comment Taiwan ★ ★

grasp how perilous their situation is. ◆ CNN, 2023-1-9: CSIS War game suggests Chinese invasion of Taiwan would fail at a huge cost to US, Chinese and Taiwanese militaries

◆ SCMP, 2022-8-23: Beijing's sorties across the median line responded to Taiwan's "diplomatic salami" ; Taiwan was also inching away from the status quo with its history textbooks for schoolchildren downplaying a China-centric view of history on the island ◆ NY Times, 2022-8-11: Taiwan, which has struggled with accidents and morale in the face of such a would-be foe as China. By many accounts, Taiwan's forces are poorly equipped and understaffed ◆ Economist, 2022-8-10: Ms Pelosi's visit has allowed Beijing to move to a new level of military activity unchallenged, which will make it harder for America to defend Taiwan. ◆ New York Times, 2022-8-7: After China's Military Spectacle, Options Narrow for Winning Over Taiwan

The ROC on Taiwan, has its own constitution, independently elected president and military forces, However, Taiwan's image was tarnished or damaged for having benefits by any means, and having principal human rights problems, including:

● Ethics of Taiwan politicians : ♣ New Yorker (2022-11-21): When the Chinese test-fired the ballistic missiles, Tsai Ing-wen didn’t tell the public that they flew over the island; that became known only after it was announced by Japanese leaders. When a Chinese drone flew into Taiwan's airspace, Tsai Ing-wen's government reacted with similar reserve... the government looks like it doesn't know what it's doing,”♣ al jazeera, 2022-5-30: Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" bill / KMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction. ♣ Guardian, 2021-7-12: China accused Taiwan has rejected China's offers as fake altruism. ... putting politics above its people♣ 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...

Taiwanese personality○

● democracy : ● Economist, 2022-11-29: many Taiwanese are tired of squabbles over national identity, especially after Ms Tsai’s refusal last year to accept an offer of much-needed vaccines from China ... ● Wall Street Journal, 2022-11-28: Taiwan Ruling Party's election drubbing could ease tension with China and persuade Chinese leaders that they can peacefully influence politics there. ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties. ● al jazeera, 2022-5-30: Taiwan legislature erupts in violence over "secret expenses" bill / KMT lawmakers try to block bill they say could be used to overturn ex-President Chen Shui-bian’s corruption conviction.● United Daily(聯合報) , 2022-5-9, editorial: Taiwan's news reports seem to be free, but in recent years, the speech market has tended to be "Homogeneity" (單一化); particularly, the state apparatus controls the media very deeply ● 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. ● 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. ● 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. ● New York Times, 1-11-2020: Taiwan’s young and vibrant, if messy at times, democratic society. ● <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. ● <Foreign Policy>, 2015: Taiwan politics belongs to mega-corporations (not the people) and is controlled by the political parties. ● 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. ● <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, big-data became a sharp-weapon for politicians to manipulate the will of the people ... 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 ...● <United Daily> editorial 1-8-2020, <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) democracy & freedom○

● freedom of speech : ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20 : Reporters faced the threat of legal action under the liberal libel laws. ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : CTi News was forced off the air after the National Communications Commission declined to renew its broadcast license. Opposition politicians and some academics and commentators claimed the decision was politically motivated retaliation for CTi News’ criticism of the ruling party. ● RSF, <Reporters Sans Frontieres>, France, 2022-5-3: Taiwan's press freedom situation has been "impaired" by some "serious problems". ● 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. ● Global Times, 2021-3-29 : Taiwan DPP's dark "online army" underbelly in misinformation campaign , the DPP's "online army" which manipulated and meddled in an online public opinion field of more than 20 million people on the island. "The DPP can collude with social media such as PTT, Facebook, print media, electronic media, and TV programs". globaltimes.cn/page/202103/1219763.shtml ● 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. < 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. ● China Times, editorial <中時社論> , 3-9-2020: Political power forms threats (penalty fine and suspending the license) to certain media ... Secretly bullying by (gov.-related) cyber force. ● Apple Daily 12-4-2019 editorial : All political parties and many politicians found cyber-forces who are mean, base, cruel and dark to destroy target's image and reputation by secretly ways, without moral bottom line ... ● 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 ● 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 12-14-2019 editorial : the gov. seriously harmed free speech by investigating those messages shared or published on the net by the masses ● 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○

