Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 September, 2020
By: Katherine Wei

Several parent-founded civic groups and gender-equality support groups have clashed over the Education Ministry’s new list of books recommended for kids. At the beginning of every school year, the Education Ministry chooses 100 books it recommends for students in elementary and middle schools.

On this year’s list, the book “King & King” drew criticism from parent groups who were worried that the book would “turn their children gay.” Written by two Dutch writers, the illustrated children’s book tells the story of a young prince falling in love with another prince.
[FULL  STORY]

The Standard
Date: 10 Sep 2020
By: Jane Cheung

The Taipei 101 tower can be seen as pedestrians walk in Taiwan. BLOOMBERGTaiwan has placed Hong Kong back into the "medium to low" health-risk category as the city recorded only six new infections for the second straight day.

Starting yesterday, business travelers from Hong Kong were allowed to get tested on the seventh day upon entry to the island. If they test negative, they can walk out of self-isolation and observe medical surveillance for the next 21 days.

On July 22, Taiwan removed Hong Kong from the "low risk" category and required arrivals from the city to complete a 14-day home quarantine after a third wave of outbreak began in early July.

Taiwan, however, is not among 11 countries and regions that Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah has said are in "travel bubble" talks with Hong Kong.    [FULL  STORY]

Filipino fishery worker hacked 2 crew members to death, forced 6 others overboard

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Filipino fishery worker was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday (Sept. 8) for his killing spree on the high seas last year that resulted in the death of eight crew members on a fishing vessel.

A Pingtung District Court on Tuesday found Aurelio Arafiles Fronda guilty of homicide, attempted murder, and abandonment of a body, reported UDN. Fronda was the chief officer on the ill-fated Wen Peng (穩鵬號) longliner, which is registered in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township.

At 3 a.m. on Feb. 20, 2019, approximately 1,540 nautical miles from Port Louis, Mauritius, “A fight broke out when the chief officer hacked two of his crew to death in a disciplinary action dispute," according to a Taiwanese Fisheries Agency spokesperson. Of the ship's crew of 24, which included three Taiwanese, ten Filipinos, and eleven Indonesians, six reportedly jumped overboard to flee from Fronda.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/09/2020
By: Yang Shu-min and William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) A pig farmers association called on the government Wednesday to guarantee stable domestic pig prices ahead of the implementation of its policy to allow the importation of American meat containing residues of the livestock drug ractopamine.

The NT$10 billion pledged by the government to subsidize domestic pig farmers should be used exclusively to buy live pigs when the price falls below breeding costs, Lin Cheng-te (林承德), a managing supervisor of the R.O.C. Swine Association, said at a forum to discuss the issue.

He expressed worry that when the new government policy takes effect in January next year, consumers will stop buying pork of any kind to avoid eating meat that contains ractopamine.

While the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture (COA) has said it will ensure that live pig prices remain above NT$65 (US$2.22) per kilogram, as the cost of pig feed tends to fluctuate, which affects farmers' profit margins, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 10, 2020
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

Czech tycoon Karel Komarek has reached out to piano manufacturer Petrof through the Komarek

Family Foundation to purchase 5.3 million korunas (US$234,814) of pianos after a Chinese client canceled an order in protest at Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan last week.

The customer in Beijing said that it canceled the order because Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan was harmful to China-Czech relations, Petrof president Zuzana Ceralova Petrofova said.

Petrof, established in 1864, sells about 35 percent of its pianos to China, and is concerned that worsening ties between the Czech Republic and China might affect its sales.

The company expressed its appreciation to Komarek, and Petrofova said that she was surprised by Komarek’s eagerness to step in and complete the unplanned purchase.   [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 08 September, 2020
By: Paula Chao

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, says he hopes to visit Taiwan next year. That’s according

to a report by the Voice of Tibet on Monday.

The Dalai Lama has already received a letter of invitation from Taiwan though the report did not mention which institution sent him the invitation.

The Dalai Lama has not been able to receive visitors or make overseas trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the report said, if the opportunity arises, he might go to Singapore before visiting Taiwan next year.

The Dalai Lama visited Taiwan three times in 1997, 2001, and 2009. The 85-year-old spiritual leader has been in exile for 60 years.    [FULL  STORY]

Daily Mail
Date: 8 September 2020
By: AFP

Taiwan's president called Tuesday for democratic countries to combat China's regional expansionism, saying the alliance would safeguard "freedom… human rights and democracy".

Although Tsai Ing-wen did not mention China by name, there was no mistaking who she was referring to in a speech Tuesday to an Asia-Pacific security forum in Taipei.

She said Taiwan — which China regards as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize — was at the forefront of "defending democracy from authoritarian aggression".

Tsai regards Taiwan as a de facto sovereign nation, but has resisted any formal declaration of independence — a move Beijing has long warned could spark a war.    [FULL  STORY]

Prosecutor's office will continue to probe origin of falsely advertised PPE

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/08
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Nantou District Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday (Sept. 8) that the office seized a total of more than 210,000 masks of unknown origin that were falsely advertised as surgical-grade during raids in Nantou County coordinated with the Investigation Bureau and local health authorities.

The prosecutor's office said that a company owner surnamed Liu (劉) purchased 610,000 fake surgical masks, packaged them into boxes printed with the name of a national mask manufacturing team member without the company’s knowledge — Hung Wei Medical Consumable Co. — and then sold them to drugstores, according to CNA.

The prosecutor's office questioned Liu and three other people on Monday, and successfully obtained permission from the local court to detain Liu on suspicion of committing fraud and forgery and violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

The office was alerted to the fraud by a person who purchased the masks from a drugstore in Nantou City on Aug. 2. The consumer noticed that the name of the manufacturer, Hung Wei Medical Consumable Co., contained a blatant typo on the box.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/08/2020
By: Wang Shwu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) A Filipino fisherman involved in a killing spree that led to the death of eight crew members aboard a Taiwanese fishing vessel early last year was given life imprisonment on Tuesday.

Aurelio Arafiles Fronda was convicted of homicide, attempted murder and abandonment of a body, the Pingtung District Court said in its ruling.

The incident took place aboard the Taiwanese longliner Wen Peng when it was operating in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius last February.

According to Pingtung prosecutors, the murders occurred after Fronda got into a heated argument with several members of the crew, of which 11 were Indonesian, 10 Filipinos and three Taiwanese, the latter three being the captain, chief engineer and observer.    [FULL  STORY]

QUALITY MARKS: Amid concern about non-medical-grade masks from China being sold through the rationing system, manufacturers have been told to add two imprints

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

“Surgical” masks made in Taiwan must bear the imprints “MD” and “Made in Taiwan” by the end of this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported another imported case of COVID-19, a Taiwanese woman who returned from France.

To ensure that people can identify masks that have been produced domestically, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has asked local manufacturers to print “MD” — for “medical” — and “Made in Taiwan” on every flat mask they produce, starting in two weeks at the earliest, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman.

The announcement comes amid concerns about the quality of masks imported from China

Reports last week said that New Taipei City-based Carry Hi-tech (加利科技) had been bundling in non-medical-grade masks from China with the medical-grade ones for sale through the government’s mask rationing system.    [FULL  STORY]