Scientech erects first plant in China on demand for reclaimed wafers for testingBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterScientech Corp (辛耘) yesterday said that it is building its first Chinese plant to capture a share of China’s rapidly growing reclaimed wafers market. Also expanding capacity at home to meet rising demand, Scientech expects to add 20,000 wafers per month this year and next year. Together with its factory in China, Scientech said that it would become the world’s biggest supplier of reclaimed wafers. “As chip supply constraints continue, demand for reclaimed wafers will increase. Companies are using more reclaimed wafers for testing at this point,” Hsu said.

CECC may ease health rules for travel to Palau‘TRAVEL BUBBLE’: Strict self-health management rules for the first five days after returning to Taiwan may be relaxed after lackluster sales of tours to the Pacific islandBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering relaxing self-health management requirements for Taiwanese tourists returning from Palau after disappointing tour sales threaten the “travel bubble” agreement between the two countries. The CECC made the remarks yesterday after the six travel agencies designated to arrange tours to Palau reported lackluster sales following the pilot tours on April 1, which were joined by 100 tourists. Restrooms set aside for “travel bubble passengers” are pictured at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on April 4. Afterward, they are required to observe general self-health management guidelines for another nine days. “We will continue to work with travel agents to promote tours to Palau in the hope of maximizing the benefits brought by the ‘travel bubble’ agreement,” it said.

CAL cancels April 17 Palau flight over weak interest‘NOT ECONOMICAL’: Although its average passenger load factor has edged upward, China Airlines said continued ‘travel bubble’ service depends on customer demandBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterChina Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航) yesterday said that it would cancel its flights between Taiwan and Palau on Saturday, despite the Taiwan-Palau “travel bubble” arrangement, as only two people had booked seats. “For the flight that is slated to fly from Taiwan to Palau on the afternoon of April 17, only two people purchased tickets, while no seats were sold for the flight that would return from Palau later on the same day,” CAL said in a statement. Photo: CNAUnder the travel bubble arrangement, people must join tour groups offered by local travel agencies, but there was little chance of the agencies continuing to offer the tour departing on Saturday, the official said. The flight from Palau to Taiwan today would fly as scheduled, because there would be 47 passengers aboard, it said. “Without the demand to transport cargo to Palau, CAL could not make up for the low passenger revenue with its cargo business,” the official said.

Frontline health workers need voice, alliance saysBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterFrontline healthcare workers should be on the National Health Insurance Committee, the Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety said yesterday, urging the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) to include them. From left, Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety director Tseng Chia-lin and alliance director-general Lin Ping-hung, and Taiwan Anesthesia Union chairman Chu Ning-wei hold placards at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times“If frontline healthcare workers are not included in the National Health Insurance Committee, the sweat and blood situation of healthcare labor will not improve,” Taiwan Anesthesia Union chairman Chu Ning-wei (儲寧瑋) said. The naming of committee members is done following the National Health Insurance Act (全民健保法), but the “healthcare service providers” are all top officials of hospital associations or medical superintendents, so “management” is represented, but workers are not, Chu said. The NHIA must include at least one representative of frontline healthcare workers on the committee, Lin said.

Ministry finally accepts Hailong wind farm plan‘LONG JOURNEY’: The firm said that it looks forward to delivering on its commitments, after many meetings on how the local supply chain could benefit from the projectBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterAfter more than two years of negotiations with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the 300 megawatt (MW) Hailong Offshore Wind 2A (海龍離岸風電) farm off the coast of Changhua County has finally come up with a plan that meets the ministry’s local content requirements. “This will be an ‘anchor project’ that pushes forward the development of Taiwan into an export hub for the wind energy supply chain for the [Asia-Pacific] region.”Hailong plans to work with partners Siemens Gamesa and CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering Co Ltd (台船環海風電) on the project. They have said that the practice leads to cost overruns and there are not enough local suppliers that meet the exacting standards for making offshore wind turbine components. Earlier this month, Cristina Lobillo Borrero, director for energy policy strategy and coordination at the European Commission, asked whether Taiwan’s local content policy might be in contravention of WTO rules. She also said that the policy is bad for Taiwan’s energy users.

Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang bangs the gavel after legislators passed amendments to the Seafarers Act at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The Seafarers Act should therefore treat piracy as equivalent to war, especially after 2013 amendments to the Shipping Act (航業法) and the Fisheries Act (漁業法) that mandated owners to adopt anti-piracy security measures, it added. The amendments make the owners of vessels liable for deaths, injuries or harm suffered by the crew due to warfare or piracy. Article 43 has been amended so that the board must consist of one to three standing members among its total membership of seven to 15 experts in labor law. The standing members would increase the board’s efficiency and professionalism, as well as protecting workers’ right to organize and join a union, and to bargain collectively, the bill says.

Stock market boosts tax revenueBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiwan’s booming stock market contributed to a record quarter of tax revenue, figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance showed. Tax revenue for last month was NT$200.9 billion (US$7.06 billion), up 19.2 percent year-on-year, with cumulative tax revenue from January to March totaling a record NT$467.2 billion, an annual increase of 16.6 percent. Photo: Wu Chia-jung, Taipei TimesDepartment of Statistics Deputy Director-General Chen Yu-feng (陳玉豐) said that Taiwan’s booming stock market has resulted in securities transaction tax revenue growing for 18 consecutive months. While Taiwan’s tax revenue has been increasing as a result of a flourishing economy, Chen said that first-quarter tax revenue was also bolstered by new housing projects in Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Kaohsiung. Besides, the first quarter is not the most important tax quarter for the Taiwanese economy, Chen said.

