Virus Outbreak: Hon Hai to produce masks in Taiwan
By Natasha Li / Staff reporterHon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday confirmed rumors it plans to produce masks in Taiwan amid the expanding COVID-19 outbreak. The world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer said it has contacted suppliers of raw materials and machinery equipment to produce masks for its home market. Mass production is scheduled to begin next month with an estimated daily output of 1 million units, Hon Hai said. The Longhua Park plant is expected to produce 2 million masks per day by the end of the month, the company said. Total production is expected to amount to 10 million masks on a daily basis by the end of next month, the ministry said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
HSBC seeks revamp by axing 35,000 jobs
AFP, LONDONAsia-focused banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC yesterday axed 35,000 jobs, far more than expected, and posted slumping annual profits, as it warned over the financial impact of COVID-19. The radical overhaul comes as HSBC streamlines operations in the US and Europe, although no details were given on where the axe would fall. The restructuring plans are the biggest shake-up since 2012, when HSBC was caught up in a Mexican money-laundering scandal. Many of the cutbacks will be in the European and US investment banking sectors, while units in more profitable Asia and the Middle East would be bolstered. Adjusted profit before tax in Asia last year was up 6 percent to US$18.6 billion.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
US mulls cutting Huawei off from global chip makers
New restrictions on commerce with China’s Huawei are among several options to be considered at high-level US meetings this week and next. The chip proposal has been drafted, but its approval is far from certain, one of the sources said. The US is trying to convince allies to exclude Huawei components from next-generation 5G networks on grounds its equipment could be used by China for spying. However, a spokesman for the department said that US charges against Huawei, including conspiring to steal trade secrets, “reaffirm the need for caution in considering license applications. The US placed Huawei on a blacklist in May last year, citing national security concerns.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Traveler likely source of fatal infection
The man’s 51-year-old brother, who lived with him, tested positive for the disease on Saturday and was on Sunday announced as the nation’s 20th confirmed case. The traveler was considered the most likely source of infection in the driver’s case, although his first test was negative for COVID-19, Chen said. As of yesterday afternoon, 175 of the people tested negative for COVID-19 and 22 were awaiting test results, the center said. Separately yesterday, Chen said that the center has designated the Diamond Princess cruise ship anchored near Yokohama, Japan, as an epidemic area. As of yesterday the ship had 542 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, including four Taiwanese passengers.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Posters depicting ‘Chinese police’ recalled
By Chang Jui-chen, Chang Ching-ya and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe Taichung City Police Department is recalling thousands of traffic safety posters after a city resident noticed that they depict what appeared to be a Chinese police officer. The department six months ago commissioned a designer to create the posters, but did not notice the error until it was pointed out by the resident earlier this month, it said. The department is recalling the posters due to the controversy, but they do not contain any Chinese flags or other references to China, department traffic division Deputy Captain Lin Cheng-che (林鉦哲) said. Separately on Sunday, the Kaohsiung Police Department reprimanded the officers responsible for allowing a traffic safety pamphlet containing the Chinese flag to be released to the public. The department in August last year contracted the designer to create 18,000 pamphlets for NT$0.3 per piece, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Kaohsiung hotels seeking ways to cut costs
Lees Boutique Hotel (麗景飯店) and the Taroko Park outlet of Holiday Garden Hotel (華園飯店) have suspended operations for one to two months. Poor occupancy rates prompted Holiday Garden to temporarily close the Taroko Park property and send customers to its outlet near Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市), hotel officials said. The hotel has also attracted guests from foreign baseball teams that are holding player training in Kaohsiung. However, the family-focused Taroko Park outlet, next to Taroko park and Suzuka Circuit Park, has suffered from its less convenient location, even with the government extending schools’ winter break through this week as part of efforts to curb the spread of the virus. The hotel is offering special room rates of NT$2,800 per day and room upgrades for guests who stay at the hotel by the end of next month.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Soldier jailed for selling counterfeit cartoon stickers
By Wang Chieh and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Tainan District Court on Wednesday last week sentenced a volunteer soldier who sold unlicensed cartoon stickers on an online platform to 50 days in prison for contravening the Trademark Act (商標法), saying that her selling counterfeit and pirated goods could tarnish Taiwan’s international reputation regarding intellectual property rights. The 23-year-old soldier, surnamed Liu (劉) and who lives in Tainan, opened an online shop on e-commerce platform Shopee two years ago and began selling stickers and pins featuring famous Japanese cartoon characters that she purchased on Chinese online shopping service Taobao, with each item priced between NT$40 and NT$50, the court said. Police searched Liu’s home in February last year, finding 600 pirated products, it added. Liu infringed on the rights of the trademark owners, and her trade in counterfeit and pirated goods posed a risk of influencing other nations’ perception of Taiwan regarding intellectual property rights, the court said. In addition, Liu has not reached settlements with the trademark owners, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Rapper’s new song slams WHO for barring Taiwan
Staff writer, with CNATaiwanese rapper Dwagie (大支) blasts the WHO for excluding Taiwan in the global fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in his latest song released yesterday. In the song titled WHO, which has with English lyrics, the rapper opens with the line: “Health for all, leaving no one behind,” which is the stated goal of the international organization. However, the WHO has long excluded Taiwan from participation due to Chinese pressure, even though it is known globally for its medical expertise, he says in the song. The 35-year-old rapper is known locally for using his music to express his views on controversial issues. Between 2009 and 2016, Taiwan participated in the annual World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO, as an observer.
