A Wednesday press conference revealed the world’s fastest white-blood cell filter, and a new allergen detection device
 
Taiwan News   
Date: 2019/03/13 
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) held a press Conference on Wednesday, March 13, to announce the recent successes of researchers with the MOST “Germination Program” (研發成果萌芽計畫).

A team of researchers at Taiwan’s Chung Yuan Christian University (中原大學) working with MOST support have invented the world’s fastest and most effective white blood cell filtering device, which already achieved FDA approval for market in late 2018.

The head of the research team, Professor Chang Yong (張雍) of the Department of Chemical Engineering, says the device can effectively isolate and remove white blood cells from any blood sample. The device was also completely developed and manufactured in Taiwan, with Taiwan-made components.

Chang observes that since depleting white-blood cells is a necessary step in preparing blood for blood transfusion procedures, the new device is expected to drastically reduce transfusion time for patients.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/13
By: Huang Ya-shih and Chung Yu-chen

The Vatican, March 13 (CNA) Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sent a

congratulatory message to Pope Francis on the sixth anniversary of his pontificate Wednesday and expressed her hope that he will one day visit Taiwan, according to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Embassy to the Holy See.

Tsai congratulated the leader of Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe on the sixth anniversary of his ascension to the papacy.

The people of Taiwan are deeply grateful for the Catholic leader’s care and constant attention to the Catholic Church and to people in need, Tsai said in her message.

She also thanked his holiness for appointing H.E. Fernando Cardinal Filoni as special envoy to attend the fourth National Eucharistic Congress in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

PUYUMA ACCIDENT: Lin Chia-lung said that it hurt him to read the Taiwan Railways Administration report, which the public is likely to see in a negative light

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 14, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said

that he has asked the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) to review the punishments handed to former TRA officials over the derailment of Puyuma Express No. 6432 in Yilan County on Oct. 21 last year, adding that the agency should consider releasing the recorded conversations between the train’s driver and the control center if there is no legal issue.

Lin was asked to brief lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee about the establishment of a railway technology research and certification center.

However, the committee meeting focused on how Lin planned to raise penalties for former TRA officials who were allegedly responsible for the fatal railway accident, after local media reported that he had on Tuesday rejected the final report on the accident submitted by the TRA.

Before Lin took office in January, the ministry had ruled that three former TRA directors-general — Frank Fan (范植谷), Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) and Jason Lu (鹿潔身) — were to receive demerits for the accident. Lu was given a major demerit, whereas Fan and Chou were each given a minor demerit.    [FULL  STORY]

Music teacher in Taoyuan forces students to repeat slur against former Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/13 
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A high school music teacher is being investigated for violating

administrative neutrality by discussing his political point of view in class and having his students recite insults against the former mayor of Kaohsiung.

A student from a high school in Taoyuan’s Zhongli District took to Facebook yesterday to complain that his music teacher is always talking about politics in class. Yesterday, the student posted a video on the Facebook page iChungli (我是中壢人) showing a music teacher at the school criticizing former Kaohsiung Mayor and current Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) for “5,000 potholes” on the streets of the city.

The student complained that the teacher frequently shouts slogans and forces the students to sing in praise of the Kuomintang (KMT) and belittle the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), saying that the “people who listen to the DPP are idiots.”

In the video, the teacher can be heard making the students chant “5,000 potholes [Kao]hsiung” and “5,000 potholes Chu,” in reference to Chen Chu. During his election campaign for mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) criticized the 5,000 potholes which had surfaced after a heavy deluge last year and implied that they were the result of bad governance.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 12 March, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

The 2019 Taipei International Bakery Show got underway on Tuesday. The show is the biggest of its kind in Asia. A total of 417 pastry companies from 13 countries are taking part in this year’s show, setting up 1,800 booths.

This year’s show features a new contest showcasing traditional Chinese pastry culture. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je was at the opening day to sample contestants’ creative concoctions.    [FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
Date: 12 Mar, 2019 
By: Kristin Huang  

• President Tsai Ing-wen is ‘delusional’ and is leading the island down a dead end, says Beijing adviser on cross-strait issues
• Taipei government recently set out a series of measures to try to counter Beijing’s increased push for reunification

Beijing will tighten the military and diplomatic squeeze on Taiwan if the island’s independence-leaning government refuses to acknowledge the “one-China” principle, a government adviser warned on Tuesday.

Li Yihu, a National People’s Congress delegate and head of Peking University’s Institute of Taiwan Studies, said on the sidelines of the annual legislative gathering in Beijing, that the island’s President Tsai Ing-wen was deluded and would only lead the island down a dead-end and intensify conflict with Beijing if she misjudged the situation.
“Tsai cannot see the trend developing in cross-strait ties, cannot understand the crux of the problem … and her view on the whole matter is a mistake,” said Li.

Tsai recently laid out a set of guidelines to help the island counter the proposal that the “one country, two systems” framework applied to Hong Kong and Macau might provide a model for Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland.    [FULL  STORY]

Japan and the Philippines have reported an alarming number of measles cases in 2019, Taiwan has reported 28 cases

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/03/12 
By: Duncan Deaeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following the discovery of another domestic case of the measles in Taiwan last week, the total number of measles cases this year has increased to 28.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has released a statement urging people to be aware of the risk of measles, especially those traveling abroad in the region. There is an alarming spike in measles cases Japan this year, and a very serious outbreak happening in the Philippines, says MOHW.

In Japan this year there have been 258 cases of Measles reported, as of March 10, promoting a travel advisory. Even more alarming, in the Philippines there were already more than 10,000 cases reported by late February.

For those planning trips to Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, or China in the near future, MOHW says that if a resident has not been vaccinated for the disease, it is advisable to get the vaccine two to four weeks before going abroad.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/12
By: Lin Hung-han, Matt Yu and Evelyn Kao

Los Angeles, March 11 (CNA) While the threat posed by China is growing more serious,

Taiwan’s relations with the United States are stronger than ever as the two countries prepare to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs said in a speech in Los Angeles Monday.

Invited by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) gave a speech at a luncheon in the Millennium Biltmore Hotel titled “Taiwan: An Enduring Partner with the U.S. in the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

At the event, which attracted an audience of 300, Wu was referred to by his formal title “Taiwan’s Foreign Minister” and the national flags of the United States and the Republic of China were prominently displayed on the two sides of the hall.

After greeting the audience, Wu said he was honored to have the opportunity to share the story of the 23 million people of democratic Taiwan, its 40-year partnership with the U.S., and Taiwan’s role as a force for good in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.    [FULL  STORY]

LIMITING FREEDOM? Legislator Kawlo Iyun Pacidal said that the amendments would violate people’s rights to peaceful assembly and to dissent against unjust policies

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 13, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Civic groups and legal experts yesterday decried proposals for stricter crowd control

measures to deter public disturbances and street fighting, following a number of incidents that led to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) calling on police chiefs to crack down and maintain public safety.

Taiwan Association for Human Rights chairman Geoffrey Weng (翁國彥) told a news conference that he is concerned by a Criminal Investigation Bureau proposal to amend provisions of the Criminal Code and other laws to allow police to take action against public gatherings of three or more people deemed as threatening violence or public order.

The proposal seeks to amend Articles 149 and 150 of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) to make it easier for police to deal with gatherings involving violence or threats, including reducing a requirement from three to two warnings to disperse before police are allowed to arrest participants, he said.

The proposal has been sent to the Ministry of Justice and the Executive Yuan, just days after Su demanded tougher action by police chiefs following brawls outside nightclubs and other entertainment venues in major cities that resulted in numerous injuries.
[FULL  STORY]

Reuters
Date: March 11, 2019

TAIPEI (Reuters) – The U.S. ambassador for religious freedom on Monday again urged China to give its

people religious freedom, a move he said could help gain trust from self-ruled Taiwan, an island China considers its own.

Sam Brownback on Friday said in a speech in Hong Kong that China was waging “war with faith” and that it needed to respect the “sacred right” of people to worship, especially Muslims locked up in internment camps in Xinjiang.

On Monday, he addressed the issue of Taiwan which China considers a wayward province and has pledged to unite, by force if necessary.

“If they want to build some confidence in Taiwan, they should give religious freedom to their own people,” he told Reuters. “If they would give religious freedom to their own people, that would be noticeable.”    [FULL  STORY]