Page Three

TANG PRIZE/Three immunologists share Tang Prize in biopharmaceutical science

Focus Taiwan
Date:  06/19/2020
By: Emerson Lim

From left to right: Charles Dinarello, Marc Feldmann and Tadamitsu Kishimoto (Photos from tang-prize.org)

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) Three renowned immunologists — Marc Feldmann, Charles Dinarello and Tadamitsu Kishimoto — have been awarded the Tang Prize in biopharmaceutical science, the head of the selection committee announced Friday at a press conference in Taipei.

The immunologists were recognized for their respective contributions to the development of cytokine-targeting biological therapies for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, according to the award citation released by the Tang Prize Foundation.

Cytokines are proteins, produced by the immune system, that transmit messages to various cells of the body and are contributors to inflammatory diseases, autoimmune syndromes, and cancers.

Feldmann, 75, is a prominent Australian immunologist known for his contribution to the development of anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.    [FULL  STORY]

Gay pride parade to take place on Sunday next week

Taipei Times
Date:  Jun 20, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The nation’s annual gay pride parade is to be held on Sunday next week, even as many other cities around the world are planning virtual festivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Taiwanese event will recognize those cities that have had to cancel their parades by handing out 500 posters in Taipei for participants to write the name of a city or country they wish to represent in the march, the organizers said yesterday.

The estimated 1,000 participants are to gather at Liberty Square and march around the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall complex, said Darien Chen (陳宏昌), a consultant at the Taiwan Gay Sports and Taiwan Gay Development Movement Association.

“Knowing that over 475 pride events around the world have been canceled just broke my heart,” said Chen, who represented Taiwan at Mr Gay World 2013.    [FULL  STORY]

Heat warnings for much of Taiwan as mercury breaks 38C in places

Radio Taiwan Internartional
Date: 18 June, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The Central Weather Bureau put much of Taiwan under a heat advisory Thursday.

The Central Weather Bureau has issued heat warnings covering much of Taiwan. That’s as high pressure over the Pacific and the subsiding of southwesterly winds send temperatures up well into the 30s Celsius.

The highest temperatures were recorded in Hualien County on the east coast, in particular in its Eastern Rift Valley. There, in the Fuyuan National Forest Recreation Area, the mercury hit 38.6C at noon Thursday. This was the third day in a row in which temperatures around Hualien broke 38C, prompting the Central Weather Bureau to issue its highest-level heat warning for the county.    [FULL  STORY]

Aegir suffers dropfall incident offshore Taiwan

Offshoe Energy
Date: June 18, 2020,
By: Nadja Skopljak

Heerema Marine Contractors’ (HMC) heavy lift vessel Aegir has experienced a dropfall incident off the coast of Taiwan.

The incident occurred on 15 June at 16:42 local time.

No one was injured and no environmental impact was reported, only the piling frame and pin pile suffered minimal damage, Heerema said.

The exact cause is yet unknown and will be the subject of an investigation.    [FULL  STORY]

US Navy flight over Taiwan proves it’s not part of China

Former US Defense Department official says flight over Taiwan signals two countries not intimidated by China

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/18
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Route of CNV7642 reported by planefinder. (Planefinder screenshot)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A former U.S. defense official told VOA that last week's flight by a U.S. Navy aircraft showed the U.S. does not consider Taiwan to be part of Chinese territory.

On June 9, a U.S. Navy Boeing C-40a Clipper was detected flying over northern and western Taiwan by aircraft spotting sites. The flight was unusual because it was the first time a U.S. military aircraft had been spotted over Taiwan since two Marine F-18s landed at Tainan Air Force Base for repairs in 2015.

In an interview with VOA, the former U.S. Defense Department official responsible for China affairs, Joseph Bosco, said the U.S. has long considered Taiwan to be one of its "strategic and security partners." He said the fact that an American military aircraft had flown directly over Taiwan sends a clear signal the two countries have a close relationship and that neither will be intimidated by China's military provocations.

On Monday (June 15), Ministry of National Defense Spokesman Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang condemned the U.S. for not first "obtaining permission from China before flying over its territory," according to China Daily. Ren then described the incident as "extremely erroneous and dangerous."    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan investigating reports ship captain assaulted Indonesian sailor

Focus T&aiwan
Date: 06/18/2020
By: Yang Su-min and Matthew Mazzetta

CNA file photo of a Taiwanese fishing vessel for illustrative purpose only.

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) Taiwan's Fisheries Agency said Thursday that it is investigating Indonesian media reports that a Taiwanese fishing boat captain assaulted an Indonesian crew member while in Sri Lankan waters, and said the man will face criminal charges if the allegations can be verified.

