• The Taiwanese pandemic response has been one of the best in the world and the public is giving credit to one man
• Professionals and public praise calm, informative style and occasional displays of humour

South Chins Morning Post
Date:\ 2 May, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

There is a saying which has become popular in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic

: “If you go clockwise, you will win, if you go anticlockwise, you will lose.” It is a wordplay that pays tribute to Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, a man widely regarded as being responsible for the island’s success in containing the disease.

“Shih-chung” is similar to the word for “clock” in Chinese, so the saying means, follow Chen’s instructions and survive, ignore them at your peril. Chen has been leading Taiwan’s response since his appointment to run the Central Epidemic Command Centre in January.

With more than 3 million Covid-19 infections worldwide, Taiwan – which has reported just 429 cases and six deaths since January 21 – is one of the few places in the world to have kept the pandemic at bay. As of Friday, there had been no new cases in Taiwan for six consecutive days and no local transmission for 19 days in a row.

Most Taiwanese credit Chen’s swift response, timely orders and frank communications for sparing them the thousands of deaths they feared they might have suffered because of the island’s position just off the southeast coast of mainland China.    [FULL  STORY]

Put simply, coronavirus may put Taiwan in China’s crosshairs as much as the bubonic plague put England in Scotland’s sights.

The Natiopnal Interest
Date: May 2, 2020
By: Arjun Kapur

When the Black Death ravaged Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, the soldiers of Scotland saw opportunity in crisis. First hitting England in 1348, the plague’s deadly spread across the country spurred the Scots to perceive an ideal moment to conquer their neighbors by staging an invasion of northern England in 1349. Might a power in today’s coronavirus-stricken world take advantage of temporary alterations to the global strategic environment for its geopolitical gain? 

Enter China.

It is a cliché in diplomacy to point out that the word in Mandarin for crisis, wēijī, contains two syllables roughly translating to “danger” and “opportunity.” Whether or not that interpretation is wholly accurate, today’s coronavirus crisis surely presents a potential strategic opportunity for Beijing—one that it may already be seizing.

In the last month alone, China has sunk a Vietnamese fishing vessel in international waters, sent an aircraft carrier-led flotilla past Taiwan’s coasts, flown aircraft near Taiwanese airspace, and continued its efforts to militarize land features in the South China Sea. As U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus declared on April 6, “We call on the PRC to remain focused on supporting international efforts to combat the global pandemic, and to stop exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.”

Chinese militarism this year may be added to the long list of daring coups de main throughout history, as the global disruptions caused by coronavirus might very well feature a repetition of the Scots’ pandemic-inspired aggression nearly seven centuries ago. Trouble could very well lie ahead for Taipei, for there exist at least five rationales for Beijing to antagonize or even invade Taiwan in the coming months.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/02
By:  Central News Agency

Prosecutors filed an appeal Saturday after Chiayi District Court decided for a second time to commute the sentence of a man who fatally stabbed a railway police officer last July, on grounds of diminished responsibility.

In the case in question, a 54-year-old passenger, surnamed Cheng (鄭), was detained on homicide charges after he fatally stabbed 24-year-old railway police officer Lee Cheng-han (李承翰) on a train from Tainan to Taipei on July 3, when he was found to lack a valid ticket.

On Thursday, Chiayi District Court found Cheng innocent of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to his long history of schizophrenia, which was documented by medical records going back to 2010 as well as a psychiatric assessment provided by an expert witness.

Citing Article 19, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, which lists mental illness as possible grounds for commutation, the court ruled that Cheng could be released on NT$500,000 (US$16,819) bail and transferred to a secure facility, where he must undergo mental health treatment for five years.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/02/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) The viral transmission of COVID-19 has been found to be highest within a week of the onset of symptoms, according to a medical study authored by a Taiwanese research team published by the American Medical Association Friday.

The research paper "Contact Tracing Assessment of COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics in Taiwan and Risk at Different Exposure Periods Before and After Symptom Onset" was authored by six medical researchers for the Taiwan COVID-19 Outbreak Investigation Team and published in the monthly peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The paper, which collected data from Jan. 15 to March 18 with a final follow up date on April 2, followed Taiwan's first 100 confirmed patients and 2,761 of their close contacts to determine transmissibility of the coronavirus before and immediately after symptom onset.

