HEALTH ISSUES:James Moriarty said the US’ cooperation with Taiwan on global issues has expanded to encompass more partners in more places around the world

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 26, 2017
By: Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty yesterday said that the

US looks forward to Taiwan’s continued participation at the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year.

Moriarty told the opening ceremony of an international training workshop for mosquito-borne diseases that the “Global Cooperation and Training Framework is one of the signature programs of the US-Taiwan relationship, built on our long history of cooperation.”

The second International Training Workshop on Laboratory Diagnosis for Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya, a four-day public health workshop hosted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), began in Taipei yesterday.

The workshop this year features 35 specialists from 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean, and has speakers from the US and Japan to advance technical skills in the examination and diagnosis of mosquito-borne viruses.    [FULL  STORY]

‘Statues [of Chiang] are the final remnant of the [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] authoritarian regime, which has to be removed if a full-fledged democracy is to be realized.’

The News Lens
Date: 2017/04/24
By: Rosemary Chen

Amid increased acts of vandalism on statues of Chiang Kai-shek (去蔣化) lawmakers in

Taiwan are calling for the widespread removal of statues of the former dictator.

On April 22, a statue of Chiang in a public park on the outskirts of Taipei was decapitated and red paint splashed all over the body. The base of the statue was spray-painted with words such as “killer” and “228” – referring to the February 28 Incident (also known as the 228 Massacre) in 1947, when Chiang was the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), which saw the KMT suppress a public uprising and kill thousands.

A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker has drafted a new bill that would see the removal of all symbols associated with Chiang in the large public hall in Taipei that bears his name and relocate 45,000 statues of Chiang in Taiwan to the Chiang’s mausoleum in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) – currently home to 219 Chiang statues.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/24
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—As the season of fireflies is in full swing between mid April and

the end of May, people should not miss this short window of time to appreciate the insects that have become rarer as their habitats are shrinking due to human pollution and deforestation. People in the metropolitan Taipei area, adults and children alike, are lucky when it comes to viewing fireflies because of the explosive abundance of the glowing insects on the Hemei Mountain in the Bitan scenic area this year and the close proximity of the glowing insects’ natural habitat to a Taipei Metro station.

To embark on a fireflies viewing adventure, get off at the Taipei Metro Xindian Station, a destination station on the Green Line, walk across the Bitan Suspension Bridge, and after crossing over the bridge, continue walking about 50 meters to an intersection. Take the asphalt trail on the left that is leading up to the summit of the Hemei Mountain. The trailhead is also the starting point of the fireflies viewing trail, which is marked by Chinese signs, indicating the fireflies viewing route. About 200 meters up the trail, visitors, who are recommended not to use flashlight, will come to a meadow on the left where fireflies twinkle like stars in nightly skies.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/24
By: Scarlett Chai and Y.F. Low

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty arrived in Taiwan Sunday for a one-week visit, during which he will meet with top government officials and businesspeople, the AIT and Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Monday.

It is Moriarty’s second trip to Taiwan since his appointment as AIT chairman last October, according to the AIT, which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official ties.

Moriarty is scheduled to meet with a number of senior political and business figures, including local government officials in Tainan and representatives of various sectors there, the AIT said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 25, 2017
By: Youkung Lee, AP

SEOUL — Taiwan’s “digital minister” Audrey Tang, a computer prodigy and entrepreneur

who taught herself programming at age 8, says she’s a “civic hacker,” who like a locksmith uses specialized skills to help rather than harm.

Appointed by leaders hoping to better connect with young voters who helped sweep independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen into office last year, 35-year-old Tang is using her expertise to more directly involve the public in policymaking, and to counter “fake news.”

“Just by getting people to listen to the ideas that they don’t like, basically, develops their immune systems,” Tang said in an interview with The Associated Press while visiting Seoul for the annual Codegate international hacking competition.

“If people have already considered carefully even the position of people they don’t agree with, they already have some kind of inoculation in their mind, so that they will not fall victim to rumors,” she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-23

The president of Taiwan’s top university has confirmed that he will step down once his

term expires on June 21. The president – National Taiwan University’s Yang Pan-chyr – has been entangled in a high-profile academic fraud scandal.

At an impromptu university meeting on Sunday, Yang reiterated his pledge to step down at the end of his term. He also said he hoped that a vote on the matter would not be held at the meeting. Yang then left the meeting under the pretext of avoiding a conflict of interest. Those present then applauded to show their support for a resolution to activate the selection of a new university president.

University rules state that a new president must be selected within seven months of a president leaving office. The selection is likely to take place on January 21.
{FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/23
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, April 22, Braving damp and cold weather conditions, people in cities and

counties around Taiwan held clean-up activities on Earth Day on Saturday.

In Taipei, 1,000 people helped clean up a stretch of seven kilometers along the Keelung River, collecting 207.3 kilograms of waste.

About 33.4 kilograms, or 16 percent, of the waste was recyclable, including 9.8 kilograms of PET bottles.

In Hsinchu, 2,000 people from the city government, businesses and civic groups took part in a beach clean-up activity, and they collected 3,500 kilograms of waste and 1,000 kilograms of recyclable materials.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus TaIwan
Date: 2017/04/23
By: Sunrise Huang and S.C. Chang

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) A 32-year-old woman has been sentenced to 3 years and 2

months in jail for drunk driving causing a police officer on duty to have his right leg amputated, according to a ruling by the New Taipei District Court.

The court said Chen Yi-en (陳以恩), whose driving license had been revoked in 2014 for drunk driving, repeated the offense at 6:00 a.m. on July 16, 2016 — this time without a driving permit.

After leaving a friend’s in Jilin Road, Taipei City, Chen was driving on her way home in Taoyuan City under the influence of alcohol, when she hit and seriously injured police officer Chen Chao-hung (陳昭宏) who was placing traffic cones on elevated Provincial Highway 65.

In spite of a number of operations, doctors had to amputate the police officer’s lower right leg and said injuries to his left knee and ankle could be permanent, which means his role as the family’s bread earner had to be taken over by his wife.  [FULL  STORY]