Last year, the Dauphins achieved an overall readiness of 69.45 percent, but their readiness has declined yearly from a high of 79.45 percent in 2018, it said. For example, over a 90-day period, the three Dauphins assigned to the Kaohsiung unit achieved a readiness rate of 50 percent on 55 of the days, it said. Five of the Black Hawks, or 35 percent of the fleet, failed to achieve the readiness goal, with the worst Black Hawk logging a readiness rate of only 31.51 percent, it said. Over the past three years, four of the five Black Hawks, as well as the Beechcraft, have consistently failed to meet maintenance standards, it added. Asked for comment on Saturday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that a readiness rate of 65 percent was the bare minimum required for the corps to function.

Net profit in the April-to-June quarter rose 85.5 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.05 billion (US$37.8 million), the highest in nearly 11 quarters. Consolidated revenue rose 25.2 percent annually to NT$7.05 billion, while operating income expanded 107.6 percent to NT$1.43 billion on improved margins. Gross margin and operating margin both increased by about 8 percentage points from a year earlier to 36.12 percent and 20.25 percent respectively, the company said. Hiwin started to raise product prices in the first quarter of this year in response to rising prices of raw materials. The company plans to raise prices for some products again in the third quarter if raw material prices continue to soar, it said.

Pingtung County’s Wutai Township (霧台) recorded 693mm of rain between midnight Friday and 3:30pm yesterday, the highest accumulated rainfall in Taiwan, the CWB said. People stand in floodwater in Cijia Village in Changhua County’s Shengang Township yesterday. Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei TimesAffected by flooding and landslides, 600 residents in Wutai and Majia had been evacuated, the CWB added. People clutch umbrellas as they run across a pedestrian crossing in Taipei yesterday. Watermelons lie partly submerged in a flooded field in Yunlin County yesterday.

Tokyo 2020: Wen Tzu-yun takes pride in her bronze, despite bitter lossStaff writer, with CNATaiwanese karate star Wen Tzu-yun is known for her competitiveness and perseverance, so the way she was ousted on Thursday from the Olympics a step short of a gold medal bout might have been hard to accept. The 27-year-old karateka won bronze in the women’s kumite 55kg category in Tokyo after a loss to world No. Taiwanese karateka Wen Tzu-yun poses with her bronze medal at the awards ceremony for the women’s kumite 55kg category at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. In 2013, Wen injured her hip during the gold medal match against then-world No. Thinking back to Thursday’s performance in Tokyo, Wen thanked everyone who supported her along the way, especially her family.

Yilan honors model fathersBy Tsai Yun-jung / Staff reporterThe Yilan County Government yesterday honored 13 model fathers ahead of Father’s Day today. Blind masseur Huang Wen-han, center right in mauve shirt, and his family hold bouquets and gifts in Yilan County yesterday after Huang was honored as a model father on the eve of Father’s Day. Widowed father Yu Huo-sheng on Friday wears a “model father” sash awarded to him by Yilan County’s Dongshan Township before being honored by the Yilan County Government yesterday. His son, Huang Ching-en (黃慶恩), described his father as his role model, saying that he is keen to offer help and seldom blames others for his own suffering. Yu Huo-sheng’s daughter Yu Wen-chueh (游文雀) said many neighbors told her to study at a vocational school and work at a garment factory after graduation.

Chung Yuan Christian Unversity’s Chang Ching-yu Library is one of Wang Chiu-hwa’s best known projects in Taiwan. After 30 years in the US, Wang returned to Taiwan to take care of her parents. When Wang died at the age of 96 last month, she was remembered as the “mother of Taiwanese libraries.”A certificate given to Wang Chiu-hwa by mentor and collaborator Percival Goodman before she moved to Taiwan. She has worked on libraries at National Changhua Normal University, National Taiwan Ocean University, National Palace Museum and National Chung Cheng University. “I didn’t design so many libraries because I like libraries,” she once said.

Storm is expected to return to TaiwanStaff writer, with CNATropical Storm Lupit has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is expected to approach Taiwan a second time with a southwesterly system primarily affecting the nation’s west, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. Lupit is expected to pass through the Taiwan Strait today and affect northern Taiwan later today and early tomorrow before moving away, it said. Two men stand in floodwaters in a coastal village in Yunlin County yesterday. Photo: Lin Kuo-hsien, Taipei TimesHeavy rain is forecast for western areas of Taiwan today and tomorrow morning, the CWB said. As of press time, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Pingtung County, Chiayi City and Chiayi County have canceled work and classes today.

Olympic program extended to Paris Games in 2024By Lee Hsin-fang and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerA program that supported Taiwan’s athletes in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics would continue after an initiative launched in 2018 for the Tokyo Games achieved record-breaking results, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said on Thursday. The nation’s athletes have won 12 medals in Tokyo, more than doubling the previous record of five in 2000 and 2004. To achieve this in the run-up to the Tokyo Games, the Sports Administration launched an initiative to prepare the nation’s athletes to “go for gold,” Su said. The Sports Administration program is also to cover early preparation for the 2024 Games, with a continuing annual budget of NT$300 million to total NT$2.1 billion after seven years, it said. From 2016 to this year, the Sports Administration’s annual budget rose from NT$8 billion to NT$13.4 billion, Su said.