● Family New York times, Pew Research Institute, 2021-11-28: unlike most other countries put family first, Taiwanese ranked Material well-being above family. Marry for money not love

● women ● The Guardian (UK), 2023-6-8: The belated #MeToo reckoning has exposed the deeply patriarchal norms that still govern Taiwanese society... in formal legal proceedings victims were unlikely to succeed. ● DW (Germany), 2023-6-13: Taiwan's culture remains conservative, and chauvinism still exists in workplaces and politics.。 victims may be "judged" by the public for sharing details....they may not be treated justly, ...the existing mechanisms are inadequate. ● SCMP, 2023-6-11: NTU prof. Tso Chen-dong: the DPP has greatly disappointed the public as ... referring to the party's pledges to promote gender equality and human rights. DPP had long focused on LGBTQ equality, rather than women's rights. ● United Daily, editorial, 2023-6-4 : sexual harassment and bully become the ruling DPP's norm women

● justice: ● National ChungCheng University (ccu.edu), 2023-2-13: study found the percentage of Taiwanese trust in the judges is 32.8%.● National ChungCheng University, 2022-2-14: study found 2/3 Taiwanese are not satisfied with the quality of judgment of criminal cases ● United Daily, editorial , 2022-1-25 : More people suffered fear from invisible and delicate social control and threats by DPP government' flank and judiciary (prosecutor, police) ... ● 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. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 3-11-2020: Some political commentators and academics, publicly questioned the impartiality of judges and prosecutors involved in high profile, politically sensitive cases. 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 United Daily, Focus, 11-30-2019: 　The prosecutors and Taiwan's 'FBI'　were questioned a lot for years for their political investigations and conducts ...in recent years, the judiciary giving services to DPP almost became a routine...:● UDN 10-20-2019: politics overrode justice ● 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, 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. judiciary

● corruption : ● TaiwanPlus, 2023-3-6: A poll has found that 85% of people in Taiwan think public prosecutors can be subject to political influence. A majority said they believed prosecutors engage in corruption behaviour when handling cases ● China Times, 2023-6-26: Taiwan ruling party's corruption - structural, collective and overall (結構性、集體性、全面性貪腐) ; has already crossed the bottom line, and being out of control. chinatimes.com/opinion/20230626004425-262101?chdtv brief ● Voice of America, 2022-11-23: "black gold"-"heijin." Corruption in Local Politics ● Avios, 2022-6-28: Scandals and corruption have plagued the Taiwanese armed forces ● Economist, 2022-8-2: Taiwan needs to do more to combat corruption and waste in its armed forces ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 :13 high-ranking officials, 79 mid-level, 93 low-level, and 18 elected officials were indicted for corruption. the Ministry of Justice and the Judicial Yuan referred six officials to the Control Yuan for criminal investigation, including former minister of justice Tseng Yung-fu, former prosecutor general Wu Ying-chao, and two others for investigation of noncriminal misconduct... In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption. ● 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. ● China Times, editorial , 2022-6-1, "The whole DPP party backups corruption, a shame of Taiwan's democracy": When the corruption scandal broke out in 2008, all DPP members gave ex-President Chen Shui-bian a cold shoulder, Chen's daughter 陳幸妤 was mad and shouted："Has anyone in DPP not taken money from my father ?? ", which shocked all fields, therefore, pan-Green Coalition has been involved in Chen's case.(綠營因此遭扁綁架事出有因)。● In platform presentation at 12-25-2019, Nationalist Party Presidential candidate Han criticized 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...● Liberty Times, 1-12-2020, editorial: The administration's rottenness (腐壞氣息) smells already. corruption●

