Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/15/2020
By Wang Hung-kuo, Shen Pei-yao,
Chang Ming-hsuan and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) A company in New Taipei is being investigated for allegedly selling falsely labeled face masks from China, with 60,000 of the masks seized, the city government said Tuesday.

Team Power Healthcare Ltd. was found to have imported the face masks from China and falsely labeled them as being made in Malaysia, which was the country of origin of the goods specified in the import permit, according to the city's Department of Public Health.

The company is accused of importing the Chinese-made face masks without obtaining the correct import permit, thereby violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Criminal Code, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) said, adding that the products will be pulled from store shelves.

Meanwhile, Team Power posted a new return policy on its official website, saying that returns of the Chinese-made masks are accepted from now until Oct. 7.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 16, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

Parents and children led by the Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party and other groups yesterday rallied outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in support of LGBT education after King & King (國王與國王), a book for children depicting a homosexual relationship, drew protests.

The rally followed a similar one on Wednesday last week.

The Ministry of Education gave the book to children as part of a program to promote reading among students entering their first year of elementary or junior-high school.

Every first-grader was given one book from among 100 titles, including the Mandarin-language edition of the picture book.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 14 September, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Taiwan’s government has not responded directly to allegations that it’s been holding five refugees from Hong Kong for the past two months.

Taiwanese journalist Edd Jhong on Saturday posted details on Facebook about the five people in custody. The detainees are thought to be protestors who participated in a movement opposing a proposed extradition bill. 

According to the Taiwan-based China Times newspaper, the five individuals were rescued by local authorities near a group of Taiwanese-controlled islands in the South China Sea. 
[FULL  STORY]

• Security chief John Lee warns self-ruled island against ‘harbouring criminals’ and calls for their return
• Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang stresses his government cares about Hong Kong and its people

South Chins Morning Post
Date: 14 Sep, 2020
By: Natalie Wong

Hong Kong’s security chief has doubled down on his calls for Taiwan to hand over five detained residents who allegedly fled to the self-ruled island in an asylum bid, as its premier said his government hoped to offer substantial help to people in need.

Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu also revealed his side had yet to receive any information from Taiwanese authorities on the condition of the individuals.

“We did not receive any request for assistance from their families either,” he wrote on his official blog on Monday.

The group’s detention was confirmed on Sunday by Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency, which quoted an unidentified source.    [FULL  STORY]

Earlier detection of fires would lead to significantly better outcomes for people and property: County commissioner

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/14
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Hualien County Fire Department on Monday (Sept. 14) urged residents to install smoke alarms, as the county saw more than 70 home fires from January to August this year.

Hualien County Commissioner Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) led an assembly on Monday to call for the public to pay more attention to fire prevention. She said that Hualien has seen more fires recently, with some victims losing everything, according to CNA.

If the fires had been spotted earlier, losses would not have been so severe, she added.

Peng Ming-te (彭明德), disaster prevention section chief at Hualien County Fire Department, said that fires in the county in the first eight months of this year increased 37.5 percent compared to the same period last year, with a two-fold increase in fire-caused property damage. He added that this should be seen as a warning sign.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 9/14/2020 07:20 PM
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's subsidies for people staying at quarantine hotels for the mandatory isolation period amid the COVID-19 pandemic will last until the end of this year but will be reduced to keep the budget sustainable, the Tourism Bureau announced Monday.

The bureau said in a statement that the government subsidies, aimed at encouraging hostels and hotels to offer lodgings to people subjected to home quarantine or home isolation, were set to expire on Aug. 31.

However, in light of the continuous demand as the pandemic remains active, the subsidies will be prolonged until Dec. 31, the bureau said, but after taking international COVID-19 outbreaks and the government's limited budget into consideration, it decided to cut the money from NT$1,200 (US$41) per person per day to NT$800, starting Oct. 1.

Moreover, those eligible for the quarantine hotel subsidies will be limited to Taiwanese nationals and permanent residency holders, also starting Oct. 1, the bureau added.
[FULL  STORY]

TIME FOR CHANGE: Most of those at a public hearing organized by the DPP’s Chung Chia-pin also agreed that the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan should be abolished

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 15, 2020
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan needs a new constitution, as the current one was adopted in Nanjing in 1946, when the Republic of China (ROC) represented all of China, while the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan should be abolished, legal experts and academics said yesterday during a public hearing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.

Chang Kun-sheng (張錕盛), a law professor and secretary-general of the Taiwan Administrative Law Association, said that it is time to draft a new constitution.

The ROC Constitution was adopted during a National Constituent Assembly meeting in Nanjing shortly after World War II and before the Chinese Civil War had fully erupted, Chang said.

Taiwan only had 18 representatives at that assembly, out of 2,050 delegates representing all Chinese provinces and regions, political parties, trades, the elite of society and overseas Chinese groups, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Lumir Aschenbrenner points out how ‘one China does not exist'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/13
By: Jules Quartly, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Czech Senator Lumir Aschenbrenner has turned on China after it promised to ban “everyone who accompanied the president of the Senate” on a diplomatic mission to Taiwan.

The senator was one of around 90 Czechs who landed in Taiwan at the end of August along with Senate President Milos Vystrcil. In a tweet, Aschenbrenner attacked the notion of “one China”:

“The China Daily writes that everyone who accompanied the President of the Senate @Vystrcil_Milos in Taiwan, will be banned from entering China. So (am) I. Because I can go to Taiwan at any time, it is another irrefutable proof that one China does not exist.”

There was widespread support for Aschenbrenner’s position; a netizen called Berejser said: “I cannot enter China. I can enter Taiwan. Therefore, Taiwan is not China. Flawless.” Another, Jace Ko, wrote, “One Taiwan, one nation. Thank you for being on the frontline in Europe standing up against China,”    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 14, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Daily life has grown increasingly difficult for the homeless, economically and in other ways, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, charity group Homeless Taiwan said.

Homeless Taiwan secretary-general Lee Ying-tzi (李盈姿) on Wednesday said that while the group has received enough monetary donations to operate shelters and enough supplies, such as masks and hand sanitizer, to make them available to homeless people at the facilities, life has become tougher for many homeless people.

A survey conducted by the charity group found that nearly 70 percent of homeless people are employed, mostly in temporary jobs such as handing out leaflets and holding advertising signs, she said.

However, their job opportunities have in the past few months dwindled due to the pandemic, while fewer charity groups have provided them free meals and supplies since the outbreak of the virus, she said.    [FULL  STORY]