The ministry would follow the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) in fining the airline and ordering it to repair the damage it caused, he said. It is irresponsible for the airline to cancel flights without warning the public in advance. CAA officials are to convene today to review FAT’s explanation. FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) held a news conference on Friday, saying that the airline had to halt its operations after it failed to secure funds in time. Chang denied that the company had difficulty paying its employees and that it would cease operations soon.

It was then that Zhang’s doctor suggested a last-ditch option: an experimental gene therapy being trialed by a Chinese startup called Gracell Biotechnology. Seven months later, monthly medical tests conducted at a hospital in the nearby Chinese metropolis of Chongqing show he remains cancer free. The therapy Zhang received was Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T cells, known as CAR-T, and it’s being hailed as one of the most exciting developments in the quest to cure cancer. First developed by Israeli scientist Zelig Eshhar in the 1980s, CAR-T re-works the genes of the body’s own immune cells so that they actively seek out and destroy cancer cells. The aging population and a raft of lifestyle factors mean that more new cancer patients are emerging in China than anyplace else in the world, giving the country a significant stake in the global fight to find a cure.

The new target price implies a 13.6 percent upside from the stock’s closing price of NT$339 in Taipei trading on Friday. The second quarter of next year would likely be a transition period to the next-generation iPhone — for which application processor shipments would start in the third quarter — becoming a potential low point for TSMC, Macquarie said in a research note on Friday. “We expect TSMC’s revenue to grow 16 percent year-on-year in full-year 2020. TSMC’s 4Q20 revenue will likely be the peak again next year, following the normal pattern,” Macquarie analysts led by Patrick Liao (廖光河) wrote in the note. “We estimate Apple will occupy from 85 to 90 percent of [TSMC’s] total 5nm capacity, and the rest will be assigned to new Huawei Mate models,” Macquarie analysts said.

Staff writer, with CNAThe Taipei City Animal Protection Office has stepped up weekend patrols in popular parks and at public attractions this month to enforce the city’s animal leash regulations, the office said yesterday. Pet owners are required to keep their animals on a leash, or place them in strollers or carriers in public areas, with the exception of designated dog parks where dogs can run free, according to the Taipei Regulations on Animal Protection and Autonomy (台北市動物保護自治條例). Pet owners who fail to use a leash or carrier could face a fine of NT$2,000 to NT$10,000, according to the regulations. From January to the end of last month, about 468 dogs and cats have been killed on the roads of Taipei, it said. The office urged pet owners to follow regulations for the safety of their pets and other people, and encouraged those who see irresponsible owners with unleashed pets to call the office at (02) 8789-3064, ext.

By Lu Yi-hsuan / Staff reporter, with CNASweden on Thursday held its first bilateral talks on climate change with Taiwan at the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid. The meeting between Mattias Frumerie, head of Sweden’s delegation to COP25, and Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬), was held on the sidelines of the conference. Taiwan’s representative office in Sweden characterized the exchange as a show of support for Taiwan’s bid to join the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The meeting came after nine Swedish parliamentarians, over the past two months, asked their government to take concrete action in support of Taiwan’s bid to join the UNFCCC as an observer, despite the two countries not having official diplomatic relations, Taiwan’s representative office in Sweden said. Sweden has long been considered a leading country in combating climate change, it added.

By Lo chi and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Sakizaya language, which is listed by the Council of Indigenous Peoples as an endangered language, was on Nov. 22 added to Wikipedia as a language option thanks to efforts to preserve and promote the Aboriginal language. Tuku Sayion, a Sakizaya and principal investigator for the language preservation project, on Monday last week told a conference about the development of Aboriginal languages that his team has since 2015 made efforts to make the Sakizaya language available on Wikipedia. There are about 3,600 Wikipedia entries in the Sakizaya language, with an edit count of more than 60,000 and a word count reaching 2 million, he added. The council has launched a mentoring program to preserve indigenous languages, Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod said. Aboriginal students who pass indigenous language exams would receive certification, which could be used to apply for government subsidies to study abroad, he added.

By Hsu Kuo-chen, Liu Hsiao-hsin and Jason Pan / Staff reportersPresident Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign schedule yesterday took her to central Taiwan, where she stumped for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidates while calling on voters to “support the DPP one more time” in Jan. 11’s presidential and legislative elections. Tsai, who is seeking re-election, touted the performance of her administration as she zigzagged between events in Nantou and Changhua counties, canvassing for votes. In the evening, Tsai attended a rally in Taichung hosted by a group of female doctors who support her. “Women traditionally do not organize themselves in groups during Taiwan’s elections, so I very much cherish this effort, with a big force to support me,” she said. “It is quite special, as female doctors are seen as dispassionate, rational and working in dignity.”“With so many female doctors standing up in support, calling for my re-election, we can feel that our country has reached a crucial moment in time,” she added.

