Why the word Taiwan is banned at the Olympics
In 1976 they rejected an offer from the IOC to compete as Team “Taiwan” instead of “Republic of China”. Today, “Team Taiwan” would more accurately represent the population, which increasingly identifies as primarily Taiwanese, but it is no longer an option. Photo: ReutersNow, Taiwan is one of just three teams whose flag is banned at the Olympics. Taiwan and Chinese Taipei are still all Taiwan,” said Ivy Shieh, a Taiwanese fan also watching the match. “When facing the Chinese team, the IOC will treat Taiwan very harshly,” Wu told Taiwan media.
Source:Taipei Times
August 08, 2024 23:12 UTC
Nothing wrong with ‘Taiwanese’
Nothing wrong with ‘Taiwanese’By Lau Seng-hian 劉承賢Aurelijus Vijunas’ recent opinion article “An accurate term for ‘Taiwanese’” (Aug. 3, page 8) argues that ‘Taiwanese’ (the common name for Hoklo) is not a suitable name for the Southern Min variety spoken in Taiwan. While Taiwanese is a Southern Min variety, many languages are named independently of their typological classification. Hakka and indigenous languages are undeniably important, but Taiwanese serves as the representative language of Taiwanese culture, arts, history and place names. Language is a key to culture, and if I truly wanted to become Taiwanese, learning Taiwanese should have been important.”As Pape observed, Taiwanese is key to understanding Taiwan’s culture. In contrast, Mandarin was imposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and is not inherently connected to Taiwanese identity.
Source:Taipei Times
August 07, 2024 21:47 UTC
How China views the US presidential election
How China views the US presidential electionThe most likely scenario is a period of tension in which China’s leadership and a new administration in Washington weigh each other’s strengths and weaknessesBy Ian Bremmer / NEW YORKHow will the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) react to the highly unpredictable election in the US in November? Their only disagreement, Chinese leaders believe, is about which economic and political weapons to use to contain China, and how and when to use them. However, this is not to suggest that China views the two parties as effectively the same. Alternatively, they could appeal to various US allies that remain dependent on good economic relations with China. The bigger risk, then, is that China’s leaders conclude that the limited engagement of the past year has not produced good results, and that the next hostile US president would always be just one election away.
Source:Taipei Times
August 07, 2024 18:34 UTC
Taipei rated most affordable Asian destination
Taipei rated most affordable Asian destinationBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterCheaper hotel rates and delicious street food made Taipei the most affordable city in Asia to visit in the second half of this year, a travel trend analysis conducted by Leisure and Travel magazine and the Web site Kayak.com showed. Taipei and nine other Asian cities were selected as affordable travel destinations based on “average round-trip economy airfare” and “the average rate of a one-night stay in a standard double hotel room,” they said. The results of their analysis, published on Wednesday last week, showed that the average cost of a round-trip flight and one night at a hotel in Taipei was US$1,141. Taipei was followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta, with a round-trip flight and one-night stay costing US$1,452 and US$1,478 respectively, the analysis showed. The other affordable travel destinations in Asia were New Delhi, Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Osaka.
Source:Taipei Times
August 07, 2024 15:09 UTC
Fans blame China for Paris sign confiscations
Fans blame China for Paris sign confiscationsStaff writer, with CNAMore Taiwanese spectators at the Paris Olympics have reported having signs and banners confiscated by security staff or snatched by Chinese fans. Although she reported the oversized Chinese flag, she said venue staff took no action over the banner. At the same event, a towel with the word “Taiwan” printed on it was confiscated from a Taiwanese supporter by venue staff. Taiwan has participated in the Olympic Games as “Chinese Taipei” since 1984, with athletes competing under the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag. Prior to that it participated as “Formosa” and “Taiwan.”“When facing the Chinese team, the IOC will treat Taiwan very harshly.
Source:Taipei Times
August 07, 2024 14:15 UTC
Taiwan must fight ‘Chinese Taipei’
“Chinese Taipei” is not merely a fake place, but part of a strategic campaign by China to conquer Taiwan in the minds of the global public, forcing the international community to accept the fiction that China has authority over Taiwan, as I have written before in the Taipei Times (“Taiwan’s ‘Chinese Taipei’ problem,” May 22, page 8). If Taiwanese wish to be seen as Taiwan, they must fight back and contest this blatant discrimination and cognitive warfare. “Chinese Taipei” has not remained confined to the Olympics. “Chinese Taipei creep” has led to the widespread adoption of the term in numerous contexts to refer to Taiwan, leading to the false impression that it is a real place or identity. While international media have increasingly referred to the team as “Taiwan,” most sportscasters continue to use the false “Chinese Taipei” term.
Source:Taipei Times
August 06, 2024 21:49 UTC
Taiwan celebrates badminton Olympic gold
Taiwan celebrates badminton Olympic goldFESTIVE MOOD: President William Lai and other top politicians congratulated Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, while some businesses offered special promotionsStaff writer, with CNAPeople across Taiwan celebrated the nation’s first Olympic gold at Paris 2024 after Taiwan’s badminton duo emerged victorious over their Chinese opponents on Sunday. Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) fought a tough 76-minute battle against the world No. 1 duo from China — Liang Weikeng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chang (王昶) — to defend their men’s doubles badminton title. Taiwan supporters had high expectations for the badminton pair, who previously won gold in the Tokyo 2020 Games. Businesses in Taiwan are also getting caught up in Olympic fever, with many announcing special offers in recognition of Lee and Wang’s badminton victory.
