Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/09/2020
By Flor Wang and Huang Shih-ya

Rome, March 9 (CNA) With cities in northern Italy locked down under quarantine rules aimed at preventing further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Taiwanese expatriates in Milan are hoping Taiwan's government will send charter flights to take them home, a Taiwanese businessman said on Monday.

Jeff Lai (賴天福), chairman of the Taiwanese business association in Milan, said many Taiwanese businesspeople and their family members in northern Italy are very nervous about the situation there.

As of Monday morning, the total number of infections had risen to 7,424 in Italy, with 366 deaths, making the European country the hardest-hit outside China.

Lai called on Taiwan's Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) to visit Italy and share Taiwan's experience in fighting the virus with Italian officials.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 10, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday that it is testing an online system for buying masks using National Health Insurance (NHI) cards, while no new cases of COVID-19 were reported for a third consecutive day.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, was asked to elaborate on Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) remark earlier in the day that people could be allowed to order masks online and collect them at convenience stores, and he confirmed that such a program was in the works.

The system was being “pressure-tested” yesterday in a bid to prevent a crash if too many people tried to log on at the same time, Chen said.

If the test went smoothly, the center would likely announce details of the plan today, he said.
[FULL  STORY]

Dance Tabs
Date: March 8, 2020
By: Siobhan Murphy

Cloud Gate, Taiwan’s pioneering, much-loved contemporary dance company, is in a moment of transition; its founder Lin Hwai-Min has handed over the reins to Cheng Tsung-Lung, and this double bill provided a chance to see work by both men. Although starkly different in theme and intention, both 13 Tongues and Dust showcased the company’s unique blend of movement, drawn from classical and modern traditions, from Chinese folk and Chinese opera, and from martial arts and meditation.

Cheng’s 13 Tongues was inspired, we’re told, by memories of the temples and religious rites that fill the oldest district of Taipei, and the storytelling skills of a renowned street artist. It was an often bewildering hour of swirling motion as 11 black-clad dancers bustled, scuttled, staggered, stomped, laughed, shouted, screamed and chanted, to a score that mixed folk tunes, rhythmic electronica, minor chord piano and warped strings.

Waves of movement caught up the dancers, who travelled around the stage with fluid grace, sometimes galvanised into synchronicity – huddling together, or forming a snake-like line – sometimes all caught up in individual preoccupations. Solo interludes punctuated the maelstrom, with the other dancers forming a curious crowd of onlookers.    [FULL  STORY]

At 48 years of age, Mr Chiang Chi-chen is the youngest permanent leader of the KMT in almost 100 years.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

TAIPEI (BLOOMBERG) – Taiwan's Kuomintang has selected a reform-minded chairman to rebuild

the beleaguered opposition party, a decision that could upend Beijing's decades-old framework for building ties with Taipei.

Lawmaker Chiang Chi-chen overcame the former mayor of Taipei City, Mr Hau Lung-bin, with more than 68 per cent of ballots cast by party members in Saturday's (March 7) vote.

At 48 years of age, Mr Chiang is the youngest permanent leader of the KMT in almost 100 years. In the wake the party's landslide election defeat in January, he has vowed a full "redesign", including rethinking the "92 consensus", the vague agreement that underpinned ties between the KMT and China.

"I'm going to work harder so that all party members can see change in the KMT and once again feel proud to be a member of the KMT," Mr Chiang said after the election at the party's headquarters in Taipei on Saturday.    [FULL  STORY]

Musician Brett Dean pens statement from isolation ward in Adelaide, Australia where he is recovering from coronavirus

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/09
By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Musician Brett Dean said on Saturday (March 8) that he feels “devastated” after learning that his COVID-19 diagnosis in Australia is causing performances in Taipei to be cancelled and people to be quarantined.

Dean came to Taiwan Feb. 23 to perform and returned to Adelaide, Australia March 2. He tested positive for the virus March 5 in Adelaide, where he is being isolated at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

After the musician's diagnosis, the National Concert Hall in Taipei cancelled all upcoming performances and disinfected the hall. Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is asking 147 people with whom he came into contact to quarantine.

