• Island’s representative office in Geneva instructed to ‘issue a solemn protest to WHO secretary general … demand a correction’, foreign ministry says
• Global health body’s actions effectively putting the health of 23 million people in Taiwan at risk, it says

South China Morning Post
Date: 23 Jan, 2020
By: Lawrence Chung

Taiwan has complained about being classed as part of China by the World Health Organisation  after reporting its first case of the novel coronavirus  case that has claimed 17 lives and infected hundreds more.

Although the self-ruled island is not a member of the WHO, it said it filed the report through its channel to the organisation on Tuesday.

But when the WHO released its latest figures on the spread of the virus – which it had earlier named 2019-nCoV – it referred to Taipei’s report as a case from “Taiwan, China,” according to the island’s foreign ministry.

“In announcing its report on the latest condition of the novel coronavirus, the WHO has improperly placed the confirmed case from Taiwan under the ‘Taiwan, China’ category,” it said in a statement on Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/23
By:  Central News Agency\

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said it was closely monitoring military activity by China on Thursday, when several Chinese fighter jets flew over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan.

The Chinese military was conducting long-haul training, using its Xian H-6 bombers and KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft, the MND said.

On Thursday morning, the military aircraft flew close to Taiwan's southern coast, into the western Pacific, and then returned to China on the same flight path, the MND said.

The MND said it was fully aware of the situation and was following it closely.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/22/2020
By: Huang Li-yun, Shen Peng-ta and Frances Huang
installed video card PC cases
Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday that visitors from Wuhan will not be permitted to enter Taiwan for the time being, as the government is seeking to prevent the spread of a deadly new coronavirus that originated in the central China city.

The ban applies to independent visitors as well as people in tour groups from Wuhan in Hubei Province, where the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has been raging since last December, according to the MAC, the government agency that handles cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges.

In a statement, the MAC said the decision was made after a meeting Wednesday morning with representatives from the Tourism Bureau, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, and National Immigration Agency (NIA).

After the meeting, the MAC said that as part of Taiwan's efforts to prevent the spread of the pneumonia-like infectious disease, it has decided to limit unnecessary exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, while the NIA said will stop issuing entry permits to tourists from Wuhan.
[FULL  STORY]

Maritime Bulletin
Date: January 22, 2020
By: Mikhail Voytenko

General cargo ship LIAN FENG 18 ran into trouble in the evening Jan 19 in waters bordering provinces Fujian and Guangdong, China, southern Taiwan Strait. The ship reported developing portside list, 10 Myanmar crew in need of rescue. About an hour and half later all 10 crew were rescued by passing nearby ships and then transferred to SAR ship, SAR coordinated by MRCC Zhangzhou. LIAN FENG 18 remained afloat, anchored. She was still afloat as of morning Jan 20, no news on situation development since Jan 20. The ship was reportedly en route from Kaohsiung Taiwan to Busan Korea, but according to track, while being well into East China sea and sailing in northern direction, LIAN FENG 18 made an U-turn on Jan 15 and sailed in opposite direction. She went off AIS on Jan 17, being abeam of Tancheng, Chinese waters, northern Taiwan Strait.
[SOURCE]

William Lai acknowledges KMT’s potential modifications to its cross-strait policy

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/22
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Vice President-elect William Lai (賴清德) said Wednesday (Jan. 22) that the "Republic of China (R.O.C.)" will not exist unless "Taiwan" is secure.

During his interview with the Taiwan New Telecommunication (寶島聯播網) radio station, Lai shared his thoughts on Taiwan's Jan. 11 elections. The former premier stressed that the current R.O.C. is no longer the one established by the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1911 and that protecting Taiwan is the only way to guarantee its survival.

Lai also responded to remarks made by KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who announced Monday (Jan. 20) that he would join the race for the vacant position of party chairman and against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He said that it is a positive thing that KMT members are finally recognizing who their real enemies are.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/22/2020
By: Justine Su, Chen Chun-hua and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called on China Wednesday to inform Taiwan about the spread of a deadly new coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan and said the World Health Organization (WHO) should not exclude Taiwan from the global efforts to contain the virus.

Tsai made the call at a news conference after Taiwan on Tuesday reported its first imported case of the new SARS-like coronavirus, dubbed the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which broke out in the eastern China city of Wuhan last year.

The Taiwanese patient is a 55-year-old businesswoman, who lives in Wuhan and returned to Taiwan on Monday with a fever, sore throat and other symptoms of the infectious disease.

Since Taiwan on Jan. 15 began mandatory screenings at airports of arrivals from high-risk areas of China, 26 people have been tested for the 2019-nCoV and there has been one confirmed case, Tsai said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 21 January, 2020
By: Natalie Tso

Four Taiwan companies have received an A grade from the Carbon Disclosure Project for their work to cut emissions and set climate strategies. The companies were ASE Technology, Siliconware Precisions Industries, Taiwan Mobile, and Lite-On Technology.

The project accepted reports from 8,400 corporations around the world and then gave them a score from A to D based on their emissions and climate strategies. Only 2% of the companies scored an A grade.    [FULL  STORY]