COA mulls ban on pit bulls in wake of attack
COA mulls ban on pit bulls in wake of attackBAD REPUTATION: The Taipei Animal Protection Office lists six dog breeds as ‘aggressive,’ including the pit bull, of which 1,000 are kept as pets in TaiwanStaff writer, with CNAThe Council of Agriculture (COA) is considering banning the ownership, breeding and trading of pit bulls, following reports of a pit bull attacking another dog, it said on Wednesday. The council has discussed a potential ban on purebred and mixed breed pit bulls with local governments and representatives of the pet industry, Department of Animal Industry Deputy Director Chiang Wen-chuan (江文全) said. A chained pit bull terrier sits by a door in Miaoli County on July 2 last year. Statistics from the council’s national pet registry show that about 1,000 pit bulls are kept as pets in Taiwan, he said. The office lists six types of dogs as aggressive: pit bulls, Tosas, Neapolitan mastiffs, Brazilian mastiffs, Dogos Argentino and Molossian hounds, office Director Wu Chin-an (吳晉安) said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
US consultant designs luxury stamp
US consultant designs luxury stampBy Wu Po-hsuan and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerMark Stocker, a brand consultant and strategist who has lived in Taiwan for 28 years, has invented a new kind of name stamp by combining Chinese characters with precision machinery in an effort to increase global awareness of Taiwanese culture. Brand consultant Mark Stocker displays his innovative name stamps during a news conference in Taipei on Aug. 24. “Confidence and passion are what Taiwan lacks,” he said, adding that the experience has inspired him to dedicate his career to improving brand marketing in Taiwan. Name stamps designed by brand consultant Mark Stocker are shown during a news conference in Taipei on Aug. 24. “Taiwan-made products are really of great quality,” he said, adding that confidence and passion are also critical to great success.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
US Fed expects low rates through 2023
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a virtual news conference displayed on a computer in Tiskilwa, Illinois, on Wednesday. That caused the spread between two and 10-year yields, along with the gap between five and 30-year yields, to widen slightly. The Fed on Wednesday committed to using its full range of tools to support the economic recovery. Officials expect rates to stay ultra-low through 2023, according to the median projection of their quarterly forecasts, although four officials penciled in at least one hike in 2023. In other updates to quarterly forecasts, Fed officials expect a shallower economic contraction this year than before, but a slower recovery in the coming years.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Non-conventional defenses needed
EDITORIAL: Non-conventional defenses neededThe US is reportedly preparing to sell Taiwan seven new major weapons systems, including sophisticated aerial drones, land-based anti-ship missiles, anti-tank missiles and smart mines, Reuters said on Wednesday. In 2010, the 500-kilobyte computer worm Stuxnet infiltrated the systems of Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant, which supplies Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. The communists covertly inserted their members into the Whampoa Military Academy — a tactic that paid high dividends during the Chinese Civil War. Retired officers have openly fraternized with the enemy and attended Chinese military parades. The threat of espionage from China to the military and to government continues to be real and formidable.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
China’s Wang smears might backfire
However, a focus of the CCTV report was its accusation that Wang was to serve as the DPP’s “messenger” — an issue that deserves greater discussion. CCTV anchorwoman Li Hong (李紅) “poured cold water” on Wang to dampen any enthusiasm for him. This type of intermediary should be someone trusted by all sides so that the parties can be persuaded to reach an agreement. Not long ago, Wang assured KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had not told him to pass along a message to Chinese authorities. Given that, Beijing is likely to suffer from its own action, as its mouthpiece makes groundless accusations against Wang.
Source:Taipei Times
September 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Shin Kong Life to adapt portfolio after FSC demand
Shin Kong Life to adapt portfolio after FSC demandBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterShin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) yesterday said that its insurance unit would adjust its investment portfolio after being banned from buying new stocks a day earlier by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). “We will research what we can do based on the commission’s specific instructions after we receive the regulator’s formal documents,” Shin Kong Financial spokesman Sunny Hsu (徐順鋆) told the Taipei Times by telephone. The commission on Tuesday fined Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) NT$27.6 million (US$941,722) for reckless investment, and demanded that the insurer reduce its overseas investment ratio from 43 percent to 39 percent. Shin Kong Life had a pool of NT$3.02 trillion investment funds as of the end of June, with a recurring yield of 3.32 percent. The commission’s press release announcing the Shin Kong Life fine reached more than 11,000 page views as of press time last night, a relatively high number for a government press release.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Tsai needs to convey food safety priority to US: KMT
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang, center, chairs a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee at the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “We urge Tsai Ing-wen, the current president, not to contradict last year’s Tsai Ing-wen, the presidential candidate,” he said. In other news, the British Office Taipei is encouraging Taiwanese to purchase British pork products, which do not contain ractopamine because the UK has banned it. Since allowing British pork into the country two years ago, Taiwan has imported more than ￡10 million (US$13 million) of the products, the office wrote on Facebook yesterday. The event sought to help local supermarket retailers and hotel caterers appreciate the flavor of British pork products in various cuisines, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwanese singer, actor Alien Huang found dead at home
