Judicial Yuan head promoting fake reform, group says
Judicial Yuan head promoting fake reform, group saysBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Jury Association and other legal experts yesterday accused Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) of promoting “fake judicial reforms” by pushing a “lay judge system” instead of adopting a jury system. They do not trust judges because they believe their judgements are influenced by politics and money — “two major problems that have long plagued Taiwan’s justice system,” Cheng told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan Jury Association members and other legal experts hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday to call for a jury system instead of the lay judge system proposed by Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li. They questioned Hsu’s “positive” talk about judicial reforms, which he said have achieved a lot, with public trust in the justice system increasing. He added that “political intervention was very prevalent during the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime, which meddled in the justice system,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Electricity rates to remain unchanged, ministry says
Electricity rates to remain unchanged, ministry saysREPAYING THE FUND: Any gains that Taipower makes in the coming six months above its 3 percent legal reserve would go to the energy price stabilization fundBy Natasha Li / Staff reporterElectricity rates would remain unchanged at NT$2.6253 per kilowatt-hour, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Electricity rates have not been altered since September 2018 and would be maintained for the next six months until the committee’s next twice-yearly meeting, the ministry said. From left, Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Energy Director-General Yu Cheng-wei, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng and Taiwan Power Co president Chung Bin-li take part in a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Energy generation costs at state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), the nation’s largest electricity provider, remain largely unchanged from last year, as coal prices have remained relatively stable, Tseng said. Taipower last year posted pretax losses of NT$14.7 billion due to low electricity rates.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Book review: SANCTUARY: Short Fiction from Queer Asia
Book review: SANCTUARY: Short Fiction from Queer AsiaRecently published by Hong Kong’s Signal 8 Press, this is an unusual and valuable collection of queer-themed short fiction from writers throughout southeast Asia, including TaiwanBy Breadley Winterton / Contributing reporterThis is extraordinary! Not only do we have Sanctuary, a book of 18 gay short stories in English from East Asia, including Taiwan, but there’s also a companion volume, Intimate Strangers, consisting of 15 gay “creative nonfiction” narratives from the same publisher, Hong Kong’s Signal 8 Press. QUEER FICTIONSANCTUARY: Short Fiction from Queer Asia; edited by Libay Linsangan and Ng Yi-Sheng. Hsu was born in 1977 and is the author of many short stories, including those in Purple Blooms (Ink, 2008). Teatime is a powerful, though muted, story about a married 35-year-old Taipei man who meets another man, much younger than himself, online.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Group ‘awards’ four top water polluters
The group is developing a mobile application so that people can see companies’ pollution records, it added. The alliance sifted through Environmental Protection Administration data to identify the top 20 water polluters last year and gave four companies its “Golden Pollution Award” at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Green Citizens’ Action Alliance members in Taipei yesterday announce the winners of the “Golden Pollution Award” for Taiwan’s worst water polluters. The state-run utility has contravened water pollution control regulations more than 40 times since 2016, he said. Great Wall was fined more than NT$1.27 million for six incidents last year, alliance deputy secretary-general Tseng Hung-wen (曾虹文) said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
EVA, China Airlines forecast downturn
EVA, China Airlines forecast downturnBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe nation’s major airlines predicted that their operations would deteriorate until next quarter after the Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday increased travel advisories for 97 countries to level 3 “warning” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) said that it would not halt its international flights, even though almost all of its destinations were included in the list. EVA, which has five cargo aircraft, would continue to concentrate on its cargo business to offset the declining passenger ticket sales, but it has not considered using passenger jets to transport cargo, Chen said. China Airlines’ board of directors yesterday approved a plan not to distribute any cash dividend this year, after the carrier reported a net loss of NT$1.2 billion (US$39.6 million) for last year. In a statement, the carrier attributed the results to a decreasing number of tourists from China and canceled flights amid protests in Hong Kong.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Legislative Yuan teleconferencing system trialed
Virus Outbreak: Legislative Yuan teleconferencing system trialedMAKING PREPARATIONS: The system would also be tested during a legislative affairs and two committee meetings as well as a floor session, Lin Chih-chia saidBy Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Legislative Yuan’s ability to hold sessions remotely — if the COVID-19 outbreak worsens — was tested yesterday as Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) and Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) held a teleconference. Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia, third right, speaks to Legislative Speaker You Si-kun, left on screen, during a test of a teleconferencing system at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. The system would be tested for various situations, beginning with a legislative affairs meeting, followed by a Procedure Committee meeting, a standing committee meeting and ultimately, a full floor session, he said. “We hope not to have to use the system, but we must make what preparations we can,” Lin said. Lin also thanked Microsoft for providing the teleconferencing system and hardware, and for helping testing the system yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Airline bailouts to cost at least NT$30 billion
The nation’s airlines have experienced financial difficulties, as an increasing number of countries restricting the entry of travelers to combat the pandemic has led to reductions to international flights, he said. It would take at least NT$30 billion to bail out the nation’s six airlines and the ministry would help secure loans to replenish their working capital, he said. This is particularly the case with the China Airlines,” Lin said. The disease prevention subsidy would be used to purchase masks and ear thermometers, as well as to disinfect aircraft, it said. The disease prevention subsidy is capped at NT$4,500 per international or cross-strait flight, and NT$2,500 for domestic flights, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Presidential Office says no need for emergency decree
