Japan virus case sparks concern
Japan virus case sparks concernLOCAL TRANSMISSION? She has not been listed as a domestic case as the center must confirm the test result with Japan, but it might have been a case of local transmission, Chen added. Health inspectors sit at desks in a deserted passageway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. However, Chinese travelers must apply for special approval to enter or transit through Taiwan, Chen Tsung-yen said, adding that there is still some uncertainty about the coronavirus situation in China. Taoyuan International Airport Corp (桃園國際機場公司) is to ensure that transitting passengers move along separate routes at the airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
ASE upbeat on revenue growth
ASE upbeat on revenue growthLONG-TERM OUTLOOK: The chip packager is maintaining its capital spending budget for this year on expectations that 5G, AI and smart manufacturing would drive growthBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporter, in KAOHSIUNGASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip tester and packager, yesterday stood firm on its forecast of annual revenue growth this year, as customers continue to show a strong appetite for its advanced technology. Growth momentum is expected to continue from the first half of this year, when ASE’s revenue, net profit and equipment utilization all beat its expectations, it said. ASE Technology Holding Co chief executive officer Tien Wu, left, and chief financial officer Joseph Tung, right, attend the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times“We are firm about our forecast of annual growth in revenue this year,” ASE chief executive officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Kaohsiung. The company used to provide a business guidance for upcoming quarters, but Wu yesterday declined to quantify the firm’s revenue growth guidance for this year, citing macroeconomic uncertainties, political tensions, the global COVID-19 situation and vaccine development.
Source:Taipei Times
June 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
FSC planning policies to help companies hold IPOs
FSC planning policies to help companies hold IPOsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) plans to introduce new policies later this year to help companies list on the local stock market, Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) said in an interview yesterday. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Thomas Huang poses for a photograph at the commission’s office in New Taipei City yesterday. The commission has not trimmed its target number for IPOs, although listing activity would inevitably slow due to the pandemic, he said. In June next year, the Taiwan Stock Exchange is to introduce a market-making system to improve liquidity for companies that are financially sound, but not popular among investors, he added. As local banks have been supportive in providing loans to those affected by the pandemic, the commission has seldom received complaints from companies, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Concern after fishing vessel harassed off Diaoyutais
Concern after fishing vessel harassed off DiaoyutaisINSTABILITY? 16, which is based in Yilan County’s Suao Township (蘇澳), on Tuesday reported that two Japan Coast Guard ships took photographs and asked it to stop its activities when it was about 63 nautical miles (117km) northeast of Yilan. The Coast Guard Administration dispatched a 500-tonne vessel to patrol the area, but did not encounter any Japan Coast Guard ships, it said. President Tsai Ing-wen yesterday in Taipei speaks about an incident involving a Taiwan fishing vessel near the Diaoyutai Islands. Photo: Lee Hsin-fang,Taipei TimesThe Fisheries Agency reported that the Taiwanese ship was disturbed by two Japanese fishing vessels, not Japan Coast Guard ships, but that their actions still contravened the two nations’ fisheries agreement.