● medical : ● Taiwan ranks No. 249 in World's Best Hospitals by Newsweek and Statista in 2023 ● Bloomberg's CovID ranking: Taiwan's 3-month case-fatality rate ranks the last twice in 2021 ● Lancet / Measuring universal health coverage Taiwan is behind countries of Asia& Pacific like Japan, Singapore, S. Korea, Australia, NZ, Kuwait, Qatar ● Taiwan has only one hospital was included and ranked No. 249 in Newsweek's top 250 "World's Best Hospitals" in 2023 ● Guardian (UK), 2022-5-9: The death of a two-year-old boy last month highlighted communication failures exacerbated by Taiwan’s entrenched bureaucracy. ● al jazeera, 2022-5-30: The fatalities have notably included the sudden deaths of several very young children, which many Taiwanese attribute to failures of the healthcare system. ● China Times, editorial, 2021-9-8: The government ignores human lives of high-risk older populations. Using vaccine to draw votes is "cold-blood", "losing their souls " chinatimes.com/opinion/20210907005525-262101?chdtv ● United Daily, editorial, 2021-9-4: Taiwan's vaccination policy is based upon government's selfishness and special purpose. ● National Taiwan University professor, King ChwanChuen, 2021-9-1: CDC should not turn into a election campaign center. ● UDN 2021-5-31, editorial: Taiwan's government fails to purchase enough CovID-19 vaccines, and stop civil org. to purchase from the west for saving its political face. Till end May, patients are not easy to apply for and have CovID-19 medicine, which cause more deaths, Taiwan cares money more than human lives hospitals, CovID19●

● pirate : ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: some indigenous rights advocates argued a large amount of indigenous land was seized and privatized decades ago, depriving indigenous communities of the right to participate in the development of these traditional territories. ● 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.

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● privacy : ● The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-23: 23 millions of Taiwanese household administration data and 28 millions of labor insurance data have been leaked and were sold to fraud groups - all personal data of Taiwanese were sold out, Taiwan government looked the other way as its citizens were in fraud for leakage of their personal data ● US Naval Institute , May, 2022 : Taiwan has extensive networks of closed-circuit TV cameras, and issued a national health insurance smartcard that tracks medical histories. ● Amnesty International, June, 2021 :The government took several measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, some of which threatened the right to privacy. ● People's Daily, 10-15-2020, commentary: Taiwan's Intelligence strictly monitors its own people, which is called "Green Terror". ● The China Times (中國時報), 1-6-2021: the human rights protected by the Constitution has been in danger for a long time... The government had not admitted the "skynet - electronic fence" until law-makers questioned them a number of times... ● New York Post 4-25-2020 : Taiwan deals CovID with "a lot more authoritarian.", "almost everyone is tracked.". ● Apple Daily 11-10-2020: Taiwanese health & medical data/information was forced without agreement of the party to be opened on purpose of business and academic use. ● 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 : ● Law maker (2023-6-2): What an authoritarian era in Taiwan ? (「這是什麼威權時代嗎」) / Dr. Su Hung-dah (蘇宏達), dean of the College of Social Sciences, National Taiwan University, reveals he was threatened by National Security Bureau ( state machine ) that "we can watch your LINE" (a popular online app. ) ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: Members of the security forces committed some abuses. ● 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 (聯合報), editorial, 2023-5-11 : Taiwan government got no grades on fighting fraud。In today, Taiwanese crimes of fraud have spread all over the world, the criminal methods have deteriorated to abducting people, selling human organs, defrauding money by using the name of the administration...●The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-8: The head of fraud group,「im.B借貸媒合平台」, has close connection with DPP's top ranking officials such as deputy premier ● Reuters, DW (Germany), 12-31-2020: Chinese court sentences 29 Taiwanese deported from Spain / In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese nationals, suspected of committing telecoms fraud overseas... ● 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 : ● Global Times, 2022-12-19: There are forces on the island who are mentally controlling the Taiwan people... ●justsecurity.org, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, etc, 2022-5-13: international human rights review panel urges to ban torture and other cruelties ● Global Times (globaltimes.cn/content/1209528.shtml), 12-9-2020: Taiwan authority ‘persecutes mainlanders, pro-reunification activists' by 'Political persecution, framing charge' . 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). repression, oppression○

