Radio Taiwan International
Date: 17 June, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

Pets should take Chinese medicine as supplement: Study[/caption] A growing number of Taiwanese families seem to prefer owning pets to having children. Amid an uptick in pet ownership, a university in Taipei is recommending the use of Chinese medicine to treat the ailments that affect our furry friends.

Taiwan loves its pets. This year, for the first time in Taiwan’s history, the number of pets has exceeded the number of children aged 15 and under. And these pets are, by and large, pampered. These pet lovers can really pamper their pets. The slightest sign of health problem is enough to send pet owners scrambling to see a vet.

Most vets have a background in western medicine. However a recent study by the National Taiwan Normal University has shown that Chinese medicine can slow the aging process in animals.    [FULL  STORY]

The Standard
Date: 18 Jun 2020
By: Jasmine Ling

Taiwan will shorten the mandatory quarantine period to five days for Hong Kong business travelers from Monday if they test negative for the coronavirus.

They will be tested after five to seven days in quarantine. If they test negative, they will be released and allowed to self-monitor their health until the 21st day after their entry to Taiwan.

The policy change applies to those who are engaged in short-term commercial activities.

Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control announced yesterday that foreign business travelers should meet four requirements before they can have their quarantine cut to five or seven days instead of two weeks.    [FULL  STORY]

Based in US, Fortinet's management allegedly friendly with Chinese Communist Party

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/17
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese lawmaker has sounded the alarm about the nation's acquisition of products made by Fortinet, a cybersecurity company with alleged links to China.

Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday (June 17) warned that the government's IT equipment supplier, Fortinet (防特網), is a national security concern. The multinational, which is headquartered in California, has a board comprised of many Chinese members, according to Lin.

Founder Ken Xie (謝青) is a Chinese-born American who, according to Lin, is "on good terms" with the Chinese Communist Party. Indeed, the relationship is intimate enough that he was even featured on a set of commemorative stamps marking the 65th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, Newtalk quoted Lin as saying.

Last year, Fortinet agreed to pay US$545,000 to settle allegations over its violation of the False Claims Act. The security company acknowledged an episode in which an employee tampered with product origin labels, which resulted in Chinese technology mislabeled as American being sold to the U.S. military.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/17/2020
By: Yu Hsiao-han, Yang Su-ching, Lee Hsien-feng and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, June 17 (CNA) The mercury hit 37.6 degrees Celsius in Taipei on Wednesday afternoon, the highest in Taiwan's capital this year, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The new high was recorded at 2:22 p.m., the CWB noted.

The hottest temperature so far this year came after the CWB issued its second-highest orange heat alert for Taipei earlier in the day.

The bureau, meanwhile, issued its highest level red heat alert for Hualien County in eastern Taiwan, where the daytime temperature hit 38.5 degrees at around noon that day.
[FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 16 June, 2020
By: Paula Chao

Transportation Minister Lin Chia-lung said the government is still keeping tight border controls. He was speaking on Tuesday.

China, Japan and South Korea have reported new cases of COVID-19 recently after easing restrictions on activities and social gatherings.  

Lin said the government will relax border controls gradually, after consulting with the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). He said only when the COVID-19 pandemic is under better control in other countries will Taiwan open its doors wide again.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s relationship with China is not just a bilateral issue; it also has geo-strategic and security implications for the Asia-Pacific, now rechristened Indo-Pacific

Outlook India
Date: 16 June 2020
By: Rup Narayan Das

Opinion

The Covid-19 issue and Taiwan’s bid for observer status at the World Health Assembly, which concluded its virtual session on May 18-19 with the active support of the US and some other countries, has catapulted Taiwan to international media attention. China, however, succeeded in jettisoning Taiwan’s bid for a seat at the high table. While China’s position with regard to Taiwan is that “reunification is inevitable and China would never tolerate Taiwan’s independence,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) maintains that it cannot accept becoming part of China under “one country, two systems”.

But the question is that if China supported Taiwan for observer status in the World Health Assembly from 2008 till 2016, then why did it oppose neighbouring country’s bid for the observer status this year? The answer is simple and straight: because from 2008-2016, the Kuomintang (KMT) party, which is inclined and amenable towards mainland China, was in power in Taiwan. Former Taiwan resident Ma Ying Jeou’s position with regard to China was “no unification, no independence, and no use of force”. His policy was that Taiwan should continue with reconciliation towards the mainland to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait which in turn would help securing a breathing space for the country in the international arena. It is indeed a tactical position with a strategic objective.

During 50 years of KMT rule, the relationship between mainland China and Taiwan had considerably improved. However, in 1979, the Kaohsiung incident, often regarded as beginning of Taiwan’s democratic revolution, eventually led to the formation and development of the Democratic Progressive Party. In order to develop some contact points, there had been efforts on both sides of the spectrum for an institutional mechanism during the KMT regime. With this objective in mind the Taiwan Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) was set up in 1990. Similarly, the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait (ARTS) was set up in China in 1991. The two organisations enjoyed semi-official status in their respective governments.
[FULL  STORY8]

2,338 people contracted the disease between January and May

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/16
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The number of gonorrhea cases in Taiwan reached a five-year high during the first five months of 2020.

Between January and May, 2,338 people were confirmed to have contracted the sexually transmitted disease, representing 37.3 percent growth from the same period last year. Figures for the January-May period over the past five years are 1,726 (2016); 1,943 (2017); 1,719 (2018); 1,703 (2019); and 2,338 (2020).

Among the patients, 202 were women and 2,136 were men, according to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Male cases saw a 34.4 percent rise at an annual rate, while female cases posted a staggering 77.2 percent year-on-year spike.

The reasons behind the surge could be unprotected sex and having multiple sex partners, said Lin Yung-ching (林詠青), a physician at the Taiwan CDC. Around 75.6 percent of the confirmed cases so far this year occurred in the 20 to 39 age group.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 06/16/2020
By: Yu Xiao-han and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) Daytime temperatures in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, hit 39 degrees Celsius Tuesday, the highest in Taiwan, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The CWB said the temperature was recorded by a monitoring station in Fuyuan at around 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, ahead of 36.8 degrees recorded at around 1 p.m. by the Zhuoxi monitoring station, also in Hualien.

The highest temperature recorded on Monday was 38.3 degrees, also in Fuyuan.

The heat in Hualien triggered a "red" warning under the CWB's color-coded heat alert system Tuesday for the first time this summer, meaning temperature highs are expected to reach 38 degrees or higher three days in a row, the bureau said.    [FULL  STORY]