Taiwan celebrates badminton Olympic gold
Taiwan celebrates badminton Olympic goldFESTIVE MOOD: President William Lai and other top politicians congratulated Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, while some businesses offered special promotionsStaff writer, with CNAPeople across Taiwan celebrated the nation’s first Olympic gold at Paris 2024 after Taiwan’s badminton duo emerged victorious over their Chinese opponents on Sunday. Lee Yang (李洋) and Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) fought a tough 76-minute battle against the world No. 1 duo from China — Liang Weikeng (梁偉鏗) and Wang Chang (王昶) — to defend their men’s doubles badminton title. Taiwan supporters had high expectations for the badminton pair, who previously won gold in the Tokyo 2020 Games. Businesses in Taiwan are also getting caught up in Olympic fever, with many announcing special offers in recognition of Lee and Wang’s badminton victory.
Source:Taipei Times
August 06, 2024 03:38 UTC
Ministry in touch with 3 nationals in Lebanon
Ministry in touch with 3 nationals in LebanonStaff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it has been keeping in touch with three nationals who continue to stay in Lebanon, despite its warning to leave the country as soon as possible as tensions rise in the Middle East. Passengers wait after their flights were delayed or canceled at Rafic Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFEThe ministry yesterday said that there were five Taiwanese citizens living in Lebanon, citing information obtained by Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan that is in charge of Lebanon affairs. The ministry is keeping in touch with the three citizens remaining in Lebanon and will offer assistance to help them leave should they decide to, it added. Meanwhile, the ministry reiterated its advice to Taiwanese citizens not to travel to Lebanon and Israel for safety reasons.
Source:Taipei Times
August 06, 2024 03:36 UTC
Modi cannot build the Indian military this way
Unusually, this year’s speech never mentioned military spending. In fact, defense spending has fallen below 2 percent of GDP for the first time in decades. More than half of India’s defense budget goes to personnel costs. Local defense production grew nearly 17 percent in the past financial year and is up 60 percent since 2019 to 2020. Meanwhile, private Indian companies must incorporate the cost of creating new factories and product lines into their bids.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 17:06 UTC
Warren Buffett slashes longtime Apple stake
Warren Buffett slashes longtime Apple stakeAP, OMAHA, NebraskaBillionaire Warren Buffett slashed Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s massive Apple Inc stake in a move that could prove unsettling for the broader stock market — because the investor is so revered and because there had been little positive financial news lately. That gave investors the impression that Buffett might hold on to Apple indefinitely as he has with the Coca-Cola Co and American Express Co shares he bought decades ago. However, he has trimmed the Apple stake over the past year and has recently also sold off some of his stock in Bank of America Corp and Chinese electric-vehicle maker BYD Co (比亞迪) while buying little. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire’s Apple stake was worth US$135.4 billion. Shanahan said he estimates that Berkshire still holds about 400 million Apple shares.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 03:42 UTC
Strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2
Strikes on Gaza kill 18 and stabbing in Israel kills 2AP, TEL AVIV, IsraelIsraeli strikes early yesterday killed 18 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tented camp for displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex, while a Palestinian militant fatally stabbed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Palestinians run toward a column of smoke following an Israeli bombardment in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday. Another strike flattened a house in northern Gaza, killing at least eight people, including three children, their parents and their grandmother, the health ministry said. Another three people were killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza City, said the Civil Defense — first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.
Source:Taipei Times
August 05, 2024 03:42 UTC
EDITORIAL: Adaptive climate strategies needed
EDITORIAL: Adaptive climate strategies neededTyphoon Gaemi swept over the nation on July 24 and 25, causing severe flooding across Taiwan proper, especially in the central and southern areas. In response to the “existential threat” of extreme weather, the environment, health and welfare, and labor ministries held a Climate Change and Heat Adaptation Strategies Conference on Wednesday last week. In the conference, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明), who has a meteorology background, stressed the importance of investing in “adaptation” strategies. Climate change adaptation is not a new concept. Members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change established a global goal on adaptation in the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 21:46 UTC
Notes from Central Taiwan: Taiwan’s emerging ‘polycrisis’
I have written elsewhere of the changes in society that have left so many of Taiwan’s young males in unproductive, precarious jobs (“Taiwan’s young men adrift,” Oct. 2, last year). In Europe, according to a May report from Politico, many young men are trending towards the right. In Netherlands and Portugal right-wing parties ran on platforms featuring anti-immigration and housing issues, and drew support from young males. This will be followed by a marked rightward shift among young males that will make them vulnerable to populist politicians. Housing, housing, housing needs to be the Lai administration mantra.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 21:44 UTC
Proposed amendments provide rules for subletters
Proposed amendments provide rules for sublettersBy Chung Li-hua, Hsu Yi-ping, and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Ministry of the Interior on Friday published a preview of amendments to the Regulations to Standardize Subletting Contracts (住宅轉租定型化契約應記載及不得記載事項) that would ban subletters from forbidding tenants to apply for rental housing subsidies from the government. The new regulations also would ban subletters from overcharging for electricity, the ministry said, adding the new rules aim to better protect tenants’ rights. The amendments to the Regulations to Standardize Subletting Contracts regulate how subletters charge for electricity. Subletters must provide tenants with a means of monitoring power use, and subletters who are proven to have overcharged tenants can be fined up to NT$300,000, the amendments state. Tenants could file a complaint with their local government’s consumer protection or land administration unit regarding any contraventions of the rules, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 04, 2024 03:41 UTC
