Space bill passes its third reading
Space bill passes its third readingBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan’s first space development bill on Monday passed a third reading, empowering the Ministry of Science and Technology to establish a national rocket launch site. The bill would confirm the ministry as the authority to oversee local space activities, including the establishment of a launch venue and approval of launch plans. Compensation that an owner or operator of a launch vehicle would be required to pay is capped at NT$5 billion if a launch were to cause an accident. Questions have been raised over whether the development bill is tailored for space launch services firm Taiwan Innovative Space (TiSPACE) and how it could progress so swiftly after a draft was approved by the Executive Yuan on Feb. 18. Despite some differences between drafts, they all revolved around regulations for launch vehicles, Huang said, denying that the bill is designed for TiSPACE.
Source:Taipei Times
June 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Counting the human cost of affordable electronics
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei TimesForeign media eventually shifted their attention elsewhere, but labor activists have been determined to keep up the pressure. Photo courtesy of Students and Scholars Against Corporate MisbehaviorNeither Foxconn nor Apple responded when asked if they wished to comment on the issues Chan raises. PRESSURED WORKERSAccording to Chan, there are a number of reasons why Foxconn’s managers put so much pressure on their workers. Foxconn saves a considerable additional amount of money because there’s no requirement to enroll interns in state pension and benefits schemes. Our goal is to make the transnational electronics supply chain more transparent, and to give workers more dignity.
Source:Taipei Times
June 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: KMT tells public to take action, call for vaccines
COVID-19: KMT tells public to take action, call for vaccines‘MOST PRESSING NEED’: The KMT urged the public to join its ‘V-Sign Movement,’ saying that the ‘V’ represents ‘vaccines, vaccination and victory over the pandemic’By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday asked people to change their Facebook profile pictures to an image with the words “Taiwan Needs Vaccines” as KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) questioned the government’s COVID-19 vaccine policy. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang talks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. Tsai should commit to allowing all Taiwanese to receive the COVID-19 vaccine free of charge, he said. The KMT urged the public to take action, starting by changing their Facebook profile pictures to an image of black text in English and Chinese reading: “Taiwan Needs Vaccines,” on a white background. The KMT on Twitter urged people to join its “V-Sign Movement,” saying that the “V” represents “vaccines, vaccination and victory over the pandemic.”
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 16:00 UTC
COVID-19: Trade groups press to buy vaccines
COVID-19: Trade groups press to buy vaccinesSPECIAL TREATMENT: The trade groups asked that the government relax regulations that require vaccine deals to be made between the government and drugmakersBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterMajor trade groups yesterday called on the government to allow companies to buy COVID-19 vaccines on their own to help maintain global supply chains amid a local outbreak. A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Taipei on Friday. The trade groups also pushed for companies to have the freedom to vaccinate their employees after frontline workers and other at-risk people receive shots. Deregulation of vaccine imports would help take pressure off the government, which has had difficulty acquiring sufficient doses of vaccines, it added. “The ministry welcomes and is thankful for private companies seeking to obtain more vaccines,” the ministry said in a statement.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Private vaccine imports need approval
COVID-19: Private vaccine imports need approvalSIX APPLICATIONS: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said the FDA received four applications and the CDC two, but none had the proper paperworkBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that six applications had been received from groups hoping to purchase and import COVID-19 vaccines. The center previously announced that Taiwan signed contracts to purchase about 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 4.76 million doses from the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX and 5.05 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Late on Sunday evening, the center said that on Friday last week, it signed contracts with local vaccine makers Medigen Vaccine Biologics and United Biomedical for the advance purchase of 5 million doses from each. On Friday last week, the center announced the documentation that local governments and businesses need to apply for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to import COVID-19 vaccines. “They would still need to apply for emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA, so the vaccine sources must meet the FDA’s requirements and the technical documents would need to be reviewed,” Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Foreigners to get subsidies from Taipei government
“A foreigner who has established a company in Taiwan, and who pays taxes to Taipei City Government, such as property taxes or license fees, is eligible to apply for help. Taipei City Government offers kindergarten subsidies that foreign children are effectively excluded from because they don’t have and cannot obtain household registration, he points out. According to Fahey, regulations in Taipei and New Taipei make it more difficult for foreign single parents and parents of non-citizen children to enroll their kids in public kindergartens. On its Web site, the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan described this reform as “a major breakthrough for long-term senior foreign residents of Taipei. It has been achieved thanks to many years of advocacy by the ECCT’s Better Living committees to grant equal treatment to legal foreign residents of Taiwan and the efforts of Taipei City Mayor Ko and officials in the Taipei City Government.”
