Virus Outbreak: Increase testing, tracing, academics sayRISKS REMAIN: A National Taiwan University vice dean said that before Taiwan can reopen, it must expand testing on at-risk groups and design a contact tracing appBy Lee I-chia / Staff ReporterNational Taiwan University College of Public Health staff yesterday said that Taiwan should increase its COVID-19 testing capacity and implement a digital tracking system before relaxing border control measures. A graph showing COVID-19 infection rate data for New York State is pictured at a news conference held by National Taiwan University College of Public Health in Taipei yesterday. Iceland has the highest testing rate for COVID-19 in the world, with relatively few confirmed cases and deaths, he said. Only health authorities would have access to the data, as user information is anonymized and would be deleted after 21 days, he said. He said that Taiwan should also launch an official digital tracking system, as reopening national borders would increase the risk of imported cases of COVID-19.

NCC’s Chen says premier did not scold himBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterActing National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) yesterday denied that he was scolded by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) for mismanaging a case involving Taiwan Optical Platform, adding that the commission is an independent agency that is ruled by consensus. At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee, lawmakers asked Chen about files sent to the media in a suspected cyberattack on the Presidential Office. Acting National Communications Commission Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang attends a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation and Communications Committee in Taipei yesterday. Chen Yaw-shyang also denied that he was instructed to handle any specific news media. Chen Yaw-shyang said that iQiyi and WeTV are from China, so the act applies to them.

TRA mulls permanent station lobby sitting banNOT DISCRIMINATION: The TRA said that it is not targeting Muslims with the ban, but many migrant workers celebrate Eid al-Fitr in the Taipei Railway Station main hallBy Shelley Shan / Staff ReporterThe nation’s largest railway operator yesterday said it is considering making permanent a ban on people sitting on the floor in the main hall of the Taipei Railway Station. During the festival, people often meet inside and around Taipei Railway Station to talk and eat together. The main hall at Taipei Railway Station is pictured on Feb. 29. If migrant workers want to meet and celebrate Eid al-Fitr, they can still gather outside the station, it said. The Expatriate Care Association is to station translators at the Railway Police Bureau’s office to assist in communicating with migrant workers, the TRA added.

County government designs business cards to showcase the best of PingtungBy Lo Hsin-chen and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Pingtung County Government has begun promoting business card templates for its employees that show off the county’s natural scenery, flora and fauna, and Aboriginal art. The cards would help market the county when officials hand them out on business trips elsewhere, the county government said on Saturday. A person in Pingtung County on Saturday holds up one of the new business card templates issued by the county government, decorated with a stylized representation of the Shan-Chuan Glass Suspension Bridge, with the actual bridge in the background. One official said that they were now “so proud of their business cards” that they were more motivated to hand them out. The use of braille on the cards speaks to this diversity as well, and makes them more accessible, it said.

Committee quashes island heritage site petitionFINDING: As Turtle Island no longer has permanent residents, after they were relocated to Toucheng Township in 1974, it does not meet the requirements for a heritage siteBy Lin Ching-lun and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA petition to recognize Yilan County’s Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島) as a county-level cultural heritage site was turned down by a review committee on Friday. The Yilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau that month visited the island for a preliminary investigation. A boat casts off in Yilan County on Feb. 11, with Turtle Island (Gueishan Island) in the distance. Three years later, the Ministry of National Defense took over Turtle Island and closed it to visitors, installing artillery and building tunnels there. Separately, a Toucheng Township fisheries’ official, Chen Hsiu-nuan (陳秀暖), said that Turtle Island already has certain protections that limit development on the island.

Novelist who told stories of post-war life in Taiwan passes away aged 95Staff writer, with CNAA doyen of Taiwan’s “nativist literature movement,” Chung Chao-cheng (鍾肇政) passed away at his home in Taoyuan on Saturday, his family said. Premier Su Tseng-chang pays his respects to Taiwanese author Chung Chao-cheng, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 95, at the Wude Hall in Taoyuan’s Longtan District yesterday. In a Facebook post, Tsai also praised Chung Chao-cheng for playing an important role in promoting Hakka culture and Taiwanese literature. Writer Chen Fang-ming (陳芳明) said Chung Chao-cheng had a tremendous impact on the development of Taiwanese literature. The Hakka Affairs Council said Chung Chao-cheng was not only a prolific writer, but a devoted promoter of Hakka affairs who helped promote awareness of Hakka culture at a national level.

Academic designs covers for masksBy Hung Jui-chin and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerAn academic has designed fabric covers for masks in a bid to inject fashion and aesthetics into disease prevention efforts. Cho Yen-ting (卓彥廷), an associate professor at National Cheng Kung University’s Institute of Creative Industries Design, created three mask covers, called Bloomsbury Square, Dreamscape and White Palace, under his brand Yen Ting Cho, the university said in a news release on Friday. The first 200 covers produced are to be donated to the university, which has dedicated considerable efforts to disease prevention, Cho said, adding that he hopes the patterns on the covers can cheer people up. National Cheng Kung University president Su Huey-jen, left, and designer Cho Yen-Ting, center, who is also an associate professor at the university, on Friday in Tainan display a fashionable array of masks Cho designed and the university helped produce. His brand has also won international recognition, as his creations can be seen in internationally renowned art museums, such as the Texas-based Nasher Sculpture Center and the Saint Petersburg-based design center of Bulthaup, a German kitchenware brand, it said.

