EPA restricts use, sale, transport of explosive chemicals
Environmental Protection Administration Toxic and Chemical Substance Bureau Director-General Hsieh Yein-rui yesterday presents planned amendments to regulations on explosive substances at a news conference in Taipei. Ammonium nitrate is also used to produce helium, the first chemical restricted by the EPA, Hsieh said. The online sale of the substances would be banned, as well as their unlicensed transportation, storage or sale, he said. The regulations would stipulate fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 (US$1,051 to US$10,514) for breaches when transporting the substances, Hsieh said. The EPA had also found that some aluminum cleaning products sold in Taiwan contained hydrofluoric acid, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Tax rebates to continue for efficient appliances
Tax rebates to continue for efficient appliancesStaff writer, with CNAA proposal to extend tax rebates on energy-saving home appliances for another two years has been approved by the Cabinet and is to be submitted to the legislature for review, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said yesterday. If lawmakers approve the amendments to the Commodity Tax Act (貨物稅條例), the incentives would continue until June 14, 2023, allowing a rebate of up to NT$2,000 (US$70.09) on new refrigerators, air-conditioners and dehumidifiers if they meet energy efficiency standards, Lo told reporters. A model poses with air-conditioners at an event in Taipei on May 31, 2018. Photo: Wu Pei-hua, Taipei TimesThe continuation of the incentives, which were introduced in June 2019, would encourage more people to buy energy-efficient appliances, the ministry said. If the incentives are extended, refunds can be claimed by people who buy appliances that reach the “level 1” or “level 2” energy efficiency standards specified in a Bureau of Energy rating system.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
TSMC announces US$100bn plan for R&D and expansion
TSMC announces US$100bn plan for R&D and expansionBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to invest about US$100 billion to expand capacity and fund research and development (R&D) of advanced technologies in the next three years to keep up with rising demand, it said yesterday. TSMC unveiled the rare multiyear investment plan to appease customer panic over a global chip shortage. A man walks past the company logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest semiconductor maker, in Hsinchu on Jan. 29. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFPIn addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization, which also drives semiconductor demand, the chipmaker said in the statement. “TSMC will be building greenfield [new] fabs and expanding existing fabs for both leading-edge and specialty technologies,” Wei said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Evergreen Marine says it will keep using megaships
Evergreen Marine uses two kinds of vessels on its Europe routes, six with capacity of 14,000 TEUs and 11 with 20,000 TEUs. Evergreen Marine Corp president Eric Hsieh speaks at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. Using larger vessels helps shippers reduce fuel costs per unit and enhance profit margins, if the ships are fully loaded, Evergreen Marine said. Evergreen Marine is not responsible for Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal, as the owner is in charge of the vessel, Hsieh said. Apart from the Ever Given, 11 other Evergreen Marine vessels were affected by the blockage, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Ministry touts the success of vouchers
Ministry touts the success of vouchersBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe government’s Triple Stimulus Vouchers helped boost Taiwan’s retail sector last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday as it unveiled the final tally for the program. The ministry said that 99.6 percent of the vouchers, or NT$64.28 billion (US$2.25 billion), were redeemed by vendors. Premier Su Tseng-chang holds outsized samples of the government’s Triple Stimulus Vouchers at a news conference in Taipei on June 2 last year. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei TimesAdministration of the vouchers program, including printing and distribution, cost more than NT$2 billion, it said. “We designed the program to minimize the substitution effect and maximize the multiplication effect,” Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
BBC reporter fleeing China arrives in Taiwan: MOFA
BBC reporter fleeing China arrives in Taiwan: MOFAAFP, BEIJINGA senior BBC correspondent who had left China after facing legal threats and pressure from authorities over his reporting, has arrived in Taiwan and is in COVID-19 quarantine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou speaks at a news conference at the ministry in an undated photograph. Sudworth’s wife, Irish journalist Yvonne Murray, left the country with him “because of mounting pressure from the Chinese authorities,” her employer, Radio Television of Ireland (RTE), reported. The BBC confirmed Sudworth’s relocation after China’s state-run Global Times reported that he was “hiding” in Taiwan. In the middle of last month, Xinjiang authorities said that Sudworth was the target of a civil lawsuit for producing “fake news” about the region.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
PMI reads 62.7, the ninth month in expansion zone
PMI reads 62.7, the ninth month in expansion zoneOVERHEATING RISK: CIER’s president said that prices for oil, raw materials and mass commodities are spiking, and producers might soon pass costs on to consumersBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month was 62.7, soundly in the expansion zone for the ninth straight month, with all sectors reporting an uptick in business amid deepening concern over inflation risks, the Chunghua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. “Prices for oil, raw materials and mass commodities are spiking, and producers might soon pass costs on to consumers,” Chang said. The PMI subindex on new business orders was 60.5, while the industrial production gauge was 59.2, CIER’s monthly survey found. Companies in all sectors have rosy expectations, sending the six-month outlook reading to an all-time high of 78.8, Chang said. An upturn in the next six months is likely in the non-manufacturing sectors, including hospitality providers, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
First flight of Taiwan-Palau ‘travel bubble’ takes off
First flight of Taiwan-Palau ‘travel bubble’ takes offBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter, with CNA and AFPTaiwan and Palau yesterday launched what is being billed as the Asia-Pacific region’s first COVID-19 “travel bubble,” as the diplomatic allies seek to kick-start their battered tourist industries after successfully keeping infections at bay. Excited Taiwanese tourists arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, checking in five hours before their afternoon flight so that they could be tested for COVID-19. Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, left, waves as he concludes a news conference at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday following a five-day visit to Taiwan. A group of tourists pose at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday before boarding a flight to Palau as part of the Taiwan-Palau “travel bubble.” Photo: CNADoctors were stationed at the airport in case any passengers tested positive, he said. The “travel bubble” arrangement was first announced by the government on March 17.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Factory recovery in Asia gains pace
Factory activity last month in Japan and South Korea expanded thanks to solid demand at home and abroad, purchasing manager indices (PMI) showed, offering relief to policymakers facing pressure to accelerate a patchy recovery. People work on a wire harness production line at a factory in Huaibei, China, on March 9. China’s factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in almost a year, although underlying economic conditions remained positive. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing PMI, which focuses on smaller firms, last month dropped to 50.6 from February’s 50.9, missing market expectations. “All the uncertainty really rests with the economies they’re exporting to,” ING Groep NV chief Asia Pacific economist Rob Carnell said.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
New Zealand sweep T20 series against Bangladesh
New Zealand sweep T20 series against BangladeshAFP, AUCKLAND, New ZealandNew Zealand yesterday beat Bangladesh by 65 runs in a rain-shortened third Twenty20 international in Auckland to claim a series clean sweep. With their innings reduced to 10 overs due to bad weather, Bangladesh were all out for 76 with three balls to spare, well short of the 142 target set by New Zealand. New Zealand’s Adam Milne, right, tries to run out Bangladesh’s Shoriful Islam in the third Twenty20 international in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday. Bangladesh captain Liton Das said that mistakes cost his side, including a series of dropped catches that allowed Allen to run away with the match. They were starting to rebuild when Astle also claimed a brace, leaving Bangladesh teetering on 37-4.