● food safety : ● United Daily (經濟日報社論), 2023-2-1: Food safety is an anxious issue for Taiwanese people ● Global Times, 2022-9-17 : DPP authority is sacrificing the people's interests for their political ends. the Taiwan authorities detected Caesium-137 in the batch of konjaku jelly powder since the island in February relaxed a decade-long ban on imports of "nuclear food" from Japan. ● Scientific Reports Journal, Food Navigator Asia, 2-9-2021: Fish fraud findings: Almost 20% of fish in Taiwan found to be mislabelled - study (Taiwan food scare, including 5 star hotel restaurant foods which the website revealed earlier in 2017). ● 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 ...○

● int'l drug base :

● Statista 2022-11-18: Offense against narcotics hazard prevention act ranks No.2 crime by the Number committed in Taiwan in 2021 ●

The Diplomat, 2022-5-17

:"patrols of the coast became almost nonexistent and, as a result, it was easy to smuggle guns and drugs into Taiwan.”

● 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○

● exploitation , children & women trafficking : ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2023-3-20: A rise in the number of reports of child sexual exploitation cases; The NGOs called for increased prosecutions and heavier penalties. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2022-4-12: the number of male victims of child sexual exploitation was increasing and that male and female minors of indigenous heritage were targeted at higher rates than those of other ethnic groups. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: NGOs raised concerns regarding online sexual exploitation of children and reported sex offenders increasingly used cell phones, web cameras, live streaming, apps, and other new technologies to deceive and coerce underage girls and boys into sexual activity. ● 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. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, March 3, 2017, 4-20-2018: Exploitation of foreign workers, official corruption, some media self-censorship with regard to China, vote buying, etc. prostitution○

● life protection : ● Nature, 2023-6-22: Despite concerns from several nations and international groups (but Taiwan goes down on its knees) , Japan is pressing ahead with plans to release water contaminated by the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean ● NY Times, 2021-10-15:Taiwan has a spotty record when it comes to fire safety... severe disrepair as a result of weak management and government neglect. Skyrocketing housing costs in Taiwan’s cities — and a rapidly aging population — have exacerbated these issues in recent years and have outpaced the government’s efforts to resolve them... ● China times, 2021-10-15: Behind the fire sea in Kaohsiung building (城中城) is the government's discrimination and indifference to those underprivileged group who can not afford buying fire-fighting equipments ● UDN 2021-4-1: foolish energy policy kills our lungs, people in southern and middle of Taiwan increasingly got related diseases ● Apple Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The bane of Taiwan- backward infrastructures, e.g., no early-warning system for railway train, pollution in stream, dam, reservoir deposition ● 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 done ? government even has never made public the info. and where those 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) : ● BBC, Independent, 2023-6-20: the drugging of preschool children in Taiwan have sparked widespread alarm on the island. Some teachers at the kindergarten gave children phenobarbital to “make them more compliant”. A rally demanded transparency from the government. ● CIA Fact Book, Dec. 10, 2021: air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species ● Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: the total number of sexual assaults was seven to 10 times higher than the number reported to police. ● United Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The death rate of traffic accident (8+ per day) is higher than hat of many backward countries. Large-bus structure is problematic - Jerry-built or bad safety specification. So many gods are hidden in the detail ● UDN 1-2-2018 udn.com/news/story/7266/2908720, The China Times. 8-6-2016, <食品不安全的年代如何自保>, 2016, etc : Taiwan failed to solve food-safety issue, professors and MDs advised eating at home. 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. ref to BBC news : www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese_news/2012/03/120304_taiwan_birdflu_investigate. ● Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens (China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial). ● 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 ● Taiwan's CCPI (Climate Change Performance Index - GHG emissions, renewable energy, etc) rank of 2019 is reciprocal third among countries, the score/ranking is from bad to worse since 2017. ● 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 ● UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: NY Times, CNN: train carrying 490 derails / Serious transportation accidents repeat - all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life. Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system and reform failure. ● 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" . transportation Taiwan's aviation safety●

