What's Up Taiwan – News at 10:00, November 3, 2023
In today's show:
- Taiwan Joins NASA Air Quality Monitoring Program
- Vets Push for COVID Drug To Treat Cat Disease
- Yunlin Farm Uses Aquaponics To Grow Vegetables, Fish
- Matsu Celebrates Biennial Art Festival
- Taiwan Joins NASA Air Quality Monitoring Program
- Vets Push for COVID Drug To Treat Cat Disease
- Yunlin Farm Uses Aquaponics To Grow Vegetables, Fish
- Matsu Celebrates Biennial Art Festival
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NewsTranscript
00:00 What's up Taiwan? I'm Ethan Liu with 10 minutes of news from
00:14 here in Taiwan and around the world. Taiwan has joined a NASA program to monitor
00:19 air quality around the country's main island. Laura Stewart explains the global implications.
00:25 Surrounded by mountains and forests and in the clouds, the Lulin Atmospheric Background
00:30 Station was set up in 2006 to monitor air pollution in the Asia-Pacific region.
00:36 And now it's joined NASA's Aerosol Robotic Network, also known as the Aeronet program,
00:43 to more accurately measure air pollution data in areas surrounding Taiwan.
00:48 "It's very important to make a global data set for global air pollution. It's a global
00:55 policy policy. It helps us solve the problems of cross-border pollution in the long-distance
01:02 transport in this area." By joining the Aeronet program, the station's
01:05 ground data and NASA's satellite data can be combined. This means air quality can be
01:10 more accurately analysed and the data will meet international standards. Taiwan's Environment
01:16 Ministry runs the station. "The satellite is widely used now. But
01:21 when the satellite flies in the sky and takes pictures, it can do data analysis. What standard
01:28 is used for correction? It needs solar radiation and ground data."
01:35 Taiwan's Background Monitoring Station is only the third Aeronet calibration platform
01:42 in the world, alongside stations in Hawaii and Spain. Researchers say the program will
01:48 help other countries work with Taiwan on data verification to help monitor climate change
01:54 and air quality in Asia. Yixin Pan, Sam Hue and Laurel Stewart for
02:00 Taiwan Plus. Veterinarian groups in Taiwan are calling on
02:04 the government to authorize the use of a COVID drug to treat a fatal disease affecting cats.
02:11 Yu Jing-Huang has the details. Looking to cure cats of a deadly disease. Vets
02:16 in Taiwan are urging the government to import medicine for feline infectious peritonitis,
02:22 also known as FIP. The disease is caused by a type of coronavirus,
02:28 which is not transmittable to humans. It's so severe that it's killed thousands of cats
02:33 in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus since the beginning of this year.
02:38 The situation in Cyprus has improved since the introduction of a COVID drug treatment
02:43 in August. But these medicines are not available to animals in Taiwan.
02:48 "We can't treat it without medicine. We can't treat it with medicine. It's painful.
02:54 Can we open it up? The real issue is in the hands of the vet."
02:59 "The two drugs, Redesivir and Monopilavir, are currently being used to treat cats. It's
03:04 a big help for the cats' infectious peritonitis." A U.S. pharmaceutical company was in the process
03:10 of getting FIP drugs authorized in other countries, but that was stalled due to the COVID pandemic.
03:18 There are only a few countries that allow the use of Remdesivir and Monopilavir for
03:23 animals. Here in Taiwan, access to the medicine is regulated by the Centers for Disease Control,
03:30 while animal affairs are overseen by the Agriculture Ministry.
03:34 "Can Redesivir and Monopilavir be used on cats? This is not a responsibility of the
03:41 Centers for Disease Control. We still need to ask the Agriculture Ministry for an assessment."
03:46 "Redesivir and Monopilavir are being used by the Food and Drug Administration and other
03:54 experts to assess whether they are in our category."
04:00 Importing cats as pets has significantly grown in popularity in Taiwan over the past
04:05 decade, with more than 870-thousand cats registered in the country. Authorities say they are talking
04:13 with the UK and Australia about how to import medicine to give sick cats the best shot at
04:19 survival.
04:20 Jiang Su and Yu-Jin Huang for Taiwan Plus.
