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On July 27, 2017, China’s State Council announced that “ foreign garbage ”, including "plastic waste from living sources, paper, textile waste, and vanadium slag," would be banned from entering the country.  On July 18 Beijing had already notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that by the end of the year it would no longer accept shipments of those types of waste. According to state-run Xinhua News Agency , China began to import solid waste as raw materials in the 1980s to meet its domestic demand for resources. However, some companies allegedly engaged in smuggling foreign garbage into the country for profit, "damaging the environment and public health." The Chinese authorities believe that imported solid waste poses "a serious threat to the environment" and has caused "widespread public concern." By the end of 2019 China will gradually phase out the import of "solid waste for which substitute resources are available in Chin

(photo by Kentaro Iemoto, via Wikimedia Commons) The Civil Aviation Administration of China has sent a letter to United Airlines and American Airlines demanding that they stop referring to Taiwan as a country. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and consistently pressures foreign governments to endorse its claims. According to Foreign Policy , Beijing requested that the two American airlines abide by Chinese "separatism" legislation and remove from their global websites all references to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as independent countries. China allegedly threatened to punish the airlines if they fail to comply with its requests. A spokesperson for the US State Department told Taiwan 's Central News Agency that the American government is opposed to Chinese standards being imposed upon US businesses and consumers, stressing that in the US Chinese websites enjoy full freedom and are not subjected to political interference. Since Chines

Spanish steps, Rome (By 2pi.pl, via Wikimedia Commons) In 2012 I started 'My New Life In Asia' as a personal blog revolving around my every day experiences in Taiwan. During the first two years of this blog's existence, I published hundreds of articles - some personal, others about culture and history - and I found that blogging is a wonderful way of systematizing the process of understanding a foreign country, of sharing thoughts with people from all over the world.  In 2014, however, I gradually lost my commitment to blogging. My father got ill and almost a year later he passed away. Recently, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Worries, anxiety and stress have made made it impossible for me to blog the way I used to.  Between 2012 and early 2014 I was curious and carefree. I loved to read books about Taiwan and East Asia, combine that knowledge with my personal experiences, and then provide on this blog my own perspective and analysis. Since my fat

Before I went to Taiwan I had a lot of expectations regarding customer service there, mainly for two reasons. First of all, I hated customer service in Europe. Having lived in Italy and Germany for several years and having spent time in Greece, the UK and other European countries, I noticed that across the continent a lot of shop assistants are indifferent or rude to customers. Of course, that is based on my experience and on that of my friends, and it refers only to episodes I witnessed or heard about.  Let me tell you just a few examples. Once my internet provider in Germany changed my contract without my consent. When I went to their shop, I was yelled at and threatened with a lawsuit right away. Later I quit that company, but the point is, whether I made a mistake or not (and I think I did not), they should have cleared up the matter in a nice way instead of being so aggressive.  One day I was in my university cafeteria, and I saw a student leave his trey with food on

On September 24 scuffles between anti-Chinese and pro-unification groups erupted on the campus of National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taipei during the Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival. According to The Taipei Times, the festival, co-sponsored by mainland China 's reality TV show Sing! China and the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, is part of the memorandums of understanding on cultural and arts events signed by Taipei and Shanghai. Embed from Getty Images However, the event drew widespread criticism from students and pro-independence groups. On Saturday representatives of the NTU student council criticized the university for renting the school's athletic field for the concert, saying that it prevented students from using the field and that the organizers had damaged facilities. During the concert supporters of Taiwan independence gathered outside the venue, shouting anti-China slogans. The protesters claimed that the concert was part of a &qu

Years ago I wrote a post about the contrast between the clean MRT and dirty restaurants in Taiwan . Yesterday a Taiwanese user posted the following critical comment: Read through your paragraph, so you want to spend a little money but experience the luxury, you are telling the joke.  Actually, if you feel bad toward this kind of experience, you can go back to your own country, right ? No One Force you to come here, buddy~  If you think the restaurants in your country are much cleaner than ours, then.... you don't even have to torture yourself, just go back and do not waste your time to write down these shit.  Last but not the least, come to a new environment, you should learn how to get accustomed to their culture, including learn their language, not just complain all the day.  You can read my short reply to him here .  Now, does the logic of this Taiwanese netizen's comment sound familiar to anyone? Let's compare it with the following sentence: 

