Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/14/2020
By: Flor Wang

Taipei, May 14 (CNA) The outskirts of Typhoon Vongfong are expected to affect Taiwan over the weekend, with showers or thundershowers likely in some parts of the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast Thursday.

As of 8:00 a.m., Vongfong, the first named storm of this year in the Pacific, was located 1,240 kilometers southeast of Taiwan, moving at 12 kilometers per hour in a westerly direction toward the Philippines before veering off in a west northwesterly direction, the CWB said.

On Saturday and Sunday, some areas in southern and eastern Taiwan are likely to receive brief showers or thundershowers, it said.

The typhoon is forecast to come closest to Taiwan on Sunday, when its outskirts will bring precipitation to the east and south, particularly in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 15, 2020
By: Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNA

The Taipei Chinese Orchestra and the Ju Percussion Group are to livestream a free concert on Saturday to cheer up music fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ju Tzung-ching (朱宗慶), founder of the percussion group, on Wednesday said that although art performances are slowly reappearing in people’s lives as the pandemic subsides, the group is seeking different possibilities for the next phase of performing arts.

Invited by the orchestra, the group would collaborate with it on compositions that combine traditional and modern percussion compositions, Ju said.

Orchestra director and conductor Cheng Li-pin (鄭立彬) said that the orchestra’s previous two online concerts, which were held in March and last month, was widely praised and it hopes to continue to raise the global profile of Taiwanese musical groups through this collaboration.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 13 May, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

A Taiwanese liquor company is marking the upcoming start of President Tsai Ing-wen’s second term in office with seven limited-edition commemorative liquors. Tsai will be inaugurated for a second time on May 20.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc.is breaking with tradition by ditching the stiff, formal Chinese phrases it normally prints on the labels of its liquors commemorating presidential inaugurations. Instead, it has chosen lighthearted phrases this time around. Indeed, the whole aesthetic of the labels is taking a turn for the carefree.

For instance, one of the commemorative liquors will feature a label with a cartoon-like image of the president.

Two other commemorative liquors will come with labels featuring Taiwanese landmarks. The calligraphy on these labels will read “confident, brave Taiwanese people”, a nod to the Taiwanese people’s courage in the face of COVID-19.    [FULL  STORY]

Newsweek
Date: 5/13/20
By: Tom O'CVonnor

The coronavirus pandemic has intensified the seven-decade conflict between China and Taiwan, a breakaway state supported by the United States but having little international recognition as the mainland government seeks to assert its rule there.

A report published Tuesday by the congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission accused the Chinese government of having "undermined global health" by exerting influence and pressure to ensure the exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Organization (WHO). The self-ruling island has claimed it sounded the alarm early on about the dangers of the virus as it spread through China's central city of Wuhan late last year, only to be sidelined because of its unofficial political status.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian lashed out at the report in a press briefing Wednesday, arguing that Beijing has "made proper arrangement for the Taiwan region's participation in global health affairs." He also said that "the Taiwan region is never excluded from the WHO global anti-epidemic system."

Zhao accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progress Party of making "reckless political maneuvers" throughout the pandemic to enhance the island government's participation in international institutions like the WHO.    [FULL  STORY]

Announcement comes after reports of Chinese drills in South China Sea planned for August

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/13
By: Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese Coast Guard announced Wednesday (May 12) that the Dongsha Islands Garrison is scheduled to conduct an annual firing exercise around the islands in June.

The drills, which will be supervised by Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials, are meant to maintain the shooting effectiveness of various mortar and machine-gun positions on the islands.

The Dongsha islands, which consist of one island, two coral reefs, and two banks, are located about 444 km from Kaohsiung. The designated national park spans 353,668 acres and features vibrant coral and a seagrass bed ecosystem.

