Radio Taiwan International
Date: 09 April, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

Taiwan announced one additional case of COVID-19 on Thursday.

The newest case is a case of domestic transmission, spread between two roommates in a university dormitory.    [FULL  STORY]

CNA
Date: 10 Apr 2020

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday (Apr 9) accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring Taiwanese warnings over China's coronavirus outbreak, laying out its case against the UN body.

President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold US funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide.

Elaborating on Trump's case, the State Department said the WHO was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19, showed too much deference to China and questioned why it did not pursue a lead from Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai welcomes Tedros to visit Taiwan if he can 'withstand pressure from China'

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/09
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took the high road on Thursday (April 9) by welcoming the World Health Organization (WHO) head to visit Taiwan, right after he accused the country's government of being complicit in alleged, unsubstantiated racial attacks.

During a press conference on Wednesday (April 8), WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom claimed that he had been assailed by racist attacks and death threats over the past three months. He said that some had called him a "negro" and he claimed, "Three months ago this attack came from Taiwan."

"And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves," claimed Tedros. He went on to allege that Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) "even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care. Three months."

On both her Twitter and Facebook pages, Tsai on Thursday opened by making it clear that "Taiwan opposes all forms of discrimination." Despite Tedros' unsubstantiated allegations and the continued exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO, Tsai then generously invited him to visit Taiwan to "experience for himself [to see] how committed the Taiwanese people are to engaging with the world & combating COVID-19."    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/09/2020
By: Chen Yun-yu and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday invited World Health

Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to visit Taiwan amid growing controversy over his claim the day before that Taiwan is behind a campaign of personal attacks against him.

In a press briefing Wednesday (Central European Time), Tedros — an Ethiopian microbiologist and the first African to lead the public health body — said he had been the victim of racially abusive attacks emanating from Taiwan, and said that the country's foreign ministry, rather than disavowing the attacks, actually stepped up its criticism of him.

"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest," he said.

Tsai responded Thursday in an English-language Facebook post, writing that "I strongly protest the accusations today that Taiwan is instigating racist attacks in the international community. Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination."    [FULL  STORY]

NEW PRECAUTIONS: Taichung said that some, businesses must take down the names and telephone numbers of its clients upon entry

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 10, 2020
By: Tsai Shu-yuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Taichung City Government is asking all hostess bars and dance halls to suspend operations as part of an administrative order from the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the city said yesterday.

The CECC on Wednesday issued the order after a hostess in Taipei tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Individuals or establishments that breach the order face fines of NT$3,000 to NT$15,000, in accordance with the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法), the municipality said.

Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said that similar businesses — KTVs, saunas, bars, nightclubs, “special service” cafes and arcades — are to continue to follow prevention guidelines, such as wearing masks, taking temperatures and observing social distancing.   [FULL  STORY]

‘RIDICULOUS BEHAVIOR’: Wecare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin said the filing to halt the recall was like Han Kuo-yu losing a game of mahjong and ‘flipping the table’

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 09, 2020
By: Chang Wen-chuan and Ko Yu-hao / Staff reporters

Former Kaohsiung Information Bureau director-general Anne Wang (王淺秋) and lawyer Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元) yesterday filed a request with the Taipei High Administrative Court to halt an expected recall vote of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), claiming that campaigners “jumped the gun” in collecting signatures.

Petitioners on Tuesday passed the second-stage threshold needed for a recall vote after the Kaohsiung City Election Commission finished reviewing more than 400,000 signatures.

The commission confirmed 377,662 signatures to be valid after duplicates and signatures with incomplete information were removed.It was to report the result yesterday to the Central Election Commission, which is expected to hold a meeting to review the case on Friday next week.

A vote must be held 20 to 60 days after a recall case is established.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 07 April, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Medical experts plan to share Taiwan’s experience fighting COVID-19 in a global online seminar. That’s the word from the Taiwan Association for Global Health Diplomacy.

The association said it is working with medical staff and organizations in countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. It plans to hold an online seminar about epidemic prevention on May 17. It will share Taiwan’s experience with medical staff and the public in Switzerland, India, the Philippines, the UK and other countries.     [FULL  STORY]

In Taiwan, local officials shared how to reuse a mask multiple times by disinfecting it with a rice cooker, Taiwan News reports.

NextShark
Date: April 7, 2020
By: Eric Hu✔@_EricHu

If you own a rice cooker, Taiwan's FDA made a PSA stating that you can put your disposable PPE or mask in your rice cooker (with no water) and set it to steam for three minutes to sterilize it and re-use.

During a press conference over the weekend, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) and Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) demonstrated how to use a rice cooker to disinfect a mask.

A fascinating clip of the presentation showed Wu guiding Chen through the steps of dry heating a mask to kill any potentially accumulated bacteria or viruses after use.

In a light moment, Chen fumbled a bit after Wu instructed him to place the metal rack at the bottom of the cooker. Chen can be seen placing it at the bottom of the metal pot, which prompted Wu to joke that the minister apparently has never used a rice cooker before.    [FULL  STORY]

Family members of victim surnamed Kao (高) vow to appeal for reinstatement of death sentence

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/07
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The man who nearly two years ago murdered and dismembered a female member of an archery class he organized and taught on the lawn of Taipei's Huashan 1914 Creative Park escaped the death sentence in his second trial on Tuesday (April 7), as Taiwan's High Court considered his confession a basis for leniency.

Family members of the victim, surnamed Kao (高), were furious upon hearing the sentence, which they said did not meet the expectations of the public, and they said they would appeal, TVBS News reported.

Defendant Chen Po-chien (陳伯謙) was indicted in August 2018 on charges of sexual assault and murder in addition to abandonment and destruction of a corpse.

According to prosecutors, Kao signed up for Chen’s archery class, and on May 31, 2018 they consumed alcohol together. Chen admitted that he tried to rape Kao while she was sleeping, and he explained that her resistance upon waking stirred him to further violence.    [FULL  STORY]