Looking for a home
Rules to release positive cases to be relaxed todayASYMPTOMATIC: People who test positive for COVID-19 overseas and those who test positive in quarantine may get out of isolation early, public health authorities said Modified standards to allow people who have tested positive for COVID-19, but have no symptoms, to be released from isolation after arriving from overseas are to be implemented today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that from today, asymptomatic individuals who test positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Taiwan would be divided into two groups. The first group is “arriving travelers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in other countries and later tested negative twice before entering Taiwan,” Chen said. He said that they would be released fromBy Lee I-chia
Source:Taipei Times
March 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Lessons from the pineapple saga
EDITORIAL: Lessons from the pineapple sagaIncreased orders for Taiwanese pineapples have helped the government overcome a crisis sparked by China’s ban on the fruit, but healthier agricultural policies are needed as “pineapple nationalism” ends. By comparison, the Australian Office Taipei was quiet, despite Wu’s reference to “freedom wine” promoted by Australia when he launched the pineapple initiative. Despite the Council of Agriculture’s subsidies for shipments and air cargo, it is never easy to sell agricultural products to markets other than China, which remains the main destination of Taiwan’s agricultural exports. Taiwan is known for its exceptional work developing cultivars, such as mango pineapples and peach wax apples introduced last year. To minimize the effect of market fluctuations, authorities should plan with growers in mind, rather than getting lost in agricultural politics.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 16:05 UTC
Former presidential adviser Chiou Chwei-liang dies
Former presidential adviser Chiou Chwei-liang diesBy Lee Hsin-fang and Lin Chia-nan / Staff reportersThe government yesterday expressed grief over the death of former Presidential Office policy adviser Chiou Chwei-liang (邱垂亮), while highlighting his contributions to democracy as well as Taipei-Canberra ties. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was sorrowful to learn of Chiou’s passing, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement. Former Presidential Office policy adviser Chiou Chwei-liang, who died in Australia yesterday, is pictured on May 27, 2004. Chiou was also committed to fostering talent and conserving Hakka culture, while contributing to advancing the Taiwan-Australia friendship, Chang said. In 2003, the Australian government awarded Chiou a medal, marking his special contributions, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Joint water shortage drill to be held in Taichung
Joint water shortage drill to be held in TaichungBy Su Meng-chuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taichung City Government and the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Water Resources Agency are to hold a joint water shortage drill tomorrow, as it aims to prepare city residents to deal with possible water shortages. The decline in water levels nationwide due to a lack of rainfall has led to increasingly dire water shortage situations across the nation, prompting Taichung’s response. The drill would focus on establishing temporary water stations and systems that would guarantee that hospitals have emergency access to water, as well as filtering water sourced from construction sites, the city government said. Starting on Feb. 1, industrial water use has been reduced, while companies that continue to use a lot of water have been subject to weekly monitoring to clamp down and conserve water, the city government said. The city government urged residents to observe water-use guidelines and to use potable or tap water for cooking and drinking, and reclaimed water for general-purpose cleaning.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: From place of worship to palace of hell
Its faded, yellow exterior looks quite garish today, but in 1977 the design won first place in a national architectural competition. The temple had long ceased to be a place of worship by then, and until 1967 it was used by the Taiwan Garrison Command as a detention and interrogation center, mostly for political prisoners. PALACE OF HELLAn illustration of the Indian-style Higashi Honganji, which was built in 1936 and demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Shizilin Commercial Building. The first iteration of Higashi Honganji lasted just two years, burning down in 1930. The classical Indian-style structure, rarely seen in Taiwan, was erected in its place in 1936.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
CECC might bar at-risk travelers from Palau tours
Chen, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), made the remarks on the sidelines of the Taipei Traditional Chinese Medicine International Forum. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung talks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei TimesNoting that Palau has not had any confirmed COVID-19 cases, Chen said that all travelers from Taiwan would have to present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result from a Taiwanese hospital before boarding a plane to Palau. Chen reiterated that only group travel would be allowed to reduce contact with local residents. Taiwan yesterday reported no new domestic or imported COVID-19 cases.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Businesses in Taipei tourist area refocus amid visitor slump
Businesses in Taipei tourist area refocus amid visitor slumpBy Yang Hsin-hui and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerBusinesses in Taipei’s Shilin Night Market are planning to shift their focus to catering to students, after several businesses closed amid plummeting visitor numbers, the Taipei City Government said. Many businesses in the area are increasingly offering products and services to students at the area’s several schools and universities with a total of more than 100,000 students, Chen said. Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times“We are planning a management system for market vendors. The system would include a designated area for their stalls,” he said, adding that it would also include measures to increase pricing transparency. It is also working with the businesses to promote the area for domestic tourism, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
March 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Council reviews Aboriginal hunting rights
Council reviews Aboriginal hunting rightsTRADITIONS: The Council of Grand Justices is to issue an interpretation within one month on whether laws limiting hunting and firearms infringe on Aboriginal rightsBy Wu Cheng-feng and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAOral arguments began on Tuesday in a case that is to determine whether laws restricting hunting and firearms infringe on the constitutional rights of Aborigines. Aboriginal groups rally in front of the Judicial Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday after oral arguments were heard at the Council of Grand Justices to determine whether laws restricting hunting and firearms infringe on the constitutional rights of Aborigines. In Talum’s appeal to the Supreme Court in 2017, the judges decided to suspend the trial until the Council of Grand Justices issues an interpretation on whether the laws breach the constitutional rights of Aborigines. At the hearing, Ministry of the Interior representative Kung Wen-hsiang (宮文祥) said that homemade firearms are sufficient to protect the hunting rights of Aborigines. Homemade shotguns must be front-loading and therefore less efficient to better protect the rights of others, Kung said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
