the ruling party. As a result, the DPP suffered a fiasco, the authorities grew enmity and decided to revenge CTI. The reasons NCC claimed for shutting down the CTI are completely ignorant of media practice and even violate the basic principles of communication. If the same standards are used, should all news stations in Taiwan be shut down? The gov, wants to kill one to scare many, and forces all media to follow the authorities, otherwise the same would be the case.	United Daily, China Times, Apple Daily, Liberty Times are four major news in Taiwan.
UDN, editorial, 11-19-2020	NCC passed the elimination of CTi News with "no objection" . Another symbolic meaning is: this is a "beheading" of Taiwan's freedom of speech, because the DPP government no longer allows "objection." From today on, NCC is no longer an independent institution !
Apple Daily, editorial, 11-19-2020	We express our regret for NCC's Shutting Cti TV Channel The National Communications Commission (NCC) rejected the Zhongtian News Channel’s renewal case results in a harm to the image of Taiwan’s press freedom, We express our regret for this.
LTN	no comment

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● Brookings at 1-22-2018 commented that Increasing “soft power” is a low-cost, high-return strategy for Taiwan. ● Dr. Joseph Nye said hard & soft power enables Taiwan to deal with China and expand its international space. (Dec. 8, 2010)
● Taiwanese government's strategy : Taipei must increase its "soft power" if it is to stand on the international stage. (BBC, Oct. 2010)
How is Taiwan's "Soft Power" ? and 'hard power' ?
◎

1. Taiwan Soft Power

Taiwan failed to enter UK based Monocle's Soft Power Survey ranking lists of 2010 till 2019, Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE, all of them entered top 20 list at least once.    The Monocle's Soft Power Survey ranks nations according to their culture, politics, business, diplomacy and education rather than their financial or military power.   Japan ranks No.3 in 2019's survey list.
Taiwan also failed to be listed in 2018's Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy in July 2018 and 2017's Soft Power 30 Study, compiled by PR company Portand Communication and University of Southern California.   Asian countries, Japan(No.5), S. Korea(20), Singapore(21), China(27) are top 30.
The top 30 nations of 2018 are 1. UK, 2. France, 3. Germany, 4. US, 5. Japan, 6~30 are Canada, Swiss, Sweden, Nederlands, Australia, Denmark, Italy,
Norway, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Austria, NZ, Ireland, S Korea, Singapore,   Portugal, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Czech, China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, 2017's rankings are 1. France 2. UK 3. USA 4. Germany 5. Canada   6. Japan 7. Swiss 8. Australia   9. Sweden 10. Holland 11. Denmark 12. Norway 13. Italy 14. Austria 15. Spain   16. Belgium 17. Finland 18. NZ   19. Ireland 20. Singapore   21. S. Korea   22. Portugal 23. Greece   24. Poland   25. China 26. Russia 27. Czech 28. Hungary   29. Brazil 30. Turkey. ( China's scores of 2018:   digital 30, enterprise 22, education13, culture 9, engagement 9, gov. 30, polling 28)
The Liberty Times of Taiwan, 4-6-2016: The government took the lead to plagiarize, and ignored copy-rights, Taiwan became "an island of Plagiarism".

★ "Understand Taiwan in one minute" ! ★ TAIWAN in all aspects !! ★ review Taiwan No.1 ranking on US Google !

★

● pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword
"comment Taiwan" on US Google at 9-19-2019

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword
"comment Taiwan" on US Google at 9-11-2019

★

● pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword
"comment Taiwan" on US Google at 3-18-2019, 4-11-2018, 1-11-2018,
12-4-2016, 1-14-2017, 5-29-2017,11-1-2017
● No.1 "review Taiwan" on US Google, 1-11-2018, 9-2-2017, 10-25-2017

● pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword
"Understand Taiwan" on Google, 3-18-2019, 4-11-2018,1-11-2018, 11-1-2017,
1-6-2017, 5-29-2017

images' ranks - No.1, 2, 3

★ Taiwan's cultural creativity : artists―shortage of creativity & vivid imagination ! government―lacking of forward thinking ...

