On Wednesday last week, the Presidential Office confirmed that the word “Taiwan” would be added to the hulls of Coast Guard Administration vessels.

This follows President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) request, made during a launch ceremony on Dec. 11 last year for a new patrol vessel, the Anping (安平), that they “should be more clearly identifiable to the international community when carrying out law enforcement duties.”

Communist China’s Global Times warned US President Joe Biden in the first week of this month that he “should make a significant response to China’s sincerity within his first 100 days, as the sincerity and patience will not last forever.”

In fact, they lasted only days. By the end of the week, Beijing had laid down the law, so to speak, to the Biden administration. First was a speech billed as a “Dialogue with National Committee on US-China Relations,” by Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪), director of China’s Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs.

The global automotive industry is on the cusp of a new era of competition that is expected to force established manufacturers and new players within the industry to fundamentally rethink their business models. Success or failure is likely to be determined by two key technologies: energy source and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

First, energy. Whether looked at from the perspective of environmental factors, green energy or efficiency, electric vehicles are to become mainstream during the 21st century. Whether they are to be built around hydrogen fuel cells or use rechargeable or swappable battery cells as their primary source of propulsion is impossible to say for certain, although history tells us that the most advanced technology might not be the one that enters common use.