Military to intensify reservist trainingBACKUP FORCE: Starting next year, reservists are to undergo two weeks of training, instead of five to seven days, and spend more time on combat training, an official saidStaff writer, with CNAThe military has finalized a plan to extend the length of reservist training from next year in the hope of improving the combat readiness of reserve forces, a military official said yesterday. The military is also to scale up reservist training by doubling the time spent on required combat training, such as rifle shooting, to maintain basic combat skills, he said. Reservist training includes specialty retraining, firearms training, combat training, combined training, and disaster prevention and relief training, which are necessary for combat operations and disaster relief, the ministry said. Presently, former soldiers undergo five days of reservist training every two years, while former officers undergo seven days of training. The training, which takes place at a military base near the reservist’s residence, aims to maintain their basic combat skills.

Chang to push CPTPP bid at APEC summitStaff writer, with CNAPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is hoping to use this year’s APEC leaders’ summit as an opportunity to push Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Tsai said she has asked Chang to seek backing for Taiwan’s entry into the 11-nation trade bloc. It would be the fifth time for Chang to attend an APEC forum as Tsai’s envoy. Although Taiwan is an APEC member, its presidents are prohibited from attending the leaders’ summit due to China’s opposition. Chang first attended an APEC forum on behalf of Taiwan’s president in 2006, during the administration of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Over the past 50 years, China has distorted and abused its “one China” principle to block Taiwan’s integration into the international community. As a result, the facts, distortions and abuse of Resolution 2758 are being taken seriously. On Friday, the US government held a meeting to discuss specific strategies for increasing Taiwan’s international participation. From the perspective of international law, Resolution 2758 is a consensus resolution and is not legally binding. Former US ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft in August criticized Resolution 2758 for blocking Taiwan’s participation in the UN.

‘This is the age of waste:’ the show about our throwaway addictionIt is now 100 times more lucrative to mine gold from e-dumps than from the ground. After the stone age, the bronze age, the steam age and the information age, what material or innovation will most define the current era? “We are arguably living in the waste age,” says Justin McGuirk, the London museum’s chief curator, who has spent the last three years rifling through rubbish with co-curator Gemma Curtin to put together this timely show. “The production of waste is absolutely central to our way of life, a fundamental part of how the global economy operates. A general view shows used car tires on Sept. 17 at the Freetown waste management recycle factory in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Supply woes catch up to smartphonesBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterSmartphone makers shipped 331.2 million units in the third quarter of the year, down 6.7 percent from 354.9 million units per year earlier, as supply chain constraints began to take effect, market research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said in a report last week. Photo: Bloomberg“On top of component shortages, the industry has also been hit with other manufacturing and logistical challenges,” Popal said. Apple Inc regained the second position, with shipments increasing 20.8 percent to 50.4 million units on the early release of its iPhone 13 series. Shipments from Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃) and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) increased 5.8 percent and 8.6 percent to 33.3 million units and 33.2 million units respectively, the report said. Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo ranked third, fourth and fifth for shipments in the quarter with market shares of 13.4, 10.1 and 10 percent respectively.

“The retail industry has gradually stabilized and the consumer traffic at physical store channels has returned, leading retail sales to return to positive annual growth last month,” the ministry said in a statement. Retail sales grew 1.3 percent year-on-year to NT$325.4 billion (US$11.7 billion) in September, following three consecutive months of annual contraction, the ministry’s data showed on Monday last week. Food and beverage sales fell 11.2 percent from a year earlier to NT$57.3 billion, a fifth consecutive month of annual contraction despite a steady improvement since May, the ministry said. “The food and beverage sector registered an annual sales decrease in September as business and banquet activities had not fully recovered,” the ministry said. Sales in the wholesale sector increased 11.5 percent year-on-year to NT$1.07 trillion last month, a record high, the ministry said.

An extremely expensive game of one-upmanship is being played out in the semiconductor industry, where the winners will look like heroes and the rest might not even survive. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co founder Morris Chang speaks at a forum in Taipei on April 21. This sudden hunger for capacity is being pinned on the recent component shortage that has crimped automobile output and driven up prices. Known as the godfather of the Taiwanese chip industry, Chang has repeatedly noted that high costs, a dearth of local suppliers and comparative lack of talent put the US behind Taiwan and other nations. However, cheered on and funded by eager politicians, global semiconductor companies are accelerating toward a capacity expansion cliff.

Taipei’s Ko Wen-je touts vaccine passport planNEW RESTAURANT RULES: Unvaccinated people would have to sit separately at tables with dividers, Ko said, as he expanded on his post-pandemic plans for TaipeiBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterTaipei is likely to set up a COVID-19 vaccination passport system that would result in people being seated in different areas in restaurants depending on vaccination status, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, center, takes part in an activity at a temple in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday. “People who have not been vaccinated should go get their shots as soon as possible, because we will introduce a vaccination passport soon,” Ko said. Fully vaccinated people would be able to choose seats in restaurants freely, while unvaccinated people would be seated in separate areas with table dividers, Ko said. More than 60 percent of Taipei residents have received at least one vaccine dose, he said.

