Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/28/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) A group of researchers based in Taiwan and the United Kingdom have found a key antibody against COVID-19 that could be used to develop medication for the disease, a Chang Gung University (CGU) professor said Thursday.

The antibody has the ability to prevent SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from entering human cells, and has a 90 percent to 98 percent efficacy rate, said Shih Shin-ru (施信如), director of the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at CGU.

Shih explained that for the virus to infect the body, it has to integrate with a protein attached to the surface of human cells called the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

The antibody discovered by the team can prevent this process from happening by integrating with ACE2 first, thus blocking the virus' path to infection, Shih said.    [FULL  STORY]

‘CHINESE CAPITAL’: Fanny Liu was found guilty of reducing the rent of a tenant in exchange for a vote for a KMT Taipei city councilor candidate

Taipei Times
Date: May 29, 2020
By: Chien Li-chung and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Taipei District Court on Wednesday sentenced Fanny Liu (劉樂妍), a former member of the now-disbanded female pop group Fantasy 4, to 10 years in prison for vote-buying.

The court found Liu — who is now based in China and has made pro-Chinese Communist Party remarks — guilty of reducing the rent on a Taipei property she owned in exchange for the tenant voting for a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in the November 2018 nine-in-one local elections.

She can appeal the ruling.

Liu in December 2018 reportedly lowered the rent by NT$1,000 after the tenant said they had voted for Taipei City Councilor Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), prosecutors said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 27 May, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen has proposed a humanitarian aid program for the people of Hong Kong. That’s as China moves to pass a national security law for the territory that Taiwan has called a threat to the island’s freedom and democracy.

The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top China policy-making body, will be responsible for planning the program.

Tsai said the program will help Hong Kongers who plan to immigrate to Taiwan resolve issues such as residency.    [FULL  STORY]

Eurasia Review
Date:  May 28, 2020
By: Dr. Theodore Karasik

The island nation of Taiwan is watching warily as China’s National People’s Congress implements stronger measures and a specific national security law on Hong Kong that threatens to rewrite important geoeconomic and security issues in this strategic space.

Taiwan’s nationalist President Tsai Ing-wen, who has just started her second term in office, accused Beijing of the “predation” of Hong Kong through fiscal extraction. Her use of the word predation is important in terms of Taiwan’s sovereignty issues. China sees Hong Kong as a national security priority based on ideas of secessionism, terrorism and foreign interference, which comes from what Beijing views as American and, more specifically, Taiwanese subterfuge. Tsai’s recent landslide election victory was driven by the Taiwanese youth vote against the mainland-friendly Kuomintang candidate Han Kuo-yu, making internal Taiwanese politics an important factor.

No doubt China’s national security law will prompt nationalist Taiwan to revoke the special status it extends to Hong Kong, thus establishing a wall between the mainland and Taiwan. This move could damage interconnectivity for Taipei, which is important for family connections and trade ties. More to the point, such a break in connectivity would bring to the forefront the sharpening divides between Taiwan and China.

Obviously, the ongoing fight between Beijing and Taipei over Hong Kong is not new, but it fits into a larger geostrategic problem. In January 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Taiwan “must and will be” reunited with China, and he meant it. In a speech marking 40 years since Beijing’s call to end the military confrontation across the Taiwan Strait, Xi warned that China reserved the right to use force to bring about a reunification.    [FULL  STORY]

Wong describes Taiwan's handling of coronavirus as 'excellent'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/27
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Famed Hong Kong actor and pro-democracy activist Anthony Wong (黃秋生) on Tuesday (May 26) completed his 14-day quarantine and praised Taiwan's handling of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Wong officially came to Taiwan in mid-May to act in the Public Television Service (PTS) drama "Heaven on the Fourth Floor" (四樓的天堂). After completing his two-week quarantine, Wong started work on the set of the new TV series and praised Taiwan's epidemic prevention policies as being "excellent," reported Newtalk.

When he first arrived in Taiwan on May 12, Wong posted a photo of a colorful calligraphy work on Facebook and wrote that he had arrived in Taiwan and will begin 14 days of quarantine. In the comments below, a Taiwanese fan encouraged him to immigrate to Taiwan, to which he cryptically responded: "I'm in the midst of preparing."

During his quarantine period, Wong shared various aspects of his daily routine with his fans on Facebook. He took advantage of the downtime to read scripts, cook, make tea, play guitar, and exercise.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 26 May, 2020
By: Paula Chao

Premier Su Tseng-chang says many restrictions could be lifted in Taiwan on June 7 if there continues to be no new COVID-19 cases of domestic origin. Su was speaking Tuesday. This means there would no longer be restrictions on the number of people gathering in one place.

As of Tuesday, Taiwan has gone 44 consecutive days without any new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19. The Central Epidemic Command Center said Taiwan also reported no new cases for five consecutive days.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan ID gets big family discounts for best urban views in all of Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/26
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly slowed down in Taiwan, Taipei 101 is offering a favorable price to Taiwan nationals for admission to its Observatory Deck through advance online registration and EasyCard payment.

CNA quoted Taipei 101 General Manger Angela Chang (張振亞) as saying on Tuesday (May 26) that the offer is targeting the parent-child market. From the end of May to the end of September, the admission to the building observatory deck is only NT$150 (US$5) per adult with a valid Taiwan national ID; additionally, every eligible adult is allowed to take two children under the age of 12 for free.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/26/2020
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Most parts of Taiwan could see unstable weather from late Tuesday to Thursday as a plum rain front heads toward the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) warned.

There could be showers or thunderstorms in western and northeastern Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday, with occasional torrential rainfall possible, forecasters said.

On Tuesday, the approaching front, accompanied by strengthening southwesterly winds, could bring afternoon thundershowers across Taiwan, particularly in the northeast and in mountainous parts of central and southern Taiwan, according to the bureau.

The weather is likely to hit Taiwan the hardest on Wednesday, the bureau said, and it cautioned against possible disasters because of greater instability in the soil due to the heavy rain last week.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 27, 2020
By: Su Meng-chuan / Staff reporter

Taichung visitors could soon have the chance to stay at the Huang Family Garden Estate (黃家薄園), following the completion of a multi-year restoration project, the first historic site in the nation to be converted into a bed-and-breakfast (B&B) site.

The Japanese colonial era estate in what is now the Chingshui District (清水) was completed in 1929, occupying more than 8,000m2, making it the largest private estate in the area, Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Chang Ta-chun (張大春) said on Sunday.

“It is the largest private estate to have been designated as an historic site for Taichung’s coastal region,” Chang said. “The owner raised the idea of renovating it to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, so people could stay there, surrounded by history.”

Chang said he supported the B&B idea as long as the main structure and the estate’s architectural framework are not damaged.    [FULL  STORY]