Ending oaths to portraits of Sun democratic: DPP
Article 6 of the National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act (中華民國國徽國旗法) stipulates that government agencies, schools and the military should display the national flag above an image of Sun at the front and center of any room where people congregate. Fan and DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) have proposed amending the act to eliminate the requirement that elected officials and others face a portrait of Sun while being sworn in. The DPP wants to remove portraits of Sun under the auspices of “transitional justice,” but tomorrow it could use the same excuse to remove the national flag, he said. “Once the national flag is moved away from our founder, it will lose its revolutionary significance, and the nation will lose the significance of its founding. If the DPP later decides to replace the national flag, the people will already be numb to the idea,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 20, 2020 15:56 UTC
INTERVIEW: Crises show mettle of 30-year-old hotel group
INTERVIEW: Crises show mettle of 30-year-old hotel groupFormosa International Hotels Group lost 90 percent of its business to COVID-19 in March and April, but has since May staged a V-shaped comeback for properties outside Taipei. How does Formosa International Hotels Group (FIH, 晶華酒店集團) fare this quarter and beyond? Even then, business travel will be 80 to 90 percent of what it was prior to the pandemic. Formosa International Hotels Group chairman Steven Pan addresses a forum on tourism’s transformation in the post-COVID-19 era at the Mandarin Oriental Taipei on Aug. 11. Pan: Local tourism will continue to thrive next year when there will still be very limited international travel due to lingering border controls.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Pork issue derails talks: source
Pork issue derails talks: sourceKMT HYPOCRISY? Furthermore, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been conducting campaigns describing US pork containing ractopamine as “poisonous” while pushing for a public referendum to overturn the decision on pork imports, the official said. As a result, the trade body hoped to slow other trade negotiations with Taiwan, given that “the current promise may not necessarily be fulfilled,” the official said. Separately on Thursday, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the US had been irritated by Taiwan’s trumpeting of Krach’s visit. The US said that Taipei has mistakenly linked the dialogue to potential talks on a bilateral trade agreement, causing Washington to delay confirming Krach’s schedule and to change his public events to closed-door meetings, the newspaper reported.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
US pork policy not a quid pro quo: premier
Under the pork labeling rules, the government is to inspect vendors to ensure compliance and penalize those with fraudulent or absent labels, he said. We must have the courage to take this important step forward.”Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in the morning held placards and carried a prop pig onto the legislative floor. Hung and others crowded around Su, asking him to tell them which dish contained Taiwanese pork and which was US pork. When Su did not comply, Hung said that the premier was afraid of eating US pork and Taiwanese pork. “I am attending the interpellation session and I am here to answer questions in the legislature, not to eat,” Su said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Over 1,500 expected at Lee memorial
Over 1,500 expected at Lee memorialBy Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporterMore than 1,500 people, including foreign representatives, are expected to attend a memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) today. A Military Police Command motorcycle platoon rehearses in Taipei yesterday for a memorial service for former president Lee Teng-hui scheduled for today. President Tsai Ing-wen, right, and former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori, left, meet at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei yesterday. The venues at the school are to livestream the main venue’s service and accommodate about 700 people. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also asked him to relay his best wishes to Tsai and Taiwan, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Film on Shoushan macaques wins award in US festival
Film on Shoushan macaques wins award in US festivalBy Chang Chung-i and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerA promotional film about Formosan rock macaques on Kaohsiung’s Shoushan (壽山) has won a Platinum Remi Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in Houston, Texas, in the Short Subject Film and Video Productions-Documentary category, the Shoushan National Nature Park Management Office said on Thursday. Three Formosan rock macaque groom each other at the Shoushan National Nature Park in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei TimesThe Shoushan macaques have a peculiar relationship with humans, as they are often nearby and have learned to eat human food, the office said, adding that this has changed the animals’ foraging habits and generated conflict. The office said that it has therefore established a “three noes” policy to encourage visitors to refrain from feeding, provoking or touching the macaques. WorldFest is one of the US’ oldest film festivals and one of the three largest international film festivals in North America.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
PLA aircraft cross into Taiwan’s ADIZ
The ministry from Thursday started publicizing the actions of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Taiwan’s ADIZ on its Web site and Twitter. Republic of China Air Force ground staff prepare and load missiles on aircraft at Hualien Air Force Base yesterday. Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei TimesAccording to ministry reports, 18 PLA aircraft were spotted in the nation’s southwest, west and northwest ADIZ as of yesterday morning, including two H-6 bombers, and eight J-16, four J-11 and four J-10 fighters. A Republic of China Air Force F-16 yesterday takes off from Hualien Air Force Base. A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force Xian H-6 bomber flies outside Taiwan’s air defense identification zone yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Poll shows nearly 70% oppose US pork imports
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that the government would set standards for ractopamine residue in US pork, lifting an import ban. Twenty-seven percent said they believed a government promise that lifting the ban would not affect sales of locally produced pork, while 67.6 percent did not, the poll showed. It said that 58 percent would not tolerate any trace of ractopamine in US pork imports, while 37.5 percent would accept minute traces. The poll garnered 1,094 valid samples, with responses weighted to fit the population profile, the National Policy Foundation said. About 160 nations, including Russia and EU members, do not recognize the commission’s standards and ban the use of ractopamine in pig farming, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP leads political parties in income, expenditure
