Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan, UK sign trade partnership deal

Taipei Times

Taiwan yesterday inked an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) deal with the UK, marking the nation’s first trade framework agreement with a European country, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said.

The agreement was signed in a teleconference by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who heads the office, Representative to the UK Kelly Hsieh (謝武樵) and British officials, Deng and Hsieh said in a joint statement.

The ETP showed the growth of Taiwan-UK economic ties and provided a guideline for Taipei and London to conduct trade talks, they said.

Chinese spouses working with CCP to be monitored

Taipei Times

The government would closely monitor Chinese spouses who have been coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to engage in “united front” work against Taiwan, or have been receiving funding from the CCP to establish pro-unification organizations, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday.

“The bureau’s position is very clear. We respect Chinese spouses as long as they engage in legal activities in Taiwan, but we will closely monitor those who have been coordinating with the Chinese government on united front work against Taiwan, hosting cross-strait exchanges for political purposes and receiving sponsorships from Beijing to establish pro-unification groups,” Tsai told reporters before attending a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Social media addiction a concern

Taipei Times Editorial

Last month, 41 US states sued Meta Platforms Inc, accusing the parent company of Facebook and Instagram of knowingly and deliberately designing addictive features that harm children and contribute to young people’s mental health problems. The attorneys general of the states said in a joint lawsuit that Meta uses misleading marketing to foster addictive behavior in kids and teens and profit off them.

Meta is no stranger to lawsuits and controversy. From the US to Europe and Asia, the tech giant has been accused of multiple consumer protection, data privacy and antitrust contraventions over the years. However, the latest lawsuit is one of the largest of its kind and could have a greater-than-expected effect on social media companies as a whole if Meta is held accountable.

Video posted of potential TPP pick in red guard garb

Taipei Times

Taiwan New Residents Development Association chairwoman Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), rumored to be on the Taiwan People’s Party’s (TPP) planned list of legislators-at-large, was seen in a video clip wearing a red scarf similar to those worn by China’s Red Guards, singing the praise of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東).

In the clip posted on Friday by a Facebook page called “One more step,” Xu was filmed with a group of Chinese who have married Taiwanese spouses, singing: I Love Beijing Tiananmen (我愛北京天安門), with red scarves around their necks, resembling those China’s Red Guards wore in the 1960s.

According to Wikipedia, I Love Beijing Tiananmen is a children’s song written during China’s Cultural Revolution.

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