Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/12/2020
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan, Yang Su-min and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) Nearly one third of complaints filed by Indonesian migrant fishermen are employed on Taiwanese ships, the most out of any country, according to recent statistics released by an Indonesian government agency.

Of the 389 complaints the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI) received from 2018 to May 6, 2020, 120 were filed by fishermen who worked on Taiwanese ships, said Benny Rhamdani, who heads the agency.

Fishermen working on South Korean ships reported the second highest number of complaints, with 42, followed by Peru (30), China (23) and South Africa (16).

According to Benny, 164 of the complaints involved unpaid wages, while 47 involved deaths, 46 dealt with injuries, 23 with forced deportations and 18 fishermen reported that their passports or other documents were confiscated by brokers.    [FULL  STORY]

ANONYMITY: The kits would be sent to designated 7-Eleven outlets in packages that do not say what is inside or list the manufacturer, a top CDC official said

Taipei Times
Date: May 13, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

People can now order rapid HIV self-testing kits online and pick them up at 7-Eleven convenience stores, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

The test is easy, requiring a gentle swipe with the test swab on the upper and lower gums, and then the swab is placed in a test tube and the result is available in 15 to 20 minutes, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.

The online sales that began yesterday are the second wave of the 2020 HIV Home Testing Program that began on May 1, which allowed people to purchase rapid test kits at 362 locations nationwide, including pharmacies, saunas and vending machines, Lo said.

The kits cost NT$245 on delivery — which includes a NT$45 shipping fee — and people can choose the 7-Eleven outlet where they want the kit sent, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 11 May, 2020
By: Andrew Ryan

The Taipei International Film Festival has released a trailer for this year's event with the catchphrase: "No one can stop me from watching movies!"

The ad features Taiwanese actress Annie Chen, who is the ambassador for this year's festival. She plays the part of a special agent who has to fight off a bunch of bad guys just so she can go watch a movie.     [FULL  STORY]

Natinal Review
Date: May 11, 2020
By:  Tobias Hoonhout

The World Health Organization said it could not invite Taiwan to an upcoming international health summit, despite pleas from the U.S. and its allies, due to “divergent views,” after China said it “deplores and opposes” efforts to include Taipei in the gathering.

WHO principal legal officer Steven Solomon explained to reporters on Monday that the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom could not invite Taiwan — which is not a member of the WHO — to participate in the annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) if members of the international body disagreed.

“To put it crisply, director-generals only extend invitations when it’s clear that member states support doing so, that director-generals have a mandate, a basis to do so,” Solomon explained. “Today however, the situation is not the same. Instead of clear support, there are divergent views among member states and no basis there for — no mandate — for the DG to extend an invitation.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that Tedros should include Taiwan in the upcoming WHA meeting, saying “he has the power to do, and as his predecessors have done on multiple occasions.” The proposal was supported by New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and Germany, but China disparaged the claim, saying that those supporting it “severely violate the one-China principle.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s chances of participating in WHA remain slim despite international support

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/11
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Monday (May 11) pointed out that a secret memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between China and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005 has directly contributed to Taiwan being excluded from the imminent World Health Assembly (WHA) slated for next week.

Despite support from members of the global community, Taiwan's chances of participating in the 2020 WHA remains slim, Wu said during a Q&A session at the Legislative Yuan Monday morning. He stressed that the WHO has been under the influence of the MOU since 2005 and that the Taiwanese government did not have knowledge of the existence of the secret document until later.

Wu said the government has yet to receive an invitation to this year's WHA meeting and that it would take a lot more pressure from the international community for the WHO to change its approach toward the island nation. He added that the international health body has reiterated its opposition to Taiwan's participation in recent statements, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is less than optimistic about the situation, reported Yahoo News.

However, Wu noted that "the global atmosphere in 2020 has been increasingly in favor of Taiwan," which has put great pressure on the WHO and China. He made assurances that MOFA will not stop trying to gain Taiwan entry into the international health body.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/11/2020
By: Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) Japan on Monday voiced support for Taiwan's inclusion in the upcoming World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Our country will continue its strong support for Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer," the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), which represents Japan's interests in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties, said in a Facebook post.

JTEA added that Taiwan has done a remarkable job in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, and as such Taipei's participation at the WHA would allow other countries to learn from its experience.

There should be no geographic gaps in terms of disease prevention, the association said.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: May 12, 2020
By: Fang Chih-hsien and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

High-school students in Kaohsiung said they have found a way to slow a fire’s spread, adding that the material could be used as fire retardant.

Students at Kaohsiung Municipal Chung-Cheng Industrial High School said that burning oyster shells releases gases that help prevent fires from spreading.

The students made the discovery while preparing for an annual competition for innovations in science, school principal Kao Jui-hsien (高瑞賢) said, adding that they won first place in the structural engineering category.

Pressed wood is often used in home decor, as it is cheap to manufacture, but it burns quickly, Kao said, adding that oyster shells, which are usually discarded, can be used instead.
[FULL  STORY]

The WHO has come under criticism for its deferential tone toward China, but the organization denies it withheld information about COVID-19.

NBC News
Date: May 10, 2020
By Dan De Luce, Robert Windrem and Abigail Williams

WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the inherent weaknesses of the World Health Organization, which has no authority to force foreign governments to divulge medical information or open doors to its hospitals and labs, public health experts and foreign diplomats say.

The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have lashed out at the U.N. agency for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing it of helping China conceal the extent of the outbreak at a critical early stage by relaying information from Beijing without sufficient caveats.

But public health experts and foreign diplomats said that although the WHO has often displayed a deferential tone to China during the outbreak, it is misleading to suggest it has the power or the leverage to force Beijing or any other foreign government to share information or grant access to medical facilities.

"There's no power that WHO has that would have enabled it to uncover any lack of transparency on the part of China," said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.    [FULL  STORY]

Straits Times
Date: May 11, 2020
By: Jan Lee

Hong Kong star Gillian Chung has parted ways with her Taiwanese husband, aesthetics doctor Michael Lai.

Chung, 39, married Lai, 30 in 2018. They have no children.

Mr Lai confirmed to Taiwanese media last Friday night that the pair had split up. He later uploaded a lengthy post on Instagram, where he admitted to being single again.

Mr Lai, who gained recognition in Taiwan as "Medicine's Sunny Wang" due to his good looks and resemblance to actor Wang, was previously married to a social media influencer before he tied the knot with Chung.    [FULL  STORY]

Family members tried to catch adventurous crustacean, but it beat fast retreat back to lavatory

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/10
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese woman surnamed Luo (羅) had a big scare at home when she went to the toilet and saw a crab popping out of it, CNA reported on Sunday (May 10).

Luo, who lives on Orchid Island (蘭嶼) off the coast of Taitung County, said that when she was sitting on the toilet, she heard some jarring noises and lowered her head to take a look. What she saw made her scream: "Was it a tarantula?" she said was her first thought.

Later, she learned that other members of her family had seen the crab emerging from the toilet. They had tried to catch it, but the wily crustacean proved hard to trap.

Luo said that she was curious about how the animal had crawled into the toilet, indicating she was sympathetic to the hardships it surely endured on its way to visit her. She later decided to post a photo of it on social media.    [FULL  STORY]