Page Three

President visits Taiwanese social networking company Dcard

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 July, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen shows her LSE diploma to apply for Dcard account. (Photo from Tsai Ing-wen Facebook)

President Tsai Ing-wen has made a video sharing her thoughts on a recent visit to the headquarters of Taiwanese social networking platform Dcard.

Tsai said that during her visit, she was able to hear stories from young Taiwanese people about startup companies. She also said she was able to learn about current conditions in innovative industries and about the local networking environment.

The president said the mission of Dcard is for everyone to find common ground and to pull young people into discussions on different topics.

After setting up a Dcard account herself, Tsai said she plans to leave messages on the platform and to hold discussions with other web users. She shared some of her personal style of humor in the video, introducing herself as having expertise in cooking, caring for pets, reading, and international trade negotiations.    [FULL  STORY]

These are some of the cutest desserts in Taiwan

Sugar, caffeine and the uncanny valley

USA Today
Date: July 10, 2019
By: Laura Studarus

Why not enjoy a dessert with a bit more personality? — Photo courtesy of iStock / EnchantedFairy

Much has been written about Japan’s culture of cute – so much in fact that their word for the phenomena, "kawaii," has become common. But Taiwan, their neighbors to the south, also enjoy adorable like it’s a verb.

This is particularly true when it comes to food, where sugar, fruit and savory items alike are all regularly sculpted into their most picture-perfect forms – an art that started long before Instagram. (Can’t blame everything on the gram.) From enthusiast mascots to uncanny valley edible art, to kilos and kilos of sugar, here’s where you can find Taiwan’s cutest food.

Fact: there’s literally nothing in the world as adorable as your four-legged best friend. Why else would your phone be filled with endless shots of their perfect mug? If this describes you, be sure to stop in to My Cofi in Kaohsiung City, where owner Chang Kuei-fang is happy to sculpt a perfect likeness of your best friend, using foam, chocolate and jam. (She can recreate any photo you hand her – but let’s be honest, this is a stop for doggo lovers.)    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan terror suspect’s celeb mother: I’m not a bad mom

The mother and son were filmed together for the first time in 18 months since being arrested in the US in March 2018

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/11
By: Judy Lo, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Actress and TV celebrity Di Ying (狄鶯) was seen filming for a charity group

Di Ying (Image/FB@imdeeeinn)

in Taipei’s Shilin district on Wednesday (July 10), along with her terror suspect son, An Tso “Edward” Sun (孫安佐).

It was the first time Di had talked to the press since her son’s arrest and incarceration in March 2018 for threatening to “shoot up” a high school near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was at the time an exchange student at the high school.

He was jailed for 261 days before being deported as part of a plea agreement. He said the threat was a joke, but he pleaded guilty to a firearm-related charge, as police found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition and weapons in the house of his host family.

Sun was deported to Taiwan in December 2018 and quickly rose to fame as a bodybuilding YouTuber. He refused to talk to the press on Wednesday and ran away from the scene after filming.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan biggest winner at IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/10
By: Huang Li-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 10 (CNA) Taiwan emerged as the biggest winner at the 2019 IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA) with four awards, according to the Taipei City government, which won two of the prizes.

One of the awards to Taipei was for a transportation project to introduce artificial intelligence into traffic management, which was named Top Smart City Project for Transportation –Transport Infrastructure, the city's Department of Information Technology (DOIT) said in a statement Wednesday.

The other Taipei project, called Cross Learning Barriers: Omni Smart Education, was awarded the Top Smart City Project for Education prize, the department said.

Taipei is dedicated to developing a smart city, and to that end, it needs to collect and analyze big data in many areas, said DOIT head Lu hsin-ke (呂新科).    [FULL  STORY]

Asbestos warning prompts recall

OUTSOURCED: A Tainan-based company said that it received orders for four of the recalled cosmetic products, but commissioned their production to a Chinese factory

Taiei Times
Date: Jul 11, 2019
By: Wu Liang-yi and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday ordered five cosmetic products off the shelves

A chart posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s Web site lists five cosmetic products suspected of containing asbestos. The agency has instructed businesses to stop selling the products.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times

nationwide as a precaution after US and Canadian authorities warned that they could potentially contain asbestos.

The agency said in a statement that it received an international warning from the US Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada saying that specific batches of Claire’s Eyeshadows (Lot No. 08/17), Claire’s Compact Powder (Lot No. 07/15), Claire’s Contour Palette (Lot No. 04/17), JoJo Siwa Makeup Set (Batch/Lot No. S180109) and City Color Cosmetics Contour Effects Palette 2 Contour, Bronze, Highlight (Batch No. S1603002/PD-C1179) were suspected of containing asbestos.

It has ordered stores to stop selling the products and remove them from shelves, the agency said, adding that local health departments have also been instructed to step up inspections in their jurisdictions.

People in possession of these products should stop using them immediately and should not purchase them from overseas via online or other retailers, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

MOFA welcomes latest US arms sales to Taiwan

Taiwan Today
Date: July 09, 2019

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sincerely appreciates the latest arms sales to Taiwan greenlighted by the U.S. Department of State. (MOFA)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sincerely appreciates the latest arms sales to Taiwan greenlighted by the U.S. Department of State. (MOFA)

The latest arms sales to Taiwan approved by the U.S. Department of State are sincerely appreciated by the government and the people, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs July 9.
 
The decision reflects the commitment of the U.S. to the Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances, as well as the importance placed on ensuring the country maintains robust defensive capabilities in the 40th year of the TRA, the MOFA said.

Major items included in the sales are 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, 250 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, and related equipment and services. The tanks and Stingers are valued at around US$2 billion and US$223.56 million, respectively.  
 
This is the second U.S. weapons package for Taiwan this year and fourth under the administration of President Donald J. Trump. In April, the U.S. Department of State greenlighted a pilot training program and maintenance and logistics support estimated at US$500 million for the country’s F-16 fighters at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.    [FULL  STORY]

China just threatened the US over Taiwan

Washington Examiner
Date: July 09, 2019
By: Tom Rogan

China threatened the U.S. on Tuesday over a newly approved $2.2 billion American arms sale to Taiwan.

Via its Global Times propaganda outlet, China posited that "The U.S. and Taiwan must not step out of line; otherwise, a price must be paid." The article continued, "We might as well make a bold assumption. If an arms sale between the U.S. and Taiwan is not acceptable to the Chinese mainland, if the latter announces it would resolutely destroy the equipment once they are placed on the island, what would happen?"

Interestingly, the Chinese government also used its article to claim that the U.S. sale has no threat-potential. And that invites the question of why, if China believe this sale doesn't significantly strengthen Taiwan's defenses against prospective invasion, is Beijing also so aggravated? First, because it's a lie. China knows this sale does indeed effectively improve Taiwan's defense portfolio. Battle tanks, armored vehicles, and man-portable Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, were specifically chosen to contest Chinese military gaps in the early stages of any invasion. It's a common misconception that naval invasions are now simple because we're in the 21st century or something. China knows that crossing the more than 80-mile Taiwan Strait will likely entail taking major casualties from Taiwanese missile, artillery, naval, and air forces (especially if U.S. Navy submarines come into play).

In turn, Chinese planners expect that the earliest landing forces that do reach Taiwanese soil will have to fight without effective air-ground support. This is where Taiwan knows it can win: by using highly mobile forces to isolate and annihilate pockets of landing troops. While China would use its mainland missile forces to wreak havoc on fixed Taiwanese positions such as air bases and depots, it would struggle to target mobile Taiwanese forces. That's where these new tanks and stingers come in. And if the Chinese advance force can't get off the beaches, well, China has a big problem.
[FULL  STORY]

Canoers retrace ancient sea route from Taiwan to Japan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/09
By: Lee Shien-feng and Chi Jo-yao

Photo courtesy of National Museum of Prehistory

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) A crew of five people arrived in Yonaguni Island in Japan on Tuesday aboard a dugout canoe after paddling some 200 kilometers from the east coast of Taiwan, retracing a route believed to have been taken by explorers some 30,000 years ago.

The five canoers, one Taiwanese and four Japanese, paddled the boat for about 40 hours, navigating only by the stars, sun and winds, from Taitung on Taiwan's east coast to Yonaguni in Okinawa, according to Taiwan's National Museum of Prehistory (NMP).

The expedition, organized jointly by the NMP and Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science, began Sunday with the departure of the 7.6-meter dugout canoe from Taitung's Changbin Township with one woman and four men onboard.

The canoe, made of Japanese cedar wood, proved strong enough to withstand the 200-kilometer journey on the open seas, riding big waves and recovering from at least one instance of veering off course, to arrive safely in Yonaguni on Tuesday morning, according to the NMP.
[FULL  STORY]

EPA demos recycling of wrappers

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 10, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday set up the first demonstration site for recycling single-use plastic wrapping at a Carrefour Taiwan store, with an eye on inviting more hypermarkets to turn packaging into reusable materials.

The amount of large plastic wrappings used to bind boxes of goods is expected to soar due to the Ghost Festival (中元節), which falls on Aug. 15 this year, when many households prepare food for spirits that are said to have been released from the underworld.

A wholesale store produces nearly 40kg of such wrappings every day, which mostly ends up in garbage incinerators, EPA Department of Waste Management Director-General Lai Ying-ying (賴瑩瑩) told a news conference at the Carrefour store in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area.

Through the demonstration site, the agency aims to nurture a circular economy model in which more plastic wrappings are recycled and sent to reprocessing plants to be turned into other plastic products, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Medical advances showcased at Taiwan Expo

The Sun Daily
Date: 08 JUL 2019
By: Ian McIntyre

Visitors visit Taiwan Excellence booth during Taiwan Expo 2019 at Spice Convention Centre, Penang on July 8, 2019. — Sunpix by Masry Che Ani

PENANG: Taiwan has advanced its healthcare system with tech precision instruments and quality medical products to rival the best in the world. It has two top 20 hospitals in the world, according to Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) chairman James C. F. Huang.

The cost of medical treatment in Taiwan is one-fifth of those in Europe and the US, he said, adding that it has been attracting a large number of patients from Asia, Canada and the US. Many Malaysians including retired badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei have sought treatment there.

Eight Taiwanese healthcare exhibitors participated at the Taiwan Expo which was held at Setia SPICE Convention in Penang July 5 and 6.

David Wu, who is the Digisine Energytech Co Ltd general manager, said Taiwan’s growth in information communications technology (ICT) has led to the production of a tiny hearing aid, which uses the smartphone as its companion.    [FULL  STORY]