Teaching load soars with new guidelines: survey
Teaching load soars with new guidelines: surveyBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterNearly 97 percent of senior and vocational high school teachers said their teaching load increased after the implementation last year of new curriculum guidelines, a survey by the National Senior High School Teachers’ Union showed yesterday. In the survey, 93.9 percent of teachers said they were teaching more than the basic 16 class periods per week that full-time senior and vocational high school teachers should teach. From left, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wan Mei-ling, National Senior High School Teachers’ Union president Kao Meng-lin and KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei TimesThe survey asked teachers whether the number of subjects or types of classes they taught increased after the implementation of the new curriculum guidelines. The union urged the government to increase the quota for senior and vocational high school teachers and to reduce their teaching hours.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
India’s snub could embolden others
The Chinese embassy in New Delhi last week e-mailed more than 300 outlets, calling on them to observe this protocol. #Taiwan’s Indian friends will have one reply: GET LOST,” Wu wrote on Wednesday last week. Hashtags related to the national day were also trending inside and outside India, at least, during the first half of the day. Notwithstanding its official “one China” position, the Indian government continues to upgrade and strengthen its ties with Taiwan. Manik Mehta is a New York-based journalist with writing experience on foreign affairs, diplomacy, global economics and international trade.
Source:Taipei Times
October 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan dismisses China’s spy claims
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei TimesThe National Security Bureau is monitoring the situation and would follow up on any developments that could threaten national security, the council added. Lee was accused of “spying on state secrets for an overseas organization and endangering national security,” CCTV said. The Taiwan People’s Party condemns the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the arrests, spokesman Tsai Chun-wei (蔡峻維) said. “The CCP has expanded its interpretation of the link being national security and spy activity. The Taiwan Statebuilding Party said that CCP claims of catching Taiwanese spies were a cover for engaging in psychological warfare against Taiwanese.
Source:Taipei Times
October 12, 2020 15:56 UTC
Foreign arrivals expected to plunge 89% this year
Foreign arrivals expected to plunge 89% this yearBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe number of foreign arrivals in Taiwan is estimated to drop from 11.86 million last year to 1.35 million this year, an 89 percent drop, after countries around the world imposed travel restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tourism Bureau said in a report yesterday. The report, which was presented at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, showed that from January to August, 1.29 million foreign tourists visited Taiwan, down 83.84 percent from a year earlier. For the full year, the bureau expects inbound tourism would drop to a 20-year low of 1.35 million. An empty duty-free shopping area is pictured at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on June 19. On a brighter note, the number of domestic trips taken by citizens could top 210 million this year, a 10-year high, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 12, 2020 15:56 UTC
Statebuilding Party pushes amendments to clearly distinguish Taiwan and China
Statebuilding Party pushes amendments to clearly distinguish Taiwan and ChinaBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday proposed constitutional amendments to clearly distinguish Taiwan and China as separate countries, and remove the goal of unification from the Constitution. From second left, Taiwan Statebuilding Party Organization Department director Lee Yu-chen, Legislator Chen Po-wei and Chairman Chen Yi-chi, and World United Formosans for Independence chairman Richard Chen pose for a picture at a news conference in Taipei yesterday to promote amending the constitution. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times“I also support the ‘one China policy’ because there is a country called China, and another country called Taiwan,” he said. This is why our party wants to help create a new constitution, to closely conform to people’s core values,” Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊) said. In many of the nation’s laws, the terms that define “free area” and “mainland area” are imprecise and open to interpretation, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 12, 2020 15:56 UTC
No ban on toddlers eating treated pork, ministry says
No ban on toddlers eating treated pork, ministry saysWORRIES PERSIST: A mother at a legislative committee meeting said she was concerned about how parents can ensure the safety of pork purchased at food stallsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Health and Welfare would neither encourage nor ban feeding toddlers US pork containing ractopamine, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. “Why else is [pork containing ractopamine] banned in the military and schools?”KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) asked Chen if US pork containing ractopamine was safe for toddlers, who usually have weaker immune systems, as several authorities have announced that military personnel, police, athletes and students would not eat it. She also questioned how the government would conduct thorough inspections on pork served at food stalls and other sites. If the government does not designate a specialized standard classification code for imported US pork containing ractopamine, the ministry would be unable to conduct strict inspections from the source, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 12, 2020 15:56 UTC
Market exit for NSF following March entrance
Market exit for NSF following March entranceBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe National Stabilization Fund (NSF, 國安基金) yesterday decided to exit the local stock market, saying it has achieved its goal of stabilizing the local bourse, which has rallied firm above 12,000 points since the fund’s previous meeting in July. The National Stabilization Fund Committee said it made the decision at its quarterly meeting because the TAIEX has made a comeback from its March lows. Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The main board has since swelled 49.27 percent to close at 12,955.91 points yesterday on a large turnover of NT$228.745 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) told a legislative meeting that the fund has stayed put since April, after spending NT$757.19 million in March.
