1)
One of the top stories from this past week involved the emergency landing of two US F-18 fighter jets in Taiwan. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which is the de facto US embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, has denied that the landing carries any political message.
The two fighter jets made an emergency landing at a Taiwanese air force base on Wednesday due to a mechanical problem with one of the planes. US maintenance personnel arrived in Taiwan late Thursday and completed repair work on Friday morning. The two fighters then left for their base in Okinawa after the repairs were completed.
The landing of the F-18s was a rarity because the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and its military aircraft do not use air bases in Taiwan. Some people speculated that the US was sending a political message to Taiwan and China, while others say that it was just a sign of further improvement in Taiwan-US relations. The AIT denied the rumors, saying that the incident was simply involving a mechanical glitch.
2)
Also this past week, Premier Mao Chi-kuo said Taiwan will seek to take part with dignity in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and will not accept any degrading treatment.
The AIIB is a Chinese-proposed multilateral fund with about US$100 billion in capital. So far over 40 countries have signed up to become founding members, including France, Germany, the UK, and Italy.
Taiwan made an application on Tuesday, but there was concern that China would deny Taiwan equal status in the organization. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory even though the two sides have been ruled separately for more than 60 years. Beijing opposes Taiwan’s participation in international organizations under designations that give Taiwan sovereign nation status.
On Tuesday the premier said that without dignified treatment and equal rights, Taiwan would rather not participate in the AIIB.
3)
And finally, this past week, Taiwan's Kavalan Distillery has won the "Tasting Panel Magazine Distillery of the Year" award at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
The competition on Wednesday awarded the distillery four Double Golds and two Silvers for its single malt whisky submissions.
This year's competition drew a record of close to 1,600 entries in 90 different classifications, from 41 US states and 66 countries.