Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/26/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) has consulted with the United States and is to start clinical trials in Taiwan of the antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 coronavirus, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first U.S. clinical trial involving the use of remdesivir on patients with coronavirus to evaluate the efficacy of the experimental antiviral drug developed by American biotech firm Gilead Sciences.

Remdesivir could provide an effective treatment for COVID-19 victims and NTUH is preparing to make Taiwan part of the clinical research, said Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), director-general of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Department of Medical Affairs.

Under the government's draft plan, one hospital each in northern, central and southern Taiwan will be designated for the screening of potential patients for the clinical trials, but details are still being worked out, according to Shih.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 27, 2020
By: Su Yung-yao and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

.President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced that she had suspended preparations for

her inauguration ceremony, saying that she would not hold a large assembly amid fears of COVID-19 contagion.

Any further plans regarding the inauguration would be made according to suggestions offered by the Central Epidemic Command Center, she said in a statement on Facebook.

Preventing the spread of the disease is the government’s top priority, Tsai said, adding that the inauguration — scheduled for May 20 — would only be held under certain conditions.

The government would temporarily halt preparations for the event, pending changes in the epidemic situation, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 25 February, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Tuesday is the first day back to school for all elementary to high school students in Taiwan. That’s due to an extended winter break over fears COVID-19. Schools have a lot of new measures to help prevent an outbreak at school.

Children in Taiwan are back to school but school life has changed. Many schools are using new ways to prevent disease like these homemade dividers. At Dajia Elementary School, every student has their own divider to prevent the spread of viruses through airborne droplets.

During lunchtime, the children keep a distance from each other when they’re eating.  Some schools don’t allow their students to talk to each other during lunch.

This mom says she’s so worried it’s affecting her sleep. She used to celebrate when her kids went back to school but now she says she has a lot more anxiety.

The students need to disinfect their shoes before they enter the campus and get their temperatures checked. Windows are also kept open so fresh air can come in and now each class has a new sanitary monitor. He says his responsibility is to disinfect the classroom. From doorknobs to desktops, the sanitary monitors are in charge of keeping the classroom clean.
[FULL  STORY]

Shanghai’s cancellation of its partnership with Prague reveals how normally apolitical relations are increasingly tainted by identity politics.

The Diplomat
Date: February 25, 2020
By: Matej Šimalčík and Adam Kalivoda

When the Prague City Council approved a sister city agreement with Taiwan in January 2020, Shanghai responded by canceling its own partnership with Prague, which was established back in 2017. The cancellation came after a similar agreement with Beijing fell through a few months earlier over the “One China” issue.

In 2016, a month before a state visit to the Czech Republic by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, then-mayor of Prague Adriana Krnáčová approved a sister-city agreement with Beijing. This agreement in itself wouldn’t prove to be an issue until the city’s administration changed and a new mayor, Zdeněk Hřib, decided to review the agreement’s extensive “One China” policy clause. The clause holds that: “The City of Prague confirms its continuous commitment to the One China Policy of the Government of the Czech Republic, and acknowledges that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”

After the new city council of Prague approached Beijing about removing this clause (supposedly multiple times, despite the fact that it was reportedly Krnáčová’s administration and not Beijing who proposed the clause in the first place) and received no satisfactory answers, it pushed for the whole relationship to be rejected. The city council’s reasoning was that by including the “One China” clause, the deal became political, which is not standard practice for sister-city agreements. Even though the decision to repeal the agreement passed the city council on October 7, 2019, Prague wasn’t able to implement it, as Beijing prematurely ended this agreement itself on October 9. As a result, Prague lost the last remaining hope of receiving a panda for the Prague Zoo — one of the more symbolic results of the two cities’ fallout.

However, Prague was quick to find a replacement for the panda promised by Beijing. In early December 2019, Prague formalized its long functioning relationship with Taipei into an official sister-city relationship. This was sealed on January 13, 2020, during a visit by Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je to Prague. As a symbol of the deal, Taiwan promised to gift several pangolins to the Prague Zoo.    [FULL  STORY]

MOFA warns about risks of travelling to Russia after local immigration mistook Taiwanese for Chinese nationals

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/25
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) admitted Tuesday (Feb. 25) that two Taiwanese citizens have been forcefully placed under quarantine by Russian authorities upon their entry into the eastern European nation.