Source:Taipei Times
October 12, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwanese poets, writer highlighted in Tokyo shows
Taiwanese poets, writer highlighted in Tokyo showsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterTwo month-long exhibitions focusing on the works of Taiwanese poets and writers have opened in Tokyo, the Ministry of Culture announced on Friday. From left, Eslite Spectrum Nihonbashi store manager Isono, Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo Director Wang Shu-fang and Eslite Spectrum Japan director Wu Jo-ping hold copies of works by Taiwanese poets Yang Mu and Lo Fu on Thursday at the Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo. It also received permission from the poets’ families to display reprints of their manuscripts and old editions of their books, the center said. Since Eslite Spectrum Nihonbashi opened in September last year, demand for Chinese-language books has increased among Japanese and Taiwanese living in Japan, the center said. As a result, the center has also partnered with the store to set up a section dedicated to Mandarin works that will highlight works by one iconic Taiwanese writer each season, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
Focus turns to academic-founded firms
The characters for the Ministry of Education are pictured above the ministry’s main entrance in Taipei in an undated photograph. “Scholastic entrepreneurship should be the model for the next stage of Taiwanese industry,” said Chen, who used to help run the TRUST-U program. Hung said that he recognized the trend toward scholastic entrepreneurship and decided to draw upon his experience working with industry leaders while at the Industrial Technology Research Institute. However, not all start-ups go smoothly, as Sean Chen (陳學仕), a professor of materials science and engineering at Shida, can attest. After researching quantum materials for two decades, Chen founded HsinLight in 2018 to respond to needs in the display panel industry.
Source:Taipei Times
October 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
Name change not on KMT agenda, chairman says
Name change not on KMT agenda, chairman saysBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterChanging the name of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is not on its agenda, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, after comments by KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) prompted discussion of the topic. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang speaks to reporters at an event in Taichung yesterday. This stance has not changed, the KMT said, adding that discussion of a name change has never been included on the agendas of the party’s reform committee or its National Congress, which convened on Sept. 6. Suggestions related to a name change from party members show that no topic is closed to discussion within the KMT, it said. The KMT “firmly believes that reform is the focus, rather than a name change,” it said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
Fewer centers specialize in OB-GYN, study shows
The wall in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph. Of them, 111 OB-GYN clinics and 73 pediatric clinics have closed over the past decade, a decline of 10.1 percent and 4.1 percent respectively, it said. The birth rate tends to be higher in the second half of the year, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology secretary-general Huang Min-chao (黃閔照) said, estimating that there would be about 170,000 births this year. The declining number of dedicated OB-GYN clinics could be attributed to the advanced age of the average OB-GYN, the transformation of many clinics to family medicine and the growing trend of opening polyclinics, he said. To address the falling birth rate, the ministry in October last year expanded screening of newborns for congenital metabolic disorders and raised the childcare subsidy allowance.
Source:Taipei Times
October 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
China trying to force US’ hand: speaker
Although repeated crossings into Taiwan’s airspace have caused public concern, China has made concessions in its territorial claims in the South China Sea, he said. Legislative Speaker You Si-kun, left, is accompanied by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, right, as he speaks to reporters at an event in Taipei yesterday. Over the past several months, China has shown restraint, and weakness, in the South China Sea, he said. Wang had expressed hope for a “rebooting of the South China Sea norms,” and a desire for it to become a “sea of hope, friendship and peace,” You said. You said the statements appeared to be China shrinking back, and greatly reduced tensions in the South China Sea.
Source:Taipei Times
October 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
‘Time for independence’: protesters
‘Time for independence’: protestersBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterIndependence advocates yesterday rallied outside the cordoned-off area for the Double Ten National Day celebration around the Presidential Office Building, urging the government to normalize diplomatic relations with the US and draft a new constitution. Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to not betray the majority of Taiwanese who hope that Taiwan achieves normal nationhood and the name “Republic of China (ROC)” will be dropped. Chilly Chen said that it is a critical time, because China has been increasingly making hostile moves toward Taiwan and threatens to go to war against numerous democratic countries. “US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if China attacks Taiwan, the US will do everything it can to reduce tension in the region and fulfill its commitments to Taiwan,” he said. “This is the right time to go for independence and establish formal relations with other democratic countries.”
Source:Taipei Times
October 10, 2020 16:00 UTC
Tsai seeks ‘meaningful’ cross-strait talk
“At this stage, the most pressing cross-strait issue is to discuss how we can live in peace and coexist based on mutual respect, goodwill and understanding,” Tsai told Double Ten National Day participants. A girl with Taiwan’s national flag painted on her face smiles at Double Ten National Day celebrations in Taipei yesterday. President Tsai Ing-wen delivers her Double Ten National Day address in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday. The Thunder Tiger Aerobatics Team lay red, white and blue smoke trails as they fly over the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAMilitary police take part in a motorcycle display during Double Ten National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
October 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT’s Lin Wei-chou moots axing ‘zhongguo’
KMT’s Lin Wei-chou moots axing ‘zhongguo’‘PRAGMATIC’: Changing the party’s name should be discussed, the caucus whip said, referring to people’s ‘negative perception’ of being a pro-China partyBy Chen Yun / Staff reporterChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) yesterday said it might be best if Zhongguo (中國) were dropped from the party’s official name. Of course, our understanding is that Zhongguo refers to the Republic of China, but it is easily confused with the People’s Republic of China,” Lin wrote on Facebook. Hopefully the question would be openly discussed among fellow party members, he said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Wei-chou speaks during a committee meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Wednesday. “I raise this issue so that party members can discuss it.
Source:Taipei Times
October 10, 2020 15:56 UTC