Tim Mak
@timkmak.bsky.social
Founder, The Counteroffensive: Compelling human stories to illustrate news of the war in Ukraine. Fmr US Army medic. @timkmak at Journa.host or @timkmak on Twitter
https://www.counteroffensive.news/
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China’s war against Taiwan at the World Health Organization
The outgoing Taiwanese premier tells The Counteroffensive why exclusion from bodies like WHO hurts global health. And in reporter's notebook, Elaine visits the prestigious Academia Sinica labs.
www.counteroffensive.news
Today’s cat of peace is this napping cutie on the moped.
The moped is the most common transportation in Taiwan. Strays are very comfortable with it!
Stay safe out there,
Best, Elaine
Researchers at Academia Sinica share just as much passion for science as Dr. Wong.
These people didn’t work at the frontline of the pandemic, but their contributions are underrated.
“It was the first one in the world,” explained Dr. Wong. “The low-sugar vaccination strategy was designed to create a broader immune response against COVID variants.”
When COVID hit in 2020, the first generation of the vaccine lost efficacy slowly when stronger variants came up.
Dr. Wong and other researchers had a better idea: to use the low-sugar vaccination strategy to create a universal COVID vaccine.
SARS gave Dr. Wong and Taiwanese officials a hard lesson, “the worst thing to me is that we didn’t prepare for this and we had nothing. I realized that we need to be ready for the pandemic always. We can’t wait until it breaks out to react,” said Dr. Wong.
Instead, Taiwan has had to stand on its own.
“Taiwan did an excellent job during the COVID pandemic. Our economy didn’t stop and kept the production of the semiconductors running. We need to have faith in ourselves.”
Dr. Wong believes that the only thing stopping Taiwan from attending the annual WHA is political pressure:
“We can neither share our successful experience with the world nor get the correct information from the WHO.
Neither side benefits. It doesn't make sense.” said Wong.
Many scientists at Academia Sinica worked to counter the SARS epidemic in 2003, including Dr. Wong Chi-Huey, who used his expertise in biochemistry to invent drugs and vaccines.
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK FROM ELAINE:
This month, Elaine visited Academia Sinica, which the Taiwan government funds to educate and develop scientists. Academia Sinica provides policy advice based on their research.
It’s also the place where Dr. Chen used to work.
A few social media posts were posted following Chinese military drills, complaining to the Taiwanese president that Air Force members were suffering from overwhelming work.
An investigation found that these posts weren’t from any members of the Air Force or their families.
President Lai Ching-te meets with 1st U.S. congressional delegation since his inauguration.
www.taisounds.com/news/content...
中國曾警告不要訪台！麥考爾照樣前來：美國國會對台灣支持很強大 | 政治焦點 - 太報 TaiSounds
美國聯邦眾議院外交委員會主席麥考爾（Michael McCaul）昨（5/26）日起率團訪台，今（5/27）日召開小型媒體見面會。她坦言，中國曾警告他不要訪問台灣，而他雖然訪台，「我們必須小心，不要踩到某些紅線！」
www.taisounds.com
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Taiwan Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) led a delegation to Geneva and called for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA), but this request was declined amid China’s opposition.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
WHO states decide not to invite Taiwan to annual assembly
Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday decided not to invite Taiwan to the organization's annual assembly in Geneva after China appealed for it to remain sidelined.
www.reuters.com
The Counteroffensive found Dr. Chen to be a particularly humble person to speak with.
“I believe there is something about everyone I can learn from,” said Dr. Chen.
“What about President Xi?” we asked.
Dr. Chen stopped for a second, before laughing:
“I’m still trying.”
China’s political attitude to international health bodies doesn’t only hurt Taiwan.
Dr. Chen believes that if China had acted responsibly over COVID, there could have been a chance to save Wuhan from lockdown, or even to prevent the virus from traveling around the world.
“WHO should help every country learn from each other to improve global health,” said Dr. Chen.
“We’ve cooperated with Asian Pacific countries to build good healthcare systems as good as ours… Taiwan can help. And Taiwan has been helping.”
