Taipei by-election candidate Enoch Wu posts video of English-language CBS interview

2023-01-05

DPP Taipei by-election candidate Enoch Wu posted a video to Facebook of an interview he had with CBS in 2022. Wu was praised for his ability to speak eloquently about defense issues in an interview conducted fully in English. In response, Wu said that public officials should take every chance they get to speak to international press, giving Taiwan a voice in the international community.

DPP Taipei by-election candidate Enoch Wu on Facebook posted an interview he had with U.S. broadcaster CBS in October last year. In the interview he discussed his intentions in establishing the emergency-response focused NGO, Forward Alliance, and discussed his thoughts on national defense.

Reporter
Is Taiwan’s military prepared for the security challenges of today?

Enoch Wu
Forward Alliance chair (Oct. 6)
The PLA outnumbers our armed forces by 12 to one. On top of that they continue to evolve in invest in their capabilities. So, I don’t think any responsible policymaker will tell you that we are completely prepared.

Wu spoke eloquently on defense issues, conducting the interview fully in English.

Chang Wen-chieh
DPP Taipei City councilor
He’s good at English, and knowledgeable about the economy, defense and foreign affairs. With this level of professionalism he should be in the legislature, where he can best serve the public.

Enoch Wu
DPP Taipei by-election candidate
Language is just a method of communication. Whether I’m heading up an NGO, as I did over the past few years, or I get into the legislature in the future, as a public figure we must take these opportunities in foreign media, to speak up for Taiwan as much as possible. This is what I did in the past, and I will continue to strive for that in the future.

In commenting on the video of the interview, Wu made sure to bring the discussion back to the issue of the election.

Meanwhile, on Thursday DPP legislators Chao Tien-lin, Rosalia Wu and Cheng Yun-peng joined Wu for the final thrust of his campaign.

Along the campaign trail in the city’s Zhongshan and Songshan districts, Wu was greeted by DPP city councilors at every intersection, who held up campaign banners and shouted slogans. Elsewhere in the districts, KMT candidate Wang Hung-wei was joined by party chair Eric Chu.

With less than 72 hours until polls open, Wang and Wu are making the most of every moment.

超強英語能力! 吳怡農登國際媒體為台灣發聲

2023-01-05

台北市第三選區立委補選，藍綠兩位選將今天都找人站台，王鴻薇再度請出國民黨主席朱立倫助陣，吳怡農則有黨內立委和30名雙北、基隆議員幫忙站路口。吳怡農也在臉書貼出去年接受外媒訪問片段，全英語對答如流，引起網友關注。吳怡農表示，語言是交流工具，只要有機會上國際媒體，就該為台灣發聲。

北市立委補選候選人吳怡農，臉書貼出去年接受外媒哥倫比亞廣播公司專訪，聚焦他成立壯闊台灣的初衷，暢談國防理念。

[[記者]]
“台灣的軍隊已經準備好面對現代的挑戰了嗎”

[[壯闊台灣理事長吳怡農(2022.10.06)]]
“中國解放軍的人數是我們的12倍，除此之外，他們持續投資，提升自己的能力，因此我不認為任何負責任的政策擬定者，會說我們完全做好了準備，我們只能更加完備，我們必須如此”

國防政策侃侃而談，全英語對答，口條十分流利。

[[台北市議員(民) 張文潔]]
“不僅僅在英語的這方面，經濟、國防、外交他都可以，所以這種全方位的專才，更需要把他留在立法院，為大家來服務”

[[北市立委補選候選人(民) 吳怡農]]
“語言就是一個溝通的方式，不管我過去幾年是在NGO，一個民間組織作為一個負責人，還是未來有機會進到國會，為大家服務，但是只要是公眾人物，我們有機會上到國際媒體，就應該盡全力為台灣發聲，這是我過去做的，我未來也會持續的堅持”

除了在臉書貼出去年專訪片段，讓外界看到他的超強英語力，吳怡農也不忘近距離與選民接觸。

立委趙天麟、吳思瑤和鄭運鵬，陪同黨內台北市立委補候選人吳怡農做最後衝刺，但可不只這裡。

通勤路上，中山、北松山，各個路口，都站著民進黨雙北和基隆市，足足30名議員，為吳怡農拉票！另一邊，對手王鴻薇再度找來國民黨主席朱立倫助陣。

選戰剩下不到72小時，藍綠卯足全力，要贏得選民的青睞。

Fraud rings use government’s NT$6,000 handout plan in latest telephone scam

2023-01-05

Infectious diseases expert says COVID is on its way to becoming like the common cold