● Labor rights ● Le Monde diplomatique (France), 2023-2-14: Most migrant workers to higher-income Taiwan incur substantial debt to finance their fees, which binds them to their employers’ whims and exploitation while they pay it off. ● US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12: Large enterprises frequently made it difficult for employees to organize an enterprise union through methods such as blacklisting union organizers from promotion or relocating them to other work divisions. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: The right to strike remained highly restricted. 24 percent of foreign fishermen suffered violent physical abuse; 92 percent experienced unlawful wage withholding; 82 percent worked overtime excessively. ● Seafood Source, 3-16-2021: the U.S. Labor Department placed Taiwan on its 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. ● National Geographic, 11-25-2020 : Wildlife crimes and human rights abuses plague Taiwanese fishing vessels ...illegal dolphin catching, shark finning, and physical and verbal abuse ... ● 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

● underworld gang & politics : ● Global Times, 2022-11-28: black (underworld) gold politics and nepotism severely violated what the DPP had pledged to the people ● China Times, 2022-11-27: Tsai's DPP has entangled with Mafia, has abused of power and corrupted (黑道纏身、濫權腐化) ● United Daily, editorial, 2021-5-7: The underworld gang links with the legal syndicate, or the gangsters parasitize the political party, which certainly leads to deviation and collapse of the adm. order. (udn.com/news/story/7338/5439377?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2) ● Apple Daily, 2021-5-7: the country has been ruled by "black-gold" gangsters and bureaucratic factions. The "big guys" of gangs can decide or influence which democratical representatives will reach the stage of electoral campaigns for law-makers, city-councilors, .... President Tsai won't be able to crack down gangsters. ( brief from tw.appledaily.com/forum/20210507/AWDMO7WLEBCAZCIYHGO7UBA4DA/ 趙少康)

democracy ○

● social security ● TaiwanPlus, 2023-5-4:

Taiwan Police Chief Detained for Alleged Fraud Ring Ties

● The China Times (中時) , editorial , 2023-5-5: The "Social security net" is proved to be broken - they fail to protect citizens' personal basic data/information ● 《Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-23: all opposition parties blast the government not fulfilling its promise to patch the loophole of social security network. ●《Next TV news 壹新聞》, 2021-11-23, 12:11: a big loophole in our social security net. ● The China Times, 2-25-2020 editorial: Due to bad Income distribution, Taiwan's social security (offender rate) worsens. ● World Economic Forum (WEF) <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan's "safety & security" got an Eastern Asia-pacific average score 6.0, and is worse than world No.5 Hong Kong, No. 6 Singapore , No. 7 UAE, No. 10 New Zealand, 11 Qatar, 13 Japan, 19 Australia, 23 Saudi Arabia. ●《Economist》UK , EIU 「The Safe Cities Index 2019 」 Taiwan's "personal security" dropped 14 places compared with previous yrs. report, Taiwan is worse than neighbors Singapore, Japan, China, Korea...

police
　

● discrimination ● Taipei Times, 2023-6-12: immigration authorities hand out insult after insult to people whose skins are a bit too brown... the reality of its suicidally discriminatory immigration policies is painful for those of us who live and work here. ● USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2021-3-30: The majority of sex discrimination cases reported in 2019 were forced resignations due to pregnancies. Scholars said sex discrimination remained significantly underreported. There was reported discrimination, including employment discrimination, against persons with HIV or AIDS. ● 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 ~ 2019/2020. Besides, according to Washington Post, 5-20-2020: There's a limit to what this soft power can achieve ... Taiwan was unable to compete with China's economic and political clout ... As for Taiwan's military power, Taiwan's administration made a core defense strategy to resist Chinese PLA for 2 weeks, and made assumption that then Americans will always risk their lives to protect home. for details, pls. click Taiwan soft power, Taiwan military.
　

