GOOD NEWS: While the crisis is not over yet, the news is worth being happy about, the health minister said, while the CECC reinstated a rule for buying children’s masks

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

For the first time in more than a month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new cases of COVID-19.

The last time no new confirmed cases were announced was on March 9, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at a news briefing in Taipei.

While the pandemic is not over yet, having no new cases is still worth being happy about, said Chen, who heads the center.

As of yesterday, there were 393 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan — 338 imported and 55 local — the center said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 14 April, 2020
By: Paula Chao

The tourism bureau says about 160,000 people in the tourism industry will receive financial aid under an emergency package amid the COVID-19 outbreak. That’s the word from the bureau’s deputy head Chang Shi-chnng  on Tuesday. 

The  package is part of the government’s plan to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on Taiwan’s tourism industry.     [FULL  STORY]

The National Review
Date: April 14, 2020
By: Isaac Schorr

The U.S. should upgrade diplomatic relations with Taiwan as a symbolic rebuke to Xi Jinping.

‘Will the WHO reconsider Taiwan’s membership?” The question — asked by Radio Television Hong Kong’s Yvonne Tong — caused Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a leader in its response to the coronavirus, to put on quite the show. Initially, Aylward feigned as if he had not heard. When Tong offered to repeat her query, Aylward insisted it was “OK” and suggested that they “move on to another one.” For a third time, Tong pressed the issue, only to have Aylward reach forward and hang up on the stunned journalist. In a follow-up call, Tong again raised the topic of Taiwan. Aylward demurred that they had already discussed “China.”

Incidents like this one clarify the corrupting threat that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) represents to international institutions — to say nothing of its threat to the United States and to the broader project of human freedom and flourishing. The PRC’s population of nearly one and half billion people, and the control that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exerts over that population, afford it significant economic leverage that it uses to bully feckless individuals, organizations, and nation-states into ignoring and even defending its atrocious record on human rights and indefensible postures toward Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Even in the U.S. — the PRC’s chief competitor both economically and ideologically — we have borne witness to this frightening power. When Daryl Morey, the general manager of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, tweeted out a message of support for Hong Kong’s protesters last October, the league issued a statement condemning Morey’s tweet as “regrettable” and “offensive.” Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James blathered on about Morey and the public’s need to be better “educated.” Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr chastised Americans for worrying about China while gun violence remained an issue in the U.S.

This inclination of international and American institutions to cower in the face of the PRC’s economic power is unnerving. As it continues to flex its geopolitical muscles, crack down on protesters in Hong Kong, and commit an appalling cultural genocide against the Uyghurs in the province of Xinjiang, the prospect of anyone’s standing up to the PRC seems decreasingly likely, even as the repercussions of acquiescence become increasingly apparent in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, apologists have taken to praising the PRC for its global leadership in combating the coronavirus instead of shining a spotlight on how its deception led to the pandemic’s proliferation.    [FULL  STORY]

Doze Niu found guilty of sexually assaulting female crew member

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/14
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The verdict of famed Taiwanese film director Doze Niu’s (鈕承澤) court case was made public on the morning of Monday (April 13). Niu had been charged by prosecutors with rape and stood accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague.

According to CNA, the Taipei district court found Niu guilty and sentenced him to 4 years prison time on Monday. Niu’s lawyer said that the director will appeal the case.

The film director was accused of assaulting a female crew member two years ago in November, following a meeting at his home. The Taipei Prosecutor ’s Office found Niu’s DNA on the victim’s chest and fresh injuries to her lower body at that time.

Last February, he was indicted for rape. In addition, the prosecutor’s office suggested that he be punished for his failure to take responsibility for his actions.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/14/2020
By: Wang Hsin-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) The New York Times on Tuesday published an advertisement funded by over 26,000 donors in a fundraising campaign with the aim of showing the world that Taiwan can help in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The full-page advertisement, initiated by a Taiwanese Youtuber and an award-winning designer, begins with the question "WHO can help?" followed by the answer: "Taiwan."

