We consider the comfort and safety of the user with each step.”Thousand Miles Trail Association instructor Chu Mu-kun, short sleeves, works on the Daniuci Trail last Saturday. Thousand Miles Trail Association instructor Chu Mu-kun, short sleeves, works on the Daniuci Trail last Saturday. Named the Dunan Old Trail (渡南古道), it is the first entirely hand-built trail on the Raknus Selu. Instead, Miao and Lo recommend several loops from the guesthouse through the Dunan Old Trail that range from 5km to 17km. “It’s a special connection that you’ll never forget.”Thousand Miles Trail Association recommends six communities and routes to explore:‧ Siaocukeng Old Trail (小粗坑) — Sankeng Old Street (三坑), Longtan District (龍潭), Taoyuan City‧ Dunan Old Trail and Feifeng Old Trail (飛鳳古道) — Guansi Township (關西), Hsinchu County‧ Shihyingzih Old Trail (石硬子古道) — Beipu Township (北埔), Hsinchu County‧ Mingfeng Old Trail (鳴鳳古道) — Shihtan Township (獅潭), Miaoli County‧ Chuguan Old Trail (出關古道) and Guandaoshan (關刀山) — Jiangmayuan (姜麻園), Miaoli County‧ Laoguandao (老官道) — Dahu Townsnhip (大湖), Miaoli County

GlobalWafers mulls more capacity as demand growsBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterGlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that it is considering further capacity expansion as customers are requesting more capacity due to rising end-market demand and persistent supply constraints. The Hsinchu-based company said that emerging technologies and applications from 5G, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles are driving semiconductor demand. We are now in discussions with customers,” company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a virtual investors’ conference yesterday. To keep up with rising customer demand, GlobalWafers plans further capital spending on expanded capacity this year, Hsu said.

KMT urges more vaccination incentivesBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the government to increase incentives for people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei that China, Israel, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates than Taiwan. Taiwan Society of Preventive Medicine chairman Arthur Chen speaks at a news conference at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times“We are far behind” in vaccination efforts, she said. The Ministry of Labor is to announce an unpaid vaccination leave policy, but given the low vaccination rate, the CECC should consider offering additional incentives, she said.

The Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp logo is pictured at the company’s headquarters in the Hsinchu Science Park on Jan. 9 last year. We expect the company’s factory utilization rate to be very high throughout 2021,” Vanguard chairman Fang Leuh (方略) told investors in a teleconference. Asked about the possibility of acquiring a less advanced 6-inch fab, Fang said that the company would clinch a deal as long as the fab has a reasonable price and a good location. Revenue this quarter is expected to increase 11 percent sequentially, or up to NT$10.2 billion from NT$9.18 billion last quarter. In the January-to-March quarter, Vanguard saw its net profit surge 46.36 percent to NT$2.21 billion from NT$1.55 billion last year.

Grizzlies owner buys Taipei unitStaff writer, with CNARobert Pera, owner of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, has bought a luxury apartment in Taipei, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said on Monday. The exterior of Continental Development Corp’s upscale 55Timeless Tower, white building on left, is pictured in Taipei’s Xinyi District on Jan. 7. The Liberty Times report said that Pera’s 950m2 luxury unit is on Xinyi Road Sec 5, adjacent to many tall buildings, including landmark skyscraper Taipei 101. Excluding three parking spaces that cost him NT$13.80 million, Pera spent about NT$2.15 million per ping (1 ping equals 3.3m2) for the property, the report said. On its Web site, Continental Development said that the 55Timeless Tower, designed by New York-based architect Richard Meier, has 31 floors above ground and four below ground.

Most working mothers anxious, exhausted: surveyBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterMost Taiwanese working mothers are anxious and exhausted, with 66 percent saying that their workplace is not friendly toward them, a survey by online job bank yes123 found. “The typical Taiwanese working mother is burning the candle at four ends,” yes123 spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said. “They are expected to provide economically for the family, deliver excellent performance at work, bring up the kids and also take care of elderly people in the family.”In addition to family expectations, many working mothers said they faced discrimination at work. Of the respondents, 54.8 percent said that they were paid less for the same amount of work than their colleagues who were not mothers, while 66.8 percent said that they had lost out on promotions because they were mothers. If they could do it over again, 66.2 percent of respondents said that they would still have children, while 33.8 percent said they would not.

To mark World Hand Hygiene Day today, National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital held a news conference to raise awareness about the importance of hand hygiene, saying that it can prevent infectious disease, including COVID-19. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, third left, and other officials hold teddy bears at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. NTU vice president and CECC specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said that masks, handwashing and social distancing over the past year have significantly reduced seasonal flu, enterovirus infections and even diarrhea-related illnesses. Confirmed cases so far include airline crew members and hotel employees, and their family members, which can be considered the first degree of local transmission, Huang said. As some of the recent cases had only mild symptoms, they visited many places in Taiwan, so it is difficult to track everyone who was potentially exposed to them, Huang said.

