RTHK
Date: 2020-09-13

A source told Taiwan's Central News Agency that the five Hongkongers had been detained, but they are not being held incommunicado as some reports have suggested. File image: Shutterstock

Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) quoted a source on Sunday as confirming reports that five Hongkongers who attempted to reach the island by boat have been detained there.

Just a day before, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council had refused to confirm or deny claims that the five had been held in the southern city of Kaohsiung for almost two months.

Earlier media reports said the five, who were said to have taken part in anti-government protests in Hong Kong, were intercepted by the Taiwanese coast guard as their boat drifted near the Dongsha Islands.    [FULL  STORY]

Global Times
Date: 2020/9/13
By: Xu Keyue

While a US official's possible visit to the island of Taiwan is being condemned for challenging China's bottom line and aggravating disputes, Taiwan's former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng is reportedly scheduled to head for the Chinese mainland for a cross-Straits forum, over which experts expressed positive expectations and said the forum could be "icebreaking" for current cross-Straits relations.

According to Taiwan media, Wang is to lead the Kuomintang (KMT) delegation to this year's Straits Forum in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province which will kick off on September 19.

The KMT said in a statement that amid the cross-Straits tensions, given the experience and reputation of former speaker Wang, he would surely be able to effectively convey Taiwan people's concerns about the cross-Straits situation to the mainland, and promote understanding across the Straits, media said.

Given the anti-mainland stance of the separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, which has been heightened due to its frequent interactions with the US, including US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach's upcoming visit to the island, mainland residents' goodwill toward Taiwan is declining rapidly, mainland observers said, noting the KMT delegation's possible visit serves as a precious opportunity for the mainland and rational voices in the Taiwan island to communicate.    [FULL  STORY]

More than 150 nations have joined global vaccine alliance

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In order to ensure a supply of vaccines against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), Taiwan will sign an agreement with the COVAX global vaccine alliance, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) chief Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said Saturday (Sept. 12).

While Taiwanese scientists would continue to develop vaccines of their own, it was important for the country to have access to a fair supply of vaccines internationally, CNA quoted Chen, who also serves as minister of health and welfare, as saying.

He added that he had asked attorneys to negotiate a deal with COVAX which would result in the fairest possible formula for Taiwan to acquire the coronavirus vaccines.

Chen pointed out how in the past, it might have taken 10 years to develop a workable vaccine, but in this case, one year would be enough, though the authorities still had to consider safety and side effects.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/13/2020
By: Hou Wen-ting and Evelyn Kao

Kaohsiung, Sept. 13 (CNA) A motorcycle and scooter store in Kaohsiung has been found selling medical-grade face masks in violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and could face a fine of up to NT$2 million (US$68,164), the city government said in a statement Sunday.

Only licensed pharmacies are allowed to sell medical-grade masks, while vendors at night markets, hardware stores and online stores are prohibited from selling such products, according to Huang Chih-chung (黃志中), director of the city's Public Health Bureau.

The city government started random checks of night market vendors, grocery stores and hardware stores among others on Friday, Huang said.

As of Sunday noon, of the 667 outlets checked, one motorcycle and scooter store was found of to be selling medical-grade face masks by displaying them in front of the store, according to the statement.    [FULL  STORY]

AGING SOCIETY: With the number of old people and working-age people projected to be equal by 2040, the MOHW is to continue policies to promote the profession

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 14, 2020
By: Yang Yuan-ting and Wu Po-hsuan / Staff reporters

The number of nurse assistants in Taiwan has more than doubled over the past three years, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said yesterday.

Ministry statistics show that there are more than 60,000 certified nurse assistants in the nation, with an employment rate of more than 70 percent.

The National Development Council predicts that Taiwan will become a super-aged society by 2025, with more than 20 percent of the population aged 65 years or older, as defined by the UN.

The old age dependency ratio — the number of older people compared with working-age people, aged 15 to 64 years — is increasing each year, the council said, adding that there would be the same number of old people as working-age people in the nation by 2040.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 11 September, 2020
By: Leslie Liao

Officials say that Taiwan is making ample preparations for a planned opening of the market to US pork containing ractopamine residue. Ractopamine is a leanness-enhancing pig feed additive commonly used in the US. Taiwan is set to loosen restrictions on ractopamine-treated pork at the start of next year. 

