REASONABLE ACTION? Johnny Chiang said residents must decide whether it is fair for political forces to compel them to judge the city government before its term is up

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 06, 2020
By: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Wang Jung-hsiang and
       Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Groups advocating the recall of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) last night made a final push with a rally, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) released a video appeal to voters’ softer side.

The Central Election Commission in April verified public endorsement for a recall petition to remove the KMT mayor from office. The recall vote is to be held today.

Civic groups initiated the recall petition in June last year, after Han announced a presidential bid less than six months into his mayoral term.

The groups yesterday started with a procession through Kaohsiung, gathering at Yuandi Temple in Zuoying District (左營) before setting out toward Nanzih District (楠梓), with supporters lining the streets to greet them.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 04 June, 2020
By: Paula Chao

[What drives us to the streets?][/caption]

On the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident, with protests raging around the world against racism and authoritarianism, we pause to take a close look at why we protest. We listen to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, and find out what psychologists say propels us to hit the streets. 
[SOURCE]

 

The country, which has confirmed just 443 cases of COVID-19, is set to ease social distancing seating restrictions in public places.

The Guardian
Date: June 05, 2020
By: Nick Aspinwall

Taiwan has contained the coronavirus within its borders, confirming just 443 total cases since COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, was first discovered last December. Taiwan is now set to ease social distancing restrictions, while ramping up its efforts to provide assistance to countries around the world.

On June 7, restrictions will be lifted limiting the number of people allowed at public gatherings, including cultural and leisure events, while social distancing seating arrangements on trains, cinemas, concert halls, and baseball stadiums will also be removed.

Attendees and travelers will still be asked to wear masks, although they will be allowed to eat food in most instances.

Plastic table dividers at restaurants will also no longer be required if there is enough space between tables, although this provision has, in practice, been followed haphazardly.

Taiwan this week also allowed masks to be purchased on the open market. The sale of masks had been rationed since January, when the government tasked military to produce surgical masks.
[FULL  STORY]

Largest Chinese ship escorted to Kaohsiung

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/04
By Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese Coast Guard on Wednesday (June 3) intercepted a flotilla of illegal Chinese sand dredgers, including a 7,539-ton vessel larger than any of the Taiwanese ships.

Illegal fishing and sand dredging by ships from China has been a recurring problem leading to confrontation in the Taiwan Strait.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/04/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Thousands of people attended a vigil in Taipei Thursday to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in China, demanding the Chinese government redress the wrongs of the incident.

The vigil, which expressed support for democracy in Hong Kong and China, was held at Freedom Square in front of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Participants lit candles or used a candle app on their phones, at 8 p.m. and observed 64 seconds of silence for the victims of the crackdown.

That was followed by speeches from participants and singing in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.    [FULL  STORY]

‘HISTORICAL TRUTHS’: Figures from across the political spectrum touted Taiwan’s democratic values and urged China to face the ‘ghost of its past’ — Tiananmen Square

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 05, 2020
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

Local officials and public figures across party lines yesterday commemorated the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre while highlighting democratic values and the importance of learning from history.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) posted on Facebook a photograph of a calendar page for June 4, saying that every year, one day in China is “forgotten.”

“While Taiwan had similar issues, we rediscovered these forgotten days, because we no longer need to keep historical truths hidden, allowing us more time to ponder the future,” Tsai wrote in Chinese.

She expressed her hope for no part of the world to have certain days removed from memory and said: “A free Taiwan supports the freedom of Hong Kong.”

Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) expressed regret for all those who were killed in Beijing on June 4, 1989, as well as for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

“We must cherish our democracy and also concern ourselves with those who do not yet enjoy democracy,” You told reporters.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 03 June, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The Mainland Affairs Council is calling on China to respond to Chinese people's demands for freedom and democracy and come to terms with the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Taiwan’s top China policymaking body is calling on Beijing to respond to the Chinese people’s demands for freedom and democracy. The call comes as the world prepares to mark the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident on Thursday.

The Mainland Affairs Council says that China’s refusal to tell the truth about the incident, or come to terms with it, is regrettable. The council says China’s government should institute political reforms, reexamine the Tiananmen Square massacre, and apologize for it.

The council criticized the long-standing lack of freedom and human rights in China under one-party Communist rule.    [FULL  STORY]

Global Taiwan Institute
Date: June 3, 2020
By: Michael Mazza

“If Hong Kong falls, or if the Chinese government imposes the national security legislation on

Hong Kong, we don’t know what is going to happen next. It might be Taiwan.” Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), conveyed those worries during a Fox News interview last week. Although Beijing appears unlikely to take precipitous action against Taiwan at present, there is reason for concern given China’s ongoing domestic difficulties and its taste for external assertiveness. What can be done? Mike Gallagher, a congressman from Wisconsin, has one idea:

Now is the time for a declaratory statement of policy committing the United States to the defense of Taiwan. While this approach is not without risk, as we have learned painfully from decades of failed policy toward the [Chinese Communist Party], the greatest risk of all comes from complacency.

Gallagher is right. The ambiguity in Washington’s approach to the defense of Taiwan—will it or won’t it come to Taiwan’s aid in a time of need?—is no longer conducive to the stability of the Taiwan Strait. There should be little doubt in Xi Jinping’s (習近平) mind that the United States would seek to intervene decisively in the event he opted to use force.    [FULL  STORY]

.Judges take pity on man who ran failing cleaning company in Taoyuan and hand down reduced sentence

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/03
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man running a cleaning business in Taoyuan, Taiwan, is to receive a reduced prison sentence of three years and six months for a gas station robbery, after judges learned he committed the crime to pay his employees.

The man, surnamed Lee (李), offered professional cleaning services to restaurants in Taoyuan. His employees had not been paid for several months as the company had practically gone bankrupt due to poor management, local media reported on Wednesday (June 3). The report didn't state the size of his company.

Unable to get funding to sustain operations and pay his employees, Lee resorted to robbing a gas station in Taoyuan. Using a fruit knife, he threatened a gas station worker before taking off on a scooter with NT$25,000 (US$835) in cash.

No one was injured in the incident.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 6/03/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Five research facilities and biotechnology companies in Taiwan are currently developing vaccines for the COVID-19 coronavirus, most of which are expected to enter clinical trials by the end of this year, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

In addition to the government-run National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and Academia Sinica, three biotech companies are developing the vaccines, said NHRI President Liang Kung-yee (梁賡義), who is also a CECC member.

The NHRI could begin human trials in autumn at the earliest, looking into four categories of vaccines through the use of peptides, DNA engineering, recombinant viruses and antigen-based subunit vaccines, he said.

Academia Sinica is also improving a nanotechnology-based vaccine it has developed, Liang went on, adding that the three companies, which are running subunit vaccines, could begin clinical trials by the end of 2020.    [FULL  STORY]