Hsinchu’s ‘battery hubs’ give reward points for recyling
Hsinchu’s ‘battery hubs’ give reward points for recylingBy Hung Mei-hsiu and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThree 24-hour “smart” battery recycling stations recently set up around Hsinchu are capable of accepting seven sizes of dry-cell batteries in exchange for points that can be used for discounts throughout the city. A boy tries out a new battery recycling station in Hsinchu City on Monday, after the city government teamed up with a smart recycling company to set up stations that allow users to earn reward points for recycling batteries. The smart battery hubs can accept as few as one battery in exchange for Ecoco and Green Points, which can be spent on discounts or offers from participating businesses, the city said. Users can earn 250 Green Points for each battery, as well as 10 Ecoco points for type D and C batteries, and five points for other sizes, it said, adding that the stations are to be set up until Dec. 31. Ecoco points can be exchanged for discounts or offers from nearly 100 businesses, including Showba, MilkShop, Foodpanda and Taiwan Taxi Co, the firm’s Web site shows.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC issues 525,700 AstraZeneca doses
CECC issues 525,700 AstraZeneca dosesSECOND JAB: Local governments have been asked to offer any remaining doses to teachers who received their first vaccination more than 10 weeks agoBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that 525,700 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are to be delivered to local governments today, and about 519,000 people eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine next week can start booking their appointment from 10am tomorrow. A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot in New Taipei City in an undated photograph. Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei TimesAnother 525,700 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are to be delivered to local governments today, he said. Local governments have been asked to reserve doses for people who have booked appointments in the current round of vaccinations and to offer the remaining doses to teachers who received their first dose more than 10 weeks ago. Other nations have adopted different periods between doses, ranging from four to 16 weeks, Chen said, adding that the WHO has suggested that each nation adjust the period according to vaccine supply.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
HK artist says he came to Taiwan for ‘100% freedom’
HK artist says he came to Taiwan for ‘100% freedom’AFP, HONG KONGOne of Hong Kong’s best-known artists yesterday confirmed that he had moved to Taiwan in search of “100 percent freedom” from the Hong Kong government’s crackdown on dissent. “I want and I demand 100 percent freedom, with no compromise,” Wong told Hong Kong Free Press. Earlier this year, Wong distributed hundreds of candle stubs from previous vigils marking Beijing’s deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown after Hong Kong authorities banned public commemorations. Despite this, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) has insisted that freedom of speech remains intact in the territory. “I would honestly ask you, what sort of freedoms have we lost, what sort of vibrancy has Hong Kong been eroded?” she said in a radio show late last month.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
Vanguard expects sales record
“Generally speaking, demand for Vanguard’s foundry services will increase at a constant rate this quarter, greatly enhancing order visibility,” Vanguard chairman Fang Leuh (方略) told investors in an online conference. Revenue from 0.18 micron and more-advanced technology made up 52 percent of Vanguard’s revenue last quarter following five consecutive quarters of increases, the company said. Vanguard plans to hike prices by a low-teen percentage this quarter from last quarter, given the favorable supply-demand environment and increases in manufacturing costs, it said. To alleviate a supply crunch, Vanguard said it plans this quarter to add about 8,000 wafers a month of capacity at its Taoyuan fab. Gross margin is expected to improve to between 44 and 46 percent this quarter, after reaching a 14-year high of 40.9 percent last quarter, Vanguard said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan’s reality is dawning in US
Taiwan’s reality is dawning in USBy Stanley Kao 高碩泰The US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs on July 15 introduced the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement (EAGLE) Act. With the relationship between Taiwan and the US riding high, this presents a golden opportunity for advocates in Washington and Taipei to seize the initiative and rename Taiwan’s representative office. Washington breaking off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 marked Taiwan’s lowest point on the international stage. One of the requirements stemming from the review was that Taiwan’s representative office in Washington change its name to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which is still in use to this day. For the past quarter of a century, the argument has been made that “the time is not right” or that it would be “politically incorrect” to rename Taiwan’s representative office in Washington.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 16:05 UTC
First local vaccine batches ready: FDA
Syringes of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp’s MVC COVID-19 vaccine are pictured in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug AdministrationThe Medigen vaccine, the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be made available in Taiwan, would be good for six months before they expire, he added. Medigen secured an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the vaccine from the FDA on July 19. Eligible recipients of the Moderna vaccine in the next round would mainly be people in the ninth priority group of people who have a high-risk disease, a rare disease or catastrophic illness, he added. There are about 880,000 people in the ninth priority group who only selected the Moderna vaccine, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 16:00 UTC
Art of healing
COVID-19: What caused COVID-19 outbreak? Data show that it was unusually deadly, as well. While Taiwan has seen fewer than 800 COVID-19 deaths in total, 500 of them occurred last month alone, amid its biggest virus wave to date. The pathogen got through the stringent border curbs that had kept local infections at bay for most of last year, seeding an outbreak that tore through the then-largely unvaccinated elderly population. This pushed the case-fatality ratio to as high as that seen in Italy and the UKBy Cindy Wang and Iain Marlow
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 16:00 UTC
Taiya unveils two offshore wind farm projects
Taiya unveils two offshore wind farm projectsBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiya Renewable Energy Co (台亞風能) has thrown its hat into the ring for the third phase of Taiwan’s offshore wind farm development with two projects totaling 2.1 gigawatts (GW) in capacity, the company said yesterday as it applied for an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The Formosa 1 wind farm is pictured off Miaoli County on Oct. 15, 2019. It would be the first floating offshore wind farm proposal in Taiwan, it said. The company’s team comprises talent from other companies that participated in Taiwan’s previous phases of offshore wind farm development, including CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering Co (CDWE, 台船環海), Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA, Swancor Renewable Energy Co (上緯新能源) and Germany’s Wpd AG. The second phase of the nation’s offshore wind farm development was dominated by European players.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Dine-in to resume in Taipei, New Taipei City, Yilan
