US pork directives sent for legislative review
US pork directives sent for legislative reviewCONSENSUS: Nine administrative directives on the contested import plan were handed to five legislative committees, after the DPP and KMT had agreed about how to proceedBy Chen Yun and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerNine administrative directives related to allowing US imports of pork containing ractopamine residue were submitted to a joint session composed of five committees at the Legislative Yuan for review amid a cross-party consensus yesterday. Nine proposed designs for Taiwanese pork products are shown in a composite image. A further nine proposed designs for Taiwanese pork products are shown in a composite image. Meanwhile, the Council of Agriculture is looking for the best logo for Taiwanese pork products, with winning logos from the preliminary round now in an online vote. A mock-up of a pig stands on an empty legislative floor at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Next Bank playing catch-up
Next Bank is the first among the nation’s three virtual banks to clearly announce its plans regarding competition with the nation’s existing banks. Next Bank general manager Liu I-cheng delivers a speech at a Taiwan Fintech Association forum in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Taipei Times, Kao Shih-chingLiu did not elaborate how many clients Next Bank aims to attract in the first year. Next Bank plans to offer deposit, debit card and small loan services by the end of this year. Next Bank would consider providing the service alone or partnering with other banks if the regulator approves, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Premier pushes for more virus relief
It is the second increase of special funding for the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Recovery (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), with the first, valued at NT$150 billion, approved on May 9. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, right, speaks alongside Premier Su Tseng-chang during a question-and-answer session yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The Council of Agriculture is requesting NT$19.11 billion, while the Ministry of Labor is asking for NT$4.79 billion, Chu said. The National Communications Commission is asking for NT$271.4 million, while the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education are requesting NT$638.55 million and NT$640 million respectively, he said. In related news, Taiwan can obtain vaccines through self-development, international purchases or international collaboration, Su said, adding that regardless of the method, Taiwan would prioritize domestic needs.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Kaohsiung mask firm fined NT$2 million
Kaohsiung mask firm fined NT$2 millionCRACKDOWN: The heavy penalty is seen as proof of the health department’s intention to curb illegal manufacturing and to serve as a warning to othersBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday fined Jingxin Technology Co NT$2 million (US$68,318) for setting up unlicensed mask production equipment, while the Ministry of Labor said that it would send teams to regularly inspect mask facilities after it received complaints of breaches of labor laws. A Kaohsiung Department of Health official attaches a seal on a machine unlicensed for producing medical masks at Jingxin Technology Co in Kaohsiung during an inspection on Thursday. Photo: Huang Hsu-lei, Taipei TimesKaohsiung health officials said that Jingxin Technology was fined for breaches of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法). The owners of Jingxin Technology are a father and son surnamed Hsu (許). Ministry of Labor officials have said that they have instructed inspectors to make regular rounds of all mask manufacturing facilities.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan, US seek to counter Beijing
Taiwan, US seek to counter BeijingBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterChina’s foreign influence campaigns have damaged democratic institutions, but Taiwan will continue to work with the US and like-minded partners to counter Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the statement in response to a speech by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison on Wednesday. The logo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pictured at the ministry in Taipei in an undated photograph. CCP campaigns targeting state-level officials have been in full swing for years and are increasing in intensity, Pompeo said. He had helped arrange for Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to appear on the show and discuss Taiwan’s response to COVID-19, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Gudeng bullish on fourth quarter after rebound in demand
Gudeng bullish on fourth quarter after rebound in demandBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterGudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd (家登), the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) pods to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), yesterday said that a rebound in demand from its major client would support sequential growth in revenue next quarter. “Demand is to pick up in the fourth quarter following a break in the third quarter,” Chiu said. The company expects its capacity to increase to 2,000 EUV pods per month after it completes a new plant in 2022. Gudeng also supplies EUV pods to Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, sources said. The use of photomasks and EUV pods is expected to more than double when chipmakers advance to next-generation technologies.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Researchers heal burns with fish peptide
Researchers heal burns with fish peptideANTIBACTERIAL: The Academia Sinica team’s success made them stand out among more than 700 teams applying to participate in this week’s Taiwan Innotech ExpoBy Lin Ching-lun, Chien Hui-ju and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writerAcademia Sinica research has found that collagencin, an antibacterial peptide from fish collagen, shows great potential in the treatment of burns by accelerating healing and helping to prevent scarring. Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei TimesIn stage 1 of a four-part experiment, collagencin proved to have healing properties on mice burns, which healed in seven to 14 days without scarring, while in stage 2, collagencin similarly helped to heal pig burns, which healed in about 25 days, he said. In stage 3, collagencin is to be tested on monkeys and the last stage is the clinical trials, Chen said. In related news, the Council of Agriculture (COA) has developed technology to extract collagen from pig lungs, which mostly go to waste as few people eat them. Research and development with bone biomaterials would benefit from the process, as animal collagen works best with such biomaterials, Tu said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 25, 2020 15:56 UTC
Poll finds 62.6% identify as Taiwanese
Poll finds 62.6% identify as TaiwaneseCONSOLIDATION? Taiwan Thinktank deputy executive-general Doong Sy-chi presents the findings of a poll on constitutional amendments and national identity in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesEthnically, 62.6 percent identified as Taiwanese, while 2 percent identified as Chinese and 32.6 percent identified as both, the results showed. Under a 1981 agreement with the International Olympic Committee, the Republic of China Olympic Committee was renamed the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. In 2008, China used “Zhongguo Taibei” instead of “Chinese Taipei,” saying that there was no difference between them in Chinese.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Female leadership focus of Webinar