Reports on Monday stated that China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) plans to hold a large-scale landing exercise in the South China Sea in August to simulate an invasion of the Taiwan-controlled Dongsha islands (Pratas islands, 東沙群島). Kyodo News reported that the PLA's landing exercise would be supervised by the Southern Theater Command and involve large numbers of landing ships, hovercraft, helicopters, and marines.    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/13/2020
By: Tsai Chih-ming, Phoenix Hsu, Huang Guo-fang and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) High school student Lin Yu-hsien (林佑弦) was named Wednesday as one of the recipients of the 2020 President's Education Awards, becoming the fourth sibling in his family to gain that honor.

Lin, 17, who attends Yung Ching Senior High School in the southern county of Chiayi, is one of 56 students who will receive the presidential award this year in recognition of their achievement of excellence under difficult circumstances.

He is from a family of seven orphaned children who were raised by their grandmother and uncle, and he has followed in the footsteps of his two older sisters and brother, all former recipients of the President's Education Awards.

When Lin was in junior high school, he began wrestling training. In 2019, he represented Taiwan in the Junior Asian Wrestling Championships, and he has continued to excel in the sport.    [FULL  STORY]

FOR CLEANER AIR: The Executive Yuan should plan out a road map to make the nation a carbon-neutral society by 2015, a member of a research center said

Taipei Times
Date: May 14, 2020
By:: Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter

More than half of respondents in a survey said that they could accept electricity and fuel price hikes to promote energy reform or collect a carbon tax, National Taiwan University’s Risk Society and Policy Research Center said yesterday.

The center said it released the survey to push President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is to begin her second term on Wednesday next week, to expedite energy reform.

The Tsai administration vowed to promote energy transformation by phasing out nuclear energy, while having 20 percent of the nation’s power generated from renewable sources, 30 percent from coal-fired power and 50 percent from natural gas by 2025.

As of last year, 13.4 percent of the nation’s power was generated from nuclear energy, 6 percent from renewables, 79.2 percent from fossil fuels and the remainder from pumped-storage hydroelectricity, Taiwan Power Co’s Web site showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 12 May, 2020
By: Paula Chao

A pediatrician is calling on parents not to let down their guard even though Taiwan has not reported domestic COVID-19 cases for 29 consecutive days. Parents still need to encourage their families to wash their hands often as a safeguard against the new coronavirus.

Last weekend, many parents took their children to amusement parks and swimming pools. People are starting to relax a bit, as there have been no domestic cases for about a month. Taiwan has not been under lockdown, but fears over the COVID-19 outbreak have kept people at home for some time.

One swimmer says she wants to enjoy the outdoors. 0024 It should be ok since there are no new domestic cases.  

A sports center employee says a lot of people came to swim over the Mother’s Day weekend. People are tired of staying indoors.      [FULL  STORY]

New York Post
Date: May 12, 2020
By: Emily Jacobs

The US Senate unanimously approved a bill on Monday calling on the State Department to develop and submit a plan to help Taiwan regain its World Health Organization status and participate in next week’s World Health Assembly.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Iowa) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), also calls on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to report to Congress any actions taken by the US to boost Taiwan’s global relationships diplomatically.

The bill’s passage comes following a considerable lobbying campaign waged by Taipei in an effort to be included at the WHA.

Taiwan had ramped up its diplomatic efforts in the wake of the novel coronavirus as its rival China faced considerable scrutiny over its handling of the pandemic, donating face masks, personal protective equipment and medical assistance to other countries.    [FULL  STORY]

CPR training proves crucial in saving life of boy flung from car

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/12
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A former firefighter who administered CPR to a boy thrown from a car during an accident on Saturday (May 9) later said that she was acting as if the boy were her own child and was oblivious to the danger of oncoming traffic at the time, CNA reported on Tuesday.

Chiayi County Fire Bureau staff member Huang Xun-yi (黃薰儀) was a firefighter before she applied for an office position in order to take better care of her young children. Even so, she still keeps her firefighter spirit alive; every time she encounters an accident, she attempts to assist, CNA reported.

Huang and her children were in a friend's car on a trip to northern Taiwan Saturday when they saw two cars roll in front of them and scatter items across the highway.

"It's hard to believe — it was like a scene from the movies playing out right before my eyes,”she said.    [FULL  STORY]