Source:Taipei Times
June 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Duffel bag body was old man
They took it to a nearby garbage depot, and then found a similar black duffel bag on the river the next day. Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei TimesAfter seeing traces of blood leaking from the second bag, one worker opened it and found decomposing human remains. In related news, Taipei police said that a body was found floating in Sindian River (新店溪) yesterday morning. The body was identified as a man surnamed Chen (陳), who was in his 70s. Chen’s body was found floating near Yongfu Bridge (永福橋) that connects Taipei and New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和), police said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Adimmune applies for human trials
Adimmune applies for human trialsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterVaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) last week applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to run phase I human clinical trials of one of its COVID-19 vaccine candidates, the company said on Monday. Although the candidate has yet to undergo full animal testing, Adimmune applied to use it in human trials under the FDA’s fast-track program for emergency use authorizations, which is intended to speed up the development of a treatment for COVID-19, it said. Adimmune hopes to start phase I human clinical trials by August, Pan said, adding that about 100 healthy volunteers are to be injected with the vaccine to see if the antigen is safe. If the phase I trials go smoothly, Adimmune plans to apply to run phase II human clinical trials by the end of this year, Pan said. “We need to test the vaccine candidate’s effectiveness in double-blind phase II clinical trials.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Control Yuan ‘painted green’: KMT
“The entire Control Yuan has been painted green,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) said at a news conference at the KMT headquarters in Taipei. The Presidential Office on Monday announced the president’s 27 nominations for the Control Yuan, including former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊) as president. The Control Yuan consists of 29 members who serve six-year terms and are nominated by the president, with the consent of the legislature. The terms of the incumbent Control Yuan members end on July 31, with new members expected to assume their roles the following day. Separately yesterday, the KMT announced that Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁) would be its candidate in the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
NPP vows to ‘strictly review’ Tsai’s nominees
NPP vows to ‘strictly review’ Tsai’s nomineesBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe New Power Party (NPP) caucus yesterday said that it would “strictly review” President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Control Yuan nominees, while calling on the other caucuses to propose a draft constitutional amendment to abolish the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan. The Control Yuan is a quasi-judicial agency and the NPP has long advocated eliminating that branch of government, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) told a news conference in Taipei. The party believes that the Control Yuan’s authority to launch investigations belongs with the Legislative Yuan and the judiciary, he said. Lawmakers from opposition and ruling parties have arrived at a consensus that the Control Yuan and Executive Yuan should be abolished, and the NPP believes that Tsai’s nominees should be the last, he added. Asked if he supports eliminating the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan, Su said that he does, but that the Constitution does not allow for it.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
More students interested in healthcare, hygiene
More students interested in healthcare, hygieneANNUAL SURVEY: Students from junior-high school through to university were asked what they thought were crucial global issues and about their international outlookBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterStudents’ interest in healthcare and hygiene has nearly tripled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a King Car Cultural and Educational Foundation survey released yesterday found. Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei TimesLast year’s survey found that 20.6 percent of respondents believed healthcare and hygiene was one of the world’s top concerns. When asked which nations they would most like to go to if they were to immigrate, 51.6 percent said Japan. The survey was conducted through questionnaires distributed to students in junior, senior and vocational high schools, as well as universities and colleges, the foundation said. The foundation said 40.6 percent of respondents were students in senior or vocational high schools, 31.3 percent were in junior-high schools and 28.1 percent were in universities or colleges.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
CNS is extending 4K partnerships
CNS is extending 4K partnershipsBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterChina Network Systems (CNS, 中嘉網路) yesterday said it is extending its partnerships with Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) on high-definition 4K content as part of its efforts to shift to more profitable businesses. We are open to any type of cooperation that can boost the value and diversity of our hardware, services and products,” CNS chairman Gary Kuo (郭冠群) said. CNS subscribers would be able to access OTT content from Far EasTone’s friDay and Taiwan Mobile’s CatchPlay. CNS is the second-biggest shareholder of Taiwan Star. KHL Capital (達勝投資), cofounded by Kuo, and KHL’s investment arm KHL Investment I Ltd (達勝壹甲壹投資) hold a combined 3.4 percent share in Taiwan Star.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Teachers’ unions call for air-conditioners in class
Teachers’ unions call for air-conditioners in class‘INFERNO’: While more than 90% of Taipei classrooms have air-conditioners, the number is only about 10% in New Taipei City and 40% in Kaohsiung, the group saidBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterBraving the heat yesterday, members of the National Federation of Teachers’ Unions rallied outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei, calling on the government to make air-conditioners a basic requirement at elementary and junior-high schools. “While civil servants sit in air-conditioned rooms, students are in an inferno,” federation members chanted. Members of the National Federation of Teachers’ Unions file a petition with the Executive Yuan yesterday, complaining that almost 2 million elementary and junior-high school students do not have air conditioning in their classrooms. The Taipei City Government says that 100 percent of its junior-high school and 92 percent of its elementary-school classrooms have air-conditioners, while the number is only about 10 percent in New Taipei City, the federation said in a statement. In Kaohsiung, only about 40 percent of classrooms have air-conditioners, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
June 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Draft US bill is a warning to Beijing
Draft US bill is a warning to BeijingBy HoonTing 雲程US Senator Josh Hawley introduced his draft Taiwan Defense Act to the Senate on June 11. Their active aspect is that they have laid the basic foundation of governance necessary for Taiwan to exist as a political state. The key concept of US policy regarding security in the western Pacific is therefore to preserve the “status quo,” but unfortunately China has changed the “status quo” into a fait accompli. This makes relations between Taiwan and China an existential issue for the US and lends legitimacy to Hawley’s bill. To achieve this, the bill calls for maintaining military deterrence capabilities by developing new operational concepts.
