Eye On Taiwan

U.S. top debtor of Taiwan for 18th consecutive quarter Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:58 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 03/28/2020 By: Su Ssu-yun and Frances Huang Taipei, March 28 (CNA) The United States was the largest debtor of Taiwan for the 18th consecutive quarter at the end of December, as Taiwanese banks' exposure to Washington hit a new high, according to the central bank. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on the U.S. as of the end of December totaled US$89.75 billion, the highest level in history on a direct risk basis, up from US$79.25 billion at the end of September. The central bank said the growth in exposure to the U.S. market largely reflected an increase in funds Taiwanese banks parked in the U.S. Federal Reserve and a rise in interbank loans to their U.S. counterparts. On an ultimate risk basis, which calculates a country's consolidated debts after risk transfers, Taiwanese banks' exposure to the U.S. stood at US$86.36 billion as of the end of December, up from US$77.08 billion a quarter earlier. The exposure to Washington on an ultimate risk basis was also the highest among Taiwan's debtor nations.    [FULL  STORY]

NT dollar gains, greenback ready to fall most in years Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:55 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: Mar 29, 2020 By: Staff writer, with CNA and Reuters The New Taiwan dollar on Friday rose against the US dollar, gaining NT$0.070 to close at NT$30.236, an increase of 0.2 percent from NT$30.302 a week earlier. Turnover totaled US$987 million during the trading session. The greenback opened at the day’s high of NT$30.250 and moved to a low of NT$30.170 before rebounding. Elsewhere on Friday, the US dollar edged higher, but remained on track for its biggest weekly decline in four years, as trillions of US dollars of stimulus efforts by governments and central banks amid the COVID-19 pandemic helped temper a rout in global markets.   [FULL  STORY]

WHO Doctor Blows Off Question About Taiwan And Praises China Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:48 PM PDT The Federalist Date: March 28, 2020 By: Tristan Justice World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward avoided answering questions about Taiwan Saturday by pretending not to catch the question a Hong Kong reporter asked repeatedly. “Will the WHO reconsider Taiwan’s membership?” asked Yvonne Tong. Her question was met with an awkward silence prompting a “hello?” from the interviewer. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear your question, Yvonne,” said Aylward. “Let me repeat the question,” Yvonne said back. “No, that’s okay. Let’s move on to another one then,” said Aylward. When Yvonne refused, Aylward ended the interview and logged off. After reconnecting, Yvonne asked about Taiwan again, and Aylward declined to discuss the topic. “We’ve already talked about China, and you know, when you look across all the different areas of China, they’ve actually all done quite a good job, so with that, I’d like to thank you very much for inviting us to participate and good luck as you go forward with the battle in Hong Kong.” [FULL  STORY]

David Staples: How Taiwan (unlike Canada) keeps schools and business open during COVID-19 outbreak Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:43 PM PDT The Province Date: March 27, 2020 By: David Staples, Edmonton Journal Opinion  Teacher Kelly Holtz still teaches English lessons every school day to his students. This is because Holtz doesn’t live in Canada but in Taiwan, one of the few democratic states in the world that hasn’t been devastated by COVID-19. “The pandemic hasn’t interrupted my daily life here,” said Holtz, who grew up in Camrose, in an e-mail interview. “I still go out every day to buy tea, take my son to kindergarten and pick up my daughter from elementary school, where there’s a massive gathering of parents/grandparents at the school gates. When I walk past the local fast-food restaurants there are still lineups 20 people long at peak hours … The street market downstairs is still packed with people in the mornings. No wet markets here, by the way.” Kelly Holtz, a Canadian teacher who grew up in Camrose and teaches in Taiwan and is the Beer League Heroes blogger writing about the Edmonton Oilers, poses with his wife Josephine Huang, daughter Sue and son Logan. Supplied photo Supplied Schools and businesses are still open in Taiwan. This comes despite the fact that Taiwan was expected to be the country second hardest hit by the virus, mainly because so many Taiwanese citizens live, work and holiday in mainland China, 130 km across the South China Sea from the island nation of 23 million. In Canada, we have 4,043 COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths, with large number of cases coming from “community” transmission, where it’s not known who infected the sick individual. In Taiwan, there’s been just 252 cases and two deaths, but no community spread of the disease. Each case has been tracked back to an incoming traveller.    [FULL  STORY]

MOFA to partner with NGOs in developing countries Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:29 PM PDT Projects will include improving water safety in India, teaching orphans Chinese in Africa Taiwan News Date:\ 2020/03/28 By:  Central News Agency Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan News photo) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has announced that it will work with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on projects that provide assistance to disadvantaged groups, especially children, in Africa, India and other countries. One of the projects, which involves digging wells, building water tanks and promoting water safety awareness in India, is expected to reduce the number of local residents who fall ill from drinking contaminated water, MOFA said in a press release Friday evening (March 27). The project will be carried out with Good Neighbors Taiwan, which was established in July 2019 to support vulnerable children and high-risk families in developing countries, according to MOFA. Another project, in cooperation with Pu-Hsein Educational Foundation and Amitofo Care Center African Executive Association, will help African orphans learn Chinese as their second-language to enhance their competitiveness in the future. The education program by the two Buddhist charity organizations, which began in 2013, has since benefited more than 9,000 African children and youths.    [FULL  STORY]

