Eye On Taiwan

Taiwan’s first athlete diagnosed with coronavirus visited 4 European countries Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:15 PM PDT Teenager is one of 27 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Taiwan Friday March 20 Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/20 By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer File photo of a basketball game in Taiwan  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A teenager who passed through four European countries was Taiwan’s first athlete to be confirmed as a coronavirus patient, reports said Friday (March 20). He was one of 27 new cases, including 24 imported ones, confirmed by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), taking the country’s total to 135. A man in his eighties was announced as Taiwan’s second death caused by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). The teenager was studying at a sports faculty and had traveled overseas to take part in a competition, CNA reported, though the authorities did not mention which sport he was active in. He was not a member of the national team, but had been in training as a backup, according to some media reports. The national team was staying in quarantine at a training center in north Taiwan, while the young man was taken to hospital.3    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan continues with Tokyo Olympic preparations: Olympic committee Posted: 20 Mar 2020 02:12 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 03/20/2020 By: William Yen and Lung Po-an Taiwan’s Olympic Committee consultant Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) Taipei, March 20 (CNA) The preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are going ahead as scheduled, with all athletes choosing if they want to participate or not due to the threat posed by COVID-19, according to a top Taiwanese Olympic Committee official Friday. Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群), a consultant with Taiwan's Olympic Committee, said preparations are still under way for the country's delegation because there has been no official statement about the Olympics being delayed or canceled. However, athletes will have to decide for themselves if they want to participate in the event and will not be pressured, he said. Sun made the remark after the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the authority responsible for organizing the Olympic Games, teleconferenced the 45 national Olympic Committees in Asia Thursday.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s central bank cuts 2020 growth forecast amid coronavirus fears Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:56 PM PDT Admits hit will be far worse than during 2003 SARS outbreak Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/20 By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\ Shopping malls in Taipei see less traffic as people shy away from malls amid coronavirus fear.  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As airlines continue to scrap almost all flights, the tourism sector is suffering a huge blow from the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak — one that is "far bigger" than during the 2003 SARS outbreak, said Taiwan's central bank on Thursday (March 19). The COVID-19 crisis is having a ripple effect across Taiwan and around the world as activities grind to a halt. The central bank said that the epidemic is affecting supply chains, disrupting manufacturing operations, and hurting domestic demand, so it is cutting the country's growth outlook to 1.92% for 2020. As more nations have imposed lockdowns and bans on all foreign visitors, tourist agencies in Taiwan have halted overseas tours until the end of April. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, the total passenger traffic at the country's international airports dropped by 69.5 percent, with the number of outbound and inbound visitors down 71.5 percent and 68.7 percent, respectively. Overall, the economy slumped into a negative growth rate of 1.15 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Airport expansion receives budget boost, 2026 completion date Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:52 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date:\ 03/20/2020 By: Lee Hsin-Yin Image taken from www.taoyuan-airport.com Taipei, March 20 (CNA) A project to build a third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has received a major budget boost of NT$16 billion (US$530 million), and is scheduled to be completed in 2026, the airport operator said Friday. The company's board of directors agreed on a total budget of NT$95 billion for the project at a meeting on March 18, including NT$53.7 billion for the main terminal building, said Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co. (TIAC). Construction of the main building is scheduled to be completed in 2025, with its northern and southern concourses finished in 2024 and 2026, respectively, according to TIAC. That represents a significant delay for the project which started in 2017 and was initially scheduled to be operational by 2021, after several unsuccessful tenders due to low interest from local building contractors.    [FULL  STORY]

Export orders fall 0.8% over disruptions Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:47 PM PDT TURNING IT AROUND: Manufacturers in ‘all product categories’ have started to shift production back to Taiwan ‘to mitigate the effects’ of COVID-19 on China’s supply chain Taipei Times Date: Mar 21, 2020 By: Natasha Li / Staff reporter The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling yesterday speaks at a news conference in Taipei. Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times Export orders declined 0.8 percent year-on-year last month to US$28.68 billion as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted production, supply chains and logistics in China, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. On a monthly basis, export orders contracted 18.8 percent from US$35.31 billion, ministry statistics showed. The ministry said it expects the decline to accelerate this month. Orders for information and communications technology (ICT) products, one of Taiwan’s most important export categories, was most affected as orders fell 23.4 percent year-on-year to US$6.05 billion.    [FULL  STORY]

Stabilization fund authorized for intervention in financial markets Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:36 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 20 March, 2020 By: Shirley Lin Finance minister Su Jain-rong (left) Finance Minister Su Jain-rong says that the National Financial Stabilization Fund has been authorized to intervene in Taiwan’s financial markets if necessary. The fund’s management committee authorized a stabilization fund of NT$500 billion (US$17 billion) Thursday after several days of turmoil on international stock markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.    [FULL  STORY]

Hsiao: Taiwan has been quicker than the WHO in fighting the coronavirus Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:33 PM PDT Asia News Date: 03/20/2020 Success against the infection will improve the international image of the "rebel province". When the virus first appeared in Wuhan, Taiwan immediately imposed health controls and closed the borders with China. It put to good use the lessons it learnt from the SARS crisis. Citizens have been widely informed about how to stop the contagion. Doubts remain about its possible membership in the WHO. Taipei (AsiaNews) – Taiwan did not wait for the World Health Organisation’s “instructions to shape its response” and dealt promptly with the coronavirus crisis, this according to Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, who spoke to AsiaNews. This is the secret of the success of the "rebel province" in fighting the epidemic. So far, only 135 cases of infection and two deaths have been reported in the country. This is a paradox considering Taiwan’s attempts to join the WHO have been systematically thwarted by mainland China. Hsiao’s interview follows. Whilst the COVID-19 is killing thousands of people in China and around the world, Taiwan has been successful at containing the outbreak. For Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, the secret of Taiwan’s success is the fact that “Taiwan did not have the luxury of waiting for the international health body’s instructions to shape its response – and this perhaps helped in a paradoxical way to encourage the government’s proactive approach.”    [FULL  STORY]

