Nearly 700kg of ketamine seized at Taoyuan airport
Nearly 700kg of ketamine seized at Taoyuan airportStaff writer, with CNANearly 700kg of ketamine powder was last week seized in a raid carried out by law enforcement at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday. The ketamine powder, which has an estimated market value of NT$1 billion (US$34.71 million), was the biggest shipment of illegal drugs ever smuggled into Taiwan by air, the bureau said. Bags containing almost 700kg of smuggled ketamine powder seized by police are displayed in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei TimesThe officers also arrested a pickup driver and three customs officers believed to have been involved, Teng said. During questioning, the customs officers denied any involvement and were later released on bail, Teng added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 27, 2020 16:07 UTC
FEATURE: Age gap grows in workforce, DGBAS says
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei TimesThe participation rate among workers aged 65 or older was even lower than the 50-or-older group at only 8.32 percent, Chen said. Previously, the late-middle-aged participation rate was lower due to the prevalence of higher education, which delays the time for people to enter the job market, she said. The female participation rate in the same age group grew every year during the period, reaching a peak of 51.1 percent last year, 5.9 percent higher than in 2009, she said. In the 45-to-49 age group, the participation rate among men and women this year was 95.1 percent and 74.8 percent respectively, she said. The 55-to-59 age group had a participation rate of 56.1 percent, with male and female rates of 70.4 percent and 42.4 percent respectively, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 27, 2020 15:56 UTC
Kwang Yang introduces new electric sport scooter
Kwang Yang introduces new electric sport scooterBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterKwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業), which sells its products under the brandname KYMCO, yesterday unveiled a new electric sport scooter, dubbed F9, to target eco-conscious riders. The nation’s biggest manufacturer of gas-powered scooters, Kwang Yang ventured into electric scooters about three years ago by remaking its gas-powered “Many” and “Nice” series into electric ones. Kwang Yang Motor Co chairman Allen Ko poses in front of the company’s latest scooter and motorcycle models at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. The one-seat electric scooter performs better than a 150cc scooter, the company said, adding that most electric scooters sold on the local market are 125cc models, including those from Gogoro Inc (睿能創意). Kwang Yang unveiled the concept vehicle at the Milan Motorcycle Show last year, targeting the global electric motorcycle market.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
More than 70% against US pork imports: survey
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. A survey last month found that 65.9 percent of respondents opposed imports of pork containing ractopamine, KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳳) told a news conference in Taipei. This month’s foundation survey also found that 20.9 percent of people said that Beijing would “bully Taiwan even more” after US president-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. The survey results were based on telephone interviews with 1,078 people aged 20 or older, the foundation said. The survey was conducted by Taiwan Real Survey and had margin of error of 2.98 percentage points, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
CAL font size on planes reduced
CAL font size on planes reducedBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterChina Airlines (CAL, 中華航空) has reduced the font of its name on the exterior of its new cargo aircraft to allow more space to highlight images that represent Taiwan, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times“The airline is still testing the Boeing 777F cargo aircraft that it has purchased. The new aircraft would have more space on the exterior for us to highlight imagery representing Taiwan,” Lin said. “For now, we have reduced the font of the airline’s name. Airport staff prepare a shipment of masks to be loaded onto a China Airlines aircraft at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in April.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Highways & Byways:
In the space of just under 6km, Provincial Highway 20A (20甲) exits Chihshang, passes farms, crosses the Sinwulu River (新武呂溪), and merges into Provincial Highway 20. The view to the southeast from Highway 20. Since Morakot, the high-altitude section of the South Cross-Island Highway has been officially closed to through-traffic. Opposite the police station that monitors the intersection between highways 20A and 20, a bilingual notice reminds road-users: “Access to Siangyang (向陽) only.” The distance from central Chihshang to Siangyang is approximately 57km. From there, Highway 20 switchbacks up to Motian (摩天; 1,546m above sea level), where there’s no permanent village.
