Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/21
By: Yeh Su-ping and Emerson Lim

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Sunday called on the international hacktivist community to help amplify the voice of the Taiwan people to promote the country's democratic development and policy goals.

Speaking at the award ceremony of the 2019 Taiwan Presidential Hackathon in Taipei, Chen said Taiwan hopes that through the hackathon competition, it can share the spirit of co-creation with international friends.

This is in line with the purpose of President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) recent Caribbean visit, which was to share with the world Taiwan's advancements in the areas of democracy and technology and its resolve to help realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, Chen said.

Hacktivists typically engage in the use of technology to promote political agendas or social change, seeking solutions to problems through open data and group efforts, Chen noted.
[FULL  STORY]

Tropical Storm Danas caused record breaking rainfall in Southern Taiwan Friday

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/20
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After heavy rains alerts were issued for southern Taiwan, Tropical Storm Danas arrived on Friday (July 19) hitting Kaohsiung and Tainan with a rapid recor-breaking rainfall in just over two hours.

Several neighborhoods in Kaohsiung suffered serious flooding as a result, which stalled transportation in parts of the city. Many Kaohsiung residents on Friday night and Saturday morning blasted Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for what they see as an inadequate response to the problem.

After attending a disaster assessment meeting in the late afternoon, the Mayor of Kaohsiung left to enjoy a lavish dinner hosted by the Kaohsiung City Dining Occupation Labor Union (高雄市餐飲職業工會), reports Liberty Times. As the city experienced flooding due to the rainfall, Han was recorded drinking and laughing, seemingly unconcerned with the city's infrastructure.

By late evening, netizens were already posting photos of Han having dinner at the Lin Palace restaurant alongside photos of his previous electoral opponent, Chen Chi-Mai (陳其邁). Chen is the Vice Premier and the current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson, who was outside in the downpour, wearing a poncho, at a city pump station working with a disaster assessment team.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/20
By: Lin Hung-han, Alyx Chang, Huang Ching-yi and Chung Yu-chen

San Diego, July 19 (CNA) The work of nine Taiwanese artists is on display for the first time at an annual international comic book convention in southern California, which is considered one of the top events of its kind in the world.

Three of the Taiwanese artists are also attending the convention, signing books and meeting with fans at the Taiwan pavilion at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Wei Liang-cheng (魏良成), whose work "Task Ranger" portrays the spirit of martial artists, told CNA on the opening day Thursday that American comics obviously are well protected by intellectual property laws, which boosts the development of comics as a mass entertainment industry in the United States.

Another Taiwanese artist, Barz who created the folk deity "Sword Lion," said he was thrilled to see the enthusiasm of the fans at the show.    [FULL  STORY]

THIRD TIME LUCKY? The centers said that a man in Tainan sought treatment last week, but dengue was not diagnosed until his third visit to a doctor

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 21, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged medical practitioners to be vigilant after a new

dengue fever case was diagnosed only on a third visit to a doctor.

A man in his 60s who lives in Jhongsiao Borough (忠孝) in Tainan’s East District (東區) was diagnosed with the disease after symptoms appeared on Saturday last week. He has not traveled overseas recently.

The man sought treatment on Sunday last week and Thursday for fever, headache, loss of appetite and fatigue, but dengue fever was not diagnosed, the CDC said.

City health authorities tracking those who had direct contact with people diagnosed with the disease spoke with the man on Friday and test results showed the he was infected with dengue virus type 2.
[FULL  STORY]

Radiio Taiwan Internatiinal
Date: 19 July, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

Pharmacies are offering travelers free consultation services.[/caption] Summer is peak travel season. However, when heading abroad, it’s not unusual to have some worries about staying healthy. Luckily, finding out what medications to bring with you has never been easier thanks to a new initiative by the Centers for Disease Control.

Summer vacation is in full swing, and that means people are scrambling to travel overseas. But going abroad isn’t without its risks. Aside from barriers, both linguistic and cultural, health is also a concern for anyone leaving the country.

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control has teamed up with local pharmacy chains to provide travelers with consultation services on what kind of medications to prepare for an overseas trip. Travel blogger Ace Chen says it’s imperative for travelers to check the public health status of any country of they plan to visit. However, those in a hurry can simply ask a pharmacist for advice at any local pharmacy.
[FULL  STORY]

The Telegraph
Date: 19 JULY 2019
By: Nicola Smith, asia correspondent

AChina tour by Prague’s Philharmonic Orchestra has been cancelled and the city zoo’s long-held dreams of hosting a panda shattered in an escalating feud between a maverick Czech mayor and Beijing. 

China is furious at Zdenek Hřib, 38, the city’s anti-establishment mayor, for refusing to toe Beijing’s line over its sensitivities about the status of Taiwan and Tibet.

Since his election less than a year ago, Mr Hřib, a Czech Pirate Party politician, has flown the Tibetan flag at the capital’s city hall, met with Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese president, and resisted Chinese demands to expel Taiwan’s representative from a meeting of foreign diplomats.

Mr Hřib, a doctor who did a medical training internship in Taiwan, has also openly demanded that China remove a clause from a Prague-Beijing cooperation that requires the Czech capital to "respect the one-China policy and acknowledge Taiwan as an inseparable part of Chinese territory".
[FULL  STORY]

Harvard tops the list, with Cambridge and Oxford only non-U.S. schools in the top 10

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – National Taiwan University (NTU) ranks between No.51 and No.60 in the world for its reputation, according to a list drawn up by Times Higher Education.

Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford top the list, followed by Cambridge and Oxford, with the rest of the top 10 filled by other educational institutions in the United States.

The first Asian college on the list is the University of Tokyo at No.11, while two schools in China, Tsinghua University and Peking University, also feature in the top 20.

NTU counts more than 31,000 students, with a female-to-male ratio of 40:60, according to the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2019. The college’s percentage of foreign students is lower than most other universities with a similar ranking, 8 percent, the surveysays. Meanwhile, there are only 11.5 students per member of staff.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/19
By: Feng Shao-fu and Flor Wang

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) The Chinese crested tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), a rare bird on the brink of extinction, has been spotted again this year on the Taiwan-held Matsu Islands — its original habitat — researchers said Friday.

The return of the endangered bird, a tern in the family Laridae, to Matsu for four consecutive years means the bird has a regular migratory path and has grown a sense of affinity with the environment on the islands, researchers at National Taiwan University said.

The Chinese crested tern spotted in Matsu was identified as A74, which flew back to Matsu after being released by researchers into the wild in July 2015 with a white and blue tag.

It is a critically endangered species, with only 100 estimated to still exist in 2000.
[FULL  STORY]

OVERFISHING: The agreement passed after China and Vanuatu dropped their opposition. Taiwan’s quota of below 180,000 tonnes is manageable, authorities said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 20, 2019
By:: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) on Thursday agreed to set quotas for saury fishing

next year, the Fisheries Agency said yesterday.

Taiwan, participating under the name Chinese Taipei, would limit its catch to less than 180,000 tonnes, the agency said.

Formally established in 2015, the group’s seven other members are Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, Vanuatu, Canada and the US, according to information on the commission’s Web site.

Nearly 90 Taiwanese ships operate in the North Pacific’s high seas from July to November every year, bringing back an average annual catch of 160,000 tonnes and making Taiwan one of the major consumers of the species, the agency said.    [FULL  STORY]