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LIST: Flight cancellations for August 9, Friday

ABS-CBN News
Date: Aug 08 2019

MANILA – Local airlines have announced the cancellation of flights to Basco, Batanes and Taipei, Taiwan and their respective return trips on Friday due to the effects of Typhoon Hanna.

The following are affected flights as of 8 p.m. Thursday:

SKYJET

  • M8 816 Manila – Basco
  • M8 817 Basco – Manila

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES

  • PR890 Manila – Taipei
  • PR891 Taipei – Manila
  • PR2696 Clark – Basco
  • PR2697 Basco – Clark
  • PR2688 Clark – Basco
  • PR2689 Basco – Clark

PAL said affected passengers may rebook and refund within 30 days from their original flight date, with rebooking or refunding fees waived.    [SOURCE]

Ju Percussion Group founder gives speech at Taiwan’s MOFA

Ju shares his views on Taiwan’s art scene

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/08
By:  Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Ju Tzong-Ching (朱宗慶), the founder and artistic director of the Ju

Ju Tzong-Ching gave a speech on “Making friends with the world through culture and art” at MOFA. (CNA photo)
Ju Tzong-Ching gave a speech on “Making friends with the world through culture and art” at MOFA. (CNA photo)

Percussion Group, was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of NGO International Affairs to give a speech on Thursday (Aug. 8) morning.

Ju spoke on the topic of "Making friends with the world through culture and art" in the fourth presentation of the series NGO talks. In the speech, Ju shared his experience in marketing Taiwan on the international stage through soft power, according to the event's Facebook page.

Ju believes that everyone, including individuals, groups, and countries, needs friends, with whom difficulties can often be overcome more easily. While cultural diplomacy can sound daunting, culture and art are powerful tools for making friends across the world, reported the Central News Agency (CNA).

Ju pointed out that culture and art can break through language and ethnic barriers to touch and inspire people who come from different backgrounds. Art in today's world is not only about creating but also stimulating innovation in all sectors, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan health care system ranked first by online business magazine

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/08
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Chung Yu-chen

Photo courtesy of the NHI

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Taiwan's health care system has been ranked best in the world out of 89 countries surveyed, according to the 2019 Health Care Index compiled by CEOWORLD, an online business magazine and news site.

The Index measures the overall quality of health care systems, including health care infrastructure, competencies of health care professionals, cost and availability of quality medicine, the magazine said.

It also takes into consideration other factors including environmental factors, access to clean water, sanitation, government willingness to impose penalties on risks such as tobacco use and obesity, according to CEOWORLD.

Of the 89 countries surveyed, Taiwan's health care system scored 78.72 out of 100, the index shows. However, the CEOWORLD index provided no information on how the individual category calculations were made.    [FULL  STORY]

Study says antidepressant could inhibit breast cancer

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 09, 2019
By: Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Researchers from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and Taipei Medical University (TMU) yesterday said they discovered that the antidepressant bupropion can be used as an anti-metastasis drug for triple-negative breast cancer.

Cell and animal experiments have confirmed the finding, an NCTU team said at a news conference in Hsinchu, where the school is based.

Researchers are in the process of applying for patents in several countries, they added.

Biopsies of cancer cells and tissues confirm that nicotine receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteins form close connections, a TMU team said.    [FULL  STORY]

Video: Thieves steal prized artifact from landmark Kinmen tomb

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 07 August, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

The Tomb of Chen Jian in Kinmen County

The Tomb of Chen Jian in Kinmen County[/caption] The outlying island of Kinmen is rich in history, but sadly, that history may need some extra protection. An unusual case of theft has forced local police to step up security at one of the island’s noted historic sites.

In life, Chen Jian was a Ming Dynasty scholar-official who made it to the top ranks of China’s imperial exam system. In death, he rests in honor in an ornate tomb that dates back to 1556.

