Hon Hai, Yageo venture to acquire 30% APEC stake
Hon Hai, Yageo venture to acquire 30% APEC stakeBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said that they plan to acquire a 30 percent stake in local semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Power Electronics Corp (APEC, 富鼎) for about NT$2.89 billion (US$97.45 million) through a joint venture, their latest effort to broaden their semiconductor portfolios. Yageo chairman Pierre Chen, left, and Hon Hai chairman Young Liu bump elbows in an undated photograph. Hon Hai is a major iPhone assembler, while Yageo is the world’s No. “Semiconductors have been one of the three key technology pillars of Hon Hai,” said Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉), who is also chairman of XSemi. “Our alliance with APEC is to capture the upcoming opportunities in analogue and power semiconductors,” Yageo chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) said in the statement.
Source:Taipei Times
May 21, 2022 02:26 UTC
Inhumane animal traps should be banned: advocates
Inhumane animal traps should be banned: advocatesBy Yang Cheng-yu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe manufacture and use of animal traps that mutilate their catch should be banned via legal amendments, animal protection groups said yesterday. Members of the Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network and legislators from different parties watch a man demonstrate how animal traps work at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. A child could step into a boar trap and be hung from a tree, which would make Taiwanese think twice about such traps, ACT founder Sean McCormack said. Separately, Forestry Bureau staff demonstrated redesigned animal traps, which allow for adjustable diameters and pressure plates, preventing bears and leopard cats from activating the traps. The new traps are designed to meet farmers’ needs to deter animals, and old traps should be traded in for the new model, bureau staff said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2022 20:33 UTC
MOL eases rules for applications for COVID leave
MOL eases rules for applications for COVID leaveBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAWorkers can turn in their COVID-19 isolation notification form any time within 30 days after the end of their isolation or quarantine period, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said yesterday, as the nation recorded 85,720 new domestic cases. Employees who are confirmed to have COVID-19 can apply for sick or injury leave, while those in self-isolation after being listed as a contact can apply for pandemic prevention leave, he said. Those who need to stay home to care for an isolating child can request family care leave or pandemic prevention care leave, he said. Chen, who also heads the CECC, said that the quarantine notification system would be separated from the National Infectious Disease Reporting System to enhance their efficiency. Over the past two years, there have been only 457 confirmed COVID-19 reinfections in Taiwan, he said, citing data valid as of Monday.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2022 20:09 UTC
Systems to defend against UAVs approved: source
Systems to defend against UAVs approved: sourceStaff writer, with CNAThe military yesterday approved a project to install indigenous uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) defense systems at 45 bases across the nation to neutralize hostile drones, a military source said. Under a five-year project ending in 2026, the Ministry of National Defense is to spend NT$4.3 billion (US$144.45 million) to purchase the UAV systems, which were designed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the source said on condition of anonymity. The defense systems are to be installed at 45 air, naval and missile bases across the nation, including in remote mountain areas and on outlying islands, the source said. The UAV defense systems were designed to disrupt and neutralize drones engaged in hostile airborne surveillance and other potentially malicious activities, the institute said. They are capable of remotely detecting, tracking and classifying small UAVs before providing an option to disrupt their activity, the institute said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2022 06:26 UTC
Inherited properties rise 12 percent
Inherited properties rise 12 percentBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterGifted and inherited properties last quarter increased 12 percent and 4.3 percent year-on-year to 15,481 and 14,952 units respectively, government data showed yesterday, as people appeared to be undeterred by stricter property tax terms while becoming more active in asset allocations. The figures show a seven-year high following the introduction of combined property taxes, data on the Ministry of the Interior’s Web site showed. Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei TimesTightened property tax terms should result in higher taxes when people sell inherited and gifted properties, although people regardless seem to be pressing ahead with asset allocations, especially those with multiple homes, Lang said. Owners of multiple homes can bypass stricter lending terms by gifting properties to spouses or children who qualify for higher house loans, Lang said. Gifted and inherited properties could also allow first-time property sellers the choice to apply a 10 percent tax rate on transaction gains, benefits usually not available to multiple home sellers.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2022 01:27 UTC
