Extra day of holiday to stay: MOTC
Extra day of holiday to stay: MOTCSMOOTHER TRAVELS: The ministry said it has adopted the measure as a standing policy after the extra day at the beginning of the holiday greatly reduced travel problemsBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNAThe addition of an extra day at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday — the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve — has successfully alleviated travel congestion, so the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has made the change permanent. A traffic jam is pictured on a highway in Changhua County on Feb. 7, 2019, the third day of the Lunar New Year holiday. The TRA has mobilized an additional 288 trains over the holiday, as well as discounted express trains that depart from Taipei, Yilan and Hualien stations, Chang said. The eastern line would feature midnight trains and trains with only registered seating, Chang added. From Monday to Tuesday next week, THSRC trains are only to offer registered seating, with all eating and drinking prohibited, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Innolux, AUO revenues soar over 65%
Innolux yesterday said its consolidated revenue surged 65.9 percent to NT$27.51 billion (US$969 million), the highest monthly revenue in about three-and-a-half years. Innolux said changes to its product portfolios and key component supply constraints affected its shipments last month. Compared with December last year’s NT$28.86 billion, revenue slipped 7.8 percent, as the first quarter is generally a slow season for flat-panel makers. Total shipments also fell at a monthly pace of 7.8 percent last month, the company said. That was a monthly decline of 3.5 percent from NT$2.57 billion in December last year, the company said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT’s Chiang urges Strait dialogue
KMT’s Chiang urges Strait dialogue‘DIFFICULT’ DIPLOMACY: Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang said the party hopes for substantial breakthroughs in the global spaceBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday urged Taipei and Beijing to seek opportunities to resume official dialogue and normal people-to-people exchanges. “We have also noticed that President Tsai has in recent speeches tried her best to show goodwill to the other side” of the Taiwan Strait, Chiang wrote on Facebook. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang, center, accompanied by KMT Secretary-General Lee Chien-lung, talks to reporters in Taipei on Monday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times“The KMT continues to welcome remarks that would help melt the ice for cross-strait reconciliation,” he added. Commenting on Tsai’s remark that Taiwan-US relations remained stable, Chiang wrote that the KMT hopes Tsai can maintain stability in the relationship.
Source:Taipei Times
February 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
AIT video for Year of the Ox focuses on Taiwan-US efforts against virus
AIT video for Year of the Ox focuses on Taiwan-US efforts against virusBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday released a video to mark the Year of the Ox ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and highlight Taiwan-US teamwork in fighting COVID-19. The US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan has the custom each Lunar New Year of releasing a themed video. The two-minute video posted on Facebook yesterday showed AIT Director Brent Christensen, Deputy Director Raymond Greene, spokeswoman Amanda Mansour and other institute officials writing Chinese characters. Some staff members of the American Institute in Taiwan are pictured in a video released by the institute yesterday to wish Taiwanese a happy Lunar New Year. “We hope the Year of the Ox brings us all health and happiness, prosperity and peace.”
Source:Taipei Times
February 09, 2021 15:56 UTC
Scam calls, texts to local users up 488%: Gogolook
Scam calls, texts to local users up 488%: GogolookBy Liu Hui-chin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerWith people worldwide stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of scam calls and text messages has rocketed to new heights, growing 190 percent worldwide last year from 2019, Gogolook said earlier this month. Photo: Huang Ching-chun, Taipei TimesTaiwanese were at particular risk, receiving more than 14 million scam calls and texts last year, up 488 percent from 2019, the company said. Clicking on a suspicious link could infect a device with a Trojan virus, which might hijack the device to send scam messages, it added. The most commonly received scam texts were notifications for package deliveries, as well as banking verification messages, the company said. “When you click the link, it asks you to enter your bank account number, password and ID card number.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Council prepares to end CSF vaccinations of pigs
Council prepares to end CSF vaccinations of pigsBACK TO MARKET: The council said it plans to monitor a small group of pigs over seven months to see if they become infected with CSF, in hopes to resume exportsBy Yang Yuan-ting and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA group of newborn pigs would not be vaccinated against classical swine fever (CSF) as part of an effort to resume exports of pork by 2023, the Council of Agriculture said on Saturday. The council hopes to end all CSF vaccinations within two years and resume pork exports to countries such as Japan, it said. The council would continue with the program, which the Executive Yuan has approved, until the middle of next year, he said. The council spent about NT$500 million (US$17.61 million) on its program to end foot-and-mouth disease vaccinations, and expects to budget a similar amount to end CSF vaccinations, he said, adding that the amount would be less than the amount spent on vaccines annually. “If we are able to stop vaccinations and do not see an outbreak of CSF, then there will be nothing preventing the export of Taiwanese pork,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Magnitude 6 earthquake strikes off the east coast
Magnitude 6 earthquake strikes off the east coastSTAYING ALERT: Some people reported receiving as many as a dozen earthquake warning messages, which the Central Weather Bureau said was due to an errorBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterA magnitude 6.1 earthquake yesterday struck off Taiwan’s east coast at 1:36am, the Central Weather Bureau said, adding that aftershocks of magnitude 4 or higher could occur in the next three days. However, the center has already recorded five magnitude 5 or larger earthquakes since last month, including yesterday’s, he said. Last year, there were 25 magnitude 5 to 6 earthquakes, whereas there were only four earthquakes larger than magnitude 6, Chen said. “The earthquake’s epicenter was far from Taiwan’s northeast coast and was more than 110km deep, which presented a challenge to the early warning system,” he said. To prevent the system from repeating the same warning message, the bureau has begun to improve the automatic detection modules in the earthquake early warning system, Cheng said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Largan shipments plunge to lowest since summer
