Stuff
Date: May 05 2020
By: Ben McKay of AAP Henry Cooke16:25,

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declined to offer a view on the position of other "Five Eyes' members Australia, the USA and Canada in the push for Taiwan to rejoin the WHO.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says he personally thinks that Taiwan should re-join the World Health Organisation (WHO) – but New Zealand itself doesn't have a view.

His answer follows the prime minister ducking the contentious international question at a press conference on Tuesday.[FULL  STORY]

Beijing's priority should be national rejuvenation, not Taiwan: Qiao Liang

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/05
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Using the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a window of opportunity to attack Taiwan would be too costly and damage the more important goal of national rejuvenation, according to a retired Chinese general known as a hawk.

With his comments, military strategist Qiao Liang (喬良) went against the current tide of ultra-nationalism in China, according to a report in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post on Monday (May 4).

He said the country’s ultimate goal, a good life for 1.4 billion Chinese people, would not be served by launching an attack against Taiwan, so the island should not be Beijing’s top priority.

Even if an offensive by the People’s Liberation Army might not lead to a declaration of war by the United States, the latter might still join forces with its allies in the region to impose damaging economic sanctions and cut off China’s maritime lifeline in the South China Sea, according to statements by Qiao on the country’s social media.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/05/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, May 5 (CNA) Taiwan will start a third round of mask donations soon, giving more than 7 million surgical face masks to countries around the world to help with their response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday.

Of the total 7.07 million masks, 2.28 million will be donated to the United States federal government and American states hardest hit by the pandemic, MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.

Another 1.3 million will be sent to member states of the European Union, 1.09 million to Taiwan's 15 diplomatic allies, and 1.8 million to some of the countries covered in Taiwan's New Southbound Policy, namely, 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, Ou said.

The remaining 600,000 face masks will be donated to some African and Middle Eastern countries and to frontline medical staff providing assistance to Syrian refugees, she said.

It will be Taiwan's third round of mask donations since April, after it ramped up its mask production to 13 million per day, and then to 17 million by late April.    [FULL  STORY]

EASY TO ASSEMBLE: A hospital team has created a tent-like device to help shield medical personnel treating COVID-19 patients from aerosol-borne infection risks

Taipei Times
Date: May 06, 2020
By: Hung Mei-hsiu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

A system utilizing artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision can identify whether people are wearing masks, which could help ensure that everyone entering a Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) station is wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A team from National Chiao Tung University that developed the system on Monday said that preliminary tests carried out at campus cafeteria and classrooms showed 95 percent accuracy.

The team was led by Cheng Wen-huang (鄭文皇) and Shuai Hong-han (帥宏翰), a professor and assistant professor in the electrical engineering department.

For the tests, those wearing masks were marked with a green square and those without were marked with a red square, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 04 May, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

The Transitional Justice Commission released new details regarding Chen Wen-chen's murder[/caption] The Transitional Justice Commission says that Taiwan’s secret police were involved in the mysterious death of a university professor nearly 40 years ago.

They say that the professor — Chen Wen-chen — who authorities said had committed suicide, was likely murdered.

The truth behind the 1981 death of Chen Wen-chen has proven so elusive that it was once made into a Hollywood movie. 

At the time of his death, secret police said that Chen committed suicide. But now, the Transitional Justice Commission says he was probably murdered. Newly declassified files helped them come to four conclusions.

Officials say that Chen’s phone number in the United States was closely monitored by the secret police.    [FULL  STORY]

Fox News
Date: May 4, 2020
By: Gillian Turner, Brooke Singman
 

Is Trump's tough action against the WHO warranted?

 

The U.S. halts funding to the World Health Organization pending an investigation into their handling of COVID-19; reaction and analysis on 'Outnumbered.'

The Trump administration has circulated a draft proposal that would bring Taiwan to the table at the World Health Organization in an effort to push back against China and punish the global body for being “too China-centric,” Fox News has learned.

Further, the administration’s national security team is even considering the creation of a new global health organization – one that would have more U.S. influence – among a range of options.

GOP REP UNVEILS BILL TO PROBE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE, PAST ACTIONS

The move comes after President Trump last month announced he was suspending funding for the WHO altogether, amid accusations they helped China downplay the extent of the coronavirus before it became a full-blown pandemic.    [FULL  STORY]

Malaysia relaxes partial lockdown Monday, urges citizens to follow Taiwan's example

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/04
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Malaysia prepared to partially ease strict movement controls and allow most of its economic sectors to reopen Monday (May 4), the country's defense minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sunday (May 3) urged all Malaysians to use the Taiwanese as role models in self-discipline.

Following Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement Friday (May 1) that the Southeast Asian nation would go into conditional movement control order (CMCO) starting Monday, concerns have been raised about the possibility of a new wave of coronavirus infections. However, Muhyiddin stressed that the move was necessary, as he pointed out that the nation could no longer carry on with the extended movement control order (MCO), which has dealt a significant blow to its economy.

According to Reuters, most businesses will be allowed to resume operations under the CMCO, while large religious gatherings, cinemas, night clubs, schools, and universities will remain closed. The government has also advised all employers to implement flexible hours for their workers as well as encourage them to do their jobs from home.

At a daily media briefing on Sunday, Ismail Sabri noted that Taiwan has not introduced any nationwide or local lockdowns, yet it still has one of the lowest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. He said he believed the key to Taiwan's successful pandemic response was self-discipline on the part of the population, and he hoped the Malaysian public would follow suit.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 05/04/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, May 4 (CNA) A new case of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulting from a cluster infection on board a naval ship was confirmed by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Monday evening, raising the total number infections in Taiwan to 438.

The latest case was confirmed after a "weak positive" was obtained a day earlier in testing of the 345 people who were on board the ship and in quarantine to determine whether they could be released and return to their normal lives, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.

The cluster infection occurred on the Panshi fast combat support ship, part of a three-ship "Fleet of Friendship" that visited Palau from March 12 to 15.

The new patient, who has been asymptomatic, has been transferred to a hospital, while the remaining 344 people on the Panshi will be released from quarantine but asked to continue to engage in healthy practices at home, Chuang said.    [FULL  STORY]

PREDICTION MODEL: The number of daily infections might fall below 2,500 by the end of next month, NTU College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen said

Taipei Times
Date: May 05, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely slow down by late next month, but disease prevention measures should be eased gradually, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday.

In the college’s 13th weekly report on COVID-19, college dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said that in the past four months, many countries have implemented measures including lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and social distancing, adding that infection and mortality rates in some countries have gone down.

As the global pandemic continues, with more than 3.5 million confirmed infections, people have understood that social distancing works, but it also hurts the economy and social activities, so many countries and cities are trying to assess how to return to a relatively normal lifestyle, he said.

Chen said that his prediction model, based on the number of daily reported cases, suggests that there would be fewer than 2,500 daily new cases worldwide by the end of next month.    [FULL  STORY]