Taiwan recorded 31,078 local COVID infections on Thursday, surpassing 30,000 infections for the first time this year. Infectious disease expert Lee Ping-ing says the main factors for the rise are the colder winter weather as well as the rise of new subvariants. Lee says the severity of COVID is only set to weaken in the future, and could end up becoming like the common cold. He says if that’s the case, there won’t be a need to get vaccinated once a year.

A new COVID wave is swelling in Taiwan, with local cases surpassing 30,000 infections on Thursday. Infectious disease expert Lee Ping-ing, says one of the main reasons for the surge is low winter temperatures.

Lee Ping-ing
NTU Children’s Hospital
The infection tally’s rise is being fueled by two factors. One of them is the emergence of variants. The other is the cold weather. During cold weather, all viral respiratory diseases have higher incidence rates. These viruses have a higher transmissibility in cold weather.

Already, Taiwan has detected its first cases of the BQ.1 COVID subvariant, which had been on the rise in Europe and the U.S. A health expert says more variants may arrive after China removes quarantines for international arrivals starting Sunday.

Hung Tzu-jen
National Yang Ming Jiao Tung University
We need to be more vigilant, because over in Mainland China, there is going to be millions of infections in a very short period of time. That allows the virus to mutate rapidly. It could be the case that a new virulent strain could emerge. Of course, that’s something we should all keep an eye out for.

Many experts say that the mortality and virulence of COVID will become less severe as the virus mutates. Some say COVID is on its way to become like the seasonal flu. A local doctor says it’s more apt to say the disease is becoming more like a cold.

Lee Ping-ing
NTU Children’s Hospital
After the Omicron variant emerged, the disease’s severity did not worsen. It’s different from the flu in that its mortality and virulence have continued going down. So its characteristics make it more like the cold. If every year, most COVID infections result in mild symptoms mostly, then there won’t be a need to get vaccinated every year. If it becomes like the common cold, then annual vaccination won’t be necessary.

The doctor still advises older adults and people with weakened immunity to get vaccinated with a next-gen shot before the Lunar New Year break.

2023-01-05

Taipei First Girls High School marching band performs in Disneyland

2023-01-05

Taitung farmer makes name for himself with sweet lemon variety sanbokan

2023-01-05

Retired Air Force captain and three active officers detained in espionage case

The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office has detained four individuals on suspicion of spying for China. The head of the operations is a retired Air Force captain surnamed Liu, who recruited active service personnel in Taiwan to collect in intelligence to send to China. Three other active military officers have also been investigated and released on bail in connection with the case.

A whiteboard at the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office shows four suspects have been detained on suspicion of spying for China. They are a retired Air Force captain surnamed Liu, and three active military officers in the Air Force and Navy: a commander surnamed Sun, and two lieutenant commanders surnamed Liu and Kung.

Sun Li-fang
Defense ministry spokesperson
The case is currently under judicial investigation. The Ministry of National Defense will cooperate with all prosecutors during their extremely thorough investigations.

According to prosecutors, former Captain Liu went to do business in China after his retirement from the Air Force in 2013. But then, he was recruited by Chinese intelligence agencies to serve as a spy. He returned to Taiwan and set up a shell company, where he received payments of between NT$200,000 and NT$700,000 from the Chinese government. During that time, he used his connections in the military to recruit at least six officers to collect intelligence on Taiwan’s military, for payments of between NT$30,000 and NT$100,000. Operations lasted for up to eight years. After a long period collecting evidence, the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office conducted a raid of Liu’s residence on Tuesday, and searches of Air Force and Navy camps.

Sun Li-fang
Defense ministry spokesperson
Our officers realized something was up, and they reported it. The relevant agencies immediately started monitoring the situation and launching damage-control mechanisms. We will continue to strengthen the education of our troops, and remain in close cooperation with national security agencies, to prevent the PRC from collecting intelligence on us and breaching our national defenses.

