Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Five cases of COVID-19 were confirmed yesterday, all imported: four Taiwanese who had been passengers on the Coral Princess cruise ship and a Taiwanese who returned from the US, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said case No. 393 is a woman in her 60s who returned to Taiwan on Sunday and reported that she began coughing up phlegm on March 29 and developed diarrhea on April 1.

The woman, who was immediately transported from the airport to a hospital for testing, is the wife of Case No. 384, a man in his 70s who returned from the US on Friday and tested positive on Saturday, Chen said.

After the man tested positive, a family member told the CECC that his wife was planning to return, so the CECC informed the National Immigration Agency on Sunday, and discovered that she was already on a flight to Taiwan, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.    [FULL  STORY]

The Age
Date: April 12, 2020
By: Eryk Bagshaw

The expert responsible for suppressing the coronavirus in Taiwan says the superpower cannot be trusted, is influencing the World Health Organisation, and countries such as Australia must remain a step ahead of Beijing.

"We have had respiratory nursing homes for maybe 10 years": Taiwan's Professor Su Ih-Jen.CREDIT:AP

Professor Ih-Jen Su began annual rehearsals of a possible pandemic from China almost two decades ago after SARS killed more than 20 per cent of people it infected in Taiwan.

The director of infectious diseases at Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes established dedicated respiratory nursing homes with thousands of ventilators and increased intensive care capacity to 10,000 beds, four times the size of Australia's capacity even though the two have roughly the same population.

Taiwan has recorded 385 cases of COVID-19 to Australia's 6314. It began scrutinising and quarantining passengers on flights from Wuhan and Guangdong in December, implemented travel bans on China and introduced strict social-distancing measures in January.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from Taipei, Professor Su said Taiwan had always kept a step ahead of the information from China.    [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: April 12, 2020
By: Frank Fang

TAIPEI, Taiwan—U.S. officials are voicing support for Taiwan following claims by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that he was the target of racist insults and death threats that originated from Taiwan.

The WHO’s leader on April 8 also accused the island’s foreign ministry of knowing about the attacks and also criticizing him.

Response to WHO 

In response to the accusations, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen stated that Taiwan opposes all forms of discrimination. She extended an invitation to Ghebreyesus to visit Taiwan so he could see for himself the island’s efforts to fight COVID-19.

CCP VIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE

蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen✔@iingwen

Taiwan opposes all forms of discrimination. I want to take this opportunity to invite @WHO Director-General @DrTedros to visit Taiwan & experience for himself how committed the Taiwanese people are to engaging with the world & combating #COVID19. Statement:http://shorturl.at/fDI19 

On April 10, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau held a press conference to call out a Twitter smear campaign by mainland Chinese netizens who had posed as Taiwanese citizens and wrote “apologies” to Ghebreyesus for the purported attacks. Many Twitter accounts posted the exact same message.

“I applaud [Taiwan President] @iingwen’s response to baseless claims that Taiwan is fueling racist attacks against @DrTedros,” U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote in a tweet the next day about the spat, in defense of Taiwan.

“I encourage him to check out #Taiwan’s record—despite its exclusion—so we can collectively advance @WHO’s critical global health work,” he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Tiwan News
Date: 2020/04/12
By:  Central News Agency

Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has approved a 7-year NT$4 billion plan to set up a disease prevention center in Taipei's Nangang District to carry out sampling, testing and research and development of vaccines, Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said Sunday.

Su ratified on April 8 the plan to run from 2021-2027 brought forth by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to establish such a center in the ministry's Kunyang health park zone in Nangang to conduct disease prevention research and work, according to Kolas.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 04/12/2020
By: Yeh Su-ping, Matt Yu and Emerson Lim

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) said Sunday the public has no need to worry about their country's safety and security, as a Chinese aircraft carrier battle group sailed east of Taiwan the same day.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Sunday evening the Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning, escorted by two destroyers, two frigates and a supply ship, were being monitored as they passed through the Miyako Strait on Saturday and then moved southward, passing east of Taiwan on Sunday, on a long-range training mission.

