Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China ‘cheats’ to lead in tech: official

Taipei Times

China has sought to “cheat” and “steal” its way to matching Taiwan in chip technology, but has yet to succeed despite investing huge sums, Representative to the US Alexander Yui said on Wednesday, while holding out the prospect of more Taiwanese semiconductor investment in the US.

In an interview with Reuters, Yui, who arrived in Washington in December last year, cast doubt on reports that China’s chipmakers are on the cusp of making next-generation smartphone processors, and refuted charges by former US president Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate for the US presidential election in November, that Taiwan was taking American semiconductor jobs.

Beijing shoots itself in the foot

Tzou Jiing-wen 鄒景雯

On Jan. 26 and 27, following the Jan. 13 presidential election, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in Bangkok. Sullivan and Wang agreed to arrange a call between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Joe Biden in the spring. The two sides had different things to say about the Taiwan issue. Wang issued a news release reiterating that “the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair” and “Taiwan independence poses the biggest risk to cross-strait peace and stability.”

Beijing has repeated such deceitful and boastful mantras so many times, their effect on the Chinese is wearing off, to say nothing of the Taiwanese. China accused former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of supporting Taiwanese independence, and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has faced the same accusation. Last year a Chinese government spokesman and opposition figures in Taiwan called Vice President William Lai (賴清德) a “golden child of Taiwanese independence.”

UK pianist holds up Taiwan flag in London station

Taipei Times

British pianist Brendan Kavanagh on Monday held up Taiwan’s national flag during a livestream after having an altercation with a group of Chinese last month.

When Kavanagh, who goes by the name Dr K Boogie Woogie on social media, was recording a livestream from St Pancras International station in London on Jan. 19, a group of Chinese standing in the background loudly insisted that they not be filmed, saying their portrait rights should be protected.

The Chinese, who were holding Chinese flags when the incident occured, said that they would take legal action if their faces and voices were shown online.

Where have all Taiwan’s Sunflowers gone to?

Gerrit van der Wees

In the run-up to last month’s presidential and legislative elections, the old Peter Paul and Mary folksong from the 1960s kept ringing in my ears: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Of course, as this is related to Taiwan, I was thinking of the Sunflowers, the generation of young people led by student leaders Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) who brought about a major change in Taiwan’s political system when they organized the peaceful occupation of the Legislative Yuan in 2014, which helped clear the path for President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) momentous victory in 2016.

The Sunflowers displayed a clear vision for what they wanted Taiwan’s democracy to be, and took action to help bring that about. In a sense, they were true descendants of the earlier Wild Strawberry movement of 2008 and the Wild Mountain Lily movement of 1990-1991, which each in their own way were decisive influences at particular points along Taiwan’s road to democracy.

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