EU to cohost GCTF meeting todayBUSINESS FOCUS: Germany’s envoy to Taiwan is to participate in the meeting, which is to revolve around the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the global economyBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe EU today for the first time is to join Taiwan, the US and Japan to host a meeting of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The virtual meeting would focus on supply chain restructuring, and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) told a news briefing in Taipei. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of North America Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Asked whether “supply chain” refers to the semiconductor industry, Hsu said that the meeting would discuss industrial supply chains generally, without a focus on specific sectors. Pompeo on April 1 tweeted a photograph of a meeting with Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) at the Twin Oaks estate in Washington.

The Central Weather Bureau on Sunday forecast that Tropical Storm Surigae could form as soon as tomorrow. A tropical storm in the northwest Pacific could ease the water shortage. A dried-up Chengcing Lake in Kaohsiung is pictured yesterday as central and southern Taiwan continue to experience severe water shortages. “The storm would not threaten Taiwan, nor is there the possibility that it would relieve the water shortage facing the country,” he added. However, they strengthen the northeast monsoon, which prevents the arrival of spring rain fronts and formations of afternoon thundershower cells,” Peng said, adding that this would not help relieve the water shortage.

Commission to propose legislation to deal with White Terror perpetratorsBy Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporterTransitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) yesterday vowed that the commission would propose legislation to deal with investigations into the perpetrators of White Terror atrocities and other human rights abuses of the past. The White Terror era refers to the suppression of political dissidents following the 228 Incident, an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, which was brutally suppressed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime. Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui, right, and Deputy Chairwoman Yeh Hung-ling hold a news conference yesterday in Taipei. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei TimesThe government subsequently imposed martial law, which was lifted on July 15, 1987. The commission would draft bills on transitional justice to handle unjust decisions by government administrative offices in the past, she said.

A nurse adminsters a COVID-19 vaccine to Chinese Taipei Football Association representative Yu Chia-huang yesterday in Taipei. At Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch, where he was vaccinated, Ko was joined by other city officials, as well as players on the Chinese Taipei Football Association representative team and Taipei taxi drivers who transport those headed into quarantine. About 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed to vaccinate Taiwan’s population, but the nation has so far secured only 31 million doses, including those already received, Ko said. Lin said he hoped that he and other officials getting vaccinated would help ease public concerns about the vaccine. Lu said she felt that making the vaccine publicly funded would also help encourage more people to get vaccinated.

Several recent cases that began with stalking have led to death or injury because they were not handled properly, the foundation said in a statement. From left, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Yang Chiung-ying, Cheng Li-wun, Lin Szu-ming and Yeh Yu-lan hold a news conference yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to call for the enactment of an anti-stalking bill. Having a law that clearly defines stalking behavior and establishes standard operating procedures could help resolve those doubts, it said. Separately, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) legislative caucus also called for the enactment of an anti-stalking bill as soon as possible, adding that the Executive Yuan should propose its own version of the bill to be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan. Lawmakers have proposed 15 versions of an anti-stalking bill, KMT Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said, urging the Executive Yuan to quickly submit its own version for review by the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee.

Newspaper group calls for paid online news modelBy Lee Ya-wen and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe public’s erroneous expectation that news be provided free of charge should be corrected, a representative of the Taipei Newspapers Association said yesterday, recommending that the government play a role in guiding such a transition. Association secretary-general and Commercial Times deputy general manager Chen Chih-kuang (陳志光) made the remark at a forum held by the Fair Trade Commission in Taipei on digital platforms and online advertising. Representatives from Taiwanese media organizations attend a forum on digital platforms and online advertising organized by the Fair Trade Commission in Taipei yesterday. Second, the nation must find a way to join transnational negotiations to better understand other countries’ rapidly changing approaches toward anti-monopolistic legislation, the association said. Taiwan has nearly the same population as Australia and is far more influential in the Internet technology field, it said.

Financial conglomerates profit on stock investmentsCAPITAL GAINS: Fubon Financial said it was upbeat about the local stock market, citing solid fundamentals for electronics firms and a recovering traditional sectorBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe nation’s major financial conglomerates with life insurance subsidiaries have reported higher net profits for the first quarter of this year on the back of investment returns, buoyed by the booming domestic stock market, companies’ data showed. Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the nation’s second-largest financial holding firm by assets, yesterday reported net profit of NT$11.49 billion (US$403.7 million) for last month, up 42 percent year-on-year, while its net profit totaled NT$50 billion in the first quarter, up 118 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. The Fubon Financial Holding Co headquarters is pictured in Taipei on Dec. 20, 2011. It was followed by Fubon Life Insurance with a market share of 17.27 percent, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) with 12.3 percent, China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) with 8.14 percent and Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽) with 6.6 percent, the data showed. China Development Financial said its first-quarter net profit rose to NT$14.81 billion from NT$1.76 billion a year earlier, aided by the contribution from China Life.

CAL bids farewell to Boeing jumbo jetsEND OF AN ERA: The Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets have served the airline well, but new-generation aircraft are more fuel-efficient, CAL chairman Hsieh Shih-chien saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterChina Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航) yesterday bid farewell to its last four Boeing 747-400 planes, ending the era of the “Queen of the Skies” at the airline. CAL has since 1975 operated a total of 29 747 series aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. In 1990, it started receiving delivery of 19 747-400 jumbo jets, with the last one, the B-18215, delivered in 2005, it said. As the 747-400 jet’s energy efficiency is 22.5 percent lower than new-generation planes, such as the Boeing 777, 747-400 jets are not competitive amid a high oil price environment,” Hsieh said. Cargo revenue totaled NT$9.1 billion, making up 87 percent of total revenue, company data showed.