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The 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2022 secured Xi Jinping’s third term as General Secretary and secured a team of supporters amid socioeconomic woes and increasingly hostile global circumstances. While leadership matters in all political systems, it matters much more in totalitarian and authoritarian ones. Political leaders in democracies are constrained by electoral cycles, term limits, and approval ratings, but the leaders of the PRC’s single-party system that emphasizes discipline, hierarchy, and democratic centralism operate relatively unchecked by bureaucracy, opposition forces, or public opinion. Its leaders possess the ultimate decision-making authority in national security and strategic policies (Zhao, 2022, p. 5).

The consolidation of Xi’s power has far-reaching implications for China’s foreign policy. As a feared, sycophantically revered, and ruthless emperor confident in his country’s military power and economic clout, Xi feels equipped to accomplish his mission of making China great again. He has also inherited a pervasive insecurity of pushback from Western powers that threatens his authoritarian rule. He has therefore upheld the security of the regime beyond Deng Xiaoping and his decades of prioritizing growth. Proactively stifling any opposition to his rule and cracking down on any hint of a “color revolution” at home in connection with foreign forces, Xi has strengthened the military and reorganized the economy in preparation for a possible showdown with the United States. He has required Chinese diplomats to act as “wolf warriors” in diplomatic battles and fight criticisms of the regime even at the cost of escalating international tensions. While his team of supporters has maximized his power to implement his policies, this has also prevented his colleagues from counseling against any mistakes they may anticipate or discover. Intentionally or not, he has minimized opportunities to correct his mistakes and increased the stakes and the risks they present, raising the potential for his country to become embroiled in a foreign adventure of no return.

Scholars have argued that “divided nations” (i.e., countries that have split into separate political entities) have distinct characteristics in the international system, and this model has been applied to China-Taiwan relations. Yet, despite ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and historical ties, the current state of cross-Strait relations does not resemble classic cases of the “divided nation” model such as East and West Germany, North and South Vietnam, or North and South Korea, not least because power asymmetry is a major feature of the relationship. China’s largely one-sided demands for “reunification” with Taiwan share more similarities with Germany’s approach to Austria in the 1930s. Both are cases of an aggressor state seeking to annex the territory of a smaller, sovereign neighbor based on a revanchist ideology that stems from perceived notions of “national humiliation” by outside powers and ethno-nationalist ideas of a shared blood community. Germany’s annexation of Austria in 1938 was the result of overwhelming German military power and political decision-making in the dictatorship of the Third Reich rather than ethnic, cultural, or historical ties. Germany’s invasion and occupation of Austria and the transformations of German and Austrian national identity after 1945 show that the “divided nation” model is contingent on historical and ideological subjectivities and not objective, scholarly analysis. Scholars of cross-Strait relations should approach the subject without reference to this model and instead focus on the political struggle between Chinese authoritarianism and Taiwanese democracy on the question of Taiwanese sovereignty in addition to Taiwan’s pivotal role in the great power conflict between the United States and China.

This paper examines the associations between timing, events, and nationalist sentiments among the mainland Chinese Weibo users toward Taiwan following the visit of Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the US House of Representatives on August 2, 2022. Utilizing a dataset of 4,353 Weibo comments and employing a combination of regression and interview analysis, our study has revealed several key findings: (1) Nationalist sentiments have diminished over time, and this can be attributed to an increasing immunity to Taiwan-related topics among netizens, habitual mood control, and the processing of new information. (2) Military action against Taiwanese separatists has the potential to intensify nationalist sentiments among the Chinese public, possibly due to its perceived efficacy in countering threats to the country’s sovereignty. (3) Military action’s positive association with nationalism tends to be amplified if this person is a male user. (4) Nationalist sentiments in response to political actions are more likely to diminish over time. (5) Nationalist sentiments in response to military actions tend to rise more slowly or diminish more quickly among those in the China’s Southeast (i.e., the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang). (6) The events after PLA’s military drills around Taiwan have a tendency to dampen nationalism whether people’s expectations for government action are fulfilled or not. This research supports the theories of inoculation, telic hedonism, and information utility in explaining the diminishing of nationalist sentiments among different groups. Furthermore, it validates and extends the EPPM in assessing how events interact with gender and regional factors to incite nationalist sentiments. Finally, this study highlights the potential for integrating reversal theory with Maslow’s theory of need to better understand reversals in nationalist sentiments.

This speech forecasts continued US government resolve to counter multifaceted and often very serious challenges posed by the behavior of the government of the People’s Republic of China, and accompanying greater American support for Taiwan. It explains the reasons for US resolve developed over the past six years, highlighting the role of bi-partisan majorities in Congress. It anticipates smooth continuity in the US government resolve if President Biden is reelected and some serious complications if the former President Trump is reelected, though the hardening of US policy against China will endure.

The purpose of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to systematically, objectively, scientificly and comprehensively collect data, analyze infromation, predict and assess the potential environmental effects of a development proposed by a private organization or a planning strategy developed by government, to make environmental management decisions. EIA process should be transparent, reasonable and allow relevant organizations, groups, local residents and other stakeholder to participate and to make comments. The developer and competent authority should ensure that the suggestions, comments, conclusions and consensus in the EIA process be implemented in the actual construction/application stage. The Environmental Impact Assessment Act for Taiwan Region was formulated and came into force in 1994. The scope of this study is to introduce the background of formation of EIA system in Taiwan Region and the concepts and features of the EIA regulations and legislations. The problems encontered in the implementation are discussed and measures to improve EIA procedures and targets and strategies of EIA applications are suggested. The experiences and suggestions may beneficial to those developing countries in developing their own EIA system.

There are many factors affecting the performance of public projects which are reviewed by the responsible entities (Government engineering agency) and controlled by the contractors. However, responsible entities and contractors have different viewpoints to identify the primary influential factors of a project because of differences in their roles and responsibility. Sometimes these differences cause a prime source for a project's defect, schedule delay, and even lawsuit. In order to perform a project successfully, the differences in the viewpoint of these two entities must first be understood clearly. To this end, this study synthesizes possible 91 influential factors of transportation projects from Taiwan official reports. Followed by the multi-criteria evaluation procedure and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, the primary influential factors are screened out and ranked with the priority orders. Surprisingly, there are forty co-primary factors selected by both the responsible entities and the contractors. However, it is found that the priority orders for the factors ranked by the responsible entities are somewhat different from those ranked by the contractors. The reasons why the rank orders are different between responsible entities and contractors are discussed. This is a comprehensively done research project and will be very useful for the personnel involved in oversea construction projects.

This is a retrospective study of data analyses from 201 cases with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) referred to the National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital, Taiwan. There were 23 breeds in the study, with three most affected breeds, namely Shih-Tzu, Maltese and American cocker spaniel, making up 59.2% of the cases. Among all cases, the mean age at onset of clinical signs was eight years and one month, with no statistical difference between females and males. Clinical signs consisted mainly of corneal pigmentation, mucopurulent discharge and corneal ulceration. In contrast, Shih-Tzu and Malteses showed higher incidence of corneal ulceration. Severe corneal pigmentation occurred in Shih-Tzu. There was no significant difference in mucopurulent discharge in all breeds. The results of this study revealed interbreed differences with respect to sex, age and risks of corneal pigmentation, and corneal ulceration that have not been detailed previously in a referral population in Taiwan.

Between January 20 and April 30 of 2014, a total of 103 diarrhea cases from 47 herds in 13 counties were submitted to the Animal Health Research Institute. In 20 of the 25 herds with detail history, severe diarrhea and vomiting occurred in pigs of all ages, with mortality approaching 100% in suckling pigs. The differential etiologies, including transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and porcine group A rotavirus (GARV), were tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The RT-PCR of PEDV was positive in 79 cases of 34 herds. Attempts to isolate PEDV in Vero cells revealed that only 7 specimens from 7 herds showed the cytopathic effects (CPEs) of fusion and syncytia. These CPEs were indeed caused by PEDV, as confirmed by RT-PCR, sequencing, and electron microscopy. Sequence comparisons of diarrhea samples and isolated PEDV were assayed by MEGA 5.2 software. The newly isolated PEDV/Taiwan/2014 strains were clustered in group 2 as novel PEDV, together with strains PEDV/USA/2013, PEDV/China/2011–2013, PEDV/Thailand/2007–2008, and PEDV/Korea/2008–2009, whereas the classical CV777 strain was placed in a separate group 1. These results indicated that a novel PEDV was the cause of the recent new outbreak of diarrhea in Taiwan.