Largan shipments plunge to lowest since summerStaff writer, with CNASmartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co’s (大立光) sales rose 12.34 percent year-on-year last month, but declined 6.18 percent from December last year amid a slow season for the industry, the company said in a statement on Friday. The headquarters of Largan Precision Co is pictured in Taichung on June 12, 2018. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesHowever, Largan said that lenses with a resolution of 20 megapixels or greater, which have a higher profit margin, accounted for 20 to 30 percent of shipments last month, up from 10 to 20 percent in December. Lenses with 10 to 20 megapixels accounted for 50 to 60 percent last month, and lenses with less than 10 megapixels accounted for 10 percent, Largan said. At an investors’ conference last month, Largan CEO Adam Lin (林恩平) said that the company’s business outlook remained cautious, as uncertainty over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic affected high-end smartphone demand.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Notes from central Taiwan: Taiwan’s water scarcity crisis
Notes from central Taiwan: Taiwan’s water scarcity crisisThe water situation has powerful international implications for Taiwan’s securityBy Michael Turton / Contributing reporterIn discussing Taiwan’s development, it is conventional to present the country as a place with few natural resources, that became rich through hard work, good policy and a little luck. For example, according to a 2018 report from the International Water Association, Taiwan’s water price to income ratio is the second lowest in the world. Since Taiwan gets the bulk of its water from typhoons, this can only mean an increasingly dire water situation over time. Like a sixty-car pile up on a foggy freeway, Taiwan’s water crises are all happening at the same time. Everyone was conscious of the nation’s water scarcity, and every house had a catchment system to store rainwater.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Virus fears spur Lunar New Year lily sales
Virus fears spur Lunar New Year lily salesBy Chen Kuan-pei and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerFragrant lilies usually sell well over the Lunar New Year holiday for their symbolic connotations, but have been in especially high demand this year for a surprising reason — to test for COVID-19, flower vendors said on Saturday. This week, new year lilies fetched about NT$200 for a bouquet of cut flowers and NT$200 to NT$260 for a 5cm planter. The price has not changed much from previous years, yet they have been selling far better, vendors at Changhua County’s Tianwei Highway Garden said. Since one of the telltale symptoms is loss of smell, some have been buying fragrant flowers as a COVID-19 test, Hsu said. In a regular year, Hsu said that he sells 1,000 to 2,000 planters daily over the Lunar New year holiday season.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Regular format resumes on Thursday, Feb. 18.
Regular format resumes on Thursday, Feb. 18. To our readers:Because of the Lunar New Year holiday, from Wednesday, Feb. 10, through Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Thursday to Sunday it will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Monday, Feb. 15. The paper returns to its usual format on Thursday, Feb. 18, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
Source:Taipei Times
February 07, 2021 15:56 UTC
Burmese protest against coup from Taiwan haven
Burmese protest against coup from Taiwan havenBy Ben Blanchard / Reuters, TAIPEIHundreds of people from Taiwan’s large Sino-Burmese community yesterday rallied in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) to denounce the coup in Myanmar and express their support for deposed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Taiwan is home to about 40,000 people from Myanmar, most of whom are ethic Chinese. People wearing National League for Democracy (NLD) T-shirts in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District yesterday protest the recent military coup in Myanmar and show support for deposed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, chairwoman of the NLD. Ko Ko Thu, 54, who fled to Taiwan after those protests were suppressed and helped organize the rally, said that he took inspiration from democratic Taiwan. Yee, an ethnic Chinese woman who asked to be identified by her Burmese name, also came to Taiwan after the 1988 protests, and said that it is important to show opposition to the coup.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: The rehabilitation of Eastern gouache
Taiwan in Time: The rehabilitation of Eastern gouacheLin Chih-chu spent three decades defending Eastern gouache against critics who claimed it was a Japanese artformBy Han Cheung / Staff reporterFeb. 8 to Feb. 14Lin Chih-chu (林之助) spent over three decades trying to convince critics that his art form, commonly known today as Eastern gouache, was rooted in Chinese art, not Japanese. Although Eastern gouache was still allowed in the Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition, Lin was unable to officially teach it. RESISTING OPPRESSIONLin flourished in the Taiwan art scene, claiming top honors in the Governor General’s Office Art Exhibition three years in a row. He did demonstrate some basics of Eastern gouache, and a few enthusiastic students continued to learn from him after school hours. In 1985, he taught the first ever university-level Eastern gouache class at Tunghai University.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Independent Kaohsiung councilor survives recall
Independent Kaohsiung councilor survives recall‘ENDING HATRED’: Huang Jie thanked Fongshan District residents for their support in the ‘retributive’ recall, calling the result a victory for democracy and pro-Taiwan forcesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterIndependent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) yesterday weathered a recall vote to retain her councilor seat in Fongshan District (鳳山). Kaohsiung City Election Commission data showed that 65,391 people voted against recalling her, while 55,261 voted in favor. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh, left, hands a tissue to independent Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie, center, as the result of a failed recall vote against her was announced in Kaohsiung yesterday. KMT officials in Kaohsiung said that the recall motion failed because other political parties put too many resources into protecting Huang. Huang officially entered politics in 2018, when she was elected to the Kaohsiung City Council as a New Power Party (NPP) member.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Homegrown support
British man ninth to die of COVID-19 in TaiwanNOT MORE DEADLY: Although the man had the UK variant of the virus, the hospital could not conclude whether his death was related to it, the CECC said A British man in his 70s on Wednesday became the ninth person, and first foreign national, to die of COVID-19 in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The man traveled from the UK on Dec. 18 last year to visit family, and had a sore throat and fatigue while in quarantine, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference in Taipei. The man was admitted to a hospital on Dec. 29 and tested positive for COVID-19 two days later, Chen said, adding that as his situation deteriorated, he had to be
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2021 15:56 UTC