Radio Taiwan International
Date: 25 August, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

A total of 30 restaurants in Taipei and Taichung received stars by the Michelin Guide this year. This is the first year that the global culinary guide rated restaurants in Taichung. Four of the starred restaurants were in the central city of Taiwan. 

Along with restaurants in Taipei, the Michelin Guide also included ratings for restaurants in Taichung for the first time this year.  Le Palais of the Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei won the three-star rating for the third year in a row. 

Three Taipei restaurants received a Michelin star for the first time. They include A Cut of the Ambassador Hotel which serves US and Australian beef steaks,  the Spanish restaurant Molino de Urdanize and Japanese restaurant Sushi Akira. The Taichung restaurants that received a Michelin star are Taichung’s Fleur de Sel, Forchetta and Oretachi No Nikuya. Taichung’s JL Studio featuring Asian cuisine won a two-star rating.    [FULL  STORY]

The Washington Free Beacon
Date: Agust 25, 2020
By: Jack Beyrer

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that China "knows what I'm going to do" if the Communist country tries to invade Taiwan.

"It is a very big subject. It is a very powerful subject, but I think China understands what I am going to be doing," Trump told Fox News.

Trump's comment comes amid a recent push by his administration to develop closer ties with the island country as Beijing flexes its muscles. 

Earlier this month, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar visited Taiwan, where he discussed deepening economic and security partnerships with the democratic nation. Azar is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country since 1979.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan says Chen Wei-jen used Taiwan as relay point to ship mysterious packages abroad

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/25
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Mysterious packages reported in several countries since July. (Washington State Department of Agriculture photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwanese legislative aide Chen Wei-jen (陳惟仁) has been suspected of using Taiwan as a relay point to forward mysterious packages from China to other countries in the last few weeks, according to Japanese intelligence.

Since July, multiple unsolicited packages with misleading descriptions and Chinese lettering have been reported across the U.S., Canada, France, Japan, and Taiwan. The packages initially contained unidentified foreign seeds while some more recent ones had surgical masks inside.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 25), Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) pointed out that some of the packages found in other countries were forwarded through Taiwan from a third origin. He believes that Beijing is trying to defame Taiwan by using it as a relay point.

Wang said the Japanese intelligence has provided information that suggests the packages were forwarded using Chen's post office account. He said this could potentially threaten Taiwan's national security and that the inspection units must not take the matter lightly, reported New Talk.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/25/2020
By: Chao Ching-yu and Kay Liu

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) The Ju Percussion Group will present three experimental works created over the past 20 months by percussionists incorporating food, multimedia and the circus, the group said during a press conference Monday.

"Now it's time for me to pay it forward and give emerging groups a chance to take on challenges and pursue their dreams," said group founder Ju Tzong-ching (朱宗慶), who noted that the group began the Ju Percussion Group Laboratory in 2016 because he himself was given many opportunities when he was young.

This will be the third time Ju's group will have presented works by new talent. The latest batch of talent have been given 20 months — longer than the time allotted in past years — to create and develop new works, according to the group.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 26, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter

The public should pay greater attention to the issue of “digital sexual violence,” and people whose private images have been disseminated without their consent should seek help, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation said yesterday.

“In recent years, with the advancement of Internet technology, ‘digital sexual violence’ has become a new type of crime that knows no bounds,” the foundation said.

People’s private sexual images continue to be distributed without their consent, as shown by media reports, so the foundation in 2015 established a hotline and Web site to help victims, and their family and friends, consult with professionals, it said.

From 2015 to June, the hotline served 374 people, foundation chief executive officer Tu Ying-chiu (杜瑛秋) told a news conference at the Ama Museum in Taipei.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 24 August
By: Katherine Wei

For people using only sign language to communicate, facial expressions and lip-reading is as important to them as signing with their hands. But as COVID-19 spreads on in the world, this has become more challenging because people are wearing masks all the time. 

The pandemic is going on. You need to wear a mask but you work in a noisy environment like a bubble tea shop. Even if you shout, your customers may not be able to hear you. So you remove it for them to read your lips. 

In the time of COVID-19, masks can make communication a little harder, especially for those who have hearing disabilities. Dandelion Hearing and Language Association CEO Hsieh Li-fang says visual cues are essential for them to ensure clearer communication. 

