Suspects detained after jewelry heist
Jewelry is displayed by the New Taipei City police yesterday after a store was robbed in Sanchong District on Thursday. The video footage, witness accounts and other evidence enabled preliminary identification of the suspects, police said. Two accomplices were detained in that case, but not Chen, they said. Hsia allegedly drove the car with Chen Ching-ke and portions of the loot to her residence in Kaohsiung, investigators said. In a bid to evade police, Chen Ching-ke allegedly took a train from Kaohsiung to Hualien, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Supporters rally for Lee Ming-che
Supporters rally for Lee Ming-cheBy Chung Li-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerChina has denied imprisoned Lee Ming-che (李明哲) contact with the outside world since the COVID-19 pandemic began, human rights groups said yesterday, urging the government to do more to assist the Taiwanese human rights advocate. Supporters of imprisoned Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che hold a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. National Human Rights Committee chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) should represent Taiwan at the summit and demand that APEC establish a mechanism for human rights dialogue that could address China’s human rights violations, Shih said. New School for Democracy director of advocacy Kuo Li-hsuan (郭歷軒) said that Beijing jailed Lee to intimidate Taiwanese so that they would not advocate democracy and human rights in China. “We have a collective responsibility to care about human rights in China.”
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Retro shop touted as salve for dementia
Retro shop touted as salve for dementiaBy Chiu Chih-jou and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerWhile retro shops selling nostalgic trinkets and snacks are a familiar sight in historic districts, the owner of one such store in Pingtung County has discovered an unexpected use for his collection — as a salve for dementia. As a child, Liu lived with his family in a Japanese-style house, where his father renovated old furniture and household items. He even acquired a bicycle ridden by the owner of a popular ice dessert shop in Chaojhou, a piece of local history. His mother used to sell furniture at a shop on the central traffic circle in Chaojhou, but after she developed mild dementia, Liu returned to look after her. In his retirement, Liu is operating the antiques store from his mother’s old furniture shop and drawing upon his experience working abroad to help exchange students.
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Developers chill on property market
Developers chill on property marketSADDLED DOWN: Developers and builders have become the nation’s largest debtors, accounting for 25 percent of bank loans, up from 20 percent in 2017, an analyst saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterDevelopers and analysts yesterday turned conservative about the local property market’s outlook after the central bank further tightened credit controls and the Ministry of Finance announced plans to stiffen property tax terms. Developers and builders became the nation’s largest debtors in January, accounting for 25 percent of overall bank loans, Sinyi research manager Tseng Ching-der (增進德) said, citing government statistics. The figures show that developers and builders acquired land and launched new projects during the soft period from 2015 to 2017, when they made up 20 percent of the nation’s outstanding loans, Tseng said. The rapid loan growth reflected an upturn in the property market, and alerted regulators about the need to step in to prevent a bubble, Tseng said. Legislators are reviewing property tax bills that might impose property levies of 45 percent on houses resold within five years of their purchase from two years to curb short-term speculation.
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Government must crack down on CUPP, Lim says
Government must crack down on CUPP, Lim saysBy Chien Hui-ju / Staff reporterIndependent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday urged the government to crack down on the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), citing possible serious breaches of the law, including colluding with an enemy state. Lim told Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at the legislature that CUPP founder Chang An-le (張安樂) had stated publicly that the party would form a “red” propaganda team to promote unification with China, including the possibility of “armed insurrection.”“Our government must prohibit such brazen flouting of the law by those acting as collaborators with China,” Lim said. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei TimesChang said in a Chinese radio interview that the CUPP had recruited young Taiwanese, turning them from “green” to “red,” and that it was planning an armed insurrection within Taiwan when China launches an invasion of Taiwan, Lim said. China’s propaganda warfare comes in many forms and in Taiwan it has the CUPP networking with criminal gangs, recruiting Taiwanese and creating havoc in society, he said. Chang can speak freely, because he has the right to freedom of expression, “but he is promoting Chinese propaganda and calling for an armed insurrection, which is breaking the law,” Lim said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Business travel from China to restart
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san speaks at a news conference at the council in Taipei yesterday. Underlining his intent, Chiu announced an end to a ban on Chinese business travelers after more than a year of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Discussions are continuing on whether to resume travel for Chinese with family in Taiwan, as well as on border control adjustments, he said. However, as the center does not yet list China as a medium-low or low-risk region, Chinese business travelers are not eligible for shortened quarantines, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said. Aside from business travelers, Chinese nationals with Taiwanese residency, as well as their spouses and children, can enter Taiwan, in addition to students, and those with imperative family or health reasons.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:25 UTC
‘Travel bubble’ with Singapore might be next: minister
‘Travel bubble’ with Singapore might be next: ministerBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterTaiwan might form a “travel bubble” with Singapore after reaching a similar deal with Palau, although the government has not seen a proposal from the Singaporean government, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. On Wednesday, the center announced that group tours would begin on April 1 as part of a “travel bubble” arrangement with Palau. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks at a meeting of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. However, Singapore on Dec. 18 last year eased travel restrictions on Taiwanese, allowing them to enter the country without being vaccinated if they provide an air travel pass, Chen said. “We are still studying relevant issues, but we have not received any proposal from them yet.”The CECC approved the Palau “travel bubble” swiftly, because the Micronesian nation has no confirmed COVID-19 cases, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:18 UTC
Couples flock to Changhua’s Great Buddha