Bats can serve as natural reservoirs for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Investigating the prevalence of bat CoV is critical for assessing the risks of the outbreaks of emerging CoV. Chestnut bats (Scotophilus kuhlii) were captured in this study for detecting the partial RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene in their feces through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antibodies to the nucleocapsid (N) protein of bat CoV through western blotting (WB) analysis. Three recombinant N protein fragments (N1, N2, N3) of the isolated Scotophilus bat CoV/CYCU-S1/TW/2013 were expressed by Escherichia coli. WB analyses were performed with bat serum samples and the sera of a patient who recovered from a SARS-CoV infection. Fragment N2 contained a highly conserved motif among CoVs whereas N1 and N3 protein fragments were specific to the S. kuhlii bat CoV. A total of 32 fecal and 19 serum samples were collected in Changhua County and Yunlin County during 2013 and 2014. About 17 fecal samples tested positive for the RdRp gene with an overall prevalence of 53%. Sequences comparison showed that the Scotophilus bat CoV isolates in Taiwan belonged to the genus Alphacoronavirus and were closest to Scotophilus bat CoV/Hainan/China/2005 and Diliman1552G1/Philippines/2008, followed by porcine epidemic diarrhea coronavirus. Only one bat serum sample reacted positively to all 3N protein fragments. Cross-reactivity was observed between N2 protein fragment and the sera of a patient recovered from a SARS-CoV infection. The results indicated that Scotophilus bat CoV was circulating endemically in chestnut bat population in Taiwan.

Bats are the natural reservoirs of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Six Alphacoronavirus and five Betacoronavirus have been detected in many bat species, including SARS-related CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-related CoV. In Taiwan, SARS-related CoV, belonging to Betacoronavirus, has been detected in Rhinolophus monoceros. Scotophilus bat CoV-512, belonging to Alphacoronavirus, has been detected in Scotophilus kuhlii, Miniopterus fuliginosus, and Rhinolophus monoceros by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To understand the infection history of CoV in these three insectivorous bat populations, CoV-specific antibodies were surveyed by using western blot (WB) analysis and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The carboxyl terminal fragment of nucleocapsid protein (N3) of SARS-CoV and Scotophilus bat CoV-512 were used as the antigen in the assays. Of the 52 serum samples obtained from Scotophilus kuhlii, 29 samples (56%) were tested positive for Scotophilus bat CoV-512-specific antibodies through ELISA. Of the 63 serum samples obtained from Rhinolophus monoceros, 9 samples were tested positive for only SARS-CoV-specific antibodies, 7 samples were tested positive for only Scotophilus bat CoV-512-specific antibodies, and 16 samples (25.4%) were tested positive for both antibodies through WB analysis. Only 1 of 18 Miniopterus bat serum samples tested positive for Scotophilus bat CoV-512-specific antibodies through ELISA. Lactating female bats had higher positive rates of CoV-specific antibodies than non-lactating female and male bats did. Our findings were crucial for understanding CoV infection history in three insectivorous bat species and important for the control of bat-borne zoonosis diseases.

We measure the amenity values of climate and air quality in Taiwan using the two-step hedonic price method (HPM). Separate hedonic housing price equations, one for each of three metropolitan areas that represent respective housing markets in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan, are estimated. We find evidence of a significant impact of climate and air quality on housing prices. As expected, residents in Taiwan prefer a warmer winter, cooler summer, lower humidity, and better air quality. Based on the results of the housing price regression, we compute implicit prices for environmental amenities, and then pool observations from all three metropolitan areas to estimate the demand for environmental amenities. The estimated demand functions for environmental amenities are used to evaluate the benefits and losses from changes in climate and air quality in Taiwan. Our results show that, compared to the benefits of a higher temperature in January, the losses from the rise in temperature in July are much higher in such a way that global warming is resulting in significant net losses in Taiwan. The area-specific welfare analysis in this study will help in informing climate change policy formulation and decision-making in Taiwan.

