Taiwan's First English-Language Video Streaming Service Goes Live

Taiwan+, Taiwan’s first English-language international streaming platform, has been launched.

What Happened: The service, also known as Taiwan Plus, went live during an Aug. 30 ceremony at the National Taiwan Museum in Taipei. According to the press statement announcing the service, Taiwan+ is staffed with “media professionals from the U.S., the U.K, Canada, France, and Australia, as well as local industry professionals, who work collaboratively to deliver the latest news about Taiwan, international affairs, and covers a wide range of topics.”

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen sent a video message to the service’s inaugural ceremony stating that “Taiwan+ is an exciting new initiative to tell Taiwan’s story. Generations of Taiwanese fought to transform this country into a vibrant democracy that protects freedom of speech and expression.”

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Why It Matters: Taiwan+ was commissioned by the country’s Ministry of Culture to the Central News Agency and is available through the TaiwanPlus.com website, the service's app and on Facebook FB, Twitter TWTR, Instagram and YouTube.

On its website, the service defines itself as “an independent media organization funded by the people of Taiwan,” noting its debut comes “at a time when Taiwan’s international presence is being suppressed, and many voices in the region are being silenced.”

China’s efforts to isolate Taiwan were on display in the inaugural ceremony when one of the guests on the stage was Jasmine E. Huggins, the ambassador from St. Christopher and Nevis, the tiny Caribbean country which is among the 15 nations that still have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Vatican City is the only European country that has an embassy in Taipei instead of Beijing. Taiwan’s other diplomatic relations are with small and mostly poor countries in the developing world that depend on Taiwan for economic assistance.

Photo: The Aug. 30 ceremony in Taipei announcing the launch of Taiwan+.