News about Taiwan

“Taiwan rejects Manila’s apology for shooting death of its fisherman, recalls its envoy” [AP via The Washington Post; May 14, 2013]
“Taiwan Recalls Philippines Representative Over Fisherman’s Death” [bloomberg.com; May 15, 2013]
“Taiwan recalls envoy, suspends hiring over Philippine row” [BBC; May 15, 2013]
“Why Taiwan refused Philippines’ apology for slain fisherman as insincere” [Christian Science Monitor; May 15, 2013]
“Taiwan Begins Military Drills Near Philippines” [Voice of America; May 16, 2013]
“South China Sea dispute: Taiwan flexes its muscles” [The Guardian; May 19, 2013]
“Philippines coast guard defensive over killing” [UPI; May 20, 2013]
“Taiwanese Crew Hid to Escape Hail of Philippine Bullets” [bloomberg.com; May 21, 2013]
“Why Taiwan Won’t Let The Philippines Off Easy” [forbes.com; May 21, 2013]
Recent articles are mostly about the Taiwanese fisherman who was shot in the Philippines, and the subsequent issue between the governments. Unfortunately this has also resulted in strained relations between Taiwanese and Filipinos – in Taiwan and travelers between the countries. This is going to be an ongoing issue, so I collected what I could.

“Manny Ramirez is still being Manny — in Taiwan” [L.A. Times; May 13, 2013]
An update on Manny’s career in Taiwan.

“As economy and China ties improve, Taiwan can’t find enough volunteers for military service” [AP via The Washington Post; May 13, 2013]
Change in the economy and modern history has changed the way the military is perceived in Taiwan. Mandatory military service isn’t the best. But how will the country defend itself if there are not enough soldiers or military power?

“Take A Tour Of Taiwan Before Its Economy Went Boom” [Business Insider; May 18, 2013]
A look back at 1980s Taiwan.

“Seeking Ideas on the Ground in Taiwan” [The Motley Fool; May 17, 2013]
A visitor’s guide to Taipei.

“Pilots rescued as Taiwan fighter jet crashes, 2nd in a week” [AP via canada.com; May 20, 2013]
Two fighter jets have crashed during training exercises. I feel like news of fighter jet crashes come in waves.

State Farm’s Chinese language advertisements featuring 張鈞甯 and 何潤東

I was really confused when I saw 張鈞甯 in commercials for State Farm. As far as I know, Sate Farm does not do business in Taiwan. So, did they hire a Taiwanese actress to do Chinese language commercials in the U.S.? It took me a while to figure out that this was the case. And there was even a series of commercial shorts with 張鈞甯 (Janine Chang) and 何潤東 (Peter Ho). 張鈞甯 is also now the main face of State Farm’s Chinese language site.

There are four shorts total, which put together a rather cute romantic story. Each short is roughly four minutes. The little drama has enough tropes to fill an entire drama series.

It wasn’t until I saw the “behind the scenes” footage that I figured out what was going on.

It looks like the commercial was filmed in Taiwan. There’s some interesting footage of the crew putting up American signs next to Taiwan street signs. In another scene, the actors film under (what looks like) a freeway overpass while facing Taipei 101.

News about Taiwan

I didn’t really like the “new format” I used for the last two “News about Taiwan” posts. I think it’s better to have the name, source, and date of the article written out, rather than trying to mention it in a paragraph or not letting you know until you click on the link. I think the date is particularly important, since I don’t posts this daily, oftentimes the article can be up to weeks old.

“Taiwan Reports First Case Of Lethal Bird Flu” [SkyNews via Yahoo!News; April 24, 2013]
“Taiwan watching travelers after H7N9 bird flu case” [AP via KHOU Houston, Texas; April 24, 2013]
“Bird Flu Spreads to Taiwan, Setting Off Alarms” [New York Times via CNBC; April 25, 2013]
These articles were published after the first case of a person with the H7N9 bird flu entered Taiwan.

“Taiwan death penalty branded ‘unworthy’ of ‘highly developed’ country” [The Parliament; April 23, 2013]
“Taiwan: Reinstate Moratorium on Death Penalty” [Human Rights Watch; April 25, 2013]
The Taiwanese government was condemned by worldwide organizations after six inmates were executed on April 19, 2013.