        ☉ The China Times, headline news at 12-24-2017: The total value of Taiwan's cultural & creative production was far behind of that of Korea, Korea's value in publication is about 6 times larger than Taiwan's, Film industry 6 times, TV 3.5 times, Advertising 3 times, Pop-music 6 times bigger than Taiwan's, Taiwan lacks of updated related laws and policy ― no focus, no direction, no institute, original creativity is not encouraged, the industry field is divided, without integrated marketing...... ☉ The China Times 8-15-2017: The output value of Taiwan's cultural & creative production in '12 - '13 declined 9.28%, in contrast, Taiwan's neighbor countries increased, China 14.27%, Malaysia, Philippines 8+%, Korea 0.65% ... Taiwan's cultural & creative industry even failed to create a "bubble", the reason is lacking of original creativity. / The China Times, 8-15-2017
        ☉ The United Daily (1-10-2016): 3 major political parties' presidential candidates all ignore cultural policy and direction in their election debates.
       ☉ The Liberty Times 4-6-2016: The Liberty Times of Taiwan, 4-6-2016: The government took the lead to ignore copy-rights, Taiwan became "an island of Plagiarism".

◆★

◆

● pic. left: This website was ranked No.1, 2, and No.4 at the same time on Yandex of Russia
by keyword "comment Taiwan" at 4-11-2018, 1-30-2018
　

● pic. right: This website was ranked No.1,2, 3 at the same time on MetaGER of Germany
by keyword "comment Taiwan" at 4-11-2018, 1-30-2018

　★ ● pic.: This website was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China
by keyword "comment Taiwan", in English at 4-11-2018, 1-30-2018
No.1 in Chinese, at 6-18-2018, 1-30-2018, 2-20-2018, 5-7-2018

◎

◆ Taiwan's soft power & cultural creativity .... see below:

Tourism Full analysis pls. click Taiwan Tour&Travel

"Formosa" means "a beautiful island", however, some media of both Taiwan and China (新週刊New Weekly) comment top point of interest in Taiwan is Taiwanese people itself. (an ambassador from S. America said so too)

Chinese visitors and tourists to Taiwan (in millions) , Direct flights between Chn and TW began at 2008, DPP (Green) in power from 2016
source: Asia Nikkei 4-30-2019, Taiwanese government

◎ The United Daily 3-7-2019: Taiwan's tourism output value is suffering wallet homicide ! the deficit of foreign exchange is NT1728 billions, the deficit of the number of tourists is 5570 thousands. Asia Nikkei 4-30-2019: Since 2016, China has attempted to punish Tsai (DPP) by reducing tour groups to Taiwan, but inbound tourists have steadily set records surpassing 11 millions for the first time last year... The United Daily 10-6-2018 editorial opinion: Taiwan's 'heresy' policy of tourism (subsidies, visa-free) led to 800+ billion dollars decrease of earnings, because of lower consuming ability of South Eastern Asian tourists and smaller number of Chinese tourists. Apple Daily, head-page, 12-31-2018: The amount of tourists spending per day and the number of days tourists staying decreased.

◎ The Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island" (ps: during KMT in power ~ 2016 ). New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...". CTV news 3-9-2018 : beautiful island turns into killing island (traffic accidents), Taiwan's tourism might be a long dark night. Apple Daily, opinion, 2-12-2018: lacking of monument elements, mature cultural creativity, and inexpensive tour-site hotels ... shallow, careless, low-end quality led to an extremely low return visitor rate to Taiwan. Apple Daily, Headline news 1-15-2018: Taiwan tourism collapsed like a snow-slide, the number of tourists to Kenting National Park(墾丁貓鼻頭) dropped 59%, to Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) dropped 43%, etc, because of the number of Chinese tourists declined a lot and local people don't like those sites - Apple Daily opinion 1-17-2018: expensive hotels, crowded traffic, getting ripped-off by greedy shops' ... UDN opinion 4-11-2018: tourism-related business everywhere are complaining of great hardship (齊喊苦).

◎ World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017 <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55, "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69 in 2015), "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's strong indexes such as "World heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites" (world top 5). Taiwan has excellent scores on "Mobile Network coverage", "ATM", etc, but those least likely are main attractiveness to international sightseers that Taiwan needs most. Taiwan is not be included in top 30 countries in <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> from 2011 till 2015, In 2015's report, Japan No.9, Singapore 11th, HK 13th, China No.17 ; 2011 ranking - No.10 Singapore, no.12 HK, no. 13 Australia, no. 19 New Zealand, no.22 Japan, no.32 Korea, no.35 Malaysia.