Innolux cautious about prospects in second halfBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterLCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said it was cautiously optimistic about second-half prospects as an imminent glass substrate supply constraint and an ongoing chip shortage would curb supply and avert a glut. The supply of glass substrates might start declining this month at the earliest, as some manufacturers commence annual factory maintenance, the Miaoli-based company said. Innolux Corp chairman Jim Hung, right, and president James Yang talk to investors during an online conference yesterday. Because of reduced glass substrate supply, “we are cautiously optimistic about the second-half market situation,” Yang said. Innolux expects the strategic partnership to lift its profit margin, as G10.5 has a cost advantage over Innolux’s G6 and G8.5 factories in producing large TV panels, Hung said.

COVID-19: Issue vouchers in smaller denominations: legislatorsBy Chien Hui-ju and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerDemocratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) and independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday urged the Executive Yuan to issue vouchers in smaller denomination as part of its stimulus plan to benefit small businesses. Chung said that the voucher program should issue 20 vouchers in NT$100 denominations, five in NT$200 denominations, two NT$500 denominations and one NT$1,000 voucher. A woman holds up Triple Stimulus Vouchers on Jan. 7. Photo: Wu Chi-lun , Taipei TimesChung added that the program should be limited to small sums, as vouchers of smaller denominations would be easier for stores that sell daily necessities to accept. Only designated small stores should be allowed to accept the vouchers, Chung said, adding that the vouchers’ use should be limited to retail stores, restaurants, hotels and art exhibitions.

COVID-19: Taipei considers securing its own supply of shotsPRIVATE RESERVE: The city would pay at least NT$6 billion to acquire COVID-19 vaccines to provide booster shots against possible variantsBy Yang Hsin-hui and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei City Government is considering buying COVID-19 vaccines and is to meet within a week to discuss the issue, it said yesterday. Although the central government has nominally obtained 75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, either through purchase agreements or donations, only 9.5 million doses have arrived in Taiwan, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) said. Medical workers administer COVID-19 vaccinations at the Taipei Expo Park yesterday. If the Taipei City Government decides to buy vaccines, it — and subsequent matters such as the number of doses needed — would be deliberated and ratified by the city council, he added. The Taipei City Government would meet within a week and invite experts to assess the situation, he said, adding that the assessment would be used to make a final decision.

New Kestrel rocket to be tested on Pratas: reportDEFENDING TERRITORY: The shoulder-launched weapon, designed to penetrate armor or concrete, would be tested amid increasing Chinese presence in the South China SeaStaff writer, with CNAThe Coast Guard Administration is to hold two live-fire exercises to test an indigenous anti-armor rocket on the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea next month. A member of the Marine Corps simulates firing a Kestrel anti-armor rocket on March 4, 2016. However, the Central News Agency reported that locally developed Kestrel anti-armor rockets would be launched on both dates. The Pratas Islands, which are almost 450km southwest of Kaohsiung, are one of two territories controlled by Taiwan in the South China Sea. Taiwan, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim part of the South China Sea as their territory.

COVID-19: Legislators urge expanding voucher schemeBy Chien Hui-ju and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe next round of government COVID-19 stimulus vouchers should include childcare centers and cram schools, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday. These enterprises should be included as payable to parties in the new voucher program, as many are going out of business and some have already been forced to close, she said. “We hope the Executive Yuan’s new voucher program would include our industry and give it the boost it needs to recover from COVID-19,” he said. Chang Hao-jan (張浩然), director of the Taipei Supplementary Education Association, said that COVID-19 restrictions have led to serious losses for cram schools. Huang Yueh-ying (黃月盈), an official at the National Development Council, said the voucher program is a work in progress and that the lawmakers’ suggestion would be considered.

Ending pandemic exceptionalismBy Chris van LaakIt is astonishing how differently the COVID-19 pandemic has transpired in Taiwan than in other countries with equal, or what should have been equal, disease prevention capabilities. When Taiwan largely kept the virus at its borders for most of the pandemic, it was a laudable success, but it eventually proved elusive and a few days in May brought a persistent domestic outbreak, plunging Taiwan into the “normal” of the international pandemic. However, it is more likely that some trends the world has seen in the past 18 months are to continue. Now might not be the time for that, not when only about 35 percent of Taiwanese have partial protection through vaccines. The nation needs to have a conversation about the possibility of a post-pandemic world in which COVID-19 is still around.

Following a decrease in COVID-19 cases, the CECC on Tuesday last week lowered the COVID-19 alert to level 2 from level 3, which was imposed on May 19. Customers wait for their orders at a restaurant in Taipei yesterday. Of the domestic COVID-19 cases recorded yesterday, four were men and two were women, with an onset of symptoms between July 23 and Wednesday, the center said. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 15,753 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,280 imported and 14,420 domestic cases, with 791 deaths, CECC data showed. May 15 marked the first time the nation recorded more than 100 COVID-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began.