• Island admits using systems to tail mainland aircraft but do not say which ones were involved
• Tactic could be used again but is more of a warning than a threat to targeted planes, analyst says

South China Morning Post
Date: 11 Aug, 2020
By: Liu Zhen

Taiwan for the first time tracked People’s Liberation Army fighters with surface-to-air missile radars on Monday, a tactic that could become more common in the future, an observer said.

The Taiwanese defence ministry said it used the systems to tail and expel the PLA J-10 and J-11 fighter jets, which crossed the “median line” of the Taiwan Strait – the unofficial airspace boundary between the island and the mainland.The incident came as 

US Health Secretary Alex Azar started his landmark trip to Taiwan.

It is the first time the Taiwanese military has admitted using the ground-based anti-aircraft missiles during an interception.    [FULL  STORY]

Health delegation's arrival with backdrop of carrier strike group signals greater US commitment to come

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/11
By: Yang Sen-hong, human rights activist and public health expert, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

In the next stage of the pandemic era, Taiwan must reach out to share its health expertise internationally, all the while maintaining economic growth and keeping the coronavirus at bay; the visit of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and his delegation signifies Taiwan is already taking steps in the right direction.

Another positive indicator is former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori making his first-ever one-day trip to Taipei to pay tribute to the late president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). The trip reflects Japan’s staunch support for Taiwan and serves as a diplomatic precedent for other world leaders.

Meanwhile, the nation must be a careful steward of its economy and accept that opening up the border in some form is inevitable. The lockdown is unsustainable, and even a strong economy cannot afford it.

Over the past seven months, multiple vaccines that produce antibodies — as well as other treatments — have been developed, paving the way for the lifting of the lockdown. Both the U.S. and Taiwan are in this race, and the U.S. health delegation has conveyed its view that Taiwan is capable of playing one of the leading roles in a global health paradigm shift.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/11/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Aug. 11 (CNA) Visiting United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Tuesday admitted that he "accidentally mispronounced" President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) surname during their Monday meeting but said no offense had been intended.

"In my remarks, I referred to President Tsai five times, in one of those instances, I accidentally mispronounced. I feel certain President Tsai took no offense because of course no offense was intended," Azar told CNA during an exclusive interview Tuesday.

The incident occurred during their meeting at the Presidential Office, in the highest level visit to Taiwan since the U.S. switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979.

In his opening statement, Azar mispronounced the name of President Tsai and instead said something closer to "tsee," which sounds very much like the surname of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).    [FULL  STORY]

CHASTISING CHINA: Taiwan’s approach to combating the coronavirus stands in stark contrast to the country where the outbreak began, the US health secretary said

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 12, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

International organizations are not the place to play politics, especially when the matter relates to healthcare, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in Taipei yesterday, adding that the region and the world are safer because of Taiwan’s commitment to health promotion.

On the third day of his visit, the highest-level visit by a senior US Cabinet official in decades, Azar met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) at the Grand Mayfull Hotel in Zhongshan District (中山) yesterday morning, following his meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Monday.

Taiwan faces an increasingly difficult situation as China continues to pressure it into accepting its political conditions, “conditions that would turn Taiwan into the next Hong Kong,” Wu said before his closed-door meeting with Azar.

“The people of Taiwan are all too familiar with dealing with threats, be it military, diplomatic or the threats of epidemics,” Wu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 August, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Taiwan’s presidential office has expressed concern and regret over the arrest of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai. 

Lai is the founder of Next Digital, which runs publications, like Apple Daily, in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Hong Kong authorities arrested Lai and six others on Monday morning on suspicion of foreign collusion, under a newly minted Hong Kong security law. 
[FULL  STORY]

UPI
Aug. 10, 2020
By: Elizabeth Shim

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar (L) and his Taiwanese counterpart Chen Shih-chung (R) signed a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation on Monday. Photo by Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA-EFE

Aug. 10 (UPI) — Chinese fighter jets trespassed the center of the Taiwan Strait in an apparent warning to Taipei as Taiwan received its highest-level U.S. official visit since 1979.

Chinese fighter jets Shenyang J-11 and Chengdu J-10 crossed the unofficial boundary that separates Taiwan from the mainland on Monday, Taipei's ministry of national defense said, according to Taiwan News.

The "People's Liberation Army Air Force jets' deliberate intrusion…in the Taiwan Strait have seriously undermined regional security and stability," Taiwan's air force said following the incident.

Taiwan also said that it could "respond appropriately to changes in the enemy's disposition to maintain the security of the homeland," according to the report.    [FULL  STORY]

Vaccine can effectively inhibit virus replication, causes 99% reduction of virus quantity in hamsters

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/10
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — One of Taiwan's COVID-19 DNA-based vaccine candidates has been shown to cause a significant decline in the amount of virus in the lungs of animals being tested.

Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) announced on Monday (Aug. 10) that it has made progress on a gene-based vaccine co-developed with the Taichung-based biotech company Enimmune. Animal tests have shown that the amount of coronavirus in the lungs of infected hamsters inoculated with the candidate vaccine, developed through genetic engineering, is far smaller than in those uninoculated.

The uninoculated hamsters experienced a loss of weight and vitality. The inoculated hamsters did not.

Virus replication was effectively inhibited among the inoculated hamsters, which resulted in a 99 percent reduction of the amount of virus in the creatures, indicating that the vaccine offers excellent protection. In a signal that the vaccine is fairly safe, a high level of T helper type 1 cells (Th1) were generated among the inoculated hamsters as well.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/10/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) Three Control Yuan members said they will investigate existing regulations for applications to hire migrant seaman after a broker in Yilan allegedly infringed on human trafficking laws.

In a statement, Control Yuan members Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), Wang Yu-ling (王幼玲), and Chi Hui-jung (紀惠容) said the investigation stems from an arrest of a manpower broker surnamed Huang (黃) last week.

Huang allegedly applied for migrant workers through legal processes but then managed through various tactics to direct them to the lucrative illegal labor market.

"The act has seriously violated the country's human rights protection policy," the statement said.    [FULL  STORY]

CHINESE FIGHTERS: Beijing marked the US Cabinet member’s visit by briefly sending two warplanes across the median line of the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 11, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in the highest-level official meeting between the two nations since 1979.

“It is a true honor to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from [US] President [Donald] Trump to Taiwan,” Azar said during the open portion of his courtesy call to the Presidential Office, which was streamed live online before Tsai and Azar held a closed-door meeting.

“Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been among the most successful in the world, and that is a tribute to the open, transparent, democratic nature of Taiwan’s society and culture,” Azar said.

The US has expressed its admiration for Taiwan’s democratic success in tangible ways, such as signing legislation to strengthen the bilateral partnership and opening a new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) complex in Taipei in 2018, Azar said.    [FULL  STORY]

Beijing warns US President Trump that the visit threatens peace and stability in the region.

Al Jazeera News
Date: Aug 8, 2020
By: Sarah Clarke

The United States health secretary has just arrived in Taiwan for a visit that has angered China.

Alex Azar's three-day trip is being hailed as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation in combating COVID-19.

But Beijing has warned President Donald Trump that the visit threatens peace and stability in the region.

It is the highest-level visit to the island by an American diplomat in more than 40 years.
[FULL  STORY]