Taipei Times
Date: May 22, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA, GENEVA, Switzerland

Taiwan could play an important role in global efforts to prevent the spread of communicable

diseases, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said on Sunday at a reception in Geneva, Switzerland, held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The spread of communicable diseases knows no borders, Chen said, adding that as a hub in Asia that receives many international travelers, Taiwan, which has cultivated advanced medical services and technologies, plays an important role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

A delegation led by Chen arrived in the city on Saturday and is to hold a series of events on the sidelines of the 71st annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which Taiwan has for the second consecutive year not been invited to attend as an observer due to opposition from China.

At the reception, which was attended by representatives of Taiwan’s 19 allies, Chen said that the WHO’s exclusion of Taiwan from the WHA meeting is unfair to Taiwan and violates the organization’s platform, which designates healthcare as a universal value.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-21

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Kin Moy says relations between Taiwan and the

United States have a very strong foundation. He was speaking Monday at a press conference to announce the completion of a new AIT office complex in Taipei’s Neihu District.

Moy said that both President Tsai Ing-wen and AIT Chairman James Moriarty will attend a dedication ceremony on June 12, a day which he said would be a “historic milestone in the US-Taiwan relationship.”

Director Moy said the new building will be a “tangible symbol of friendship” between the two sides. He also pointed out the words displayed on a board behind him — “Strong Foundation, Bright Future” – saying that they apply to the US-Taiwan partnership, as well as to the new office building.    [FULL  STORY]

The incident highlights problems aboard Taiwan’s distant water fishing vessels, which NGOs say operate in an unregulated, lawless environment.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/21
By: Nick Aspinwall 

An Indonesian fisherman aboard the Taiwanese fishing boat Ming Man Hsiang No. 38

remains missing after being stabbed and pushed overboard by a fellow crew member during an altercation on Thursday.

The Tung Kang Fisherman Association of Pingtung County told Taiwanese news agency CNA that the fishing boat was 530 nautical miles (982 km) northeast of Guam at the time.

The association said that the suspect, who had knife cuts on his arms, was in an emotionally unstable state, prompting the boat’s Taiwanese captain, surnamed Ku (辜), to ask for help from Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency (FA). The suspect is currently being detained by the nine other Indonesian fishermen on board the vessel.

A representative of Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Seamen and Fishermen’s Service Center (漁民服務中心) (PCTSFSC) who asked not to be named told The News Lens that the FA has asked the Coast Guard to meet the boat at sea and provide assistance, after which it will lead the vessel back to shore. The Coast Guard will reach the fishing boat on Wednesday or Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

As Taiwan confirmed this year’s first Japanese encephalitis case on Monday, Taiwan CDC urged the public to heighten vigilance, take precautions against mosquitoes and ensure timely vaccination of children against Japanese encephalitis

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/21
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—As Taiwan confirmed this year’s first Japanese encephalitis case

on Monday, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) urged the public to heighten vigilance, take precautions against mosquitoes and ensure timely vaccination of children against Japanese encephalitis.

Taiwan CDC announced this year’s first confirmed Japanese encephalitis case in an over 50-year-old male who resides in Pingtung County.

The case began to develop symptoms on May 14, including lethargy, headache and fever. As of now, the case is still hospitalized for treatment, the agency said.

According to the epidemiological investigation, the case’s vaccination history is unknown and the case had not recently traveled. He works in agriculture and animal husbandry, and there is a pigpen around his workplace, Taiwan CDC said, adding that hence, it is determined the case could have acquired his infection around his workplace.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/21
By: Elaine Hou and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) A delegation of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), led by

DNC vice chair Ken Martin, is on a six-day visit to Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Monday.

The group, which arrived in Taipei on Sunday, will visit senior officials and government agencies to learn about Taiwan’s political and economic development and its policies in those areas, and the current state of cross-Taiwan Strait links, the ministry said.

It said the Democratic Party has maintained close and friendly relations with Taiwan and included wording friendly to Taiwan in its party platforms, the ministry said, while thanking the DNC for its consistent support for Taiwan.

The DNC delegation will leave Taiwan on May 25.     [SOURCE]

Itu Aba is a small strip of land in the South China Sea occupied by Taiwan. Its name in Chinese is Taiping, which means peaceful or tranquil.CreditJohnson Lai/Associated Press

The New York Times
Date: May 20, 2018
By: Steven Lee Myers

ITU ABA, South China Sea — The largest natural feature of the Spratly Islands, the hotly

disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, is a forested, sun-drenched oval of land, cleaved by a single runway that gives the place the appearance of a raw coffee bean floating in bright blue water.