Source:Taipei Times
November 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Book review: Taiwan in global context
Book review: Taiwan in global contextThis book contains much interesting material on literature, food, travel and cinema. The former is the author of Colonial Taiwan: Negotiating Identities and Modernity through Literature, while the latter wrote Place, Identity and National Imagination in Post-war Taiwan. Positioning Taiwan in a Global Context Being And Becoming Edited Pei-yin Lin and Bei-yo ChangEach editor contributes an item to this book, Lin on the topic as a whole (the introductory chapter), Chang on tourism to Taiwan in a chapter called “From ‘free China’ to sunny paradise.”The book takes its place in Routledge’s Research on Taiwan series. In this context Taiwan is seen as the female being approached by a hard-bitten Hong Kong male. In “Translating Taiwan southward” Adam Lifshey points to the largely neglected strait between Taiwan and the Philippines, and the relationship between Taiwan and its southern neighbor.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Tsai confident on good relations with Washington
Tsai cited several bills in support of Taiwan that Washington had passed over the past four years, the approval of 10 arms procurement deals to boost Taiwan’s military capability, and visits by top-level US officials as indicative of a wide-ranging progress in bilateral relations. President Tsai Ing-wen talks to reporters before attending a Democratic Progressive Party Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei yesterday. “Taiwan’s move to lift trade barriers is good for American farmers, ranchers and our economy. Su and his team have worked diligently and the public is enjoying the fruit of their labor, Tsai said. Asked about the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) decision not to renew CTi News’ operating license, Tsai said: “We have the rule of law in Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Bridge fell due to corrosion, lack of inspection
Bridge fell due to corrosion, lack of inspectionBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterSevere corrosion of stranded steel wires and a lack of inspections necessary for special bridges were the main reasons leading to the collapse of the Nanfangao Bridge (南方澳大橋) in Yilan County’s Port of Suao on Oct. 1 last year, an investigation by the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board showed yesterday. “Anchors and the stranded steel wires on the bridge were immersed in salty water for a long period of time, corroding stranded steel wires,” the board said. Before the accident, stranded steel wires at cable Nos. 10, the residual strength of the corroded stranded steel wires in cable No. The broken steel cables led to increased stress on the bridge’s steel girders, which eventually caused the bridge to collapse, the board said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Legislator’s home, office searched in fraud investigation
Legislator’s home, office searched in fraud investigationBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterAuthorities yesterday searched the office and residence of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) in Kaohsiung, along with those of her family, as part of an investigation into alleged securities fraud, with investors in Pharmally International Holding Co losing an estimated NT$1.5 billion (US$52.05 million) after its stock price collapsed. Phamally chairman Tony Huang (黃文烈), 59, has fled Taiwan and is reportedly hiding in Singapore, investigators said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu I-ding said yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei that Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau agents had searched her office and residence in Kaohsiung. The investigation was launched in August, with 14 people summoned for questioning at the time, while an international warrant has been issued for Huang’s arrest. Prosecutors alleged that Huang illegally transfered NT$700 million into his personal bank accounts, which have affected four of his lenders — Entie Commercial Bank, Far Eastern International Bank, Hua Nan Bank and Bank SinoPac.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Fubon Life’s FYPs dive 44.6 percent annually
Fubon Life’s FYPs dive 44.6 percent annuallyBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterFubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) yesterday reported that its first-year premiums (FYPs) for the first three quarters fell 44.6 percent year-on-year to NT$93.1 billion due to stricter regulations and the COVID-19 pandemic. The FYPs are received in the first year of a recurring policy and are the main resource for life insures’ new investments. Fubon Life in May forecast that its FYPs would fall 30 percent for the whole of this year. The logo of Fubon Life Insurance Co is pictured outside the company’s headquarters in Taipei on Nov. 22 last year. The bank would concentrate on providing personal loans, and loans to small and medium-sized companies as they have higher margins, Cheng said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
FSC fines E.Sun NT$20m over theft
FSC fines E.Sun NT$20m over theftSETTING AN EXAMPLE: The commission suspended the bank’s two top executives as ‘a warning to all banks,’ while the fine is the biggest to be given to a bank in a single caseBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) NT$20 million (US$693,698) over a theft scandal and punished the bank’s two top executives. A sign displaying the logo of E.Sun Financial Holding Co stands outside the company’s headquarters in Taipei in an undated photograph. “People follow the example of their superiors… Our punishment for the two top executives is a warning to all banks,” Huang said. The FSC spent two months investigating Chen and Chang to ascertain whether they were responsible for the breach, he said. E.Sun Bank’s BIS capital ratio would be reduced to 13.75 percent, from 14.02 percent, as the commission thinks that the bank has a higher risk than its current estimate, Chuang said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei unveils subsidies in bid to woo tourists
Taipei unveils subsidies in bid to woo touristsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Taipei Department of Information and Tourism yesterday announced a new tourism program that offers independent travelers and members of tourist groups a NT$1,000 (US$34.68) subsidy per person for an overnight stay in the city between next month and March 7. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, center, and city goverment officials hold placards to announce new subsidies for tourists at a news conference at Taipei City Hall yesterday. “We plan to subsidize 100,000 members of tourist groups NT$1,000 per person, and the same for 100,000 independent travelers. Subsidies would be offered to 50,000 independent travelers until Jan. 31, and then another 50,000 from Feb. 1 to March 7. Independent travelers can start applying for the subsidy on the department’s Web site from Dec. 20.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
PNG application to join Austronesian Forum ratified
PNG application to join Austronesian Forum ratifiedBy Yang Mian-chieh and Jason Pan / Staff reportersAn application by Papua New Guinea (PNG) to join the Austronesian Forum was approved at an executive council meeting at the Grand Hotel in Taipei on Monday, while Canada and Australia joined as observers. Launched in 2002, the forum began formal collaborative work with 12 Pacific island nations in 2018. Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, center, poses for a group photograph with foreign representatives at an Austronesian Forum executive committee meeting at the Grand Hotel in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei TimesThe forum’s headquarters was inaugurated in Palau on Sept. 30 last year at its annual executive council meeting. “In that meeting, it was decided to hold the Austronesian Forum and the executive council meeting in Hawaii in June this year,” Icyang said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Water shortage expected to worsen during winter
Water shortage expected to worsen during winterNON-TYPICAL: Apart from Atsani, storms in autumn missed Taiwan, rainfall has been lower and average temperatures have been higher, a CWB forecaster saidBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe current water shortage is expected to worsen in the next few months, with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday forecasting a colder, dryer winter than normal. Third, average rainfall was 354.8mm, 271.7mm less than average, Lu said. Rain came from frontal systems, clouds in the circumfluence of typhoons or tropical storms, and the northeast monsoon, he said. Average rainfall from next month to February is expected to be from slightly below average to normal, he said. Cold waves are expected relatively frequently this winter, as La Nina tends to facilitate cold air from the north, Lu said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2020 15:56 UTC