EV drivers eventually to pay fuel charges: minister
EV drivers eventually to pay fuel charges: ministerWINDING ROAD: While the number of vehicles increased from 8.19 million in 2020 to 8.33 million last year, fuel charge revenue fell as EV sales rose, a legislator saidBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterElectric vehicle (EV) drivers would eventually have to pay fuel charges, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The government considered levying fuel charges based on the distance traveled by drivers, but odometers can be tampered with to roll back mileage, he said. The government should learn from Japan, which has multiple ways to collect vehicle fuel charges, Lee said. “Electric vehicle owners are exempt from paying fuel charges because the government is encouraging the use of electric vehicles. Should the number of electric vehicles continue to grow, owners would have to pay fuel charges for using roads,” Wang said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2022 00:24 UTC
Chandimal and Dickwella cling on as Test is drawn
Chandimal and Dickwella cling on as Test is drawnAFP, CHITTAGONG, BangladeshBangladesh and Sri Lanka yesterday drew the first Test in Chittagong after Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella hung on for the visitors in a vital seventh-wicket stand. Dickwella was unbeaten on 61 alongside Chandimal on 39 not out at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella, left, lets the ball go through to Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das during the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Bangladesh, yesterday. Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne made 52 before he gave a catch to his counterpart Mominul Haque at midwicket off Taijul. Shakib soon had Dhananjaya de Silva out for 33 off 60 balls, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 161-6 before Dickwella and Chandimal dug in.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2022 16:42 UTC
Manufacturing rises for sixth consecutive quarter
Manufacturing rises for sixth consecutive quarterBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterManufacturing output last quarter rose for a sixth straight quarter given growth in global end-market demand, development of emerging technologies, digital transformation and improvement in supply chain disruptions, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Rising costs of international raw materials due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also helped push output of the local manufacturing sector upward in the first quarter, the ministry said in a statement. Manufacturing output increased 16.01 percent year-on-year to NT$4.16 trillion (US$139.74 billion), the highest number on record for the January-to-March period, the ministry said. The manufacturing complex of synthetic and electronic materials supplier Chi Mei Corp is pictured in Tainan’s Rende District on Wednesday. The ministry said it is positive about the outlook for the manufacturing sector, as companies continue to develop new technologies, chipmakers prepare to expand capacity and major economies implement infrastructure projects.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2022 16:42 UTC
Groups say church shooting a hate crime
Groups say church shooting a hate crimeACT NOW: The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and academics called for probes into pro-China organizations, as the suspect belonged to a US branch of a pro-unification groupBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and academics yesterday said the shooting at a church in Laguna Woods, California, on Sunday involving Taiwanese-Americans was a hate crime, and called for an investigation into links between the suspect and pro-China groups in Taiwan and the US. The shooting is related to hate speech disseminated by pro-China groups, so the government must act to prevent them from taking advantage of the nation’s democratic system and freedom of speech to incite hostility and violence, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan officials told a news conference at the Che-Lam Presbyterian Church (濟南教會) in Taipei yesterday. We must deal with this serious division of national identity among different ethnic groups,” the church said in a statement read by Presbyterian Church in Taiwan director-general Chen Hsin-liang (陳信良). Activists and church leaders hold a moment of silence for the victims of a California church shooting during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. “NACPU members have entered Taiwan multiple times in the past,” he said, urging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to verify such links and ban NACPU members from entering Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2022 23:47 UTC
Taiwan Life to boost unit’s capital due to virus payout
The amount of the injection has not been finalized, as the number of claims affecting CTBC Insurance’s financial strength would change as the government changes its disease prevention measures, such as the isolation rules, CTBC Financial spokeswoman Chiu Ya-ling (邱雅玲) said. The cash injection would not reduce Taiwan Life’s capital adequacy too much, Chiu said. Taiwan Life Insurance Co employees pose outside a company office in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Taiwan Life Insurance CoTaiwan Life’s risk-based capital (RBC) ratio stands at 335 percent and is expected to remain above 300 percent even after injecting capital into CTBC Insurance, she said. Having sold 400,000 COVID-19 insurance policies, CTBC Insurance said that it has assigned more staff to deal with claims as domestic COVID-19 infections climb.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2022 23:47 UTC
Delhi Capitals are peaking at the right time, Marsh says
Delhi Capitals are peaking at the right time, Marsh saysReuters, MUMBAIThe Delhi Capitals are hitting their stride at the perfect time in the IPL, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh said after helping the side break into the top four with Monday’s victory against the Punjab Kings. Marsh smashed the only half-century of the match as Delhi defended a modest 159-7 to record their first back-to-back victories this season. Mitchell Marsh of the IPL’s Delhi Capitals poses for a portrait in his Australia uniform at Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, on July 8 last year. Photo: AFP“In long tournaments like this, it’s about peaking at the right time,” Marsh said. We know if we win that, we’ll be in the finals and we can give it a real good shake,” Marsh said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2022 20:44 UTC
A postal laundry service is unveiled by Chunghwa Post
A postal laundry service is unveiled by Chunghwa PostBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterPeople can drop off and pick up laundry using Chunghwa Post’s iPostbox service after the postal company formed a partnership with U-Wash, a local laundry service chain. A woman holds a box of laundry at a Chunghwa Post iPostbox locker in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Chunghwa PostThe washing firm picks up the laundry and returns it — washed, dried and folded — to the same locker, Chunghwa Post said. The service costs NT$420 per delivery, which includes laundry service fees and delivery charges, it said. In addition to the laundry service, businesses that use the iPostbox service include e-commerce sites, online auction operators, bartering platforms, coffee capsule recyclers and logistics service providers, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2022 20:31 UTC
COVID-19: Isolation rule on close contacts eased
COVID-19: Isolation rule on close contacts easedLIVING WITH COVID-19: Close contacts with a booster shot would no longer follow the ‘3+4’ policy, instead practicing ‘0+7,’ or self-disease prevention for seven daysBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterClose contacts of COVID-19 cases who have received a booster shot no longer need to isolate at home, but should practice seven days of “self-disease prevention,” effective today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Health workers simulate processing a sample at a drive-in COVID-19 rapid test center outside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei yesterday during a trial run. Photo: Pin Fang-chao, Taipei TimesClose contacts would no longer be required to follow the “3+4” policy — isolate at home for three days and practice self-disease prevention for four days — but would need to follow a “0+7” policy — practice self-disease prevention for seven days. Confirmed cases are still required to quarantine for seven days, followed by seven days of self-health management, he added. If they disagree, the doctor can arrange for the patient to receive a polymerase chain reaction test or another rapid test.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2022 04:13 UTC
Wheat soars on India restrictions, risking food inflation
Wheat soars on India restrictions, risking food inflationBloombergWheat prices jumped by the exchange limit after India’s move to restrict exports, exposing just how tight global supplies are after the war in Ukraine and threatening to drive up food prices even more. That it could have such a major effect underscores the bleak prospect for global wheat supplies. India’s decision to halt wheat exports came after a record-breaking heat wave parched the crop during a crucial period, spurring estimates of slumping yields. India is to approve exports to countries that require wheat for food security needs and based on the requests of their governments. The export ban could be long-lasting, if global food prices remain elevated, Nomura Securities Inc said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 17, 2022 03:54 UTC
China to further increase tensions in Pacific: reports
The flags of the US and China fly outside the building of a US company in Beijing on Jan. 21 last year. At the same time, China is setting its sights on the Pacific, raising alarm that it might station troops beyond the second island chain after signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, it added. Meanwhile, at the committee meeting yesterday, bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) was asked about Japan’s role in scenarios outlined in the reports. The islands are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan. If China militarizes these islands, as it has done with others in the South China Sea, it would pose a direct threat to Japan, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 16, 2022 22:13 UTC