In a recent interview Wang Zaixi (王在希), a former vice-chairman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council , said that Beijing might resort to the use of force if "peaceful reunification" between China and Taiwan "takes too long". Wang's statements echo the increasingly assertive stance of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) towards the island since Xi Jinping took office in 2012. In the interview Wang Zaixi stated that although the Taiwan question is a complex issue that must be resolved in the long term, there "must be a sense of urgency towards cross-strait reunification." Wang blamed Taiwan 's democratic process for slowing down the prospect of a peaceful solution of the cross-strait issue, arguing that because of the transfer of power from the pro-unification to the pro-independence coalition the possibility of peaceful unification "is gradually being lost." In 2014 and 2015 the Guomindang, Taiwan's

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog post. I have been quite busy and, as most bloggers know, it is very hard to post regularly over a long period of time. That's probably why many blogs such as mine end up being discontinued. To be honest I have missed blogging, but I just had no time for it, for personal reasons I don't want to discuss here. I have also decided to put more effort into my website china-journal.org, where I write new posts about Chinese culture and history and republish old articles. As I explained earlier, I felt that this personal blog wasn't the right place to write serious articles. The solution was to start another website. This blog is and should be a platform for absolutely personal opinions, experiences, and from time to time also for weird news. When I write this blog, I just want to relax. I want to write short posts, rants, thoughts, episodes, and that's it. Although I left Taiwan a long time ago (and I would like

Ever since Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the island has been confronted with the permanent risk of Communist invasion . In the 1950s the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched two attacks against the last bulwark of Chiang Kai-shek 's regime. The last major crisis in the Taiwan Strait dates back to the mid-1990s, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) conducted missile "tests" dangerously close to Taiwan's shores. This display of military strength was aimed at then-President of Taiwan Lee Teng-hui, who had publicly refuted Beijing's territorial claims on the island. 

Ever since Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the island has been confronted with the permanent risk of Communist invasion . In the 1950s the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched two attacks against the last bulwark of Chiang Kai-shek 's regime. The last major crisis in the Taiwan Strait dates back to the mid-1990s, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) conducted missile "tests" dangerously close to Taiwan's shores. This display of military strength was aimed at then-President of Taiwan Lee Teng-hui, who had publicly refuted Beijing's territorial claims on the island. 

On May 15 Taiwanreporter published a video (see below) showing people demonstrating against Taiwan independence and in favour of "peaceful unification" with Communist China. In Ximending one usually sees scores of supporters of Taiwan independence waving flags and banners, but apparently pro-Communist forces are now trying to counterbalance those demonstrations by staging their own.  The video shows a number of protesters waving flags of the People's Republic of China (PRC). They seem to belong to the so-called Chinese Patriotic Association (中華愛國同心會), a group that supports the incorporation of Taiwan into the PRC according to the "one country, two systems" (一國兩制) framework that Beijing already used for Hong Kong and Macau. This is not the first such demonstration organized by "Chinese patriotic" groups. Taipei 101 used to be one of the patriotic association's favourite spots, before an incident involving peaceful Falun Gong demonstrators led

Sexuality in Taiwan is a controversial topic which highlights the contrast between publicly sanctioned virtue (德道) and actual individual behaviour. As far as women are concerned, Taiwanese society tends to value female characteristics such as faithfulness, filial piety , innocence and submissiveness to men. Many women create a public persona that conforms to such standards, as it is assumed that following the accepted social norms will advance one's prospects of a good marriage and career. However, the reality often contradicts abstract ideals, as the phenomenon of Taiwan 's yuepao shows. Yuepao is a neologism that describes a sexual relationship between two people who typically have met through social media or dating apps (徵友). The term yuepao   (約炮; often also spelled 約砲), is the contraction of the words 約 會 (meeting) and 放鞭 炮 (to set off firecrackers). It can be roughly translated as "sex meeting". 

The World Health Assembly (by Tom Page - licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0) In 2009 Taiwan received a historic invitation to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer. That was the second year of President Ma Ying-jeou 's administration, a time in which relations between Beijing and Taipei were improving on the basis of the " 1992 consensus ", an unofficial agreement between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Guomindang . Since the World Health Organization (WHO) recognises the one-China principle, Taiwan could not participate with its official name "Republic of China". Taiwan was therefore represented with the name " Chinese Taipei " (中華台北).  The Republic of China (ROC) was a founding member of the WHO, but after the United Nations shifted recognition from the ROC to the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Executive Board of the United Nations passed resolution EB49.R37 recommending to the WHA to adopt a sim

