Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

No need to skimp on virus tests

Chin Ching 秦靖

When reporters at a recent news conference asked Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) why Taiwan’s nucleic acid test for diagnosing COVID-19 is 19 times more expensive than China’s version, he said: “The reason is that our test is more accurate.”

Beijing was not going to let such an “impudent” remark go unpunished and China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) duly took the matter up in the following TAO news conference, pointedly referring to Taiwan’s minister of health and welfare as simply “that man.”

CECC reports one new imported case

Taipei Times

Soldiers from the 6th Army Command 33rd Chemical Corps and workers from the Taoyuan City Government Epidemic Prevention and Sterilization Squad prepare for a visit by President Tsai Ing-wen yesterday in Taoyuan.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one imported case of COVID-19 — a Taiwanese man who had contracted the virus in Japan and tested negative several times before returning to Taiwan, before testing positive again.

No lenience on Chinese investment

Taipei Times Editorial

Fubon Financial Holding Co on Friday last week said it would extend its tender offer for Jih Sun Financial Holding Co by 50 days until March 23, as the company’s hostile takeover of its smaller rival has not yet gained approval from the Fair Trade Commission. The initial offer of NT$13 per share, announced on Dec. 18 last year, surprised the domestic financial sector, and was on Jan. 5 criticized by Jih Sun as too low.

Fubon’s bid has also raised questions from lawmakers and market watchers as to whether one of Jih Sun’s major shareholders has links to a Chinese investment entity, and if Fubon aims to help the rumored Chinese investor dispose of his stake in Jih Sun for cash. Government agencies, including the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the Investment Commission and the Mainland Affairs Council, have reportedly launched probes into whether Chinese investors are involved.

Taiwan must build cultural literacy

Manoj Kumar Panigrahi

Since the introduction of the New Southbound Policy during President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) first term in 2016, there has been building momentum toward increasing people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and the policy’s 18 partner countries. While the government’s attempt to improve relations with these countries is admirable, there is a significant gap in Taiwan’s cultural knowledge of them. To narrow the cultural literacy gap, Taiwan needs to start cultural education as early as kindergarten.

New residents and migrant workers from these target countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia are particularly vulnerable in Taiwan.

More Articles...