Fees for rescues caused by neglect mulled
Fees for rescues caused by neglect mulledBy Chien Hui-ju and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Ministry of the Interior might support fees for people who are rescued by air in mountainous areas after minor or preventable hiking accidents, the ministry told lawmakers on Thursday. Hikers watch as a helicopter rescues a fellow hiker who fell down a slope and broke a leg in Nantou County on Feb. 17. “While there should not be a general charge for the services, those who abuse them should pay for it,” she said. DPP Legislator Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲) urged a user-pays principle, saying that this would help deter ill-prepared people from going into mountainous areas. DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said that the government should draft a bill introducing fees for hikers who neglectfully necessiate rescue missions.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
TPP calls for measures to address water shortage
TPP calls for measures to address water shortageMISMANAGEMENT? Whenever there is a water shortage, the agricultural sector is usually the first to be asked by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to cut water usage by reducing irrigation, TPP Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) told a news conference in Taipei. Kao also questioned why water resources management has to be divided among the MOEA’s Water Resources Agency, the COA’s Irrigation Agency and Taiwater, adding that the three agencies even make profits by selling water rights to one another. If the government can regularly adjust the prices of electricity and gasoline based on their fluctuating costs, it should apply the same mechanism to water prices, she said. Heavy water users — defined as those that consume more than 50 units — should pay a higher price to encourage them to save and conserve water, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
Coast guard nabs ship loaded with illegal cigarettes
Coast guard nabs ship loaded with illegal cigarettesBy Hung Ting-hung / Staff reporterCoast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol ships last week seized contraband cigarettes worth an estimated NT$110 million (US$3.9 million), after uncovering a smuggling operation that originated in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday. It was the first time a cigarette-smuggling operation was discovered near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), coast guard officials said. The hold of a cargo ship on March 6 is filled with Chinese-made contraband cigarettes. The ship’s Burmese captain told the coast guard that they had embarked from a port in Cambodia loaded with the cigarettes, and were headed to Taiwan, officials said. As of yesterday, the contraband cigarettes had been forwarded to the Kaohsiung City Department of Finance for assessment, the officials said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
CSC to raise steel product prices
CSC to raise steel product pricesCAPACITY CONSTRAINTS: The steelmaker said that signs of a global manufacturing recovery are clear and that a 4.1% rise in global steel demand has been predictedBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterChina Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), the nation’s biggest steelmaker, yesterday said that it would raise prices by 8.3 percent on a quarterly basis for local deliveries next quarter, citing strong demand and rising raw material prices. Steel prices for next month are to rise 1.7 percent, CSC said. “Demand for automobiles, basic infrastructure and appliances is rapidly increasing.”“The World Steel Association predicts an increase in global steel demand of 4.1 percent,” CSC said. CSC cited high costs of raw materials, such as iron ore, scrap steel and smelting materials, for its increase of average steel prices. For quarterly priced products, steel boards are to rise NT$2,500 per tonne, hot-rolled high-carbon steel by NT$2,800 per tonne and automotive steel by NT$2,800 per tonne, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
Dementia groups urge action amid surging incidents
Dementia groups urge action amid surging incidentsBy Cheng Ming-hsiang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerDementia advocacy groups yesterday urged the government and the public to take action against the rising number of incidents of people with dementia going missing, citing Taipei City Government statistics showing 179 incidents last year. Fang urged people with relatives with dementia to outfit them with tracker bracelets and install devices that prevent them from leaving home unaccompanied. There are about 8,700 people with dementia in Taipei, but the Taipei Department of Health has only received 1,751 applications for tracker bracelets, or a 20 percent uptake, the department said. Taiwan Alzheimer Disease Association secretary-general Tang Li-yu (湯麗玉) said that the families of people with dementia should adopt multiple measures, including updating the family member’s ID card with a recent photograph. Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly secretary-general Chang Shu-ching (張淑卿) said that tracker bracelets have over the past few years become safer and more fashionable.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
Saving Qidong Street
Housed in a cluster of seven restored Japanese-era dorms, the Taiwan Literature Base officially opened in December last year. The latest to open to the public is the Taiwan Literature Base (台灣文學基地), launched in December last year. Housed in a cluster of seven restored Japanese-era dorms, the Taiwan Literature Base officially opened in December last year. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times“If not for Chu-Chen Pao-kuei, this place wouldn’t be here,” Sun says. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei Times“I didn’t know any of this stuff before,” she says.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC
Making rounds
Rules to release positive cases to be relaxed todayASYMPTOMATIC: People who test positive for COVID-19 overseas and those who test positive in quarantine may get out of isolation early, public health authorities said Modified standards to allow people who have tested positive for COVID-19, but have no symptoms, to be released from isolation after arriving from overseas are to be implemented today, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that from today, asymptomatic individuals who test positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Taiwan would be divided into two groups. The first group is “arriving travelers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in other countries and later tested negative twice before entering Taiwan,” Chen said. He said that they would be released fromBy Lee I-chia
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2021 15:56 UTC