TAIEX tipped to sink to 15,000 in Q3, surge after
TAIEX tipped to sink to 15,000 in Q3, surge afterBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe TAIEX would likely fall to about 15,000 points in the third quarter if US monetary policy changes next month, but the index is expected to rebound, peaking at 19,000 points in the fourth quarter, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益證投顧) said yesterday. Local semiconductor companies and manufacturers of electronics would benefit from a global economic recovery, while 5G suppliers are expected to receive more orders as countries where the COVID-19 situation has eased accelerate 5G development, Tsai said. A woman walks past an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Taipei on April 20. Capital Investment is optimistic about local airlines as they have expanded capacity amid demand for air cargo, he said, adding that air cargo sales are expected to continue growing. The TAIEX yesterday closed down 0.02 percent at 17,710.15 points, with turnover of NT$607.08 billion (US$21.69 billion), Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Doctor warns on ill-fitting goggles
COVID-19: Doctor warns on ill-fitting gogglesNOT TOO TIGHT: Pericranial soft tissues are squeezed or pulled whenever a person wears goggles, which can lead to ‘goggle headaches,’ Sui Shan-chung saidBy Liu Bin-chuan / Staff reporterWith more people wearing goggles to protect themselves against COVID-19, experts warned that wearing ill-fitting goggles could cause headaches. Sui Shan-chung (隋善中), a doctor at Nantou Hospital, said that pericranial soft tissues are repeatedly squeezed or pulled whenever a person wears a hat, helmet, face shield or goggles, which could lead to supraorbital neuralgia, also known as “goggle headaches.”People experience “goggle headaches” after swimming if they wear ill-fitting goggles, Sui said, adding that the symptoms ease when they take off the goggles. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times“When people buy protective or swimming goggles, they should check if the goggles are too tight to wear, which could squeeze nerves and subsequently cause headaches. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration also advised people on the correct way to wear a mask to avoid damaging the skin. Non-medical workers should not wear an N95 mask, as it could cause a reddened and oily face, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2021 15:56 UTC
Xi pledges ‘reunification’ with Taiwan
Xi pledges ‘reunification’ with TaiwanCCP CENTENNIAL: Responding to Xi’s pledge, the Mainland Affairs Council said that Beijing should drop the military intimidation and talk with Taipei on an equal footingReuters, TAIPEI and BEIJINGChinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday pledged to complete “reunification” with Taiwan and vowed to “smash” any attempts at formal independence, drawing a stern rebuke from Taipei, which lambasted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a dictatorship. China, which considers independent Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up efforts under Xi to assert its sovereignty claims, including regular flights by fighter jets and bombers close to the nation. “Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland are the unswerving historical tasks of the CCP and the common aspiration of all Chinese people,” Xi said in a speech on the centennial of the party. A woman takes a selfie as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech is being broadcast on a large screen in Beijing during the cenntenial of the Chinese Communist Party yesterday. He has batted back criticism of his government’s actions in Hong Kong, attitude toward Taiwan and treatment of Uighurs.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 16:00 UTC
Highways & Byways: The understated appeal of Pingtung City
Highways & Byways: The understated appeal of Pingtung CityA leafy cantonment containing historic military homes and a high-security Buddhist temple are among the reasons to visit Pingtung CityBy Steven Crook / Contributing reporterThe shrinking capital of a stagnating county, Pingtung City (屏東市) hasn’t found its way on to any kind of top 10 tourist attractions list. Silver-haired culture vultures and beach-bound backpackers zip through Pingtung City by express train, or bypass it on Freeway 3. VIP ZONEWhat was known for much of the postwar period as Shengli New Village (勝利新村) is now promoted as VIP Zone (勝利星村創意生活園區). For the time being, some of the more dilapidated military housing units in Pingtung City are to be left unrenovated. In 2019, when the Taiwan Design Expo was held at Taisugar Civic Park (台糖縣民公園) on the southern outskirts of Pingtung City, VIP Zone served as a satellite venue.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
FSC eases capital requirements for top banks to expand lending capacity
FSC eases capital requirements for top banks to expand lending capacityBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said it was easing minimum capital requirements for the nation’s six “domestic systemically important banks” (D-SIB), allowing them to expand lending by NT$400 billion this year to help companies affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. “By relaxing the capital requirements, the six D-SIBs are expected to face less capital management pressure and to increase their risk absorption capacities,” Tong said. To meet a higher common equity ratio requirement, a bank could either boost its common equity or reduce its loans. All six banks met the adjusted capital requirements in the first quarter, Tong said. As corporate loans have a comparatively higher risk weighting of 100 percent, the six banks can approve more corporate loans with the more relaxed capital requirements, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
