Taiwan Friday, July 13, 2018 Newsletter

A Message from law…China’s attempts to regulate Taiwan ’s foreign trade up such online content aims at curtailing 10.9% in 1st half of 2018 the freedoms that foreign businesses Ambassador Ho-jen Taiwan’s foreign trade surged 10.9 must continue to enjoy.” Tseng percent to US$302.11 billion in the The PRC government’s forcing of first six months of 2018 on the back censorship and its own political ide- When your “One-China of a robust global economy, strong ology on private companies should policy” is challenged demand for machinery and high be stopped and condemned. China’s recent coercive actions to prices for basic metals and crude oil, foreign companies should be a wake International according to the Ministry of Finance up call for countries to think about (MOF). whether their own “One-China policy” Foreign Minister Wu d e- The leading destinations for Taiwan’s has been infringed. parts on 6 -day tour of exports remained China, including diplomatic allies El Sa l- Hong Kong, up 14.2 percent to a vador, record US$67.13 billion. Followed by Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Association of Southeast Asian Na- Wu is leading a nine -member dele- tions member states at US$29.03 gation on a tour of El Salvador and billion, up 4.6 percent year on year. Belize from July 12 to 17 to deepen The MOF said it forecasts stronger the friendships and bolster political export numbers for Taiwan in the and economic exchanges with the second half, citing an abundance of Central American diplomatic allie s. new business opportunities in pote n- tial-laden sectors like artificial intelli- (Ambassador Harry Ho-jen Tseng) gence, Internet of Things and Most countries in the world have high-performance computation. adopted a “One-China policy”, but But the ministry cautioned this could there is no consensus on what it be dampened by fallout from the means, except that it forbids official U.S.-China trade war, exchange rate relations with Taiwan. The scope for fluctuations and increasingly fierce differing interpretations has allowed international manufacturing compet i- countries to maintain unofficial rela- During his four -day stay in El Salva- tion. tions. Now, China is waging a world- dor, Wu is scheduled to meet with Social Media wide campaign to impose its own President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, definition of “One-China policy” by Vice President Oscar Samuel Ortiz MOFA readies to roll out coercing countries, as well as foreign Ascencio and Legislative Assembly youth -focused Instagram companies, to restrict even unofficial President Norman Noel Quijano account ties with Taiwan. Gonzalez to discuss current coope r- The PRC government set its sights The soon -to-launch Instagram ac- ative projects and future opportun i- count of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign on content referring to Taiwan on the ties for collaboratio n. Affairs (MOFA) will play a key role in websites of multinational companies. After arriving in Belize July 16, Wu is In April, the Civil Aviation Administra- raising awareness of the MOFA and expected to meet with Prime Minister its activities while expanding go v- tion of China demanded 36 interna- Dean Oliver Barrow as well as Lee ernment -youth exchanges. tional airlines cease referring to Tai- Mark Chang, president of the , wan as a country on all communica- Scheduled to go live July 21, the and Omar Figueroa, deputy president highly anticipated social platform will tion platforms, and instead refer to of the House of Representatives. He showcase a smorgasbord of images Taiwan as Chinese territory. Those will also tour the Belize Barrier Reef who failed to comply would face pu- reflecting the diversity and vitality of Reserve System to explore possibil i- Taiwan. It joins others operated by nitive measures. ties for collaboration in environmental the government such as President The US State Department has pub- protection. licly opposed China’s threat towards Tsai Ing -wen and Taiwan Today. The same day, Wu will receive the Instagram is another arrow in the US companies and expressed strong Order of Distinction from Foreign ministry’s new media quiver. Since concern to the PRC. A White House Minister Wilfred Elrington in recogn i- statement described China’s actions February, Minister Jaushieh Joseph tion of his efforts to deepen bilateral Wu has kept his nose to the grin d- as “Orwellian nonsense.” An EU ties and promote people-to-people stone in ushering in a new era of spokesperson voiced the criticism exchanges. that, “Outside China, it is for private near-instantaneous global comm u- nication. companies and individuals to man- Economics age their online content within the

Editorial: Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium Website: http://www.roc-taiwan.org/be_en/index.html E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +32(0)2/287.28.16 or +32(0)2/287.28.11