Radio Taiwan Initernational
Date: 15 May, 2020
By: Leslie Liao
Health minister Chen Shih-chung spoke at TAIUNA on Friday morning
This year’s World Health Assembly is scheduled to begin on May 18. It will be held online due to COVID-19. Taiwan had previously taken part in the annual assembly as an observer, but in recent years, it has been blocked from participating due to Chinese pressure. [FULL STORY]
BBC News
Date: May 17, 2010
By: Saira Asher
Image copyrightGENE WANG/GETTY IMAGES
Image caption: Baseball games have returned to Taiwan, but with social distancing
But one of the places that's been most successful at protecting its people from the disease will not be invited to this meeting of the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Taiwan has been applauded internationally for quickly and effectively stemming the spread of the virus, and says it should have a platform to share its experiences with the world.
But China – which says Taiwan is part of its territory – has blocked Taiwan's attendance since 2016. [FULL STORY]
Military university study shows 8 times more coronavirus infections than official figures: Media
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/15
By Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (CNA photo)
While official figures in China report 84,029 cases and 4,637 deaths, confidential documents allegedly mention at least 640,000 cases, SETN reported. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/17/2020
By: Flor Wang and S.F. Wang
Image captured from the CWB website
Vongfong, currently located some 130 kilometers south of Taiwan's southernmost point Eluanbi, is moving in a northeasterly direction at a speed of 18kph that may accelerate to 30kph, it said.
At an increasing speed, the storm will quickly pass through the Bashi Channel and the waters of southeast of Taiwan, bringing brief showers or thundershowers to some areas in the eastern and southern regions around noon, according to the CWB's forecast.
Most parts of the country will see cloudy skies, with highs expected to hit 30 to 33 degrees Celsius, the CWB said. The mercury will go up to over 36 degrees in flat areas near mountains or rivers valleys in southern Taiwan, it said. [FULL STORY]
PREVENTION PLAN: Of the approximately 210,000 students taking the high-school entrance exams, 12 had a fever and were sent to backup testing centers
Taipei Times
Date: May 17, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA
Students line up at the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University before 7am yesterday as they prepare to take the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students exam.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The approximately 210,000 students taking the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students exams were required to wear masks, have their temperatures checked and sanitize their hands before they could enter the test venues.
All students with a fever were separated from other students and sent to a backup testing center.
As of noon, 12 students were found to have a fever and nine backup testing centers were opened, Ministry of Education official Hsu Li-chuan (許麗娟) said. [FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Dyate:\ 14 May, 2020
By: John Van Trieste
Cabinet members gather for a photo after formally tendering their resignations Thursday.
Many members are expected to stay on in their posts after Tsai’s second term begins, but for some, this is the formal end of their time with the Cabinet.
At the resignation ceremony, Premier Su Tseng-chang praised the achievements of this Cabinet since it was formed last year. [FULL STORY]
National Review
Date: May 14, 2020
By: Jay Nordlinger
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen (left) listens to a soldier on a military base in Tainan, southern Taiwan, April 9. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)
In the middle of the 20th century, there was an expression: “He had a good war.” It was unseemly, maybe, but everyone knew what the expression meant: The person in question had come out of World War II in good shape — even advantaged. In the same way, we might say that Taiwan is having a good pandemic.
Those words are terrible to type, but readers may indulge them.
Taiwan is enjoying good press all over the world, for its handling of the crisis. One headline reads, “Taiwan’s Coronavirus Moment.” Lots of headlines speak of “lessons” to be learned from Taiwan. The phrase “Taiwan model” is in the air. It is used by the U.S. State Department, for example.
So, Taiwan has been handed an excellent opportunity: an opportunity to earn recognition, good will, and sympathy. But there is a danger, and that danger is, as always, the government of the People’s Republic. This government claims Taiwan as a mere province of China. Taiwan has shown up the PRC in the pandemic — which makes the men in Beijing angry. [FULL STORY]
YouTube bans term used during Taiwan's martial law era to describe communist Chinese
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/14
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
(YouTube screenshot)
On Wednesday, human rights activist Jennifer Zeng posted a video of a person entering the epithet "communist bandit" (共匪) in the comment box beneath a YouTube video. Within 15 seconds after posting the comment, it mysteriously and inexplicably disappears.
The term is an anti-communist insult which was first coined by the Kuomintang in the early 20th Century and was used extensively by the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) government during the martial law era in Taiwan. The Chinese character "共" (gong), is short for 共產主義 (gongchan zhuyi, communism), while the character "匪" means "bandit," and was used extensively during China's Warlord Era.
Taiwan News typed the term in Chinese characters in the comment box in a few different YouTube videos and indeed within 15 seconds, the comment had been automatically excised. It is not clear why YouTube is automatically censoring this word. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/14/2020
By: Yang Su-min, Chang Ming-hsuan, and Chiang Yi-ching
CNA file photo
The new measures, which were announced on May 1, require workers on far-sea fishing boats to undergo a 14-day period of mandatory quarantine on returning to Taiwan, either in individual rooms on their vessels or at a quarantine hotel, according to the CECC.
Only workers on ships that for the duration of their journey do not dock at any ports, undergo no crew changes, are not inspected at sea, or do not transfer their cargo to other ships, are exempted from this requirement.
A previous version of the regulation rolled out in April only required ships to meet the above conditions for the month prior to their return. [FULL STORY]
STILL A LEGISLATOR: The KMT and the DPP urged the independent legislator to resign to pave the way for the election of a lawmaker to serve Hualien residents
Taipei Times
Date: May 15, 2020
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Independent Legislator Fu Kun-chi, second left, apologizes to his supporters at a news briefing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday after the Supreme Court upheld a ruling sentencing him to two years and 10 months in prison.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
However, Fu is to retain his legislator’s status and continue to draw a salary during his time in prison.
The Supreme Court rejected Fu’s appeal in a case that has dragged on for more than two decades because of his repeated appeals.
Independent Legislator Fu Kun-chi, second left, apologizes to his supporters at a news briefing at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday after the Supreme Court upheld a ruling sentencing him to two years and 10 months in prison.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The High Court in a third retrial found him guilty of contravening the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法), and manipulating the stock prices of three companies. [FULL STORY]
