Animal lovers flock to annual Taipei Pet Show
Animal lovers flock to annual Taipei Pet ShowBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterWhile many exhibitions and trade shows have been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 was packed yesterday for the Taipei Pet Show, with most people opting to carry their pets in special strollers while perusing the latest in pet food, toys and other items from around the world. People take their dogs to the Taipei Pet Show at Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 yesterday. Photo: Angelica Oung, Taipei TimesTheir offerings include pet birthday cakes, cosplay collars, portrait and photography services, pet astrology services and dog massages. Pet food vendor David Huang (黃晨洋), who brought the Margot and Billy range of dog ice cream to Taiwan last year, said that pet food now needs to be the same quality as food the owners would eat. The owner of Chen-chen, a two-year-old Maltese, said: “When I’m happy she’s happy, and when she’s happy I’m happy.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
MOHW censured over treatment of registered nurses
MOHW censured over treatment of registered nursesBy Hsieh Chun-ling and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Control Yuan on Monday censured the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) after an investigation found that registered nurses were being overworked. Standards set by the ministry in 2000 stipulate that clinics in most areas should have one registered nurse on staff and five regular nurses. At one urban clinic each registered nurse was responsible for 48,702 patients, they added. Registered nurses’ work could also be dangerous, the members said, citing an incident of a person having a mental health episode who stabbed a registered nurse to death. Registered nurses are also often subjected to verbal and physical sexual harassment while conducting home visitations, they said, adding that the government should recognize nursing as a high-risk occupation.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Legislature okays Examination Yuan, NCC nominees
Legislature okays Examination Yuan, NCC nomineesDISSENTING OPINIONS: The NPP caucus said it would not vote for NCC holdovers, who they said did little to crack down on Chinese-sponsored media spreading ‘fake news’By Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe Legislative Yuan yesterday approved Examination Yuan and National Communications Commission (NCC) nominees after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers voted in favor of the nominations. Examination Yuan presidential nominee Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村), a former minister of education and China Medical University president, and vice presidential nominee Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲), a former minister of civil service, each received 65 “yes” and three “no” votes. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday hold placards that read: “We refuse to endorse,” “We oppose pork-barrel politics,” “We will not vote” and “Abolish the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan” on the legislative floor in Taipei in protest against President Tsai Ing-wen’s Examination Yuan nominations. During a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan on Wednesday, Huang said that as head of the Examination Yuan, he would comply with any legislative efforts to abolish the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan — a cause that has been advocated by many people. If the legislature amends the Constitution to phase out these branches, Huang said he would ensure that the Examination Yuan transfers to other agencies its responsibilities for designing civil service entrance tests and evaluating the performances of civil servants.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Nanya’s Q2 profit surges 66.5%
That there are fewer advertisements on Facebook and Google is reducing demand for servers and data centers, and therefore DRAM chips, he added. The company posted net profit of NT$3.21 billion (US$108.40 million) last quarter, up 66.5 percent from NT$1.93 billion in the first quarter, and a 17 percent increase from NT$2.75 billion in the same period last year. DRAM chips used in PCs and servers generated NT$16.49 billion of revenue last quarter, accounting for 25 percent of total revenue, up from 20 percent in the first quarter. Nanya said that it is aiming to increase the revenue contribution from DRAM chips used in servers to more than 10 percent by the end of this year, compared with 5 to 7 percent last quarter. Nanya is planning to almost triple its capital spending to NT$15.76 billion this year, up from NT$5.5 billion last year.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taichung exhibition offers glimpse into colonial past