“If WHO had given us the virus culture, we could’ve had a chance to stop the disease from the very beginning,” said Dr. Chen.
The first SARS local case infected numerous doctors and nurses from the first SARS-treating hospital, Taipei City Hospital Heping Branch.
Eventually, it led to 31 people dying in the hospital.
The WHO hasn’t accepted Taiwan’s membership for over five decades, not because of Taiwan’s qualifications, but for political reasons.
This has cost both Taiwan and the world a heavy price, causing irreversible damage and the loss of countless innocent lives.
Due to China’s opposition, Taiwan has been excluded from almost all international organizations – such as U.N.'s convention on climate change, Interpol, and the World Health Organization.
“But they refused. Instead, they told us we should get it from China, our ‘motherland.’” When Taiwan asked China for help, China ignored the request.
“When we first got imported SARS cases on March 17th, we asked the WHO to provide SARS virus DNA, because we heard there were cases from other countries a few months prior,” said Dr. Chen, who until earlier this month was the premier of Taiwan.
Taiwan has been denied WHO membership for five decades due to political reasons, says Dr. Chien-Jen, Taiwan’s Minister of Health at the time of the SARS outbreak.
This has cost Taiwan innocent lives.
When SARS broke out in Taiwan in ‘03, the WHO denied Taiwan’s request for the virus’ DNA to combat it.
The WHO told Taiwan’s health minister at the time to ask China.
China refused the request and 137 people died in the following four months.
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The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak | Substack
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and elsewhere on the frontlines for dem...
counteroffensive.substack.com
U.S. offers Ukraine security pact as relationship becomes more tense than it has been since the start of the full-scale war, according to Ukrainian officials.
The agreement would include long-term commitments regarding sharing intel, military training and economic support.
US to offer Ukraine security pact as tensions rise between allies
Agreement next month aims to placate Kyiv officials who fear relationship with Washington has hit a low
www.ft.comBy NATO's own calculations, NATO is lacking critical air defense, with only 5 % of the weaponry necessary to defense its Eastern border in the event of a full-scale attack. This has been highlighted by the NATO states’ failure to provide Ukraine with adequate air defense.
Nato has just 5% of air defences needed to protect eastern flankFinancial Times
Lack of systems required in case of war lays bare vulnerabilities, according to alliance’s own assessments
www.ft.com
Here's what we are reading today:
Yesterday, Politico reported that Biden gave permission for Ukraine to hit Russia with U.S. made weapons but only near Kharkiv.
The Pentagon has since denied any change in their policy forbidding Ukraine to strike Russian territory.
Pentagon says 'no change' in policy banning Ukraine from striking Russia with US arms
When asked by reporters on May 30 if there had been a shift in Pentagon policy, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said there had been "no change," without specifically mentioning attacks n...
kyivindependent.com
"As long as there is us, as long as there are those who protect us, we live somehow," she said.
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They live on the frontlines. Why won’t they leave?
Inside the mindset of border inhabitants who refuse to evacuate. In reporter’s notebook, Alessandra visits refugees to understand how Belarusians in Kyiv have fled from Russian influence twice.
www.counteroffensive.news
It's not just about material losses, but also about people's emotional attachment to their homes.
People are often living under heavy shelling and other enemy attacks, but despite all this, they still do not want to leave.
It is mostly the elderly who refuse to evacuate.
They often argue that they were born here, this is their land, their parents and grandparents lived here, and so they will die here.
When the Ukraine Rapid Response Fund, a U.S. initiative to address the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians, offered to evacuate Nataliia and her colleagues, she asked instead for their editorial archive to be taken out for safety.
She compares staying put to some kind of mission.
She has spent her entire life in Bilopillia, and has been working as a journalist and editor at the newspaper for 30 years.
Each has personal reasons for staying behind.
Nataliia Kalinichenko, editor-in-chief of a local newspaper “Bilopilshchyna”, is proud to stay in her hometown of Bilopillia, just 10 kilometers from the Ukraine-Russian border.
