Eye On Taiwan

CPBL English broadcasts provide a lifeline to deprived sports fans Posted: 18 Apr 2020 11:20 AM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/18/2020 By: Lin Hung-han and Matthew Mazzetta CNA file photo Los Angeles, April 17 (CNA) As the COVID-19 pandemic shutters sporting events around the world, the English broadcasts of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) emerged this week as a lifeline to deprived fans, with the veteran American sports commentator Keith Olbermann among them. On Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) tweeted Eleven Sports Taiwan's English broadcast of the CPBL game between the Fubon Guardians and Rakuten Monkeys, saying that she welcomed "friends from all over the world" who were "staying up late or getting up early" to watch the game. Addressing Olbermann — who tweeted his enthusiasm for the broadcasts on Thursday — she added, "I hope you're joining us live bright & early for today's game, I heard you're a Cornell alum a s well, what a small world!"    [FULL  STORY]

Hong Kong police arrest Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Posted: 18 Apr 2020 11:14 AM PDT CPJ Date: April 18, 2020 Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, center, who founded local newspaper Apple Daily, is arrested by police officers at his home in Hong Kong, Saturday, April 18, 2020. Hong Kong police arrested at least 14 pro-democracy lawmakers and activists on Saturday on charges of joining unlawful protests last year calling for reforms. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) Taipei, April 18, 2020–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Hong Kong authorities to drop all charges against Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, following his arrest this afternoon alongside other pro-democracy advocates on suspicion of participating in an illegal assembly. Lai’s media properties, including the Apple Daily, have actively and sympathetically covered the 2019 pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong. “The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the arrest of 14 prominent pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong, including Apple Daily media founder Jimmy Lai,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Hong Kong authorities should end their repeated harassment of Jimmy Lai and drop all charges against him.”    [FULL  STORY]

Acer No. 5, Asustek No. 6 PC supplier in Q1 Posted: 18 Apr 2020 11:08 AM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/18/2020 By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan-based PC brand Acer Inc. replaced Taiwanese counterpart Asustek Computer Inc. as the fifth largest PC supplier in the world in the first quarter of 2020, according to global market information advisory firm Gartner Inc. Data compiled by Gartner showed Acer shipped 2.90 million PCs in the January-March period, down 12.7 percent from a year earlier as the global PC industry saw falling demand resulting from the COVID-19 contagion. Acer took a 5.6 percent share of the global PC market in the first quarter, beating Asustek, which shipped 2.60 million units for a 5.0 percent share and took sixth place. In the fourth quarter, Acer had a 5.7 percent share, behind Asustek's 5.8 percent, according to Gartner. [FULL  STORY]

CIER lowers forecast for GDP growth Posted: 18 Apr 2020 11:04 AM PDT GLOBALIZATION BITES: Taiwan has avoided strict isolation measures, but lockdowns in other nations have reduced trade and people flows, while confidence has also fallen Taipei Times Date: Apr 18, 2020 By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday lowered its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year to 1.03 percent, less than half of its previous projection of 2.34 percent, as the COVID-19 pandemic is hurting exports and consumer spending. The Taipei-based institute lent support to the government’s belief that Taiwan would manage to grow GDP for the whole of the year, although Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) expects the nation to see a 1.2 percent contraction. “Economic activity is chilling on both domestic and external fronts due to global lockdowns to contain the pandemic,” CIER president Chen Shi-kuan (陳思寬) said. A mild spread — with 395 confirmed cases so far — has enabled Taiwan to avoid instituting strict isolation measures to fight the novel coronavirus, which has brought economies in Europe, the US and other countries to a virtual standstill.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s coronavirus response wins rare praise from World Health Organisation Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:56 AM PDT China has blocked the island from joining international organisations but on Friday officials from the UN agency gave credit to Taipei’s success in containing Covid-19 Senior WHO official Michael Ryan told a press briefing that Taiwanese specialists were being brought into technical networks South China Morning Post Date: 18 Apr, 2020 By: Kinling Lo The World Health Organisation has praised Taiwan’s efforts to contain Covid-19 as it faced growing pressure to incorporate the island into the global fight against the pandemic. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, told a regular briefing in Geneva on Friday that the authorities in Taiwan “deserve praise, they have mounted a very good public health response in Taiwan, and you can see that in the numbers. We have praised that, we have seen similar approaches taken in Hong Kong SAR and across China”. He had been asked to comment about the island’s exclusion from the global body and said: “We are observing and watching and bringing Taiwanese colleagues into the technical networks so they can share their experience and they can both contribute their knowledge but also seek new knowledge from outside.” It is rare for WHO officials to acknowledge the island’s success in containing the disease despite the growing controversy about its exclusion from the body.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan wants returnees from Southeast Asia to report travel history Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:50 AM PDT Returnees with elderly, infants or chronically ill in household should stay at quarantine hotel Taiwan News Date: 2020/04/18 By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Man in Spiderman costume takes part in coronavirus prevention campaign in Makassar, Indonesia  (AP photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — From April 21, travelers entering Taiwan from Southeast Asia must report the fact to the authorities, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Saturday (April 18). New arrivals with infants, elderly and the chronically ill in their household would then be directed to coronavirus quarantine hotels, the CECC said. While the number of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Taiwan has risen slowly, reaching 398 on Saturday, there is still concern about the situation in nearby countries, CNA reported. If travelers entering Taiwan have visited a Southeast Asian country within the previous 14 days, they should fill out a health statement before boarding their flight. They should also ascertain whether their home is fit to spend two weeks of quarantine in, the CECC said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese stuck in Dubai return home Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:46 AM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/18/2020 By: Chen Yun-yu and Ko Lin Taipei, April 18 (CNA) A total of 60 Taiwanese nationals who had been stuck in the United Arab Emirates due to the COVID-19 pandemic returned to Taiwan on an Emirates flight Saturday. The plane touched down at Taoyuan International Airport at around 7:11 p.m. after departing from Dubai International Airport in the morning. After entering Taiwan, the passengers will have to undergo quarantine for 14 days, in compliance with government regulations on travelers returning from overseas. Earlier on Saturday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said the Emirates flight was arranged through its representative office in the UAE to help bring Taiwanese nationals home. [FULL  STORY]

