Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/01/2020
By Soon Thean Bee,
Hung Hsueh-kuang,
Yang Ssu-jui and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) The family of a Malaysian student murdered in Tainan earlier this week arrived in Taiwan on Sunday to take care of the aftermath of the killing.

The parents of the victim, surnamed Chung (鍾), a 24-year-old student at Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU) in Tainan, southern Taiwan, flew from Kuala Lumpur into Taoyuan Taiwan International Airport around 7 p.m.

Deputy Interior Minister Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), who doubles as deputy CECC commander, said Chung's parents will be allowed to enter the country without going through quarantine as long as they pass COVID-19 tests upon arrival at the airport.

Meanwhile, their test results are pending.    [FULL  STORY]

JOINT LETTERS: Parliamentarians from seven European countries said Taipei deserved a seat at the WHA meeting next week, given its exemplary performance against COVID-19

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

A total of 106 lawmakers from seven European countries have sent letters urging the WHO director-general to invite Taiwan to this month’s World Health Assembly (WHA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The WHA, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, held its first-ever virtual annual meeting on May 18 and 19 with a reduced agenda due to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest of the annual meeting is to take place from Monday to Saturday next week.

In separate letters addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the parliamentarians from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia expressed their strong support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHA meeting, especially at a time when the world is struggling with the pandemic, given Taiwan’s exemplary performance in containing its COVID-19 outbreak.

A joint letter addressed to Tedros on Oct. 22 was signed by Waldemar Andzel, chairman of the Polish-Taiwanese Parliamentarian Group; Istvan Tiba, chairman of the Taiwan-Hungarian Parliamentary Friendship Association; Peter Osusky, chairman of the Slovakia-Taiwan Parliamentary Group; and Marek Benda, chairman of the Czech parliament’s Czech Republic-Taiwan Friendship Group.    [FULL  STORY]

The Reviews Hub
Date:  31/10/2020
By: Reviewer: Richard Maguire

Writer and Director: Ming-Lang Chen

While set against the campaign for same-sex marriage in Taiwan, this unassuming film, receiving its premiere at the Queer East Festival, examines the more personal politics of a young man finding his voice as he embarks on his first serious relationship. Kevin dares not tell too much to anyone, and Ming-Lang Chen’s film, quiet and sometimes unaccommodating, mirrors this reticence.

Kevin teaches civics at a high school. He’s enthusiastic in his lessons talking of the importance of self-respect and of human rights, but his students are too full of hormones to care and when they suspect their teacher of being gay they begin to make his life difficult.

His home life takes a nosedive at the same time as his new relationship is suddenly filled with problems. Moving out of his mother’s house into his boyfriend’s luxury apartment seemed like a good idea but Kevin asks few questions and strangely doesn’t inquire if Gao has officially split up from his wife. And like every gay man, Kevin soon has to deal with the shadow of HIV/AIDS that threatens both his relationship and his position at work.

But despite these dramatic events, there’s a sedateness and a dignity to The Teacher and the camera only allows us glimpses of Kevin’s life, often without exposition like the odd scene in which he attends the birthday banquet of Gao’s father or the short episode where Gao’s wife enters the flat with a hammer.    [FULL  STORY]

LAD Bible
Date: 31 October 2020
By: Jess Hardiman

Taiwan has just marked its 200th consecutive day without a locally-transmitted case of coronavirus, highlighting its successful approach to keeping the virus under control as cases continue to rise elsewhere.

According to The Guardian, the country's Centre for Disease Control last reported a domestic case on 12 April – now 202 days ago.

As of Thursday, it has also recorded just 553 cases since the pandemic first broke out, with 55 of these being local transmissions. The country has also seven deaths, which, while tragic, is a minute figure compared to other nations.

Peter Collignon, an infectious disease physician and professor at the Australian National University Medical School, told CNN: "Taiwan is the only major country that has so far been able to keep community transmission of Covid eliminated."    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 but process not complete yet, say activists

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/31
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei Pride, the largest gay rights parade in Asia, drew more than 130,000 people to the Taiwan capital Saturday (Oct. 31) despite the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Last year’s event drew a record 200,000 participants, but organizers knew it would be difficult to top that figure because of travel restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of infections. Still, more than 130,000 people set off along two routes through Taipei Saturday afternoon, with colorful rainbow flags under a sunny sky setting the tone for the 18th edition of the celebratory event, which bore the moniker, “Beauty, My Own Way.”

Even though Taiwan last year became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, activists said there was still work to do. Gay marriages between a local person and a foreigner from a country where same-sex marriages have not been legalized is still not possible. Also, LGBT activists complained about hostile or ignorant attitudes still prevailing in some sectors of society.

