NEW LIFESTYLE: The nation has only passed the ‘midterm exam’ by controlling the virus and people must remain alert if it is to pass the ‘finals,’ Chen Shih-chung said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 08, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

While the government yesterday largely relaxed restrictions on large gatherings, as well as social distancing and mask-wearing rules, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reiterated the importance of wearing masks and practicing personal protective measures against COVID-19.

The nation has had no new domestic COVID-19 cases for eight straight weeks, and as of yesterday, 430 infected patients had been released from isolation, while only six patients were in isolation waiting for three consecutive negative test results, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center.

“There have been no domestic cases in eight weeks, so we [decided] to ease domestic restrictions,” he said.“However, strict border controls will remain,” he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Beijing's talk of aggressive 'reunification' with island risks military confrontation

Nikkei Asian Review
Date: June 7, 2020
By: Minxin Pei

OPINION
Minxin Pei is professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a nonresident senior fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

The conspicuous omission of the word "peaceful" from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's speech to the National People's Congress in late May, when referring to Beijing's resolve to reunify with Taiwan, has caused much consternation among those tracking cross-strait relations. Important speeches are carefully vetted policy pronouncements. Not having "peaceful" in front of "reunification" could not possibly have been a typo.

To underscore China's determination, General Li Zuocheng, chief of the Joint Staff of the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, declared on May 29 that "if the possibility for peaceful reunification is lost, the people's armed forces will, with the whole nation, including the people of Taiwan, take all necessary steps to resolutely smash any separatist plots or actions."

Despite the escalating rhetoric from Beijing, the probability of a military attack on Taiwan remains relatively low for the short to medium term. China has few good military options that will lead to a quick victory. Nevertheless, Beijing's belligerence and acts of military intimidation against Taiwan could generate a vicious cycle and trigger a dangerous confrontation between China and the U.S. in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing has grown frustrated that its Taiwan policy is not working and the island-nation is drifting further away. Even though Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has pursued a pragmatic and cautious mainland policy to avoid provoking Beijing, the humiliating defeat of the pro-China Kuomintang in the general elections in January raised the prospect that Tsai's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party will dominate Taiwanese politics for the foreseeable future.    [FULL  STORY]

The mayor, Han Kuo-yu, had tried to win the presidency just months ago on a Beijing-friendly platform. His removal in a recall vote reflects a stunning reversal and a hardening of Taiwan’s attitude toward China.

The New York Times
Date: June 6, 2020
By: Chris Horton and Amy Chang Chien

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Voters in the southern port city of Kaohsiung voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to remove their China-friendly mayor from office, just months after he lost his bid to unseat President Tsai Ing-wen in national elections.

The vote caps a roller-coaster two years for the mayor, Han Kuo-yu, who emerged from political obscurity to win the 2018 race in Kaohsiung, a traditional stronghold of Ms. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party. That victory served as a launching pad for Mr. Han’s presidential bid.

Saturday’s vote, known as a recall, appeared to reflect Taiwan’s hardening attitude toward China, which has been intensifying efforts to bring the island democracy under its control. The vote is the first time that Taiwanese voters have removed a mayor, whose status is similar to a governor in the United States. A new election will choose his successor.

Mr. Han, of the opposition party, Kuomintang, had campaigned for president on a platform of forging closer ties with China’s Communist government, which claims Taiwan as its territory but has never ruled it. Running on the slogan, “Safety for Taiwan, money for the people,” Mr. Han said having better ties with China would lessen the risk of conflict and improve the economy.    [FULL  STORY]

Estimated losses of up to NT$50 million due to major fire at theater group's studio in New Taipei

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/06
By: Lyla Liu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A major fire burned down the studio of Taiwan's Paper Wind Mill Theatre (紙風車劇團) early on Saturday (Jun 6) morning.

The fire at the group's studio in New Taipei City's Bali District broke was finally put out around 7 a.m., according to CNA. The conflagration was in two buildings, the one containing lights and audio equipment was more seriously affected.

One 40-year-old male factory manager suffered burns to his limbs while escaping and is being treated at Mackay Memorial Hospital, reported CNA.

The theater's deputy director, Chang Ming-yi (張敏宜), estimated losses of up to NT$50 million (US$1.6 million).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/06/2020
By: Cheng Chi-feng and Christie Chen

Kaohsiung, June 6 (CNA) Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源), a strong supporter of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), jumped to his death from his 17th-floor apartment on Saturday, hours after the city voted to recall its mayor, according to police.

