President outlines goals for justice commission
President outlines goals for justice commissionFULFILLING ‘OUR MISSION’: Calling transitional justice crucial to Taiwan’s democracy, Tsai urged the commission to expedite its research into cases of political persecutionBy Lee Hsin-fang and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday laid out goals for the Transitional Justice Commission during a ceremony in Taipei for 100 victims of political persecution who have received pardons. Transitional justice has been crucial to strengthening Taiwan’s democracy, she said. Front row, from sixth left to eighth: Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui, President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang pose with exonerated political victims of the White Terror era and their families during a ceremony in Taipei yesterday. Tsai apologized to the victims for their long wait for justice. The ceremony commemorated the repeal of 105 charges against 100 people, 26 of whom have not yet received compensation.
Source:Taipei Times
March 27, 2021 15:56 UTC
The Singapore of the future is small and rich
When Singapore became independent in 1965, the average mother had at least four children. However, this view skates past a certain inevitability: Singapore’s economic star was destined to fade long before its demographic challenges manifested. In Singapore, per capita income roughly doubled every decade from 1966 to 1990, and GDP rose 8.5 percent per year, Krugman said. “Even without going through the formal exercise of growth accounting, these numbers should make it obvious that Singapore’s growth has been based largely on one-time changes in behavior that cannot be repeated,” he wrote. Historically, Singapore embraced workers from abroad, who brought specific skills required by multinational companies or perform roles that do not excite locals.
Source:Taipei Times
March 27, 2021 15:56 UTC
Premier urges public to take stand on human rights
Their actions were selfish and showed a lack of understanding for the importance of human rights.”Although the entertainers’ behavior was against Taiwan’s “national interest and disrespectful of human rights,” Taiwan is a country based on rights, and the government would not take action against offensive, but otherwise legal speech, he said. “I call on the public to speak on behalf of human rights, and to work toward advancing human rights in the world,” Su said. “Human rights are universal values and an expression of civilization,” Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) said. China’s human rights abuses are severe, and Taiwan should stand with the world in condemning and sanctioning it, he said. Concerning sanctions, Wu said she believes that the government should take a more active role and not just ask the public to boycott cotton from Xinjiang.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Social workers decry demand to give up pay
Social workers decry demand to give up payHARD WORK: Kaohsiung said it is launching a probe into allegations that some NGOs ask social workers to ‘donate’ their pay to sidestep government inspectionsBy Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerSocial worker groups yesterday accused some non-governmental organizations (NGO) of demanding that employees “donate” their pay back to the organizations. From second left, New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang, Taipei Social Workers’ Union deputy secretary-general Shen Yao-yi and Kaohsiung Social Worker Association secretary-general Kuo Chih-nan attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The Taipei Social Workers’ Union said it has received complaints from employees of branches of the Garden of Hope Foundation saying they are not being given their full salary. Certified social workers who have passed qualifying exams said they only receive an additional NT$2,000, instead of the NT$3,995 the regulations stipulate. She called on the ministry to demand that local governments and private organizations pay more attention to the issue and provide more funding for local governments to improve social workers’ pay.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Statue of girl in rain draws admirers
Statue of girl in rain draws admirersBy Wu Chun-feng and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA statue of a young girl standing in the rain at the Chimei Museum in Tainan has been popular among visitors amid a water shortage that has left water levels low at reservoirs in central and southern Taiwan. The statue, titled Catching Rain, depicts a young girl in a raincoat and boots who is looking up at the sky with her mouth open. The Chimei Museum focuses on Western art and historical artifacts, and has a number of statues in grassed areas outside it, including lining a walkway leading to its main entrance. A woman looks at the Catching Rain statue by US artist Gwen Marcus at the Chimei Museum in Tainan on Monday last week. The bronze statue was created by US artist Gwen Marcus, the museum said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Compal forecasts double-digit percentage growth