They made sure that the archive of historical newspapers would be evacuated instead.
Nataliia is one of no more than 2,000 citizens out of the 16,500 pre-war population who remain in the town, as Yurii Zarko, the head of the Bilopillia community, explained.
Nataliia views her prized newspaper archives, holding clippings dating back to the 1940s, as even more important than her own life.
On May 8 rockets struck 300 meters from Nataliia's newspaper office in the Sumy region.
Nataliia and her colleagues refused to leave their town.
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
Today we go to the Sumy region, near the Russian border, where just few remain in a town amid constant shelling.
Here we examine why people like Nataliia, a publisher, refuse to leave their homes despite constant danger.
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The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak | Substack
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and elsewhere on the frontlines for dem...
counteroffensive.substack.com
Here’s what Alessandra is listening to today:
Acalanto - Ana Mazzotti
Ana Mazzotti - Acalanto
Ana Mazzotti 'Ninguem Vai Me Segurar' is available on Vinyl, CD and digital from the links below: Far Out Shop: https://www.faroutrecordings.com/collections/all/products/ana-mazzotti-ninguem-vai-me-segurar-1974 Bandcamp: https://anamazzotti.bandcamp.com/album/ninguem-vai-me-segurar Stream on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4yiSLjQT0cRNT5dySoWKK3 In 1974 Ana Mazzotti recorded her first album Ninguem Vai Me Segurar, enlisting the in-demand arrangement talents of Azymuth’s original keyboard maestro Jose Roberto Bertrami who co-wrote several of the tracks and plays organ, piano and synthesizers on the album. It also features Azymuth’s bassist Alex Malheiros and percussionist Ariovaldo Contestini, with Romildo Santos who produced the album on drums. Recorded in Estudio Haway around the same time Azymuth recorded their debut album there, it’s no wonder the samba jazz-funk pioneer’s distinctive aesthetic is present throughout, and Mazzotti’s sensational compositions are made even more beautiful for it. An artist as imaginative and unique as Ana Mazzotti doesn’t come around often. Dubbed a “super-musician” by fellow Brazilian virtuoso Hermeto Pascoal, Mazzotti’s short but rich musical career culminated in just two studio albums: Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974), and Ana Mazzotti (1977). Outside circles of Brazilian funk aficionados, these two gems of spellbinding samba-jazz, lysergic funk and trippy bossa have remained relatively obscure. This was partly as a result of Mazzotti’s premature death (she lost her battle with cancer in her mid-thirties), but also due to financial restraints and the prejudice she faced as a female songwriter in a fundamentally sexist society. Born in Caixas, in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul municipality, Mazzotti began to play the accordion aged five, before moving with prodigious ease onto the piano. By the age of twelve she was already conducting her convent school’s choir, and at twenty-one she led her city’s premier chorus, the Coral Bento Goncalves. When rock and roll hit South America in the sixties, a young Mazzotti was one of the early adopters, fronting various guitar groups including an all-female Beatles cover band, and an eclectic, eight-piece psychedelic group Desenvolvemento. Before moving to Sao Paulo to start her career proper, Mazzotti met drummer, producer and fellow music educator Romido Santos, who she would later marry. Romildo introduced Mazzotti to jazz, and music by the likes of Chick Corea and Hermeto Pascoal who she would later befriend and perform with. In 1977, Mazzotti took her debut album back to the studio, releasing the album with a new running order and new ethereal cover art, ostensibly another crack at commercial success following the small scale of the independently funded first release. With intimately re-recorded vocals, and the bonus of gorgeous horn arrangements and a new track: the carnivalesque ‘Eta, Samba Bom’, replacing Roberta Flack’s hit ‘Feel Like Making Love’, Ana Mazzotti (1977) delivers Mazzotti’s refreshingly cool musical style even more effortlessly, while retaining the all magical energy of her debut. Arranged By – José Roberto Bertrami Arranged By [Brass & Vocals] – Eduardo Assad Synthesizers [Arp & Moog], Organ, Electric Piano [Fender], Mellotron, Clavinet – José Roberto Bertrami Bass, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Alex Malheiros Co-producer, Mixed By – Ary Tell Drums – Romildo T. Santos Engineer – Orlando Costa Engineer, Mixed By – Waldir L. Pinheiro Additional Keyboards – Laércio De Freitas (tracks: 2, 7) Art Direction – Péricles Gomide Percussion – Ariovaldo Contesini Producer – Romildo T. Santos A&R, Directed By – Cayon Gadia _____________ http://www.faroutrecordings.com http://twitter.com/faroutrecs http://www.facebook.com/faroutrecs https://www.instagram.com/farout_recordings http://soundcloud.com/faroutrecs
www.youtube.com
Following the stabbing of a Polish border guard through the Poland-Belarus border fence by a migrant trying to cross illegally, Poland will now create a buffer zone on this border.