★ pic.: No.1 or top "comment Taiwan" on AOL, 2023-1-2, 2022-10-23, 2022-10-10, 2022-9-11, 2022-8-14, 2022-8-7, 2022-5-23, 2022-4-16, 2022-3-20, 2022-3-4, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-1, 2021-11-21, 2021-10-3, 2021-6-27, 2021-5-1, 3-8-2021, 2-20-2021,1-18-2020, 12-05-2019

★ pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2022-1-25, 2022-1-11, 2022-1-3, 2021-11-21, 2021-11-16

★ pic.: No. 1 "comment Taiwan" on US Yahoo, 2021-10-10

Taiwan's travel & tourism - 13th in Asia
STATISTA: Leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) Published by Statista Research Department, Feb 4, 2021 statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/
Asia Rank	country	score	world Rank
1	Japan	5.4	4
2	Australia	5.1	7
3	China	4.9	13
4	Korea Rep.	4.8	15
5	Hong Kong	4.8	16
6	Singapore	4.8	17
7	New Zealand	4.7	18
8	Malaysia	4.5	25
9	Thailand	4.5	29
10	UAE	4.4	33
11	India	4.4	34
12	Indonesia	4.3	36
13	Taiwan	4.3	37

WEF (World Economic Forum) , May 2022 world Travel and Tourism Development Index weforum.org/reports/travel-and-tourism-development-index-2021/digest
world rank	Asia's rank	economies/countries	score (global average : 4.0)
1	1	Japan	5.2
2	2	USA	5.2
7	3	Australia	5.0
9	4	Singapore	5.0
12	5	China	4.9
15	6	S. Korea	4.8
19	7	Hong Kong	4.6
25	8	UAE	4.5
27	9	New Zealand	4.5
32	10	Indonesia	4.4
33	11	Saudi Arabia	4.3
36	12	Thailand	4.3
38	13	Malaysia	4.3
43	14	Qatar	4.3
52	15	Vietnam	4.1
54	16	India	4.1
74	17	Sri Lanka	3.7
75	18	Philippines	3.7
84	19	Mongolia	3.6
n/a	n/a	Taiwan	n/a
statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Japan%2C%20the%20United,a% 　 20TTDI%20score%20of%205.1.

Economist, EIU, THE GLOBAL LIVEABILITY INDEX 2022 Biggest movers down the ranking in the past 12 month Taipei (Taiwan) ranks world No. 53
	City	Location	Rank	Index	Rank Move	Index Move
1	Wellington	New Zealand	50	85.7	-46	-8.0
2	Auckland	New Zealand	34	89.2	-33	-6.8
3	Adelaide	Australia	30	90.7	-27	-3.3
8	Taipei	Taiwan	53	85.1	-20	1.2

2022 Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries
Michelin cities	number of 3 stars	num. of 2 stars	number of 1 star	total num.
Tokyo (Japan)	12	41	150	203
Hong Kong	7	12	52	71
Kyoto (Japan)	6	19	83	108
Osaka (Japan)	3	11	82	96
Singapore	3	7	41	51
Macau	3	5	7	15
Seoul (Korea)	2	7	24	33
Shanghai (China)	2	8	37	47
Taipei (Taiwan)	1	6	24	31
TaiChung City (Taiwan)	0	1	4	5
Kaohsiung (Taiwan)	0	0	2	2
TaiNan City(Taiwan)	0	0	0	0
Users/88695/Downloads/20220830_PR-MG_TTTK-2022.pdf guide.michelin.com/th/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-singapore-2022-new-starred-restaurants 2022-7-12 guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-seoul-2022-eng guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-hong-kong-macau-2022-unveiled-today-with-11-newly-starred-restaurants guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/the-michelin-guide-kyoto-osaka-2022-is-unveiled-en michelin.com/en/press-releases/michelin-guide-2022-shanghai/ guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-tokyo-2022-eng 2021-11-29 　 ★ New York Times, 2022-8-18: Taiwanese cuisine — layered, distinct, multiethnic ...has been shaped by many cultural forces, including the island's Indigenous tribes, long-established groups of Fujianese and Hakka people; Japanese ; Chinese immigrants in 1949+... nytimes.com/2022/08/16/dining/taiwanese-cuisine.html

