Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/21
By: Stacy Hsu 

Taiping Island, May 21 (CNA) The Taiwan government plans to cooperate with countries close to Taiping Island in the South China Sea on humanitarian assistance and rescue, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩) disclosed Tuesday, during a multi-agency humanitarian rescue drill off the coast of the Taiwan-administered island.

“Rendering humanitarian aid and rescue is a universal value shared by (people) all over the world,” Chen told CNA during the exercise. “As long as it is something conducive to cooperation, the government will endeavor to achieve it.”

Chen said the government hopes to hold joint drills with countries near Taiping Island to strengthen rescue and relief capabilities at sea and will do whatever is necessary to facilitate such cooperation.    [FULL  STORY]

PIPE DREAM: Roger Lin allegedly told 134 members that their ‘citizenship cards’ allowed them to reside in the US and receive free government healthcare

Taipei Times
Date:\ May 22, 2019
By:L Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan Civil Government founder Roger Lin (林志昇) and his wife, Julian Lin (林梓安),

were yesterday indicted on additional charges of aggravated fraud and profiting on false pretenses, after 134 more people filed complaints against the couple and other executives of the organization.

Taoyuan prosecutors said that they had uncovered more evidence and took additional testimony from victims, after six top executives, including the Lins, were in July last year indicted on charges relating to money laundering, fraud, operating a criminal organization and illegal fundraising.

The six executives faced charges for allegedly defrauding Taiwan Civil Government members of about NT$770 million (US$24.48 million) by having them pay for political donations, seminars, “citizenship” identification cards and high-level membership fees for nonexistent government positions, among other schemes.

Roger Lin led the group, which “operated like a political Ponzi scheme,” prosecutors said, estimating that he and other leaders had made more than NT$1 billion since the organization was founded in 2008.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: May 20, 2019

A reception was hosted May 19 by Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva to promote the need for the country to participate in the activities, mechanisms and meetings of the World Health Organization.

Attended by Health Minister Chen Shih-chung and the visiting Taiwan delegation, the event also involved counterparts and officials from allies Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Kingdom of Eswatini, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, Solomon Islands, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and Grenadines and Tuvalu.

Prior to Chen’s departure for the Swiss metropolis, which is hosting the 72nd World Health Assembly May 20-28, he took part in a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu May 17 in Taipei City.

The pair expressed strong discontent with Taiwan’s noninvitation to the annual meeting of the decision-making body of the WHO, and highlighted the many ways in which Taiwan Can Help realized the U.N. agency’s primary objective of Health For All.  [FULL  STORY]

Six party members added their voices to those of four party veterans calling on Tsai Ing-wen not to contest the party’s nomination process

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/20
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) veterans publicly

opposed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) re-election bid, six younger members of the party held a press conference on Monday (May 20) also calling on Tsai not to contest the DPP primary for the 2020 presidential election.

Lawyer Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), law professor He Te-ten (賀德芬), professor Chang Hsu-Cheng (張旭成), Dr. Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), writer Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), and scholar Shi Zhengfeng (施正鋒) said Tsai should stand aside and let candidates more likely to succeed receive the party nomination.

The six individuals criticized Tsai for using the DPP’s five-person mediation team (五人協調小組), Central Executive Committee (中執會), and Central Standing Committee (中常會) to keep changing the primary schedule and bend the rules to her own advantage. They said these actions were undemocratic and would lead the DPP to lose the election in January 2020.    [SOURCE]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 20 May, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

The great Chinese American architect I.M. Pei passed away last Thursday at the age of 102. He left the world with many well-known works. One of them, the Luce Memorial Chapel at Tunghai University in Taichung, was the only church he designed in his lifetime, and his most significant work in Taiwan.

In 1963, the Luce Memorial Chapel was built at the center of Taiwan’s first Christian university, Tunghai University in Taichung.

A young I. M. Pei with his signature round glasses, on the left, was the architect, along with Chen Chi Kuan.

Pei became one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century. His signature use of natural light to illuminate and beautify a building is also seen in the skyline and façade of the Luce Chapel.

Architecture Professor Chiu Hao-Hsiu says the light symbolizes the relationship between God and nature. It is a great work of imagery and architectural style. The chapel was donated by Henry R. Luce, the founder of Time and Life magazines, as a way to honor his father, Reverend Henry W. Luce and continue his missionary work.    [FULL  STORY]

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu puts the record straight and responds by emphasizing Taiwan’s sovereignty and president’s role in signing off on legislation

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/19
By: Yu-ning Hsu, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Chinese state-owned newspaper People’s Daily has experienced significant pushback on Twitter for attempting to claim jurisdiction over Taiwan by bafflingly taking credit for the country’s new same-sex marriage legislation.

The newspaper wrote, “Local lawmakers in #Taiwan, China, have legalized same-sex marriage in a first for Asia, according to local media reports.” In the Friday (May 17) tweet there was a gif of three couples with different gender combinations, seemingly showing support for same-sex marriage.

“WRONG!” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Twitter in response to the newspaper’s tweet. Wu added “the bill was passed by our national parliament [and] will be signed by the president soon.”

Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan voted on part of a bill that would allow gay couples to apply for marriage registration, making it the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriages. The accomplishment has been widely applauded as an historic improvement of human rights by international media outlets.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/19
By: Yeh Su-ping and Emerson Lim

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) cited her accomplishments

Sunday, on the eve of her third anniversary as the country’s leader, while urging the voters to give her more time to transform Taiwan for the better.

During a visit to the southern municipal city of Kaohsiung, Tsai, who was inaugurated as president May 20, 2016, told reporters that her team has been working hard over the last three years in laying the foundations for the country’s growth.

Asked how she rates her performance over those years, Tsai said presidents usually don’t rate themselves. However, she added, recent surveys show that public satisfaction with her and her team has been increasing.

Tsai said she has done things that her predecessors were not able to do and that although some sectors have been affected by reforms, the foundation for the country’s development has been laid after three years.  [FULL  STORY]

HEALTH DEVICES: Taipei Medical University’s Jack Li said that the government should establish standards, so doctors and the general public could trust the data

Taipei Times
Date: May 20, 2019
By: Wu Liang-yi  /  Staff reporter

Standards for wearable devices that monitor body functions should be established, as

their effectiveness and features, as well as the reliability of their data, are questionable, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital cardiologist Chang Po-cheng (張伯丞) said.

Wearable health monitoring devices such as fitness wristbands and sports watches are being introduced, with many touting features such as heart rate monitors, pedometers and milometers, as well as functions to estimate calories burned and track sleep.

However, physiological data from such devices seem questionable and should be used for reference only, Chang said.

Proper medical treatment still requires hospital equipment, said Chang, who led a team who developed a wearable device that monitors the heart.    [FULL  STORY]