UAV market key for Taiwan: experts
UAV market key for Taiwan: expertsGO GLOBAL: There is not enough domestic demand for drone manufacturers, but there is an opportunity for companies to cater to nations that have decoupled from ChinaBy Lin Yi-chang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan must tap into the global uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) market to obtain the capital necessary to develop a self-sufficient combat drone industry, experts said. The administration aims to make Taiwan “the Asian hub of UAV supply chains for global democracies,” he said in his inaugural address on May 20. The operational costs of automated equipment capable of mass-producing reliable, quality components at scale cannot be funded by the domestic market alone, he added. Taiwan Swarm Innovation Inc (臺灣希望創新) CEO Li Chih-ching (李志清) said Washington is looking for allies to replace China in drone supply chains. Expanding into the global market would enable domestic UAV makers to benefit from the economy of scale and lower their prices to competitive levels, Li said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2024 21:42 UTC
China looms over EV maker’s graphite deal
China looms over EV maker’s graphite dealBy Liam Denning / Bloomberg OpinionGraphite, the stuff in pencils, does not typically feature in thrillers; that is reserved for the likes of uranium and gold. Graphite, prized for its inertness, is at the center of the tightening convergence between control of critical minerals, the energy transition and national security. China’s grip on the global graphite supply chain, in terms of production and refining, is the tightest of all the major critical minerals needed for batteries. Energy transition was certainly a theme of the various speeches in that meeting room on Thursday. Given the yawning gap in Republican and Democratic positions on energy transition, it would be premature to play up the bipartisan aspect here.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2024 16:35 UTC
The strange departure of Kao from the TPP
The strange departure of Kao from the TPPBy Chang Kuo-tsai 張國財Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) announced her departure from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) immediately after she was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison by the Taipei District Court for embezzling public funds during her time as a legislator. From the TPP’s perspective, Kao was the party’s only head of local government — a high-ranking party member, an important asset and a rising star. Kao could leverage her “victimhood” in subsequent election campaigns, either by running for re-election in Hsinchu City or seeking higher-ranking roles. If Kao was politically persecuted, she and the TPP would benefit from it, as told from the above, then how could the party be hurt? If Kao was being subject to political victimization, why did she not mobilize the TPP’s resources to seek redress through the justice system?
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2024 21:45 UTC
Four found alive days after deadly India landslides
Four found alive days after deadly India landslidesReuters, CHOORALMALA, IndiaFour people were rescued from a house in India’s Kerala state yesterday, three days after devastating landslides, as search operations accelerated after the building of a key bridge that helped transport heavy equipment to the affected area. The disaster, the worst in Kerala since deadly floods in 2018, has led to the death of 195 people, with nearly 200 still missing, authorities said. A member of the National Disaster Response Force, front right, evacuates stranded pilgrims from Kedarnath, India, yesterday. Two men and two women were found alive by the army in a marooned, remote area yesterday, said V.T. Experts said the area had received heavy rain in the past two weeks that softened the soil before extremely heavy rainfall on Monday triggered the landslides.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2024 17:31 UTC
The evolving role of the Quad
Following the ministers meeting, the Quad announced the establishment of a Quad Cyber Ambassadors Meeting which would discuss capacity-building projects and responsible state behavior in cyberspace. First, Quad countries need to divide their responsibilities and work toward fulfilling these initiatives with other partners. China’s response to the Quad meeting is to label it an effort to curtail China’s influence. The South China Sea and China’s actions were a dominant feature of this Quad meeting and a carryover of the meetings in Vientiane. The Quad is here to stay, and it is evolving.
Source:Taipei Times
August 01, 2024 21:46 UTC
TPP chairman, officials meet with Japanese lawmakers
TPP chairman, officials meet with Japanese lawmakersSTRONG TIES: Taiwan and Japan share democratic values and have an amicable relationship, offering assistance to each other during times of calamity, the TPP saidBy Lin Che-yuan and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe high-level “Mingteh Project” (明德專案) national security meeting between US, Japanese and Taiwanese officials should be resumed, as the rise of China threatens neighboring countries, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said at a meeting with a Japanese delegation in Taipei on Wednesday. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je, front row center, gestures along with party members and a visiting Japanese delegation in Taipei on Wednesday. Taiwan and Japan support each other in times of hardship and share one of the closest bilateral relations, Ko said. Meanwhile, the TPP press release said Huang met with a number of politicians during her trip to the US last week that included visits to think tanks. After the meeting, Ko used the TPP’s fifth-anniversary memorial beer to drink a toast with the guests for the friendship between Taiwan and Japan.
Source:Taipei Times
August 01, 2024 21:40 UTC
EDITORIAL: Dialogue key to reducing tensions
EDITORIAL: Dialogue key to reducing tensionsA joint statement on Monday issued by the foreign ministers of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) members Australia, India, Japan and the US in Tokyo expressed “serious concern” about the situation in the South China Sea. He made it clear that the disagreements between India and China were to be dealt with through dialogue, without contributions from any third party. To see Japan increase its military spending and consolidate its armed forces is not going to assuage their concerns. The announcement of the US’ new military command in Japan can only be expected to increase those jitters. However, there is no substitute for dialogue as a means to reducing tensions and stopping mutual escalation in the region.
Source:Taipei Times
August 01, 2024 03:45 UTC