Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/01/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) Taiwan has devised various mobile apps to help combat the COVID-19 coronavirus and is offering to share the technology with other countries, the Central Epidemic Command Center said Monday.

At a daily press briefing, Chien Hung-wei (簡宏偉), CECC information systems chief, said Taiwan has already finished developing a health management app and a separate social distancing app in April but has not put them up for download due to the easing of the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The apps comply with the laws of both the European Union and Taiwan, Chien said.

The health management app utilizes artificial intelligence and GPS technology to help its user to undergo "self-health management," Chien said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date:  Jun 02, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

More than 80 percent of Taiwanese consume less than half of the recommended daily intake of dairy products, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday.

To mark World Milk Day yesterday, the HPA and the Council of Agriculture invited baseball star Lin Chih-sheng (林智勝) to promote the health benefits of milk and dairy products, and together they demonstrated how to make a nut and papaya milk smoothie.

HPA Director-General Wang Ying-wei (王英偉) said that milk is one of the best sources of calcium, as it also contains many other nutrients, and the administration recommends that people drink a cup (240ml) of milk every morning and evening, or consume other dairy products to ensure they consume enough calcium.

Children, older adults and postmenopausal women, who are less able to retain calcium, should especially try to get enough calcium, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/31/2020
By: Emerson Lim

Taipei, May 31 (CNA) A Taiwanese technical mission in the Pacific island nation of Nauru is helping a local penal facility cultivate a piece of land to improve food self-reliance and ensure inmates learn skills they can use after being released, according to the mission.

"The project, under the concept of waste minimization, officially started in January, with a poultry and pig farming section to be completed in August," Daniel Lee (李宜龍), chief of the Taiwanese technical mission told CNA in a telephone interview Sunday.

Capacity building for crop planting, livestock raising, fertilizer making, and cooking skills will start in June with the goal being to transfer the farm to the Nauru government at the end of 2020 or early 2021, Lee added.

Nauru is one of 15 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.  [FULL  STORY]

Search continues for man carried off by currents

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/31
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A rescue team has so far been unsuccessful in its efforts to find a man who went missing Saturday afternoon (May 30) while trying to rescue his daughter, who fell into a river while taking photos.

The 58-year-old man, surnamed Hu (胡), along with his wife and two daughters, were hiking a trail in New Taipei's Shuangxi District on Saturday, CNA reported. The trail is part of the centuries-old Tamsui Kavalan Historical Trails system (淡蘭古道) connecting Taipei and Yilan.

One of Hu's daughters fell into the Beishi River while taking photos. Hu and his wife went into the water in an attempt to rescue her.

Although the wife and daughter were able to return to dry land with the assistance of other hikers, Hu himself went missing.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/31/2020
By: Wang Shu-fen and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 31 (CNA) Weather across Taiwan will mostly be sunny and hot over the coming week, though afternoon showers are expected on Monday and Tuesday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Sunday.

Sporadic showers can be expected in mountainous areas across Taiwan, as well as in the greater Taipei area, Keelung, Yilan County and Hualien County over the next two days, according to the bureau.    [FULL  STORY]

A DECADE’S WORK: The two-volume, 1,400-page lexicon has collected more than 20,000 words and phrases, and is expected to help people learning the Liu Dui dialect

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 01, 2020
By: Lo Hsin-chen and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Liu Dui Culture Research Association on Saturday unveiled the nation’s first domestically compiled lexicon of Hakka-language words in the Liu Dui dialect, an effort that took a decade of work and cost about NT$7 million (US$233,085 at the current exchange rate).

The two-volume, 1,400-page lexicon collected more than 20,000 phrases and words, and is estimated to be of great value in helping people learn the Liu Dui dialect and culture, the association said.    [FULL  STORY]

Yan Teh-fa says situation in Taiwan Strait 'increasingly grim' due to Beijing's military threats

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/30
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Minister of National Defense Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) said on Friday (May 29) that since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never relinquished the threat of force against the island nation, the Ministry of Defense (MND) is preparing for the worst.

Beijing authorities held a forum commemorating the 15th anniversary of the ratification of the “Anti-Secession Law” on Friday morning, CNA reported.

Li Zhanshu (栗戰書), a member of the CCP Politburo standing committee and chairman of the National People's Congress standing committee, gave a speech addressing anti-independence and reiterating the “one China principle” and the so-called “1992 consensus.” He also spoke about "peaceful reunification with Taiwan” and the “one country, two systems” framework.

In response to the Beijing event, Yen said the CCP has never given up the use of military force against Taiwan, which has been its long-standing policy. The defense minister noted the CCP has already conducted eight military deterrence exercises since the beginning of this year.    [FULL  STORY]

Kolas Yotaka said people will have to get used to her indigenous name as it's perfectly legal

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/30
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Presidential Office pushed back on Friday (May 29) against a

public suggestion box request that indigenous Presidential Spokesperson Kolas Yotaka should use her Chinese name.

The suggestion, from a man surnamed Chen, recommended the "presidential spokesperson should use her Chinese name, not her indigenous name," CNA reported. Huang Chung-yen (黃重諺), also a Presidential Office spokesperson, replied with a handwritten letter explaining it was absolutely correct for Kolas to refer to her given name.

“According to naming rules and regulations, the registration of the names of Taiwan’s indigenous people and other ethnic minorities is based on their cultural customs; that is, Kolas Yotaka’s name is correct.”

In his letter, Huang added the naming traditions of indigenous people have a rich cultural heritage. “They are the greatest blessings from parents and family,” he wrote.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/30/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) No new cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus were confirmed in Taiwan on Saturday, leaving the total number of cases at 442 since the pandemic began late last year, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

During a daily press briefing, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the CECC, said Saturday was also the 48th consecutive day with no domestically transmitted infections.

The last time Taiwan recorded a domestic infection was April 12, according to the CECC.

"Forty-eight straight days of no local infections is good news for Taiwan, but the pandemic is still very serious around the world where it passed six million infections today," Chen said.
[FULL  STORY]