Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/01
By  Central News Agency

Taiwan confirmed three new imported cases of COVID-19 Sunday, two of them from Indonesia and one from the United States, bringing the total number in the country to 558, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).

The three new patients are two Indonesians and a Taiwanese man, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said at a press briefing.

One of the new patients, an Indonesian woman under the age of 20, entered Taiwan Oct. 29 to study. The woman developed a loss of her sense of smell Oct. 7 but did not seek medical attention in Indonesia.

She notified airport health officials of her symptoms on arrival in Taiwan and was tested, with the results coming back positive on Sunday, Chuang said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 11/01/2020
By: Chen Chia-lun and Evelyn Kao

Hanoi, Nov. 1 (CNA) This year's Taiwan higher education fair in Vietnam, held Saturday as a virtual event due to the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, attracted over 6,000 viewers in Vietnam, the event organizer, Taiwan's representative office in Vietnam, said Sunday.

The 2020 education fair saw a record high number of 149 universities and colleges present their offerings via live streaming on YouTube, attracting over 6,000 students who visited the online fair in about eight hours of the show, with nearly 1,000 average hourly viewers and 3,450 peak simultaneous viewers, according to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam.

During the online event, some of the schools gave their presentations in the Vietnamese language and let Vietnamese students already studying in their schools share their experience.

Ho Trung Loc, a Vietnamese student studying at Taichung-based China Medical University, lauded Taiwan as an ideal destination for Vietnamese students seeking to study overseas behind only the United States, Japan and Europe, saying that through his one year of study in Taiwan, his English language and professional skills have improved significantly and he has learned a lot from the Taiwanese people's strong professional dedication and work ethic.  [FULL  STORY]

IMPORTS VERSUS DOMESTIC: The central government must clearly explain its policy on lifting the import ban if it wants local governments’ help, Ko Wen-je said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2020
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the central government for allowing imports of US pork products containing ractopamine residue, but banning the use of the leanness-enhancing feed additive by Taiwan’s pig farmers.

“My attitude is simply ‘yes or no’ — [the government] just [needs to] clearly explain the policy and publicize the procedure, and we will raise our hands with questions if we have different opinions,” Ko said.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony for the Guandu International Nature Art Festival after reporters asked him to elaborate on earlier comments about the plan to relax restrictions on Jan. 1 on imports of US pork products, as well as beef from cattle aged 30 months or older.

The central government should not mislead the public, since most people think the policy only applies to US pork, but it might end up allowing the importation of pork containing ractopamine from other countries, as businesspeople would make changes to earn a profit, he said.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 30 October, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced that Japan is lowering its infection risk advisory level for Taiwan from level 3 to level 2. Level 2 is an advisory that Japanese citizens should avoid non-essential travel to designated areas, while level 3 is an outright travel ban. 
[FULL  STORY]

Pride parade set to be largest LGBT celebration in North Hemisphere in pandemic-stricken year

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/30
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The facade of the Taipei City Government building was lit up in rainbow colors on Thursday evening (Oct. 29) in honor of the Taiwan Pride parade, which will kick off Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31).

The light show comprises a series of projections that sketch out the development of the capital and tell the story of Taiwan’s legalization of same-sex marriage, according to the city’s tourism chief Liu Yi-ting (劉奕霆). He added that the office has launched a number of activities in October to honor the pride parade, which celebrates its 18th anniversary this year, and to promote tourism.

2019 Taiwan Pride parade attracted approximately 200,000 people. (CNA photo)

The display was scheduled to run from 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday due to the Pride's follow-up performances at Taipei City Hall Saturday afternoon. The show starts every 30 minutes and lasts about five minutes.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the projection will also feature a one-hour live show put on by DJ Ro.Z, noted Liu. The city government will continue its efforts to make Taipei one of the most liberal cities in the world in terms of equality, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/30/2020 10:16 PM

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) A former lawmaker has posted information suggesting that pro-China business tycoon Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) gave orders to managers of media outlets in Taiwan under his control, contradicting his claim that he has never intervened in editorial decisions.

Former New Power Party lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said such orders were evident in seven screenshots he posted on Facebook of conversations Tsai had on WeChat with several high-ranking managers in Tsai's Want Want China Times Media Group, which owns cable news station CTiTV.

The controversy was triggered by debate over whether to renew the broadcast license of CTiTV, which is known for being critical of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and favorable to China.

The license is set to expire on Nov. 12 and must be renewed by the National Communications Commission.    [FULL  STORY]

STINK TACTICS: To deter recreational use of laughing gas, the government would require producers to add sulfur dioxide to orders for some clients, the EPA said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 31, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, has been listed in Taiwan as a controlled substance, meaning the regulations governing its production, importation, sale, use and storage have been tightened, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

The EPA yesterday listed laughing gas as the first non-toxic chemical regulated under the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法), Toxic and Chemical Substances Bureau Director-General Hsieh Yein-rui (謝燕儒) said.

While nitrous oxide is used in several industries, including the semiconductor manufacturing and food sectors, its unregulated use for recreational purposes has increased in the past few months, the EPA told a news conference in Taipei.

For example, the number of cases in which laughing gas was abused for recreational purposes in Taoyuan jumped from 134 last year to 455 in the first seven months of this year, police data showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 29 October, 2020
By: John Van Trieste

The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, two US-based pro-

democracy organizations, have both announced that they will set up an office in Taiwan.

In a press release, the National Democratic Institute’s representative for the Asia-Pacific region, Manpreet Singh Anand, said that Taiwan’s democracy is a model both for the surrounding region and the world at large. Anand said the new office should strengthen and expand cooperation with Taiwan’s social media users, judicial bodies, and government officials.    [FULL  STORY]

Next Shark
Date: October 29, 2020
By: Bryan Ke·

Chen Ying-xuan and Lee Ying-ying, and Wang Yi and Meng Youmei’s participation at this year’s mass wedding will become the Taiwanese military’s first-ever ceremony for same-sex couples, according to The Guardian. The military weddings will be held a day before the annual LGBTQ+ parade in Taipei.

“Our country … has become the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and the ministry gives its blessings to same-sex servicemen who are getting married,” the Taiwanese military said in a statement.

To celebrate the joyous moment, the military posted 57 pictures of the couples who will attend the mass wedding and asked followers to like their favorite photos.

“This is not only a great encouragement to the LGBT community but also to the army,” a spokesperson from a group advocating for LGBTQ+ awareness in the military told the Guardian. “It’s proof that LGBT people can have equal rights and, like everyone else, are capable of defending the country.”    [FULL  STORY]