Taipei Times
Date: Apr 06, 2020
By: Yang Mien-chieh, Chen Hsin-yu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Popular tourist spots and transportation hubs nationwide were disinfected yesterday to prevent a spike of COVID-19 cases following the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.

Environmental protection departments in cities and counties dispatched special squads, made up of 731 employees, who disinfected 863 locations, including 205 transportation hubs and 250 business areas, the EPA said.

These included popular tourist spots that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) had cited in its text messages on Saturday, when it reminded the public to avoid crowded places and keep a proper social distance, including Kenting (墾丁) and Hengchun Old Street (恆春老街) in Pingtung County, Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien County and Guanzihling (關子嶺) in Tainan, it said.

The EPA reminded business owners that they should be following its disinfection guidelines and clean their indoor areas at least once per day, or more if their businesses get a lot of foot traffic.
[FULL  STORY]

TARGETED TEXTS: The center’s head said that visitor numbers at scenic spots were greater than expected and people did not do a very good job of social distancing

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 05, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday sent two warning text messages to urge people to practice social distancing, especially by avoiding crowded scenic areas.

The two messages were sent at 11:55am on the third day of the four-day Tomb Sweeping Day weekend, reminding people about social distancing and hand hygiene to help prevent COVID-19 infection.

“When visiting crowded scenic spots during the Tomb Sweeping Day weekend, please keep a social distance of at least 1.5m indoors and 1m outdoors, wear a mask and wash your hands frequently. Please wear a mask and seek immediate medical attention if you are feeling ill and call 1922 for inquiries,” the first message read.

The second message read: “Please avoid going to scenic areas near Kenting (墾丁). Practice social distancing of at least 1.5m indoors and 1m outdoors, or wear a mask. Please wear a mask and seek immediate medical attention if you are feeling ill and tell the doctor your travel history. Call 1922 for inquiries.”    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Internatinal
Date:\ 04 April, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

With the addition of seven new cases on Saturday, Taiwan has so far recorded 355 cases of COVID-19.

Taiwan reported seven new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday afternoon. The addition of these cases brings the total Taiwan has recorded so far up to 355

Six of the new cases are imported, brought in by people with a recent history of travel to Switzerland, the US, Germany, the UK, and countries in South America.    [FULL  STORY]

We should ask now what America's policy should be if things were to take a nasty turn. 

The National Interest
Date: April 4, 2020
By: Ted Galen Carpenter

Tensions between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been on the rise ever since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan’s president and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gained control of the legislature in early 2016. Her landslide re-election in January 2020 exacerbated those tensions. Now, Taiwanese concerns about the island’s treatment at the hands of the PRC and the rest of the global community during the coronavirus pandemic are widening the political gap between Taipei and Beijing.

Taiwanese anger at the PRC’s conduct occurred early and often in the crisis. Chinese leaders worked to block Taiwan’s involvement in World Health Organization (WHO) cooperative efforts to stem the spread of the virus. Beijing even sought to prevent Taiwanese attendance at WHO meetings. PRC demands intimidated the WHO into barring Taiwanese experts from at least one crucial strategy session in late January 2020.

Beijing’s propaganda apparatus also generated fake news that the virus was out of control in Taiwan, with deaths overwhelming crematoria. Taiwan Fact-Check Center effectively debunked the claims, and international observers found no evidence to support them. In fact, Taiwan’s efforts to contain the outbreak have been remarkably successful. 

Anger among Taiwan’s leaders and the general public rose sharply in response to the PRC’s hostile behavior. On at least two occasions in January 2020, Tsai’s government reached out to Beijing, offering to help mainland efforts against the virus. Mainland officials not only spurned those offers, they treated the island as irrelevant, at best, to global cooperation against the emerging pandemic.    [FULL  STORY]

After the incident, police said their officers should be flexible in such situations

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

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police came under fire Saturday (April 4) for breathalyzing a five-year-old boy after he accidentally crashed his bicycle into a stationary car.