Taichung exhibition offers glimpse into colonial pastBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNAThe Taichung Cultural Affairs Bureau is today to unveil an exhibition of artifacts discovered at facilities affiliated with the former Taichung Prison, giving visitors a glimpse into the lives of the Japanese colonizers at the time. The main building of the former prison, built during the Japanese colonial period, no longer exists, but several affiliated buildings remain: a bathhouse, the Budokan martial arts hall, a governor’s mansion and a few dormitories. The exhibition, titled “Construct, City within City — Go Back, Meet and Rediscover” (起造．城中城─穿越．遇見．再發現), is to be held at the former prison’s bathhouse and officials’ dormitory in the city’s West District (西區). The Taichung Prison Warden Residence Building in the city’s West District, which is under renovation, is pictured on Thursday. The bureau is holding a special event on Aug. 8, when up to 40 people can stay for a night at the dormitory, bureau Deputy Director-General Dennis Tseng (曾能汀) said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei thanks US for missile package
Taipei thanks US for missile packageIN THE PIPELINE: The Ministry of National Defense said the sale, expected to take effect in one month, would be the seventh arms sale under the Trump administrationBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe government yesterday thanked the US for approving the possible sale of a US$620 million missile repair and recertification package to Taiwan. The agency has delivered the required certification to the US Congress, notifying it of the possible sale, it added. A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missile system is deployed next to the Changhua Reserve Runway on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. The US, in line with its Taiwan Relations Act and “six assurances,” continues to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons, and the missile refurbishment package would boost Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, it said, thanking the US for the decision. Just like the previous arms package sale announced on May 20, the new proposal shows a normalization of arms sales between the US and Taiwan, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan might be China’s next target, academic says
Taiwan might be China’s next target, academic saysBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNATaiwan might be China’s next target after it has “walled off” Hong Kong from the rest of the world with its new national security legislation, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology fellow Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) said on Thursday. Wu said it is evident that Taiwan would be China’s next target. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesThe legislation was passed by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee on June 30 and went into effect that night. Its passage was condemned by nations around the world, who said it undermines Hong Kong autonomy and threatens Hong Kongers’ liberty and human rights. By depriving Hong Kong of its status, China is preventing the territory from being the portal connecting China to the world, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Largan profits dip 25.7 percent in Q2
Largan in the first quarter made NT$6.72 billion in net profit, the company said. The premises of Largan Precision Co is pictured in Taichung yesterday. Gross margin fell slightly to 68.63 percent, compared with 69.8 percent in the first quarter, the company’s financial statement showed. Largan last month posted monthly revenue growth of 6.98 percent to NT$4.14 billion, ending two straight months of declines. Largan would keep pace with the research and development of new products, “but it is up to the clients whether they get designed” into new products, Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipei to set up ‘air quality management zones’
Taipei to set up ‘air quality management zones’NEW STANDARDS: The policy should slash PM2.5 by 27.3 tonnes per year, down 4.5 percent from current levels, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection saidBy Tsai Ssu-pei and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaipei is to designate three transportation hubs and six tourist hotspots as “Phase One Air Quality Management Zones,” with the types of vehicles allowed to enter them restricted, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release yesterday. Vehicle owners and drivers failing to meet emission standards in those zones would be subject to fines from next year, the agency added. Photo: Kuo An-chia, Taipei TimesScooters failing to undergo the required regular inspections would also lose access to the zones, the agency added. The air quality management zones would be Taipei City Hall Bus Station, Taipei Bus Station and Nangang Bus Station, as well as Yangmingshan National Park, the National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine and Taipei 101, it said. Small diesel vehicles would not be included in the regulations, she said, citing lower emissions and the difficulty of enforcement, as inspectors cannot distinguish diesel vehicles from gasoline vehicles.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
MOJ, tech firms to hold talks on Chinese spying
