EASY CROP: A farmer said the plant, which looks similar to wheat, yields three harvests per year and despite its resilience, needs to be protected from birds and weeds

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2020
By Chen Hsien-yi and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwanese oil millet, an endemic plant species, could be a superfood, providing high nutritional value to humans and livestock, Academia Sinica researcher Hsing Yue-ie (邢禹依) said yesterday.

Eccoilopus formosanus is extremely resilient, able to survive droughts, colds and salinized soil, said Hsing, who is also a professor of agronomy at National Taiwan University.

It is easier to grow than most major high-yield crops — such as rice, wheat, corn, cassava or sorghum — the production of which is reliant on heavy irrigation, herbicides and fertilization, but Taiwanese oil millet does not require that much effort, she said.

Some bed-and-breakfast owners in Taitung participating in her research used the plant and yeast used by Aboriginal cultures to make bread and bagels, which were widely favored by guests, she said.
[FULL  STORY]

The results of the newest government poll on public views toward China’s unfriendliness continued a multi-year increase in the number of Taiwanese who view China as unfriendly.

The National Interest
Date: April 12, 2020
By: Russel Hsiao

Against the backdrop of increasing numbers of Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, political suppression in neighboring Hong Kong, and aggressive obstruction of the island democracy’s international space amid the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC)—the cabinet level agency in charge of the country’s cross-Strait policy—released its latest official opinion polls tracking Taiwanese public opinion on several key cross-Strait issues. These polls are conducted periodically and on average three times per year since 2010. In the first official poll released since the island’s January 2020 presidential and legislative elections, the latest series of results shows a dramatic increase in the percentage of people who view China as “unfriendly” (不友善) towards the Taiwanese government and its people. Amid an escalation of cross-Strait tension over the past four years, the government agency’s March 2020 poll indicates that the numbers of people on the island who think China is unfriendly toward the Taiwan government and the public have risen to 76.6 percent and 61.5 percent, respectively. These figures represent significant jumps of 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent from the previous poll conducted in October 2019 and are the highest numbers in 10 years.

The results of the newest government poll on public views toward China’s unfriendliness continued a multi-year increase in the number of Taiwanese who view China as unfriendly. This upward trend began in 2016 following Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) election as president and the commencement of Beijing’s multifaceted pressure campaign to isolate the new administration. These measures include poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies; military coercion; economic coercion; excluding Taiwan from international organizations; pressuring foreign corporations; pressuring Taiwan’s non-diplomatic allies; economic incentives; political warfare; cyber espionage; and traditional espionage. In the poll conducted in March 2016, two months after Tsai was elected president for her first-term, the numbers were already high at 59.3 percent (government) and 50.6 percent (people), especially when compared to the last poll taken during the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration in November 2015, with figures at 51.2 percent (government) and 46.9 percent (people).

In addition to surveying people’s views on China’s unfriendliness, two other polls track Taiwanese public opinion on issues such as the people’s views on unification, independence, or maintaining the status quo (民眾對統一、獨立或維持現狀的看法) and their views toward the pace of cross-Strait exchanges (民眾對兩岸交流速度的看法).    [FULL  STORY]

• Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, two frigates and a combat support ship spotted by Japan as it passes through the Miyako Strait on Saturday evening
• Carrier is the only ship of its kind still operational in the region after USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Ronald Reagan are forced to dock after crew are hit by Covid-19

South China Morning Post
Date: 12 Apr, 2020
By: Liu Zhen

Taiwan scrambled warships on Saturday night to monitor the movements of a mainland Chinese carrier strike group after it was spotted by Japan heading towards the western Pacific.The fleet, led by China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was seen passing through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa, and then turning south, the Japanese Ministry of Defence said.

Although the precise location or heading of the group was unknown, the Taiwanese navy scrambled ships from the northeastern port of Suao to monitor the situation, the island’s defence ministry said.

The Miyako Strait is about 330km (205 miles) due east of the northernmost tip of Taiwan.

“We have conducted reconnaissance and monitoring over the sea and air space around Taiwan,” ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/12
By:  Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Blood tests for the coronavirus could play a key role in deciding whether millions of Americans can safely return to work and school. But public health officials warn that the current “Wild West” of unregulated tests is creating confusion that could ultimately slow the path to recovery.

More than 70 companies have signed up to sell so-called antibody tests in recent weeks, according to U.S. regulators. Governments around the world hope that the rapid tests, which typically use a finger-prick of blood on a test strip, could soon ease public restrictions by identifying people who have previously had the virus and have developed some immunity to it.

But key questions remain: How accurate are the tests, how much protection is needed and how long will that protection last.

