NO IMMUNIZATION: There has not been a large epidemic in Taiwan for many years, so most children or teenagers have never been infected with the EV71 virus, the CDC said

Taiwan Times
Date: Oct 16, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Four cases of serious complications from enterovirus infections were confirmed last week, including a

two-year-old in northern Taiwan, and a two-year-old, three-year-old and an 11-year-old in central Taiwan, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said yesterday.

Three of the children were infected with enterovirus 71 (EV71) and one with coxsackievirus A4, he said, adding that they had developed either encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord).

The symptoms — fever, vomiting, oral ulcers, leg weakness, involuntary twitching of the muscles and loss of consciousness — occurred between Sept. 12 and Sept. 25, Lin said.

All four were hospitalized and treated in time, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 14 October, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

Nanfangao did good business over the long weekend, despite a recent bridge collapse[/caption] Life in the seaside town of Nanfangao is slowly returning to normal two weeks after a tragic bridge collapse killed six and cut off the local fishing industry. Local shop owners were worried that the slump in business would continue through the four-day holiday last weekend. But they were relieved to see vacationers returning in droves.

This is Nanfangao, one of Taiwan’s largest fishing ports… local businesses are firing on all cylinders, with customers filling restaurants and packing the streets over the long holiday weekend.

This comes as a relief to the area, after a bridge collapsed on September 30, cutting off car and boat traffic. One restaurant owner says it hurt her business because over 500 fishing boats were locked in by the wreckage, preventing them from going out to sea to catch fish.
[FULL  STORY]

Mainland Affairs Council denounces claim, calls it part of Beijing's efforts to absorb Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/14
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Chinese state-run news channel reported on Sunday (Oct. 13) that Beijing has completed “initial plans” for bridges linking the country to Taiwan’s outlying islands Matsu and Kinmen.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Monday that the plans were made unilaterally by China as part of its schemes to absorb Taiwan and divide Taiwanese society, reported Liberty Times. Beijing has long disregarded the existence of Taiwan and shown a lack of respect for its democratic values and system, the MAC said.

According to Communist China's mouthpiece CCTV, a total of 40 experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered in Fujian's provincial capital, Fuzhou, on Sunday to discuss plans for the bridges connecting Fuzhou to Matsu and Xiamen to Kinmen. The designer of the 55-kilometer Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge that opened last year, Meng Fanchao (孟凡超), has expressed confidence that any technical difficulties can be overcome.

The report suggested that the “initial plans” for the bridges had been drawn up, including a four- to eight-lane bridge linking Xiamen to Kinmen through the newly built Xiang'an International Airport. Currently, Chinese wishing to travel to Matsu or Kinmen must either fly or take a ferry under the "mini three links" agreement between Taiwan and China that went into effect in 2001.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/14
By: Huang Ya-shih and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) left Rome on Monday after concluding a four-day visit to the Vatican where he attended the canonization of late British Cardinal John Henry Newman and four others in Vatican City the previous day.

It was the third time he had attended a canonization ceremony in the Holy See, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, as the representative of the Republic of China since taking office as vice president in May 2016.

Chen, a devout Catholic, attended the canonization of Mother Teresa in September 2016 and Pope Paul VI in October 2018. On both visits, Chen invited Pope Francis to visit Taiwan, invitations that have not been accepted.

Before the ceremony Sunday, Chen met with Pope Francis as part of the protocol at such events, when the pope usually receives all the leaders of attending delegations.    [FULL  STORY]

DRIVER PROTECTION: After two delivery couriers died in accidents last week, the Ministry of Labor is to set new policy for food apps and help drivers unionize

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 15, 2019
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The Ministry of Labor threatened yesterday to fine food delivery platforms that are allegedly dodging

responsibility for their workers after two delivery men were killed in two separate crashes last week.

Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) said some of the food delivery platforms operating in Taiwan claim that their couriers are independent contractors rather than employees, meaning that the companies do not have to provide them with labor insurance.

However, whether a food deliverer is the employee of a delivery platform company is defined by the labor authorities, not the companies themselves, Hsu said.

She added that her ministry intends to begin inspections of these platform operators and to clarify whether their delivery personnel are employers or contractors.    [FULL  STORY]

A Greenpeace opinion poll showed that most people in Taiwan opined that presidential candidates should face up to the crisis brought by climate change by putting forth energy policies

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/10/13
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Environmental group Greenpeace has urged Taiwan’s 2020 presidential candidates to put forth policies in response to the issue of climate change as Taiwan is listed in the top 25 countries in the world with highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, according to a United Daily News (UDN) report on Sunday (Oct. 13).

The school strike launched by Swedish girl Greta Thunberg (桑柏格) attracted 6 million people around the world to take to the street to call public attention to the climate change issue. In Taiwan, instead of organizing street protests, Greenpeace and other groups such as Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC) have called on all 2020 presidential candidates to directly respond to the issue, the UDN reported.

A Greenpeace opinion poll showed that most people in Taiwan opined that presidential candidates should face up to the crisis brought by climate change by putting forth energy policies that can respond to the trend of converting to recyclable energies, including solar energy, wind power, terrestrial heat, tidal energy, and biomass energy, according to the UDN report.

Greenpeace energy project director Tsai Tu-wei (蔡篤慰) said that according to the data of the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research, Taiwan’s per capita carbon dioxide emission was 12.01 metric tons in 2018, which ranked 25th in the world and much higher than the global average, surpassing Singapore, Germany, and China, according to the report.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/10/13
By: Chen Wei-ting and Emerson Lim

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Sunday confirmed the first case of dengue fever in Taichung City this year, warning of an outbreak of the disease in the area if mosquito breeding grounds are not quickly eliminated.

The patient, a male in his 60s, developed a high fever, severe body pains and other symptoms on Oct. 9 and was taken to hospital, where he tested positive Sunday for the mosquito-borne viral disease, CDC Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told CNA.

Six containers of water found near the man’s home were most likely the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito that transmits the disease, Lo said, adding that there was a “medium” risk of the disease spreading in the area.

However, authorities are also considering that the source might have been another confirmed dengue patient, who had visited the area recently after returning from a trip to India, Lo said.
[FULL  STORY]

LANGUAGE BARRIER: The employee said he brandished a skillet knife at an Australian man, who was demanding a prize for his children, because he felt he was being bullied

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 14, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

A stall employee surnamed Cheng (鄭) is to be charged with making threats and posing a danger

to others after he allegedly brandished a knife at an Australian family of four in Taipei’s Shilin Night Market (士林夜市).

On Oct. 5, an Australian couple and their two children visited the shops and arcade parlors at the market’s New Shilin Market building, police said.

The children were playing a “scooping fish” game at one of the shops when an argument started.

Cheng and other employees told police that the family did not understand the rules of the game, and the father demanded a prize.

When he was refused, the man allegedly became angry and used an obscene hand gesture, police said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 11 October, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen met with the Speaker of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Anthony Michael Perkins on Friday. St. Kitts and Nevis is one of Taiwan’s Caribbean allies.

During the meeting, Tsai thanked Perkins for his country’s continuous support of Taiwan.

Tsai said,“I want to thank the government of St. Kitts and Nevis, especially for speaking boldly in support of Taiwan many times at important international events. Prime Minister Timothy Harris has spoken up for Taiwan at the UN General Assembly three times. On behalf of the Republic of China government and all the people of Taiwan, I express my deepest gratitude for your staunch support.”

The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.    [FULL  STORY]