In a statement posted by Dean’s representatives Saturday, the musician expresses his emotions over learning his diagnosis caused a stir in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
03/08/2020 06:27 PM
By: William Yen

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) A women's rights group and a coalition of migrant rights groups staged a rally in downtown Taipei Sunday to demand better work conditions for women migrant domestic helpers and caregivers on International Women's Day.

About 50 activists, including migrant workers, attended the rally outside the Executive Yuan, which was organized by the women's rights group Awakening Foundation and the Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), a coalition of 10 migrant rights groups.

Gracie Liu (劉曉櫻), director of the Migrants and Immigrants Service Center under the Hsinchu Catholic Diocese, said even though the annual day celebrating the achievements of women has been celebrated for over a century, the working conditions of migrant domestic helpers and caregivers in Taiwan, who are mostly women, still need to be improved.    [FULL  STORY]

HOME IS BETTER: Given that 29 countries have more COVID-19 cases than Taiwan, people should avoid unnecessary travel abroad, Chen Shih-chung said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 09, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Taiwan reported no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that DNA sequencing on the woman who is the nation’s 39th case indicated that she had contracted the virus during a trip to Egypt.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, encouraged Taiwanese to avoid unnecessary travel abroad, saying that the global COVID-19 situation is still concerning, as confirmed cases have been reported in 94 nations, including a total of 7,751 people in Asia, excluding China; 9,365 in Europe and 6,127 in the Middle East.

“The center will continue to pay close attention to the situations in these affected countries and issue travel notices accordingly,” he told a news conference.    [FULL  STORY]

Insider
Date: March 07, 2020
By: Martha Sorren

• I visited a 7-Eleven in Taipei, Taiwan, and I was blown away by its selection of food, beverages, and services.
• The location had a ton of pre-packaged snacks and meals, plus affordable hot foods and grocery items. 
• There were also places to sit and eat, areas where you can pay bills, and even special locked mailboxes patrons can use. 
• While making a purchase at a 7-Eleven in Taiwan, shoppers can also collect stickers that can be traded in for prizes. 

 

 

In my opinion, 7-Elevens in Taiwan are so much more impressive than the ones in the US. Martha Sorren for Insider[/caption]

In the US, 7-Eleven convenience stores mostly serve as just a place to grab a quick snack — but this isn't the case for locations in Taiwan.

During a recent trip to Taipei, Taiwan, I found that people can go to 7-Eleven to do so much more than pick up a cup of coffee and a few candy bars. 

Here's what a 7-Eleven in Taiwan is like, plus how it's different from its US counterparts.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s fighters “will primarily serve a deterrent role defending Taiwan’s airspace in peacetime."

The National Interest
Date: March 7, 2020
By: David Axe Follow @daxe on TwitterL

Key point: Taiwan is finally getting its new F-16s. Right at the moment they’re ceasing to matter.

Nearly a decade after first requesting them, the Taiwanese air force finally could get 66 new F-16 fighters to begin replacing some of its older fighter aircraft.

But the $8-billion fighter-acquisition, which the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump approved over strong objections from China, likely will do little to alter the overall balance of power across the Taiwan Strait.

China possesses hundreds of more modern fighters than Taiwan does. Sixty-six F-16s won’t change that. And Taipei already has begun to revamp its defensive strategy to de-emphasize the importance of conventional major weapons systems such as F-16s.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s management of epidemic something whole country should be proud of

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/07
By: David Spencer, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer\

KAOHSIUNG (Taiwan News) – This has been the week that the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic swept the world. It has caught the attention of just about everyone and created fear and panic across all five continents.

As Europe and the U.S. focus on their own outbreaks, attention has moved away from the situation in Asia, and "Communist China" in particular. But just because attention has shifted doesn’t mean the situation in this part of the world isn’t increasingly dire.

South Korea is now the second-worst affected country with more than 6,000 confirmed cases. Many countries have imposed travel restrictions on its citizens and a "special care zone" has been created in the Gyeongsan area, close to Daegu, where the worst outbreak happened.

In Japan, there have been 361 confirmed cases, not counting the 696 infected passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Schools have been shut for much of this month and the Tokyo Olympic Games, scheduled to take place this summer, are already thought to be under threat.    [FULL  STORY]