Source:Taipei Times
August 06, 2024 03:38 UTC
Ministry in touch with 3 nationals in Lebanon
Ministry in touch with 3 nationals in LebanonStaff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it has been keeping in touch with three nationals who continue to stay in Lebanon, despite its warning to leave the country as soon as possible as tensions rise in the Middle East. Passengers wait after their flights were delayed or canceled at Rafic Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFEThe ministry yesterday said that there were five Taiwanese citizens living in Lebanon, citing information obtained by Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan that is in charge of Lebanon affairs. The ministry is keeping in touch with the three citizens remaining in Lebanon and will offer assistance to help them leave should they decide to, it added. Meanwhile, the ministry reiterated its advice to Taiwanese citizens not to travel to Lebanon and Israel for safety reasons.
Source:Taipei Times
August 06, 2024 03:36 UTC
Modi cannot build the Indian military this way
Unusually, this year’s speech never mentioned military spending. In fact, defense spending has fallen below 2 percent of GDP for the first time in decades. More than half of India’s defense budget goes to personnel costs. Local defense production grew nearly 17 percent in the past financial year and is up 60 percent since 2019 to 2020. Meanwhile, private Indian companies must incorporate the cost of creating new factories and product lines into their bids.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 17:06 UTC
Warren Buffett slashes longtime Apple stake
Warren Buffett slashes longtime Apple stakeAP, OMAHA, NebraskaBillionaire Warren Buffett slashed Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s massive Apple Inc stake in a move that could prove unsettling for the broader stock market — because the investor is so revered and because there had been little positive financial news lately. That gave investors the impression that Buffett might hold on to Apple indefinitely as he has with the Coca-Cola Co and American Express Co shares he bought decades ago. However, he has trimmed the Apple stake over the past year and has recently also sold off some of his stock in Bank of America Corp and Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD Co (比亞迪) while buying little. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire’s Apple stake was worth US$135.4 billion. Shanahan said he estimates that Berkshire still holds about 400 million Apple shares.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 03:42 UTC
Strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2
Strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2AP, TEL AVIV, IsraelIsraeli strikes early yesterday killed 18 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tented camp for displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex, while a Palestinian militant fatally stabbed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Palestinians run toward a column of smoke following an Israeli bombardment in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday. Another strike flattened a house in northern Gaza, killing at least eight people, including three children, their parents and their grandmother, the health ministry said. Another three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City, said the Civil Defense — first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 03:42 UTC
EDITORIAL: Adaptive climate strategies needed
EDITORIAL: Adaptive climate strategies neededTyphoon Gaemi swept over the nation on July 24 and 25, causing severe flooding across Taiwan proper, especially in the central and southern areas. In response to the “existential threat” of extreme weather, the environment, health and welfare, and labor ministries held a Climate Change and Heat Adaptation Strategies Conference on Wednesday last week. In the conference, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明), who has a meteorology background, stressed the importance of investing in “adaptation” strategies. Climate change adaptation is not a new concept. Members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change established a global goal on adaptation in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 21:46 UTC
Notes from Central Taiwan: Taiwan’s emerging ‘polycrisis’
I have written elsewhere of the changes in society that have left so many of Taiwan’s young males in unproductive, precarious jobs (“Taiwan’s young men adrift,” Oct. 2, last year). In Europe, according to a May report from Politico, many young men are trending towards the right. In Netherlands and Portugal right-wing parties ran on platforms featuring anti-immigration and housing issues, and drew support from young males. This will be followed by a marked rightward shift among young males that will make them vulnerable to populist politicians. Housing, housing, housing needs to be the Lai administration mantra.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 21:44 UTC
Proposed amendments provide rules for subletters
Proposed amendments provide rules for sublettersBy Chung Li-hua, Hsu Yi-ping, and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Ministry of the Interior on Friday published a preview of amendments to the Regulations to Standardize Subletting Contracts (住宅轉租定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項) that would ban subletters from forbidding tenants to apply for rental housing subsidies from the government. The new regulations also would ban subletters from overcharging for electricity, the ministry said, adding the new rules aim to better protect tenants’ rights. The amendments to the Regulations to Standardize Subletting Contracts regulate how subletters charge for electricity. Subletters must provide tenants with a means of monitoring power use, and subletters who are proven to have overcharged tenants can be fined up to NT$300,000, the amendments state. Tenants could file a complaint with their local government’s consumer protection or land administration unit regarding any contraventions of the rules, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 03:41 UTC
UAV market key for Taiwan: experts
UAV market key for Taiwan: expertsGO GLOBAL: There is not enough domestic demand for drone manufacturers, but there is an opportunity for companies to cater to nations that have decoupled from ChinaBy Lin Yi-chang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan must tap into the global uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) market to obtain the capital necessary to develop a self-sufficient combat drone industry, experts said. The administration aims to make Taiwan “the Asian hub of UAV supply chains for global democracies,” he said in his inaugural address on May 20. The operational costs of automated equipment capable of mass-producing reliable, quality components at scale cannot be funded by the domestic market alone, he added. Taiwan Swarm Innovation Inc (臺灣希望創新) CEO Li Chih-ching (李志清) said Washington is looking for allies to replace China in drone supply chains. Expanding into the global market would enable domestic UAV makers to benefit from the economy of scale and lower their prices to competitive levels, Li said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2024 21:42 UTC