Read News 2020.02.12: Taiwan and International Focus Topics

February 12, 2020 (ROC Year 109) — a daily roundup of trending Taiwan and international news topics, covering technology, lifestyle, travel, transportation, industry and finance, business, corporations, stocks, foreign exchange markets, investment, real estate, automobiles, breaking news, sports, entertainment gossip, art, design, politics, society, mainland China, cross-strait relations, weather, natural disasters, current affairs, and more.

The “Read News” section collects the headline events and brief summaries of the key news that deserve your attention in recent days, tracing the currents of society through the rapid flow of news events one after another.

Taiwan and International News Events for February 12, 2020

International and Social Focus

President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China said today (the 10th) that we will participate online in the World Health Organization (WHO) expert meeting on Wuhan pneumonia, and “we will also continue to strive for substantive participation.” In fact, as early as last August, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), a formal organization under the WHO, had already nominated the Republic of China’s AI authority Lee Yu-chuan as its chair, so it is no exaggeration to say this is substantive participation in the WHO.

The Ministry of Labor has relented, saying that to increase the public’s willingness to cooperate with epidemic prevention, it will recommend to the Executive Yuan’s inter-ministerial special meeting that, following the approach used for SARS, anyone under home quarantine or centralized quarantine due to the Health and Welfare Ministry’s epidemic prevention requirements — whether for official duties or returning from travel to visit relatives — be provided with a living allowance. It is understood that the Executive Yuan will meet this afternoon to finalize the decision.

Technology and 3C Products

The rocket “Flying Squirrel No. 1,” originally planned to be test-launched last year in the Nantian tribe of Taitung, has been confirmed for launch at 6 a.m. on the 13th after communication with tribal residents and assistance from central inter-ministerial agencies. The National Applied Research Laboratories clarified through a press release that this test launch experiment was not included in the contract between the National Space Center and the rocket’s owner, TiSPACE; the Ministry of Science and Technology clarified in a statement that this research project was not the responsibility of its subordinate unit, the National Applied Research Laboratories.

Business and Investment

The Trump administration is revising a major exemption in U.S. trade remedy law, making it easier to punish more than 20 countries, including China, India, and South Africa, that claim “developing country” status at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trump said the WTO treats the U.S. unfairly. He said: “China is considered a developing country, India is considered a developing country, but we are not considered a developing country. To me, we are also a developing country.”

Affected by the “Wuhan pneumonia” epidemic in mainland China, Nissan’s Kyushu plant will temporarily suspend operations on the 14th, and its production line for export vehicles will also suspend operations on the 17th. The main reason is that, restricted by the epidemic, component factories in mainland China have halted supply, indirectly leaving domestic Japanese vehicle assembly plants with no materials to use and forcing them to suspend operations.

Science and Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on the 11th that the disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is officially named “COVID-19.” It is composed of CO for corona, VI for virus, and D for disease, with 19 representing 2019.

Qingfeng Company in Bali District, New Taipei City, manufactured medical masks, OK bandages, and other medical devices without approval. Yesterday, the New Taipei City Investigation Division, together with the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, launched a search, seizing more than 7,000 medical masks and about 1.3 million OK bandage tapes. The Shilin District Prosecutors Office preliminarily estimated illegal profits of about NT$6 million, and subsequently ordered the person in charge, surnamed Chen, to post NT$140,000 bail.

The novel coronavirus is ravaging countries around the world, and Taiwan is now on edge too. Some restaurants now provide alcohol spray so people can disinfect before eating, while another restaurant uses hypochlorous acid spray; however, disinfecting at the dining table raises fears of ingesting it, and doctors say it is not recommended because it may cause abdominal pain. The surest way to prevent epidemics is still to wash hands with soap, and use alcohol or hypochlorous acid only when necessary.

The Nigerian government has warned of a “strange disease” outbreak in the country that causes vomiting, swelling, and diarrhea, killing 15 people and infecting 104 within less than a week. Nigeria’s health minister said it appears not to be Ebola or Lassa fever, nor the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Just as the novel coronavirus ravages the world, scientists have discovered a never-before-seen virus in the man-made Lake Pampulha in Brazil. It has been tentatively named “Yaravirus brasiliensis.” In the currently known genetic sequence combinations, almost nothing can be matched or identified, which shocked scientists, because it amounts to discovering an entirely new virus species; they are now working to study its contents.

Recently many people need home quarantine or home isolation. Today the Taipei City Health Department fined a person surnamed Lin NT$10,000 for refusing to accept a location-tracking phone in violation of home quarantine rules.

The Taipei City Environmental Protection Department commissioned a vendor with a fertilizer registration certificate to make organic fertilizer from recycled compost food waste. The limited-quantity organic fertilizer for the first quarter of this year will open for online applications at 11 a.m. on the 10th on the “Garden Bank Online Platform,” with each person able to receive 10 kilograms.

Travel and Leisure

Despicable Philippines! The Philippine Department of Health reportedly said on the 10th that in response to China’s Wuhan virus epidemic, it would ban flights from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, but the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan immediately clarified that this was not the case. Unexpectedly, just hours after the clarification, the Philippine Civil Aeronautics Board published an official document stating that, based on the “One China” principle, not only travelers from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau but also Taiwan would be included under “China” and subject to the ban, leaving about 150 Taiwanese passengers stranded at airports. Netizens shouted: never want to go.

The 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships kicked off yesterday in Manila, Philippines. In the group stage, the Republic of China men’s team faced the host first, led by “number one” Chou Tien-chen, together with Wang Tzu-wei, Wang Chi-lin / Lee Yang, Liao Min-chun / Su Ching-heng, and Chen Hsiao-cheng…