Pew Research Center , 2021-11-18 Where People find Meaning in Life
country	Family	Material well-being	occupation
Australia	56%	22%	29%
NZ	55	19	29
Greece	54	13	25
US	49	18	17
UK	46	12	20
Sweden	45	22	37
Canada	42	22	26
Singapore	29	22	25
Japan	26	16	15
S. Korea	16	19	6
Taiwan	15%	19%	9%

　

Julius Baer Group's Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2022 (2022-6-15)
The rankings are done after analyzing the cost of residential property, cars, airfare, business school and other luxuries.
nBloomberg: These are the world's most expensive cities to live in if you're rich
nFinancial Review: If you like luxury, these are the world’s most expensive cities

1 Shanghai, China with four items ranked at the very top and the highest weighted-average price increase (30%).

2 London 　

3 Taipei, Taiwan moved up the ranking, mostly due to the prices of shoes, bicycles, and wine.

4 Hong Kong 　

5 Singapore 　

6 Monaco 　

7 Zurich, Swiss 　

8 Tokyo, Japan is the city which slid the furthest (previously 2^nd), driven by 13 items ranking lower than in the previous year and an average depreciation of -8.8% on the Japanese yen.

9 Sydney, Australia 　

10 Paris, France 　

11. New York 12. Sao Paolo 13. Milan 14. Dubai 15. Bangkok

juliusbaer.com/sg/en/news/julius-baer-publishes-global-wealth-and-lifestyle-report-2022/#:~:text=Shanghai%20is%20still%20the%20most,average%20price%20increase%20(30%25).

　

● NDTV, 2022-8-4: In the first half of 2022, Taiwan's exports amounted to $246.7 billion, while imports totalled $219.0 billion. The trade surplus stood at $27.7 billion. China is the biggest trading partner of Taiwan. Exports to Mainland China are 40 per cent of total exports. Electronic products comprise well over half of Taiwan's trade. Taiwan's economy is dominated by the services sector ndtv.com/business/6-facts-about-economy-of-taiwan-latest-us-china-flashpoint-3223565
● Bloomberg, 2022-8-6: China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade rising 26% on year to $328.3 billion in 2021. finance.yahoo.com/news/taiwan-says-china-simulating-attack-035002189.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
　

　

　

US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.

N.Y. Times, 12-1-2019: the soft underbelly of Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.
They continue to allow
community leaders, farmers’ associations and even
organized-crime figures to buy votes
( NY Times, opinion : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/opinion/china-taiwan-election.html ).

　

　

Transparency International, Germany / Global Corruption Barometer - released 2021/2022 comparisons among main Asian countries paid a bribe to ...??
country	people who think government corruption is a big problem	public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months	public clinic, health centres	utilities	police	gov. officials	local gov. officials	judges, magis- trates	corruption level increased in previous 12months
Taiwan	90%	17%	9%	28%	67%	19%	20%	15%	38%
Japan	84	2	2	4	10	7	26	6	36
Malaysia	71	13	5	11	30	28	16	12	20
China	62	28	26	17	16	18	18	13	39
S Korea	55	10	6	14	8	26	42	24	17
transparency.org/en/countries/taiwan

★ Transparency International, Taiwan's corruption index ranks No. 7 in Asia & Pacific in 2021

Transparency Int'l , CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX, 2021
country of Asia & Pacific	score
New Zealand	score 88 No.1
Singapore	No.4
Hong Kong	No. 12
Australia	No. 18
Japan	No. 18
UAE	No. 24
Bhutan	No. 25
Taiwan	score 68 No. 25
transparency.org/en/cpi/2021
US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , 2021-3-30 state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/taiwan/ Significant human rights issues included: the existence of criminal libel laws and serious acts of corruption. Authorities prosecuted officials including incumbent and former legislators involved in a high-profile bribery case.