CCP threatening global democracy, MAC says
While conceding that the CCP has achieved “certain economic development” by adopting a Western free-market system, the council condemned the party for “strangling democracy and violating human rights.”Under the pretext of national rejuvenation, the CCP is becoming “increasingly authoritarian,” while turning its back on private enterprise, it said. “The CCP’s historical policy blunders and persistent harmful actions pose a grave threat to regional security and global liberal democracy,” the council said. The CCP must reflect on its mistakes and promote democratic reforms as soon as possible to return political power to the people, it said. The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation yesterday released the results of its first-ever “feeling thermometer” poll, designed to gauge public sentiment toward the CCP. The poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese have either negative or no feelings toward the CCP, You said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Arrivals need to get tested three times
Arrivals need to get tested three timesNEW POLICY: The Central Epidemic Command Center said the requirement is in response to the global spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterStarting today, all arrivals to Taiwan are to be tested three times for COVID-19 before the end of their quarantine period. The arrivals would be given a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival and at the end of their quarantine period, it said. Specimen collection rooms at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport await COVID-19 test specimens from arriving passengers yesterday. Arrivals who have not visited these countries in the past 14 days would also need to take a PCR test upon arrival, it said. However, all arrivals are now required to stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Four killed in quarantine hotel blaze
Four killed in quarantine hotel blazeLIFESAVING EFFORT: The building in Changhua County burned for nine hours before the 166 deployed firefighters could put out the flames that had trapped 31 peopleBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAFour people on Wednesday were killed in a fire at a COVID-19 quarantine hotel in Changhua County, including a firefighter who died after their oxygen tank ran out while sheltering in a bathroom in the burning facility, the Changhua Fire Bureau said yesterday. The former department store, housing the hotel on the seventh to ninth floors, is considered a local landmark. Emergency response workers stand by with stretchers as firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at Chiaoyu Building in Changhua County on Wednesday. Those were 27 people under mandatory quarantine, two staying at the hotel while monitoring their health, as well as two hotel employees, it added. Tsai said that he had renovated the seventh to ninth floors to run a hotel with 74 rooms, in the past few months housing people under mandatory quarantine.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Manufacturing PMI slows on outbreak
Manufacturing PMI slows on outbreakSTILL SOLID: Growth momentum softened across the manufacturing industry as new orders and output increased at the slowest rates since August last year, IHS Markit saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe nation’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month slowed to 57.6 from 62 in May, as companies continued to see business improve, but at the slowest pace in seven months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IHS Markit said yesterday. The growth momentum could cool further until operating conditions normalize, the international research body said in a report. Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei TimesThe PMI report aims to capture the health of manufacturing sectors, with values larger than 50 suggesting expansion and points below the threshold indicating contraction. At the same time, growth in new work also slowed to a 10-month low, with companies saying the outbreak weakened domestic demand. Taiwanese manufacturers are generally upbeat about business one year ahead, but the degree of confidence slid to an eight-month low, IHS Markit said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC defends legality of its smartphone system
COVID-19: CECC defends legality of its smartphone systemBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday said that its smartphone contact registration system is legal and solely for contact tracing. Chinese-language media on Tuesday quoted two local health officials as saying that the registration system has limited use in contact tracing, as there is an enormous volume of data and the center is sometimes slow to provide it. The messages only show when the QR code was scanned, not details such as how long the people stayed at the venue, so that data must be obtained through precise contact tracing, Chen said. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the system was launched to allow people to register more easily and to assist contact tracing personnel to locate where confirmed cases have been. Health officials use the data to identify locations that confirmed cases visited, find possible close contacts and conduct disinfection, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