The government is working on a solution to this problem by designing a new kind of mask that is partially transparent. These masks are designed for those who work or live with people with hearing disabilities. It will make everyday communication easier for both parties. 
[FULL  STORY]

Defense One
Date: August 24, 2020
By: Andrea Stricker

Washington recently showed solidarity with Taipei by sending a delegation led by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in decades. But amid rising Chinese efforts to infringe the sovereignty of its neighbors, including provocative military maneuvers and verbal threats, the United States can do more to protect Taiwan’s independence — starting with galvanizing support for Taipei’s membership in international organizations and UN agencies.

There is an especially strong case for Taiwanese admission to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors global nuclear proliferation. Taiwan has stellar non-proliferation credentials, whereas China bears responsibility for the proliferation of nuclear-weapons technology to some of the world’s most dangerous regimes. But it is Taipei that was ejected from the IAEA, thanks to the UN’s 1971 decision to switch official recognition to the People’s Republic of China on the mainland — and Taipei that has been blocked by Beijing as it bids to join or rejoin various international organizations, pacts, and regimes. 

Taiwan not only adheres to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty despite its official non-member status; it is a top performer. Assisted by a U.S.-IAEA-Taiwan agreement, Taipei applies the IAEA’s highest standard of “integrated safeguards” to its civilian nuclear program, as well as the watchdog’s rigorous verification agreement, the Additional Protocol.     [FULL  STORY]

Mayor Huang Wei-cher receives Tainan’s first mask violation ticket after new regulation took effect

Taiwan News
Date: .2020/08/24
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) on Monday (Aug. 24) received the city's first mask violation ticket after removing his face covering during an indoor ceremony to take pictures.

Earlier this month, Huang announced that a compulsory mask-wearing policy will be enacted once again in all indoor spaces as a response to the country's increased number of imported coronavirus cases. He said there would be a two-week grace period before the regulation came into effect on Aug. 17 and that any violations after that would result in heavy fines.

While attending a recognition ceremony Sunday (Aug. 23) at the Chongxue Elementary School, Huang was questioned by an audience member for failing to keep his mask on when taking pictures with the awardees. The city police said they also received a video proving Huang's violations by people who were at the event.

After an investigation, the Tainan Education Bureau confirmed that Huang had briefly removed his mask during pictures and interactions with children but assured that he had put his mask on right after. Meanwhile, the Tainan City Health Bureau said it has decided to issue the fine nonetheless, hoping that this would encourage local citizens to respect the public health regulations, reported CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/24/2020
By: Chiu Yun and interns
Grace Hu, Meryl Kao, and Eden Wang

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CNA) Chinese crested terns, an endangered species known locally as the "bird of myth," have been spotted among the thousands of terns that land on the outlying island of Matsu for a break on their migration route, according to the Lienchiang County government.

The first few of the birds started arriving in the Matsu National Science Area on Saturday to avoid a typhoon and are hoped to bring profit to the Matsu tourism industry, said Wang Chien-hua (王建華), director of the Economic Development Department of Lienchiang County.

The Chinese crested tern, whose numbers were estimated at under 100 in the world as of July, had not been seen for 60 years anywhere in the world until it was sighted at the Matsu Islands Tern Refuge in 2000, according to the Forestry Bureau.

The bird was listed among the 100 most endangered species in the world in 2012 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and is named as critically endangered on the IUCN red list.    [FULL  STORY]

FARS News
Date:  Aug 23, 2020

TEHRAN (FNA)- The majority of Taiwan people favor friendly relations across the Taiwan Strait, according to a latest survey released by the Grassroots Influence Foundation on Saturday.

Of the 1,076 respondents interviewed via telephone from August 13 to 18, 64 percent agreed that Taiwan should maintain friendly relations with the Chinese mainland while only 15 percent supported the idea that the island should compete with and confront the mainland, according to the survey, Xinhua reported.

The survey showed that there is a common expectation among Taiwan people that the two sides across the Strait should maintain amicable relations and work for mutual benefits, stated Chen Sung-po, chief of the foundation's survey department.

Another survey released by Taiwan-based China Times on August 14 also showed that 58.1 percent of the respondents favored more cross-Strait exchanges and among the respondents aged between 20 and 29, 72.4 percent supported more frequent exchanges.    [FULL  STORY]