★ <United Daily > editorial, 2022-4-15 (udn.com/news/story/7338/6240482?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub7338_pulldownmenu_v2):

misery index, Taiwan
yr.	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
misery index	4.38	5.06	4.29	3.62	5.94	6.4(Q1 )
★ Gallup's accompanying article, “Global Study Reveals Most Workers Enjoy What They Do”, Taiwan ranks No. 114 out of 122countries. moderndiplomacy.eu/2022/11/10/122-countries-ranked-on-workplace-happiness/ 2022-11-10

World Economic Forum, The Global Risks Report 2022 National Risk Perceptions
Economy	Risk 1	Risk 2	Risk 3	Risk 4	Risk 5
Taiwan, Chn.	Infectious diseases	Extreme weather events	Geopolitization of strategic resources	Failure of cybersecurity measures	Asset bubble bursts in large economies
China	Extreme weather event	Asset bubble bursts in large economies	Infectious diseases	Collapse or lack of social security systems	Geopolitization of strategic resources
Hong Kong	Asset bubble bursts in large economies	Prolonged economic stagnation	Infectious diseases	Interstate conflict	Erosion of social cohesion
Japan	Prolonged economic stagnation	Extreme weather events	Interstate conflict	Failure of cybersecurity measures	Asset bubble bursts in large economies Infectious diseases
Korea	Asset bubble bursts in large economies	Employment and livelihood crises … Debt crises in large economies Human-made environmental Infectious damage diseases	n/a	Debt crises in large economies	Human-made environmental Infectious damage
Singapore	Prolonged economic stagnation	Infectious diseases	Asset bubble bursts in large economies	Failure of cybersecurity measures	Climate action failure
www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2022.pdf

Taiwan's press freedom RSF 2022-5-3 rsf.org/en/index
Sociocultural context	Reuters Institute survey in 2021: The Taiwanese have one of the lowest levels of trust in media amongst democracies
Political context	The media landscape, although free, is impaired by a strong political polarisation, undeclared advertising, sensationalism, and the pursuit of profit which hinders the work of journalists and can prevent citizens from accessing objective information.
Legal framework	Over the past decades, few concrete measures have been taken by consecutive Taiwanese governments to improve journalists’ editorial independence and encourage media to raise the quality of public debate.
Economic Indicator No .49, Social Indicator No 57, Legislative Indicator No 40, Political Indicator No33, No. 38 Press Freedom Index

Trust in news ? Reuters Institute, 2021
Trust in news overall 31%	Trust in news I used 38%
Trust in news in search 29%	Trust in social media 21%
Public service television remains the most trusted in our survey, followed by the economic news media (CommonWealth and Business Weekly). The rest of the news brands in the polarised media landscape are trusted by one group, but distrusted by another.

Taiwan's COVID-19 performance
World Index	Taiwan's ranks	link
New York Times (2023-2-6, 2023-2-23)	Taiwan's death rate ranks world No.1
Statista, 2022-7-27: Coronavirus (COVID-19) death rate, in countries with confirmed deaths and over 1,000 reported cases as of April 26, 2022, by country	Taiwan ranks No.143, behind NZ, Singapore, Australia, S Korea, Qatar, Mongolia, Israel, Laos, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, India, Nepal, etc	statista.com/statistics/1105914/coronavirus-death-rates-worldwide/


comment Taiwan ★ Taiwan's Comprehensive Power ranks No.14 in Asia ★ world No. 1 in 2020~26, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ★ Top since 1998 ★	fights for rights

Robert O'Brien expresses thanks