Taipei allocates NT$608bn for infrastructure
Taipei allocates NT$608bn for infrastructureStaff writer, with CNAThe government has allocated NT$608 billion (US$21.35 billion) to spend on public infrastructure this year, in a bid to stimulate the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Development Council (NDC) said on Monday. Premier Su Tseng-chang, right, speaks alongside National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesRegarding the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, more than NT$60 billion would be allocated in September for the acquisition of land, the council said. The 4,500 hectare project, near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, is to be a modern industrial logistics center, development zone and urban residential area. Government agencies are being urged to expedite work on infrastructure projects, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: End inappropriate school activities
EDITORIAL: End inappropriate school activitiesTaichung Municipal Fengyuan High School has come under fire for a live simulation staged for its Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism course, in which students were asked to divide into groups and engage in combat armed with gel blasters. While gel blasters are touted as safe, nontoxic and biodegradable, they do cause pain. In the video, students are seen rubbing their wounds, while one lifts his shirt to display a rash on his back. The students being “executed” in the video were wearing regular school clothes without any protective gear. More people need to speak out about these types of ridiculous school activities so that they can be consigned to the past.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
Innolux, AUO not concerned over water cuts
Innolux, AUO not concerned over water cutsRECLAIMED WATER: The two companies said that they recycle more than 95 percent of their wastewater and reuse the water for flat-panel manufacturingBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterLCD panel makers Innolux Corp (群創) and AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) yesterday said that water restrictions do not threaten their production, as they have increased their usage of reclaimed water. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesAs water supply remains stable, no trucks have been commissioned yet, the companies said. Innolux also sought help from the Tainan City Government to find an alternative water source, Yang said. The water supply issue is less of a problem than the shortage of chips used in flat panels, Yang said. Driver ICs, touch sensors, and power management chips and glasses are in short supply, Innolux said early this month.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
Songshan airport steps up with ‘3e Smart Service’
Songshan airport steps up with ‘3e Smart Service’By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterStarting today, people can enjoy faster service at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) with its smart e-pass system, allowing them to have their passport authenticated, pass through immigration and board their flight electronically, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. Songshan airport is the first in the nation to conduct a six-month trial of the “3e Smart Service” — e-Check (passport authentication), e-Gate (immigration) and e-Board (gate access) — as part of the government’s efforts to promote “touchless service.”Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) inspected the airport’s 3e Smart Service yesterday morning. Airline workers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) prepare for a six-month trial run of the “3e Smart Service” — e-Check, e-Gate and e-Board — that is scheduled to start today. People’s travel information is automatically forwarded from the e-Check and e-Gate devices to the e-Board devices, he said. CAA said that it spent NT$990,000 building the 3e Smart Service.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
TRA unveils new ticket machines
TRA unveils new ticket machinesMOBILE PAYMENTS: The machines offer new payment services, as well as instructions in multiple languages, while they have two versions, one for disabled peopleBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday unveiled new ticket machines, which people will be able to start using at stations in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien from now until Monday next week. The new machines allow people to book tickets with or without reserved seats, operations that have until now been done on separate machines, the TRA said. A woman uses a new ticket machine at an event arranged by the Taiwan Railways Administration at Taipei Railway Station yesterday. To request a refund, the ticket is inserted into the machine and a refund button is pressed, the TRA said. The machines offer service in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, German, French and Spanish, the TRA said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
MiTAC trumpets US$7.2bn Synnex-Tech Data merger
MiTAC trumpets US$7.2bn Synnex-Tech Data mergerMASSIVE FOOTPRINT: If the plan is approved, Tech Data and Synnex are expected to create the world’s largest IT distributor, serving more than 100 countriesStaff writer, with CNAMiTAC Holdings Corp (神達控股) yesterday announced a US$7.2 billion merger between its investment company, Synnex Corp, and information technology distributor Tech Data, which would create a world-leading information technology (IT) distributor if approved. Synnex and Tech Data, both based in the US, have entered into a definitive merger agreement, under which the two companies would combine in a transaction valued at about US$7.2 billion, including net debt, Taoyuan-based MiTAC said. The MiTAC Holdings Corp logo is seen in the company’s office in Taipei on Jan. 18, 2018. The company announced yesterday a US$7.2 billion merger between its investment company, Synnex Corp, and IT distributor Tech Data, which if approved will create a world-leading IT distributor. Synnex president and chief executive officer Dennis Polk said the company is excited to partner with a world-class industry leader such as Tech Data and believes that the move would benefit all stakeholders.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
Department reveals new logo for gender equality awareness
Department reveals new logo for gender equality awarenessBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Executive Yuan’s Department of Gender Equality yesterday announced the winners of a logo design contest and a short film competition aimed at promoting gender equality. Nine teams received prizes in the short film competition and six designers won awards in the logo design contest at an awards ceremony in Taipei. Short films and logos are important tools for promoting gender equality, Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told the ceremony. The winning logo design by Chen Pei-chi is pictured after the Executive Yuan announced the winners of a logo design and short film contest to promote gender equality at an awards ceremony in Taipei yesterday. Gender equality issues do not only exist on the screen, he said, calling for greater understanding of the concept of equality.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
Olympic athletes start vaccine shots: CECC
Olympic athletes start vaccine shots: CECCBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterAthletes who have qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics yesterday started receiving their first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said. Tokyo Olympics qualifiers have also been given first priority for vaccination, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General and CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. A nurse at National Taiwan University Hospital prepares COVID-19 vaccine shots on Monday. The CECC hopes that athletes and national team staff members can complete the two doses before heading to the competition, he said. The CECC reported one imported case of COVID-19 yesterday — a Dutch man in his 20s.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
Ministry condemns vaccine politics
Alexander Yui, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, at a news conference in Taipei yesterday accused Chinese COVID-19 vaccine suppliers of trying to persuade Paraguay to cut ties with Taiwan. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei TimesThe government is helping Paraguay purchase vaccines through different channels, and it is opposed to any other party offering vaccines to its ally with conditions, he said. Taiwan did not “transfer” 2 million vaccine doses to Paraguay that it plans to purchase from AstraZeneca, as some media reports have alleged, Yui said. Yui also cited a statement by the Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs that referred to it being pressured to sever ties with Taipei. The Paraguayan ministry also said that India and Qatar had promised to donate 200,000 doses of the Covaxin vaccine and 400,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine to the country respectively.
