EDITORIAL: Taking traffic safety seriously
EDITORIAL: Taking traffic safety seriouslyIn the first eight months of this year, 142 accidents involving scooters along Minquan E Road led to death or injury, according to Taipei City Police Department data cited in a report published on Tuesday by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). Traffic accidents have long been a major cause of death in Taiwan, and something that has not been rectified despite the attention the issue has received from legislators. A report published on March 30 showed an average of eight deaths per day from traffic accidents last year, with more than 457,382 people killed or injured in total. Citing government officials, Pajunen wrote that “the main problem with enforcing Taiwan’s ample traffic laws is the immense labor force needed. Taoyuan police on Monday installed a smart traffic camera that recorded 812 illegal lane changes and other infractions in just one day.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 16:07 UTC
Taichung’s MRT to start four weeks of test runs
Taichung’s MRT to start four weeks of test runsFIRST OF FOUR: The Green Line is to link some of the city’s transport hubs, while feasibility studies for a second line are under way, the MRT company saidStaff writer, with CNAThe first line of Taichung’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system could start trial runs within a week, allowing people to travel for free, the Taichung City Government said on Friday, after it received final operational approval from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Two trains of the Taichung Mass Rapid Transit system are parked at a station on Aug. 28. Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei TimesThe MRT Taichung Green Line has 18 stations and is scheduled to start commercial operations by the end of this year, after 11 years of construction, the city government said. Costs for the Green Line totaled NT$59.3 billion (US$2.05 billion), with NT$32.8 billion funded by the central government. Non-compliance with the Autonomous Regulations of Low-carbon City Development in Taichung City (臺中市發展低碳城市自治條例), which are to be imposed next year, would result in a verbal warning in the first instance, and fines from NT$1,200 to NT$6,000 for further contraventions.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
National security fears raised over seizure of bullets
National security fears raised over seizure of bulletsSERIES OF PACKAGES? The shipment arrived on Oct. 29 at the warehouse, where the CIB conducted a search and found the illegal ammunition, the CIB said. While the order was for 100,000 shotgun shells, the shipment contained only 83,300, with the leftover space filled with 9mm bullets, it said. The Liberty Times quoted national security officials as saying that the case prompted concern amid a protracted US election and the increased frequency of Chinese military airplanes entering Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. While improvised firearms are comparatively easy to make or acquire, making bullets requires specialized knowledge and equipment, making it rare in Taiwan, the report said, citing police officials.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan in Time: Thrown in ‘song jail’
Fong Fei-fei’s album Rose, Rose I Love You was released in December 1978, a month after her singer’s permit was suspended. A notable case involved pop diva Yao Su-jung (姚蘇蓉), who had her permit suspended for two years in 1969 after being arrested while performing the banned song Heartless Person (負心的人). The authorities simply found it too “emotional and despondent,” and would “negatively affect the spirit of the people.”Yao Su-jung left Taiwan after her singer’s permit was suspended for two years. When the singers’ permits were suspended for whatever reason, people would say that they were in “song jail” (歌監), Kuan writes. A photo of late singer Teresa Teng’s singer’s permit.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
Up to 75% of mushrooms contain lead: survey
Up to 75% of mushrooms contain lead: surveyBy Yang Mien-chieh and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAUp to 75 percent of dried Brazilian Murill mushrooms in markets in Taipei and New Taipei City contain excessive levels of heavy metals, with some containing amounts five to 7.5 times higher than the legal maximum, the Consumers’ Foundation said on Monday. Nine of the latter 12 samples were found to contain levels of lead or cadmium higher than the standards set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ling said. Dried mushrooms are displayed at a news conference held by the Consumers’ Foundation in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei TimesAmong them, one contained lead levels greater than the legal maximum of 3mg/kg, he added. The government should improve inspection protocols, the foundation said, adding that people should rather buy locally grown mushrooms instead of imported ones.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
Lions dominate Brothers 12-1 to force Game 7
Lions dominate Brothers 12-1 to force Game 7By Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe visiting Uni-President Lions yesterday thrashed the CTBC Brothers 12-1, forcing a decisive Taiwan Series Game 7 today at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium for the title. Fans wearing CTBC Brothers gear and holding a banner for Brothers right fielder Chang Chih-hao cheer during Game 6 of the Taiwan Series against the Uni-President Lions at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium yesterday. Baseball fans cheer for their teams at Thursday’s Taiwan Series game between the Uni-President Lions and the CTBC Brothers in Tainan. De Paula left the game after seven innings, and in the eighth, the Lions scored eight runs against five pitchers brought in by Brothers manager Chiu Chang-jung. The Lions’ Pan, a pivotal member of Tainan Lions’ three-peat title dynasty from 2007 to 2009, ignited the rally with a second double to knock in one run.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
Tsai undermining peace efforts, Ma Ying-jeou says
“It was for building a ‘bridge for peace’ for dialogue between the two sides of the Strait,” Ma said of the meeting. Former president Ma Ying-jeou yesterday speaks at a Ma Ying-jeou Foundation forum in Taipei marking the fifth anniversary of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. I was the one who built up this ‘bridge for peace,’ in the hopes of guiding future leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to walk along the ‘boulevard of peace,’” Ma said. “I implore Tsai, if she cannot present an alternative policy, then she should accept the ‘1992 consensus,’ which can lead to negotiations for peace with China, and Taiwanese can live in peace,” he said. In his address, Ma also called on China to stop military provocations against Taiwan with Chinese military aircraft incursions.