04:25 An experimental farm in Taiwan's southern Yunlin County is using aquaponics to grow
04:31 vegetables. And by opening its doors to the public, they hope to help tackle a growing
04:36 problem.
04:37 Bryn Thomas has the story.
04:40 Creating a virtuous circle. These fish and the plants they're being fed are part of an
04:44 aquaponics farming project in Baozhong Township in southern Taiwan. The three-year-old farm
04:49 is the largest of its type in the country. It grows both vegetables and breeds fish,
04:54 and it will soon offer classes for tourists and students who want to learn more about
04:58 sustainable farming.
04:59 "The water is being collected by the aquaponics. Then the clean water is returned to the fish
05:06 and the fish feed. So this cycle of work is a new cycle."
05:16 Growing crops and fish farming consume a lot of water. But when done right, aquaponics
05:21 can drastically cut down the amount of water used.
05:24 It works like this. The runoff water from growing the vegetables at this farm is piped
05:28 into nearby fish ponds. This carries nutrients to the fish, who eat it and then add their
05:32 own waste material into the water. This dirty water is then pumped back to the plants and
05:38 acts as a natural organic fertilizer. When it comes out the other end clean, it's sent
05:43 back to the fish. It's a process that reduces the wasted water of both agriculture and fish
05:48 farming by keeping it in a closed loop.
05:51 It's also something that could prove useful as the climate crisis continues. Taiwan has
05:56 endured several major droughts in recent years, and this summer, when typhoons returned, they
06:00 destroyed huge swathes of crops, causing a spike in food prices.
06:05 But projects like this aquaponics farm are only part of the answer to a bigger problem.
06:10 Meeting Taiwan's environmental goals means getting the word out about techniques like
06:13 this.
06:14 "Our goal for 2050 is to get the people to come and visit. We hope to have a good relationship
06:21 with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of
06:28 the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to
06:33 have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship
06:36 with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of
06:37 the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to
06:38 have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship
06:39 with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of
06:40 the country. We hope to have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to
06:41 have a good relationship with the people of the country. We hope to have a good relationship
06:42 seed for future generations, and show the role sustainable farming can play in producing
06:47 the country's food.
06:48 Patrick Chen and Bryn Thomas for Taiwan Plus.
06:53 Decades ago Taiwan's Matsu Islands were on the front lines of conflict between Taiwan
06:58 and China.
06:59 Now their remnants of war have been turned into something else.
07:03 Louis Swat reports.
07:05 This former military power plant on Taiwan's Matsu Islands is now the base for an art installation.
07:12 Illuminating the country's wartime history.
07:27 The power plant is opening to the public as part of the Matsu Biennial, an art exhibition
07:32 that is transforming tunnels, air raid shelters and strongholds.
07:50 The setting also reminds visitors to Matsu's main island of the ongoing threat of a Chinese
07:56 invasion.
07:57 China's coastal province of Fujian can be seen just across the water.
08:03 The Matsu Islands were key strongholds for Chinese nationalist forces who fled to Taiwan
08:07 in 1949 on losing the Chinese Civil War.
08:12 Now many of the strongholds and bomb shelters that islanders had to use in the 1950s and
08:17 60s lie abandoned.
08:19 But China still threatens to take Taiwan by force, even as Taiwanese increasingly see
08:25 themselves as separate from China.
08:29 One artist who helped curate the Biennial says they're turning Matsu into an island
08:33 not of war, but of art.
08:52 Artists participating in these unusual exhibitions hope that by reminding visitors of Taiwan's
08:57 wartime history, their art can help keep the hard-earned yet tense peace between Taiwan
09:04 and China.
09:05 Alex Chen and Louise Watt for Taiwan Plus.
09:09 Thank you for watching What's Up Taiwan.
09:11 You can visit the Taiwan Plus website or our social media for more stories from Taiwan
09:15 and around the world.
09:17 Finally, check out this portrait by Pablo Picasso of his lover.
09:21 It's expected to be auctioned for 120 million US dollars in New York.
09:25 I'm Ethan Liao.
09:26 Take care and I'll see you next time.
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