Taipei Times
Date: May 09, 20207
By: Wang Chun-chi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The whale shark has been added to the nation’s list of protected species, the Ocean Affairs Council said on Tuesday, adding that offenders face fines and imprisonment.

The whale shark, along with the giant oceanic manta ray and the reef manta ray, were on Tuesday last week added to the list, making the disturbance, abuse, slaughter or capture of any of the three species punishable by up to five years in prison, and a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million (US$10,033 to US$50,164), the council said.

Whale sharks have been sighted in waters near Hualien for a few years now, and in March this year a roughly 6m whale shark swam into the Port of Hualien looking for food, it said.

The capture of the three species has long been prohibited by stipulations in the Fisheries Act (漁業法), which require fishers to return the animals to the sea if accidentally caught, alive or dead, Hualien County Bureau of Agriculture Director Lo Wen-lung (羅文龍) said, but changes were made to enhance protection of the species by increasing the severity of punishments for offenders.    [FULL  STORY]

Radi Taiwan International
Date: 07 May, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The results of a recent poll released on Thursday show that President Tsai Ing-wen’s approval rating has reached 74.5% as she heads into her second term. That’s the highest approval rating Tsai has had since 2016, when she began her first term in office.

The poll was conducted in late April on behalf of Taiwan Brain Trust, a group with ties to President Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party.    [FULL  STORY]

Barron's
Date: May 7, 2020
By: Matthew C. Klein

Americans hoping to boost the economy by lifting restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus should pay close attention to Taiwan. The country of 23 million has handled the novel coronavirus better than any other country in the world, with fewer than 500 confirmed cases and only six deaths.

Taiwan never needed to shut businesses or impose lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus. But that hasn’t been enough to prevent the disease from taking a bite out of the economy. Taiwan’s experience is a sobering lesson on the limits of what “reopening” can achieve under even the best of conditions.

The most obvious problem for Taiwan is that many of its businesses sell to customers in other countries. As spending falls elsewhere, Taiwanese producers will take a hit regardless of domestic conditions. According to a survey of Taiwanese purchasing managers by IHS Markit, new orders for manufactured goods fell in April at the fastest rate since January 2009.

Big Crash

Taiwanese manufacturers had the biggest drop in new orders in April since the globalfinancial crisis.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/07/2020
By: Chiu Chun-chin and Matthew Mazzetta

Taoyuan, May 7 (CNA) State-run Taoyuan General Hospital said Thursday it successfully used blood purification techniques to treat a patient suffering from complications of COVID-19, though a government expert cautioned more research is needed to determine the overall efficacy of the treatment.

At a press conference, nephrologist Wang Wei-chieh (王偉傑) said his team used the techniques to inhibit an extreme immune response — known as a "cytokine storm" — which often causes death in severe COVID-19 patients.

The patient in question was a 52-year-old woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 15, Wang said.

On March 24, she was intubated after developing severe respiratory symptoms, and transferred to a negative-pressure isolation room two days later, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 May, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The education ministry has started classes in the Hokkien and Hakka languages for immigrants to Taiwan. The initiative is part of the ministry’s adult education program.

Last year, the ministry’s Mandarin-language program for immigrants attracted more than 10,000 students. However, a survey of immigrants’ needs revealed that many need to master the Hokkien and Hakka languages.

Though long treated as mere dialects of Chinese, banned from schools, and discouraged in public life, they remain the home language of many Taiwanese families. They have also enjoyed promotion in recent years, with both now having dedicated television stations.
[FULL  STORY]

The statement by a Chinese official is believed to have been the first acknowledgement the virus was likely to be spreading between humans

The Telegraph
Date: May 2020
By: Nicola Smith

One of the first foreign infectious disease experts to gain access to the Chinese city of Wuhan – the original epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak – was told by a Beijing official on January 13 that “limited human to human transmission cannot be excluded.”

The statement made to Chuang Yin-ching, a senior official working for Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control, is thought to be the earliest acknowledgement that the pandemic which has now wreaked havoc across the world was already underway. 

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Mr Chuang’s provides a fascinating window into the confusion on the ground and tensions between health officials that may have allowed the disease to spread out of control in the early stages of the crisis.  

He and a colleague had been permitted to visit Wuhan from January 13-15 to discuss the emerging novel coronavirus with Chinese health officers and doctors.     [FULL  STORY]

Second-hand information could compromise Taiwan’s ability to devise timely measures, said Chen Shih-chung

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/06
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of Taiwan’s coronavirus response task force called upon

the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide the island nation access to first-hand information about the pandemic for better disease control.

Taiwan, excluded from the WHO, can only access second-hand information about the development of the COVID-19 outbreak, preventing the country from acting fast and efficiently, said Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Minister of Health and Welfare and head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The “Iron Minister," which is the moniker Chen has earned for his diligent work and indefatigability, made the plea when speaking to foreign reporters in Taipei on Wednesday (May 6).

"We're unable to see the woods for the trees,” Reuters quoted him as saying, adding that Taiwan could become a gap in global efforts to fight the epidemic if it fails to receive first-hand information for a clearer picture. The nation has lodged complaints against the WHO, including over erroneous case numbers it had for Taiwan and unanswered inquiries about the disease, the report said.    [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/06/2020
By: Yeh Su-ping, Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) second inauguration ceremony on May 20 will be streamlined amid ongoing efforts to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said Wednesday.

Unlike in previous years when presidential inaugurations involved multiple public events, the May 20 ceremony will be simple and solemn, Chang said.

The event will start with a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Office, after which Tsai will move to the Taipei Guest House, where she will give an address and meet with envoys from foreign representative offices and diplomatic missions in Taiwan, Chang added.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no foreign guests have been invited to attend the ceremony, with political leaders from Taiwan's diplomatic allies and friendly countries set to send video messages of congratulations, according to Chang.    [FULL  STORY]