Government monitoring housing market: ministerBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe government is to review housing transaction data this week to determine if further action is necessary to cool the property market, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. “The government is to convene a cross-ministerial meeting later this week and review related data to arrive at a conclusion,” Kung said, adding that it takes time for the market to respond. National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin, left, and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi attend a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday. The economy is lending support after expanding 8.16 percent last quarter, making upward revisions for full-year growth inevitable, Kung said. Kung declined to speculate if growth could reach 5.5 percent this year, but said that it could rise above the 5 percent mark.

Ministry pushes LNG project farther offshore‘NO LONGER AFFECTED’: With the LNG facility an additional 455m away from shore, the project would no longer require dredging the ocean floor, the ministry saidBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced that it would move a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off Taoyuan farther from shore to “minimize any impact on algal reefs.”In an effort to prevent the project from being blocked by a referendum, the ministry said that it had updated its proposal for the nation’s third LNG receiving terminal to move it another 455m from shore. “By pushing the project farther out into deeper water, we no longer need to dredge the ocean floor,” Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei. They have successfully petitioned for a referendum to block the terminal, which the ministry says is essential for the government’s plans to transition away from coal. “We can finish the third LNG terminal in two-and-a-half years. If the referendum passed, the ministry would respect the people’s wishes, Tseng said.

Nonagenarian is nation’s oldest licensed caregiverBy Tsai Shu-yuan and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerAt 96 years old, Lien Chin-ting (連金廷) has become the nation’s oldest licensed caregiver. “I am old, so I know better how to care for old people,” he said on Friday, as he demonstrated how to care for a bedridden patient. At the encouragement of his daughter, Lien said he often attends activities at an elderly-care center in Taichung. The nation’s oldest licensed caregiver, 96-year-old Lien Chin-ting, left, attends to a patient at an elderly care center in Taichung on Saturday. In January, he began a 97-hour course that includes 52 hours of coursework, eight hours of practical work and 30 hours of clinical practice.

COVID-19: India’s virus surge could slow global recovery: DBSBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterA surge in COVID-19 cases in India is expected to slow a global economic recovery, DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) said yesterday, while maintaining its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan at 5 percent this year. Taiwan reported stronger-than-expected 8.16 percent growth in GDP in the first quarter, beating the Singaporean bank’s 6.1 percent prediction from late March. DBS Bank Ltd economist Ma Tieying poses for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei on April 7. However, India’s sharp spike in COVID-19 infections could still take a toll on the global economic rebound, Ma said. Regarding Taiwan’s economy, Ma said the nation’s recovery has been “at full speed,” with GDP expanding quarter-on-quarter for three consecutive quarters.

Tsai owes public an apology: KMT‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’: Chao Chieh-yu’s misconduct dates back to 2016 and President Tsai Ing-wen should have reacted to his behavior long ago, Alicia Wang saidBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), should apologize to the public for a scandal involving former DPP member Chao Chieh-yu (趙介佑), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Tsai was DPP chairperson at the time and should have been upset by Chao Chieh-yu’s controversies “long ago,” Wang said. As DPP chairperson, Tsai should apologize to the public for the disturbance caused by a member of her party, Wang said. The KMT in a statement accused Tsai of wanting to distance the DPP from the scandal.

The military continuously adjusts the number of troops on alert depending on developments in the security situation around Taiwan, Chang told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has conducted at least 270 sorties into airspace and waters near Taiwan, Ministry of National Defense data showed. To prevent the occurrence of an unplanned military encounter, all Taiwanese military personnel receive comprehensive briefings before going on missions, Chang told lawmakers, adding that the nation closely cooperates on intelligence with like-minded countries. “Normal combat readiness status” is one of two general alert levels in the military, and remains active during peacetime and natural disasters when civilian authorities need military support. Responding to criticism that the incident represents a serious breach of national security, National Security Bureau Deputy Director-General Hu Mu-yuan (胡木源) said the authenticity of Zhou’s claims are still under investigation.

She is the daughter of a cargo pilot who tested positive in Australia, as reported by the center on April 20. The pilot’s wife and other child tested positive later in the month. The local health department arranged for her to be tested again on Sunday, because her family members were all diagnosed with COVID-19, he said. As of yesterday, 10 cargo plane pilots, eight of the pilots’ family members, four hotel workers and a hotel contractor, and three family members of a hotel worker have tested positive since April 20. The CECC yesterday reported six imported cases: travelers from the Netherlands, Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Adata net profit soars 57.18% to a 14-quarter highBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterAdata Technology Co (威剛), a supplier of memory modules and solid-state drives (SSDs), yesterday posted its best quarterly net profit in 14 quarters on the back of rising prices. During the three-month quarter to March, net profit surged 57.18 percent to NT$707 million (US$25.27 million), from NT$450 million last year. On a quarterly basis, net profit more than doubled from NT$317 million. Earnings per share rose to NT$2.94, compared with NT$2.12 a year earlier and NT$1.41 in the previous quarter. Adada had accumulated key components worth NT$10 billion as of the end of last quarter, a record high, the statement said.