◎ United Daily, opinion, 12-30-2017 : Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism decreased 300 billion dollars. To promote tourism just in number of tourists, Taiwan's new mission “New Southbound Policy” gave up the national principle of mutual benefit and equity, led to illegal drug trafficking and neighbor countries' anger, and illegal collectivized-workings by foreign "visitors". Taiwan's advertisements only focus on "cheat eats" by using some widely-known stars. All these remind us a Chinese tourists slang "you will regret for your entire life if coming to Taiwan".

◎ BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017): "Bus Crash Horror !" - Taiwan's "safety standards need to be improved". A few days later another fatal tour-bus accident occurred. Apple Daily, Opinion (2-15-2017): Such a high casualty rate most likely was ranked No.1 among all civilized states in the world. Taiwan's aviation safety - MSN, Reuters, EuroNews, Mirro(UK), NewsWeek, CNN, etc (2-4-2015) :"Taiwan has had a poor aviation safety record in recent years"

◎ People's Daily, the major official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, ( Opinion/editorial 8-4-2016): <Chinese tourists do not dare to visit Taiwan in the future without safety assurance> / Taiwan tour disasters are sort of man-made disasters , Taiwan tourism's major problems include loopholes in law and regulation 、careless mistakes in administration or not-good-enough system of organization, other malpractices are traveling load-bearing capacity 、road-traffic safety 、aviation safety 、road maintenance 、safety standard for tour bus 、Modified Automobiles/Fix-up tour bus、Low-end tour groups … tragic accidents happening again and again open Pandora's box, too many tourist victims reveal Taiwan tourism's problems, Taiwan authority tried to do something (亡羊補牢) each time a tragic accident occurred, but it seemed late and same kind of tragedies never cease. (《人民日報》8-4-2016 社論: 很多意外事故都存在著人禍的影子，或是法規漏洞、管理疏失、或是體制不足。旅遊承載能力、道路安全、飛行安全、道路養護、遊覽車安全標準、改裝車、低價團…一起起事故猶如打開了潘朵拉的盒子... )

◎ Fatal train accidents
ref. to <New York Times>: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/world/asia/taiwan-train-crash.html

    ● 2018 : Taiwan Train Accident in biggest curve in Taiwan Kills at Least 18 and Injures about 187 Others ( ps: CTV (中視新聞) 19:45pm, 10-22-2018, Prosecutor: over-speed might be the cause of accident, other suspicious points under investigation include "Automatic Train Protection (ATP)" being turned off, abnormal track, etc; ps2: CTV 20:30pm, 10-22-2018 : speed 140km, should be 80km or 65 km)
    ● 2011: at least six people were killed and more than 50 others injured after a tree collapsed into the path of a tourist train also serving Ali Mountain.
    ● 2003: last crash of a similar scale taking place in 2003, when a train serving the mountain tourist destination of Ali Mountain derailed, killing 17 people and injuring 156 others.

● 1981: a collision in Miaoli County, in the island’s northwest, killed 31 people

◎ <the China Times> 5-26-2015: "We should pay attention to a poll on the net in Hong Kong, it says Taiwan is the most disappointed place for the tour, because Taiwan's night market is the only place worth to visit." (<media commentary> scholar's view "掉漆的文創")

◎ UK's Economist Intelligence Unit ― ● "Liveability Cities" report (Aug. 2015) ranks Taipei world No.60 (Taipei's Tourism leader 簡余晏 8-20-2015 expressed the ranking will go up in next year, hopefully), ● Mercer's "Quality of Living" ranks Taipei world No. 83, and gives another city Tai-Chung world No.99, ● Monocle's "Quality of Life" top list includes no Taipei. ● According to 2009 ECA int'l "the Best Place to Reside"，Taipei ranks No.57, Asia top 3 are Singapore 、HK、Tokyo( both world No.15)。● 2010 rank : Taipei No.55、 Singapore is still global No. 1.

◆ 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report

Taiwan's weakness :
Index	Taiwan's world rankings
Country Brand Strategy	No.125
Prioritization of Travel & Tourism	No.82
Hotel price index	No.82
Tourist service infrastructure	No.77
Environmental Sustainability	No.69
Natural Resource	No.62
Purchasing power parity	No.64
World heritage cultural sites	the last position, n/a (China No.5)
World heritage natural sites	the last position, n/a (China No.3)
major car rental companies	No.120
Travel and tourism industry development	No.53

http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015

◆ Country Brands Index 2014/2015

Taiwan's score :

Taiwan's score location - "Countries" (left lower place)

Taiwan locates in "Countries" category, a lowest area ― having below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions.

