Inquirer.net
Date: February 14, 2020
By: Philippine Daily Inquirer

President Rodrigo Duterte rejected on Thursday Taiwan’s appeal to lift a ban on its citizens visiting the Philippines, saying his primary concern was the safety of Filipinos.

Taiwan said it was considering countermeasures if the Philippines did not lift the ban it imposed on Monday to contain the spread of a new coronavirus that had emerged in China, but Mr. Duterte, according to his spokesperson Salvador Panelo, had decided that the restriction stays “until the danger persists.”

“My primary concern is the health and safety of our countrymen,” Panelo quoted Mr. Duterte as saying.

On Feb. 2, the government banned all travel to and from China and its two administrative regions—Hong Kong and Macau—as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus to the Philippines. Late on Monday, however, the Department of Health (DOH) said the ban covered Taiwan, following the Philippines’ One China policy, which recognizes China and considers Taiwan a Chinese province.    [FULL  STORY]

Dissident Voice
Date: February 12th, 2020
By: Vern Loomis

It’s a thriving nation; Taiwan gets a lot of visitors for whom English is often a first or second language.  As an aid to its travelers, translations are added to many public signs.  Several years ago, I came across this helpful notice: “APPROACH INTIMATELY FOR CLEANLINESS AND DISCRETION.”  It was in a Taipei subway station, posted above a row of restroom urinals.  The English instructions were pretty clear in context, but could also, I mused, be suitably displayed behind the bar of a singles bistro.  Translation happens.

I sometimes flash back to that notice when I hear testimonial to the will of God.  Unless you’re wired for direct access, Christian reference to God’s will is usually based on Biblical knowledge.  Familiarity might still call for caution.  The Bible was originally written in three languages: the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic; the New Testament in Greek.  From those origins, and down through the ages, it’s been completely translated into nearly 700 other languages.  Each time, a translator’s perception was put to test twice: discerning the meaning/intent of the original text, and then choosing appropriate word/phraseology in the target language.  The English translation has subsequently been re-translated more than fifty times — each version’s choice of wordage dependent on the translator’s cognition and purpose.  What many deem to be God’s word has passed through multiple filtration layers of human perception and judgment.  Conjecture happens; approach with discretion.

That’s not all.  Biblical inclusion (book/chapter/verse) wasn’t a direct hand-off from God or angel.  Beyond mortal choice of wordage, it was human deliberation that determined Biblical composition.  Human minds decided which ancient (or less than ancient) scrolls were worthy of inclusion in the holy book of God’s word.  What’s now accepted as The New Testament portion of the Bible was assiduously compiled and eventually canonized (deemed sacred) in the 4th century after Christ (the final book of Revelation was included amidst controversy).  Compiling the Old Testament was a greater task and the canonization process wasn’t completed until almost a thousand years later.  All told, nearly 15 centuries of human thought, debate, and deliberation were required to determine the arguable content and composition of what’s now known as the Holy Bible.  Disputation happens; approach with discretion.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2020
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The Supreme Court yesterday issued a final verdict in the case of unlicensed cooking oil producer Kuo Lieh-cheng (郭烈成), ordering a combined sentence of 20 years in prison for aggravated fraud and breaches of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法).

Kuo had operated an underground cooking oil factory in Pingtung County’s Jhutian Township (竹田) that supplied processed oil materials to Kaohsiung-based Chang Guann Co (強冠企業), which made various “fragrant lard” products that were sold nationwide under the Chuan Tung brand and generated profit estimated at NT$6.5 million (US$216,436 at the current exchange rate).

An investigation pointed to Kuo as one of the principle figures in the 2014 tainted oil scandal, along with Chang Guann executives and Pingtung-based animal feed producer Ching Wei Co (進威).

Related cases that year embroiled Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), as well as its subsidiaries Wei Chuan Food Corp (味全) and Cheng I Food Co (正義食品), which purchased oil products from Chang Guann for the production of food products.    [FULL  STORY]