The KMT has voiced its opposition to the move. It says that the Tsai administration has yet to reach a decision on the labeling of lard products.    [FULL  STORY]

Thrive Global
Date: September 11, 2020
By: Ben Ari

In the years of organizing environmental campaigns, philanthropy campaigns, I constantly hear people tell me “It’s great, and I’d love to participate, but I don’t have the time.” Or they’d say “when I have more money I’ll help.” The way I see it is that making an impact on the environment or making an impact on society is not about making a huge difference in a single day. It’s changing one little habit, one at a time, and it could be the tiniest one. Take one less plastic bag. Re-use that piece of trash. Share a portion of your lunch with the homeless guy. Smile and say good morning at 3 people every morning. Making a positive impact on our environment and society is not as time-consuming or requiring deep pockets as most people imagine.

The planet sustains our livelihood. Mother nature takes care of us, and we need to take care of her. The way to do that, is for society to be more aware of how we are impacting our environment. I was taught a Chinese proverb that I’ll be poorly translating: “While eating a fruit, pay respect to the tree the fruit came from.” I’ll add to the proverb and make it more complete to relate to this question: “and don’t cut down that tree or no one else can enjoy fruits.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sam Yang of VAST.life. As a lifestyle brand founded in Los Angeles, California with global connections to Hawaii and Asia, Vast is committed to spreading good vibes, finding empty peaks, and celebrating the bounty of life in its many forms. We’re surfers, first and foremost, but we’re also much more. In our hearts, we’re explorers. We can be found in distant locales hunting the remnants of an off-season swell and we’re equally comfortable in the streets of Los Angeles as we are a back alley in Taipei. We’ve built our aesthetic on the people, places, and cultures we’ve come to love. We thrive on new ideas and collaboration. Because if there’s one thing we’ve found to be true, it’s that the best moments in life — whether it be a perfect sunrise session with one of your best friends or sharing a beer with a stranger at a far-flung pub — happen with other peoples.    [FULL  STORY]

Court wants to clear up discrepancies between the accounts of the four involved

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan High Court on Friday (Sept. 11) brought the four convicted in the gruesome murder of an alleged Canadian drugs dealer in 2018 back to the scene of the crime to work out discrepancies in their account of the event.

Israeli-American dual citizen Oren Shlomo Mayer was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year for the death of Canadian citizen Sanjay Ryan Ramgahan. Another U.S. national, Ewart Odane Bent, received 12 years and six months in prison as both were found guilty of the murder, dismemberment and abandonment of his body.

American Jason Hobbie was sentenced to 18 months and Taiwanese-Canadian Wu Hsuan (吳宣) to six months for aiding and abetting the murder.

All four were present at the Xindian River in Yonghe, New Taipei City, Friday where prosecutors wanted to find out more details about the case. A witness told them that while he was fishing near the scene, he heard a heavy object falling into the water and saw Mayer and Bent walk around in the area, CNA reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/11/2020
By: Liu Kuan-ting and William Yen

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) will expand its petition drive to across Taiwan this weekend as it takes a first step toward holding a referendum to oppose the government's decision to allow imports of American pork containing a banned veterinary drug.

The petition follows a decision announced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 to set standards for residues of the veterinary drug ractopamine in imported pork and to allow imports of U.S. beef from cattle over 30 months old, starting Jan. 1, 2021.

The announcement was controversial because questions over the safety of meat containing ractopamine, which is still banned in Taiwan, have never been resolved.

It was also a policy reversal for Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party, which called meat containing ractopamine "toxic" when it was an opposition party and had insisted on "zero-tolerance" for the controversial drug in imported pork until Tsai's announcement.
[FULL  STORY]

INJUSTICES: The Transitional Justice Commission has identified 100 sites of human rights violations, with the government to be tasked with their maintenance

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 12, 2020
By: Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday said it is drafting an act that would serve as a legal basis to help maintain and care for facilities and sites of past injustices.

Once the proposed legislation is approved, the government would shoulder the responsibility of maintaining these sites, the commission said.

The draft act defines negative heritage as sites where human rights violations had been committed, including oppression, illegal executions, labor or re-education camps, during the White Terror era.

White Terror refers to the suppression of political dissidents and public discussion of the 228 Incident of 1947 — which marked the start of a brutal crackdown by then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authorities — under the Martial Law era from May 19, 1949, to July 15, 1987.
[FULL  STORY]