Critera :
◎tourism / Value for money, Range of attractions, Resort & lodging options, Would like to visit for a vacation, Food ;
◎HERITAGE & CULTURE / Historical points of interest, Heritage, art & culture, Natural beauty;
etc.

◎“Country brands” – Countries that have above average perceptions across both the Status and Experience dimensions and have measurable competitive advantages over their peers as a result.
◎ “Experience countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards dimensions relating to Heritage & Culture, Tourism and Made In.
◎ “Status countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards attributes relating to Value System, Quality Of Life and Business Potential.

http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-country-brand-index-2014-15

◎ top 20 countries: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, United States, Australia, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Finland,Singapore, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Korea.

◎ top 20 most influential cities: NY, London, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Dubai, HK, Singapore, New Delhi, SaoPaulo, Rio De Janeiro, LA, Rome, Toronto, Seoul, Mumbai

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Visual Communication

Taiwan government logo, UN for Taiwan logo, state-run enterprises logo, Taiwan's universities annual event logo ...... etc, suspiciously are cheap-copy works. Similar visual designs're everywhere in Taiwan. Taipei is going to hold a sort of "City of Design" international event soon ??

Some examples are listed as below:

(1)		(2)		(3)

logo of Taiwan's government	world logo appeared earlier	world logo appeared earlier	logo of Taiwan's government	Asian (Korea) metro's logo (appeared earlier)	design by Taiwan's best university

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(4) Taiwan's cultural landmark

Silk Cut prt ad knife as tree, lawn, mountain

left : Silk Cut ad. in UK, appeared earlier right: poster for Taiwan's cultural government and Eslite Bookstore (ps)

ps: Both use same ideas ― "sharp knife tree, dangerous gear-wheel lawn"
Pic. at right side is an ad. for <Creative Ideas Exhibition of Taiwan Cultural Industry, Taiwan>, Eslite bookstore ( Taiwan's pride, a cultural landmark of Taiwan)

(5)

pic. left above: logo and emblem of KMT
presidential election 2019/2020

pic. left blow: a design for FCCLA (USA)
(ps: appeared earlier)

KMT denied it's a cheap-copying work,
but ROC design association
(中華民國設計師協會榮譽理事)
expressed "UP" is an obvious Plagiarism !

besides, Taiwan's head was cut out

ref. to LTN, 11-15-2019

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◎★

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Food - comment restaurants in Taiwan, black hearted food in Taiwan for 20-30 years

	weird Taiwan tourism advertisement : Dining X Taipei according to Cambridge dictionary, "X" represents negative meanings (1) unknown / a number, or name or thing that is not known or stated (2) mistake / the answer is not correct (3) delete / to remove something (4) kisses
pic.: Travel advertisement in Taipei Taiwan, summer 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwyuCsmMqTM	ps: Taiwan suffered food safety problem for years : ref to The China Times, 5-21-2018, TVBS 9-12-2017, details

● The China Times, 10-20-2018 opinion (editorial) https://opinion.chinatimes.com/20181019003889-262101 :

Taiwan's food safety failed again and again, Dioxin, Fipronil poison-eggs in last year, Nicarbazin illegal drug residue event in this year. Europe was very cautious about Fipronil event, in contrast, Taiwan did nothing about it. Even worse, Taiwan officials hide Nicarbazin issue from Taiwanese people to baby related business ― indulge business to retrieve problematic eggs and then resell them as promotion goods.. Why do high-ranking officials always fudge Taiwanese people's only, and humblest request ？? (brief)

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pic.: TVBS (Taiwan) 2-10-2018: experts expressed their concern or scares of eating Basa fish imported from Vietnam. Some international experts like Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise doesn't recommend consumers buy Basa, some states of the US even banned Basa, for using illegal antibiotics, questioning polluted Mekong river and the practices used to farm Basa, those factors.
Some 5 star hotels in Taiwan seemed love to serve cheap-price Basa ― however, they used English name Bassa or Balsa ( not fish name ), instead of Basa, but, the Chinese name used is Basa for sure, 2 chefs answered me those were imported from Vietnam.
pic. left is a hot dish served by a Taipei's 5 star hotel buffet restaurant, "Thailand steamed Bassa fish" (photo at 4-24-2018); Pic. right is another top hotel Sheraton Taipei's buffet food - "Balsa" fish ( photo in Nov. 2017 ).