At the press conference, MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) pointed out that two Taiwanese travelers were mistaken as Chinese nationals when they visited Russia. She said that the immigration officers regarded the Taiwanese as Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) patients since they were wearing surgical masks.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/25/2020
By: Chen Wei-ting and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) An 11-year-old boy has been confirmed as Taiwan's 31st case of the COVID-19 coronavirus, part of a family cluster also responsible for cases 27-30, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the boy had visited his grandfather in the hospital on Feb. 11 and 19 before the latter's diagnosis Sunday as Taiwan's 27th confirmed COVID-19 case.

Although the boy has no symptoms, he was tested for the virus Sunday following his grandfather's diagnosis, and is now under medical quarantine, Chen said.

According to the timeline provided by the CECC, the octogenarian grandfather, as well as his eldest son, who is in his 50s, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, becoming the country's 27th and 28th cases respectively.   [FULL  STORY]

MASKS FOR MINORS: Parents from tomorrow can purchase masks for their children every day of the week, with one parent allowed to buy masks for up to three children

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 26, 2020
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday elevated its travel notice for Italy to a level 2

“alert,” urging travelers to enhance precautionary measures, while also announcing a new confirmed case of COVID-19 in Taiwan.

“The COVID-19 epidemic situation in Italy is concerning, as the number of confirmed cases has been rising rapidly,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. “The center has decided to raise the travel notice to the level 2 ‘alert,’ and we are advising people to practice enhanced precautions when visiting the nation.”

The center said that Italy had reported 229 confirmed cases, including seven deaths, as of Monday and the source of infection in many cases remains unresolved.

Outbreaks have been reported in hospitals, the Lombardy region has banned public events and Venice has canceled its carnival, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 24 February, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

COVID-19’s household infection rate may be eight times that of influenza. That’s according to researchers at National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health, who were speaking at a prevention seminar hosted by the college.

As of Monday, Taiwan has 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Household infection has taken place in eight families.

The college says that based on Taiwan’s data, COVID-19 has a household infection rate of 46%. The household infection rate for influenza, by comparison, is about 8%. The college says the infection rate for COVID-19 can be lowered to around 20%, if people wear face masks and are vigilant about washing their hands.     [FULL  STORY]

• Bernie Sanders said he would use US military force if China ever attacked Taiwan
• On CBS's '60 Minutes' he said if he was president he would protect US interests
• Sanders also said he would meet with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un
• He also denied being a pacifist and added, 'I believe in NATO', during interview

Daily Mail
Date: 24 February 2020
By: Cris Dyer

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders said if he was elected president he would 'absolutely' use the military if China attacked Taiwan.

The presidential 2020 hopeful said if he were in the White House he would authorize military force if warranted, both to protect US interests and to support its allies.

He also denied being a pacifist, declared his support for NATO and added he would be willing to meet with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, as President Donald Trump has done on three occasions.

Sanders has emerged with an early lead in the Democratic nominating process, and as a self-declared democratic socialist his foreign and security policies are starting to draw closer scrutiny. But he has denied being a pacifist.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/24
By: William A. Stanton, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

“Big Nations Should Not Bully the Small”

The People’s Republic of China always refers to its Three Communiqués with the United States as if they were the Ten Commandments, but it both selectively quotes and unilaterally interprets the Communiqués as it wishes. There is, for instance, one passage from the 1st Communiqué of Feb. 28, 1972 that we never hear repeated by Beijing:

“The Chinese side stated: …All nations, big or small, should be equal: big nations should not bully the small and strong nations should not bully the weak. China will never be a superpower and it opposes hegemony and power politics of any kind.”

In retrospect, the idea behind this passage was short-sighted and the words used were ill-chosen because the PRC did not foresee it would become an economic and military superpower that now seeks global dominance. The fact is that the PRC now bullies or tries to bully other countries all the time.

But Remember “China is a Big Country and Other Countries are Small”    [FULL  STORY]