Two Taiwanese groups in the Philippines have donated urgently needed masks to local healthcare efforts in a bid to help contain COVID-19.
The Taiwanese Compatriot Association on Wednesday gave more than 5,000 masks to the Philippines Department of Health, association supervisor Edison Lin (林坤城) said.
The association has pledged to donate 10,000 masks to the Philippines, Lin said, adding that because of supply issues, the donation would be divided into two batches.
The masks would help the Philippines battle the coronavirus, as well as promote goodwill between Taiwanese and Filipinos, Lin added.
The virus has had a considerable effect on people in the Philippines, including Taiwanese businesspeople, especially in Metro Manila, association vice president Jack Hsieh (謝嘉卿) said.
“Everyone is confined to their homes due to the community quarantine measures,” said Hsieh, who runs a Taiwanese fast food chain in the Philippines. “We can’t work. Workers who receive their salary on a weekly basis and have no savings might soon run short of cash.”
Taiwanese businesspeople are doing their best to help, Hsieh said.
“For example, our firm distributed packages of food and other necessities to our employees,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Taiwanese Association in the Philippines, a group of Taiwanese businesspeople, donated 10,000 masks to Philippine General Hospital, one of the medical facilities designated by the Philippine government as a COVID-19 treatment center.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
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About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
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