Tourists visit the Great Buddha in Changhua County on Sunday. A couple in traditional Indonesian wedding clothes have photographs taken with the Great Buddha in Changhua County on Sunday. The newlyweds made their way from the archway near the visitors’ center to Nine Dragon Pond, stopping to take photos and receive good wishes from passersby, the Great Buddha omnipresent behind them. To them, the Great Buddha represents Changhua, so they decided it would be the perfect spot to take wedding photos, they added. “So many people come to take wedding photos,” Baguashan Great Buddha Scenic Association chairman Chang Shih-liang (張世良) said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:05 UTC
Fourth Nuclear Plant activation ‘no option’: Tsai
Fourth Nuclear Plant activation ‘no option’: TsaiBy Yang Chun-hui and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, staff writer, with CNAPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday slammed a referendum to activate the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, citing the lack of a long-term storage facility for spent fuel rods. Concerns over safety and cost of nuclear energy make operating the plant not viable, Tsai said. Taiwan has four nuclear power plants. The Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant, the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant and the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant are in New Taipei City, while the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant is in Pingtung County. We cannot make use of nuclear power if we do not have facilities for radioactive waste,” Hou said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:05 UTC
Prosecutors search Kaohsiung council speaker’s office
Prosecutors search Kaohsiung council speaker’s officeBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterInvestigators yesterday searched the home and office of Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Zeng Li-yan (曾麗燕) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Investigators seized Zeng’s office registry and accounting documents from the past 10 years to examine payments to office assistants. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Zeng Li-yan is pictured in an undated photograph in Kaohsiung. Photo: Ko You-hao, Taipei TimesZeng, 68, and her assistants were summoned for questioning at the the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office. In 2009, 20 Kaohsiung councilors were indicted on charges of corruption and forgery for similar offenses.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:05 UTC
KMT slams DPP policy fora as ‘internal propaganda’
KMT slams DPP policy fora as ‘internal propaganda’By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterPlans by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to hold a series of nationwide forums on government policies was “internal propaganda” to rally DPP supporters against a referendum on the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal off Taoyuan, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Pan and his alliance yesterday delivered more than 700,000 signatures supporting the referendum proposal to the Central Election Commission. Wang made the remark in response to a statement by Tsai at a DPP meeting on local politics in Taipei. “If President Tsai does not want to unite Taiwan, she should not tear Taiwan apart,” the KMT said. Tsai was only catering to the DPP’s interests, the KMT said, adding that she should stop accusing it of being a “red party” to distract from her policy being challenged in several referendums.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:05 UTC
MOEA mulls curbing water use by 15%
As of 5pm yesterday, the reservoir, which provides water for the Hsinchu Science Park, was at 9.9 percent of capacity, a record low. Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times“Our goal is to preserve the maximum amount of water without affecting industrial production,” Wang said. The ministry also plans to increase the supply of water from alternative sources to the affected area, including the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), Wang said. As of 5pm yesterday, the Baoshan Second Reservoir (寶二水庫), which supplies water to the Hsinchu Science Park, had fallen to 9.9 percent of capacity, a record low. “We pray to the skies for rain, but the government must drill emergency wells and everybody must conserve water.”
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:00 UTC
Seeking capacity, E Ink to double capital spending
Seeking capacity, E Ink to double capital spendingBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterE Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s sole supplier of e-paper displays, yesterday said that it plans to double its capital expenditure to NT$1.6 billion (US$56.53 million) to expand capacity and catch up with customer demand. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesThe Hsinchu-based company last year spent between NT$750 million and NT$800 million on new facilities and manufacturing equipment. For the whole of this year, we can grow our revenue,” company chief financial officer Lloyd Chen (陳樂群) told a virtual investors’ conference yesterday. However, revenue growth is contingent on the speed of the company’s capacity expansion and the availability of key components, such as display drive ICs, Chen said. Last year’s operating profit approached royalty income (NT$1.89 billion), indicating that E Ink no longer needs to depend on royalties for growth.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:00 UTC
Next Bank general manager steps down
Next Bank general manager steps downBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterNext Bank (將來銀行) general manager Liu I-cheng (劉奕成) unexpectedly resigned yesterday, casting a shadow over the Web-only bank, which has yet to obtain an operating license from the nation’s regulator. “Liu served as chief executive officer of the preparations office of Next Bank in November 2018 and he has been the bank’s general manager since January last year. From left, Next Bank deputy general manager Jacob Mei, chairman Chung Fu-kuei and general manager Liu I-cheng pose for a photograph at a news conference in Taipei on Aug. 1, 2019. Prior to joining Next Bank, Liu served as head of the preparations office of Line Bank. The commission yesterday said that it expected Next Bank to appoint a new general manager soon and that it would review the qualifications of the new general manager.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2021 16:00 UTC
Water surcharges no solution: group
Water surcharges no solution: group‘BETTER OPTIONS’: The chairman of the Third Wednesday Club said the measure would add to manufacturers’ costs, contrary to the government’s aim of attracting investmentBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterA major trade group yesterday called on the government to use water surcharges only as a last resort to encourage water conservation, saying that the measure would not resolve ongoing water shortages and would increase corporate operating costs. As Taiwan faces its worst shortage in 56 years, government officials have revived talks about imposing water surcharges on heavy water users — namely manufacturers of electronics, and steel and textile products, as well as dyeing and finishing service providers. 2 contract laptop maker, said that electronics firms, especially semiconductor makers, are heavy water users and are concerned that the shortage might affect their production. Water surcharges would not help increase the nation’s water supply, but would add to manufacturers’ production costs, running contrary to the government’s efforts to attract investment, he said. The trade group also said that it wants to visit Japan and China toward the end of this year.
Source:Taipei Times
March 17, 2021 15:56 UTC