Taiwanese singer, actor Alien Huang found dead at homeUNDER INVESTIGATION: Huang’s body was found just outside the bathroom and showed no signs of a struggle, and no alcohol or drugs were foundStaff writer, with CNASinger and actor Alien Huang (黃鴻升) was found dead at his home in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) yesterday. Huang was also known by the nickname Xiao Gui (“little ghost”). Alien Huang gestures at the premiere of the movie Acting Out of Love in Taipei on March 12. Huang was a graduate of Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, and classmates included actress Hsu Wei-ning (許瑋甯) and singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳). Yang — who dated Huang for several years — said via her agent that she “cannot describe how much it hurts” to lose Huang, who was “like family” to her.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Dance preview: Dances from fiction and life
Taipei Dance Forum dancers will get up close and personal this weekend at Taipei’s Crown Cultural Center with Red & White, zoom-in. Photo: Diane Baker, Taipei TimesRed and White used Chang’s 1944 novella The Red Rose and the White Rose (紅玫瑰與白玫瑰) for inspiration. Chen Wei-yun will dance the White Rose role this weekend at Taipei’s Crown Cultural Center in Taipei Dance Forum’s Red & White, zoom-in. Me at the in the National Experimental Theater in Taipei this weekend and at the National Taichung Theater in mid-November. While Taipei Dance Forum’s production is all about relationships and passion, over at the National Experimental Theater, Hung Dance (翃舞製作) is focusing more on the personal.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwanese caught up in Chinese firm’s database
Taiwanese caught up in Chinese firm’s databaseBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with the Guardian and CNAProminent and not-so-prominent Taiwanese have been swept up by a Chinese tech firm in a database of the personal information of millions of people around the world. Radio Free Asia on Tuesday reported that at least 2,900 Taiwanese political and business leaders were among those caught up in the database. Considering that relatively few Taiwanese and dissidents are included in the database, Zhenhua Data is likely peripherally related to “united front” work as a contractor, Shen said. The database was leaked to US academic Christopher Balding, who was previously based in Shenzhen, but has returned to the US. “We are a private company,” said the woman, surnamed Sun, denying any links to the Chinese government or military.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
Tech crimes require new tech tools: official
We believe there is no need for this draft act,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said. The goals for the draft act can be achieved by amending the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), he added. “The draft act is aimed at criminals. “We have to deal with new forms of digital crimes in cyberspace, so we need new ways of investigation,” Lee said. “It has been found that most of the communications for selling illegal drugs are done through [the messaging app] Line,” Lee said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
BirdLife boots out Taiwanese group over politics
BirdLife boots out Taiwanese group over politicsBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNA and AFPA Taiwanese bird protection group yesterday said that it has been kicked out of BirdLife International — a global conservation partnership — after it refused to sign a statement saying it would never advocate independence. The Taipei-based Chinese Wild Bird Federation said that BirdLife International last week voted to remove it, ending a partnership that had been in place since 1996. Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Taipei TimesThe federation said that it was informed that its Chinese name — which contains “ROC” — “posed a risk” to UK-based BirdLife. Signing such a statement would be inappropriate, because “we are a conservation organization,” not a political one, it said. There are no national borders for birds, it said, adding that cross-border collaboration on bird conservation efforts is important.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
NTUST candidate drops out of race
NTUST candidate drops out of raceWORKING OVERTIME? National Taiwan University professor Lee Duu-jong is pictured in this undated photo. The home page of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Web site is pictured in this screengrab captured yesterday. Despite the controversy, Kuan took office as NTU president in January last year. The Thousand Talents Program was an initiative launched by Beijing in 2008 to attract top academics and scientists from abroad.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
FSC fines Shin Kong Life for reckless investment
FSC fines Shin Kong Life for reckless investmentPOOR INTERNAL CONTROLS: Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa said the company is expected to get back on track while its chairman is suspendedBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) NT$27.6 million (US$939,415) for a reckless investment that endangered its solvency, and suspended its chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) for poor supervision. The penalty is the second-highest in a single case after Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) was fined NT$30 million in September last year and its chairman Du Ying-tzyong (杜英宗) suspended for two years, the commission said. Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa, center, announces a NT$27.6 million fine for Shin Kong Life Insurance Co at a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday. “We expect the insurance company to get back on track by overhauling its mechanisms for investment and risk management while Wu is absent,” Shih said. The commission did not set a deadline for Shin Kong Life to trim the ratio, but demanded that it not buy any local or foreign stocks and exchange-traded funds before the adjustment is completed, Shih said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2020 15:56 UTC
Do more for Hong Kongers: KMT
“Before the [Jan. 11 presidential election], the Tsai administration told everyone that it supports Hong Kong, but so far the Tsai administration’s support for Hong Kong appears to be just talk,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu criticizes the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in Tainan yesterday, saying that its claims to support Hong Kong and Hong Kongers are just a joke. The Tsai administration’s Hong Kong Humanitarian Aid Project only applies to people who enter Taiwan legally, he said. “Although on the surface the Tsai administration says it wants to support Hong Kong, in reality, it appears to be taking advantage of Hong Kong,” Chen said. The DPP should prioritize the proposed amendments to the Hong Kong and Macau act in the upcoming session, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2020 15:56 UTC