Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 September, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Taiwan’s human trials of COVID-19 vaccines have been suspended after some subjects had adverse reactions. The human trials had begun in mid-August, conducted with Oxford University’s AstraZeneca.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung spoke about Taiwan’s plan for vaccines during the weekly Central Epidemic Command Center press briefing.    [FULL  STORY]

System competitive on international market: ITRI

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/09
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A new 3D system that can evaluate the basic measurements of a pig within 15 seconds was launched Wednesday (Sept. 9) by the Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).

The technology will save labor, add precision, and upgrade the local hog farming sector just as it is facing the oncoming import of pork from the United States, CNA reported.

The government has decided to end a ban on the import of pork containing the residue of the leanness drug ractopamine from Jan. 1, provoking anger and fear from local hog farmers.

As the animal walks into a box, the 3D camera system measures and analyzes its size and appearance, COA officials said. The pig no longer has to be restrained by force while humans measure its length, height, and width, as all those elements can now be done from a distance while the animal stands inside the box.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/09/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) Taiwan, the United States, Japan and Guatemala hosted the first international forum under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) focused on Latin America and the Caribbean region on Wednesday, according to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

The forum, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was hosted by AIT, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, and the government of Guatemala, AIT said in a press statement issued that day.

"Today's webinar focused on helping countries deploy digital tools to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," AIT said. "Other virtual events in this series will also be related to aspects of the digital economy."

Topics discussed included the use of technology to overcome workplace challenges posed by the pandemic; the power of data to build resilience to global epidemic threats; and the use of artificial intelligence to limit the spread of the disease, AIT said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 10, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday urged people undergoing a 14-day mandatory quarantine and those in mandatory seven-day self-health management to abide by the rules, as 899 people have been fined for violations.

However, the center reported no new case of COVID-19 and the number of confirmed cases in the nation remains at 495.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, also said that Vietnam has been moved to the list of “low infection risk countries or areas,” from which short-term business travelers can apply for a shorter quarantine period of five days.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has been moved to the list of “low to medium infection risk countries or areas,” for which the quarantine period can be shortened to seven days upon approved application, Chen added.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 08 September, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) announced Tuesday that it will send a delegation to China to attend an annual cross-strait forum on September 20. Former Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng will head the delegation.

The KMT said that the forum is vital to cross-strait relations given that official dialogue between the two sides has stalled since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.

The party said the visit is expected to promote understanding and peace amidst growing tensions between Taiwan and China. The KMT said it hopes to lessen the challenges facing the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that was signed in 2010 and the Taiwanese businesspeople in China. The ECFA is a preferential agreement that reduces tariffs between the two sides.

The KMT said it has chosen Wang to head the delegation because he had served as legislature president for 17 years and because of his vast experience with cross strait issues.
[FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
Date: 9 Sep, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

• Trump administration’s close links with Taipei have encouraged anti-mainland sentiment and thoughts of independence
• A Biden presidency is likely to bring a cautious approach from Washington towards the self-ruled island

As voters in the United States prepare for the presidential election in November, the South China Morning Post is exploring the potential ramifications for China. The fifth part of the series looks at shifts in US policy towards Taiwan.

A consequence of the Trump administration’s China policy has been a rising confidence in Taiwan that its American allies will shield it from any attack from the mainland, which regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province, to be recovered by force if necessary.Decades of a carefully cultivated strategic ambiguity by the US over its stance on Taiwan appeared to be in doubt when newly-minted President Donald Trump broke with protocol to take an early congratulatory call from the island’s independence-leaning leader Tsai Ing-wen four years ago.'One China’ explained

Since then, a raft of pro-Taiwan legislation and billions of dollars in arms sales have bolstered the view on the island that the US will come to its defence in any military action, along with a surge in anti-mainland sentiment.    [FULL  STORY]

Event to demonstrate distinguishing features of Taiwanese indigenous tribes

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/08
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2020 Taiwan Indigenous Tourism Festival (2020台灣部落觀光嘉年華) will take place at Taipei's Songshan Cultural Park from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20, featuring music, dances, paintings, and indigenous delicacies.

According to a news release issued by the Tourism Bureau, this will be the seventh year of the festival since it was launched in 2014. Underscoring the theme of “2020 Year of Mountain Tourism,” the three-day carnival seeks to showcase the distinguishing characters and cultures of the 16 indigenous tribes and help visitors better appreciate their indigenous neighbors.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/08/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) A ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and farmers' association representatives slammed government agencies on Tuesday for bureaucratic red tape that they said hinders the employment of migrant workers for food processing plants under local farmers' and fishermen's associations.

At a press conference in Taipei, DPP lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) said the lack of labor available for food processing plants is already causing an impact on their operations.

However, government agencies continue to cite laws and regulations to push responsibility away from themselves instead of assisting them to import foreign workers to solve the problem of labor shortages.

According to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), there are currently 179 processing plants under the control of various local farmers' associations, while there are six processing plants under fishermen's associations, Chiu said.    [FULL  STORY]