Source:Taipei Times
March 23, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT to hold nationwide forums on referendums
KMT to hold nationwide forums on referendumsKEEPING FOCUS: The party would not take a definitive position on the nuclear power plant issue, as it would detract from its two referendums, a KMT source saidBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday began preparations for nationwide forums to explain the party’s stance on referendums that are to be voted on in August. The KMT has already held 169 forums for its chapter workers and members across Taiwan, a party source said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang talks to reporters while attending a youth activity in Taipei yesterday. The KMT said that it was glad to see two other referendums proposed by members of the public, adding that it would respect the public’s decision. The other, headed by nuclear power advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修), hopes to activate the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Source:Taipei Times
March 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Philippines begins trial Taiwan pork imports
Philippines begins trial Taiwan pork importsBy Yang Yuan-ting / Staff reporterThe Philippines last month imported a small amount of Taiwanese pork on a trial basis, and plans to import breeding swine from Taiwan to rebuild its hog industry, the Council of Agriculture said on Friday. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in June last year declared Taiwan proper, Penghu and Matsu a foot-and-mouth disease-free zone, meaning the nation could finally export its pork products after a 23-year hiatus. Last year, Taiwan exported 4,500 tonnes of pork products, including canned pork, generating revenue totaling NT$680 million, (US$23.89 million) council data showed. Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei TimesMacau was the first to accept imports, and in the second half of last year imported 1,628 tonnes of Taiwanese pork products worth NT$140 million, the data showed. Nonetheless, the Philippines last month began importing Taiwanese pork products, with quarantine and related administrative procedures going smoothly, the council said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Nutritionists weigh in on eating salmon
Nutritionists weigh in on eating salmonBy Chen Chien-chih and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerNutritionists and doctors weighed in on the merits of eating fish following a salmon sushi craze triggered by a restaurant chain’s publicity stunt. Salmon is a healthy fish to eat with a wide variety of health benefits, Tainan Municipal Hospital said in a statement. Iced roe, shrimp and slices of raw fish are displayed in Taichung in an undated photograph. Asia University Hospital hepatobiliary and gastroenterology doctor Tseng Sheng-en (曾晟恩) said that people with cirrhosis, diabetes or compromised immune systems should not eat raw fish. “Food poisoning from raw fish is often seen at gastroenterology clinics and emergency rooms,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Passengers bid ‘Queen’ farewell in one last flight
Travelers pose with a China Airlines flight attendant in front of a Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet at a farewell party for the airline’s “Queen of the Skies” fleet at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Mt Fuji in Japan is seen surrounded by clouds during a Boeing 747-400 round-trip flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. “The airline launched Taipei-Shizuoka express flight service on March 15, 2012, bringing many Taiwanese tourists to the prefecture. Kuan Hui-wen (管慧雯), who had worked as a flight attendant before becoming a section chief in the airline’s flight service division, said it was difficult to part with the plane. The airline’s flight service from Taoyuan airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was started in 1993 using a Boeing 747-400 jet.
Source:Taipei Times
March 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: A Taiwanese actor playing a Mexican villain in Italy
The tall, dark-skinned Wang had portrayed Taiwanese Aborigines, Mongolians, Japanese and Koreans, but this would be his first non-Asian role. Wang recalls spending the afternoon watching two Mexican films to prepare, and then winging it. Wang says that he made history as the first Asian actor to play a non-Asian role in a non-Asian country. WARTIME THESPIANGeorge Wang plays a Mexican outlaw in the 1967 spaghetti Western, Colt in the Hand of the Devil. Photo courtesy of Taiwan Film InstituteWang seems to have spoken to locals at length about the 228 Incident while in Taiwan and understood the causes.
Source:Taipei Times
March 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
HSBC to hire 300 to grow wealth management unit
HSBC to hire 300 to grow wealth management unitBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterHSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) is to invest hundreds of millions of dollars per year over the next five years to boost its wealth management business in Taiwan, with plans to hire at least 300 financial planners, the bank said on Thursday. The expansion is part of a plan announced last month by London-headquartered parent company, HSBC Holdings PLC, to invest US$3.5 billion in its wealth management services in Asia, with an aim to become a leading wealth bank. “The local market presents ample opportunity for the wealth management business,” HSBC Taiwan retail banking and wealth management head Linda Yip (葉清玉) told the Taipei Times at a media briefing in Taipei. We encourage financial planners to provide the products that meet customers’ demands and risk appetite, not those with higher commissions. The bank aims to grow its assets under management faster than the market, which would require customers’ trust and the bank offering good financial planning, Yip said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC