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
COVID-19: First shipment of Pfizer’s vaccines for kids arrives
COVID-19: First shipment of Pfizer’s vaccines for kids arrivesINFORMED CHOICE: Parents should research the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines before deciding which is best to give their children, the minister of health saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children, containing 777,600 doses, arrived in Taiwan yesterday morning, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the vaccine would be administered to children aged 5 to 11 as their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Workers unload a shipment of children’s doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. As the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines each have benefits and drawbacks, the center encourages parents to learn about the vaccines before choosing which to give to their children, he said. A shipment of 35,280 courses of molnupiravir, an oral antiviral treatment for treating COVID-19 also arrived yesterday evening.
Source:Taipei Times
May 16, 2022 22:13 UTC
Tabletop phase of Han Kuang drill to begin
Tabletop phase of Han Kuang drill to beginStaff writer, with CNAThe annual Han Kuang military exercises are to begin today with tabletop wargames to test defense strategies against possible Chinese invasion scenarios, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. Unlike previous editions, this year’s wargames would not feature computer simulations and would instead involve physical maps, the ministry said. The computerized format was dropped because physical maps allow generals to meet face-to-face to discuss strategy and brainstorm ides, a military source said. Ministry of National Defense official Major General Lin Wen-huang speaks at a ministerial news conference on April 27. This year’s edition would also incorporate lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to sharpen combat readiness against a Chinese invasion, the ministry has said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 15, 2022 22:03 UTC
Lawmakers pass reservist bonuses for extra training
Lawmakers pass reservist bonuses for extra trainingBy Wu Su-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Legislative Yuan on Friday passed the third reading of a new bill that would award bonuses to reservists who undergo additional training. Under the bill, reservists would receive a bonus for each training session they attend after the fifth session, and their employer could deduct 150 percent of the reservist’s regular salary during the additional sessions from their taxes. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP“The war in Ukraine has shown us the importance of mobilizing reservists, and of the participation of all citizens in national defense,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said. The bonuses are meant to complement the reservists’ 14-day training schedule introduced in March, he said, adding that the policy aims to encourage reservists to pursue further training, while minimizing the impact of their absence on employers. The resolution stipulates that reservists who are not called up in a given year, but who want to volunteer for additional training receive the same benefits and bonuses.
Source:Taipei Times
May 15, 2022 21:59 UTC
Taiwan farmers’ interest in China is cooling: report
Taiwan farmers’ interest in China is cooling: reportBy Chung Li-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwanese farmers declared only one China-bound agricultural project last year, showing that interest in China’s farming sector has cooled, the Council of Agriculture said in a report. The council compiled the report in response to legislators’ request last year that officials evaluate whether the nation’s agricultural trade secrets are being compromised by Taiwanese farmers working in China. Beijing in 1997 began courting Taiwanese farmers and investors with the establishment of the Cross-Strait Agricultural Cooperation Experimental Zone, it said, adding that other incentives would be enacted in following years. Taiwanese farmers and investors reported 210 investments connected to the making of unprocessed agricultural products in China in 1997, the highest level ever recorded, it said. This growth was driven by the technology sector’s involvement in intensive hog farming in China, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 15, 2022 03:59 UTC
Fourth shots for at-risk people begin tomorrow
Fourth shots for at-risk people begin tomorrowRISK REDUCTION: Eligibility is to cover people aged 65 or older, residents of long-term care centers and adults who are immunocompromized but in stable healthBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterStarting tomorrow, elderly people and people at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 would be eligible for a second booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Eligible recipients must have had their booster shot at least five months earlier, the center said. The move aims to reduce the risk of moderate or severe COVID-19 among a certain group of people, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. As of Friday, the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates had reached 85.5 percent for a first dose, 80.6 percent for a second dose and 62.3 percent for a first booster dose, he said. The center continues to encourage elderly people and people at high risk of severe illness to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2022 22:01 UTC
India wheat ban dashes relief hopes
India wheat ban dashes relief hopesBy Pratik Parija / BloombergIndia prohibited wheat exports that the world was counting on to alleviate supply constraints sparked by the war in Ukraine, saying that the nation’s food security is under threat. A farmer harvests wheat on the outskirts of Jammu, India, on April 28. Photo: APThe decision to halt wheat exports highlights India’s concerns about high inflation, adding to a spate of food protectionism since the war started. After Egypt, Turkey has also given approval to import wheat from India, it said. After the war hampered logistics in the Black Sea region, which accounts for about one-quarter of all wheat trade, India has tried to fill the vacuum.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2022 22:01 UTC
China might have built mockups of Suao port: analyst
China might have built mockups of Suao port: analystStaff writer, with CNAChina appears to have built mockups of a port in northeastern Taiwan and a military vessel docked there, with the aim of using them as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a retired naval officer said yesterday. Lu said he compared the mockup port to US naval bases in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, and in Subic Bay in the Philippines, but it more closely resembles Suao. The navy’s Ma Kong, a Keelung-class guided-missile destroyer, is pictured in Kaohsiung on Oct. 4, 2016. “The mockups and drills suggest that Chinese People’s Liberation Army warships are simulating precision strikes on the Guam naval base and the Suao military port using China’s YJ-21 anti-ship missiles,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Images of the sites were in satellite images that the US Naval Institute posted, but it did not name any structures that the mockups might have been modeled after.
Source:Taipei Times
May 14, 2022 04:05 UTC
Court upholds state’s food order
Court upholds state’s food orderRACTOPAMINE RULING: The Constitutional Court said in its judgement that local jurisdictions must not contradict or exceed the authority of the central governmentBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterA central government order nullifying food safety regulations put in place by local governments requiring “ractopamine-free products” was judged to be legal, the Constitutional Court said yesterday. The court cited articles of the Constitution and the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) in its sixth judgement, affirming the authority of the central government to insist that food safety regulations be followed and to direct the nation’s trade policy. The bench of the Constitutional Court is pictured in Taipei yesterday. Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) read the ruling at the Constitutional Court yesterday. “This move has endangered the health and food safety of Taiwanese.”The Executive Yuan said it welcomed yesterday’s judgement.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2022 22:00 UTC
Samsung set to raise chip prices by up to 20 percent
Contract-based chip prices are likely to rise around 15 percent to 20 percent, depending upon the level of sophistication, people familiar with the matter said. Photo: ReutersSamsung’s decision is a shift from last year’s relatively stable pricing policy, when the industry rushed to raise prices in the wake of a global chip shortage. Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) account for more than two-thirds of global capacity for outsourced chips. Contract chip manufacturers including TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) are telling clients that they plan to raise prices by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage, on the heels of a price hike several months ago. Industry leader TSMC has told clients that it plans to raise prices by about 5 percent to 8 percent next year, following a 20 percent price hike last year, the Nikkei said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2022 22:00 UTC
Northeast Asia’s geopolitics shift
Northeast Asia’s geopolitics shiftBy Jason Lee 李昭賢Beijing’s choice of representative to attend the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday provides a fascinating insight into the shifting sands of Northeast Asian geopolitics. On Saturday last week, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) announced that Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (王岐山) was to attend the inauguration ceremony on behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). For the inauguration of former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak in 2008, then-Chinese state councilor Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) attended. In 2003, then-Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) attended the inauguration of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. The situation in Northeast Asia, already tense, might be about to worsen significantly: China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the US might be gearing up for a six-way tug-of-war competition.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2022 04:02 UTC
Paxlovid can now be obtained by proxy
If Paxlovid is prescribed, a person can take the prescription to one of 124 hospitals in Taiwan that carry the medication, Lo said. A doctor performs diagnosis via telehealth service at his desk in Taipei yesterday. The policy does not apply to rapid test kits that were obtained abroad, as they are not approved by the government, he added. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung holds an information board during the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) daily news conference in Taipei yesterday. From Thursday last week to Wednesday, domestic COVID-19 cases rose by 302,754, a significant increase from 124,403 cases over the previous seven days, Chou said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 13, 2022 03:58 UTC