Source:Taipei Times
November 07, 2020 15:56 UTC
CEC mulls referendum to ban ractopamine pork
CEC mulls referendum to ban ractopamine porkBy Huang Hsin-po and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday held a hearing on a referendum proposal to ban imports of US pork treated with the controversial feed additive ractopamine. Central Election Commission members in Taipei yesterday attend a hearing on a referendum proposal submitted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus whip Lin Wei-chou. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesMost experts participating in the hearing said that Lin’s proposal met the qualifications of a national referendum, the commission said. Lin rebutted Hsueh’s remarks, saying that as pork containing ractopamine would be cheaper, the annual consumption would rise after it enters the local market. After Japan allowed imports of pork containing ractopamine 15 years ago, the treated pork eventually accounted for more than 50 percent of its total imported pork, Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 16:02 UTC
HTC sales nearly halved last month
HTC sales nearly halved last monthBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterHTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported revenue of NT$430 million (US$14.89 million) for last month, down 47 percent from NT$817 million in September and 34 percent from NT$656 million a year earlier. HTC Taiwan president Darren Chen, left, and HTC Corp CEO Yves Maitre introduce the company’s new smartphones, the U20 5G series, at a news conference in Taipei on June 17. On Oct. 20, HTC launched the 4G HTC Desire 20+, a mid-range model priced at NT$8,940. This month, it made the U20 5G available in black. Contract electronics manufacturer Inventec Corp (英業達) also saw revenue last month fall 18.9 percent month-on-month and 12.6 percent year-on-year to NT$42.1 billion.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Rakuten Bank targets 500,000 digital accounts
Rakuten Bank targets 500,000 digital accountsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterRakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際商銀), a Web-only bank that is expected to begin operations by the end of this year, aims to sign up 500,000 digital savings accounts next year, but it would not launch a price war to attain its goal, chairman Chien Ming-ren (簡明仁) said on Thursday. If the virtual bank achieves its goal, it is likely to overtake O-Bank Co (王道商業銀行) or Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行), which had 441,945 and 471,689 digital savings accounts respectively as of the end of June, and rank third after Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) with 2.11 million accounts and Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) with 680,330. Photo: Lee Chin-hui, Taipei Times“It is very easy for traditional banks to boost their digital savings accounts, as they already have millions of customers. Rakuten Bank is waiting for the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to approve its operating license, Chien said. The bank plans to offer deposits, fund transfer, small loan and debit card services in the initial phase and gradually expand into mortgages and corporate loans, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Eighty percent of food delivery workers fear traffic accidents, survey shows
Eighty percent of food delivery workers fear traffic accidents, survey showsBy Chung Li-hua / Staff reporterUp to 80 percent of those working as food deliverers worry that they will get into a traffic accident while making deliveries, a survey released yesterday by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) and the Taiwan Labor Front found. “We have witnessed recurring tragedies: road accidents involving delivery riders followed by disputes over compensation and medical bills,” she said, citing that over a two-month period, delivery riders in Taipei were involved in more than 200 traffic accidents, resulting in one death and 202 people injured. Forty percent of respondents worked part-time as food deliverers and 42 percent worked full-time, while 18 percent were high-school students. Among the full-time delivery riders, 68 percent had no labor insurance, while 32 percent had coverage through a workers’ union. Sixty-eight percent of the part-time food deliverers had labor insurance through their other job, while 18 percent had no labor insurance and 10 percent had coverage through a workers’ union.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP says Ma forum out of touch
Former president Ma Ying-jeou speaks in Taipei on Oct. 31 at an event to celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Lifelong Learning Center. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei TimesIt kowtowed to Beijing by recasting the so-called “1992 consensus” as “there is only one China, with no differing interpretations,” the DPP said. “However, most Taiwanese have rejected the ‘one country, two systems proposal.’”“The Chinese government must understand this fact,” he said. “The Chinese leadership must face these political realities and must have the courage to change the way it treats cross-strait relations,” he said. The “1992 consensus” is a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Standing up to Beijing’s challenge
The draft law would authorize coast guard vessels “under attack” to respond with force, and to detain vessels that have illegally entered Chinese waters. For Taiwan, which has already butted heads with Tokyo over Japan’s actions toward Taiwanese fishing boats near the Diaoyutais, which are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China, it means that disputes in the area could become a three-way balancing act. By defining the limits of the use of force, the law would enhance the safety in China’s territorial waters, they say. China’s proposed law is the latest in Beijing’s efforts to turn the East and South China seas into its territorial waters. For the sake of regional security and international maritime commerce, it cannot go unchallenged.
Source:Taipei Times
November 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Civic groups call for government probe into Chinese investment in ezTravel
Civic groups call for government probe into Chinese investment in ezTravelBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNAThe government should investigate allegations of Chinese dominance of Taiwan’s largest online travel agency Web site, ezTravel, representatives of two civic groups said at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Chiang also questioned how ezTravel — given its Chinese investment — has continued to win management of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) round-island train travel programs. “It is evident that Trip.com completely owns ezTravel’s board,” Lai said. Chiang called on the government to penalize travel agencies that have not declared that they have received Chinese investment. Investment Commission Executive Secretary Chang Ming-pin (張銘斌) said that previous investigations found that while ezTravel has Chinese investors, their share of its stock had not exceeded the 30 percent permitted by law.
Source:Taipei Times
November 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT think tank urges link to Biden
Yang made the comment at a news conference in Taipei held by the National Policy Foundation, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Yang said he believes that if Biden were to become US president, he would adopt a diplomatic approach that focuses on communication and coordination. Traditionally, US foreign policy has been bipartisan, he said, adding that the general attitudes and policies of both major US parties are similar, although their approaches might be different. In terms of arms sales, Yang said that Biden might think more carefully about how they would affect the relationship between the US and China. Biden is aware of this change, Yang said, adding that the former US vice president would see China as a competitor, but not necessarily an adversary.
Source:Taipei Times
November 05, 2020 15:56 UTC