The findings indicated that the infection rate was higher among contacts whose exposure to index cases started within five days of symptom onset compared with those who were exposed later.
[FULL  STORY]

TAKE PRECAUTIONS: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said it would be unacceptable if local cases occur because people stop protection measures

Taipei Times
Date: May 03, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported three new imported cases of COVID-19, marking the end of six consecutive days with zero cases confirmed in Taiwan.

The three cases are a woman in her 60s (case No. 430), a woman in her 30s (case No. 431) and a man in his 40s (case No. 432), said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.

Case No. 430 on Feb. 22 traveled solo to Australia and on March 24 continued on to Japan, where she had a recurring fever, coughing and vomiting from April 9, before reporting her symptoms to the airport quarantine center upon arriving in Taiwan on Thursday, he said.

Cases No. 431 and No. 432, a married couple, on Feb. 11 began work in Senegal, experienced virus symptoms including fatigue and coughing on April 26 and 27, and were tested after they still had a cough when returning on Friday, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 01 May, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

In just two weeks, high school entrance exams are set to go ahead across Taiwan as scheduled. But concerns about COVID-19 mean that this year’s exams will be a little different, and schools where the exams will be held are working to make sure they get everything right.

How do you hold an exam during a global pandemic? Very carefully. Taiwan’s high school entrance exam is fast approaching and some schools are holding drills to practice implementing safety measures so that COVID-19 doesn’t interfere.

To start with, students have their temperature taken at the entrance to the exam hall. For the first time, no parents will be allowed to accompany them.

Since this exam is only offered once a year, even students who do have a fever will be allowed to soldier on through. The only requirement is that they take the exam in a separate room reserved for sick students in which desks are spaced far apart.    [FULL  STORY]

PinkNews
Date: May 1, 2020
By: Lily Wakefield 

More than 3,500 same-sex couples have tied the knot in Taiwan since marriage equality was legalised almost a year ago.

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage on May 17, 2019, which also happened to be International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

Legislators voted for a government-backed bill that would define a union between a same-sex couple as a marriage.

Conservative opponents had proposed rival bills that would define the partnerships as “same-sex unions” or “same-sex familial relationships”, but Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party pushed through the law.    [FULL  STORY]

Court sends case back to Chiayi District Court following wave of public indignation

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/01
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Following a wave of public indignation, the High Court in Tainan on Friday (May 1) scrapped the decision to leave the suspect in the killing of a railway police officer free on bail and returned the case to the Chiayi District Court.

Last July, a passenger on a train stabbed the officer, Lee Cheng-han (李承翰), to death amid a dispute over ticketing. The Chiayi court on Thursday (April 30) found the suspect, surnamed Cheng (鄭), not guilty as he had been suffering from schizophrenia. Bail was later set at NT$500,000 (US$16,750), infuriating senior police officers and public opinion even further, CNA reported.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/01/2020
By Wu Hsin-yun and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) Taiwanese labor activists complained on Friday that working people had been left behind by government economic stimulus plans and issued a list of demands for improvements to the country's labor situation.

A coalition of trade unions that had canceled an annual march commemorating International Workers Day in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, made its demands at a smaller-scale press conference that took place on Taipei's Ketagalan Boulevard.

Although Taiwan has so far been spared the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers in affected industries are still facing unpaid furlough, said Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions President Cheng Ya-hui (鄭雅慧).

Labor groups, Cheng continued, "have had to push the government every step of the way" to secure stimulus funding, while the government's industry-by-industry approach has resulted in waste.
[FULL  STORY]

FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN: The AIT wrote it would share posts supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHO body and greater participation on the global stage

Taipei Times
Date: May 02, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday launched a “countdown” series of Facebook posts to promote Taiwan’s bid to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA), which is expected to meet virtually in the middle of this month.

The WHA, the WHO’s decisionmaking body, takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, every year, but Taiwan, which took part in the assembly as an observer from 2009 to 2016, has not been invited since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office.

“The US firmly believes Taiwan has a role to play in global health and should be invited to observe the World Health Assembly later this month,” the AIT wrote on Facebook yesterday. “The inclusion of Taiwan in the #WHA would contribute to the goal of #HealthForAll and help Taiwan share the successful #TaiwanModel of COVID-19 prevention with the world.”

“Each day from now until the #WHA, we will be sharing posts supporting Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and greater participation on the global stage,” it wrote.    [FULL  STORY]