“Southeast Asian Migrants Revitalizing Taiwan Economy” [Voice of America; April 29, 2013]
“Changing times force Taiwan to raise welfare spending” [BBC; April 24, 2013]
“Taiwan: poor GDP will spread gloom far beyond Taipei” [Financial Times; April 30, 2013]
Some articles about Taiwan’s economy. The last two articles paint a bleak picture – an increase in welfare spending as the low-income population increases and a slow in GDP growth. The first article claims a higher economic growth compared to the previous year, with migrant workers in Taiwan filling many jobs.

“After 13-Year Quest, Clouded Leopards Confirmed Extinct in Taiwan” [Scientific American; May 03, 2013]
Very unfortunate news that scientists have decided that the Formosan clouded leopard is most likely extinct.

“Challenge Taiwan makes it debut in May” [220 Triathlon; no date]
“Sound Bytes From The Challenge Taiwan Press Conference” [Triathlete; April 30, 2013]
“Dispatch: A Chat With Challenge Taiwan’s Managing Director Michael Dhulst” [Triathlete; May 03, 2013]
The first Challenge Taiwan triathlon is on May 04, 2013. It is the first race in Taiwan that follows the distances standard in an Ironman Triathlon. The race will take place in 台東.

國語讀寫進度

完成了中級第二冊第九課和第十課。
雖然覺得課文簡單，還是要繼續讀和寫完。

News about Taiwan

The 2013 Taiwan International Lighting Show occurred from March 26 to 29. This report from March 29, 2013 has some highlights and pictures.

The Financial Times has two articles from March 31, 2013 on Taiwan. The first has to do with the success of cross-strait relations has lead to increased security problems for Taiwan. The other has to do with the an increasing problem with wages and the ensuing to brain drain.

United Airlines was originally slated to start SFO-TPE direct flights in April. It then got pushed to June since planes were distributed to other routes after the grounding of all Boeing 787s. Now it looks like the SFO-TPE direct route won’t be available until March 2014.

Travel articles about Taiwan have been popular: The Yorkshire Evening Post (April 03, 2013; travel dates coincided with the Lantern Festival); GlobalGrasshopper (April 11, 2013); NY Times (April 11, 2013); The Guardian (April 12, 2013); The Press and Journal (April 13, 2013).

Global Finance published a economic summary on Taiwan.

Japan gives Taiwan access to areas near the Senkaku Islands for fishing. China is not happy. (April 10, 2013).

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office is sponsoring six secretaries of state from the U.S. for a visit to Taiwan. (April 10, 2013).

The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission has found that that Samsung employees wrote negative online reviews about HTC. (April 18, 2013).

Next Media is selling its TV subunit to ERA Communications. (April 15, 2013).

Both the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal has articles about the TV singing competition 我是歌手 in China that involved singers from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. TV dramas from China have been popular in Taiwan. Taiwanese singers and actors have moved to China for work. It’s time for Taiwan’s entertainment industry to step up to the plate and strengthen its soft power.

The Christian Science Monitor has an article about a draft law by Taiwan’s cabinet allowing Beijing to set up a representative office. This is not an simple move for either sides. How close is too close for comfort? (April 16, 2013).

The Atlantic has an article titled “Why Doesn’t Anyone in Taiwan Read Anymore?” (April 05, 2013), which is a good exploration of a recent report that on average, Taiwanese people only read two books a year.

Article on food history and authenticity

I read a really good article regarding food authenticity titled “Time to eat” on the Financial Times website. It lead me to articles by Polly Russell (also on the Financial Times) that analyzes historical cookbooks.

Foreign education in the U.S.

One thing that I’ve always wondered is the possibility of learning the curriculum of a foreign country in the U.S. This would not be possible in the public school system, but would certainly be possible in some private schools. Are there schools in the U.S. that provide the curriculum of a foreign country?

One distinction that needs to be made is the difference between a foreign education curriculum and a bilingual (or multilingual) school. Although a bilingual school often teaches subjects other than language in dual languages, the school still follows the U.S. curriculum. Another distinction is that the curriculum would not only teach a language. The focus of these classes are only in use of the language, such as reading, writing, and speaking. There is not an emphasis on learning other subjects in the language. These learners are able to take exams meant for foreign learners of the language to assess their levels. They are not expected to achieve native-like level of fluency.