ISSUE 121                                                                            December 16, 2021
Taiwan Weekly
Reliable report and analysis of the most important issues in Taiwan
In This Issue
● This Week in Taiwan: 
Other Important Events This Week


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Why Did Nicaragua Sever Diplomatic Relations with Taiwan?
Nicaragua is the eighth country to sever diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen. It was the second time that Nicaragua severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and President Daniel Ortega was the leader in power both times.
(Photo from: United Daily News)
Featured News

Turn to Beijing to Retaliate Against U.S. Sanctions

Summary Report by Taiwan Weekly

 

Nicaragua announced, without early warning, the severance of formal ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) on the morning of December 10 and switched diplomatic recognition to the Chinese mainland. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that with deep regrets, the Taiwan government “has decided to terminate diplomatic relations with Nicaragua with immediate effect, end all bilateral cooperation projects and aid programs, and recall staff of its embassy and technical mission in Nicaragua.” The number of diplomatic allies of the R.O.C. has thus fallen to 14 countries, a record low in history.

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Featured Editorial
According to media commentary, the severance of diplomatic relations by Nicaragua involves complicated international politics. The Tsai administration's outsourcing diplomacy to the United States has pushed Taiwan to the front lines of U.S.-China confrontation.
(Photo from: United Daily News)

Bitter Fruit of Taiwan's Outsourcing Diplomacy to the U.S.

United Daily News Editorial , December 12, 2021

 

After Nicaragua severed its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen routinely expressed regret and explained that the incident involved complicate international politics and cross-strait relations. Without doubt, this is mainland China's retaliation against the Democracy Summit sponsored by the United States, and revenge on the recent upgrading of Taiwan-Lithuania relations. American sanctions and international isolation also contributed to Nicaragua's change of direction.

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From: https://udn.com/news/story/7338/5955553

Featured Opinion
Members of the United States Congress have proposed to establish a monitor center for infectious diseases at the American Institute in Taiwan. According to a commentator, the move carries military significance.
(Photo from: China Times)

Why Set Up Infectious Diseases Monitoring Station at the AIT?

By Tsai Cheng-i

China Times, December 11, 2021

 

Several members of the United States Congress jointly proposed the “U.S.-Taiwan Public Health Protection Act” in the Senate and House of Representatives on November 4. If it is approved, an “Infectious Disease Monitoring Center" will operate under the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and cooperate with Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Ministry of Health and Welfare, to monitor infectious diseases in the Indo-Pacific region. Congress members who proposed this bill believe that it will allow the United States and Taiwan to work together by safely monitoring health threats and preventing future pandemics.

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From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20211211003364-262104

This Week in Taiwan
A female research assistant at a P3 laboratory of the Academia Sinica was diagnosed with the coronavirus (COVID-19), breaking Taiwan's 35-day streak of zero domestic cases.
(Photo from: China Times)
December 6: The domestic violence case involving Legislator Kao Chia-yu as the victim accidentally triggered a "national-level" cyber-army chaos. Chairman Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) called upon the Legislative Yuan for strong oversight, including cutting all government funding for maintaining cyber-armies. According to Chu, the incident allowed the public to see in-fighting within the ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP), including maintaining cyber-armies for power struggles. These are dark forces which seriously threaten Taiwan. 
 
December 7: The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, announced that the November consumer price index (CPI) growth rate reached 2.8 percent, the sixth time this year that inflation broke the 2 percent line, setting a record increase in nearly nine years. Dining prices, closely connected to the people's livelihood, increased 1.65 percent, a new high in 2.5 years, indicating that Taiwan is under great inflationary pressure. 
 
December 7: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the United States will take all diplomatic and deterrence actions to ensure that China cannot take Taiwan by military force and defend the Ukraine from Russian invasion. 
 
December 8: A man suspected of shooting in Xindian District, New Taipei, absconded to mainland China for 16 days. The Criminal Investigation Bureau, National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior sent officers to Xiamen Airport to receive the suspect from mainland police, deporting him back to Taiwan. This is the first successful case of mutual criminal judicial assistance cooperation since the mechanism ceased to operate in recent years.
 
December 9: The Chinese word "zhai" (literally indoors or sedentary) was selected as Taiwan's representative word of 2021, coming out first among 36 candidates. As the pandemic continues to show its strength, many have stayed home and spent much of the year indoors. 
 
December 10: President Joe Biden of the United States hosted a "Democracy Summit" by video conference. Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang delivered a "national statement," emphasizing that Taiwan has always stood firmly at the forefront of the global fight against authoritarianism and will never bow to authoritarian forces. 
 
December 11: A female research assistant of the P3 laboratory of the Academia Sinica was diagnosed positive with the coronavirus (COVID-19), breaking the streak of 35 consecutive days of zero cases. The patient's gene sequence is consistent with the Delta variant used in the P3 laboratory, so it was confirmed to be a laboratory infection. The coronavirus was detected on desktops and doorknobs in he laboratory, but the quantity of virus is currently low. The researcher was previously bitten by lab rats twice, once in October and another time in November. According to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), it was preliminarily confirmed that rat bites did not cause the infection.
Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation, Association of Foreign Relations, and Taipei Forum 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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