Source:Taipei Times
February 18, 2020 15:56 UTC
England skipper clouts seven sixes as side win series
AFP, CENTURION, South AfricaEngland captain Eoin Morgan on Sunday went on a six-hitting spree to take his side to a series win in a high-scoring third and final Twenty20 international against South Africa at SuperSport Park. Morgan slammed seven sixes in an innings of 57 not out off 22 balls as England chased down South Africa’s 222-6 with five wickets and five balls to spare. “It was a helluva game,” Morgan said. However, 78 runs were still needed off 38 balls when Dawid Malan was fourth out with the total on 145. Morgan hit two sixes off successive balls from Lungi Ngidi and the contest was effectively ended.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: CECC reports two new confirmed cases
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has reported two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of cases in the nation to 22. The center on Sunday night said the 19th confirmed patient did not travel abroad and had not been exposed to infected cases, but added that the risk of “community spread” was low. The 19th case was a 61-year-old man in central Taiwan, who was hospitalized on Feb. 3 for suspected serious flu complications with pneumonia. The minister listed four signs of a community infection: inability to find the source of infection, a higher number of locally infected cases than imported cases, a continuous chain of infections and widespread clusters of cases. So far, only the death case partially matches the first sign and the center is still tracking the source of infection, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Former Department of Justice officials urge Barr to resign
Reuters, WASHINGTONMore than 1,000 former US Department of Justice officials on Sunday called for US Attorney General William Barr to resign over his handling of the trial of a longtime adviser of US President Donald Trump. “Those actions, and the damage they have done to the Department of Justice’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law, require Mr. Barr to resign,” it said. INTERFERENCETrump had heavily criticized the original sentencing request for Stone and the department subsequently abandoned it, instead deciding to make no formal sentencing recommendation. Democrats blasted the department’s shift in the high-profile case involving Stone, whose friendship with Trump dates back decades. Barr on Thursday said in an interview with broadcaster ABC that Trump’s criticism of those involved in the Stone case “make it impossible for me to do my job.”
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Lazio battle past Inter, eye ‘scudetto’
Inter dropped from top spot to third — three points behind the eight-time reigning champions — after falling to just their second defeat of the season. The 34-year-old got his foot to a rebound after Thomas Straskosha had cleared a shot by former Lazio player Antonio Candreva. “We gifted Lazio two goals,” Inter coach Antonio Conte said as his side fell to their second defeat after losing to Juventus in October last year. Lazio extended their unbeaten run to 19 games as they target their second scudetto. “Dries is a phenomenon, a champion who makes difficult things seem simple,” Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus outbreak: Legislator urges policy for China-based workers
By Hsieh Chun-lin and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerChina-based Taiwanese manufacturers should not require their Taiwanese employees to return to work before COVID-19 is sufficiently under control in China, a lawmaker said yesterday, adding that Taipei should implement stricter policies to ensure workers’ safety. Policies for disease control in China are chaotic and nontransparent, posing an extreme health hazard to China-based Taiwanese workers, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Taiwanese who work in China should be protected by their companies and the government, Hung said. Labor law experts have three categories for Taiwanese working in China: those sent by Taiwanese firms on short-term, task-based trips; people working long-term at a subsidiary of a Taiwan-based company that has control over the subsidiary’s management; and people working at a firm in China unrelated to Taiwanese firms, he said. For the first category, the Civil Code grants legal grounds for an employee to refuse the task, while the government should broaden the authority it has to intervene, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
We could have scored 10, Neuer says of Bayern win
AFP, BERLINBayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer on Sunday said that the defending champions should have scored more, despite a 4-1 away win at Cologne sweeping them back to the top of the Bundesliga. “We could have scored up to 10 goals,” said Neuer, clearly irritated by the first-half chances Bayern wasted. “In any case, there was more to it than 4-1.”Serge Gnabry scored twice, while Robert Lewandowski and Kingsley Coman also netted. Forward Thomas Mueller, who was outstanding with assists for Lewandowski and Coman, agreed that Bayern made life hard for themselves. The result left Bayern a point ahead of Leipzig, while Borussia Dortmund, who thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Friday, are third, four points back.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC
Celta strike late to put brakes on Real
Real had won five straight in La Liga to accelerate past Barcelona and they welcomed back Eden Hazard, who had been out since November last year. In the 65th minute, Celta goalkeeper Ruben Blanco pulled down Hazard and Sergio Ramos slammed the penalty into the bottom corner of the net. With four minutes left, a sharp pass from Denis Suarez, who had come on in the 71st minute, caught the Real defense flat-footed. “An extraordinary pass,” Zidane said. Elsewhere, CA Osasuna won 1-0 away at Athletic Bilbao and CD Leganes were held to a goalless draw by Real Betis Balompie.
Source:Taipei Times
February 17, 2020 15:56 UTC