No irregularities were detected, according to the MND.

Both the MND and Ting said the necessary measures were in place to ensure Taiwan's security during the passage of the battle group.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipwei Times
Date: Apr 13, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced three new cases of COVID-19 — two imported and one domestic — bringing the total in Taiwan to 388.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the domestic case (No. 386) is a man in his 20s who lives with the nation’s 195th case — a woman in her 20s who returned from the US on March 19 and tested positive on March 23.

The man had respiratory allergic symptoms when he was put under home isolation after case No. 195 was confirmed to have COVID-19 and he was released from quarantine after 14 days, but the local health department reviewed his symptoms and asked him to undergo testing, Chen said.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that the man had had a meal with case No. 195 for about two hours when she returned from the US, which could be the cause of his infection, but as he has chronic allergies, it is difficult to determine when his symptoms began.
[FULL  STORY]

Meritime Bulletin
Date: April 11, 2020
By: Mikhail VoytenkoNews

Chinese Navy landing helicopter assault ship of a new Type 075, still under construction at Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding, caught fire in the morning Apr 11, according to initial Taiwanese reports. Chinese media still keep quiet. Understood fire, probably major fire, was already extinguished, extent of damages of course, remains unknown.

Type 075 landing helicopter dock (NATO classification Yushen-class landing helicopter assault) – Chinese Navy amphibious assault ship still under construction at Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding, launched in Sep 2019, undergoing outfit at Yard, displacement some 40,000 tons, length 237 meters, armament missiles, guns, 30 helicopters.    [SOURCE]

The Guardian
Date: 11 Apr 2020
By: Arwa Mahdawi

Being a woman doesn’t make you better at handling a global pandemic – but women generally have to be better in order to become leaders

 New Zealand, led by Jacinda Ardern, is a world leader in combating the virus. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Female leaders are doing exceptional work

What do Germany, Taiwan and New Zealand have in common?

Well, they’ve all got female leaders and they’re all doing an exceptional job in their response to the coronavirus crisis.

Tsai Ing-Wen, a former law professor, became the first female president of Taiwan in 2016 – the same year America got its first reality TV president. Tsai has spearheaded a swift and successful defence to the pandemic; despite Taiwan’s proximity to mainland China it has largely contained the virus and has just under 400 confirmed cases. It is so well prepared that it is donating 10m masks to the US and 11 European countries.

New Zealand, led by Jacinda Ardern, is also a world leader in combating the virus. The country has had only one Covid-19 death so far. That’s partly due to geography and size: with under 5 million people, New Zealand’s entire population is much smaller than New York’s. Being an island state also gives it a distinct advantage. However, leadership is also a factor. New Zealand has implemented widespread testing and Ardern has responded to the crisis with clarity and compassion.    [FULL  STORY]

Petitions were signed by 67 Members of the European Parliament and 60 Bundestag members

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A total of 127 prominent European politicians have signed petitions expressing support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Saturday (April 11).

The motion comes as Taiwan and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have become embroiled in a war of words over allegations by the latter that criticism of his handling of the virus by the island nation was racially motivated. His comments touched off a wave of indignation in Taiwan, with the public launching sarcasm-laced attacks and a fundraising campaign for a New York Times ad.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/11/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Emerson Lim

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) An American guided missile warship and two reconnaissance military aircraft have been operating near Taiwan over the past two days, after Chinese warplanes showed up in the area, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed Saturday.

In a press statement, the MND confirmed that the USS Barry, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, sailed through the Taiwan Strait from north to south, but it did not say when.

According to local media, however, the U.S. warship transited through the strait Friday, tailed by the Chinese missile frigate, the Nantong.

A military officer told CNA that the USS Barry exited the Taiwan Strait before dawn Saturday.
[FULL  STORY]