Eye On Taiwan

Taipei to implement economic relief measures for Wuhan virus Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:36 PM PDT Short-term relief measures will prevent businesses from shutting down in next six months. Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/25 By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan’s COVID-19 cases have escalated in recent days, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) announced on Wednesday six economic relief measures to respond to the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. The mayor's new measures include “time extensions to file tax returns,” “rent reduction,” “price reduction,” “interest rate cuts,” “subsidies,” and “tax cuts,” UDN reported. Ko said that judging from the evolving situation of COVID-19 around the world, the pandemic will not resolve itself quickly. The mayor added that the short-term relief measures are being put in place to prevent businesses from shutting down, which would cause a great number of workers to lose their jobs in the next six months. As for a mid-term plan, Ko referred to a multi-billion dollar relief package that the central government is putting forth.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares boosted by U.S. stimulus package hopes Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:30 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date:03/25/2020 By: Frances Huang Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan moved sharply higher Wednesday as investors were encouraged by a strong showing on U.S. markets overnight amid rising hopes that the U.S. Congress will soon pass a US$2 trillion stimulus package to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, dealers said. Large-cap stocks across the board rode the wave of optimism toward the U.S. stimulus plan as investors took cues from a more-than 11 percent increase on the Dow Jones Industrial Average a day earlier, pushing up the main board by almost 4 percent, the dealers said. The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), or Taiex, closed up 359.13 points, or 3.87 percent, at 9,644.75, after moving between 9,426.43 and 9,722.37, on turnover of NT$182.99 billion (US$6.05 billion). The market opened up 1.52 percent in reaction to the Dow's upturn, the biggest one-day percentage gain since 1933, and momentum on the local main board accelerated, with buying focusing on market heavyweights such as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which vaulted the Taiex past the 9,700-point mark before some profit-taking emerged to cap the gains, the dealers said. "Since an intraday low of 8,523 points Wednesday, the Taiex bounced back significantly, so it came as no surprise that the Taiex came off its high today as some investors just wanted to keep cash on hand for the moment," Ta Chan Securities analyst Jerry Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Virus Outbreak: Institute slashes GDP forecast to 1.5% Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:25 PM PDT ‘DAMAGE’: Diminished market demand has become a reality amid travel restrictions and a recovery is evasive, the president of the Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute said Taipei Times Date: Mar 26, 2020 By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute president Liang Kuo-yuan presents the institute’s economic forecast for this year in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Wu Chia-ying, Taipei Times The Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute (元大寶華綜經院) yesterday cut its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 2.3 percent to 1.5 percent as the COVID-19 pandemic deals a blow to the global economy with no signs of easing anytime soon. “The damage caused by COVID-19 is evolving beyond the depths of existing economic models, because health experts around the world do not have a full grasp of the disease yet,” said Liang Kuo-yuan (梁國源), the Taipei-based think tank’s president. Research institutes at home and abroad are comparing the pandemic to the SARS outbreak of 2003 or the global financial crisis of 2008, but there is no guarantee that the analogies are valid or sound, Liang said. However, the one thing that is certain is that the virus is quickly sweeping from Asia to Europe, the US and other parts of the world, dimming global trade outlook and chilling consumer activity, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

VIDEO: People should keep two meters apart to prevent COVID-19: Expert Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:19 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 25 March, 2020 By: Paula Chao National Taiwan University public health professor Chan Chang-chuan says people should stay at least two meters apart from one another to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Chan’s comments come amid a surge in the number of Taiwan’s confirmed COVID-19 cases, particularly cases imported from abroad. In normal times, it’s perfectly normal to go eat out or have a cup of coffee with friends and family. But with the COVID-19 epidemic raging around the world, these times are far from normal. National Taiwan University professor Chan Chang-chuan says people must take the outbreak seriously, adding that young people should follow social distancing recommendations just like everyone else.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Military Conducts Large-Scale Exercises Against Simulated Chinese Invasion Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:15 PM PDT Sputnik News Date: 25.03.2020 © AFP 2020 / Chiang Ying-ying The navy, air force and army of Taiwan conducted extensive military drills on Tuesday as part of the “Lien Hsiang” exercises – which also involved a mock invasion of the island. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced Tuesday that it had conducted large-scale military exercises throughout the country that began around 5:30 a.m. on March 24 with simulated air attacks that were supposed to represent strikes from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). “The drills were designed to test the combat readiness of our forces and their responses to an all-out invasion by the enemy,” the MND said, reported the South China Morning Post. A total of eight F-16 fighter jets of the Republic of China Air Force departed Hualien Air Base that morning and, during a number of missions, practiced intercepting long-range attacks from a mock Chinese aerial invasion. According to the Taipei Times, aircraft also practiced making emergency landings on the base’s backup runway in the event that the main runway was damaged and needed to be repaired by ground crews.    [FULL  STORY]