Dine-in to resume in Taipei, New Taipei City, YilanBy Lin Shin-han and Cheng Ming-hsiang / Staff reportersRestaurants, night market food vendors and food courts in Taipei, New Taipei City and Yilan County can accept dine-in customers from today, provided that they strictly adhere to disease prevention regulations. Taipei and New Taipei City cooperated on the decision to lift the dine-in ban as residents frequently travel between the two cities, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday. An employee disinfects seating at a food court in New Taipei City yesterday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei TimesThe Yilan County Government later yesterday also announced it would lift the ban from today. Should dine-in customers wish to share their meals, service personnel should divide each dish into small portions before serving it to customers, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Ex-New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu to run for KMT chair
Ex-New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu to run for KMT chairStaff writer, with CNAFormer New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday announced his bid for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson, a position he held from 2015 to 2016. Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu visits a station distributing food for disadvantaged and low-income families on Wednesday last week in Taipei. Chu is expected to pose the greatest challenge to KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang’s (江啟臣) re-election bid. The KMT chairperson election was originally scheduled for July 24, but was postponed to Sept. 25 due to a local COVID-19 outbreak. Local media reports said former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), are also interested in running for KMT chairperson.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
COA tests ‘no shots’ plan for classical swine fever
COA tests ‘no shots’ plan for classical swine feverBy Yang Yuan-ting / Staff reporterTaiwan’s pork products could be sold to more countries if vaccinations against classical swine fever were no longer needed, Council of Agriculture (COA) Deputy Minister Huang Chin-cheng (黃金城) said on Saturday. However, countries such as Japan still ban imports of pork products from areas with classical swine fever, including Taiwan. The first 3,000 “sentinel” pigs from 150 farms would soon be slaughtered, and no classical swine fever has so far been detected among them, Huang said. It is very difficult to eliminate classical swine fever, especially when it can spread to wild boars, he added. Once the nation is free of classical swine fever, its pork products could be sold worldwide, he said, expressing optimism over the prospect.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Housing transactions fall in special municipalities
Housing transactions fall in special municipalitiesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterHousing transactions last month totaled 17,591 units in the six special municipalities, down 29.7 percent from one month earlier, as the market started to feel the chilling effect of a local COVID-19 outbreak. Taichung reported the steepest month-on-month decline of 44.1 percent to 2,657 deals, followed by Taipei’s 34.7 percent fall to 1,937 transactions, local government figures showed. Transactions in Taoyuan and Kaohsiung both shrank 29 percent to 3,011 and 2,981 deals respectively. The number of transactions in Tainan slid 22 percent to 2,545 units, while New Taipei City posted a 20.5 percent decline to 4,460 deals, data showed. In the first seven months of this year, total transactions in the six cities totaled 152,000 units, up 15.6 percent from a year earlier, data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Rights commission not fulfilling its duty: NPP
Rights commission not fulfilling its duty: NPPBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterAlthough the National Human Rights Commission has been in existence for one year, it has not used even half of its budget, and laws governing the enforcement of its authority are not completely in place, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday. Article 2 of the Organic Act of the National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法) lists the functions and powers of the commission, including “investigating incidents involving torture, human rights violations or various forms of discrimination in accordance with its authority or in response to petition from the general public, and provide a remedy according to the law.”The main entrance to the Control Yuan’s National Human Rights Commission in Taipei is pictured on Aug. 1 last year. Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊) has said that the commission’s two core tasks are to safeguard human rights in Taiwan and promote human rights education, but so far it had mainly focused on education, she said. “While we do not belittle the importance of reinforcing human rights education in the country, we want to remind the commission that it should perform all the tasks it is authorized to do,” Wang said. The NPP has proposed establishing a human rights committee at the Legislative Yuan to ensure that the National Human Rights Commission is consulted during the legislative process, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Counterterrorism center underutilized: audit office
Counterterrorism center underutilized: audit officeSPECIAL SERVICE: The National Police Agency should hold more counterterrorism drills to make better use of the costly facility, the National Audit Office saidBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerIn the nearly four years since its creation, the National Police Agency’s (NPA) Counterterrorism Center has only been used for 38 days for counterterrorism training exercises, the National Audit Office said in a budget report on Thursday last week, calling on the agency to increase usage of the costly facility. The National Police Agency’s Counterterrorism Center in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District prepares for its opening ceremony on March 21, 2017. During this period the center was only used 38 days for counterterrorism drills, or 3.96 percent of the time, the report said. The center has mostly been used for general police training rather than specialized counterterrorism response, it said. The NPA said it would continue conducting counterterrorism trainings at the center, including joint drills with security and police forces.
Source:Taipei Times
August 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Notes from central Taiwan: Southern Taiwan AmCham keeps it local
These traits were brought into sharper focus thanks to a dinner chat with the kind people of the American Chamber of Commerce of Southern Taiwan. Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City GovernmentFUTURE PLANSBrian Aiello, President of Southern Taiwan AmCham, spoke to me at length about AmCham’s programs and plans, as well as the problems Kaohsiung faces. This is sometimes inhibiting.”Businesses in southern Taiwan often create products and then focus narrowly on one market, when there might be a number of other applications for them. Another issue Southern Taiwan AmCham is working on is supply chain security. Southern Taiwan AmCham covers the counties of Penghu, Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung and Taitung, and the municipalities of Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Source:Taipei Times
August 01, 2021 15:56 UTC