Kaohsiung resident sentenced to five months after staying overseas for 13 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/27
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese man, surnamed Kim (金), has been sentenced to five months on Friday (March 27) for attempting to outrun his mandatory military service by staying overseas for 13 years.

According to CNA, Kim was charged for his violation of Taiwan's military laws by the Kaohsiung District Court. Authorities pointed out that Kim traveled to the U.K. after he graduated college at the age of 23, but he has refused to come back until he turned 36, which is the legal age for him to be exempted from mandatory military service.

The district court said that the National Conscription Agency (NCA) issued several notices as well as warnings to Kim but received no response. It said the prosecutors had no choice but to list the Kaohsiung native as a wanted suspect and await his return.

When Kim finally arrived in Taiwan in January, he was arrested immediately at the Kaohsiung International Airport. He claimed that he was returning to fulfill his military obligations and that there was a misunderstanding between him and the NCA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/27/2020
By: Stacy Hsu and Elizabeth Hsu

Washington, March 26 (CNA) American Congressman John Curtis said the United States' legislation of a bill aimed at shoring up Taiwan's international presence sends a "loud message" of support in the hope that more countries will recognize Taiwan's importance.

The Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019 was signed into law Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump, after it was passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House of Representatives earlier this month.

The Act authorizes the U.S. State Department to consider "reducing its economic, security and diplomatic engagements with nations that take serious or significant actions to undermine Taiwan."

"One of the important things is simply the United States saying this, and it's a very loud message that we're not just saying it for an interview, we're putting it into law, and that's no small thing," said Republican House Representative John Curtis in response to CNA's question on how the act will translate into concrete actions.    [FULL  STORY\]

YOUTHFUL APPROACH: Johnny Chiang called on the DPP to form a constitutional reform committee, saying that young people should speak up for their own rights

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2020
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

A proposal by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus to amend the Constitution to lower the legal voting age to 18 and the age ofpolitical party candidacy to 20 yesterday advanced to committee review.

“Today is the most significant day for the reforms that the KMT has pledged to undertake,” KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told a news conference in Taipei.

As the party is traditionally seen as being out of touch with young people, the proposed constitutional amendments are a statement to empower youth as they seek more participation in public affairs, said Chiang, who was elected KMT chairman this month.

With the advent of the Internet, young people are now exposed to an abundance of information and have become more insightful than politicians on a range of emerging issues, Chiang said.
[FULL  STORY]

FALSE INFORMATION: The report quoted the mother of a British woman quarantined in Taiwan as saying that her daughter and the daughter’s partner are ‘in prison-like conditions’

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 27, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao and Lin Chia-nan / Staff reportersA BBC report that quotes Britons’ complaints

about quarantine conditions they experienced in Taiwan is not true, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, expressing regret over damage done to the nation’s reputation for competent disease-prevention measures.

The BBC report published on Wednesday quoted the mother of a British woman quarantined in Taiwan as saying that her daughter and the daughter’s partner were quarantined on Wednesday last week and are being kept “in prison-like conditions.”

“The room is filthy. She has no hot water and nowhere to wash her clothes,” the mother was quoted as saying, without naming the location of her quarantine.

Refuting the report at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, said that the center “did not mistreat” the couple.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 26 March, 2020
By: Jake Chen

The interior ministry is calling on people in Taiwan to forgo the usual ceremonies during this year’s Tomb Sweeping Festival and pay their respects to their ancestors at home instead.

The Tomb Sweeping Festival is a time of year when it’s traditional to visit ancestors’ tombs, leave offerings, and tidy up their gravesites. However, this can mean large numbers of people gathering in cemeteries, the kind of gatherings the government is advising against as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.    [FULL  STORY]

A champion against covid-19 is shut out of the body that fights the pandemic

The Economist
Date: Mar 26th 2020

Spare a moment and admire Taiwan. Its handling of the new coronavirus pandemic has so far saved many, many lives. The figures tell the story. A country of 24m, it has far fewer infections than its neighbours: just 235 as of March 25th, with only two deaths.

Taiwanese officials seem to know what they are doing. The vice-president, Chen Chien-jen, is a noted epidemiologist and former health minister. It helps that the country has had a system in place to handle such crises, since the sars epidemic of 2003, which led to 73 deaths. Back then, it was not clear who was in charge. So in 2004 the government set up the Central Epidemic Command Centre (cecc). Usually dormant, in an emergency its mandate is to work across government departments and commandeer the resources it needs. On January 20th President Tsai Ing-wen triggered the cecc and put the minister of health, Chen Shih-chung, in charge.

Its response was swift, and ranged from screening inbound air passengers to energetic testing and rationing face masks. A curious legacy of dictatorship under the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, organised along Leninist lines, is Taiwan’s system of neighbourhood wardens. These have helped enforce quarantines and deliver food to those who cannot go out to get it.

If Taiwan shines at anything, it is it. National databases and big data have been put to use identifying those most at risk of infection. If that sounds like Big Brother, freedom-loving Taiwanese have widely accepted it for the common good. Meanwhile, the government is open and upfront about the progress of the outbreak. The media take the dissemination of information seriously. And a stiff fake-news law has helped shut down disinformation campaigns on social media originating from China, which are intended to sow mistrust of the government’s handling of the pandemic. If ordinary Taiwanese are broadly reassured, so is the economy. Business confidence has held up remarkably well. This is in striking contrast to the panic and uncertainty in Europe and America.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan lawmakers worried about virus transmission risks during Tomb Sweeping holidays

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/03/26
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With the four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday approaching, Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said Thursday (March 26) it will start temperature checks for passengers at all 34 of its major stations in April.

TRA Deputy Director-General Du Wei (杜微) told media the company has purchased 32 infrared cameras to detect the body temperatures of passengers over 37.5 degrees Celsius. He added that 84 new staff recruited to operate the cameras all have medical backgrounds and are currently in training.

Besides the 34 major TRA stations, Du said the company plans to conduct temperature checks on all passengers to prevent community transmission of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). He said the TRA does not have a precise timetable, but the temperature screenings will be carried out at all locations across the country by the end of April, reported CNA.

During a media conference at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday morning, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員), Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書), Wang mei-huei (王美惠), and Huang Shih-chieh (黃世杰) pointed out that TRA's delayed response could become a loophole in Taiwan’s efforts to battle the pandemic. They worried the upcoming holidays will pose a serious risk to the TRA as well as staff and passengers.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03/26/2020
By: Kuan Jui-ping and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, March 26 (CNA) The population of Taiwan's critically endangered Formosan landlocked salmon has surpassed 10,000 for the first time on record, according to survey results released Wednesday by Shei-Pa National Park.

The endemic subspecies of salmon, which is considered a national treasure in Taiwan, is only found in freshwater streams at altitudes above 1,500 meters.

The park's 2019 survey estimated the species' total number at 10,532, with major populations of 5,392 in Qijiawan River, 3,575 in Hehuan Creek and 1,126 in Luoyewei Creek, the park's management office said in a press release.

According to Cheng Jui-chang (鄭瑞昌), deputy director of the office, the park's first survey of the species in 1992 showed it dangerously close to extinction, with a single population of around 200 fish remaining in the Dajiawan River basin.    [FULL  STORY]