Source:Taipei Times
June 22, 2020 16:07 UTC
Cathay lowers GDP forecast to 1.8%
Cathay lowers GDP forecast to 1.8%RELATIVELY UPBEAT OUTLOOK: Government spending would drive economic growth and private investment would increase 3.2% year-on-year, a researcher saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterCathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday trimmed its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth to 1.8 percent this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, down from the 2 percent it predicted in March. The company said that it expects investment and government spending to cushion the nation’s economy from the effects of the pandemic, making its forecast the most optimistic of all released forecasts. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) predicted 1.67 percent growth, the central bank forecast 1.52 percent growth and DBS Bank Ltd said that it expects a contraction of 1 percent. Cathay Financial’s monthly surveys found that most consumers last month regained their interest in buying durable goods and making big purchases, Hsu said. Cathay Financial expects the vouchers to boost the nation’s GDP growth by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points, or generate extra output of NT$200 billion to NT$400 billion (US$6.74 billion to US$13.49 billion), higher than the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ estimate of NT$111.2 billion, Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 22, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taoyuan airport sees small rise in passenger traffic
Taoyuan airport sees small rise in passenger trafficTRAVELERS: Aside from the limited easing of restrictions to business visitors, foreign students from low-infection-risk nations are expected to arrive in the next two monthsBy Shelley Shan / Saff reporterTaiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday saw a slight increase in passenger traffic as the government yesterday started allowing business travelers to enter the country under certain conditions. Taoyuan International Airport Corp (桃園國際機場 公司) estimated that 1,475 passengers arrived in the country yesterday, compared with 868 on Sunday, while 643 departed. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Wednesday last week announced that business travelers from 11 low-infection-risk nations and four medium-low infection risk nations would be permitted to enter Taiwan. Passengers wearing an assortment of personal protective equipment, including hazmat suits and visors, stand on a moving walkway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Business travelers from low-risk countries would be released from quarantine after five days if they test negative, while those from medium-low infection risk countries would be quarantined for seven days.
Source:Taipei Times
June 22, 2020 15:56 UTC
Independence support spikes: survey
Independence support spikes: surveyADULTERY DECISION UNPOPULAR: The Council of Grand Justices’ Interpretation No. Among the people it surveyed, 54 percent said they support Taiwanese independence, 23.4 percent favored maintaining the “status quo,” 12.5 percent supported unification with China and about 10 percent gave no response or were unsure, the survey showed. Of those who favored the “status quo,” 44.1 percent said they would back independence if pushed, 33.6 percent said they would continue to support the “status quo” and 22.3 percent said they would back unification, the survey showed. “In my research on public surveys on these issues over the past 30 years, this is the highest rate of support among Taiwanese for independence,” You said. “Overall, 55 percent of people said that they do not fear that China would launch a military attack against Taiwan,” Taiwan Association for China Human Rights chairman Yang Sen-hong (楊憲宏) said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 22, 2020 15:56 UTC