rthk.hk
Date: 2020-01-04

Taiwan said on Saturday that six people suffering from fever have so far been placed under medical observation after arriving on the island on flights from the mainland city of Wuhan.

The Centers for Disease Control said enhanced temperature screening had been carried out on more than 600 passengers on several flights from Wuhan since New Year's Eve.

Two were later diagnosed with flu and one with a common cold, while a fourth person's symptoms disappeared, the Central News Agency reported.

It said the other two people were still being monitored by health officials.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai seen as favorite, but legislative vote adds twist amid US-China tensions

Nikkei Asian Review
Date: January 04, 2020
By: Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, Nikkei staff writers\

TAIPEI — Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, will elect its next president on Jan. 11. The decision by voters will shape the island's relations with China for the next four years.

Political observers say incumbent Tsai Ing-wen is favored to win reelection, but there could also be a twist in the legislative election taking place on the same day.

Here are five things to know about Taiwan's elections.

Why is this presidential election important?    [FULL  STORY]
 

Chang Kuo-wei said too many senior military officers flew together in helicopter, military insists it followed rules

 Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/04
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – StarLux Airlines Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) deleted an online comment saying that whoever scheduled so many senior military officers flying together in one helicopter “should be shot,” reports said on Saturday (Jan. 4).

Eight officers, including Chief of General Staff Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), died when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a flight from Taipei to Yilan County, in an isolated area on Thursday (Jan. 2) morning, with five others surviving.

In an online post, Chang questioned the wisdom of putting so many generals together in one aircraft, questioning the military's sense of risk management. An investigation should find out who was responsible for arranging the trip, and in the worst case, the culprit “should be shot,” wrote the airline chief, himself a pilot.

The remark touched off a firestorm of comments, leading him to apologize and to delete his text. Chang explained that a helicopter, unlike an airplane, was not a stable means of air transport, so there should have been at least two helicopters on the trip, the Liberty Times reported.
[FULL  STORY]

Focuas Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/04
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang, Yu Hsiang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) conveyed condolences on behalf of an air force squadron based in eastern Taiwan at a memorial service held in Taipei for the late chief of the general staff, Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), who died in a helicopter crash two days earlier.

Tsai visited the squadron at a radar station in a mountainous area of Dong'ao in Yilan County for an inspection that Shen was traveling to when his chopper crashed.

Shen was among eight confirmed fatalities Thursday when the military chopper crashed in a mountainous area of New Taipei. A total of 13 people were on board, five of whom survived the crash.

The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Wulai District en route to the military base in Dong'ao as part of a pre-Lunar New Year inspection.    [FULL  STORY]

A MEDICAL MILESTONE: The arm transplant in Kaohsiung was the fifth in the nation in the six years since the surgeries first started in Taiwan

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2020
By: Fang Chih-hsien and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital yesterday said that it has completed its third arm transplant.

Taiwanese surgeons began performing arm transplants in 2014 and to date has seen five cases of

successful arm transplants involving six arms, the hospital said.

The patients from the first two Kaohsiung transplants in 2014 and 2016 were recovering well, doctor Kuo Yao-jen (郭耀仁) told the Joint Conference of Medical personnel of Kaohsiung Municipal Hospital.

The first patient, who had injuries lower on the arm and had been without a hand for more than 30 years, has shown great progress in recovery and is now able to perform delicate actions, such as threading a needle or peeling shrimp, Kuo said.

The second patient was injured close to the elbow, but is now able to drive and use a cellphone with the transplanted forearm, Kuo added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 03 January, 2020
By: Jake Chen

The Central Bank of Taiwan says that the government should invest more in childcare to minimize the economic impact of low birth rate.

In its latest report, the Central Bank cited figures from the National Development Council which predict that Taiwan’s working population will drop to less than 50% of the total population by 2065.
[FULL  STORY]

The Diplomat
Date: January 03, 2020
By: Jason Li   

On September 16, the Cabinet of the Solomon Islands voted to switch its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, ending its 36-year-old official relationship with Taiwan. Kiribati switched three days later. This quick succession of diplomatic losses dropped Taipei’s formal diplomatic partners to 15.

While the switch by the Solomon Islands was a long time coming – China is its largest export market by a large margin, and investment, tourist, and cultural links with China have dwarfed those with Taiwan – it represents the reality of Beijing’s successes in campaigning against Taiwan’s status in the international system. Since Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, China has chiseled away six of Taiwan’s partners from Africa, Central America, and the South Pacific.

The switch by the Solomon Islands is highly significant for Taiwan, but other actors including the United States and its alliance partners in the Pacific are also deeply impacted. The Solomon Islands are strategically located and contain several deep-water ports, which means they could be used to directly challenge the activities of the United States and its partners in the region. With its diplomatic switch, a continuous strip of exclusive economic zones of China’s diplomatic partners runs more than 8,500 kilometers from Taiwan southeast to Tonga, jutting into the post-World War II spheres of influence of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and France.
[FULL  STORY]

Twin brothers disciplined after impersonating each other at their respective high schoolsTaiwan News
Date: 2020/01/03
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A pair of Taiwanese twin brothers decided to switch identities and attend classes as the other person last December, but the two were disciplined after their stunt was revealed by classmates.

The twin brothers shared their unique experience on the social media platform Meteor, saying that the prank was fun but came at a price. According to the post, the Taiwanese twins launched the experiment by swapping their uniforms from Jianguo High School and Song Shan High School, pretending to be each other for a day.

One of the twins got lost on the Jianguo High School campus, had to call his counterpart for directions, and was immediately recognized by several classmates since he had a different haircut than his brother. The twins also took math and English exams for their duplicates, according to UDN.

The director of Song Shan High School's Academic Affairs Office, Chang Kuang-yuan (張洸源), said that the twins informed the school about their prank after the exams, but due to safety concerns for other students, demerits and warnings were still given. Jianguo High School also confirmed the incident and said that the school had issued verbal warnings to the twins, reported Liberty Times.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2020/01/03
By: Elaine Hou and Frances Huang

Taipei, Jan. 3 (CNA) Taiwan ranked No. 1 in gender equality in Asia, according to the Executive Yuan's Gender Equality Committee (GEC), which based its self-assessment on a model used by the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Gender Inequality Index (GII).

The GEC said on Friday that after using the model and data in the 2018 GII to calculate Taiwan's gender equality situation, it found the country's GII hit 0.053, the best among the countries in Asia, and No. 9 in the world.

The data was published in the 2020 Gender At A Glance in the Republic of China (Taiwan).

According to the GII, the closer a country's index comes to zero, the better its gender equality is. Taiwan's GII is better than South Korea's (0.058, No. 11 in the world), Singapore's (0.065, No. 12), Japan's (0.099, No. 24) and China's (0.163, No. 40), the GEC said.    [FULL  STORY]