Taipower breaks ground for data hub in Changhua
Taipower breaks ground for data hub in ChanghuaBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterState-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday broke ground for a cloud data center in Changhua County, as the firm is seeking to build a smart grid to handle rising electricity consumption amid increasing demand for energy from renewable sources. “Taiwan is undergoing an energy transition,” Taipower spokesman Chang Ting-shu (張廷舒), said. Officials and Taipower representatives attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a cloud data center in Changhua County yesterday. “We are planning to build smaller, more responsive gas plants that can be very responsive to demand,” Chang said. The center is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified “green building,” using 25 percent less energy than an average data center, Taipower said, adding that it would run on locally generated renewable energy.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Su says vouchers arriving Oct. 8
Premier Su Tseng-chang provides details about the Quintuple Stimulus Voucher program at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan City Councilor Tsai Yu-hui holds a sign that reads: “I don’t want Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers, I want vaccines,” at his office in Tainan yesterday. Photo: Wang Shu-hsiu, Taipei TimesIn exchange for being allowed to participate, online businesses would reduce transaction and advertisement fees charged to small businesses and farmers, Su said. The vouchers could not be used for transactions connected with stock trades, investment products, taxes, credit card fees, fines, foreign-based online retailers, tobacco products or buying other types of vouchers, Su said. The 13,000 foreigners who were eligible for the Triple Stimulus Voucher program would also be eligible for the Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers, the official added.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC adds four cases linked to cluster
COVID-19: CECC adds four cases linked to clusterBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterA cluster of COVID-19 infections involving a preschool and a housing complex in New Taipei City has grown to 27 cases, after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four locally transmitted infections and two imported cases. The Taipei cases were an employee of a remodeling firm who was working at the New Taipei City housing complex and his wife, Chen said. A member of the New Taipei City Environmental Protection Bureau sanitizes an apartment building in the city yesterday, after several COVID-19 cases were reported at the building. The other two local cases were people living in the same household in New Taipei City, Chen said, adding that a connection with the cluster is unlikely. As of yesterday, the center had reported 16,062 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,447 imported and 14,561 domestic infections, as well as 838 deaths.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Highways & Byways: The duck farmer who defeated an empire
Squeezed into a cluttered corner of Singan Temple’s courtyard, this depiction of Chu Yi-kuei is easy to overlook. The more obvious of the two Chu Yi-kuei statues in Yamuliao Chu Yi-kuei Culture Park in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District. Chu Yi-kuei has been deified as the Second City God in Tainan’s Siaonan Chenghuang. To celebrate the exploits of Chu Yi-kuei, in 1998 the government unveiled the Yamuliao Chu Yi-kuei Culture Park (鴨母寮朱一貴文化園區) in a rural part of Neimen. I’ve not been able to visit or even confirm a formal address for what’s known simply as the Duck King Temple (鴨母王廟).
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Fidelity cuts Ant valuation amid PRC crackdown
Fidelity cuts Ant valuation amid PRC crackdownBloombergFidelity Investments has slashed its estimate of Ant Group Co’s (螞蟻集團) valuation for at least the second time this year, underscoring the deteriorating outlook for Jack Ma’s (馬雲) fintech giant as the Chinese government ramps up regulation of the industry. Another filing showed that Fidelity might have reduced its valuation even further in July, to about US$67 billion. BlackRock Inc assigned Ant a valuation of US$174 billion, its filing showed on Aug. 26. T Rowe Price Group Inc set it at US$189 billion, its filing showed on Aug. 25. Fidelity’s valuation for Ant in June was 48 percent lower than when it invested in the company in 2018.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Australia threaten to cancel match with Afghanistan
Australia threaten to cancel match with AfghanistanAFP, SYDNEYCricket Australia yesterday said that it would cancel a maiden Test match against Afghanistan unless the Taliban backtracks on a reported ban on women playing sport. “I don’t think women will be allowed to play cricket, because it is not necessary that women should play cricket,” Wasiq told Australian broadcaster SBS on Wednesday. Islam does not allow women to be seen like this.”Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan reacts during their Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan at Headingley in Leeds, England, on June 29, 2019. “If recent media reports that women’s cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but to not host Afghanistan for the proposed Test Match due to be played in Hobart.”The Australian Cricketers’ Association said it “unequivocally” supported Cricket Australia’s position. “What is happening now in Afghanistan is a human rights issue that transcends the game of cricket,” the association said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Sea aiming for US$6.3bn equity deal
Sea aiming for US$6.3bn equity dealRAPID EXPANSION: The pandemic helped the gaming and onine shopping firm’s shares grow 70 percent, and now 11 million shares worth US$3.8 billion are on offerBloombergSea Ltd aims to raise US$6.3 billion in the largest equity offering of this year, which would propel Southeast Asia’s largest company’s global expansion. Including convertible bonds, the overall deal would be the biggest equity raise since the one by T-Mobile US Inc in June last year. The deal, offered via Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America, comes at a time of resurgence in cross-border issuance from Asia. Sea’s latest raising of capital follows a US$2.6 billion stock sale in December last year and a US$1.35 billion deal in 2019. Sea is now turning to fintech for further growth beyond gaming and e-commerce, while also expanding beyond the region.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Change hall to help nation heal
EDITORIAL: Change hall to help nation healAfter the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949, it retreated to Taiwan to establish the Republic of China’s government-in-exile. Led by self-styled “Generalissimo” Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), the government lacked money to rebuild Taipei, which had been heavily bombed during World War II. The Executive Yuan established a funeral committee to construct a lavish memorial to Chiang, selecting architect Yang Cho-cheng (楊卓成) as lead designer. The hall, which sits at the eastern side of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park, is flanked by the National Theater and National Concert Hall. On Wednesday, the Transitional Justice Commission announced its plan to transform the hall, which includes removing a large bronze statue of Chiang.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Cannabis use booms on campuses
