Eye On Taiwan

Coronavirus: Mannequins and cardboard cutouts replace fans as Taiwan baseball season launches Posted: 12 Apr 2020 08:08 PM PDT Mannequins and cardboard cutouts of fans wearing the home team's colours sat in seats where spectators normally watch the games. Sky News Date: 12 April 2020 By: Isobel Frodsham, news reporter Image:Mannequins and cardboard cutouts were placed in spectator seats Taiwan launched its baseball season, with mannequins and cardboard cutouts of fans wearing face masks, after spectators were banned from attending games during the coronavirus pandemic. While other nations have cancelled sporting events for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the country has decided to buck the trend and hold games. Photographs from Taoyuan International baseball stadium, in Taoyuan city, showed the mannequins and cardboard cutouts sat in seats where spectators normally cheer from. They were dressed in the colours and merchandise of the home team Rakuten Monkeys, as well as surgical masks.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. dollar lower in Taipei trading Posted: 12 Apr 2020 07:57 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/13/2020 By: Frances Huang Taipei, April 13 (CNA) The U.S. dollar was traded at NT$30.093 at 10 a.m. Monday on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, down NT$0.010 from the previous close.    [SOURCE]

Pegatron reports 33% Q1 decline Posted: 12 Apr 2020 07:37 PM PDT AMONG PEERS: First-quarter revenue at other major contract electronics manufacturers also fell as the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed manufacturing and affected shipments Taipei Times Date: Apr 13, 2020 By: Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporter Pegatron Corp (和碩), one of Apple Inc’s iPhone assemblers, on Friday reported that first-quarter revenue declined 33.38 percent from the previous quarter and was 5.31 percent lower than a year earlier, reflecting lost sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consolidated revenue in the January-to-March period totaled NT$278.49 billion (US$9.25 billion), compared with NT$418.01 billion in the previous three months and NT$294.11 billion a year earlier, the electronics manufacturer said in a regulatory filing. Last quarter’s figure was its lowest in nearly two years, but higher than the NT$274.4 billion Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co (台新投顧) had estimated. Apart from handsets, Pegatron manufactures notebook and desktop computers, wearable devices and game consoles, with major clients such as Apple, Sony Corp, Microsoft Corp and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩).    [FULL  STORY]

Covid-19 rapid test kits from US still being evaluated, says MoH Posted: 12 Apr 2020 04:05 PM PDT The Edge Markets Date: April 12, 2020 By: 0Ahmad Naqib Idris KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): The Ministry of Health (MoH) said the rapid test kits from the US are currently being evaluated but noted that there are some issues in terms of production, as it requires materials from Taiwan. Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the test kits can be manufactured locally, but the reagent required has to be imported from Taiwan. “We will need to get in touch with Taiwan to obtain the reagent as well as the US’ approval,” he said. Meanwhile, he said Malaysia has yet to find a reliable test kit, adding that several test kits from South Korea are still being evaluated.    [FULL  STORY]

Tzi Ma is already everyone’s go-to Asian dad. Netflix’s ‘Tigertail’ makes him the star Posted: 12 Apr 2020 04:00 PM PDT The Los Angelese Times Date: April 12, 2020 By: Jen Yamatostaff Christine Ko as Angela and Tzi Ma as Grover in “Tigertail,” inspired by the story of writer-director Alan Yang’s own father. (Chen Hsiang Liu / Netflix) Over Skype on a recent afternoon as Tzi Ma was discussing “Tigertail,” his first major leading role, the actor couldn’t help but veer into the proud paternal mode he’s embraced as Hollywood’s favorite Asian Dad. True to that title, he showered praise upon his many movie daughters, his eyes lighting up. There was Awkwafina from last year’s “The Farewell,” who won the Golden Globe for her dramatic debut in a story based on filmmaker Lulu Wang‘s life. Yifei Liu, who anchors Disney’s upcoming live-action epic “Mulan,” in which Ma plays the legendary warrior’s doting father. Christine Ko of “Tigertail,” in which Ma stars as a Taiwanese immigrant wrestling with the ghosts of his own American dream, and many, many more. Unlike most of the characters he’s played onscreen, Ma is effusive with his affection. “They’re so talented!” he marveled. “I wish more opportunities would come their way so audiences would discover how amazingly talented these women are.” He even reached back to 1998’s “Rush Hour,” the moment he figures this run of movie dads began, when he played the consul whose precocious Mariah Carey-singing daughter is kidnapped. The real breakout star? Ma says it was 11-year-old Julia Hsu. “Forget Chris Tucker. Forget Jackie Chan. Forget everybody else,” he said with a grin. “Julia Hsu, I’m telling you!”    [FULL  STORY]