Tea might inhibit proliferation of coronavirus: Taiwan study Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:08 PM PDT Head of research team at central Taiwan hospital looks forward to further research Taiwan News Date: 2020/03/25 By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer A tea plantation. (Pixabay photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A chemical compound prevalent in tea might be able to inhibit the proliferation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the human body, according to the latest findings of a Taiwanese hospital. The theaflavin extracted from locally grown Taiwanese tea may be an inhibitor for the coronavirus, which relies on a type of protease to replicate, according to Wu Ching-yuan (吳清源), head of the Chinese medicine division of the Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital’s Chiayi branch. Among the various types of tea in Taiwan, fermented tea contains even more theaflavin, he said. The findings were published by the Journal of Medical Virology on March 22. Wu stressed that the report was based on molecule docking studies. It remains to be seen how much theaflavin is required to produce the inhibitive effects, Wu said. Nevertheless, he said the study opened the door to further medical research on the topic. [FULL  STORY]

CECC advises against large gatherings Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:05 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 03/25/2020 By: Wu Hsin-yun, Yu Hsiao-han, Chen Yi-hsuan and Joseph Yeh CNA File Photo Taipei, March 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday recommended the cancellation of mass gatherings of more than 100 people indoors and 500 people outdoors to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Health Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said the recommendation was made because venues where a large number of people gather together can increase the risk of spreading the virus. Organizers of such events, he said, should assess the risks of holding them and decide whether to cancel them based on their ability to identify those who will attend the events beforehand, the quality of the venue's ventilation, and the length of such gatherings. Other factors that need to be taken into consideration are the distance between participants, whether participants can walk around the venue or are restricted to a designated seat, and if they can keep their hands clean and wear a face mask, Chen said. The CECC also advised event organizers to establish contingency measures should they identify "suspected COVID-19 cases" during gatherings, including setting up a temporary shelter for them and designating the hospital they should be sent to, Chen said.    [FULL  STORY]

Han Kuo-yu likely to be recalled: survey Posted: 25 Mar 2020 07:01 PM PDT Focua Taiwan Date: Mar 26, 2020 By: Wu Shu-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer From left, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Chen Chih-chung and DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu take part in a news conference yesterday in Taipei on the results of an opinion poll on Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times Nearly 60 percent of Kaohsiung residents polled said that they would vote to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), think tank Taiwan Brain Trust, which conducted the survey, said yesterday. A petition to recall the mayor is undergoing a second review and if it is passed, a vote is to be held in the latter half of June. Of those polled, 69.7 percent said that they would participate in a vote, while 56 percent said they would still participate if there was a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 infections. The data showed that, irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic, Han would likely be recalled, Taiwan Brain Trust director Wu Shih-chang (吳世昌) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Military watches airspace as US aircraft reported near Taiwan Posted: 25 Mar 2020 06:57 PM PDT Radio Taiwan Internatyional Date: 25 March, 2020 By: Paula Chao Defense ministry spokesperson Shih Shun-wen says the military is monitoring Taiwan’s airspace and Defense Ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen (CNA file photo) territorial waters after reports of a US aircraft off Taiwan’s southeast coast. Twitter account Aircraft Spots tweeted that a US EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft was in the South China Sea and off southeastern Taiwan on Wednesday. Aircraft Spots is an account that monitors military air movements. This is not the first time that a US military aircraft has conducted missions around Taiwan over the past few weeks. Last month, an MC-130J special operations tanker aircraft, a B-52 bomber, and a P-3C anti-submarine aircraft were found operating around Taiwan. A US navy vessel also navigated through the Taiwan Strait last month. It is generally believed that these US military missions are aimed at counterbalancing China’s attempts to threaten Taiwan by force.    [FULL  STORY]

Could B-52s Mine the Taiwan Straight to Stop a Chinese Invasion? Posted: 25 Mar 2020 06:50 PM PDT Clever or stupid? The5 National Interest Date: March 25, 2020 By: David Axe Key point: Beijing wants to seize Taiwan, but it would have to land troops to do it. Here's how American forces could slow, or even maybe stop, such an attack. China steadily is building up the forces it could deploy in an attempted invasion of Taiwan. The Chinese navy is acquiring aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships while the Chinese army and marine corps add modern fighting vehicles and the air force trains for intensive air-to-air combat. This first appeared in 2019 and is being reposted due to reader interest. But in crossing the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese invasion fleet would face not only Taiwanese forces, but probably Americans forces, as well. The United States is obligated by law to assist in Taiwan’s defense. A U.S. Air Force wing commander in August 2019 revealed one form U.S. intervention could take. Bombers. Dropping mines. Lots of them.    [FULL  STORY]