President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday in her New Year’s Day speech praised Taiwan’s successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic and made the case for the nation’s growing importance on the international stage.
In her speech, delivered from the Presidential Office, Tsai said that for many around the world, last year was a year of disrupted routines, economic hardship and steadily rising deaths caused by COVID-19.
Taiwan, by contrast, was fortunate to have responded early and was thus able to “defeat” the virus through a shared commitment to professionalism, mutual trust and social cohesion, she said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan has faced many challenges over the past year, but it also has good reasons to be optimistic, including the strong performance of local businesses, stable employment numbers and government investment in emerging technologies, Tsai said.
“Over the past year, Taiwan has achieved what the whole world is longing for — a normal lifestyle. That is quite an accomplishment,” she said, adding that ensuring people can lead a normal life and working toward a global economic recovery would be her top priorities this year.
“From a global standpoint, Taiwan is more important than ever,” she said, adding that stabilizing relations across the Taiwan Strait is no longer an issue solely for Taiwan and China, but “a concern for the whole Indo-Pacific region” and “a focus of international attention.”
Photo: CNA
Tsai said that China had “undermined” its relations with Taiwan through its constant military activity around the nation, but she reaffirmed that her administration would not “act rashly” in response.
“We are willing to facilitate meaningful dialogue under the principles of parity and dignity, as long as the Beijing authorities sincerely want to resolve differences and improve cross-strait relations,” she said.
When the pandemic is over, Taiwan looks forward to the gradual return of people-to-people exchanges across the Strait to improve mutual understanding, Tsai added.
For the first time in a New Year’s Day addresses, Tsai spoke in English, directing a portion of her remarks to an international audience.
She said that Taiwan was proud to have worked alongside the international community to confront the challenges posed by COVID-19 and to have shown the world that “Taiwan can help.”
“As a force for good in the world, we will continue to be an indispensable member of the international community, both now and into the future,” she said.
Tsai also expressed gratitude for the international backing Taiwan has received amid the regional and global challenges it faces.
“Our democracy is stronger because of your support,” she said.
Tsai said that she was honored to have overcome, together with Taiwanese, the many challenges of last year and called for the nation to “continue to pull together” in the new year.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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