COVID-19: CECC reports 30 domestic cases
COVID-19: CECC reports 30 domestic cases‘STILL UNDER CONTROL’: The center also reported the first fatality involving the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, a woman in her 70s who died on WednesdayBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 30 domestic COVID-19 cases, three imported cases and four deaths. Taipei and New Taipei City recorded 11 cases each, Taoyuan had seven cases and Hsinchu City had one, it said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung gives a COVID-19 update at a Central Epidemic Command Center news conference in Taipei yesterday. The center reported 16 domestic cases on Wednesday, 18 on Tuesday, 15 each on Monday and Sunday, eight on Saturday and 29 on Friday last week. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 15,511 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,253 imported and 14,205 domestic cases, and 782 deaths, CECC data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Retailers need to accelerate change: expert
COVID-19: Retailers need to accelerate change: expertStaff writer, with CNADepartment store and shopping mall operators should accelerate their adoption of new sales models in the face of challenges brought by the COVID-19 outbreak, an expert said on Sunday. That has been especially true after Taiwan imposed a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert on May 19, when case numbers surged. An employee at a food court in Taipei cleans seating partitions yesterday in readiness for the relaxation of regulations as the government mulls lowering the nationwide COVID-19 alert level. Department stores and shopping malls were among the retail spaces hardest hit by the COVID-19 restrictions. Retailers should also speed up their membership marketing, which allows them to send tailored and precisely targeted messages and personalized discounts to boost sales, Wang said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Canadian security think tank to host forum in Taiwan
The Washington-based group of security officials from the world’s democratic states has said it would cohost HFX Taipei with the Institute for National Defense and Security Research. “The [Halifax] think tank is heavily funded by the Canadian government,” DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. “The HFX Taipei forum is effectively a form of semi-official cooperation between the two state-level think tanks.”Politico had reported that the Canadian government had warned the forum not to give the award to Tsai for fear of angering Beijing. DPP Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said the institute would discuss security issues regarding China at the forum. That Canadian lawmakers have stood by the forum in honoring Tsai suggests that Canadians’ views on China have changed, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Typhoon In-Fa to bring heavy rain to north
Typhoon In-Fa to bring heavy rain to northLAND ALERT UNCERTAIN: The CWB was waiting to observe how In-Fa shifts as it moves north to determine when to issue a land alert, a forecaster at the bureau saidBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterResidents of northern Taiwan should brace for heavy rain today and tomorrow as Typhoon In-Fa approaches the northeast, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. A land alert for the typhoon would be issued depending on the angle at which it moves north today, the bureau said. A cyclist in rain gear, visor and mask rides through the rain in Taipei yesterday. “If the typhoon veers to the east after it turns north, the radius of the storm would not reach Taiwan,” Hsieh said. Intermittent rain began to fall in the northern and northeastern regions yesterday, Hsieh said, adding that extremely heavy rain is forecast for mountainous areas in northern Taiwan today.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2021 15:56 UTC
Hon Hai, Nidec eye joint venture
Hon Hai, Nidec eye joint ventureAUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS: A joint venture would provide a stable source of motors for Hon Hai’s electric vehicle ventures, while creating a new market for Japan’s NidecBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said it is in discussions with Japan’s Nidec Corp to form a joint venture to produce and distribute motors via its subsidiary Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進). Exact details of the venture have yet to be determined, a Hon Hai statement said. People walk into Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District in an undated photograph. Nidec is targeting a 40 to 45 percent share of the global electric vehicle powertrain market by 2030, it added. Describing the relationship as “deeply complementary” and “leading to an increase in development efficiency and product competitiveness,” Hon Hai said the new joint venture would provide a stable source of motors for the company’s electric vehicle ventures, while creating a new market for Nidec.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: KMT’s Chiang urges CECC accountability
COVID-19: KMT’s Chiang urges CECC accountabilityBy Sherry Hsiao and Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reportersChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday said that Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) should answer daily complaints from the public about Taiwan’s COVID-19 vaccine shortage. Third to first from right: Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang, KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung and KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an promote the party’s food package donation campaign at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Meanwhile, the KMT is mobilizing its service stations, party chapters and civic groups nationwide for a “meal donation campaign,” Chiang said. Many people are also complaining about the government’s latest relief packages, which were designed after last year’s packages without necessary improvements, Chiang said. Many people are in need of help, but the government has left behind more people than it has helped with its relief packages, KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Taipei to help businesses enter delivery market
COVID-19: Taipei to help businesses enter delivery marketBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAThe Taipei City Government on Tuesday announced a NT$42 million (US$1.5 million) fund to help market vendors provide delivery services, as the city expects a permanent transition to a delivery economy. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, left, places fresh produce in a food courier’s bag at Taipei’s Guangfu Market yesterday. To help these businesses adapt to new consumer habits, the city government has begun a delivery service fee subsidy program, Ko said. A total of NT$42 million has been set aside for market vendors to cover delivery platforms’ service fees, Taipei Department of Economic Development Commissioner Lin Chung-chieh (林崇傑) said. Businesses with tax registration can apply to cover half of their monthly delivery service fees up to NT$10,000, capped at a total of NT$60,000, Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: DPP lawmakers slam KMT campaign against heads of health authorities
