Impressive what people can get used to.
Now, this cold front surge otoh...this is a bit more irritating.
It's not expected to end until friggin' Thursday. After living in Taiwan for over a decade, I am not used to temperatures of 12 degrees Celsius and lower anymore.
And it's certainly not going to help with the current flu, cold, and coronavirus season.
Edited by M84 on Feb 17th 2020 at 3:53:34 AM
Disgusted, but not surprisedSome unexpectedly great news to come out of the virus crisis.
Apple moving production from China to Taiwan due to Wuhan coronavirus
Apple has begun to move the production of a number of its top gadgets set to launch in the first half of 2020, according to a report by am730, which cited Digi Times. The products listed in the report to be shifted to Taiwan include Air Pods Pro Lite, iPads, and Apple Watches.
Apple is trying to diversify its supply chain geographically due to the spread of the virus, which has seriously affected the production of Apple products in the communist country. Apple intends to gradually increase the proportion of production in Taiwan while still trying to maintain its cooperation with suppliers on the other side of the strait.
It is estimated that at least one-third of China's production lines will lay idle in the first quarter of this year, and it would be almost impossible to return to the normal level of production before the end of February. It is also doubtful whether normal production could be resumed within the first ten days of March.
However, the report did not mention additional details about Airpods Pro Lite. Apple launched the Airpods Pro, which have an active noise cancelation function, in October last year.
In March of 2019, Apple introduced a slightly improved second generation of Air Pods. It is speculated that Apple will be releasing its third-generation Air Pods early this year.
So can we mark this as an unintended positive side-effect of the COVID-19?
Edited by HailMuffins on Feb 18th 2020 at 5:52:06 PM
Yeah, unintended/unexpected consequences aren't always bad.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanTaiwan could certainly use the business.
Disgusted, but not surprisedRelated to Ghosn, French prosecutors are double checking on him.
NHK reported this:
The prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Wednesday announced the inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of corporate funds, breach of trust, money laundering, and other financial irregularities at Renault.
Renault filed a report with the prosecutors last year concerning its in-house investigation into financial allegations involving Ghosn.
The automaker says its investigation found suspicious payments to a dealership in Oman under Ghosn's watch.
The company says Ghosn is also suspected of misusing its funds for his own wedding reception, held at the Palace of Versailles, and using a corporate jet for his personal purposes.
A judicial inquiry is a legal investigation into a case of serious concern that is done by a preliminary judge at the request of prosecutors. The judge questions parties concerned and examine whether a case in question should be brought to trial.
The prosecutors say they will be able to seek cooperation from other countries concerned and obtain evidence from them if necessary.
North Korea executed an official returning from China for breaking quarantine rules by going to a public bath. It is unknown whether or not he had the coronavirus, but they probably wanted to make sure. Without asking him first, of course.
Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Feb 19th 2020 at 6:45:03 AM
Global News picked up news that has Trump criticizing Parasite winning in the Oscars.
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"The National Interest hath spoken: the US military in general doesn't think that China is capable of taking Taiwan by force easily.
You have triggered Foreign Policy's trap card!
Taiwan’s Military Is a Hollow Shell
Even as the military refits itself with flashy U.S. arms purchases, such as M1 Abrams tanks and F-16V fighter jets, its front-line units are hollowed out, and the entire reserve system is so dysfunctional that few experts or serving military personnel believe it can make a real military contribution in the event of a war. These problems are well documented but continue to be downplayed, if not outright ignored, by Taiwan’s political leadership—and there is no clear plan to solve the crisis.
This is why I argue that from a realpolitik perspective, the PLA’s plans to invade Taiwan have to be put on hold so long as the coronavirus still ravages the mainland.
You don’t just quarantine entire cities without a mass domestic deployment of your nation’s military, which now has to divert a huge chunk of its funding into addressing the crisis instead of constructing air craft carriers.
The “best” thing we can hope for is for the virus to start ravaging the PLA itself. Starting with the divisions stationed around Wuhan.
They apparently tried to do just that in the early days of the quarantine efforts. The PLA was kind of slow to deploy in earnest even after the CCP officially acknowledged the issue.
It wouldn't surprise me if the PLA already had the infection spread among their ranks. Not that we'd find out about this any time soon.
Edited by M84 on Feb 24th 2020 at 5:25:34 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedIIRC PLA facilities in Wuhan were already on lockdown before the first official statement on the outbreak. The deployment of PLA medics has been pretty limited as well. Looks like they're deliberately holding back to avoid having it spread through the barracks.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)While PLA holds regularly scheduled exercises for eventualities like these, the irregularity probably paralysed the entire system. So it was probably always meant to be security theater of a sort.
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleApparently this has been overwhelmed by the Cuba fiasco.
CBS: Bernie Sanders says he would intervene if China took military action against Taiwan
"That's something, yeah," Sanders said. "I mean I think we have got to make it clear to countries around the world that we will not sit by and allow invasions to take place, absolutely."
Nice gesture Bernie, but I still don't trust you to come to the aid of my forefathers' homeland due to your past record of making isolationist statements, voting against the US intervening on behalf of Kuwait in 1991, and voting AGAINST the sale of missiles and F-16 jets to Taiwan in 2011 and 1997.
Useful for weighing down all the bodies that will end up in the Strait after many will end up swimming in it anyway.
Si Vis Pacem, Para PerkeleDamn.
Getting back to square one 'cause an article I'm proposing to submit related to Japan's national security is a bust after I was told to edit it for a general audience to read. :(
"Exit muna si Polgas. Ang kailangan dito ay si Dobermaxx!"Edited by TheWildWestPyro on Feb 29th 2020 at 10:47:32 AM
Yes, him!
The Diplomat: Would Bernie Sanders Defend Taiwan?
TL:DR, Sanders consistently opposed "hard" support of Taiwan by voting against arms sales, but votes for "soft" support like diplomatic acts while repetitively admiring Taiwan's healthcare and pension systems.
Sanders is, in particular, a fan of Taiwan's single-payer health care system. Not only did he repeatedly use Taiwan as a successful example to justify his Medicare for All platform on social media, he even invited Dr. Ching-chuan Yeh, Taiwan's former minister of health, to a congressional hearing to share Taiwan's experience in implementing its health care system. And seeing the constant Chinese suppression of Taiwan's international space, Sanders has voted four times in support of Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization and the annual World Health Assembly.
Sanders may not be the most outstanding supporter of Taiwan the Democratic Party has ever seen in its presidential primary history. But with his admiration of many of Taiwan's progressive policies, Sanders could begin to show more determination and concrete plans for the defense of Taiwan in his future campaign given the increasing threat of invasion from China
IMO, his refusal to provide Taiwan with military aid blatantly indicates a sense that he doesn't value the ROC's ability to provide for its self-defense. It's also worth mentioning that Biden and Sanders both opposed the 2000 Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, meaning that both of the Democratic frontrunners are members of the "softliner" faction towards China within the Democrats.
By the way, we should really have a Useful Notes on the Mongol Empire, since it was the largest contiguous land empire in history.
And we had another couple of earthquakes, a 5.5 and a 5.1 this time.
Again, kind of meh.
Disgusted, but not surprised