While coronavirus restrictions prevented overseas supporters from entering the country, long-term foreign residents turned up in force, the Liberty Times reported. An estimated 20 foreign representative offices, including the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), sent delegations to participate.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:10/31/2020
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said during a meeting of senior national security officials on Saturday that she remains willing to engage in "substantive dialogue" with the Chinese leadership on equal terms, but cautioned that cross-Taiwan Strait peace will not be achieved by showing weakness or making concessions.

According to a release provided by the Presidential Office, the meeting's agenda included talks on the Chinese military threat and regional security, strengthening ties with the United States, maintaining stability in cross-strait relations, domestic economic stability and security, and future economic development.

In terms of the security risk, Tsai said China's military has conducted a growing number of maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the East China Sea in recent months, threatening regional security.

Taiwan will continue to act as a responsible member of the region, she said. However, she went on to say that "history has proven that showing weakness and making concessions does not lead to peace, which can only be achieved by strength and the resolve to defend one's homeland."
[FULL  STORY]

JUGGLING GLOBAL GIANTS: At a National Security Council meeting, the president pushed the idea of a trade agreement with the US and stabilizing cross-strait relations

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 01, 2020
By: Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday instructed the government to bolster self-defense capabilities, improve relations with the US across party lines, and stabilize economic and social order.

The directives were issued at a National Security Council meeting, which was held earlier yesterday amid an increasing number of incursions by Chinese military planes and ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election.

In anticipation of the Chinese Communist Party’s fifth plenum this week and the US presidential election, Tsai last month had also instructed the council to form a task force to increase intelligence gathering on possible scenarios, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday afternoon.

During the meeting, Tsai said the nation should further modernize its defense capabilities, upgrade its asymmetric combat capabilities, promote indigenous arms development and reform its reserve forces to brace for Beijing’s military expansion and aggression, Chang quoted Tsai as saying.   [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 October, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Taiwan in fourth day of Combat Readiness Week[/caption] With increased threats from China in recent weeks, Taiwan’s military is in combat readiness in case of a real war. A “Combat Readiness Week” is now in its fourth day.

What’s a Black Hawk helicopter doing in an open field next to a high speed rail station? Not long after, an Apache attack helicopter lands in the same place. It turns out these helicopters are taking part in a series of nationwide exercises being dubbed “Combat Readiness Week”. 
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan isn’t the first nation to turn highways into runways.

The National Interest
Date: October 30, 2020
By: Michael Peck

Key Point: “The highway drill is necessary, as highway strips would be our priority choice if the runways are damaged during a war.”

An F-16 landing on a public highway, engine roaring as its wheels touch the concrete, is a memorable addition to any driver’s morning commute.

But whether this will save Taiwan’s air force from a Chinese attack is a different matter.

Last year, Taiwanese jets landed on a highway as part of a military drill—the first such drill in five years. “Three fighter jets, as well as an early warning aircraft, practiced refueling and loading missiles and other ammunition before taking off again,” according to Taiwanese media. “An F-16V jet, a Mirage 2000-5, an Indigenous Defense Fighter and an E-2K airborne early warning aircraft landed on the Huatan section of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1) in Changhua County at about 6 a.m.”

The goal wasn’t to give local residents an impromptu air show. It was a survival exercise on how the Taiwanese air force, known as the Republic of China Air Force, will cope when its permanent air bases are knocked out. It is a near-certainty that in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, or any major conflict between the two powers, that China’s huge arsenal of ballistic missiles and strike aircraft will pound Taiwan’s limited number of airfields.    [FULL  STORY]

Streisand praises 'wonderful female president' for her 'real leadership' during coronavirus outbreak

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Renowned American singer and actress Barbra Streisand on Oct. 24 praised Taiwan's "wonderful female president' for her "real leadership" in quelling its Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

With the U.S. presidential election rapidly approaching, many are considering it a referendum on Trump's performance amid the country's ever-rising coronavirus cases. In response to claims by Trump that the U.S. is "rounding the corner" on the coronavirus, Streisand on Oct. 24 retweeted an article stating that hospitalizations are up by 40 percent and wrote, "Trump is lying again."

Later that day, Streisand posted a tweet in which she pointed out that despite Taiwan's population of nearly 24 million, it has only had seven deaths from COVID-19. Taking a jab at Trump, Streisand lauded Taiwan's impressive handling of the coronavirus as the result of "real leadership" from the country's "wonderful female president."

In a second tweet mentioning Taiwan that same day, Streisand retweeted an article posted by Taiwan News on April 6, which cited her as saying that despite its close proximity to China and frequent flights from Wuhan, Taiwan had managed to "stave off the worst" of the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that Tsai's response to her April tweet was an offer to share Taiwan's experiences in containing the virus with the world.    [FULL  STORY]