Month: January 2021

Beijing adds anal swab tests to COVID arsenal, but citizens are not taking it lying down

Anal swab test diagram, China
International 
Phillip Charlier 3 Comments , ,

Some Chinese citizens are avoiding going home for the Lunar New Year holidays after Beijing health authorities introduced anal swab tests for COVID-19. Citizens were quoted in various media reports including Apple Daily, as saying that they would prefer to miss the holidays rather than undergo what they consider to be an intrusive, insulting, and humiliating procedure. “Everyone involved will be so embarrassed,” one user wrote on Chinese social media site ­Weibo. A poll on Weibo showed that 80% of

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Firefighters work overnight battling chemical factory fire in Kaohsiung City

UPC Technology Corporation fire
Fire 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Firefighters in Kaohsiung City worked through the night to extinguish a fire at a chemical plant in the Linyuan Industrial Park after an explosion and fire was reported at around 8:30 pm yesterday evening, January 29. Thirty-six vehicles and 75 personnel were dispatched from 14 fire stations to battle the blaze at the UPC Technology Corporation (1313.TW) plasticizer plant on Gongye 2nd Road. The fire destroyed around 300 square meters containing plasticizer dioctyl phthalate (DOP) and phthalic anhydride (PA) production

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China launches third 075 class amphibious assault ship: could be used for military invasion of Taiwan

Type 075 amphibious assault ship
Military Affairs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The People’s Republic of China launched its third 075 class amphibious assault ship today, January 29, and the ships may be part of a plan to eventually carry out a military assault on Taiwan, according to some sources. Beijing’s communist mouthpiece Global Times reported today that the third 075 amphibious assault ship was launched from the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, noting that the three warships launched so far were manufactured at “an astonishing speed.” “The country has cleared technical difficulties

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Taiwan Coast Guard reaches, prepares to board fishing boat to investigate missing crew

Coast Guard cutter Patrol No.8
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The 1,000 ton class Taiwan Coast Guard cutter Patrol No.8 has reached the Taiwanese fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No.18 west of Midway atoll, and officers are preparing to board the vessel to investigate the fate of the missing crew today, January 29. The Yong Yu Sing No.18 was first reported missing December 30 after the owner lost contact with the crew. A subsequent air search by a US fixed-wing aircraft from Hawaii located the vessel 606 nautical miles northeast

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The heartening journey of Ilha Formosa to its rightful place

United Nations Headquarters, New York
Guest Commentary 
Guest Commentary 1 Comment ,

By Harry Sheridon and Elsa Lycias Joel Taiwan being a self-reliant country, there should never be a sovereignty dispute with the global bodies parroting Chinese propaganda. With the US arms sales to Taiwan, totalling more than $25 billion between 2007 and 2018, it is evident that a chartered member of the UN was only keen on its business rather than mediating anything peaceful between anybody. Shielding a country from increasingly aggressive anti-democratic forces is not possible unless and until the

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Leak of highly toxic chemical gas causes road closure in Hsinchu County

firefighters treat a leaking cylinder of silane gas
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Firefighters closed a section of road in Hsinchu County for three hours after a gas cylinder being transported from the Hsinchu Science Park caught fire while leaking highly volatile silane gas today, January 26. The Hsinchu County Fire Bureau received a report that a gas cylinder on a truck was emitting flame, and thick, yellow smoke on Shuangyuan Road in Baoshan Township at 8:54 am. Fire fighters sprayed water on the cylinder, while police closed pedestrian and vehicular traffic in

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Taiwan develops mask with transparent windows to improve communication

NTCH staff demonstrate new transparent medical masks
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Medical mask manufacturer Taiwan Champ Manufacturing will donate 20,000 newly-developed transparent masks to social welfare organizations, after a joint effort between government and private sector groups to develop a mask to improve communication with the people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and it may bring benefits to anyone who appreciates a smile. Hsieh Li-fang (謝莉芳), chairperson of the Dandelion Hearing and Language Association (DHLA), said that people with hearing impairments rely on visual cues, facial expressions, and lip

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Bus driver, passenger fight over proper mask wearing

bus driver and passenger fight on sidewalk in Taipei City
Society 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A bus driver and passenger had a physical conflict at a bus stop in Taipei City this afternoon, after an argument over the passenger’s improper wearing of a surgical mask. According to a China Times report, the bus driver, described as around 50 years old, had requested that a passenger, around 70 years old, put his mask fully over his mouth and nose. However, the passenger kept exposing his nose, and sometimes his mouth, and argued with the driver all

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US Aircraft Carrier group entered the South China Sea same day as Chinese military sent 13 aircraft into Taiwan ADIZ

USS Theodore Roosevelt Pacific Ocean
Military Affairs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The US Navy announced today that the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea yesterday, the same day that Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that jets had been scrambled in response to incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) by 13 Chinese military planes. US Indo-Pacific Command said today, Sunday, January 24, that the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) entered the South China Sea, January 23, to conduct “routine operations.” “The TRCSG is on a

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Migrant workers charged for bird kills after showing off slingshot skills online

two men with slingshots
Society 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Two Vietnamese factory workers in Changhua County were charged with offenses against the Wildlife Protection Act today, after an investigation into online videos showing them killing birds using slingshots. Police began the investigation after videos originating on the platform Tik Tok were found and posted to Facebook. At least three videos had been uploaded since September 2020, showing the men targeting birds perched on powerlines, utility poles, and trees around Puyan Township. The videos show birds falling to the ground

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Family of four found dead of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning: gas water heater on enclosed balcony

firetrucks outside apartment building
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A couple and their two young children were found dead in their apartment in Zhongli District, Taoyuan City this afternoon in what is suspected to be a case of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. The deceased were a 34-year-old man named Zhang (張), his 30-year-old wife, and two boys aged 7 and 8 years old. A colleague of Mr Zhang went to the family’s apartment on Chengzhan 1st Street after Zhang didn’t show up for work for the last two days.

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