Female leadership focus of WebinarBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAA Webinar on female leadership in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era is to be conducted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York on Wednesday next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The event, titled “Women’s Leadership: Redesigning the Post-COVID-19 Era,” is to be attended by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Kelley Currie, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGO). Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of NGO International Affairs Secretary-General Constance Wang holds a placard at a news briefing in Taipei yesterday to promote “Women’s Leadership: Redesigning the Post COVID-19 Era” Webinar. The 90-minute Webinar is to be livestreamed on the ministry’s YouTube channel at 9pm Taipei time. More information on the events and Taiwan’s efforts to promote gender equality can be found on Twitter at the handle @womensrightsTW.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
CHPT cautiously upbeat on prospects for next year
CHPT cautiously upbeat on prospects for next yearBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterChunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), a supplier of probe cards used for silicon wafer testing, is cautiously optimistic about its business outlook for next year, bolstered by robust demand for vertical probe cards (VPC) and testing demand for high-performance-computing (HPC) chips, a company official said yesterday. The company reported NT$1.06 billion (US$36.16 million) in revenue last quarter, with VPC accounting for 22 percent. Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times“We are cautiously optimistic about next year’s business,” Huang said. CHPT counts the world’s two major 5G chip suppliers — Qualcomm Inc and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) — among its top clients. CHPT said that it set up a smart automation business group earlier this month.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Military jets prepare for Double Ten celebrations
This was the sound of [Taiwan’s] military aircraft flying over,” Tsai wrote on Facebook in Chinese. One UH-60M Black Hawk, two CH-47 Chinook helicopters, three F-16Vs and three AT-3 training jets flew over Taipei as part of rehearsals for the Oct. 10 celebrations. Three AT-3 training jets fly above Taipei yesterday in a rehearsal for Double Ten National Day celebrations. The Chinese and English-language slogans for this year’s Double Ten National Day celebrations are displayed in a video released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday released video clips — a full version of more than 5 minutes and a shorter version of 30 seconds — to celebrate Double Ten National Day.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Hon Hai, Adlink form robotic venture
Hon Hai, Adlink form robotic venture‘SWARM TECH’: Joint venture FARobot is to develop autonomous mobile robots that would first be deployed in Hon Hai’s factories to optimize production efficiencyBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Adlink Technology Inc (凌華科技) have formed a robotic venture that aims to use “swarm technology” to create robots that can communicate with one another on the factory floor to optimize production efficiency. Hon Hai is Apple Inc’s leading iPhone assembler and the world’s largest contract electronics maker, while Adlink supplies industrial computers and Internet of Things solutions. Through a subsidiary, Hyield Venture Capital Co (鴻揚創投), Hon Hai holds a 51 percent stake in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) developer FARobot (法博智能移動), while Adlink owns the remaining 49 percent. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Young Liu, left, and Adlink Technology Inc chairman Jim Liu pose for photographers at the launch of their robotic venture FARobot in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District on Wednesday. “This will reduce the amount of time spent waiting rather than in operation.”FARobot’s AMRs are to be deployed in Hon Hai factories within three years, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Ma Ying-jeou urges respect from Beijing
Ma Ying-jeou urges respect from BeijingBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNAFormer president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged Beijing to respect the median line of the Taiwan Strait by immediately stopping its military intimidation of Taiwan, as such actions would only hurt the feelings of Taiwanese. Beijing should immediately stop making military provocations against Taiwan, Ma wrote on Facebook after Chinese warplanes in the past week have made numerous forays across the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait. Although it has never officially acknowledged the median line, Beijing used to respect it, Ma said in response to comments on Monday by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌), who said that the line does not exist, because “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”Former president Ma Ying-jeou gestures at a ceremony for teachers in Taipei yesterday. Beijing respected the median line and the feelings of Taiwanese, showing mutual trust and goodwill with the adjustments it made, he said. Respect for the median line is the most basic element for cross-strait peace, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei authorities tipped off about illegal facility
Taipei authorities tipped off about illegal facilityFATAL FIRE: The health department is trying to contact the inspector who visited the site of the illegal nursing home to ask why they did not advise follow-up checksBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Taipei City Government yesterday said that a health department inspector last year had visited the site of a long-term care facility in Neihu District (內湖) after receiving a report questioning its status. The Taipei Fire Department said that it received a report about a fire on the first floor of a four-story residential building on Kangning Road Sec. Firefighters look through the cut-open steel shutter of an unregistered long-term care facility in Taipei’s Neihu District on Tuesday after putting out a fire that caused the death of three residents. A health department inspector, accompanied by the borough warden and police, went to the reported address on Sept. 17 last year. The health department is trying to contact the investigator, who was a contracted personnel, to clarify why there was no follow-up on the case.
Source:Taipei Times
September 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Acer announces software to diagnose eye condition
Acer announces software to diagnose eye conditionBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterPC brand Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday rolled out artificial intelligence (AI) software for diagnosing diabetic retinopathy in collaboration with National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) and Novartis (Taiwan) Co (台灣諾華), the first “smart” ophthalmology equipment approved by the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The software was created by training AI learning models with 50,000 retinal images sourced from databases abroad. Acer’s nonconsumer PC businesses, such as AI, would have an outsized impact on its bottom line, Acer founder Stan Shih (施振榮) said. “We see [nonconsumer PC business] reaching about one-third of Acer’s revenue eventually,” Shih told reporters. FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) told the news conference that the cooperation between Acer, Novartis and NTUH is a milestone.
Source:Taipei Times
September 23, 2020 15:56 UTC