MOJ, tech firms to hold talks on Chinese spyingINDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE: The minister of justice warned that Chinese companies have been luring Taiwanese talent with high salaries to steal trade secretsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Justice is to hold a meeting today with representatives of tech firms at the Hsinchu Science Park to counteract Beijing’s efforts to recruit industrial spies and steal technological know-how. Meetings with firms at other science parks in central and southern Taiwan are to be held in the coming weeks, it added. Asked for a comment, the Hsinchu Science Park Administration yesterday said that the forum is a regular activity. Meanwhile, lawmakers also urged the government to boost information security protection measures. Information security is not a show you put on for others, he said, urging the institute to check for any information security loopholes by working with the National Security Bureau, the military’s General Staff for Communication, Electronics and Information, and the Executive Yuan’s National Information and Communication Security Taskforce.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
FEATURE: Taiwanese-born scientist dives to Earth’s deepest part
The pair made the descent in a submersible named Limiting Factor, a US$37 million two-seater commissioned by Vescovo from Triton Submarines. While Vescovo reportedly has opened some dive slots for paying customers, Lin said his descent was sponsored by Vescovo. “Because he is an expert in deep ocean acoustics, measurement, and tracking, Dr Lin’s involvement in the expedition was important in advancing further exploration and understanding of how sound waves propagate in the deepest parts of the ocean,” Caladan Oceanic said in a press release. He said that he has benefited from decades-long Taiwan-US collaboration in ocean research and now he serves as a bridge to sustain the ties from his vantage point at one of the world’s top ocean research institutions. A strong nation is bolstered by its sea power, which could be enhanced by boosting ocean research capacity, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
Nominee Wu questioned on ‘consensus’
Nominee Wu questioned on ‘consensus’PRO-UNIFICATION? The Legislative Yuan has been reviewing the Presidential Office’s proposed nominees for the Examination Yuan, including Wu, 68, a former Overseas Community Affairs Council minister. Examination Yuan nominee Wu Hsin-hsing attends a review meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The KMT itself appears to be split over the “1992 consensus,” which is widely seen as the party’s lynchpin for cross-strait affairs. Both the ruling and opposition parties should consider a term that could replace the “1992 consensus” while remaining palatable to Beijing, former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan and the EU’s ‘safe list’
Taiwan and the EU’s ‘safe list’By Ian Inkster 音雅恩An outrageous dismissal of the exemplary Taiwanese fight against COVID-19 has been perpetrated by the EU. There are 14 nations on the list that have been chosen as safe countries of origin and safe countries of destination for the EU. Yet, as I have noted above, South Korea with its 63 new cases and its 254 cases per million appears within the EU list of safe nations. However, the EU list of safe nations includes Rwanda at 100, Algeria at 89, Georgia at 74 and Uruguay at 54. Second, Taiwan is a thorn in the side of China, but there is no reason to argue that China could possibly object to the inclusion of Taiwan in the EU’s “safe list.” China has so many other things aimed at Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
July 09, 2020 15:56 UTC
One-fifth of students would ignore inaccurate info: poll
The survey asked what students would do if they discovered that information they themselves had shared contained mistakes. Adults and children present the findings of a media literacy survey conducted by the King Car Cultural and Educational Foundation in Taipei yesterday. The students were also asked to choose from a list up to three types of information they most often share. About 56 percent of students gave themselves a media literacy score of 80 or more out of 100, the survey showed. However, when asked to rate the media literacy of Taiwanese overall, only about 37 percent gave a score of 80 or above.
Source:Taipei Times
July 08, 2020 15:56 UTC
SD TV fined for Hsieh holdings
The investigation found that KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong’s (謝衣鳳) father, Hsieh Hhsin-lung (謝新隆), and sister, Hsieh Pei-ying (謝佩穎), held a 25.89 percent stake in Changhua County’s SD TV (三大有線電視) through a legal entity from Jan. 25, 2010, to April 7 of this year. Then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidate Hsieh Yi-fong, second right, holds a basket of pineapples during a campaign event in Chuanghua County on Dec. 1 last year. “Mr Hsieh Hsin-lung and Ms Hsieh Pei-yin have been SD TV board members since Jan. 26, 2005. Hsieh Hsin-lung and Hsieh Pei-yin had been given a chance to explain their actions, it said. As both had reduced their indirect shareholding in SD TV to 0.63 percent by April 8, the NCC ruled that the cable system be fined just NT$1.6 million for receiving invested funds from people having familial relationships with politicians.
Source:Taipei Times
July 08, 2020 15:56 UTC