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 News: ◆ NBC news, 3-8-2021: CCP has threatened to invade if Taiwan declares formal independence or delays talks on uniting with the mainland ◆ Economist , 2-20-2021: In reality America’s ability to deter an invasion over Taiwan is crumbling... the hardest part of deterring China involves building robust coalitions that are ready to challenge Chinese aggression...If China ever believes it can complete the task at a bearable cost, it will act ◆  New York Times, 2-12-2021: Analysts warned : Beijing may resort to war if the Kuomintang is unable to reclaim power or if the Communist Party feels it no longer has a dialogue partner on the island ◆ WSJ, 1-11-2021: China has launched one of the greatest military buildups in the history of the world across the straits from Taiwan. Coupled with the artificial islands and military buildup in the South China Sea, it’s clear Beijing has been systematically seeking to create the conditions for a successful invasion of Taiwan.  This is anything but a secret; the gradual decline of America’s ability to forestall an invasion of Taiwan is well understood by governments around the Pacific.  ◆ VOA, 1-6-2021: China Is Increasing Taiwan Airspace Incursions ◆ Newsweek, 1-6-2021:  China Wages Cognitive Warfare To Topple Taiwan Government  ◆ 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

 pic. below: Formosa TV news, 1-19-2021 3:00pm: Taiwan's biggest  judicial scandal of the century, it's an international joke !
Taiwan judiciary crashes 　

￭ Apple Daily, editorial, 1-19-2021:
Rotten & stinky judiciary shakes the nation to its core. Today is the darkest day in Taiwan judiciary, so-called judicial reform and jury system etc are nothing but slogans and lies.  Real horrible darkness is ahead if not to investigate the very-top-position officials.

￭ China Times, editorial, 1-19-2021: Taiwan judiciary crashes.  law officials fawn on the richness, and yield to the power.

￭ Apple Daily, 1-21-2021: Taiwan government dares to investigate high-position judicial officials' connections and property from unidentified sources (dummy accounts) ?? tw.appledaily.com/daily/20210121/ASVXWX4ASZCQ3PEWMSQKZ7CDS4/

￭ Liberty Times, 1-21-2021: Taiwan's legal machine was already a chunk of meat for "interest group"'s exclusive domain, even Control Yuan took the role of "body guard "
 金恒煒  https://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1426899

　
￭ Apple Daily, 1-21-2021: "How big is the iceberg under the sea ?"  200+ involve, 40 punished only  tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210121/LETBH6VACRHTPJAOVH6DL2LATY/

￭ Apple Daily, 1-19-2021: Too many law officials involved to be punished severely ― 40 former and current top officials in total engaged the case include grand justice,  prsident and chief judges of the Court of Final Appeal , chief prosecutors, Member of the Control Yuan, etc
￭ SETN news, 1-19-2021 (3:40pm) : more than 100 law-enforcement officials (judiciary, prosecutor, police, investigation) were engaged, including president of Supreme Admin. Court, chief judges of Supreme Court, chief prosecutors, etc.

￭ United Daily, editorial, 1-21-2021:  Who believes the Supreme Court is not giving problematic directions to entire legal system, in order to commit himself to pledging loyalty to the politicians in power  https://udn.com/news/story/7338/5190996
https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20210118004848-262103?chdtv    https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20210119/JTHJCNBJNJG2NC3FM3L4ITBNDQ/    https://tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210119/4LULE24OC5GO7NX7OUI52R7LE4/ ( root it out !)   https://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1426700 (The root of legal system is rotten )
tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210120/SRI46KOPCRHETKV5XYOXOO7DIE/   https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20210119005784-262110?chdtv

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

Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in Portland or USC  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
Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index 2020, top 60 n/c https://brandirectory.com
 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

　

 ●   UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage  /    https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists

ranks

 Asian country heritage items selected
1 China 40
2 Korea 24
3 Japan 20
4 Mongolia 15
5 India 13
6 Indonesia 10
7 Saudi Arabia 8
8 Cambodia 5
9 Philippines 4
10 Qatar 3
10 Malaysia 3
10 Pakistan 3
13  Thai 2
14 Singapore 1
14 Sri Lanka 1
14 Vietnam 1
14 UAE 1

18~3X

 Myanmar, Laos, Nepal 0
Taiwan 0
◆  Taiwan is doing De-sinicization (getting rid of Chinese culture) for political reason.

◆  sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-hawker-culture-gets-nod-included-unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-140941296.html  12-16-2020: Singapore’s hawker culture was officially approved on Wednesday (16 December) to be inscribed into UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.  The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers for nourishing a nation’s stomach and spirits.   Taiwanese like its night market culture, but was not selected.