DPP leads political parties in income, expenditureBy Chen Yun and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Control Yuan yesterday published data on political party finances from last year, showing more income and expenditure for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) than for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). According to the figures published on the Control Yuan’s public database of political contributions in Taipei, the DPP netted NT$187.46 million (US$6.43 million) and spent NT$190.61 million, while the KMT earned NT$116.61 million and spent NT$117.13 million. Of the DPP’s earnings, NT$99.69 million came from personal donations, NT$85.27 million from for-profit businesses, NT$714,000 from political donations, NT$1.78 million from anonymous donations and NT$9,067 from other sources. Meanwhile, NT$63.71 million of the KMT’s income came from personal donations, NT$51.6 million from for-profit businesses, NT$845,000 from political donations, NT$457,961 from anonymous donations and NT$4,086 from other sources, the data showed. Of the NPP’s NT$28.82 million in earnings, NT$64.36 million came from personal donations, NT$597,550 from for-profit businesses, NT$920,000 from political donations, NT$3.53 million from anonymous donations and NT$2.08 million from other sources, the data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
September 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Industry body turns down invitation
Industry body turns down invitationBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterChinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (工商協進會) chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) yesterday said that he would not attend a Taiwan-US economic dialogue scheduled for today. “The association will not send a substitute, because there is no time to find one,” the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported on its Web site yesterday, citing Lin. Taiwan Glass Industry Corp chairman Lin Por-fong, who is also chairman of the Taipei-based Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, is pictured in Taipei on June 3. Photo: CNAThe story cited sources saying that AIT does not like participants to talk about the event and conveyed its concerns after Lin spoke with the media. Lin, who is chairman of Taiwan Glass Industry Corp (台灣玻璃) said that the association needs only to respond to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, because the ministry — not other institutes — is in charge of regulating and supporting local industries, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Banks announce loans for Chenya’s solar power plans
Banks announce loans for Chenya’s solar power plansBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterNine banks yesterday announced two syndicated loans totaling NT$10 billion (US$341.18 million) for Chenya Energy Co Ltd (辰亞能源) to fund its two photovoltaic power stations, which have a combined capacity of 256 megawatts (MW). Bank SinoPac, DBS Taiwan, KGI Bank and CTBC Bank (中信銀行) approved a second syndicated loan for the firm’s ground-mounted 75MW station in Tainan. Some companies interested in buying solar power have approached Chenya, but prices still need to be negotiated, he said. Bank SinoPac, the lead bank for both loans, offered NT$1 billion and NT$1.5 billion for Chenya’s two solar farms, its president Eric Chuang (莊銘福) said. Bank SinoPac’s cumulative loans to solar power development have increased to NT$35 billion, the highest among all banks, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Minister inspects market to check on labeling project
Minister inspects market to check on labeling projectBy Yang Hsin-hui / Staff reporterMinister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), accompanied by Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), yesterday conducted an inspection tour of Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化街), talking to vendors and members of the public who expressed concern over the government’s lifting of the ban on imports of US pork products containing ractopamine. The central government is using Dihua Street’s traditional market for a pilot project on labeling indicating the place of origin of pork products. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, center, and Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang, left, inspect the labeling of pork products at the Yongle Market in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times“The Dihua Street market has already implemented origin labeling and we thank all vendors here for their cooperation,” Chen said. “We will establish a communication platform to continue talking with the local government to ensure food safety.”“People are concerned about the labeling of US pork imports, so I came here today to check and see if there are problems,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
NPP seeks rule changes on pork
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Council of Agriculture gave only a seven-day notice before announcing legal amendments to allow the imports of certain US pork and beef products. New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih, center, flanked by NPP legislators Claire Wang, left, Chen Jiau-hua, right, hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The NPP made the appeal after the ministry on Sept. 5 announced that the maximum residue limits for pork containing ractopamine are 0.04 parts per million (ppm) for liver and kidneys, and 0.01ppm for all other parts of the animal. The amendment would also specify locations banned from providing pork products containing ractopamine, including military camps, schools and social welfare groups, Wang said. Besides labels showing the country of origin of a pork product, the government should also introduce clear labeling for pork products not containing ractopamine to better inform customers, NPP Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said, citing Canada as an example, which introduced such labels this year.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Association collects toys for children in Eswatini
Association collects toys for children in EswatiniBy Lee Rong-ping and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taiwan Toy Library Association on Wednesday said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the group is still collecting secondhand toys and other items to donate to Eswatini. Students pose for a photograph beside a shipping container with a mural depicting African animals at Vanung University in Taoyuan on Tuesday. Due to the pandemic, the association extended the collection period for the project to gather more donations of masks, sanitary napkins, mobile phones, dry goods and other items in addition to the toys, association chairman Yeh Kuo-fang (葉國芳) saidThey also plan for the items to arrive by Christmas, he added. A mural in Taoyuan depicting African animals, painted on a shipping container by students and teachers from Vanung University’s Department of Commercial Design, is pictured on Tuesday. School principal Chen Wei-an (陳濰安) said that the 40-foot shipping container temporarily housed on the school’s campus has gained considerable attention as a popular photo destination for students, and is even attracting alumni, parents and local residents to come visit.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Office urges closer ties to the EU
Office urges closer ties to the EUINVESTMENT ROUTE: The European Trade Office said that a forum in Taipei would pave the way for closer business cooperation in the post-pandemic economyBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterMore Taiwanese investments in Europe would yield economic gains and closer ties, European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Filip Grzegorzewski told a news conference yesterday ahead of the office’s first European Investment Forum in Taipei on Tuesday next week. “We make jobs here [in Taiwan], we help Taiwan grow into an international economy,” he said. “Now we are attracting Taiwanese investment to Europe to balance this economic relationship, basically also to make sure our bond is strong. The more interactions we have, the more connected we get.”European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Filip Grzegorzewski, right, and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu hold a news conference yesterday in Taipei. It is co-organized by the European Economic and Trade Office, EU member states’ representative offices, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC