Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-18

The government-sponsored International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is

planning to introduce Taiwan’s global health cooperation in Geneva next week on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

The WHA is scheduled to hold its annual meeting from Monday. Taiwan has not been invited to this year’s assembly due to pressure from China.

ICDF deputy secretary-general Lee Pai-po said Friday that there will be two events focusing on Taiwan’s medical care and public health cooperation.

Lee said one will focus on ICDF’s efforts to set up a chronic renal failure prevention program in Belize and Saint Christopher and Nevis. Two Taiwanese hospitals are responsible for training medical workers there.

Another event is aimed at sharing ICDF’s efforts to boost medical records management efficiency in Paraguay. System engineers and hospital staff from Paraguay will receive training in Taiwan to learn how to design and maintain its digital medical system.
[SOURCE]

Taiwan sweet shop White Wood House Bakery shuts down after 21 years

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/18
By: Renée Salmonsen, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s famous cake shop, White Wood House, announced at a

press conference May 18 that the bakery will close down operations within a week due to financial deficit, leaving 190 people unemployed.

King Yue Biological Technology Co. Ltd. (景岳生技), the owner of White Wood House, said that the bakery’s revenue in 2017 was NT$172 million (US$5 million), comprising 31.2% of King Yue’s overall revenue and indicating an NT$83 million operational deficit, according to UDN.

This year’s first quarter figures saw a revenue of NT$37 million, comprising 27.2% of King Yue’s overall revenue and indicating a NT$23 million operational deficit.

Fearing that the deficit will only grow and the company will not be able to come back from it, the board of directors have decided to shut down operations of the cake shop.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/18
By: Elaine Hou and William Yen

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Taiwan has named new representatives to Nigeria, Jordan and Colombia, amid a foreign affairs personnel reshuffle, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced on Friday.

MOFA’s Department of West Asian and African Affairs Counselor Yang Wen-sheng (楊文昇) was named Taiwan’s new representative to Nigeria.

Counselor Mai Jui-ming (買睿明) of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, Indonesia, will take over from Yang Syin-yi (楊心怡) as Taiwan’s representative to Jordan.

Yang will be called back to Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

SAFETY NET: Lawmakers passed bills allowing farmers to enroll in the Occupational Injury Insurance scheme and entitling relatively wealthy farmers to public pensions

Taipei Times
Date: May 19, 2018
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments to the Farmer Health Insurance Act

(農民健康保險條例) on third reading, extending the coverage of the Occupational Injury Insurance to about 1.16 million farmers nationwide.

The Council of Agriculture (COA), which is responsible for the act, said that it would initiate a soft launch of the improved farmers’ insurance system in November.

Citing calculations by the council, COA Deputy Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said at a committee review of the amendments earlier this month that farmers covered by the Farmers’ Health Insurance system would have to pay just an additional NT$14 (US$0.47) per month to enjoy the benefits offered by the Occupational Injury Insurance system.

Under the amendments, the insured is to shoulder 60 percent of the premium if their household registration is in one of the six special municipalities, while their local governments and the council would each pay 20 percent of the fee.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-17

The Ministry of Science of Technology announced a new apparatus that is capable of absorbing and recycling carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. The device is the latest research from the department of chemical engineering at National Taiwan University.

Professor Tung Kuo-lun and his team at National Taiwan University has developed a new apparatus that is capable of extrapolating carbon dioxide (CO2) from waste gas and recycling it into various other usable chemical compounds.

Professor Tung said the metal fibers that lie inside several tubes are the key to his apparatus. He said the system is capable of processing 10 kg worth of high density CO2 per day, and it does so at one third of the cost of existing processes. He said the apparatus is also small, easy to install and deploy, and it could function on excess heat from the factory.

Tung said that the device has a wide range of applications in factories that produce chemical products, textiles, cement. It can also be used in steel mills and power plants. He said his team is working to expand the system’s capability to absorb harmful matters such as PM2.5 and dioxins in the future.    [SOURCE]

Targeting East Asians for naturalization could be a first step to wider acceptance of immigration.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/05/17
By: Xiaochen Su 

There is no escaping the fact that the populations of Japan and Taiwan are shrinking, and a more relaxed policy on immigration and naturalization could be the answer to the crisis.

An immigration policy that focuses on naturalizing East Asians, who account for the majority of the foreign populations in both countries, is an overlooked potential avenue for countering the population problem, and could provide a stepping stone to a wider embrace of multiculturalism that looks further afield for potential new citizens.

The population problem
A recent Japan Times article matter-of-factly reports that 2017 marked the seventh consecutive year of declining population in Japan, while the proportion of those over the age of 65 had hit an unprecedented 27.7 percent.

The same article, quoting government figures, paints grim prospects for Japan’s demographics. The current population of 126.7 million is forecast to fall to below 100 million by 2053, before plummeting to 88.1 million by 2065, by which time the number of over people over 65 is projected to account for 38.4 percent of the population
[FULL  STORY]

Interview with Taiwanese director David Lim, director of award winning film ‘Fight’

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/05/17
By: Susanne Palm, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese director David Lim won Best Director for his film “Fight”

at the International Film festival in Nice last Saturday (May 12). David and his lead actor Ming Shuai Shih, attended the festival.

“I focus on making films I believe are good for mankind, to create a world with more forgiveness, compassion, integrity and love,” says David Lim.

“Fight” is a silent film, beautifully shot almost like a Manga cartoon in gentle colors and lots of slow motion. It’s dark, yet magic, and with a clear light of hope leading the little boy to safety.

The protagonist is based on one of Lim’s friends, Ken Chyan, who grew up in the U.S, surviving bullying, violence and gun fights.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/05/17
By: Lin Hsing-meng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) denied media reports that an Iranian refugee and her son were returned to Nauru from Taiwan against psychiatric advice that the son should not be sent back because he suffers from a severe mental illness caused by his detention.

Taiwan officials said the patient completed her course of treatment and left the country in accordance with an existing agreement between Taiwan, Australia and Nauru.

Several local media outlets citing a report in British daily newspaper the Guardian, said that the Iranian refugee and her teenage son had been in Taiwan for two months after being medically transferred from an Australian-run immigration center on Nauru.

The mother had waited 18 months on Nauru for critical heart surgery but refused to be separated from her son, who was suicidal after more than five years on Nauru, according to the Guardian report.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-05-16

A group of 22 Taiwanese social welfare organizations on Wednesday condemned the

decision by the World Health Organization to exclude Taiwan from this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA). In a joint statement, the group called on the WHO to give equal treatment to Taiwan.

The statement pointed out that Taiwan was the first country in Asia to introduce a universal health insurance system and has valuable experience to share with WHO member countries. It also said Taiwanese civic groups are carrying out over 300 projects related to public health in over 73 countries.

Chen Chieh-ju of the Taiwan Social Welfare League said the WHO has excluded Taiwan due to political pressure from China. In doing so, the global health network loses a valuable partner, she said.    [FULL  STORY]