Vivian Hsu’s thesis draws criticism Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:42 AM PDT ‘ARTIST’S TRANSFORMATION’: Although Hsu’s thesis focused on herself, her adviser said that it met the school’s requirements as it was not an academic report Taipei Times Date: Apr 19, 2020 By: Rachel Lin, Lin Nan-ku and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writer Singer-actress Vivian Hsu holds flowers given to her by her husband at a news conference in Taipei on March 19 announcing that she was joining Sony Music. Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times Taiwanese singer and actress Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄), who in January obtained her master’s degree from Shih Hsin University, has drawn criticism for using herself as the subject of her graduate thesis. The 45-year-old performer’s thesis — titled “The Artist’s Transformation Strategy in The Internet Age: Take the Star Vivian as an Example” — has been listed in Taiwan’s National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. Political commentator Fan Li-da (范立達), a Shih Hsin alumnus, on Wednesday wrote on Facebook that although he respects Hsu, who he said is a hardworking entertainer, he was shocked that the university accepted her thesis. “I find it really hard to believe that a thesis that takes the author herself as the subject of research was allowed by the instructor and the whole oral defense committee, and even passed the ethical review,” Fan said.    [FULL  STORY]

The Women Leading The World’s COVID-19 Responses Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:38 AM PDT SupChina Date: April 17, 2020 By: Alex Smith The Women Leading The World’s COVID-19 ResponsesALEX SMITHAPRIL 17, 2020POLITICSSOCIETY Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen answers the media during a visit to a non woven filter fabric factory, where the fabric is used to make surgical face masks, in Taoyuan, Taiwan, March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang While women remain vastly underrepresented in politics and account for a mere 7% of world leaders, the past week has seen wide recognition that a disproportionate number of the countries that have been most successful in containing COVID-19 have female leaders (see Leta Hong-Fincher’s piece on CNN). We take a closer look at these women and why their responses have been so successful. Prior to joining Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party in 2004, Tsai (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén), who has a PhD in Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, worked as an economic trade negotiator and as an advisor to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council. Taiwan’s success in containing the virus — its COVID-19 infections have slowed to a trickle before reaching 400, and for three days this week it recorded no new cases — has been largely attributed to Tsai’s decision to take action early on. When news of the virus first broke in late December, Tsai ordered all Wuhan arrivals to be inspected, and flights from the mainland, as well as Hong Kong and Macau were later restricted. Taiwan’s border has been effectively closed to foreign travelers since March 19 and the country quickly ramped up its production of personal protective equipment.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan to quarantine 700 navy sailors after coronavirus outbreak Posted: 18 Apr 2020 10:32 AM PDT Taiwan has only reported 398 coronavirus cases and six deaths.PHOTO: REUTERS The Straits Times Date: April 18, 2020 Taiwan has only reported 398 coronavirus cases and six deaths.PHOTO: REUTERS TAIPEI (REUTERS) – Taiwan will put 700 navy sailors into quarantine after three cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed among sailors who had been on a goodwill mission to the Pacific island state of Palau, the government said on Saturday (April 18). Three Taiwan navy vessels visited Palau – one of only 15 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan – in the middle of March, before returning to Taiwan a month later, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters. The three confirmed cases had all shared quarters on the same ship, but all 700 sailors on all three ships were being re-called and would be put into quarantine, he said. Taiwan's presidential office said that President Tsai Ing-wen had been at the ceremony to welcome back the ships but had only waved to the sailors from the shore and had not been exposed to the risk of infection.    [FULL  STORY]