Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 19 March, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

President Tsai Ing-wen is set to embark on a state visit to three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific. She has decided to present works of indigenous Taiwanese art to the leaders of all three nations.

Next week, President Tsai Ing-wen will be making an eight-day trip to Palau, Nauru, and the Marshall Islands.

Tsai has chosen a painting of a fishing trap by Atayal painter Miru Hayung as a gift for Palauan President Tommy Remengesau. Tsai chose the painting after considering Palau’s concerns about marine conservation in recent years. The artist says that while the trap catches big fish, small fish can escape through the holes in the trap and return to sea, allowing fish stocks to remain stable.

For Nauruan President Baron Waqa, Tsai has selected a guitar made from driftwood by Amis artist Fan Zhi-ming. Tsai chose the gift because the Nauruan president comes from a musical family. The guitar’s maker says the instrument can be played on its own or hooked up to an amplifier.    [FULL  STORY]

The spell of the Sunflower Movement may appear to have faded, but it has had a lasting impact on Taiwan.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/19
By: Brian Hioe

Five years after the 2014 Sunflower Movement, triumphalist narratives about the legacy of the movement may require some qualifiers. The results of nine-in-one elections last November, for one, showed that the Kuomintang (KMT) remains a viable political party in Taiwan.

Predictions in prior years were that the party would soon fade from political relevance after the KMT’s major defeats in 2016 elections, seeing as at the time the party was facing an internal crisis and seemed to lack any support from young people. But the results of 2018 elections show that the KMT is still wholly capable of winning the vote and defeating the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Indeed, the KMT has been able to even win the support of young people with unorthodox political candidates such as Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who many in the party now call on to run for president.

Credit: AP / TPGStudents occupy Taiwan’s Parliament on April 7, 2014.
Worryingly for many, the spike in Taiwanese identity which occurred after the 2014 Sunflower Movement also seems to have receded. Exclusively Chinese identity still remains low and overall trends still point to an increase in Taiwanese identity, but this is far more gradual than explosive. Some question whether this means that the consolidation of Taiwanese identity which seemed self-evident after the Sunflower Movement is far from as permanent as previously believed – and whether the KMT’s electoral victories in 2018 are a harbinger of a future reversal of Taiwanese identity.

Indeed, it is quite worrisome to note that Taiwanese will still vote for the KMT, which continues to seek the political unification of Taiwan and China. We might note the fact that the Sunflower Movement took place only two years into Xi Jinping’s term as president of China. Events such as the arrest of youth activists in Hong Kong, their being blocked from running for office or disqualified from office, or the detention of over one million Uyghurs in Xinjiang for their religion, had not yet taken place.    [FULL  STORY]

Ko fails to understand U.S. support and is moving closer to China: TAA

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/19 
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwanese Association of America wrote a letter to the

chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to complain about negative remarks by Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on relations between Taiwan and the United States.

The mayor is currently touring the U.S. in a move which is widely seen as a form of preparation for an eventual candidacy in the January 2020 presidential elections.

Ko has made negative comments about Taiwan-U.S. relations and has been moving closer to China, wrote Shawfang Jeng (鄭劭方), the president of the Taiwan Association of America.

Ko characterized the relationship with Washington as “transactional” and described military aid as a useless “flat drill bit,” the letter said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/19
By: Tai Ya-chen and William Yen

London, March 19 (CNA) A Taiwanese jam maker won an Artisan Award for her

marmalade at an annual culinary event in England last Friday, after competing against more than 3,000 jars of preserves.

Ke Ya (柯亞), founder of Keya Jam, won a Double Gold award for her Orange Blossom, Kumquat & Yellow Lemon Marmalade in the artisan and small producer category, which included about 3,500 jams from over 40 countries at the 2019 World’s Original Marmalade Awards.

Video taken from facebook.com/keyajam

In an interview with CNA, Ke said that even though three marmalades won Double Gold awards, the others being from the Netherlands and Syria, hers was the only one to receive a full score of 20 from the judges.

The jury was made up of journalists, business leaders and people well respected in the food industry. Submissions were evaluated from mid February with the winners announced on March 15, according to the event’s website.    [FULL  STORY]

STAY VIGILANT: People who are eligible to receive a government-funded influenza vaccine due to health conditions should get immunized, a CDC official said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 20, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff Reporter

The peak period of the flu season has ended, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said

yesterday, but still urged people to take precautions against infection.

A total of 85,163 hospital visits for flu-like illness were reported nationwide last week, about the same as the week before and lower than the peak period threshold, the CDC said.

Thirty-nine serious flu complications, four of which resulted in death, were confirmed last week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said, adding that 28 (72 percent) of them were infected with the influenza A (H1N1) strain.

Most of the people who had serious flu complications last week were aged 50 and above — 21 of them (54 percent) were older than 65 and more than 10 of them (26 percent) were aged 50 to 64, the CDC said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 18 March, 2019
By: Paula Chao

President Tsai Ing-wen says China’s attempts to annex Taiwan have not only remained unchanged but have grown even stronger over the past five years. Tsai made the statement Monday in a post on her Facebook page.

Tsai said despite China’s blatant attempt to impose the “one country, two systems” formula on Taiwan, that is not going to happen as long as she is in office.

Tsai called herself a president confident of safeguarding Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty “without moving one step backward.” Tsai also said she will sign up for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential primary later his week.

The president said Taiwan is on the right track, adding that her efforts to diversify the economy over the past few years have allowed the island to go global and to have a record number of tourist arrivals.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan must seriously address unsafe work conditions for migrant workers after its third fatal factory fire in 14 months.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/18
By: Brian Hioe

The death of three Vietnamese migrant workers in a warehouse fire in early February should remind of the unsafe working conditions which continue to face migrant workers in Taiwan. The fire broke out at a warehouse owned by the Kerry TJ Logistics Company in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District on Feb. 7, killing three. The Kerry TJ Logistics Company is a warehousing and storage company.

The blaze burned for eight hours, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., before the fire was contained. A total of six Vietnamese workers were present when the fire broke out, with three survivors and three deceased. Two were pulled out of the fire by firefighters, with one man later dying from burns and smoke inhalation. The six workers were contractors of a Taiwanese man surnamed Chen. Chen and his employees were working on maintenance for the facility when the fire broke out. According to reports, some of these workers may have been working in Taiwan illegally.

Credit: Taoyuan Fire DepartmentThe Feb. 2019 blaze killed three Vietnamese migrant workers.
Nevertheless, the incident reminds of a May 2018 fire that also broke out in Pingzhen District in Taoyuan, killing two Thai migrant workers and five firefighters in a factory owned by the Chin Poon Industrial Company, which prints circuit boards. The fire also proves the third fatal factory fire in 14 months.

Public outrage after the Chin Poon fire called for better protection for firefighters, seeing as this was the largest loss of life for firefighters in Taiwan in 11 years. Calls also took place for factory dormitories to be relocated so that they are not directly adjacent to factories. Indeed, a workers’ dormitory was illegally located adjacent to the factory that burned down in the Chin Poon fire. As with the frequent blind eye turned to illegal structures in Taiwan, one wonders if the existence of the dorm was known previously by authorities, but there was no action. Public discussion also turned to how firefighters were ill-equipped to fight the fire because they did not know of where dangerous chemicals were located in the factory, or how such chemicals might have led to the fire breaking out.    [FULL  STORY]

7 districts of Taichung, Taiwan exposed to high concentrations of 8 carcinogens in air

Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/18 
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A study of air pollution in Taichung City has found that seven districts contain unacceptable levels of PM2.5 and eight first-level airborne carcinogens, reported SETN.

On Saturday, a public hearing on the results of the first and second phases of a survey on air pollution was held by the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau at Chung Shan Medical University. Liaw Yung- po (廖勇柏), a professor at the university, said that although the city of Taichung did not exceed standards for PM2.5 and carcinogens, there are seven districts which were found to have concentrations of eight carcinogens so high, that just inhaling the air would put residents at a higher risk.

The issue of air pollution in Taichung has attracted much attention in recent years. In addition to the dismantling of intermediate load power plants, citizens have been curious about how Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) would improve the air quality in the city.

However, the results of the latest survey have caused panic among residents of the seven Taichung districts. The study focuses on the exposure to air pollution by residents around the Taichung Power Plant, Dragon Steel Co., Ltd., and Central Taiwan Science Park.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/18
By: Chen Chun-hua and Ko Lin

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) The British Office Taipei, which maintains and develops relations between the United Kingdom and Taiwan, called on Monday for Taiwan to abolish the death penalty on the basis of human rights.

Capital punishment should not exist in a democratic society where human rights are respected, according to the U.K.’s representative to Taiwan Catherine Nettleton.

Speaking at a press conference in Taipei to discuss the reports “For or against abolition of the death penalty: Evidence from Taiwan,” and “Unsafe convictions in capital cases in Taiwan” released Sunday, Nettleton said in the mind of the British, the “death penalty” is no longer an option.

The reports were jointly compiled by the London-based Death Penalty Project (DPP) and Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), which revealed concerns over the administration of criminal justice in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

AIR GUARDIAN: Permitless operators, failure to cease operations and recidivism are among the situations where offenders could be fined NT$20m, the EPA said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 19, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday announced draft guidelines

that outline which breaches of the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) would bring the maximum fine of NT$20 million (US$648,677), saying fines could be calculated according to the frequency of violations.

The maximum fine was increased from NT$1 million after amendments to the law took effect in August last year, the EPA said, adding that its guidelines outline situations that would warrant the new maximum fine.

Serious breaches include pollution emitters that do not have permits, those that fail to halt operations as ordered and those that repeatedly contravene the act after being told to improve twice within a year, it said.

Other breaches that could draw the maximum fine are factories that emit large amounts of air pollutants that seriously affect air quality, those that emit hazardous air pollutants, endangering public health, and those that emit pollutants via unlicensed outlets, the EPA said.    [FULL  STORY]