US official applauds Taiwanese president’s response to WHO chief Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:54 PM PDT Eliot Engel bashes WHO head for ‘baseless claims’ that Taiwan is fueling racist attacks against him Taiwan News Date: 2020/04/12 By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel. (AP photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel (D-NY), on Saturday (April 11) voiced his support for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) after she rebuffed accusations by the World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom that Taiwan is responsible for launching a racist campaign against individuals of African descent. In a retweet of Tsai's protest against the director-general's racism charge, Engel applauded the Taiwanese government's handling of the situation and condemned Tedros for his "baseless claims." He urged the WHO official to put aside his political agenda and learn from Taiwan's success in containing the spread of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). Engel stressed that Tedros should "check out Taiwan's record" of coronavirus prevention, which he said would advance the WHO's international efforts.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S., China stepping up military messaging amid pandemic: analysts Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:49 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/12/2020 By: Chen Yun-yu and Emerson Lim CNA file photo Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Media visibility and direct messaging could be the motives behind the frequent appearances of Chinese and American military assets near Taiwan, especially as they are both struggling with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, according to analysts in Taiwan. Between January 23 and April 10, Chinese military aircraft were spotted at least six times flying near Taiwan's airspace, according to the records of Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) and military air movement tracker Aircraft Spots. On Sunday morning, Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning passed the Miyako Strait south of Japan and was about to sail into waters east of Taiwan on its way to the South China Sea. Meanwhile, since March 25, U.S. military aircraft and vessels have been seen at least nine times near Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Necropsy reveals how bear died Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:45 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: Apr 13, 2020 By: Hua Meng-ching and Jason Pan / Staff reporters A necropsy of a female Formosan black bear found dead last month near a mountain village in Hualien County indicates it had most likely fallen from a cliff and was unable to defend itself from attacks by other wildlife, which led to its death. No bullet wound was found, nor was there any other trace of bullets, said Forestry Bureau Hualien Forest District Office head Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬), who presented a report on the bear on Thursday, discounting rumors that it might have been shot by poachers or local villagers. Blood tests also ruled out rabies, canine distemper, canine parvovirosis, canine adenovirus Type I, coronavirus, influenza A and other common viral infections, the report said. The bear’s carcass was found on March 17 near a chicken coop outside the Lamuan Community, a Bunun village in/ Jhuosi Township (卓溪), with its lower abdomen torn open and some internal organs missing. [FULL  STORY]

Poll: People in Taiwan Feel China is Unfriendly, Prefer Independence, and Favor Slower Pace of Cross-Strait Exchanges Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:42 PM PDT The results of the newest government poll on public views toward China’s unfriendliness continued a multi-year increase in the number of Taiwanese who view China as unfriendly. The National Interest Date: April 12, 2020 By: Russel Hsiao Against the backdrop of increasing numbers of Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, political suppression in neighboring Hong Kong, and aggressive obstruction of the island democracy’s international space amid the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC)—the cabinet level agency in charge of the country’s cross-Strait policy—released its latest official opinion polls tracking Taiwanese public opinion on several key cross-Strait issues. These polls are conducted periodically and on average three times per year since 2010. In the first official poll released since the island’s January 2020 presidential and legislative elections, the latest series of results shows a dramatic increase in the percentage of people who view China as “unfriendly” (不友善) towards the Taiwanese government and its people. Amid an escalation of cross-Strait tension over the past four years, the government agency’s March 2020 poll indicates that the numbers of people on the island who think China is unfriendly toward the Taiwan government and the public have risen to 76.6 percent and 61.5 percent, respectively. These figures represent significant jumps of 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent from the previous poll conducted in October 2019 and are the highest numbers in 10 years. The results of the newest government poll on public views toward China’s unfriendliness continued a multi-year increase in the number of Taiwanese who view China as unfriendly. This upward trend began in 2016 following Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) election as president and the commencement of Beijing’s multifaceted pressure campaign to isolate the new administration. These measures include poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies; military coercion; economic coercion; excluding Taiwan from international organizations; pressuring foreign corporations; pressuring Taiwan’s non-diplomatic allies; economic incentives; political warfare; cyber espionage; and traditional espionage. In the poll conducted in March 2016, two months after Tsai was elected president for her first-term, the numbers were already high at 59.3 percent (government) and 50.6 percent (people), especially when compared to the last poll taken during the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration in November 2015, with figures at 51.2 percent (government) and 46.9 percent (people). In addition to surveying people’s views on China’s unfriendliness, two other polls track Taiwanese public opinion on issues such as the people’s views on unification, independence, or maintaining the status quo (民眾對統一、獨立或維持現狀的看法) and their views toward the pace of cross-Strait exchanges (民眾對兩岸交流速度的看法).    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan scrambles warships as PLA Navy aircraft carrier strike group heads for the Pacific Posted: 12 Apr 2020 03:35 PM PDT Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, two frigates and a combat support ship spotted by Japan as it passes through the Miyako Strait on Saturday evening Carrier is the only ship of its kind still operational in the region after USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Ronald Reagan are forced to dock after crew are hit by Covid-19 South China Morning Post Date: 12 Apr, 2020 By: Liu Zhen Taiwan scrambled warships on Saturday night to monitor the movements of a mainland Chinese carrier strike group after it was spotted by Japan heading towards the western Pacific.The fleet, led by China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was seen passing through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa, and then turning south, the Japanese Ministry of Defence said. Although the precise location or heading of the group was unknown, the Taiwanese navy scrambled ships from the northeastern port of Suao to monitor the situation, the island’s defence ministry said. The Miyako Strait is about 330km (205 miles) due east of the northernmost tip of Taiwan. “We have conducted reconnaissance and monitoring over the sea and air space around Taiwan,” ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen said.    [FULL  STORY]