Taiwan’s medical system must be bolstered: Chen‘WORKLOAD’: The nation’s medical system is efficient, but operating at peak performance at all times creates problems when extra challenges arise, the minister saidBy Jennifer Huang, Wu Liang-yi and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the nation’s medical system must be bolstered to shoulder disease prevention duties ranging from border controls to aiding local communities, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei TimesA majority of Taiwan’s medical industry is in private hands and benign competition keeps the industry at peak efficiency, he said. Likewise, Taiwan’s medical system is wound too tight and its focus on peak efficiency would mean that when the time comes, its peak performance would be insufficient, Chen said. Public hospitals are comprised of ministry-operated hospitals, military hospitals, veterans’ hospitals, university-affiliated hospitals, and county or city hospitals, but they cannot collaborate, as they operate under different hierarchies, he said. However, the pandemic has highlighted a problem in the NHI system, which is insufficient funding, he said.

Hota holds ceremony for new plantBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterAutomotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業) on Friday held a beam-raising ceremony at its new manufacturing plant in the Chiayi Dapumei Precision Machinery Park (嘉義大埔美精密機械園區). The new facilities include a smart plant with automated production lines and a dormitory for 300 employees. The company, which supplies Tesla Inc and BorgWarner Inc, already operates two plants in the same industrial park. Together with the new plant, Hota has so far invested NT$14 billion in the park, Chinese-language media reported on Friday. In the first four months of this year, cumulative revenue fell 20.78 percent year-on-year to NT$1.58 billion, company data showed.

Between tomorrow and Saturday, the front, combined with a southwest wind, would bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall nationwide. The Central Weather Bureau has lifted the sea alert for Tropical Storm Vongfong, but has also said that people should brace for extremely heavy rain from today. The water level on Saturday fell to 221.96m, storing 56.6 million tonnes of water, the Northern Region Water Resources Office. Following the rain and convective heat transfer, the water level yesterday reached 223.79m, storing 64 million tonnes of water. Before the end of next month, the reservoir would need an additional 47 million tonnes to supply the public, it added.

Statebuilding Party working to replace cross-strait ties actSETTING CHINA ‘FREE’: Chen Po-wei said Taiwan should acknowledge that China is a sovereign state to ‘spare our neighbor’ oppression by local lawsBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Statebuilding Party is drafting a “China relations act” aimed at replacing the “outdated” Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei (陳柏惟) said yesterday. Taiwan Statebuilding Party Legislator Chen Po-wei holds a sign that reads: “Provide Taiwanese with the choice of a new passport that rectifies Taiwan’s title” at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on April 28. The bill would redefine all matters relating to cross-strait exchanges, as well as reinvent the competent authority for cross-strait affairs, Chen wrote, adding that the party would solicit public comment on how the bill should be drafted. Although the issue is seen as a “hot potato,” Chen wrote that he “did not enter the kitchen to complain about the heat.”“No one should apologize for their self-identity,” Chen wrote, quoting the president. However, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) refuses to acknowledge that it is part of the Republic of China, which is the premise of the existing act, Chen wrote.

Or you might hit up one of the ubiquitous contraband vendors and pray not to be caught by the armed Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau (TTL) agents. The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau had its own honor guard back in the day. Cigarettes produced by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau for the army, left, navy, center and combined logistics command. This sign certifies a store as a licensed distributor of Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau products. In May 1947, the bureau took on the name Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Monopoly Bureau after dropping the matches and weights.

Taipei T10 finals resume todayBy Grant Dexter / Staff reporterThe semi-finals of the Taipei T10 Cricket Tournament are scheduled for today at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground after rain halted play halfway through yesterday’s matches. The TCA Indians reached semi-final 1, where PCCT United await, via a qualifier against the FCC Formosans, with TCA and FCC the top teams from group play. Cameraman Michael Geier kicks water from a puddle beside the covers on the pitch at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground after rain stopped play at the Taipei T10 Tournament yesterday. Photo: Grant Dexter, Taipei TimesHowever, the Formosans fell to a four-run loss as captain Manoj Kriplani (0-7) tied down the batsmen with two miserly overs. The Daredevils face the ICCT Smashers today in the playoff for seventh and eighth.

Institute unveils pineapple that smells like a mangoBy Ting Wei-chieh / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute has launched a new pineapple cultivar that smells like a mango and is better adapted to rainy weather, saying it could be a new star of exported fruits. A new variety of pineapple informally called “mango pineapple” is displayed at the Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Station in Chiayi City on Friday. 23 pineapple features a mango smell that would not be affected by the summer weather, with its sweetness and sourness nicely balanced, Kuan said. Dubbed “mango pineapple” by farmers, the new cultivar’s average sweetness reaches 18.2 degrees, with a sourness of about 0.7 degrees, he said, adding that it tastes delicate and does not have apparent fibers. The Japanese market has responded positively to the pineapple, station director Chen Kan-shu (陳甘澍) said, adding that farmers interested in growing it can contact the station for authorization.

‘New York Times’ and others apply to station in TaiwanBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterSeven more foreign news outlets have applied to open bureaus in Taiwan this year, including the New York Times, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, following China’s expulsion of US journalists in March. After the US placed a personnel cap on four Chinese media companies, China responded by banning US reporters for the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal from covering news from China, Hong Kong and Macau. “We maintain bureaus in Beijing and Shanghai with correspondents, and are hopeful that the Chinese government will allow all of our reporters to return,” New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in an e-mail to the Taipei Times. The number of foreign journalists in Taiwan has increased in the past few years, as the nation’s press freedom has been praised by the global community, she added. Before the nation’s presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11, more than 210 foreign journalists, including nearly 60 originally stationed in Taiwan, had applied for permits to cover the elections, the ministry said.