Tensions Rise in the Taiwan Strait
Ted Galen CarpenterThe Chinese military is flexing its muscles in the Taiwan Strait in response to last month ’s electoral triumph by Taiwan’s pro‐independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).President Tsai Ing-wen ’s landslide reelection, combined with the DPP’s retention of a majority in the legislature, infuriated Beijing ’s leadership.A dangerously provocative response was not long in coming.Acrimonious bilateral relations took on a worrisome military dimension early this week.Despite the onset of the coronavirus crisis and the pervasive disruptions it has caused, the Chinese government...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 12, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
The Taiwan Election: Dealing with Disinformation while Protecting Speech
ConclusionThis development is testimony to a simple though important fact: cultures are not stable, unchanging entities, and no nation, be the US, China or Taiwan is by nature endowed with a genetic disposition toward dictatorship or democracy. Culture is something people acquire, not something they are born with. Both in Taiwan and in Chin a more than 90 percent of the population are ethnic Han Chinese, but the countries have developed very different political cultures, and the difference seems to be growing. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 7, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Flemming Rose Source Type: blogs
Coronavirus FAQ
What is a coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause diseases in mammals, including humans, and birds.
Why are they called coronaviruses?
The name derives from the fact that the viral capsule has a “halo” or “crown” surrounding it.
What do coronaviruses do?
In humans, the virus infects the airways giving rise to flu-like symptoms, a runny nose, cough, sore throat and fever, these are usually mild, but in rare cases can be lethal.
Is there a vaccine against coronaviruses?
No.
Are there any drugs to block or treat infection?
No.
When were coronaviruses first discovered?
In the 1960s
...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - January 24, 2020 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
It can be done
Dylan Scott tells the tale of Taiwan ' s successful implementation of single payer national health care. If you read the whole article you ' ll find a strange ambivalence. He seems to feel compelled to practice both-sideism and find a downside, but he fails to put it in context.The purported downside is that health care costs keep rising so they have to choose between raising more revenues and restricting services. But that has nothing to do with the single payer system. That ' s true everywhere, no matter what kind of payment system, including in the U.S. In the UK, the Conservative governments have failed to provide enou...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 14, 2020 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Human Freedom Waning in Many Countries
This article originally appeared on theFraser Forum on January 2, 2020. (Source: Cato-at-liberty)
Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 10, 2020 Category: American Health Authors: Tanja Por čnik Source Type: blogs
What Taiwan and Vietnam Could Tell Us in 2020
While many issues warrant attention in 2020, two that should be near the top of Asia-watchers ' lists are Taiwan and Vietnam. Both are on the front lines of Chinese coercion, and their ability to respond, either with or without American support, will set the tone in the Indo-Pacific well beyond 2020. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - December 29, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Derek Grossman Source Type: blogs
New Human Freedom Index: U.S. Is 15, New Zealand and Switzerland Freest
Ian V ásquezThe United States ranks 15 in theHuman Freedom Index 2019 released today by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Germany. The five freest jurisdictions are New Zealand, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia.The annual Index uses 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedom in 162 countries for 2017, the most recent year for which sufficient, globally comparable data are available. The report finds that global freedom has declined slightly since 2008, with more countries (79) seeing a fall in their lev...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 18, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ian V ásquez Source Type: blogs
How the United States Could Lose a Great-Power War
The U.S. armed forces are now preparing for an age of great-power competition and rightly so. The 2018 National Defense Strategy shows the Defense Department is focused on the threats posed by Russia and especially China to U.S. interests, allies, and established partners such as Taiwan. For now, U.S. forces appear poorly postured to meet these challenges. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - October 29, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Elbridge A. Colby; David Ochmanek Source Type: blogs
Box-tree Moth, Cydalima perspectalis
The Box-tree Moth, Cydalima perspectalis, is an Asian species of moth (usually seen in (Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, the Russian Far East, and India), that is gradually spreading, presumably with the advent of box hedges on new housing estates, across the South East of England.
Box-tree Moth, Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859), to actinic light Jul 2019, VC29
It would’ve arrived as eggs/larvae on imported box (Buxus), first recorded here in 2007. Its larvae can destroy a box hedge. Another reason to go native when it comes to planting…probably too late for native box now though. I saw my first one in the trap...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - October 13, 2019 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Sciencebase Source Type: blogs
China Will Struggle to Shut Taiwan Out of the Pacific
With the decisions of the Solomon Islands and Kiribati to recognize Beijing over Taipei, the list of Taiwan ' s official diplomatic partners has decreased to 15. But China is likely to have a difficult time eliminating Taiwan ' s presence diplomatically in the Pacific. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - October 2, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Derek Grossman Source Type: blogs
Today ’s Hyper-Partisanship Would Have Torpedoed Nixon’s China Initiative
Ted Galen CarpenterMy new article in the September-October issue of theAmerican Conservative ponders whether President Richard Nixon could have pursued his diplomatic initiative to normalize relations with the People ’s Republic of China (PRC) if today’s extreme partisanship in foreign policy had existed then. The shrill partisan criticism directed against President Trump’s attempt to establish a less confrontational relationship with North Korea suggests that that the answer is “no.”Nixon ’s 1972 trip to China marked the abandonment of the U.S. campaign to isolate and demonize the PRC.His conciliatory effort d...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 16, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
A Tale of Two Cities China Ignores at its Peril
Beijing may believe that, eventually, Taiwanese politics will turn in its favor. But it should consider experiences from the other two territories currently living under the formula — Hong Kong and Macau — to better understand why “ one country, two systems ” will never work in Taiwan, regardless of politics. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - September 11, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Derek Grossman Source Type: blogs
The Trump Administration Misses the Point Again about Burden-Sharing
President Trump and his advisers are beating the drums again about the need for greater burden-sharing by U.S. allies. In early August, Trump demanded that South Koreans pay “substantially more” than the current $990 million a year for defraying the costs of U.S. troops defending their country from North Korea. Just days later, Richard Grenell, the U.S. Ambassador to Germanyblasted that country ’s reluctance to spend more on defense and its continued reliance on U.S. troops for protection. “It is offensive to assume that the U.S. taxpayers continue to pay for more than 50,000 Americans in Germany but the Germans ge...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 3, 2019 Category: American Health Authors: Ted Galen Carpenter Source Type: blogs
Making Sense of U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan
Why does the U.S. sell arms to Taiwan? And what is the impact on the cross-Strait military balance? Taiwan ' s arms purchase reflects a continuing concern over Beijing ' s military intentions; a balancing of operational and political considerations; a commitment by the United States to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself; and an American refusal to “ stand down ” in the face of China ' s aggressive behavior and coercion of Indo-Pacific democracies. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - August 8, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Scott W. Harold Source Type: blogs
One Country, Two Systems, Lots of Problems
The enormous protests in Hong Kong since spring have led to fresh fears about the viability of China ' s “ one country, two systems ” policy. It ' s an idea that Macau and Hong Kong officially subscribe to and Taiwan fiercely resists — but one increasingly questioned from all sides. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - June 20, 2019 Category: Health Management Authors: Derek Grossman Source Type: blogs