Hsu, 63, a seven-term Kaohsiung city councilor, jumped from the 17th floor of the residential building at 8:45 p.m. and died immediately, Kaohsiung police said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of Hsu's death, police said. It was unclear whether his death was associated with the recall vote against Han hours earlier.

Hsu reportedly suffered an eye stroke in July 2019, but when he showed up for a council session in September, wearing an eye patch, he said he was "getting better." In the run-up to Saturday's recall election, Hsu had made some public appearances in support of Han.    [FULL  STORY]

‘NEW LIFE HAS COME’: A total of 939,090 people voted to remove Han Kuo-yu from office, more than the 892,545 votes he won to become mayor in 2018

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 07, 2020
By: Huang Hsin-po, Hung Chen-hung, Hsu Li-chuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Kaohsiung residents in a recall vote yesterday overwhelmingly voted to remove Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from office.

The result made Han the nation’s first special municipality head to be recalled, just a year-and-a-half after he won a surprise victory over a candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had run the city for two decades.

The vote was 939,090 in favor of recall and 25,051 against, with a 42.14 percent voter turnout, Kaohsiung City Election Commission data showed.

There are 2,299,981 eligible voters in the city, the data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 05 June, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center says the country’s success in containing COVID-19 has

hinged on strict border controls.

The Center’s Vice Commander, Chen Tsung-yen, said Friday that Taiwan has so far issued quarantine orders to around 150,000 people at the country’s entry points. He said that border officials have administered over 6,000 COVID-19 tests. Of Taiwan’s 352 imported cases COVID-19 so far, 138 were discovered at the border. This means that 39% of cases brought in from outside Taiwan were detected as soon as patients arrived in the country.    [FULL  STORY]

Agreement allows certified organic products to be sold as organic in either market.

Farm Progress
Date: Jun 05, 2020

A new organic equivalence arrangement between Taiwan and the United States becomes effective May 30, 2020, allowing organic products certified in the United States or Taiwan to be sold as organic in either market.

The American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States signed and exchanged letters on behalf of the United States and Taiwan on June 4.

The arrangement covers products certified to USDA organic regulations or Taiwan organic regulations that are grown or produced in the United States or Taiwan; or have their final processing or packaging in the United States or Taiwan.

“This equivalence arrangement streamlines trade in certified organic goods with Taiwan, a key international partner in the organic market sector,” said Under Secretary Greg Ibach. “This arrangement protects and increases access for American organic farmers, ranchers, and businesses to the fifth largest U.S. export market for USDA certified organic products.”    [FULL  STORY]

A tale of two squares: Hongkongers join Taiwanese at memorial linking democracy movements past and present

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/05
By: Micah McCartney, Chris Chang , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As thousands in Hong Kong turned out to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in defiance of a city-wide ban on such gatherings, their countrymen in Taipei joined Taiwanese to remember the pro-democracy activists who lost their lives in Bejing 31 years ago.

Several hundred gathered at Liberty Square west of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The vigil began with a moment of silence at 8 p.m., followed by speakers and the lighting of candles (and smartphones) to mark the atrocity.

In contrast to last year's 30th-anniversary memorial, which was several times larger and saw the participation of NGOs and government officials, including then-Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), this year's was relatively low-key. Rousing, lengthy speeches were replaced with singing, slogans, and acoustic music.

Event organizer Edith Chung (鍾慧沁) said this was by design: "I do not belong to any organization; I just want everyone to come individually." Chung, a Hong Kong native who owns a restaurant in Tainan, also spoke at the 2019 memorial but told Taiwan News that there had been "too much talking."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/05/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, June 5 (CNA) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a domestically-developed and produced antibody reagent for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the first of its kind licensed in Taiwan, an FDA official said Friday.

The license for mass production was issued last week after the antibody reagent passed clinical testing, evaluation and verification, Wang Chao-yi (王兆儀), a research fellow in the FDA's medical equipment division, told CNA.

It is the first domestic antibody reagent for COVID-19 to be licensed in the nation, Wang said, noting that it takes only 10-15 minutes for the reagent to produce results after blood is taken.

The reagent has been proved to be 90 percent accurate at coronavirus antibody testing, she added.
[FULL  STORY]