CHARITY
Hospital raises NT$6m
Taiwanese have donated more than NT$6 million (US$197,968) to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, following an appeal for help on Wednesday by an Italian priest who has worked for more than 50 years building healthcare services in rural Taiwan. Catholic Father Giuseppe Didone issued a public letter asking for donations to the fundraising center of Camillian Saint Mary’s Hospital Luodong in Yilan County, which would be used to purchase emergency provisions, including masks and protective gowns, for medical personnel in Italy. The hospital said its fundraising deadline is April 15. Because of restrictions on the purchase and export of medical supplies, the Camillian order, which operates the hospital, said it is seeking permission to purchase the supplies locally and ship them to Italy. If that fails, the order said it would consider trying to purchase the products abroad.
HEALTH
Fast-food takes on virus
Fast-food restaurants have said they are taking additional precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19, in response to new social distancing guidelines announced on Tuesday by the Central Epidemic Command Center. KFC is encouraging people to use its “contact-free” pick-up and delivery option to reduce the risk of infection and is posting notices at its outlets of distancing guidelines. TKK Fried Chicken said it has asked employees to remind customers to stay at least 1.5m apart indoors. At McDonald’s locations, in-store and delivery workers are required to wear masks and wash their hands once per hour, and have been asked to voluntarily test and record their temperatures. MOS Burger employees are required to take their temperature before starting their shifts and to wear a face mask while on duty.
DIPLOMACY
US calls for WHA inclusion
The US Department of State on Friday called for Taiwan to receive observer status in the World Health Assembly (WHA), and said its model for fighting COVID-19 could benefit countries worldwide. “Taiwan is a leader in preventing the spread of COVID-19. The United States and Taiwan hope to share the Taiwan Model with countries around the world. Taiwan has a role to play in global health and should be a World Health Assembly observer,” the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs tweeted. On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would push for an “appropriate role” for Taiwan at the WHA, the policy-setting body of the WHO. On Tuesday, Taiwanese and US officials held a virtual forum to discuss efforts to reinstate Taiwan’s WHA observer status and to share the successful “Taiwan model” of containing COVID-19.
TOURISM
Arrivals drop significantly
The number of passengers arriving in Taiwan has continued to drop dramatically month-on-month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said on Friday. The number of arrivals handled by airports and sea ports were 2,262,692 in January, 1,136,655 in February and 215,662 last month, when the government began to clamp down on travel, such as banning the entry of all foreign nationals with few exceptions from March 19. The number of daily arrivals last month averaged about 7,000, an NIA official said, adding that the figures for March 19 and March 20 were 6,511 and 5,607 respectively. International flights in and out of the nation’s airports have also declined.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
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