Fifty-five new cases as third Moderna batch arrives
Fifty-five new cases as third Moderna batch arrivesBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 55 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and five deaths, as the nation took delivery of a third shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine that it had purchased from the US drugmaker. Workers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday move refrigerated cases of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine after unloading them. Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei TimesThe infection sources of 31 cases have been identified, while 22 cases are under investigation and two are unclear, Chen said. Another case was linked to the cluster infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in Pingtung County, bringing the total to 15 — two imported cases and 13 locally transmitted cases, Chen said. The 410,000 doses is part of Taiwan’s order of 5.05 million Moderna doses.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: KMT members jumped vaccine line, DPP says
COVID-19: KMT members jumped vaccine line, DPP saysCUTTING AHEAD: Members of the KMT sowed distrust in the AstraZeneca vaccine, causing public hesitancy to be inoculated, only to get the shots themselves, the DPP saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members of abusing their “special privileges” to receive COVID-19 vaccinations ahead of schedule. KMT Central Standing Committee member Sean Lien (連勝文) said online that the AstraZeneca vaccine had adverse effects, Lo said. “We later found out that his father, Lien Chan (連戰), had already received the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Lo added. “We see KMT members striving to get their shots. People will not accept line jumping to get jabs through connections and special privilege,” Liu said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
Managing losses
HSBC apology shows HK banking fearsTENSIONS: The bank had announced changes to its terms from July 26, saying that customers might not be able to use online or mobile banking outside of Hong Kong HSBC Holdings PLC apologized to customers in Hong Kong after an update to its online and mobile banking terms stoked fears over overseas access to its services in the territory. The quick mea culpa by Hong Kong’s biggest bank — triggered by a Twitter post — underscores growing concerns in the territory over not only civil society, but also pressures on businesses as China tightens its grip. Banks are trying to navigate an increasingly fraught political environment. The Hong Kong government last week used them as a hammer to shutter the territory’s premier pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily, ordering seven lenders against dealing
Source:Taipei Times
June 28, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC to distribute 1.06m Moderna jabs
COVID-19: CECC to distribute 1.06m Moderna jabsSECOND-DOSE RECIPIENTS: People who got their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine before May 9 should make an appointment to receive their second shotBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced that 1.06 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are to be delivered to local governments in two batches from Wednesday next week. The lot release testing of 2.74 million Moderna vaccines, including 240,000 doses purchased by Taiwan and 2.5 million doses donated by the US, is expected to be completed tomorrow, it said. “The second batch will be delivered as soon as the local governments have nearly finished administering the first batch,” he said. The second batch would be used to vaccinate about 20 percent of the 65-to-75 age group, the center said. The CECC also urged people who have received their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine before May 9 to make appointments for receiving the second dose after 10 to 12 weeks, as this would ensure better protection against COVID-19.
Source:Taipei Times
June 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Nineteen poultry workers suspected to have virus
COVID-19: Nineteen poultry workers suspected to have virusStaff writer, with CNANineteen workers at a poultry cooperative in New Taipei City are suspected to have COVID-19, the New Taipei City Government said yesterday. The suspected cases were on Friday found in a screening of 523 people working at the cooperative or having visited its premises. Workers at a meat market in New Taipei City’s Shulin District yesterday line up for rapid COVID-19 tests. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei TimesAmong the 19 suspected cases, two are Taiwanese and 17 were migrant workers, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said. Meanwhile, the city yesterday placed 78 migrant workers who had contact with the suspected cases in quarantine, Hou said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 26, 2021 15:56 UTC