The tomb sits in his hometown on the island of Kinmen, which today is administered from Taiwan. It’s both a place where people pay their respects to a proud local son and a registered national historic site.    [FULL  STORY]

Harry Potter website bows to fans’ demands that it restore Taiwan to China in drop-down menu

  • Wizarding World began to refer to self-governing island simply as ‘Taiwan’ in May after student objected to China suffix
  • Mainland fans threaten to turn their backs on book and movie franchise

South China Morning Post
Date: 7 Aug, 2019
By: Laura Zhou  

Mainland fans overturned a complaint by a Taiwanese student to the Harry Potter website that Taiwan should not be designated part of China. Photo: APMainland fans overturned a complaint by a Taiwanese student to the Harry Potter website that Taiwan should not be designated part of China. Photo: AP
Mainland fans overturned a complaint by a Taiwanese student to the Harry Potter website that Taiwan should not be designated part of China. Photo: AP

 

The official website of fictional wizard Harry Potter and creator J.K. Rowling has become caught up in the tensions between Beijing and Taipei after Chinese fans demanded that it recognise Taiwan as part of China.

Mainland media reported on Saturday that Wizarding World had started to refer to the self-governing island as “Taiwan” in response to a complaint soon after its launch in May. On Sunday, the Potter websites had changed their listing to Taiwan, China.

Citing a story from Taiwan-based SET News Channel that appeared in July, EastDay – a Shanghai-based government-owned news website – said a Taiwanese university student had objected to a “province of China” drop-down menu when she tried to create an account on the site.

The student, identified as Chang Kai-han, told SET News Channel that two weeks after her complaint she received feedback from the website, confirming its listing for Taiwan had been changed in line with her objection.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan airport police introduces English- and Vietnamese-speaking officers

Bahasa Indonesia is next on the list

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Airport police have English- (left) and Vietnamese-speaking officers (right) on hand (photo courtesy of airport police).
Airport police have English- (left) and Vietnamese-speaking officers (right) on hand (photo courtesy of airport police). (By Central News Agency)

Airport police have English- (left) and Vietnamese-speaking officers (right) on hand (photo courtesy of airport police). (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A total of 54 airport police officers have passed language certification exams in either English or Vietnamese, which will allow them to wear a special badge identifying them to travelers, reports said Wednesday (August 7).

The badges will come in the shape of either the Stars and Stripes for the 51 English-speakers or the red Vietnamese flag with one gold star for the three others, the Central News Agency reported.

Over recent years, the number of visitors arriving in Taiwan has gradually climbed to a record 11 million per year, with Southeast Asia a particular growth area.    [FULL  STORY]

Beitou earthquake caused by common volcanic activity: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/07
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Datun volcano group/ Image taken from Wikimedia Commons

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.2 on the Richter scale that struck Beitou in the Taipei area early Wednesday was caused by common volcanic activity in the region, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said later that day.

"Similar activity takes place every day in that area," said Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌), director of the CWB's Seismology Center.

Chen said Wednesday's temblor was a result of hot water movement rather than magma activity.

Beitou is part of the Datun volcanic system, an active volcano system which experienced its last eruption 6,000 years ago, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Ex-minister calls for Uber data-sharing requirement

COEXISTENCE: Hochen Tan said that the ride-sharing service provider, its drivers and taxi operators should be willing to work together to find space for all to survive

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 08, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The government should ask Uber Taiwan to provide certain service data as a condition to allow it to charge more flexible rates, former minister of transportation and communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said yesterday.

Hochen talked to reporters after attending a workshop organized by National Taiwan University’s Advanced Public Transportation Research Center, who asked him about issues related to Uber, as the government is scheduled to enforce an amendment to Article 103-1 — also known as the “Uber Clause” — of the Transportation Management Regulations (運輸業管理規則) on Oct. 6.

The amendment stipulates that taxi and car rental businesses should remain separate and be governed by different regulations.

If a car rental business and a ride-sharing service provider, such as Uber, wish to form a partnership, the car rental firm should submit a business plan and passengers must be charged an hourly or daily rate, the amendment states.    [FULL  STORY]

Attempts to ‘tame the sky’ come with risks: academic

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 08, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

“Taming the sky” is a strategy used by China and other authoritarian states to tackle climate change, but

National Taiwan University geography professor Chien Shiuh-shen, right, presents his research findings concerning weather modification at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times

excessive weather modification has far-reaching implications and can lead to international conflicts, an academic said yesterday

Chien Shiuh-shen (簡旭伸), a professor of geography at National Taiwan University who specializes in environmental sustainability and climate engineering politics, shared his studies on global weather modification at a news conference at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taipei.

Weather modification practices include preventing or increasing rain and snowfall, and dispersing fog and suppressing hail, Chien said.

A number of scientists have raised concern about the consequences of such practices, given weather systems recognize no borders, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
[FULL  STORY]