Cannabis use booms on campusesBy Chen Hung-hui 陳宏煇On Aug. 27, the Executive Yuan announced that it would make cannabis the main target in the government’s fight against drugs and adopt three major strategies to tackle it. Cannabis users are by no means few in number. Many of them have high social status or returned to Taiwan after studying overseas, and most of them started smoking cannabis while at university. One day, after a student society event, he and his friends went to his rented apartment to smoke cannabis; the student later died. They are out of their parents’ control and it is not easy for the police to monitor them, so they can easily be influenced by their peers to fall into bad habits, such as smoking cannabis.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
EU-Taipei ties rise as China falters
EU-Taipei ties rise as China faltersBy Huynh Tam Sang and Tran Hoang NhungWhile China is losing its luster in Europe, Taiwan’s importance is growing in the eyes of European countries. On Wednesday last week, the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs hailed Taiwan as a “key partner” in the Indo-Pacific region, and urged the EU to push for stronger ties with Taiwan amid China’s rise. As central and eastern European countries are less economically dependent on China, they might not be as impacted by China’s heavy sanctions. European countries are forging relations with Taiwan while re-evaluating their ties with China. Instead, Taiwan should focus on tightening diplomatic and economic relations with central and eastern European countries, and seek cooperation with like-minded partners.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Few sports associations file required finance reports
It has been four years since the government started asking publicly funded sports associations to submit financial statements, but few of them have made their financial situations transparent, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said. From left, New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih, legislator Claire Wang and chairwoman and deputy caucus whip Chen Jiau-hua attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The financial reporting of some associations was substandard, as, for example, the tennis association’s statement does not explain some obscure items, Chiu said. NPP Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) called for a comprehensive review of a compensation program for athletes on national teams. The firm was run by Tsai Yi-fan (蔡逸凡), a son of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee vice chairman Tsai Szu-chuen (蔡賜爵).
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
FSC to ease online loan regulations
FSC to ease online loan regulationsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisor Commission (FSC) is planning to relax regulations on Web-based consumer lending at banks, as the government seeks to create a comprehensive digital banking environment, the commission said yesterday. Current regulations allow online loan applications, but require banks to adopt stricter identity authentication standards for Web-based applications than for those who apply at a physical branch, the commission said. The requirements include identification via videoconference or the use of encrypted digital tokens, the commission said. Authentication would also include questions about regular account activity, including transfers or transactions, Lin said. The accounts have a limit on individual transfers of NT$10,000, while the daily transfer amount is capped at NT$30,000, the commission said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
End profit focus, China’s gaming firms instructed
End profit focus, China’s gaming firms instructedBloombergChinese regulators summoned gaming companies including Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) and Netease Inc (網易) to discuss further oversight of the industry and the need to de-emphasize profits, prompting a steep share selloff. The agencies told the companies they must enforce the new regulations and break from “the solitary focus of pursuing profit” to prevent minors from becoming addicted to games. They should also remove “obscene and violent content” and avoid “unhealthy tendencies, such as money-worship and effeminacy.”“The authorities ordered the enterprises and platforms to tighten examination of the contents of their games,” Xinhua said. However, Xinhua made no mention of suspending gaming approvals in its reports. China in 2018 froze approvals on game monetization licenses for months, in part to combat addiction and myopia among children.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Shuffling through Taiwan’s pop history
Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei TimesThe show will open on Sept. 18 to mark the launch of the Taipei Music Center’s Cultural Cube, which will be the nation’s first exhibition hall dedicated to Taiwan’s pop music. Many people hear the words “pop music” in Taiwan and immediately think of Mandopop crooners wailing about their lost love, or teenybopper idol groups dancing frenetically to upbeat electronic grooves. As time moves ever forward, pop music has truthfully documented society’s sweeping transformation.”The exhibition is thoughtfully designed, with many specially-themed rooms designed to provide an immersive experience. With towels from various music festivals hanging from the ceiling, this room reflects the importance that independent acts have had on the nation’s music scene. A view of the Taipei Music Center complex and its surroundings from the stairwell.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Mega Financial seeks to hike earnings
Mega Financial seeks to hike earningsIMPROVING MARKET: Overseas banking has gained momentum as vaccination rates improve, with operations in Australia soaring 175 percent since January, the bank saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) aims to reach profitability for the rest of year by boosting corporate lending, retail banking and overseas operations, company officials told an online investors’ conference yesterday. Photo courtesy of Mega Bank“The macro-environment has improved as the world becomes better equipped in dealing with the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Mega Financial president David Hu (胡光華) said, referring to vaccine rollouts worldwide. Mega Financial said it saw an opportunity to deepen lending with local semiconductor and petrochemical firms that have announced plans to invest in the US and elsewhere. The government’s promotion of renewable energy sources and a global embrace of 5G technologies would also generate loan demand, Mega Financial said. Shares in Mega Financial ended down 0.62 percent to NT$32.3 yesterday, bucking the TAIEX’s 0.2 percent rise, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
September 09, 2021 15:56 UTC