Virus Outbreak: Presidential Office says no need for emergency decreeBy Su Yung-yao, Chen Yun and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe Presidential Office yesterday declined calls from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) politicians for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to declare a state of emergency over the COVID-19 situation, saying that any contingencies can be addressed by existing legislation. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang talks to reporters at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Sept. 25 last year. The Presidential Office said emergency decrees should only be issued in cases of national emergencies or during a financial tumult that would otherwise lack a legal basis. Under the Constitution, any emergency decree issued by the president must be ratified by the Legislative Yuan, the office said. Since martial law was lifted in 1987, a state of emergency has only be declared once, after the 921 Earthquake in 1999, Chang said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT’s Chiang says he is ‘Taiwanese and Chinese’
KMT’s Chiang says he is ‘Taiwanese and Chinese’DUAL IDENTITY: The newly elected KMT chairman said that he was born and raised in Taiwan, but from a cultural and historical viewpoint, he is also ChineseBy Lin Liang-sheng / Staff reporterChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) on Tuesday said that he is “both Taiwanese and Chinese” at a meeting with former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱). The KMT is the Republic of China’s (ROC) founding party, Chiang said, adding that for the KMT, China is the ROC. Like Hung, Chiang was elected after the KMT’s defeat in a presidential election, the office said, adding that the two understand the hardships that come with the position. The ROC Constitution is a “one China” Constitution, Hung said. The ROC’s intrinsic territory is clearly stated in the Constitution, Chiang said, adding that as long as it has not been changed with constitutional amendments, it should be followed.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: City wardens urged not to go abroad
Hou told a news conference that he would strongly advise the city’s borough wardens against traveling abroad until quarantine measures are lifted, but “this is not an administrative order and I can only give moral advice.”The city has 1,032 borough wardens and none of the others has plans to travel abroad, he said. Wayao Borough Warden Lin Chi-fang talks to reporters at Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday after returning from a trip to Spain and Portugal. The central government should prohibit all Taiwanese from traveling to areas for which a level 3 travel alert has been issued, he said. Taiwanese returning from countries with a level three warning should be screened thoroughly and a 14-day quarantine should be enforced, Hou said earlier during a New Taipei City meeting. Lin Chi-fang (林綺芳), warden for Jhonghe District’s (中和) Wayao Borough left on Tuesday last week with a group of 14 borough residents for Spain and Portugal, a source said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Travel notice for 20 nations, three US states raised
Virus Outbreak: Travel notice for 20 nations, three US states raisedBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday raised its travel notice for 19 Asian nations, one Eastern European country and three US states to a level 3 “warning,” saying that travelers from those countries would be quarantined at home for 14 days upon arriving in Taiwan. “Responding to the escalating global COVID-19 situation, we are raising the travel notice to a level 3 ‘warning’ — avoid unnecessary travel — for 20 nations and three US states,” he said. He said that although the travel notice takes effect tomorrow, the quarantine measures would begin immediately. Visa-waiver programs would be suspended for countries or areas that have been issued a level 3 travel notice, Chen said, adding that foreign nationals from those places who need to travel to Taiwan must apply for a visa at the nation’s representative offices. The next two weeks is a critical observation period and the center expects the number of confirmed cases to increase, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Far EasTone says 5G profits to take longer than planned
Far EasTone says 5G profits to take longer than plannedBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterFar EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said that given heavy 5G spectrum costs, it would take longer than expected to see a positive contribution from 5G services on its balance sheet. Far EasTone originally forecast that 5G services would make a positive contribution one to two years after launch, which is scheduled for the third quarter, Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) said. Far EasTone Telecommunications Co president Chee Ching talks to reporters about the company’s 5G development at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Far EasTone expects 5G services to boost the company’s average revenue per user mildly this year, Ching said, adding that the effect would magnify next year. Based on the initial construction plan it submitted to the commission for review, Far EasTone plans to build 6,000 5G base stations in the next five years.
Source:Taipei Times
March 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Student praised for raising awareness through drawings
Student praised for raising awareness through drawingsBy Su meng-chuan and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerA student at National Municipal Taichung First Senior High School has been commended for raising environmental awareness with his drawings on a large blackboard on school grounds. National Municipal Taichung First Senior High School student Lin Ching-feng on Tuesday last week displays his mural on the school campus that promotes a non-plastic environment. Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei TimesLin said he hoped to raise awareness about how people should use less plastic. The school’s food store hands out plastic bags, too, he said. To support Lin’s idea, the school’s food store switched to paper bags.
Source:Taipei Times
March 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: MOTC working on bailout for airlines
Virus Outbreak: MOTC working on bailout for airlinesBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe government is planning a special loan for the nation’s six airlines as their businesses have been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Huang Yu-ling (黃玉霖) said yesterday. Details of the bailout are to be decided at an Executive Yuan meeting tomorrow, he said on the sidelines of a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee. Asked if the bailout would be capped at NT$30 billion, as some local media have reported, Huang said that the airlines are still calculating the exact amounts they need to weather the crisis. “The airlines have experienced a massive reduction in revenue in the past few months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has led them to have low cash flow as well. The special loan program would fund paychecks for their employees and help them get though this difficult time,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 16, 2020 15:56 UTC
TAIEX falls below 10,000 amid rate cuts
Turnover on the main board was NT$209.379 billion (US$6.93 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$33.35 billion in local shares, the data showed. A computer screen displays a graph of TAIEX transaction volume at a stockbroker in Taipei yesterday. Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) shares dropped 3.98 percent to NT$70 and Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠) declined 2.98 percent to NT$78.2. “Bearish or not, you can say that the local market is going through a difficult time. “People are eager to know when the outbreak would be contained, but a rate cut will not provide an answer,” Chu said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 16, 2020 15:56 UTC