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pic.: Formosa TV , 2-19-2018: Many hotel buffets had bad records of using bad food materials or ingredients before, even now, some kind of official certified marks may not be a food-safety assurance in the near future.

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◆ World famous 5 star hotel hides fish name, and which is sea fish or fresh-water fish ?

quora (2015) had some discussions about "why don't westerners eat river fish?". Independent UK 1-11-2015: Chemicals in fresh water fish put health at risk - according to a new report, they may be putting their health at risk... Singapore's foodie TV program < Cook Eat China > likes to ask chef the fish name before they try. Medical book <you can conquer cancer> (target readers include patients and healthy people)advised to know what-about before eating fish or seafood ......

◆ pic. left: World famous hotel Shangri La's in Taipei at 5-18-2018: upon my question, the kitchen man answered it's Dory fish ("多利魚")，but had no idea about sea fish or fresh water fish (rivers, lakes, etc). Taiwan's CTS TV news (華視新聞) at 4-27-2017 reported (news.cts.com.tw/cts/life/201704/201704271863633.html#.Wv6-Rjoh2Uk): all Dory fishes in Taiwan were fake, foodie gourmets have been fooling for a long times ! Dory then were renamed as Basa ― a fresh-water fish farmed in Vietnam, S.E. Asia 。

Real John Dory is also named as Cat Fish, the author had many in Florida's buffet restaurant (even "none star" restaurant marked fish name ), however, in Taiwan's "5 star" hotel can only eat fake Dory ???

◆ pic. right: Another world famous 5 star hotel (headqtr in USA) in Taiwan also hide the fish name (5-17-2018)。Westerners tourists may like to know they're eating sea fish or fresh-water fish ?

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◆ pic: Grand Hotel Taipei has the most number of famous customers among all Taiwan's hotels. However, according to the photo 6-8-2018, they used genetically modified soybean
(基因改造黃豆)

◆ pic.: American Sherwood Hotel in Taipei, photo 5-28-2018
Braised Bean Curd with Crab Powder tasted good, but the chef did not answer my question if those bean-curds were made from G.M.(genetic modified) beans - which were called "national scandal" (國家醜聞) at The China Times, 3-29-2013.

◆ best restaurants
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1. Luc Besson's movie "Lucy" shooting in Taiwan particularly includes Din Tai Fung ― which is not only the most famous Taiwanese restaurant but also even a landmark of Taiwan, however,

● (1) Din Tai Fung admitted at 5-9-2012 having used Monosodium Glutamate / sodium glutamate (M.S.G.) as addictive in some foods there - and they won't change this policy so as to keep major cuisine (e.g., steamed bun/bao (小籠包), chicken soup) delicious (according to United Daily News 5.9.2013). According to National Health Research Institutes and United Daily News (8-15-2015) "Horrible foods for dining out": Taiwan's food (in restaurants, cafeteria, etc) problems include using MSG. Taiwan's 5 star restaurants like Sherwood Hotel announced any chefs using MSG will be fired. According to int'l medical studies, using Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is controversial. (ref to "The Dangers of MSG" : http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/the-dangers-of-monosodium-glutamate.htm) Some claimed it may causes asthma, headache, even brain damage. )
　

● (2) Din Tai Fung was suspicious of being involved in Taiwanese food scandal, Apple Daily (蘋果日報)10-10-2014 reported that one Taiwanese Dept. of Health found out Din Tai Fung imported some oil products from King's Cook which bought lard oil (mixing animal feed with cooking oil) from Ting Hsin Int'l. ( http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20141010/485241/ 台中市衛生局調查發現，鼎泰豐曾向購買頂新正義油品的台中金品調理(KingsCook) 公司進貨，恐中鏢。)
　

● (3) Din Tai Fung admitted having used G.M.(genetic modified) soy material(豆類) for a long time (until July 2015). The China Times, (3.29.2013) reported professor Kuo H. J. (National Taiwan University, Department of Agronomy) comments - Taiwan using G.M.(genetic modified) is "national scandal" (「國家級醜聞」), French scholar Seralini found G.M. foods may cause cancer with higher probability, BBC (6.6.2013)<Taiwan diet danger everywhere>: Taiwan is the only country eating cured products made by animal-feed, G.M.(genetic modified) soya beans. (主妇联盟说台湾是世界上唯一直接食用饲料级基改黄豆加工的豆制品国家。) But Din Tai Fung still used the "scandalous" G.M. stuff for 2+ years after the