Several Indonesian news outlets reported Thursday that a Taiwanese fishing boat captain beat up an Indonesian sailor in waters off Sri Lanka, and was then assaulted by a group of angry crew members after the ship reached port.

Alleged video recordings of the latter incident show a man being dragged out a ship's cabin and punched repeatedly by a group of around 10 people. Several people on the ship appear to try and stop the attack, while others look on from a neighboring vessel.   [FULL  STORY]

Chen Chu to be Control Yuan head

DIVERSE EXPERTISE: President Tsai Ing-wen’s list of nominees for the National Human Rights Commission covers various areas to handle a variety of rights issues, sources said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 19, 2020
By: Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNA

Former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu attends an event in Kaohsiung on May 26.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times

Former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) is to be appointed as Control Yuan president today, while doubling as head of the nation’s newly established National Human Rights Commission.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has drawn up a list of seven other people to serve on the commission, in line with the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法), which was passed by the Legislative Yuan in December last year and promulgated in January.

Under the act, the 10-member commission is to be headed by the Control Yuan president and composed of seven Control Yuan members, with its other two members to be selected from candidates nominated by the commission members and replaced annually.

Chen, a Democratic Progressive Party member and a former Kaohsiung mayor, was imprisoned in the wake of the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, when the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime arrested pro-democracy activists.    [FULL  STORY]

College student finds long-lost nanny in Vietnam

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 June, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Young Hsieh Pei-yu (left) with A-Qiu (Photo courtesy of Hsieh Pei-yu)

RTI recently had a part in helping Taiwanese college student Hsieh Pei-yu reconnect with her ‘second mother’, who is from Vietnam. The caregiver, known to Hsieh as A-Qiu, had been working on a contract in Taiwan. A-Qiu was one of many migrant workers from Southeast Asian countries who come to Taiwan on three-year contracts. Their jobs vary from factory work to caring for elderly citizens.

Hsieh said she had wanted to look for A-Qiu for years until she learned that there is a program for seeking long-lost nannies with a track record of successful reunions. Hsieh located A-Qiu on Sunday, a day after posting information about her search.
[FULL  STORY]

Imagining a new US military presence in Taiwan

American Enterprise Institute
Date: June 17, 2020
By: Michael Mazza

For nearly three decades—until the severing of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Republic of China (ROC) in 1979—American forces were based in Taiwan. Beginning with the establishment of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in 1951, Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel contributed to the defense of Taiwan and strengthened the US forward defense perimeter. The departure of US forces from Taiwan created a gap in the US military presence in the Western Pacific, but a manageable one for a time: for even with Taiwan Defense Command and the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) things of the past, Taiwan remained independent from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and possessed a military that outclassed its rival across the Taiwan Strait. Even on its own, Taiwan was able to deter Chinese aggression and deny the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) open access to the Western Pacific.

While Taiwan remains independent of the PRC, the PLA has advanced by leaps and bounds during the past two decades. As the use of force to subdue Taiwan becomes more feasible, a Chinese decision to do so also becomes more likely. Today’s commanders of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) must look back with envy at their Cold War predecessors and their access to facilities on the island. If in the coming years the political obstacles to force deployments were to evaporate, what forces might INDOPACOM commanders seek to position in Taiwan?    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan presidential office to launch three-day Dragon Boat Festival celebration

Event to feature watermelon-balancing activity, Taiwanese drama, music, and puppetry June 25-27

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/17
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Watermelon-balancing activity to be featured at Dragon Boat Festival celebration. (Taiwan Presidential Office photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese Presidential Office will launch a three-day event June 25-27 to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, featuring watermelon-balancing, traditional theatrical and musical performances, and more than 100 agricultural vendors.

As the four-day Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the Taiwanese government has organized a cultural celebration to boost the nation's economy as well as the local entertainment and art industries. It will also be Taiwan's first major outdoor event since the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) eased coronavirus-related restrictions on June 7.

During a press conference Wednesday morning (June 17), the newly appointed Presidential Office spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka announced the details of the celebration along with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), Deputy Ministry of Culture Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌), and Agriculture Council Chief Secretary Fan Mei-Ling (范美玲).

In her opening speech, Kolas pointed out that the celebratory event would encourage public support for the farming community and performing artists. She added that traditional art forms, such as Taiwanese opera (歌仔戲) and puppetry (布袋戲), will be presented by some of the country's finest theater groups.    [FULL  STORY]