Defense ministry missile procurement program plagued by problems: reportBy Wu Su-wei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerA Ministry of National Defense initiative to obtain US-made Harpoon missiles is plagued by cost overruns, poor coordination with contractors and procedural irregularities, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said. A Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile is launched from the USS Stewart in an undated photograph. Instead, the ministry gave the program to the Cabinet days before it was to submit the overall budget report, the report said. Since 2016, 2,588 troops were discharged from military service for failing to meet standards, which is 18.36 percent of all men and women who volunteer, it said. The number of understaffed combat units and the high number of volunteers who left military service after being found to be unfit for service are concerning, it said.

EDITORIAL: Trade trips need concrete resultsA Taiwanese trade delegation visiting Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania has touted its dazzling achievements, but sustaining the momentum of mutual interest requires solid plans. Following their trip, the members of the trade delegation should assess whether they understand the needs of the countries they visited and how to foster future cooperation. If that is true, TSMC might bring new suppliers to the region, as Saxony is close to Germany’s borders with the Czech Republic and Poland. However, the issue seems to have been shelved, and the airline played no role in the Taiwanese trade delegation’s trip. Following the Czech delegation’s visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also listed 22 achievements of bilateral interactions, including several MOUs that were signed.

Meta: Facebook’s high-stakes bet to save itselfBy Joshua Melvin and Julie Jammot / AFP, WASHINGTONFacebook Inc’s name change offers a convenient diversion as scandal plagues the platform, but the new handle is also key to the firm’s costly effort to save itself from real threats, experts said. The metaverse Zuckerberg strolled through in Thursday’s promotional pitch was a friendly place of connection and did not evoke the angry political fights or anti-vaccine misinformation that discolors social media. Apple’s iPhone privacy changes, which allow users to block tracking, have significantly affected Facebook’s advertising revenues because less data could be collected. Manfredi Ricca, global chief strategy officer at Interbrand consultancy, said the aspirations were clear, but action is also required. “Where it will fail or succeed is going to be about what they are tangibly going to change,” he added.

COVID-19 measures helping to reduce other diseasesBy Wu Liang-yi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerCOVID-19 pandemic response measures, including border restrictions and mandatory mask usage, have contributed to a decrease in the number of infectious diseases over the past year, Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics showed. Aside from keeping COVID-19 and influenza cases low, the measures also resulted in no measles and rubella infections, as well as a large drop in cases of pertussis (commonly known as whooping cough), the data showed. Statistics showed only five cases of pertussis last year, compared with 32 the year before. The drop in measles and rubella cases was likely due to a sharp decline in border traffic, he said. Tuberculosis cases have also been declining annually, dropping from more than 13,000 cases in 2010 to nearly half that, with 7,823 cases last year, he said.

Transport ministry expands road safety outreach initiative to senior citizensBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has expanded its road safety outreach initiative to senior citizens after data showed that 40 percent of people killed by road accidents were aged 65 or older. To address this problem, the ministry has expanded the national safety traffic month program to urge the public to be vigilant when traveling through crossroads, he said. Drivers should stop their vehicles and check the road for pedestrians before turning slowly around corners, while pedestrians should stop, listen and watch for vehicles, he said. As senior citizens are less likely to attend road safety classes or use the Internet, the ministry’s outreach program is to focus on face-to-face interactions, he said. The ministry has run the volunteer road safety instructor program in partnership with the Ministry of Education and local governments since 2011, he added.

Environmentalists call for marine survey databaseStaff writerEnvironmentalists on Wednesday called on the government to integrate marine survey data to establish a government database to reduce the environmental impact of offshore development projects. The Ministry of Science and Technology has an Ocean Data Bank, which holds data contributed by researchers from different universities, but the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) has yet to establish its own database. The OAC last year proposed a long-term project on surveying marine environment and ecology, but the project was rejected by the National Development Council (NDC), Kuo said. A comprehensive ecological survey is needed before any offshore development starts, he said, calling on the government to establish a marine database soon. The government should continue to support science-based surveys of the nation’s marine environment to have a better understanding of the number and distribution of marine animals, and adjust its policy accordingly, Pei said.

NBA’s Enes Kanter on Twitter urges support for TaiwanBloombergEnes Kanter of the Boston Celtics yesterday sent his latest in a string Twitter posts criticizing China over human rights and other matters, including a call to support Taiwan. “Change is coming and no one can stop it. !” wrote the NBA player, along with the hashtags #StandWithTaiwan, #FreeTibet, #FreeUyghurs and #FreeHongKong. Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter rebounds the ball during warmups before their NBA game against the Toronto Raptors at the TD Garden in Boston on Friday last week. Stop the GENOCIDE, now!”Additional reporting by staff writer