Radio Taiwan International
Date: 12 February, 2020
By: Shirley Lin
The foreign ministry is calling on the WHO to let Taiwan participate in all of the organization’s meetings.
Taiwan has been invited to take part in the ongoing WHO global health forum via the internet. The two-day forum concerns the outbreak of coronavirus disease COVID-19. [FULL STORY]
Xinhua
Date: February 13, 2020
WUHAN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — Taiwan compatriots stranded in the coronavirus outbreak epicenter on the Chinese mainland have urged the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan to facilitate their return, said a spokesperson of the cross-Strait affairs office of central China's Hubei Province on Wednesday.
Nearly a thousand Taiwan compatriots who need to return to the island are stranded in the province due to obstructions made by the Taiwan authority, said Xing Junzhi, also deputy director of the provincial office, adding that the compatriots are being taken care of.
The two confirmed novel coronavirus cases of Taiwan compatriots in Hubei have received timely and effective treatment with assistance from the cross-Strait affairs office, Xing said.
Information concerning the 979 Taiwan compatriots listed in the mainland's chartered flight plan of China Eastern Airlines was given to the Taiwan authority on Feb. 6, nearly 85 percent of whom stayed in Hubei for a short time, according to Xing. [FULL STORY]
South Korean official had put Taiwan on list of 6 Asian countries to avoid
Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
The WHO denies alleging a community-wide coronavirus outbreak has hit Taiwan. (CNA photo)
Consternation erupted on the island after a South Korean government official came up with the story Tuesday (Feb. 11), while also naming Taiwan as one of six Asian countries South Korean travelers should avoid.
The denial by WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic in effect neutralized the Korean official’s allegations, CNA reported. He added that the global health body was concerned about the virus spreading between people who had not been close, but that was not the same as a community infection. [FULL STORY]
Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/13/2020
By: Lu Tai-cheng and Chiang Yi-ching
Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) The launch of Taiwan's first domestically built rocket, the HAPITH-1, was canceled Thursday due to bad weather, the developer, Taiwan Innovative Space Inc. (TiSPACE), said that day.
The space technology company was scheduled to launch its first rocket at 6 a.m. in Nantian Village in the eastern county of Taitung, but heavy rain and strong wind shear forced TiSPACE to cancel.
According to TiSPACE Chairman Chen Yen-sen (陳彥申), many weather balloons the company released to test wind speed and direction burst before reaching their designated altitudes because of the weather.
Chen said that finally the decision was made to go through the ignition procedure of the rocket but without an actual launch, adding that a lot of data was gathered nonetheless.
[FULL STORY]
‘DIFFICULT REFORMS’: Electoral defeats in 2016 and this year showed that the party needs to redesign and adjust its core aspects, KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang said
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 13, 2020
By: Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) and former KMT vice
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman Hau Lung-bin, left, and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang shake hands at KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday after presenting their policy platforms for the party’s chairperson by-election.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Speaking before the presentations began at KMT headquarters in Taipei, KMT Acting Chairman Lin Rong-te (林榮德) called the by-election “the most important step in the party’s push for reform.”
“No matter which of the two of us serves as the chairman of the KMT, we will face difficult reforms,” Chiang said. “The KMT has reached an important moment when reform cannot be avoided.”
Chiang said the party’s defeats in the 2016 and this year’s elections showed that it needs to “redesign and adjust” aspects such as its core values, policies and its nomination process.
[FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 February, 2020
By: Leslie Liao
HAPITH-I will launch from Taitung County in Southeastern Taiwan
TiSPACE, the company that developed HAPITH-I, originally planned to launch the rocket from Taitung on December 27 last year. However, failure to properly communicating the terms of the launch to the Liubetj people resulted in a lengthy dispute. After communicating with tribe leaders, TiSPACE obtained approval to launch their rocket. [FULL STORY]
The mysterious new strain of the coronavirus has penetrated Taiwan and the United States. International health organisations urge caution.
The News Lens
Date; 12020/01/22
By: Jeremy Van der Haegen
© Reuters
In addition to Thailand, Japan, and South Korea, Taiwan and the United States had the first confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like virus this week. The Philippines quarantined a five-year-old Chinese boy in the city of Cebu, who tested positive for a still unidentified strain of coronavirus.
Fears have set in as hundreds of millions of Chinese will be traveling both domestically and internationally for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, as the World Health Organization raised the possibility of the virus being “sustained human-to-human transmission.”
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has announced a temporary ban on all tour groups from Wuhan today. She urged China to be “open and transparent” about updates on the outbreak and to share correct information with Taiwan. [FULL STORY]
‘UNNECESSARY AND IRRATIONAL’: The Taiwan High Court sentenced the independence activist to 50 days in prison, commutable to a fine of NT$50,000
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2020
By: Chang Wen-chuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taiwanese independence activist Lee Chia-yu (李嘉宇) was found guilty of contravening the
A bronze statue of former president Chiang Kai-shek is pictured at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Dec. 10 last year.
Photo: Wang Kuan-je, Taipei Times
Lee and others were holding an event near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Feb. 27, 2018, to commemorate the 228 Incident when Lee allegedly told the crowd to set a Republic of China (ROC) flag on fire, which an unidentified man proceeded to do.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office accused Lee of inciting others to contravene Article 118 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits destroying, damaging or pulling down the national flag or emblem in public for the purpose of insulting the nation.
The Taipei District Court in September last year acquitted him on the grounds that his act was a form of constitutionally protected speech. [FULL STORY]
Radio Taiwan Internationl
Date: 07 February, 2020
By: Leslie Liao
New Taipei City’s Taishan Senior High School has come up with a makeshift thermometer to help meet demand
It’s a simple device that looks like a plain plastic box with batteries in it. But, in fact, it is a thermometer, a new device was invented by teachers and students at New Taipei’s Taishan Senior High School.
The design, software, assembly, and testing process were all done at the high school. It takes two hours to make one of these thermometers. They are accurate within half a degree Celsius.
The director of Taishan high school’s electronics department, Lu Sheng-han, says that it took less than a week to develop this new thermometer . Each one costs around NT$600 -NT$700 (US$20-US$23).
This invention has come just in time: an outbreak of coronavirus has many venues taking the temperature of every person going inside. That means a sudden demand for thermometers.
[FULL STORY]
Led by the US, many countries are demanding that Taiwan be accepted by the organisation. Beijing's opposition complicates Taiwanese efforts to contain the epidemic. Taipei complains that international flights to the island have been cancelled because WHO treats it as part of China.
Asia News
Date: 02/08/2020
Coronavirus: exclusion from WHO harms Taiwan
The exclusion is due to the opposition of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which considers the island a rebel province, and this is making it hard for Taiwanese authorities to contain the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
Taiwanese experts are unable to attend WHO emergency meetings because of Chinese pressure on the organization's top management.
As of 7 February, 16 cases have been reported in Taiwan. The island paid a high price in human lives during the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic.
Local authorities have suspended flights to and from mainland China for fear of further contagion. The restrictions also apply to travel to Hong Kong and Macau. [FULL STORY]