Flight crews required to wear protective gear: CECC Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:18 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 03/28/2020 By: Lee Hsin-Yin Photo courtesy of the CECC Taipei, March 28 (CNA) All flight crews will be provided with protective gear from April 1 to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Saturday. The crews will have to wear surgical masks, goggles, protective clothing and gloves — the same equipment given to medical personnel — according to Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC. Chen said the CECC will also come up with guidelines for passengers, who will be punished if they break the rules. Currently, passengers can bring their own protective gear, including alcohol hand sanitizers of no more than 100 milliliters, the CECC said, cautioning that they cannot change seats without notifying the flight attendants.    [FULL  STORY]

NCCU probes wing chun incident Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:14 PM PDT INSURANCE CLASS BATTLE: The university’s Student Affairs Office asked that footage of an alleged fight between a professor and a student be turned over to it Taipei Times Date: Mar 29, 2020 By: Rachel Lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer The entrance to National Chengchi University in Taipei’s Wenshan District is pictured on March 16. Photo provided by National Chengchi University National Chengchi University (NCCU) and the Ministry of Education are investigating an alleged fight between a professor and a student over a disagreement over wing chun, a Chinese martial art, the university said yesterday. A post on a Facebook page used by NCCU students said that during a lecture on insurance law, a student told the professor that “wing chun is only used for close-quarters combat and can only best farmers.” Notable practitioners of wing chun include Ip Man (葉問) and Bruce Lee (李小龍).The professor asked the student to spar with him and the student was given the first opportunity to strike, the Facebook post said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan TV station removes prediction of coronavirus lockdown Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:09 PM PDT Mistake resulted from botched reminder of 8 days crucial to fight against coronavirus: CTiTV Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/28 By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer CTiTV’s lockdown countdown mistake (screengrab from Legislator Chen Po-wei’s Facebook page) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — CTiTV News has taken down a message that said Taiwan is just six days away from a complete lockdown, reports said Saturday (March 28). While the island nation’s number of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases has been rising steadily, reaching 283 on Saturday, the authorities have not announced any local or national lockdowns. However, on Saturday morning, a message appeared on the screen of a CTiTV news program saying Taiwan was counting down six days to a lockdown, CNA reported. Viewers alerted the National Communications Commission (NCC), which said it would discuss the incident, though it remains to be seen whether it will fine the station.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s airport MRT cuts services due to coronavirus impact Posted: 28 Mar 2020 02:00 PM PDT Train frequency to be halved outside of peak hours from April 6 until June 14 Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/28 By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Measuring passengers’ temperatures at a Taoyuan Airport MRT station.  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taoyuan Airport Mass Rapid Transit line will reduce the frequency of its trains from April to June as the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affects the number of passengers, reports said Saturday (March 28). The system will also be respecting a Ministry of Transportation measure, which comes into force on April 1, to refuse access to passengers whose temperature exceeds 37.5 degrees, according to CNA. During peak hours, trains on the Taoyuan Airport MRT will continue running at intervals of 15 minutes, but between April 6 and June 14, services during the rest of the day will be cut. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 p.m to 10 p.m., there will only be one train every 30 minutes, while on holidays, express trains will arrive at a half-hour frequency all day long.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese COVID-19 survivors urge quarantine compliance Posted: 28 Mar 2020 01:56 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 03/28/2020 Mai Chia-shuo (left) and Mai Wen-ta (right) on board the Diamond Princess (Photo courtesy of Mai Chia-shuo) Taipei, March 28 (CNA) A Taiwanese father and son who endured a two-month ordeal in quarantine on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, being treated for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Japan, followed by self-isolation at home in Kaohsiung, have a simple message for the 50,000 Taiwanese currently under home quarantine: Stay at home — your cooperation could save lives. In an interview with CNA — the first in which Taiwanese COVID-19 survivors have agreed to disclose their identities — 85-year-old Mai Wen-ta (麥文達) and 49-year-old Mai Chia-shuo (麥家碩) recounted their experience with the disease and explained why they think such public health measures are necessary. The pair's ordeal began on Jan. 20 when they set sail from Yokohama, Japan on the Diamond Princess. The ship, carrying 3,711 passengers and crew, including 24 Taiwanese, made stops in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Okinawa. On Feb. 4, however, it was quarantined in Yokohama Harbor, after it emerged that a passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong later tested positive for the virus. [FULL  STORY]