The bottom of the ad reads: "In a time of isolation, we choose solidarity. You are not alone. Taiwan is with you."

It also elaborates that Taiwan knows how to fight pandemics due to its experience in the battle against the SARS epidemic of 2003.    [FULL  STORY]

GOOD NEWS: While the crisis is not over yet, the news is worth being happy about, the health minister said, while the CECC reinstated a rule for buying children’s masks

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 15, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

For the first time in more than a month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported no new cases of COVID-19.

The last time no new confirmed cases were announced was on March 9, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said at a news briefing in Taipei.

While the pandemic is not over yet, having no new cases is still worth being happy about, said Chen, who heads the center.As of yesterday, there were 393 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Taiwan — 338 imported and 55 local — the center said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 April, 20208
By: Leslie Liao

New social distancing rules have touched almost every corner of public life in Taiwan… even the country’s beloved night markets.

One of the many joys in Taiwan is strolling through a night market while snacking on your favorite foods. Now the government is putting a halt to this treasured activity, due to concerns about coronavirus. 

Last week, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) told tourist hotspots to limit their capacity. Now, they are requiring face masks at all shopping districts, traditional markets, and night markets. 

CECC Deputy Commander Chen Tsung-yen says the new policy forbids people from eating as they walk through night markets. That’s because it could spread the virus. 

Epoch Times
Date: April 13, 2020

Commentary

The recent violations of Taiwan’s airspace by Chinese fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft is testing the U.S. capability to respond with resources strained by the CCP virus pandemic.

Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported on April 10 that “several” Chinese J-11 jet fighters, H-6 bombers, KJ-500 command and early warning aircraft violated Taiwan’s western airspace in the South China Sea, before turning south to violate the  Philippines and Taiwan airspace over the Bashi Channel.

The integrated air squadron violation follows another provocation that began at 11 a.m. on March 31 when two J-11 jet fighters from China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) crossed the so-called median line of the 110-mile Taiwan Strait.

Such provocations by both nations were common in the 1990s before a tacit agreement was put into place to reduce tensions by keeping their vessels from crossing it. But the ten-minute standoff with Taiwanese F-16 fighters was the first median-line breach in over a decade, according to Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.    [FULL  STORY]

Former US ambassador to UN also warns of China’s growing influence on multilateral organizations

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/137
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for an

investigation into the World Health Organization’s (WHO) handling of Taiwan’s warning of the Wuhan coronavirus’ human-to-human transmission trait in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on April 9.

“They need to be investigated. Why was it when the Taiwanese told the World Health Organization on December 31 that they had evidence that this was human to human transmission…Why does it take a whole month for the world health organization to respond?” Haley said. “You want to know why that is? Because China has kept Taiwan from being a member of the world health organization.”

The former diplomat told Hannity that the U.S. deserved to hold the WHO accountable and deserved answers.

When asked why the U.S kept putting big money into the WHO and getting nothing in return, Haley said, “The president is right to say 'I am going to withhold money until I am getting answers.' They owe us those answers. They can foul mouth and they can talk about victimization. What about the victimization of Americans who have to deal with this crisis? What about the victimization of so many other people in other countries in the world. We are not the only country that is upset about this, Sean. Ask all of them.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/13/2020
By: Yeh Su-ping, Ku Chuan and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, April 13 (CNA) A rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 developed by Taiwan's Industrial Technology

3Research Institute (ITRI) is scheduled to go into production in July, a Taiwanese official said Monday.

The ITRI has developed a prototype for the testing device, which can produce results in under an hour at a 90-percent accuracy rate, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) said at a press conference.

The nucleic acid test is designed to screen patients who are in the incubation period, meaning those who have contracted the disease but have not yet displayed symptoms, Lin said.

Weighing about 600 grams, the device is likely the smallest rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19 that is under development, according to the official.    [FULL  STORY]