Called Itu Aba, it is occupied not by China, which has aggressively asserted its territorial claims in the sea, but by its archrival, the self-governing democracy of Taiwan.

The two broadly agree that there is a historical Chinese stake in the South China Sea, but they diverge radically over how to exercise stewardship over it.    [FULL  STORY]

A personal narrative of how one expat learned to love the sweet potato-shaped island.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/20
By: James Grant 

On July 15, 2017, Taiwan raced past Canada, Australia and Singapore to become the place in the world I wanted to live the most.

I was on holiday in Seattle, talking to a traveler who had just that week returned from the island.

Having lived in the UK for the previous 26 years, any serious thought put towards moving abroad revolved around three main candidates — a quick switch to a banking job in Singapore, chancing it on the Canadian immigration lottery or treading the well-worked expat trail down Australia’s East Coast.

In the space of that conversation my understanding of Taiwan went from “some name printed on the boot of my childhood Darth Vader figurine” to a country “apparently quite good for food and cycling.”    [FULL  STORY]

As summer heat has intensified these days, many people chose to beat the hot weather by traveling up to Hehuanshan in central Taiwan over the weekend, to enjoy cool temperatures and mountain flowers, but there were just too many of them

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—As summer heat has intensified these days, many people chose to

beat the hot weather by traveling up to Hehuanshan (Mt. Hehuan), a 3,416-metre-high (11,207 ft) mountain in central Taiwan to enjoy cool temperatures and mountain flowers over the weekend, but there were so many of them that their cars clogged up the highway on the mountains.

The red- hairy azalea flowers that are blooming along Shimen Mountain Trail, Hehuanjian Mountain Trail, Hehuan East Peak Trail and other trails in the area have attracted thousands of visitors to the mountains, according to media reports.

Hehuan Police Station chief Lin Fu-chang (林福長) said cars were parked tightly one after another on both sides of the 500-meter stretch from Hehuanshan Visitor Center to Shimen Mountain and the 1.5-kilometer stretch from Wuling to Song Syue Lodge on Provincial Highway 14A, causing the police to run up and down to warn people against doing it and issue a total of 43 parking tickets.

Many visitors think that they can park on a yellow line as long as it is not a red line, but as the highway on Hehuanshan is narrow and winding, cars parked on both sides of the highway will result in wider vehicles not being able to pass, causing difficult traffic situations, Lin said. He added that these two days, some mid-size buses taking tourists to the mountains were stuck in traffic jams on the Shimen Mountain stretch of the highway.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/20
By: Tang Pei-chun, Tai Ya-chen and Evelyn Kao

Geneva, May 19 (CNA) Taiwan’s health minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) was honored as

global health diplomat in Geneva on Saturday ahead of the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), from which Taiwan has been excluded because of Chinese obstruction.

Chen was awarded the title of “Diplomat of the Global Charter” by the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) on the same day he arrived in Geneva to hold a series of events promoting Taiwan on the sidelines of the annual WHA meeting from May 21 to 26.

Though Taiwan was not invited to the WHA this year, WFPHA President Michael Moore presented the global charter to Chen in recognition of his achievements in health governance, promoting fairness in health care and facilitating the sustainable development of health care systems.

In accepting the award, Chen made the case he will be advocating this week — that while Taiwan is not a member of the World Health Organization (WHO), it has made every effort to contribute to the international community and be allowed to participate in its institutions.
[FULL  STORY]

LIVE-STREAMED: The president spoke for a half-hour on the online platform Watchout, discussing her cross-strait policy and other issues, and taking netizens’ questions

Taipei Times
Date: May 21, 2018
By: Chen Yu-fu and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer, with CNA

On the second anniversary of her inauguration, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday

said that while the two years had been somewhat bumpy, it was natural, since her administration has been pushing through a series of reforms to lay the foundation for a better future.

In a live-streamed half-hour interview with the online platform Watchout, Tsai said she would ensure that the reforms her administration has launched would be put into practice and said that the public would soon begin to see concrete results.

“We spent most of my first two years doing preparation … the next two years of my presidency, we will speed up the pace of these proposed reforms,” Tsai said.

Her administration has been preparing the legal frameworks to deal with many of the fundamental problems the nation is facing.    [FULL  STORY]