The blood tests are different from the nasal swab-based tests currently used to diagnose active COVID-19 infections. Instead, the tests look for blood proteins called antibodies, which the body produces days or weeks after fighting an infection. The same approach is used for HIV, hepatitis, Lyme disease, lupus and many other diseases.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/12/2020
By: Huang Li-yun and Chiang Yi-ching

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) As people try to find more entertainment at home during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, many video gamers in Taiwan have been reporting attempted scams, particularly for the sale of popular game consoles and related merchandise, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Sunday.

Since March, the CIB said, the country's anti-fraud hotline has received 71 reports of scams involving sales of Nintendo Switch consoles, games and merchandise.

In a statement, the CIB said 56 of those reported scams were carried out via Facebook and 10 on the online forum PTT, neither of which requires people to show their real names.

In one case, a 30-year-old man in Taichung attempted to buy an Animal Crossing: New Horizons edition of the Switch console and the Ring Fit Adventure game for NT$9,840 (USD$324) on the PTT forum, but he never received the products, the CIB said.    [FULL  STORY]

HEALTH RISK: Breast milk is still sold on e-commerce platforms, and if it has not been tested properly, babies consuming it could contract diseases, the legislator said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 13, 2020
By: Wu Su-wei / Staff reporter

New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) on Friday called for breast milk to be regulated after a YouTube channel drew criticism for its descriptions of breast milk purchased online.

In a video posted on Tuesday last week, YouTuber Hsiao-yu (小玉) was seen tasting breast milk purchased online and describing it as spoiled soy milk.

The video met with angry responses from the public, including mothers who breastfeed their children.

At a news conference with lactation experts on Friday, Wang said that the video communicated incorrect information and was disrespectful toward mothers.    [FULL  STORY]

Splash247
Date: April 11, 2020
By: Sam Chambers

Nobu Su’s 21-month detention at Pentonville Prison in the UK has come to an early close with the fallen Taiwanese magnate enjoying his first weekend out of jail.

Su, the boss of TMT, once one of Asia’s largest shipowners, was jailed in March last year for contempt of court. 

Su has been in a long running court battle with Polys Haji-Ioannou, a Cypriot shipowner, over FFA deals that went sour back in 2008. 

Su is unable to leave the UK as Haji-Ioannou continues to pursue debts owed to his company, Lakatamia Shipping.    [FULL  STORY]

• Global health body accused of playing word games after denying that island had asked if virus could be transmitted between humans
• Taiwan, which is not a WHO member, had asked for information on December 31 but received no reply

South China Morning Post
Date: 11 Apr, 2020
By: Reuters

Tension flared again on Saturday as Taiwan accused the World Health Organisation (WHO) of playing word games in a dispute over details it sought in an email querying if the new coronavirus could be transmitted between people.

Taiwan is not a WHO member, because of objections from mainland China, which claims the island as its own and deems it to have no right to membership of international bodies.

Such an approach, Taiwan says, deprived it of timely information to fight the virus, and it accused the WHO of having ignored its communications early in the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected 1.6 million people and killed 100,000 worldwide.

Last month, Taiwan said it had received no reply from the WHO to a December 31 query for information on the outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan, including whether it could be transmitted between people.    [FULL  STORY]

Island country implements yet another novel method of mask distribution

 Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/11
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei rolled out ID-based mask vending machines on Saturday (April 11) in a bid to reduce the hassle of purchasing the much sought-after protective gear amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A collaboration between the city government’s technical task force, industry players, and the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), the machines allow people to buy surgical masks via multiple payment options using their NHI cards for ID verification.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who tried the new service personally, said it took only 30 seconds to complete the purchase. He touted the invention as easy, reliable, and time-saving for the majority of office workers, who do not have the luxury of queuing up for masks at pharmacies, and seniors, who find it challenging to access the cellphone app-based mask rationing system, wrote UDN.

Building on its experience introducing smart vending machines on a host of high schools and elementary schools last year, Taipei has drawn on the expertise of Micro-Star International Co. (MSI), a local IT company that designs and provides computer software and services, to develop the mask-vending machines.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/11/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan, Wu Hsin-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) Taiwan on Saturday reported three new cases of COVID-19 coronavirus, all classified as imported, bringing the total number in the country to 385 since the disease outbreak began at the end of December, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told reporters that the three imported cases were Taiwanese nationals who returned recently from the United States and France.

One of them, a man in his 60s, returned from the U.S. April 10 and was confirmed Saturday to have contracted the virus, Chen said.

The patient, who had worked in the U.S. for a long time, and developed stomach problems March 31 in the U.S. and sought medical attention there, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]