COVID-19: DPP lawmakers slam KMT campaign against heads of health authoritiesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is colluding with outside forces to harm the nation’s health authorities, as it is filing a lawsuit against the adoption of a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday. “We urge KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to drop the lawsuit, which is based on ridiculous reasons and groundless claims. We ask the KMT to stop abusing the resources of the judicial system,” DPP legislative caucus whip Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said. Democratic Progressive Party legislators yesterday in Taipei accuse the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of wasting judicial resources. Photo copied by Chien Hui-ju, Taipei TimesDPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said that the KMT has vilified Taiwan’s vaccine development efforts.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
Industrial property market booms
Industrial property market boomsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s industrial property transactions grew 34.6 percent to a record high of NT$59.3 billion (US$2.11 billion) in the first half of this year, driven by strong demand for industrial plots of land, as well as factories and logistics facilities, CBRE Taiwan said yesterday. A relatively undeveloped industrial zone around Tanmei Street in Taipei’s Neihu District is pictured from above yesterday. The trend also drew the attention of local constructions firms, who have poured money into the development of science parks, a further sign that this segment of the property market would continue to thrive, Lee said. Land prices have soared in northern Taiwan in recent years, but they remain relatively affordable at lower than NT$100,000 per ping elsewhere, Lee said. CBRE Taiwan real estate appraisal head Winston Shih (施甫學) said that office building upgrades and urban renewal projects would dominate land deals in northern Taiwan in light of a lack of supply.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2021 15:56 UTC
‘Taiwanese’ office to open in Lithuania
‘Taiwanese’ office to open in Lithuania‘BREAKTHROUGH’: All countries should be free to pursue closer ties with Taiwan, a leading democracy, a major economy, and a force for good in the world, the AIT saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan is to establish a “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” the first office in Europe to be called Taiwanese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday. When the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland opened last year, it was the first to use the name “Taiwan,” he said. The planned office in Vilnius would be the first in Europe that is called “Taiwanese,” a nomenclature similar to the names of the British Office Taipei, the French Office in Taipei, the German Institute Taipei and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), he added. Following the news conference, the AIT issued a statement backing the plan to establish the office in Lithuania. Taiwan last year opened the office in Somaliland and the Taipei Representative Office in France’s new branch in Aix-en-Provence.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 16:00 UTC
Sea alert for In-Fa could be issued today, CWB says
Sea alert for In-Fa could be issued today, CWB saysBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterA sea alert for Typhoon In-Fa could be issued this morning as it moves toward Taiwan, although it remains uncertain if its center would make landfall, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, In-Fa was classified as a tropical storm and was centered 800km east of Taipei, moving west at 13kph with maximum sustained winds of 101kph. In other news, the bureau yesterday announced that it had completed the installation and renovation of 576 automatic weather observation stations nationwide. The bureau has since 1985 budgeted funding annually to build the 24-hour automatic weather observation system, it said. By 2005, 257 rain observation stations and 119 weather observation stations had been installed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
DBS reports increase in digital corporate clients
DBS reports increase in digital corporate clientsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterDBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) yesterday said that the number of corporate clients using its online banking service has grown 10 percent since May. DBS Bank Taiwan general manager Lim Him-chuan and DBS mascots gesture at a news conference in Taipei on April 28. To meet rising demand, the bank yesterday launched its refined online banking platform, DBS IDEAL, which features a new cross-border payment tracking service. No other local banks provide such a service in Taiwan, Lim said. Lim said he was confident that DBS Bank Taiwan’s online corporate banking service would outperform many of its peers, as most banks’ digital banking services only focus on consumer banking, which requires less investment than corporate banking.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Passage of US bill ‘shows anti-China sentiment’
Passage of US bill ‘shows anti-China sentiment’By Peng Wan-hsin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerUS lawmakers’ passage of a bill that aims to ensure the country’s leadership in the Indo-Pacific region shows growing anti-China sentiment in the US Congress, a researcher said on Friday. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday passed the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement Act (EAGLE Act), which contains several provisions regarding the US’ diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan. “The renaming of Taiwan’s representative office in the US in particular must be addressed, because the current name — the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office — does not sound political in nature,” Ding said. “The current name reduces Taiwan’s status to that of Hong Kong.”Former minister of foreign affairs Chen Chien-jen (程建人) said the bill shows that US-China relations have hit a new low. The EAGLE Act needs to be reviewed by the full House before being put to a vote in both chambers of Congress and being signed into law by the US president.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT urges plan for new semester
KMT urges plan for new semesterBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Education should hold discussions and prepare for a possible reopening of schools in September, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua gestures in an undated photograph. Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei TimesThe new school year is to begin on Sept. 1 for elementary, junior-high and high schools. Even if schools were to reopen, multiple plans would be needed to respond to different situations that could occur, she said. Furthermore, as the size of each school building is different, a single plan should not be applied to all schools across the nation, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Pandemic takes toll on family businesses: PwC
Family businesses with declining revenue increased from 14 to 22 percent in 2019, rising to 41 percent last year, it said. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan vice chairman Kevin Lin, second right, speaks at an online news conference in Taipei yesterday, alongside other executives. Family businesses are complex, given the nature of the personal relationships on which they are built. Compared with global peers, local family businesses assign more importance to the need to strengthen their product line-up and diversify their source of income, which is positive, PwC Taiwan said. A considerable number of family businesses in Taiwan and abroad said they still do not have strong digital capabilities, although the issue is a major concern.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2021 15:56 UTC