The owner of the car, a white Tesla Model 3 he had owned for just one month, posted a picture of the alcohol test online. After drawing criticism for the photo, he said he wanted to show how responsible the little boy was — as he didn't run away but also agreed to take the breathalyzer test, the Liberty Times reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 04/04/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Wu Hsin-yun and Emerson Lim
Taipei, April 4 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday issued national-level alerts to major tourist spots in Taiwan amid a 4-day Tomb Sweeping Day break, after many vacationers were seen not observing proper coronavirus prevention guidelines.

In a press release, the CECC said two text messages were sent through the Public Warning System (PWS) at 11:55 a.m., reminding vacationers to avoid crowded places and keep a proper distance from each other.

The two messages were rated as "national-level" alerts, which indicates the public in a wide range of areas faces an immediate threat from disaster or danger.

"When visiting crowded places during the long break, remember to keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters when indoors and 1 meter when outdoors, or wear a face mask and wash your hands frequently," one of the texts read.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 03 April, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Italy’s biggest newspaper, the Corriere della Sera, has published an article which says that Taiwan exists independently of China and should not be viewed as part of China. The paper published the article after Taiwan pledged to donate10 million surgical masks to foreign countries, setting aside 500,000 for Italy.

The article says that the WHO has excluded Taiwan because Beijing does not want international organizations to acknowledge Taiwan’s democratic system. However, it says that with global health at risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic, China should put its differences with Taiwan aside for now and make an exception.    [FULL  STORY]

Daily Caller
Date: April 03, 2020
By: Marlo Safi

Two million face masks are being sent to the U.S. by Taiwan to relieve the medical supply shortage

caused by the coronavirus pandemic, largely thanks to Republican Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, numerous sources reported. 

Taiwan is sending two million face masks to the U.S., one million of which will go to the federal government and the other million will be divided among the states, Denver CBS affiliate reported Friday. Colorado will receive 100,000 which is 10% of the total to be sent. The masks are expected to arrive in Colorado next week. (RELATED: Taiwan Says It Warned WHO About Coronavirus In December, But Its Warnings Were Ignored)

Gardner has worked closely with Taiwan as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, and in August 2019, Tawainese President Tsai Ing-Wen even visited Colorado because of Gardner, marking the first time a sitting president of the country had visited the state.

“I didn’t think that it would come down to a global pandemic and the partnerships that we would we’d rely on in a global pandemic. And I’ve got to be honest, Shaun, when found out that we had been able to secure, with the great generosity of Taiwan, two million masks — and we’d have a huge chunk of that coming to Colorado — I cried. Because I have’t been able to sleep at night knowing that so many people are facing the anxieties they face,” Gardner said, according to CBS.
[FULL  STORY]

Couple said they had no money lef6t to pay for hotel and fine

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/03
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A South Korean couple who failed to pay a fine for evading coronavirus quarantine measures were nabbed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as they tried to flee the country, reports said Friday (April 3).

As the couple had not stayed inside their hotel in Kaohsiung for 14 days following their arrival, the Kaohsiung City health authorities fined them NT$150,000 (US$4,960) each. However, they disappeared and also failed to pay the fine by the given deadline, CNA reported.

Agents from the Ministry of Justice and the National Immigration Agency intercepted them as they were about to board a flight out of Taoyuan Thursday (April 2).

The couple said they did not have the money to spend the rest of their time in Taiwan at a hotel, leading to the intervention of the South Korean office in Taipei. The two travelers were not expected to be allowed to leave Taiwan before they had paid the fine in full, according to the report.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/03/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) Nine new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease were confirmed in Taiwan

on Friday, bringing the total in the country to 348 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The newly confirmed patients are all Taiwanese nationals, seven of whom had contracted the disease overseas, while two are believed to have been infected locally, said Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC.

One of the local infections, a woman in her 40s, likely contracted COVID-19 from case No. 336, a Taiwanese woman in her 50s with no recent history of overseas travel, who tested positive the previous day, the CECC said.

In the new case, the patient sought medical attention twice after she developed a fever and began having chills on March 24, but she was not tested for the coronavirus until April 1 on her third visit to the doctor, according to the CECC.    [FULL  STORY]