　

　


Taiwan's hard power    full text: military  

Taiwanese military   vs.   Chinese military
  Taiwan military


opinions

● Diplomat, 3-20-2021:Taiwan’s government, however, has met entrenched opposition to these reforms from some senior commanders. Moreover, military effectiveness is limited by unmet recruiting targets, insufficient training of both conscripts and reserves, and ammunition and spare parts shortages thediplomat.com/2021/03/rumors-of-war-in-the-taiwan-strait/
● Bloomberg, 3-14-2021: Taipei’s current capabilities do not offer a credible deterrent to a surprise assault from the mainland
 ● Forbes, 3-8-2021:Taiwan Aims To Sink Half Of A Chinese Invasion Fleet—It Could Take Years To Buy Enough Missiles

●  DefenseNewss , 3-1-2021: Taiwan’s military is not yet “optimally manned, trained, equipped and motivated to defend against an attack” by China...efforts at defense reform face obstacles from institutional opposition from senior officers ( symmetric response, expensive and high-end platforms are limited utility in an actual conflict, they also against full conscription ) and a lack of time (weapons acquisition and development plans years away from delivery).  the current administration seemingly “unwilling or unable” to compel the ministry to implement it, partly due  politically sensitive moves, such as full conscription.
 defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2021/03/01/whats-preventing-taiwan-from-preparing-for-potential-war/

●  Diplomat , 2-26-2021: evolution of Taiwan’s military was being hindered by bureaucracy and inefficient procedures.
The army’s military preparedness has come into question from both domestic and international experts
● Reuters , 12-10-2020:Taiwan is suffering a serious and worsening decay in the readiness and training of its troops, particularly its army units... crucial element is dramatic reform of the reserves and civil defense units, creating urban and guerrilla warfare units... but " It is almost as if fighting to defend the country is somebody else’s responsibility,” expert says

● 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
　

　

　    In world media's eyes, Taiwan is  ~ 　
　 　


◆ "conduit (tool)"  /    The LOWY Institute( think tank in Australia ) , 6-16-2020 : treating Taiwan as a conduit to frustrate Beijing imperils Taiwan’s security... and then the United States abandons Taiwan to deal with the consequences.

◆ "meat on chopping blocks" /  New York Times , 9-18-2020: Taiwan has become completely dependent on the United States,... Many people are saying that Taiwan has become the meat on others’ chopping blocks”

◆  "human bomb"  /  Global Times, 9-8-2020: US sets Taiwan up as a 'human bomb'  ( drive the little to poke the big  )

◆  "food on the menu"  /  SCMP, 10-7-2020: "If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” When the great powers sit at the geopolitical table, Taiwan has long been on the menu."

◆  "a dog under control"  /  Eurasian Times  7-9-2020: The Tsai authority ... turns to Washington and is willing to be used.  Taiwan Now Under ‘Deep Control’ Of The US.

◆  "a bargaining chip"  /  Forbes, 10-5-2020:  It would be a mistake for the U.S. to pursue an FTA as part of its China policy or to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip, and Taiwan has reasons to be wary as well.

◆  " a tradable pawn", "a useful chess piece"  /  Global Times, 8-23-2020: Taiwan is a useful chess piece for the US only because of the US strategy to suppress the Chinese mainland. On the one hand, Washington exploits the Taiwan question to contain China, on the other hand it is inciting tensions and making money by selling arms to Taiwan...Taiwan is a tradable pawn.  Taiwan for the US is only a tradable chess piece, but for the mainland, reunification of the mainland and Taiwan is priceless.

◆   "dispensable  irritant"  /   Asia Times, 11-16-2020;   Washington Post 1-18-2019: Trump abandoned the Kurds in Syria. Could Taiwan be next ?  WP, 7-14-2020: Trump's policies are undermining the security of Taiwan's democracy ...

　

 

 　
　 　

　

 　

　

　

 
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

　

pic.: In World's Best Restaurants list, In Asia area, Australia, Singapore, Japan, India, Thailand, China, Korea are winners , Taiwan was not selected.

　

pic.: In Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand are big winners 

　

　

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●  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 : United Daily, 3-11-2021, editorial: smear, fragmentation, low dirty means ... Pan Green's propaganda campaign already beyond the critical point of morality. udn.com/news/story/7338/5309442  China Times, 3-12-2021: Ruling party ignoring bottom line of morality is grief of the country.  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... 

● democracy : USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: There were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in Presidential election.  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", overall score is lower than 2015's and 2016's, the scores of "political culture", "political participation" are low (5.63, 6.11).    <DW> of Germany (Chinese edition, 12-25-2020) and <RFI> of France (Chinese edition, 12-27-2020) both quoted <Yazhou Zhoukan > (亞洲周刊) criticizing Taiwan's new democratic authoritarianism.  <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.    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.      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

●  underworld gang in politics : Apple Daily, 2021-5-7: Many citizens are still blind to DPP ruling the country by "black-gold" gangsters and bureaucratic factions. The "big guys" of gangs such as 黃承國 can decide or influence which democratical representatives will reach the stage of electoral campaigns for law-makers, city-councilors, even president.  President Tsai won't be able to crack down gangsters (tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210507/AWDMO7WLEBCAZCIYHGO7UBA4DA/  趙少康). 

●  freedom of speech : ●  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Opposition politicians and some media outlets criticized these provisions (a new law criminalized receiving direction or funding from prohibited Chinese sources to conduct political activities) as overly broad and potentially detrimental to freedom of expression, including for the press. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed NCC’s decision not to renew the license was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  3-11-2020:  Journalists said they faced pressure from management to submit news stories to complement or support the content of paid advertisements. ● Oxford university (UK) Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Only 24% Taiwanese trust in local news which remains one of the lowest in Oxford survey. ● Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found internet army who are mean, base, cruel and dark to destroy target's image and reputation by secretly ways, without moral bottom line ... Internet army, Cyber bullying   ● < 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.     freedom of speech○

●   int'l 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

●   justice :  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2021-3-30: Some political commentators and academics, however, publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases.