Beijing asks Didi Global to delist in US
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the agency responsible for data security in the country, has directed Didi to work out precise details, subject to government approval, they said. A logo of Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is pictured at its headquarters in Beijing on July 2. Regulators in China have asked Didi Global to delist from US bourses. Photo: AFPProposals under consideration include a straight-up privatization or a share float in Hong Kong followed by a delisting from the US, the people said. Even if Didi shifts its listing to Hong Kong, it will have to address the data security concerns that have drawn scrutiny from regulators.
Source:Taipei Times
November 27, 2021 00:59 UTC
Tsai mulls information and national security affairs at hacker conference
Tsai mulls information and national security affairs at hacker conferenceBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNATaiwan is committed to being a trusted link in the global chain of information security and technology industries, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday. Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei TimesThe National Security Council has been asked to update its information security strategy by the end of December, Tsai said. The new strategy would involve public-private cooperation, developing an information security industry, cultivating expertise, establishing a department of digital development under the central government and implementing information security in the six core strategic industries, she said. The planned Cyber Security Center of Excellence would train a generation of information security experts to help execute the government’s vision, she said. Tsai said that the hacker community has been indispensable in providing impetus to the administration’s information security policy.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2021 19:02 UTC
Taiwan’s table tennis ace Lin advances in Houston
Taiwan’s table tennis ace Lin advances in HoustonBy Benjamin Bowser / Staff ReporterTaiwanese table tennis ace Lin Yun-ju on Wednesday handily downed Sweden’s Jon Persson 4-0 to advance to the round-of-32 at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston, Texas. Lin was yesterday to play South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon. Taiwan’s Cheng Hsien-tzu serves against Margaryta Pesotska of Ukraine during their women’s singles match at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday. 8 Cheng I-ching beat England’s Tin-Tin Ho 4-0 to advance to the round-of-32, where Cheng was yesterday to play Amy Wang of the US. Taiwan’s Cheng I-ching returns against England’s Tin-Tin Ho during their women’s singles match at the World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2021 03:53 UTC
Highways & Byways: Unexpected finds in the hills of Kaohsiung
Highways & Byways: Unexpected finds in the hills of KaohsiungThe ‘grave of a headless female,’ Taiwan Temple of Heaven and an aqueduct are among the delights of this road trip by motorcycleBy Steven Crook / Contributing reporterMy goals were straightforward. Before reaching Provincial Highway 28, I got to enjoy some views of the moon-like badlands for which Tianliao is famous. Taiwan Temple of Heaven imitates one of China’s most famous religious buildings. Looking across the Kaoping River from the third floor of Taiwan Temple of Heaven. I climbed the stairs to the third floor of the Taiwan Temple of Heaven for another look across the river.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2021 01:01 UTC
Golden Horse a holdout for films censored in Hong Kong and China
This year two Hong Kong films that explore the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, as well as a Chinese documentary about Tibet, are nominated. ‘FREE OUTLET’Film critic Weng says the Golden Horse awards “sets the benchmark” for Chinese-language cinema as the only platform open to all subjects. Last year, two Hong Kong films that cast an uncomfortable spotlight on China won accolades, and one of the winners proclaimed support for democracy activists in an acceptance speech read by a representative. “I think the award has now become a free outlet especially for Hong Kong movies that cannot be distributed in Hong Kong,” said Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow (周冠威), who has a nomination this year. “I am gratified to see that the [Golden Horse] awards have managed to keep their courage,” Chow said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2021 01:01 UTC
Manufacturing confidence falls for sixth month
Manufacturing confidence falls for sixth monthBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterBusiness confidence among manufacturers softened mildly last month, as lingering supply chain bottlenecks and rising COVID-19 cases in the West added uncertainty to a global economic recovery, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday. The sentiment gauge for the manufacturing sector slid 0.59 points to 101.25, retreating for a sixth straight month, the Taipei-based institute said. From second left, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research economic forecasting center director Gordon Sun, institute president Chang Chien-yi and researcher Arisa Liu hold a news conference in Taipei on Sept. 27. By contrast, the business confidence reading for service providers gained 1.58 points to 96.76, aided by pent-up consumer demand and the government’s stimulus measures, the institute said. The business confidence of construction firms and real-estate brokers fell 1.97 points to 108.85, ending three months of upswing, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2021 19:03 UTC
Pingtung festival to celebrate Czech arts and culture
Pingtung festival to celebrate Czech arts and cultureStaff writer, with CNAActivities celebrating Czech music, literature and cinema are to be held in Pingtung next week as part of the “Czech in Pingtung” festival, the first big event organized by a foreign institute in Taiwan. In cooperation with the Pingtung County Government, the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei is to stage the festival from Wednesday to Sunday next week, sharing arts and culture from the Czech Republic with the people of southern Taiwan. Officials from the Pingtung County Government and Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei yesterday tour Pingtung Civic Park in Pingtung City ahead of next month’s “Czech in Pingtung” festival. The Pingtung County Government in a statement on Monday thanked the office for “taking the Czech Republic to Pingtung,” praising it for giving locals the chance to enjoy Czech culture without having to travel abroad. Rumlar was eager to travel to Pingtung again as soon as he learned of the Taipei Chamber Players’ concert, which inspired the five-day “Czech in Pingtung” festival, the statement said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 22:02 UTC
Police seize record heroin shipment, detain 13 people
Police seize record heroin shipment, detain 13 peopleBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe New Taipei City Police Department has seized 446.8kg of heroin and arrested 13 people in the country’s biggest-ever bust involving the substance, law enforcement officials said yesterday. Logs in the warehouse were found to have compartments that contained 1,172 bricks of heroin that could sell for NT$5 billion (US$179.9 million), Chen said. Premier Su Tseng-chang, second left, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi, third left, and other officials inspect bricks of heroin at the New Taipei City Police Department in Banciao District yesterday. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who presided over the news conference, said that the heroin confiscated was notable because of its quantity and purity. New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), a former Criminal Investigation Bureau commissioner, said that the haul was unprecedented.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 16:49 UTC
Delta planning to deliver three large battery units
Delta planning to deliver three large battery unitsBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterDelta Electronics Inc (台達電) is planning to deliver three shipping container-sized energy storage systems to clients seeking to participate in Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) new energy trading platform, the nation’s leading power management solutions provider said yesterday. Delta is seeking business opportunties in the rapidly growing energy storage market, Delta senior director Paul Ai (艾祖華) said. Delta Electronics Inc energy storage units are pictured outside the company’s office in Taipei’s Neihu District yesterday. Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times“Delta is a vertically integrated provider of power storage solutions from the design to the software,” Ai said. The three container-sized 7.5 megawatt (MW) battery units are undergoing tests before being shipped to customers, Ai said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 16:46 UTC
Movie Review: Moneyboys
Movie Review: MoneyboysShot in Taiwan but set in China, this film provides a poignant look into the struggles of Chinese gay sex workers, but the glaring incongruities in language and setting are annoyingly distractingBy Han Cheung / Staff reporterForeign viewers at the Cannes premiere of Moneyboys (金錢男孩) may not have noticed the glaring incongruities that persist through the movie, but Taiwanese viewers certainly will. They’re apparent to the point that it’s difficult to enjoy the movie. This melancholy tale revolves around gay sex workers in China and the unique challenges they face, especially regarding traditional expectations, including marriage, and the large-scale rural-to-urban migration of young people. This is an interesting topic, as it’s taboo in China and significantly different from the LGBTQ situation in Taiwan. And it’s quite explicit in Moneyboys, especially the sex scenes.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 16:46 UTC
COVID-19 patients in ICU mostly not vaccinated: Oxford scientist
COVID-19 patients in ICU mostly not vaccinated: Oxford scientistThe GuardianCOVID-19 is no longer a disease of the vaccinated, the head of the Oxford jab program said. The “ongoing horror” of patients gasping for breath in hospital is now “largely restricted” to people who are unvaccinated, said Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford. “Generally, COVID-19 is no longer a disease of the vaccinated; vaccines tend to limit its suffocating affliction, with a few exceptions,” he wrote. For most vaccinated individuals, these mild infections are little more than an unpleasant inconvenience,” he said. However, for those who are very frail, immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions, COVID-19 infections can still be “enough to destabilise them” and cause “serious, life-threatening health problems that add to the pressure on the NHS,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 01:02 UTC
Taipei exhibit shows art by White Terror-era survivor
Taipei exhibit shows art by White Terror-era survivorBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerAn exhibit at Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall showcases work by artist Chen Wu-jen (陳武鎮), a survivor of the White Terror era. During this time, he became an art teacher, but only painted portraits and landscapes out of fear of being imprisoned again. In an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), Chen told about a teaching job he had at a remote elementary school. After the lifting of martial law, Chen began painting works inspired by his experiences during the White Terror era. Chen said he hopes that the government would one day covert Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall into a national human-rights art museum, flanked on both sides by cultural parks.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2021 00:59 UTC
Industrial production increases
Industrial production increasesGROWTH RUN CONTINUES: A statistics official said that there was a monthly dip in industrial production last month, likely due to supply chain issues and parts shortagesBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterIndustrial production in Taiwan last month increased 11.25 percent year-on-year — the 21st consecutive month of annual growth — but decreased 2.36 percent month-on-month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry uses industrial production to gauge output in the nation’s five main industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and gas supply, water supply and architecture engineering. Manufacturing, which contributes 90 percent of overall industrial production, increased 17.28 percent year-on-year last month, rising for the 21st consecutive month, the ministry said. Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times“We did see a monthly dip in industrial production last month, likely due to supply chain disruptions and an ongoing parts shortage in the electronics sector,” Department of Statistics Deputy Director-General Huang Wei-jie (黃偉傑) said. In the first 10 months of this year, industrial production rose by 13.75 percent compared with the same period last year on continued strong demand for tech and non-tech products, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 23, 2021 19:00 UTC
Syuhai Village says ‘yes’ to launch site
The site is temporary while the ministry seeks another property where it could establish a permanent launch site for commercial use. Representatives from Syuhai Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township hold a community meeting with officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology in the county on Monday. The ministry is accepting applications from scientific teams that could use the site to test their sounding rockets, it said. The National Space Organization (NSPO) is to share profits generated by the launch site in a bid to promote technological development while protecting Aboriginal rights, the ministry said. Despite the delay, it is a positive development that the ministry is now providing guidelines to follow when testing sounding rockets, Wei said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 23, 2021 18:58 UTC
EU says Taiwan’s Lithuania office not a breach of policy
EU says Taiwan’s Lithuania office not a breach of policyStaff writer, with CNA and ReutersThe European Commission said it does not consider the opening of a Taiwanese representative office in Lithuania a breach of the EU’s “one China” policy, after Beijing downgraded its diplomatic ties with Vilnius because of the move. China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday, after Taiwan opened a “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania” in the nation’s capital on Thursday. Eric Huang, appointed representative to Lithuania, third from right, poses in Vilinus on Thursday with other staffers outside the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania. Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday praised Lithuania for its “moral courage” in allowing Taiwan to open the representative office, despite mounting pressure from China. “Establishing official diplomatic relations is currently not the main focus of our work,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 22, 2021 22:09 UTC