Conflicts among nation states have led to violence, bloodshed and war. Although the conflicts can be explained by national, racial and cultural reasons, we argue that conflicts arising from sovereignty and territorial disputes are socially constructed. People take whatever they have been taught or brought up as right. If people do not give in to something they have taken for granted, then conflicts arise. This paper explains conflicts among nations and suggests a solution from human agency theory. More specifically, it formulates a theory of one-globe reality from Weber–Thomas–Berger's social construction perspective to resolve the Taiwan Strait conflict. The theory calls for both mainland China and Taiwan to learn global oneness and unlearn narrowly scoped concepts of nationalism and patriotism to achieve peace in the region.

Taiwan is a major hub of the global supply chains and one of the leading investors not only in China but also in other Southeast Asian markets. Although high trade complementary, bilateral trade between South Asia and Taiwan is only about US$ 9 billion, investment has only picked up recently. The computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis indicates a substantial economic benefit of bilateral tariffs elimination between Taiwan and its South Asian partners. Taiwan has a substantial comparative advantage in producing high tech manufacturing goods while in South Asian’s main strength is in the resource-based agricultural and light manufacturing sector. Taiwan has been maintained a liberalized trade regime with minimal import tariffs and non-tariff measures (NTM) over the decades. As South Asia is booming, and Taiwan is seeking alternative markets and investments opportunities, it is time to deepen a bilateral economic relationship. South Asia is a market of 1.5 billion people with an emerging middle class along with substantial cheaper labor forces, made an ideal place for investment. A comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) with a preferential trade and investment agreement would be useful to attract Taiwanese multinationals and seamless trade between South Asia and Taiwan.

Globalization has led to intense demand for diverse, multi-talent, and creative workforce to sustain market competitiveness, innovation, and corporate performance, while simultaneously intensifying challenges for higher education to transform. In Taiwan, universities have responded by formalizing and continuously restructuring their overall systems to cultivate creative talents for sustainable growth. The study has examined the practices that enable creative education at the National Chengchi University (NCCU) using data from different sources, i.e., semi-structured interviews, content analysis, and personal observations. Current findings suggest that creative education at NCCU is characterized by supporting environment and resources; interdisciplinary faculty teams; innovative HR practices for student recruitment; rich course content focused on students’ holistic development; teaching methods based on students’ experience, interaction, and teamwork; and conducive environment for creative learning.

Many homeless do not use the services provided by the government. This article discusses the reasons for this phenomenon based on a survey conducted in 2016. After receiving training, students interviewed 150 homeless in Taichung City with a structured questionnaire. The questions asked the homeless if they had used 14 different services provided by the local government. Many homeless expressed their desire for other services that were not provided by the government. Together with the reasons for not using the services, we suggest a better design of the government services for the Taiwanese homeless, such as improved accessibility, awareness of services, and housing which have been implemented in many countries since the 1990s.

This paper reviews the flexible notion of Chinese citizenship and compares the teaching and learning of citizenship in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in recent decades. Collectively called the “three Chinas,” each of the societies has its own political history and ruling ideology, even if they all are identified as Confucius-heritage societies. Each society, however, has also endured significant social, economic, and/or political changes in the past three decades or so and they currently represent three distinct stages of democratization and corresponding phases of educational reforms. In what ways does the present-day citizenship education in each of the societies reflect her political history and identity and differ from each other in curriculum priorities and pedagogical practices? In what sense is there commonness in the conceptualization and teaching of citizenship across these Chinese societies? After a review of literature, we present preliminary findings of a primary survey conducted in December 2013 of secondary school teachers who teach the subject of political and citizenship education, as well as college students in-training to teach the subject. In the analysis, we also compare current findings to similar empirical research done in the recent past, both in China as well as in Hong Kong and Taiwan, to gauge the degree of continuity and change in the meanings of “good” citizenship, and practice of citizenship education in each society as viewed by subject teachers.