A total of seven individuals were taken for questioning. Four of them remain in detention, while three were freed on bail of NT$100,000 to NT$200,000. The number of individuals involved may increase as investigations continue.

2023-01-05

No more NT$350 towing fees for driving YouBike 1.0s into Taipei

2023-01-05

Environmental group designs innovative trash bin with features to encourage recycling

A poll from the environmental group RE-THINK recently found the majority of Taiwanese think the biggest obstacle to sorting their waste effectively are trash bins that are not user-friendly. So the group decided to take matters into its own hands and design an innovative trash bin that helps people sort their rubbish more effectively in public spaces. Its disposal holes are limited to certain shapes so that people are forced to separate the different kinds of recyclables. It also features infographics in both English and Mandarin. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to Jason Huang, the co-founder of RE-THINK, to learn more about their work.

Stephany Yang
FTV reporter
This new trash bin designed by RE-THINK includes labels such as “paper containers”, “general waste,” and “food waste.”

There are color-coded labels indicating where paper containers, general waste, and food waste can go, as well as tin cans, glass, plastic, and paper. There are also infographics and pictures in both English and Mandarin indicating the kind of trash that should be thrown into each section.

In contrast to traditional metal trash cans, this new bin is made out of wood. The group found that traditional trash cans often accumulate mountains of unsorted trash around them. In contrast, the new trashcan is slanted to prevent people throwing in their trash from a long distance. The organization hopes to enhance the public’s knowledge of recycling and reduce the workloads of cleaners.

Jason Huang
RE-THINK co-founder
First, there are some data and infographic designs. It is displayed by the trash bin. Second is that we have re-designed the trash bin into a problem-solving system, including the holes of the trash bin have been limited to certain shapes so that people cannot throw the whole package of trash into it. They have to stand right in front of the trash bin to recycle. The third is that we made the classification into a more detailed version so that people can find the specific item and specific category for the trash.

RE-THINK has installed these trash bins in different areas, including campuses and companies. The newest location is New Taipei City government.

Member of public
The new trash bin has different sections marked by colors, so it is easier for us to identify the section we need to throw our trash in. Compared with previous trash cans, which were made of metal, this one looks more colorful.

Member of public
I saw this new type of trash can and felt that its classification guidelines are clearer and more detailed. For example, for plastic objects, there’s both a clean plastic bag and plastic container section. It’s the same with paper. There is an ordinary paper section and a section for paper containers, so the classification process is clearer.

Member of public
The big difference is that a traditional trashcan does not have a plastic container section and the new trash bin does. Then there is the food waste section. Earlier, I threw away trash that still had a bit of sauce on it, so I was able to dispose thanks to the food waste section. That’s not possible with a regular trash can. Traditional bins are a bit confusing, and I’m never sure whether I should throw my rubbish in there directly. It also often feels like I’m making work harder for the cleaning staff.

RE-THINK’s 2020 and 2022 Taiwan Recycling Awareness Survey found that more than 60% of respondents said that the design of recycling bins was the main factor preventing them from sorting their trash correctly. Obstacles included unclear recycling labels, different sorting rules in different places, or overly complicated sorting directions that confuse people.

Jason Huang
RE-THINK co-founder
The biggest inspiration is that we did a huge survey. Tens of thousands of people were surveyed and found out that the very moment people confront the recycling problem is when they do recycling in front of the trash bin. The trashbin itself, becomes a very important moment and facility for people to do communication and education. By implementing the newly redesigned trash bin, we have enhanced the accuracy of recycling from 26% to 53%.

Cheng Ta-wei
Environmental Protection Administration
In the past, when people were recycling and wanted to know how to classify trash, they would rely on their intuition. For example, they would separate metal cans from bottles and plastic bottles. But that could still be confusing. We think that environmental protection policies should be easy for the public to understand and take action on.

RE-THINK hopes to partner with the EPA to implement this new style of trash bin in more areas around Taiwan and educate more people on recycling.

2023-01-05

Dihua Street’s famed Lunar New Year Market to open on Friday

2023-01-05

Taiwanese restaurant serves up chile-infused “maocai” or One-Person Hot pot

2023-01-05