Compal forecasts double-digit percentage growthBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterContract laptop computer maker Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) yesterday forecast year-on-year double-digit percentage growth for its laptop computer shipments, thanks to strong demand. Compal president Martin Wong (翁宗斌) told an investors’ conference that he predicted double-digit percentage growth year-on-year “without too many difficulties.”Even with uncertainty over component shortages, Compal’s PC and non-PC businesses should grow by double-digit percentage points this year, with overall growth of 20 to 25 percent, Wong said. People stand in the foyer of the head office of Compal Electronics Inc in Taipei on Sept. 1 last year. Last year, consolidated revenue rose 7 percent year-on-year to NT$1.04 trillion, the first time Compal’s consolidated revenue has broken the trillion-dollar mark. Having invested in electric vehicles (EVs) over the past eight or nine years, Compal counts major European and US automakers among its customers.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taipei 101 operator seeks post-pandemic rebound
A sightseeing bus passes through Taipei’s Xinyi District with Taipei 101 in the background on Sept. 24 last year. Photo: Chuang Shih-hsien, Taipei TimesAlthough the unfavorable effects of the pandemic linger, Taipei 101 is to strengthen its shopping mall operation and maintain full occupancy for its office space in the city’s central business district, where leasing demand is strong with no new space available in the near term, Chang said. The observatory deck previously generated 30 percent of overall revenue, but made a meager contribution last year, she said. The skyscraper’s operator is to spend NT$1.5 billion renovating the complex’s exterior, as well as its shopping area and parking spaces to make them more welcoming, TFCC said. Taipei 101 has been able to raise rents, with upward adjustments reaching 45 percent in some cases, thanks to its landmark status, TFCC said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Yuguang scenery inspires art festival
Yuguang scenery inspires art festivalStaff writer, with CNAWorks inspired by Yuguang Island’s (漁光島) scenery by more than a dozen artists are to go on display today at an outdoor arts festival in Tainan’s Anping District (安平). The Yuguang Island Art Festival, curated by the UrbanART Studio with the theme “healing,” is to provide a soothing experience after a turbulent year of battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of climate change, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said. The Whisper of the Sea installation by itinerant artists Tsai Hsiao-chi and Kimiya Yoshikawa is pictured at the Yuguang Island Art Festival in Tainan’s Anping District in an undated photograph. The other works are the Yuguang Island Flags, Floating Memory, Thrill of Shedding, Weaving Forest, Ups and Downs, Frame of Dreams, The Sea Blows Your Way, Whisper of the Sea, Light Fishing, Parallel Universe and Sound Geography. People should walk or take a shuttle bus across Yuguang Bridge to the festival, as the bridge will be closed to private motor vehicles — excluding Yuguang residents — from 10am to 6pm daily, the studio said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan, US sign coast guard MOU
Taiwan, US sign coast guard MOUFREE AND OPEN INDO-PACIFIC: The memorandum of understanding would be the basis for the establishment of a joint coast guard working group, Tsai Ing-wen saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan and the US on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a coast guard working group, the first official document inked by the two nations since US President Joe Biden took office in January. Coast Guard Administration Director-General Chou Mei-wu, right, presents American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen with a model of a coast guard vessel at an event in Taipei yesterday to mark Taiwan and the US signing a memorandum of understanding to establish a coast guard working group. American Institute in Taiwan Managing Director Ingrid Larson, left, and Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim in Washington on Thursday hold up a signed memorandum of understanding to establish a Taiwan and US coast guard working group. “This MOU formalizes our already robust and longstanding cooperation with Taiwan’s coast guard,” AIT Director Brent Christensen said, describing Taiwan’s coast guard as “highly versatile in a variety of skills.”Taiwan’s coast guard regularly takes part in training exercises at the US Coast Guard Academy, and it also invites USCG members to visit Taiwan to increase bilateral interactions, CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) said. The news conference was also attended by Japanese Representative to Taiwan Hiroyasu Izumi, British Representative to Taiwan John Dennis and Canadian Representative to Taiwan Jordan Reeves, as well as other foreign envoys.