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Plum rain keeps further water restrictions at bay
Plum rain keeps further water restrictions at bayBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterLast weekend’s plum rain came just in time to stave off further water restrictions, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. For areas under a red alert, weekly water supplies to households and businesses are on for five days and off for two. By the time this plum rain runs its course it would bring more than 100 million tonnes of water to reservoirs nationwide, it said. “We expect this plum rain to linger until Tuesday,” WRA Deputy Director-General Wang Yi-feng (王藝峰) said, citing forecasts by the Central Weather Bureau. It would take another 110mm of rainfall before the red alert is removed for counties in central Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Taipei adjusts quarantine measures to free up hospitals for those seriously ill
COVID-19: Taipei adjusts quarantine measures to free up hospitals for those seriously illBy Cheng Ming-hsiang and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerQuarantining at home after testing positive for COVID-19 in a rapid screening test would be the “new normal,” Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday after the city adjusted its quarantine measures to free up medical facilities for COVID-19 patients with serious symptoms. The Taipei Department of Health announced a new set of triage procedures for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 at a rapid screening station. Effective immediately, anyone who is moderately to seriously ill, regardless of age, would be sent to a hospital in an ambulance, the department said. Medical staff operate a COVID-19 rapid screening station outside Taipei City Hospital’s Zhongxiao branch yesterday. Quarantine hotels must accept patients with minor symptoms transferred to them by hospitals, as hospitals must focus on treating more serious cases, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: NPP calls for Tsai to take charge of COVID-19 fight
COVID-19: NPP calls for Tsai to take charge of COVID-19 fightBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should personally lead the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic so that personnel and resources can be made available quickly to those in need, New Power Party (NPP) lawmakers said in a statement yesterday. In other countries, it is the president or prime minister who fully takes charge on the front line of the battle,” they said. “President Tsai should assume command so that all personnel and resources can be quickly directed to people in need,” they added. Tsai should welcome all efforts from the private sector to overcome political obstacles to secure vaccines, which should not include those produced in China, it said. People who are inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines should be covered by the nation’s vaccine injury compensation system, regardless of whether they received vaccines purchased by the government or the private sector, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taipei Exchange touts bond issue
Taipei Exchange touts bond issueBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterTaiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行), the nation’s largest lender by number of branches, yesterday issued NT$1 billion (US$36.16 million) of sustainability bonds and listed the debt on the Taipei Exchange. The Taipei Exchange, which manages the listing and trading of the bonds, said they are a combination of green and social bonds, which are used to finance projects that bring environmental and socioeconomic benefits. A sign of Taipei Exchange is pictured in Taipei on June 19, 2017. Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei TimesTaiwan Cooperative Bank’s sustainability bonds have a five-year maturity and a fixed coupon rate of 0.4 percent. Other entities that have issued sustainability bonds and listed on the exchange include CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀), Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行) and the Chilean government, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Unions call for direct aid payments to employees
COVID-19: Unions call for direct aid payments to employeesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterLabor union representatives yesterday called on the government to distribute COVID-19 relief funds directly to workers. They asked the Ministry of Labor to take charge of the process, and not to go through industry associations or trade unions, as done in the past. The government has raised the nationwide COVID-19 alert to level 3, which has led to commercial districts seeing few customers even on weekends. “Most of the affected people are part-time employees working at restaurants and retailers, many of whom are now out of work. They will not necessarily retain their original employees, but instead hire new workers,” Chu added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
TBB eyes growth despite COVID-19 outbreak
TBB eyes growth despite COVID-19 outbreakBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterAn increase in domestic COVID-19 infections has had little impact on Taiwan Business Bank’s (TBB, 台灣企銀) operations, it said yesterday, adding that it expects stable growth in mortgage lending this year, despite credit controls aimed at cooling the real-estate market. The bank yesterday said it expects stable growth in mortgage lending this year, despite credit controls aimed at cooling the real-estate market. Although uncertainty linked to the virus crisis lingers, business and investment sentiment is picking up, TBB spokesman Chang Yo-ming (張佑銘) said. Meanwhile, bad loans grew by NT$100 million to NT$624 million due to COVID-19 relief loans, as all banks responded to the government’s call to support troubled companies, TBB said. TBB is to step up provisions for related financing as the government yesterday expanded the relief and subsidy program.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Harsher fines for noisy vehicles to take effect
Harsher fines for noisy vehicles to take effectSOUND POLLUTION: People who modify their vehicles to generate noise risk having their licenses suspended, while tailgaters would face fines of up to NT$24,000By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications is tomorrow to start enforcing amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), which stipulate harsher penalties for motorists who repeatedly remove mufflers from their vehicles or engage in dangerous driving behaviors such as tailgating. Stricter penalties would be imposed on motorists who repeatedly remove mufflers or use other methods to produce noise with their vehicles, the ministry said. The camera is designed to enhance road safety by allowing the driver to see what is in the vehicle’s blind spot. The suspension of their vehicle license plates would be extended from three months to six months, it added. Those who repeat the offense within one year of being issued a fine would have their driver’s license suspended for six months, up from three months, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Keelung urges rotational shopping at wet markets
People whose national ID number ends with an even digit should visit wet markets on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, while people whose ID number ends with an odd digit should visit on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, he said. A customer wearing a mask and goggles pays a vendor wearing mask, face shield and gloves at a traditional market in Taipei yesterday. Lin said that it is more important to limit the number of people in wet markets than that in hospitals. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei TimesSeparately, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) made a similar call, saying that if the overcrowding continues, the city government will have to shut the wet markets. In Taipei and New Taipei City, the epicenter of a COVID-19 outbreak, residents have been asked to avoid going to wet markets, but a mandatory rule has not been introduced.
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: CECC to subsidize local test centers
COVID-19: CECC to subsidize local test centersSEARCH FOR PATIENTS: Local governments would be offered an equipment subsidy of NT$200,000, as well as NT$500 for each case, in addition to other financial incentivesBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced subsidies for local governments that set up community-based COVID-19 testing stations, saying that it would also bolster the distribution of essential personal protective equipment (PPE). When choosing locations for testing stations, local governments should consider area case counts, hotspots visited by confirmed cases and areas with higher prevalence of infections, he said. As the local COVID-19 situation is serious, demand for PPEs has greatly increased, Chen said. The center has distributed more than 49 million medical-grade masks and other protective gear to healthcare facilities and local governments this month, he said. In addition to increasing the frequency of PPE deliveries to central government agencies, local governments and healthcare facilities, the CECC would also consider the number of quarantine hotels and confirmed cases, and distribute extra PPEs to local governments accordingly, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 30, 2021 15:56 UTC