LAM WING-KEI INCIDENT: The former Hong Kong bookseller said that despite the oppression of China, many people voted for a candidate willing to stand with Beijing

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 25, 2020
By: Chung Li-hua and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The bail set for suspects who allegedly threw red paint at former Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) was tantamount to encouraging such acts of violence, academics said yesterday.

After the incident in Taipei on Tuesday, the three suspects were released the following day by the Taipei District Court after posting bail of NT$6,000 to NT$20,000 (US$199 to US$665), although the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office appealed the decision.

At a forum held by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association yesterday, Taiwan Thinktank consultant Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that paint throwing is not the same as a regular civil or criminal case, so the mild penalties were “fuel for the formidable Chinese forces in Taiwan.”

Paint-throwing attacks are often orchestrated based on political motives, not personal feuds, and they can easily create a sense of fear in society, Tung said, adding that such cases should be handled according to the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法).
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date  23 April, 2020/
By: Paula Chao

Hong Kong bookstore owner Lam Wing-kee says his Causeway Bay Books will reopen in Taipei on Saturday according to schedule. That’s despite an attack on him Tuesday, in which he had red paint splashed on him. Lam says he believes China is behind the attack.

Lam has been living in Taiwan for about a year after fleeing Hong Kong due to the threat of Chinese persecution. In 2015, Lam was arrested after crossing Hong Kong’s border into the Chinese city of Shenzhen. He was released in 2016 after nearly eight months in detention, and he remains a wanted person for “selling books illegally.”

Lam Wing-kee’s Causeway Bay Books in Taipei should be getting ready for a grand opening this week. Instead, it’s been filled with police gathering evidence.    [FULL  STORY]

It’s a good idea!

GameByte
Date: 23 April 2020
By: Lara Jackson|

As Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to jump from strength to strength, Taiwan has decided to use the Nintendo game to promote social distancing practices during the global lockdown.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Interior has created a series of AC-inspired “guides” to help people to stick to the rules, offering advice including how to keep your distance from people and the importance of wearing a mask.

Video you'll love from around the web

The images include models bearing bug-catching nets and AC-like attire, and include similar text bubbles as seen in the game. What a cute way to get the message across!

As reported by TheGamer, The Taiwanese Ministry of Interior recommends citizens stay one meter apart while in public, and 1.5 meters apart when indoors. As you can see in the image below, it’s a unique and memorable way to show that in practice!    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 04/23/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) A research team at Academia Sinica has developed a key reagent for a pioneering rapid screening test for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease and the technology has been transferred to seven companies, one or two of which will be chosen for possible mass production, James Liao (廖俊智), president of Taiwan's most prestigious research institution, said Thursday.

The team led by Yang An-suei (楊安綏), a research fellow at the institution's Genomics Research Center, has yielded the unprecedented results at unimaginable speed, Liao said at a legislative hearing, adding that it took only one month for the team to create a product prototype, compared with the three-six months normally required for such development.

He was responding to a question about the progress after Academia Sinica announced last month that the research team had synthesized monoclonal antibodies that can identify the protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The reagent will be able to provide COVID-19 test results within just 15 minutes, according to Academia Sinica.    [FULL  STORY]

SUSPECTS OUT ON BAIL: The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it has applied with the High Court to have the three returned to detention as it searches for others involved

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 24, 2020
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee (林榮基) said that China was behind an attack against him, after his three alleged assailants were released on bail yesterday.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s proxies have a history of attacks carried out against Hong Kongers who fled to Taiwan,” Lam told reporters. “Now they are only causing trouble for Hong Kongers, but later they will make trouble for Taiwanese.”

Lam said that he would be more vigilant.

“I was quite surprised to hear that the suspects got released on bail so quickly,” he added. “I am, of course, fearful and will avoid walking down dark alleys.”

Lam was co-owner of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣書店), but was kidnapped in 2015 and detained in China for eight months for selling books banned by the Chinese government.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 22 April, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The COVID-19 pandemic is keeping much of the world under lockdown, but in Taiwan it’s still business as usual. Still, what if the outbreak here were to worsen? The central government isn’t taking chances. It’s planning talks with local officials this week on a unified plan of action for a worst-case scenario.

Taiwan has been spared the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s not a matter of luck. Early, decisive government action has kept the number of cases low and made it so that people can still move around freely. But officials know that things could always get worse, and they are making sure they are prepared, just in case.

Local officials have already made contingency plans. In New Taipei, Mayor Hou You-yi ordered a simulated 21-day lockdown. Next door, in Taipei itself, Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan says that a similar drill is being planned, with experts set to look for gaps in the city’s preparations. And in Yilan County, health authorities say they will implement a lockdown if the number of local cases hits 186.
[FULL  STORY]

The National Interest
Date: April 22, 2020
By: David Axe

Taiwan’s loading up on new minelaying vessels. And it’s not hard to see why. With no realistic prospect of matching the Chinese navy warship for warship, the Taiwanese fleet is hoping that underwater minefields might help to sink an invasion fleet.

Taiwan’s loading up on new minelaying vessels. And it’s not hard to see why. With no realistic prospect of matching the Chinese navy warship for warship, the Taiwanese fleet is hoping that underwater minefields might help to sink an invasion fleet.

Lungteh shipyard on April 17, 2020 laid the keel for the third and fourth Min Jiang-class minelayer. The Republic of China Navy plans to begin accepting the minelayers in 2021.

The Taiwanese fleet’s existing minelayers are modified landing craft.   [FULL  STORY]

Bike around beautiful destinations like converted railroad, dam, lake

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/22
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) —The Shigang district in Taichung City boasts many attractions, most of which are easily accessible by bike.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, avoiding crowds and following social distancing guidelines are essential preventive measures for fending off the virus; engaging in outdoor activities, such as cycling, is an ideal way to get exercise and build up resistance against the disease. Shigang has a lot to offer the cooped up city dweller in these difficult times.    [FULL  STORY]

 

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/22/2020
By: Ku Chuan, Yu Hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) About 900,000 people around Taiwan will have received relief payments from the government by the end of the week, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Wednesday.

They include 710,000 low and middle-income households and underprivileged people, who will have a monthly subsidy of NT$1,500 (US$49.88) remitted directly to their accounts and have already received payments for April, Su said at a press event on the execution of the government's relief and revitalization plans amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, 58,000 of 100,000 taxi and tourist coach drivers around the nation eligible for a monthly wage subsidy of NT$10,000 received payments this week, according to Su.

These payments will be issued for three months to those whose livelihoods have been hardest hit by the pandemic, which had resulted in more than 171,000 fatalities worldwide as of Wednesday.
[FULL  STORY]