ISSUE 199                                                                                    June 29, 2023
Taiwan Weekly
Reliable report and analysis of the most important issues in Taiwan
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Publishers

Island of Fraud? Taiwan's Total Fraud in 2022 Exceeded $200M
taiwanweekly2019@gmail.com
Junior-level prosecutors publicly named the inaction of three ministries, including the Financial Supervisory Commission, the National Communications Commission, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs, as the chief reason for the continued increase in fraud cases.
(Photo from: The Storm Media)
Featured News

Prosecutors Name Three Executive Bodies for Inaction, As Accomplice in Fraud

United Daily News, June 24, 2023  

 

Fraud crimes have become a national security problem in Taiwan, with an accumulated loss of NT$6 billion (about NT$193 million) last year. The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen set up a cabinet-level “Anti-fraud National Team” in 2022 and added an “Anti-fraud Office.” However, the prosecutors in charge of fraud crimes are calling the office a “national-level scam.” In a recent anti-fraud seminar, several prosecutors named the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the National Communications Commission (NCC), and the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) as the three major institutions responsible for the government’s failed efforts in combatting fraud. 

Featured Editorial
taiwanweekly2019@gmail.com
According to media commentary, the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen has put ideology above professionalism, forcing through its controversial nomination of grand justices. It is a disgrace to Taiwan's judiciary.
(Photo from: The Storm Media)

Nominations Confirmed in 23 Days, Grand Justices Become President Tsai's Flank

The Storm Media Editorial, June 21, 2023 

 

President Tsai Ing-wen has insisted on the nomination of all grand justices before the end of her tenure, leaving no nominations for the next president. The Legislative Yuan will review this during an interim meeting in mid-June. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will use their majority advantage to pass this DPP friendly list of nominees. It once again confirms the party’s "double standards." 

read more

From: https://www.storm.mg/article/4810180 

Featured Editorial
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According to media commentary, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) view of mainland China's resumption of custard apple imports as a united front tactic reflects that it has no other strategies but to aid its presidential campaign but to heighten the hostility across strait.
(Photo from: Taitung County Agriculture Department)

Taiwan Sees China's Resumption of Custard Apple Imports as Unification Tactic

The Storm Media Editorial, June 23, 2023  

 

After 638 days, the Taiwan Affairs Office of mainland China’s State Council announced on June 20 that Taitung custard apples can be exported to the mainland again. If everything goes well, shipping of the fruit can resume by the end of the year.

 

As usual, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) labeled the announcement as China’s “united front tactics.” And the Council of Agriculture (COA), Executive Yuan, continued their routine statements requesting to resume dialogue on scientific and technical aspects through the Cross-Strait Arrangement on Cooperation of Agricultural Product Quarantine and Inspection; however, the export of Taiwan’s agriculture and fishery products to the mainland had been suspended for various reasons in recent years, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) always acted at its wits’ end.

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From: https://www.storm.mg/article/4810826 

This Week in Taiwan
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In order to win votes, Vice President William Lai, who is also the DPP's chairman and presidential candidate, announced that the government will subsidize 50 percent of tuition fees for students attending private universities. Experts believe that this will only hasten the demise of Taiwan's higher education.
(Photo from: The Storm Media)

June 19: An inauguration ceremony for the naval warship Yushan was held at the Zuoying military port. The flag presentation was presided over by Commander Tang Hwa of the Navy. However, the event was unique in that it was not open to the public and did not invite high-level government officials to attend. It is rumored that the Ministry of National Defense ordered to keep a low profile.

 

June 19: Secretary of State Antony Blinken of the United States met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Blinken expressed concerns about China's provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait but reiterated that the U.S. "One China" policy has not changed. He mentioned that if a crisis related to Taiwan were to break out, given that 70 percent of high-end semiconductors are produced in Taiwan, it may create a global economic crisis.

 

June 20: After the Straits Forum, attended by Kuomintang (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party officials, the Taiwan Affairs Office of mainland China's State Council announced that imports of Taiwanese custard apples will resume, and custard apples sold to the mainland must come from registered packaging factories and orchards. The KMT stated that this proves the importance of maintaining the existing political foundation, smooth communication channels, and active dialogues between both sides of the Taiwan Strait. According to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, this is another propaganda campaign meant to divide Taiwanese society. Starting from 2021, the mainland Chinese authorities successively announced the suspension of importing Taiwanese fruits, such as pineapples, wax apples, and custard apples, due to quarantine issues.

 

June 20: The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) announced that export orders in May totaled US$45.68 billion, a decrease of 17.6 percent compared to the same period last year and marking a fall for nine consecutive months. From January to May this year, export orders decreased by about 20 percent, compared to the same period last year. The MOEA expects that export orders received in June will also decline by about 20 percent. It is still hard to say whether exports may turn positive for the whole year.

 

June 20: Vice President William Lai announced that in order to reduce the gap between public and private university tuition, the government will push as a major policy initiative to subsidize more than 50 percent of private university tuition fees. The Ministry of Education estimates that the measure will require annual funding of about NT$15 billion (about US$482 million). It was criticized by the opposition parties as pouring away money to grab youth votes. Experts point out higher education is not compulsory education, and that giving away higher education as a "gift" may hasten the decline of Taiwan's higher education.

 

June 21: The Legislative Yuan held a temporary session to confirm the nominees for the grand justices of the Constitutional Court, Judicial Yuan. Although the KMT and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) refused to vote, the DPP's numerical advantage allowed the nominees Tsai Tsai-tsen, Chu Fu-mei, Chen Chung-wu, and You Po-hsiang to pass the confirmation threshold and become grand justices. All 15 incumbent grand justices are now appointed by President Tsai Ing-wen.

 

June 21: TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je proposed to restart the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services, indicating that what he opposed in the past was a "black-box" approval process that did not conform to democratic procedures rather than the agreement itself. The Executive Yuan responded that there is currently no societal consensus on restarting the services trade pact, which would only create more confusion. Presidential candidates should be cautious about this issue. KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih stated that Ko is often like this. That is, what he says before will completely differ from what he will do later.

 

June 24: The case surrounding feeding drugs to children at a kindergarten in New Taipei stirred controversy and turned into a political battlefront between the KMT and the DPP, severely damaging the momentum of KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih. The four children suspected to have barbiturates in their urine did not test positive. Hou's campaign team reported DPP presidential candidate William Lai and its spokeswoman Tai Wei-shan to judicial authorities for distributing false information and causing panic.

Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation and Association of Foreign Relations which provides coverage and perspectives on the latest developments in Taiwan.

The conclusions and recommendations of any Taiwan Weekly article are solely those of its author(s) and do not reflect the views of the institutions that publish the newsletter.

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