Source:Taipei Times
April 01, 2021 15:56 UTC
Cross-strait forum focused on Tokyo Games: ministry
Cross-strait forum focused on Tokyo Games: ministryBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Cross-Straits Sports Exchange Seminar on Tuesday focused on how Taiwan and China are preparing their athletes for the Tokyo Olympic Games in July, Ministry of Education officials said, adding that neither side addressed whether Beijing should be allowed to hold the Winter Olympics next year. The annual seminar — over which Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) president Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道) and Chinese Olympic Committee president Gou Zhongwen (苟仲文) presided — was held online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung speaks to reporters at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday after a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Sports Administration International and Cross-Strait Sports Division Director Hsu Hsiu-ling (許秀玲) said the seminar was a routine meeting that Olympic Committee leaders and staff members should attend. The seminar focused on preparing athletes for the Tokyo Games and did not touch on issues related to the Winter Olympics next year, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
March 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Dietitians call for higher nutritionist-student ratio
Dietitians call for higher nutritionist-student ratioBy Chien Hui-ju and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerA nonpartisan group of legislators and dietitians yesterday called for the swift passage of a comprehensive school lunch bill, as only 538 nutritionists serve the nation’s 1.8 million schoolchildren, the equivalent of one for every 3,345 students. Local governments are left to create their own school lunch policy, Taiwan Dietitian Association president Chin Huei-min (金惠民) said. A student of Chiayi County Minhe Elementary School eats his lunch at the school in Chiayi County yesterday. Without enough experts, the nutritionist-student ratio would continue to decline, Chin added. Every day, 1.8 million school lunches are distributed nationwide, but there are only 538 school nutritionists, DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said, citing K-12 Education Administration data.
Source:Taipei Times
March 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
CTBC Bank to boost stake in Thai financial company
CTBC Bank to boost stake in Thai financial companyBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterCTBC Bank (中國信託銀行) would increase its investment in LH Financial Group Public Co by acquiring another 2.33 billion shares of the Thai company, CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) said yesterday after its board of directors approved the proposal. The financial conglomerate still needs to obtain the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission for the investment, CTBC spokeswoman Chiu Ya-ling (邱雅玲) told a news conference in Taipei. The deal, which would cost CTBC Financial NT$3.9 billion (US$136.7 million), would raise its stake in the Thai company from 35.6 percent to 46.6 percent, making it the largest shareholder, Chiu said. A sign displaying the logo of CTBC Bank is pictured outside the company’s headquarters in Taipei on April 13 last year. LH Financial Group focuses on the banking business, with its banking unit, LH Bank, ranking 13th in terms of assets among Thai banks, Chiu said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Girlfriend allegedly cuts off, flushes man’s penis
Girlfriend allegedly cuts off, flushes man’s penisFIT OF ANGER: The suspect said she flushed the severed penis down the toilet to prevent reattachment surgery, while a doctor said the victim would need counselingBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterA woman in central Taiwan on Tuesday allegedly cut off her boyfriend’s penis and flushed it down the toilet, police said. Police yesterday questioned the Vietnamese woman, surnamed Phung (馮), and said she is facing charges of aggravated assault. Photo: Tang Shih-ming, Taipei TimesThe couple’s neighbors told reporters that Huang and Phung had been living together for 10 months. The remaining part is insufficient to engage in sexual intercourse, therefore the best way is to implant an artificial penis,” Chou said. Huang had been married three times previously and has three daughters from those marriages, his neighbors told reporters.
Source:Taipei Times
March 31, 2021 15:56 UTC
Wisdom approves reduced payout
Wisdom approves reduced payoutBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterWisdom Marine Lines Co’s (慧洋海運) board of directors has approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1 per share this year, down from NT$1.5 a year earlier, as the dry bulk shipping company’s net profit plunged 95 percent annually to NT$111.41 million (US$3.9 million) last year. Earnings per share were NT$0.15 last year, the company said on Tuesday. The cash dividend suggested a yield of 3.03 percent based on the company’s closing share price of NT$32.95 on Tuesday. Wisdom Marine Lines Co chairman James Lan speaks to reporters after an investors’ conference in Taipei on Tuesday. Lan said that he is optimistic about the company’s operations in the next few months, as it is nearly the traditional peak season for bulk shipping.
Source:Taipei Times
March 31, 2021 15:56 UTC