(source: Wikipedia ) On March 22 J. Michael Cole published an interesting piece about Taiwan independence vs Republic of China independence . I usually disagree with Cole's opinions, but not this time. Cole is a great investigative journalist and political analyst, however his point of view is often biased and more similar to that of a political activist than to that of a journalist.  In his article about the independence issue Cole explained something that I have been arguing for quite some time. In a nutshell, it is not true that the Guomindang is pro-Beijing (in the sense that it supports unification with the People's Republic of China) while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is in favour of Taiwan's independence. Both the Guomindang and the DPP oppose unification with Communist China. But while for the Guomindang independence means that the Republic of China is an independent sovereign state, the DPP holds that Taiwan is an independent nation. Cole rightly

Despite Beijing's pledge that Hong Kong's system would remain unchanged after 1997 , the institutions of Hong Kong are little by little aligning themselves with the national ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  According to local reports ,  the theatrical troupe  The Nonsensemakers  (糊塗戲班) was invited by  Hong Kong's Leisure and Cultural Services Department  to take part in an event in late March . However, the department asked that the name of the alma mater of one of the troupe's members, National Taipei University of the Arts, had to be changed and the word "National" had to be removed.  In a statement  published on their Facebook page, The Nonsensemakers explained: The Nonsensemakers were invited by the Leisure and Cultural Department to perform the piece " Three Novels: The Third Lie " from 18 to 20 March at the Tsuen Wan Town Hall . Because the Department was the organiser of the event, it was its responsibility to print

Tong Zhenyuan (credit: Wikipedia ) On 18 March Tong Zhenyuan (童振源), professor at National Zhengzhi University , visiting professor at Berkeley University and ex vice committee chairperson of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council , was invited by the Chinese website The Paper  (澎湃新闻网) to answer netizens' questions . However, about one hour after the beginning of the question-and-answer session, the broadcast was interrupted and taken down because Tong had used "sensitive words" which belong to the forbidden vocabulary of the People's Republic of China (PRC).  The Paper has a section called "Ask Questions" ( 問吧 ). Tong Zhenyuan had been invited to answer netizens' questions regarding the future of Cross-Strait relations and the possibility of peaceful reunification . Some netizens asked why young Taiwanese people endorse independence and why Taiwan does not recognise China.   Tong received over 200 questions and replied to 50 of

On March 13 Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou began an official trip to the central American country of Guatemala, one of the few states that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan .  On the website of the Central American Parliament (Parlamento Centroamericano) Ma Ying-jeou is called "President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)". According to Taiwanese reports, other sections of the website called him simply " President of China (Taiwan) ". At a press conference, Ma Ying-jeou clarified which country he represents. "As far as the relations between our two countries are concerned", he said, "China means Republic of China ". Democratic Progressive Party legislator Luo Zhizheng (羅致政) criticised Ma's response, wondering if the Foreign Ministry could accept "Republic of China" as the country's official name. Wang Peiling (王珮玲), spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, reiterated that "Republic of

In Taiwan , nightclubs are traditionally a matter of controversy. In a country where public ethics and reality often clash , the media tend to portray nightclubs as places of perversion and loose morals. Whoever has experienced Taiwan's night scene knows that what goes on in nightclubs can be quite extreme. But while pleasure - and specifically sexual pleasure - as an element of nightclub life cannot be ignored, the way in which one judges the individual freedom to enjoy oneself is entirely subjective.  A new type of nightclub party has recently hit the headlines in Taiwan. According to local reports, Rave Club , a popular nightclub in Taichung City, has announced on its Facebook page that on March 18 it will organise a so-called " Touch Me Party " (摸摸派對). This type of party seems to have originated in South Korea. Although Taiwan's media have noticed this phenomenon only recently, the club has been holding such parties for about a year, as pictures of " To

Beijing-Taipei Express Highway (photo by ASDFGHJ ) Over the past thirty years China has launched a series of ambitious infrastructure projects. After creating the world's largest high-speed railway network (19,000 km, accounting for 60 percent of high-speed trains mileage globally), last year Beijing came up with an overwhelming plan to build an undersea railroad to the United States.  For China , however, infrastructure has not only economic but also political implications. So with the famous Qinghai-Tibet Railway , which, according to the government, is promoting the " integration of Tibet with the interior of China".   The Beijing-Taipei Express Highway , which is currently under construction, will serve a similar purpose: advancing the one-China principle .  The project was announced on January 13, 2005 by the Ministry of Infrastructure of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which pledged to expand the country's highway network so as to