21, also known as the old port zone. However, no investor has contacted us to talk about the development plan. As such, the company, as well as the government agency supervising the land development plan, are carefully reviewing the plan and gauging the potential benefits that could be created from it, TIPC said. The land development firm has already proposed plans to attract investors, and interested parties are welcome to talk to it and present their proposals, TIPC said. “If the management of the land development firm considers any of the proposals to be feasible, it would apply for a permit from the port company to execute the development plan,” it added.

AP, PERTH, AustraliaOffspinner Nathan Lyon spun Australia to victory in the series-opening Test as New Zealand slumped to a heavy defeat on day 4 under lights yesterday. Watling (40) appeared to be settling, Lyon had Nicholls caught by Travis Head at silly-point to end a 66-minute resistance by the fifth-wicket pair. Australia declared their second innings on 217-9, with Tim Southee taking 5-69. Azam also added to his burgeoning reputation as one of world’s top upcoming batsmen, completing his third Test hundred after knocks of 104 and 97 in his previous two Tests in Australia. Abid, who scored a ton in his ODI debut against Australia in Dubai in March, remained unbeaten on 109 while Azam was 102.

BloombergChinese criminal gangs are spreading rumors about African swine fever to scare farmers into selling pigs for cheaper, according to magazine China Comment. The healthy animals are sometimes smuggled across provinces and resold at a higher price, the investigative report said. Moving livestock or pork across provinces is banned as authorities try to prevent the disease from spreading. With the outbreak of the African swine fever, China has been grappling with a surge in the price of pork, a staple in the local diet. Wholesale pork prices have more than doubled this year, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce data, fueling the highest annual consumer inflation rate in seven years.

Taiwan’s stock market surged to a fresh 29-year high in recent sessions, with the TAIEX staying above 10,000 points, which seems to have become the new norm. The tax cut on day trading transactions — from 0.003 percent to 0.0015 percent — and inflows of hot money also play a role in boosting market turnover. Retail investors are less interested in entering the trading floor than their institutional peers, because the trading environment in the local market is not friendly to them. While the TAIEX has continued to hover at relatively high levels, retail investors’ perception of making money is not as strong as before. Even though there are more than 1,700 listed companies trading shares on the local exchanges, the average daily turnover is only about NT$150 billion.

By Chang Yi-chen and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writerTaiwan needs an experienced master to solve its problems, not more empty promises from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People First Party (PFP) chairman and presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) said yesterday. Touting his performance during his tenure as provincial governor from 1994 to 1998, Soong said that Taiwan was more harmonious in that period, and no DPP regional head picked fights with him. “The PFP transcends political partisanship and brings groups together to truly serve regional needs,” he said. He also criticized the “great south, great development” policy that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking re-election for the DPP, proposed on Saturday in Kaohsiung. “Kaohsiung, a heavy manufacturing base, suffers the most from poor air quality, with a risk of lung cancer 15 times higher than that of Keelung, Taipei and Taoyuan,” she said.

Yet greater ambition — how far each country is willing to slash carbon emissions or assist less wealthy peers to do likewise — has largely failed to materialize. Veteran observers of UN climate talks were stunned by the state of play. “Most of the world’s biggest emitting countries are missing in action and resisting calls to raise their ambition,” Meyer said. Some nations, notably Brazil and Australia, want to count carbon credits accumulated under a previous climate deal as part of their commitments under the Paris goals. Discussions over markets ended in impasse and the issue is to be handed over to next year’s COP26 in Glasgow.

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Thursday rejected Nan Shan Life Insurance Co’s (南山人壽) pick for acting chairman, Yin Chung-yao (尹崇堯), citing a lack of experience. The commission interviewed Yin twice, with the first interview conducted by Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) and the second by FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄). Nan Shan had 6.23 million policyholders with 14.3 million policies as of the end of September, commissions data showed. Yin Chung-yao on Thursday withdrew as the pick for acting chairman and the board appointed Donald Chen (陳棠), another director, in his place, Nan Shan said in a statement. Chen, a former chairman of Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) and Jih Sun Financial Holding Co (日盛金控), has been Nan Shan’s director since 2011.

The plant is at the Jhunan Science Park (竹南科學園區) in Miaoli County, SAS said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. SAS, which has a 41.94 percent stake in Crystalwise, has its own plants in Jhunan and Yilan County. It has also installed cleanroom equipment, the Liberty Times reported. As the company is seeking to transform, it is researching semiconductor materials and might make additional investments in the new plant, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported on Friday. SAS’ net profit plunged 54.15 percent to NT$1.16 billion in the first three quarters of this year, compared with NT$2.53 billion in the same period last year.