Outbreak News
Date: on April 19, 2016
By: Staff

In light of the second confirmed enterovirus 71 (EV 71) with severe

complications case in Taiwan has prompted officials to prepare to the possibility of an outbreak in 2016.

Last Friday, the Taiwan CDC confirmed the second EV 71 case in a Yilan County 2-year-old. The complications were so severe that the child had to be treated in intensive care and is now recovering.

Taiwan CDC once again stresses that enterovirus is highly contagious and infants and children aged below 5 are at increased risk of developing enterovirus infection with severe complications. Adults who return home from work are advised to change cloths and wash hands with soap and water before coming into contact with children. In addition, please make sure children wash their hands with soap and water thoroughly when going out, returning home and before having their meals in order to ward off infection.

Taiwan CDC has established a response work team and designated 76 hospitals in the nation as the Treatment Center for Patients of Enterovirus Infection with Severe Complications. Health officials urge parents to pay close attention to the symptoms of the child diagnosed with enterovirus infection, if the sick child develops suspected symptoms such as drowsiness, disturbed consciousness, inactivity, flaccid paralysis, myoclonic jerk, continuous vomiting, tachypnea, and tachycardia, please take the child to a large hospital for medical attention immediately in order to ensure prompt treatment.      [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan protested Tuesday against the expulsion of its

delegation from an Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development steel committee meeting in Belgium after pressure from China.
Beijing reportedly said that Taiwan’s delegation was not “high-level” enough for the April 18 event, termed the “High-Level Symposium on Excess Capacity and Structural Adjustment in the Steel Sector.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said several other delegations were of the same level of Taiwan’s, and it had lodged protests with China through the Mainland Affairs Council, with Belgium through Taiwan’s office in Brussels and with the Paris-based OECD through the country’s office in France. Belgium reportedly later apologized to Taiwan, saying its vice premier, Kris Peeters, had been facing strong pressure and could only ask the Taiwanese delegation to leave.

Taiwan had been invited to the event as a “conversation partner,” but once the event started, China exerted pressure for its expulsion, and the Belgian government agreed, asking Taiwan to leave. This was the first time since the country started participating in the event in 2005 as an observer that it was forced to leave, MOFA said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Monday said that employers must give a compensatory holiday to workers for Labor Day (May 1) falling on a day off, such as Sunday this year, pay for the extra work if workers work, or face a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$300,000 for violating the Labor Standards Act.

According to the Labor Standards Act, a national holiday falling on a weekday is a day off, said Huang Wei-chen, deputy director of MOL’s Department of Labor Standards and Equal Employment. By the same token, if a national holiday falls on a day off, such as Saturday or Sunday, then workers should be given a compensatory holiday.

For workers who work shifts, if a national holiday falls on a day of shift duty and therefore they cannot take the day off, employers will have to reach an agreement with them on whether they get paid for the extra work or get a compensatory holiday. As for when to take the compensatory holiday, it is to be decided between employers and workers.

For example, as this year’s Labor Day falls on Sunday, if workers take the day off, they can still ask their employers to give them a compensatory holiday, Huang said. In the same situation, shift duty workers can ask to take the day off, or work and then choose to be paid for extra work or to take a compensatory holiday, he added.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/18
By: Huang Li-yun and Kay Liu

Taipei Metro marked its 20th anniversary in March. Its network now

encompasses five lines spanning 131.1 kilometers after starting with a single line of 10.5 km.

The attempt to simultaneously build the complete network starting in 1986 led to a decade of severe traffic congestion, which was one of the issues during the 1994 Taipei mayoral campaign. Accidents during testing of the first metro line a year earlier were also debated.

The country’s first metro system has faced some bumps in the road over the past two decades. One of them was caused by Typhoon Nari in 2001, when 16 underground stations were flooded, including a main control center in Taipei Main Station.

It took three months for Taipei Metro to resume full operations, and flood prevention measures were introduced in existing and new stations.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/17
By: Liu Te-chan and Christie Chen

Bangkok, April 16 (CNA) Taiwanese pop diva A-mei (張惠妹) on Saturday brought her Utopia World Tour to the Thai capital of Bangkok, drawing 4,000 fans to her concert at the Royal Paragon Hall.

During the concert, A-mei rolled out hit songs including “Disappear,” “Can I Hug You, Lover,” “Bad Boy” and “Three Days Three Nights” to a crowd of electrified fans.

A staunch supporter of gay rights and same-sex marriage, the 43-year-old singer waved a rainbow flag on stage, urging her gay and lesbian fans to “show your love to everyone.”

A-mei also invited Chinese actor Huang Jingyu (黃景瑜) as a special guest to her concert and the two performed a duet of “I Only Care About You” by late Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng. Huang gained fame after starring in the web drama “Addicted,” which touches on same-sex romance.     [FULL  STORY]

TURNING THE TIDE:Utilizing sources of renewable energy and developing carbon capture technology are key to dealing with climate change, Lee Yuan-tseh said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 18, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) yesterday said that

he is against lowering electricity prices and subsidizing fossil fuels, calling on the incoming government to establish a reasonable energy pricing mechanism that reflects the health and environmental consequences of using fossil fuels.

“The government spends NT$20 billion [US$618.27 million] on fossil-fuel subsidies every year, but if the effects of global warming and air pollution are taken into consideration, the cost of subsidizing fossil fuels would be NT$1 trillion every year, or NT$43,000 per person,” Lee said at a conference in Taipei about sustainable environments.

While the government said it is “taking care of” Taiwanese by lowering gasoline and power prices, the industry and energy sectors, which together use 45 percent of the nation’s energy and contribute to more than 60 percent of Taiwan’s carbon emissions, are the largest beneficiaries of the fossil-fuel subsidies funded by taxpayers, Lee said, adding that it is a misuse of public money.     [FULL  STORY]