Source:Taipei Times
March 26, 2021 15:56 UTC
Pegatron expects stable consumer electronics demand
Pegatron expects stable consumer electronics demandBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterPegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said that it expects increased demand for consumer electronics products would continue throughout this year, after the company posted a five-year high earnings per share for last year. “Demand for consumer electronics will accelerate,” Pegatron chief executive officer Liao Syh-jang (廖賜政) told an investors’ conference in Taipei. “We can expect people to upgrade their handsets and new technologies to blossom in the automotive electronics sector.”However, Pegatron is cautious about component shortages, Liao said. The long product life cycle of vehicles makes the sector a stable business opportunity for Pegatron, Liao said. “Conventional cars have a life cycle of eight to 10 years, while electric vehicles have a life cycle of five to six years.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC
CTBC hints at dividend with yield of up to 5%
CTBC hints at dividend with yield of up to 5%CONTINUITY: The dividend’s payout ratio should be above 50 percent, as has been in three out of four years to 2019, the company saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterCTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) aims to pay a high cash dividend this year, with a payout ratio above 50 percent and a dividend yield of 4 to 5 percent, CTBC spokeswoman Chiu Ya-ling (邱雅玲) told an investors’ conference yesterday. The company reported earnings per share of NT$2.15 for last year, but its board of directors has not finalized talks on a cash dividend. However, as the firm’s insurance arm, Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽), would retain last year’s net profit as a capital injection, the dividend would not be as high as without this move, Chiu said. CTBC Financial Holding Co spokeswoman Chiu Ya-ling, right, and company president Daniel Wu attend an investors’ conference in Taipei on April 30, 2019. Market watchers expect a cash dividend per share between NT$0.872 and NT$1.09 this year.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC
Tunnel built for Chiang Kai-shek opens to public
Last year, about 170,000 visited the west tunnel, the hotel said. As tours of the west tunnel were warmly received, the hotel began renovating the east passage more than a year ago to open it to the public, it said. Visitors walk through the eastern escape route at the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei TimesVisitors to the 67m-long east passage first descend an 84-step staircase before continuing down the tunnel. The 85m-long west passage has a 20m-long slide next to the staircase, which was used to evacuate anyone unable to use the stairs.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC
Investigation of seats shows all tour buses should be inspected, TTSB says
Investigation of seats shows all tour buses should be inspected, TTSB saysBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Transportation and Communications should inspect all tour buses across the nation to ensure that passenger seats were properly installed, following several major bus accidents, the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) said in a safety notice yesterday. Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei TimesInvestigators found that several passenger seats detached due to the impact, which they said was unusual. “Current safety inspections only test the structural strength of the passenger seats and whether a seat can adequately absorb impacts,” the board said. There are no specifications for the installation of seats and no standards for the inspection of modified passenger seats, it added. Board Chairman Young Hong-tsu (楊宏智) said in an interview yesterday afternoon that the three accidents presented a universal issue with the installation and fastening of passenger seats.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT demands action to address water shortage
KMT demands action to address water shortageBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused the government of not being proactive enough in addressing the water shortage and said that the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program failed to prevent the situation. The project’s aim is to build an environment without water shortages or flooding, where people have access to quality drinking water and water is a part of public recreation, it said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang accuses the government of mishandling water shortages at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Since August last year, there have been warning signs of tightening water supplies, committee deputy director-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said. The government has not put enough effort into solving the water shortage, Alicia Wang said, adding that the president should personally direct the government’s response.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC
Hon Hai’s EV platform to become independent in July
Hon Hai’s EV platform to become independent in JulyBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) MIH platform for electric vehicles (EVs) is to become an independent business unit in July, the company said at the first MIH Open Platform Alliance membership meeting in Taipei yesterday. More than 1,200 companies in the EV supply chain have joined the alliance since its inception in October last year. “In the future, you will be able to develop 80 percent of an EV’s functions on the cloud,” Hon Hai chief technology officer William Wei (魏國章) said. Lin said that through flexibility in EV development, a whole new mobility market would emerge. The MIH platform can accommodate vehicles as diverse as busses and microvehicles, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 25, 2021 15:56 UTC