Ministry touts Haiti food donations, planning more
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan has sent 8,600 tonnes of food to Haiti and plans to send more next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The nation’s ally is facing a food crisis and a year of protests demanding that Haitian President Jovenel Moise step down over allegations of corruption. The ministry has relayed food through the US-based non-profit organization Food for the Poor, in addition to Taiwan’s embassy in Haiti, he said. Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine last month met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Taipei, after Tsai visited his country in March, she said. China’s aggressive expansionism in the Pacific, along with its financial luring and unsubstantial aid to Pacific nations, has alarmed the global community, Ou said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 16:01 UTC
Students urge transparent school affairs fund
He called on lawmakers to amend the National University School Affairs Fund Establishment Act (國立大學校院校務基金設置條例) to require that the budgeting and spending of such funds be reviewed by a panel comprised of members from all branches that take part in school affairs meetings, saying that without such a mechanism, the fund is susceptible to misuse. Taiwan’s 49 national universities have about NT$113 billion (US$3.7 billion) at their disposal annually, National Taiwanese University College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science professor Wu Ruey-beei (吳瑞北) said. However, an amendment to the act in 2015 changed the way in which school affairs fund auditors are staffed, allowing them to be directly appointed by university presidents, Wu said. This made the presidents both the users and auditors of their funds, which hurts the rights of the faculty and students alike, he said. Some NTU professors and officials have deliberately misled the media by downplaying the issue of university presidents having been given the power to appoint auditors for their funds, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
More than 100,000 children in US detention: UN
AFP, GENEVA, SwitzerlandMore than 100,000 children are being held in migration-related detention in the US, often in violation of international law, the UN said on Monday. However, Nowak said that did not absolve US President Donald Trump’s administration of wrongdoing with respect to the detention of migrant children at the southern border with Mexico. “Migration-related detention for children can never be considered as a measure of last resort or in the best interest of the child,” Nowak told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland. “Separating children, as was done by the Trump administration, from their parents, even small children, at the Mexican-US border ... constitutes inhuman treatment for both the parent and the children,” Nowak said. “There are still quite a number of children that are separated from their parents, and neither the children know where the parents are nor the parents know where their children are,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Fubon Life to subscribe to Alibaba’s listing in HK
Alibaba plans to start trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday next week. Two other major insurance companies — Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) — have yet to announce if they would participate in the Hong Kong IPO. Shin Kong Life bought Alibaba shares in the New York IPO. Alibaba’s Hong Kong IPO is expected to raise at least US$12 billion, marking the largest-ever IPO in the territory. Alibaba’s US shares have risen by about one-third this year based on Monday’s closing price, which would be a benchmark for the price in the Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Molding component maker Concraft upbeat on outlook until end of year
Thanks to strong sales of the iPhone 11 series, the molding component maker posted revenue of NT$1.52 billion, up from NT$1.22 billion the previous quarter. Due to the strong demand for the TWS earphones, the company is running at full capacity, Huang said. Acoustic components made up 77 percent of Concraft’s overall revenue last quarter, Huang said. While sales from acoustic components used in smartphones is expected to decrease next year, those from acoustic components used in TWS earphones are expected to increase and offset the decline, he said. Net profit in the first three quarters of this year sank to NT$217.66 million from NT$712.63 million in the same period a year earlier.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
MOTC rolls out projects worth NT$100bn
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday rolled out 40 government projects worth more than NT$100 billion (US$3.28 billion) at its annual Investment Solicitation Convention. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) told the opening ceremony that the ministry had launched investment projects worth NT$170 million in the past three years, for which it was ranked No. Wang said that 271 of the contracts, worth a total of NT$622.8 billion, were signed by the MOTC. The amount accounted for 39 percent of the total investment by the private sector in government projects this year, he said. As of last month, investments made by overseas contractors topped NT$300 billion, Chang added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Smoke engulfs Sydney as winds exacerbate bushfires
Reuters, SYDNEYStrong winds stoked more than 100 fires across Australia’s east coast yesterday, blanketing Sydney in hazardous smoke and prompting health warnings for the country’s most populous city. Australia is prone to bushfires in its dry, hot summers, but fierce blazes have been sparked early, in the southern spring, by a long drought and soaring temperatures. Wildfires have so far this month claimed at least four lives, burned about 1 million hectares of farmland and bush, and destroyed more than 300 homes. Powerful winds fanned about 130 fires that have been burning across New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland states for several days, and pushed smoke south to form a thick haze over Sydney, home to about 5 million people. The bushfire crisis has mostly been contained to the east coast of NSW and Queensland states, but officials in South Australia yesterday warned that forecast near-record temperatures raises the risks in that state.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Tata Steel to axe 3,000 jobs as crisis rips across Europe
BloombergTata Steel Ltd plans to axe as many as 3,000 jobs across its European operations to cut costs in the latest blow to the region’s industry, with the move coming amid a heated general election campaign in the UK. STAGNANT DEMAND“Stagnant EU steel demand and global overcapacity have been compounded by trade conflicts, which have turned the European market into a dumping ground for the world’s excess steel capacity,” Mumbai-based Tata Steel said. The European steel industry has faced growing headwinds this year amid declining demand, slowing economic growth and the consistent threat of overseas supplies, including exports from Turkey, Russia and China. The steelmaker’s European operations are facing conditions that are “unprecedented,” Tata Steel in Europe CEO Henrik Adam said. ArcelorMittal, the world’s top steelmaker, this month said that European steel consumption would drop by up to 3 percent this year, the most since 2012.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Designer to publish new Taiwan-centric calendar
“It is named Taiwan Independence Calendar to convey the hope that Taiwan could start brand new as an independent state someday,” Mayson said. When the calendar was introduced last year, it quickly sold out and even went viral, with many people sharing their unboxing experiences in videos, he said. That is why he in 2014 started collecting materials to make a calendar dedicated to commemorating the special days in Taiwan’s history, he said. “The totalitarian party-state of the past left many Taiwanese more familiar with Chinese history than Taiwanese history, so I hope this calendar can allow bits and pieces of Taiwan’s history to enter people’s lives silently and smoothly,” Mayson said. Some major social issues abroad have also been included in this year’s calendar, Mayson said, citing Sept. 26, which is dedicated to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy “Umbrella movement.”The ongoing anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong were also added, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Taliban frees hostages in prisoner swap
The hostages — American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks — were released in southern Zabul Province, ending their more than three years in captivity. Their freedom came hours after the Afghan government freed three Taliban prisoners and sent them to Qatar. They included Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, who also leads the fearsome Haqqani network. The following year, the Taliban released two videos showing the pair. They said they were being treated well by the Taliban, but that they remained prisoners and appealed to their governments to help set them free.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
JAN. 11 ELECTIONS: PFP mulled asking Ko to lead party, join race: Soong
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterPeople First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday said that the party last year considered asking Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to lead it and become its presidential candidate in the Jan. 11 elections, adding that he did not know Ko would eventually establish a party himself. “I had no idea that he would form a new party in August, which is not a good strategy,” Soong said, referring to Ko’s founding of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). Soong revealed details of his interactions with Ko in an interview with political commentator Clara Chou (周玉蔻) in her morning radio talk show. The PFP had been favoring Ko since before he was elected as mayor in 2012, Soong said. As the PFP is to announce its list of legislator-at-large nominees today, Soong said that the nominees would be chosen in a transparent manner.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
JAN. 11 ELECTIONS: Poll is for voters to side with democracy: Luo
“We must unite together and consolidate the votes to bolster the legislative seats for parties that uphold progress and democracy,” he said. “For most of the KMT’s history, its most important support came from people and groups defending the existence of the Republic of China [ROC]. It has abandoned the ROC,” Luo said. Now the KMT has gotten rid of the ROC, now there is only the PRC,” Luo added. Many people have lost faith in the KMT, “because the KMT has been transforming into the Chinese Communist Party.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
US cuts short SK defense meeting
AP and Bloomberg, SEOULThe US walked out of military cost-sharing talks with South Korea, after the key US ally balked at US President Donald Trump’s demands for a five-fold funding increase. The breakdown raises new questions about one of the US’ closest military alliances and a key piece of the Pentagon’s strategy for countering North Korea and a rising China. Trump last week sent a high-powered mission led by US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to Seoul to try to convince South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s government to pay more for hosting US troops. Trump has demanded South Korea contribute about US$5 billion for hosting US troops, well above the current one-year deal where Seoul pays about US$1 billion. Senior North Korean official Kim Yong-chol said the US must completely scrap that military drill and abandon its hostility against his country if it wants to see the resumption of the nuclear negotiations.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
HK protesters defy surrender warnings
About 600 protesters surrendered to authorities at the campus in Kowloon overnight, after police allowed two representatives to mediate between the two sides, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) said. Riot police surrounded the red-brick campus that protesters took over and turned into a fortress, firing tear gas at groups who tried to escape. Groups of protesters have tried to escape the tight police cordon around the campus. Late on Monday, dozens were seen rappelling down a footbridge — as police fired tear gas — and were driven away on motorbikes. The mob’s terror-like violence is bound to be punished.”Several trains connecting China with Hong Kong have been suspended for yesterday and today.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC
Feasting on the past
A dish called “Formosa Spring,” brought together green bamboo shoots from New Taipei City and Tainan, Miaoli black-feathered chickens and Kaohsiung peaches. “What’s important are the connections that the food has to our lives and the people here,” Tseng adds. But the field is growing, as food history is one of the most incisive ways of understanding the nation’s past. Culinary habits have long been at the intersection of developments in politics, popular culture, science and trade. An example that Tseng cites is bando (辦桌), or open-air banquet celebrations commonly held in the countryside.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2019 15:56 UTC