Russia’s ally, Belarus, has been accused of bringing migrants to the border as part of their "hybrid war".
PM Tusk says Poland will create buffer zone at Belarusian border following attack on border guard
The announcement came after a Polish soldier was left in critical condition after being stabbed through the border fence with a makeshift spear the previous day.
kyivindependent.comThe residence and office of a member of the EU parliament who is suspected of facilitating Russian interference has been raided by police. The Belgian PM has said that Belgian intelligence has exposed a network trying to take down support for Ukraine.
Police search the European Parliament over possible Russian interference
Police searched the offices and residence of an employee of the European Parliament on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether EU lawmakers were bribed to promote Russian propaganda to unde...
www.france24.com
Here's what we are reading today:
European allies push the U.S. to allow Ukraine to use U.S. made weapons to strike Russia.
Yesterday, Macron and Scholz said they supported Ukraine using weapons given by allies to strike Russia bases launching missiles, but not allow other strikes on Russia.
Ukraine war briefing: Macron, Scholz agree Kyiv should use allies’ weapons against launchers in Russia
Nato secretary general says alliance members should allow deep strikes, which White House says it doesn’t ‘encourage or enable’. What we know on day 826
www.theguardian.com
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The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak | Substack
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and elsewhere on the frontlines for dem...
www.counteroffensive.news
Here's what Will is listening to today:
These Days - Wallows
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgWZ...
Wallows – These Days (Official Video)
Official music video for “These Days” by Wallows off their debut EP ‘Spring’ – out now. Listen to ‘Spring’: https://Wallows.lnk.to/SpringEP Directed by Danie...
www.youtube.com
Eighteen people, including a twelve-year-old girl, were killed inside a shopping center in Kharkiv during a Russian strike.
This marks the deadliest attack on Ukrainian soil in weeks.
amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/05/...
Kharkiv: Russian strike kills 18 people in megastore, deadliest attack Ukraine has seen in weeks | CNN
Eighteen people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in a Russian strike that hit a large store in Kharkiv on Saturday, regional officials have said, making it the deadliest attack Ukraine has e...
amp.cnn.com
A $6.6 billion dollar EU aid package, that was ready for Ukraine this week, has been sidelined by Hungary.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister said that Ukraine discriminates against Hungarian companies and they will not foot the bill.
www.politico.eu/article/eu-m...
EU ministers fume as ‘outrageous’ Hungary yet again blocks military aid for Ukraine
A large number of EU resolutions on Ukraine are being blocked by Hungary, said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.
www.politico.eu
Here's what we are reading today:
French military instructors will soon be teaching Ukrainian troops - inside Ukraine.
Ukraine and France have just entered an agreement to post French troops inside the country for training.
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Ukraine commander says French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres
Ukraine's top commander said on Monday he had signed paperwork allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres soon.
www.reuters.com
Supporting our team’s reporting is as easy as one click (did we mention it’s also free?)
Follow along with The Counteroffensive through the link!
The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak | Substack
A war correspondent's open notebook, reporting live from Kyiv. Compelling human stories that illustrate what’s happening during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and elsewhere on the frontlines for dem...
counteroffensive.substack.com