Taipei Times
Date: May 02, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Reuters news agency has apologized to Taiwan over a misunderstanding stemming from last week’s interview with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), during which she was asked about the possibility of another telephone call with US President Donald Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said yesterday.

In the interview, which was published on Thursday with the headline “Taiwan president says phone call with Trump can take place again,” Reuters quoted Tsai as saying that “we don’t exclude the opportunity to call President Trump himself, but it depends on the needs of the situation and the US government’s consideration of regional affairs.”

Trump, in a Reuters interview published on Friday with the headline “Trump spurns Taiwan president’s suggestion of another phone call,” said that he does not want to create problems for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) when Beijing appears to be helping efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Trump’s response has been described as a “slap in the face” to Tsai, and some Taiwanese have criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which arranged the interview, as having poor judgement and allowing itself to be “set up” by the news agency.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-30

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One of the top stories this past week was that the top US official in charge of Taiwan ties, James Moriarty, on Tuesday spoke up for Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA). That’s the convening body of the World Health Organization, set to take place in Geneva from May 22-31.

Moriarty is the chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto US embassy in the absence of official diplomatic ties. He was speaking at the opening of a four-day conference in Taipei on dengue fever, Zika virus, and other communicable diseases. Vice President Chen Chien-jen was in attendance, along with the health minister, and representatives from Singapore, Indonesia and Australia.

The AIT chief said the United States supports Taiwan’s meaningful and substantive contributions to the international community. He said the US welcomed Taiwan’s participation as an observer during the last eight meetings of the World Health Assembly and looked forward to its continued participation.

Moriarty’s expression of support for Taiwan’s WHA participation was the first from a US official since President Donald Trump took office in January.  [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 01, 2017
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The nation should garner the support of the international community and the next WHO director-general ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA), former WHO representative Peter Chang (張武修) said.

The WHO’s decisionmaking body is to meet later this month in Geneva, Switzerland, but Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation.
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Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) last week said that he will lead a delegation to the WHA even if it does not send Taiwan an invitation, adding that contingency plans have been prepared to explain Taiwan’s position and its contributions to medicine.

Chang, a physician and retired official with nearly two decades of experience in WHO affairs, on Saturday said that the government’s pledge to send a delegation to Geneva with or without an invitation is a “good move” that allows Taiwan to take the initiative.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-29

The Council of Agriculture’s quarantine bureau has confirmed a case of rabies in the rural township of Linnei, Yunlin County.

The case was discovered when an infected Formosan ferret badger entered a home in the area on April 17. A resident of the home captured the animal and sent it to a veterinary hospital where it died on April 19. After receiving word of the case, local quarantine authorities sent the animal to a lab for testing.

This is the 19th confirmed case of rabies in a Formosan ferret badger this year. To date rabies cases have been reported in 78 towns and villages spread out over nine counties. However, with the exception of occasional infections among masked palm civets, these cases are so far limited to ferret badgers.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 30, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Seventeen graduate and doctoral students from three universities on Friday concluded a nine-day seminar, organized by the Ministry of National Defense on how Taiwan defends its territory in the disputed South China Sea.

Conducted mostly on Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島), the students studied the government’s South China Sea military strategy and how sovereignty is defined under international law, the ministry said.

The students, accompanied by three lecturers, on April 20 sailed to Itu Aba on a La Fayette-class frigate, which was on a naval patrol mission to the South China Sea, the ministry said.

The group visited 11 sites, including a well, a farm and ruins of buildings built by the Aboriginals who once lived there.    [FULL  STORY]