Latest figures on China’s coronavirus outbreak Posted: 20 Mar 2020 01:28 PM PDT Worldwide number of infections reaches 246,275; death toll climbs to 10,038 Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/20 By: Disease Outbreak News Center, Taiwan News Update: 2020-03-20 20:00 No. Country/Area Cases Deaths 1 Taiwan 135 2 2 China 81250 3249 3 Hong Kong 257 4 4 Macao 17 0 5 Mongolia 6 0 6 Japan 934 33 7 South Korea 8652 94 8 Philippines 217 17 9 Thailand 272 1 10 Singapore 345 0 11 Vietnam 85 0 12 Cambodia 37 0 13 Malaysia 900 2 14 Indonesia 311 25 15 Brunei 75 0 16 Australia 681 6 17 New Zealand 39 0 18 French Polynesia 6 0 19 New Caledonia 2 0 20 Fiji 1 0 21 Diamond Princess 712 7 22 India 194 4 23 Bangladesh 17 1 24 Nepal 1 0 25 Sri Lanka 60 0 26 Bhutan 1 0 27 Maldives 13 0 28 Kazakhstan 44 3 29 Kyrgyzstan 3 0 30 Uzbekistan 23 0 31 Qatar 460 0 32 United Arab Emirates 140 0 33 Lebanon 157 4 34 Iran 18407 1284 35 Bahrain 278 1 36 Kuwait 148 0 37 Afghanistan 22 0 38 Oman 48 0 39 Iraq 192 13 40 Pakistan 454 2 41 Saudi Arabia 274 0 42 Jordan 69 0 43 Palestine 44 0 44 Turkey 359 4 45 Israel 677 0 46 Egypt 256 7 47 Algeria 90 9 48 Tunisia 39 1 49 Morocco 63 2 50 Nigeria 12 0 51 Senegal 31 0 52 Cabo Verde 1 0 53 Gambia 1 0 54 Cameroon 13 0 55 Central African Republic 1 0 56 Burkina Faso 33 1 57 Ivory Coast 9 0 58 Togo 1 0 59 Benin 2 0 60 Ghana 11 0 61 Gabon 1 0 62 Democratic Republic of the Congo 7 0 63 Congo 3 0 64 Zambia 2 0 65 Kenya 7 0 66 Djibouti 1 0 67 Ethiopia 7 0 68 Somalia 1 0 69 Guinea 1 0 70 Liberia 2 0 71 Sudan 2 1 72 Islamic Republic of Mauritania 2 0 73 Rwanda 11 0 74 Tanzania 6 0 75 Angola 1 0 76 Namibia 3 0 77 Kingdom of Eswatini 1 0 78 South Africa 150 0 79 Réunion 28 0 80 Mauritius 7 0 81 Seychelles 6 0 82 Equatorial Guinea 6 0 83 Mayotte 6 0 84 Russia 199 1 85 Estonia 267 0 86 Latvia 86 0 87 Lithuania 48 0 88 Belarus 51 0 89 Ukraine 26 3 90 Moldova 49 1 91 Poland 355 5 92 Czech Republic 694 0 93 Slovenia 319 1 94 Hungary 73 1 95 Romania 277 0 96 Croatia 110 1 97 Bosnia and Herzegovina 63 0 98 Montenegro 13 0 99 North Macedonia 48 0 100 Bulgaria 107 3 101 Georgia 43 0 102 Azerbaijan 44 1 103 Armenia 122 0 104 Serbia 103 0 105 Slovakia 123 1 106 Albania 64 2 107 Cyprus 67 0 108 Greenland 2 0 109 Iceland 330 1 110 Finland 400 0 111 Sweden 1439 11 112 Norway 1781 7 113 Denmark 1225 6 114 Faroe Islands 80 0 115 United Kingdom 3269 144 116 Ireland 557 3 117 Switzerland 4164 43 118 Liechtenstein 28 0 119 France 10995 372 120 Netherlands 2468 77 121 Germany 16290 44 122 Luxembourg 335 4 123 Belgium 1795 21 124 Austria 2203 6 125 Spain 18077 833 126 Gibraltar 8 0 127 Portugal 785 4 128 Andorra 74 0 129 Italy 41035 3405 130 Malta 53 0 131 Vatican 1 0 132 San Marino 144 14 133 Monaco 10 0 134 Greece 464 6 135 Channel Islands 11 0 136 United States 14250 205 137 Canada 872 12 138 Mexico 164 1 139 Bermuda 2 0 140 Bahamas 3 0 141 Cuba 16 1 142 Cayman Islands 3 1 143 Jamaica 15 1 144 Guyana 7 1 145 Haiti 2 0 146 Dominican Republic 34 2 147 Saint Barthelemy 3 0 148 Martinique 23 1 149 Suriname 1 0 150 Colombia 128 0 151 Honduras 12 0 152 Nicaragua 1 0 153 Costa Rica 87 2 154 Panama 137 1 155 Guatemala 9 1 156 El Salvador 1 0 157 Antigua and Barbuda 1 0 158 Aruba 4 0 159 Curaçao 3 0 160 Guadeloupe 45 0 161 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 0 162 Saint Lucia 2 0 163 Saint Martin 4 0 164 Barbados 5 0 165 Montserrat 1 0 166 Trinidad and Tobago 9 0 167 French Guiana 15 0 168 Paraguay 13 0 169 Brazil 621 6 170 Ecuador