Games to go ahead as planned: organizers
AFP, TOKYOTokyo 2020 organizers yesterday said that the Games would “go ahead as planned,” slamming misinformation over a new coronavirus for triggering panic. “The Olympics will go ahead as planned,” he told reporters after a Paralympic project review. “The World Health Organization has not declared this a pandemic. “We will follow the advice of the World Health Organization. The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 24 and the Paralympics start on Aug. 25.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Fish, butterflies making comeback in Jhonsing
“Another surprise for visitors is that the valley is home to many butterflies,” he said. A former borough warden, an octogenarian, confirmed that Euploea butterflies, among other varieties, frequented the valley, he said. However, the location where the butterflies originate remains secret to prevent them from being disturbed, he added. The conservation project asked local bakeries to prepare bread without butter for visitors to feed the fish and is looking into creating a special fish feed to sell to tourists, Wang said. Wang also called on tourists not to bring outside bread or feed the fish with leftovers, which could pollute the water source.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
More than 100 workers of local banks still in China
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterA total of 101 Taiwanese employees of nine Taiwanese banks remain in China due to a lockdown, transport restrictions or other reasons, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday. Three employees of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) subsidiary Fubon Bank (China) Co Ltd (富邦華一銀行) returned to Taiwan before the Lunar New Year, she added. There are 88 Taiwanese staff of six banks still in those cities, commission data showed. Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) and Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) also have eight employees each in Fuzhou, the data showed. As most Taiwanese banks’ operations in China are concentrated on corporate banking services, their employees have less contact with local consumers than those of Chinese banks, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Highways & Byways: Kaohsiung’s heavenly wetland
In the built-up core of Kaohsiung, Niaosong Wetland Park (鳥松濕地公園) is the go-to for birders who have just a few hours to spare. The 3.6-hectare park, named for and located in Kaohsiung’s Niaosong District (鳥松), was the first wetland in Taiwan planned and deliberately brought into existence. After they stopped using it, conservationists lobbied the government to turn it into a wetland education park. IF YOU GO GETTING THERE The nearest railway station is Jhengyi TRA Station (正義火車站), 2.3km south of the wetland park, where only local commuter trains stop. City bus #30 connects Jhengyi TRA Station with Cheng Shiu University (正修科技大學), a couple of minutes’ walk from the wetland.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus is delaying Nintendo Switch shipments to Japan
BloombergNintendo Co yesterday said that shipments of its Switch console and related peripherals, such as Joy-Con controllers, have been delayed by the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in China. A Nintendo spokesman told Bloomberg News that the company could consider shipping hardware from its production site in Vietnam to Japan if the outbreak worsens. Nintendo last week forecast full-year earnings that were short of expectations, sending its shares tumbling. The supply bottleneck also comes at an inopportune time for Nintendo, which was already struggling to keep up with Ring Fit Adventure demand in Japan. The game, released on Oct. 18 last year, was the best-selling game in Japan last week, market researcher Famitsu said yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Toyota upgrades full-year forecast as profit rockets
AFP, TOKYOJapanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp yesterday posted a surge in net profit on record sales for the nine months to December last year, while also upgrading its full-year profit forecast. Toyota said its net profit for April to December surged 41.4 percent year-on-year to ￥2 trillion (US$18.2 billion), while sales rose 1.6 percent to ￥22.8 trillion, the highest ever for the period. The company revised upward its full-year profit forecast to a net profit of ￥2.35 trillion for the fiscal year to March, compared with its earlier forecast of ￥2.15 trillion, thanks to foreign-exchange gains. Operating profit is forecast at ￥2.5 trillion, up from ￥2.4 trillion forecast earlier, while its sales outlook remained unchanged at ￥29.5 trillion. “The coronavirus outbreak represents a material downside risk to our scenario for a mild recovery of the Chinese auto market in 2020,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Vittoria Ferraris said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 06, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Man faces fines for breaching quarantine
The Central Epidemic Command Center on Wednesday last week began distributing cellphones to local governments to give to people placed under home quarantine to track their whereabouts. Upon arriving at Huang’s residence, police discovered that he had left without permission and ordered him to return home immediately. Huang returned to his residence at 4:39pm, which was confirmed via his building’s surveillance footage, the police said. In Taichung, prosecutors opened a case against a 33-year-old man surnamed Lee (李) after people reported to health authorities that “false information” was being circulated on messaging app Line, the officials said. He was yesterday transferred to Taichung prosecutors, who questioned him, with official saying that his actions were a contravention of Article 63 of the act.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Virus Outbreak: Philippines to add travel history to visa requirements
All foreign travelers — regardless of nationality — who have visited China, Hong Kong or Macau within the previous 21 days would be barred from entering the Philippines, the office said in a statement. On Sunday, Philippine authorities banned all travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau, one day after a Chinese national from Wuhan, China — ground zero of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak — died in the Philippines, becoming the first fatality outside of China. “Failure to secure and submit the Entry and Exit Record may result in the outright disapproval or denial of the application for visa without refund of the processing fee,” it said. The Entry and Exit Record would be returned to Taiwanese travelers with an official stamp and would need to be presented to Philippine immigration officials along with their visa to enter the nation, it added. The Entry and Exit Record would provide proof of inbound and outbound dates to check if Taiwanese have recently traveled to the banned areas, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Hon Hai trims outlook after outbreak
The lost production prompted Hon Hai to slash its revenue growth forecast for this year. “Given current market conditions, we are lowering to between 1 percent and 3 percent,” Liu said, when asked whether Hon Hai would cut its sales growth forecast for this year. The factory halt is set to hit Hon Hai’s profit for this year, but it was still evaluating the likely impact, the person said. Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, is making plans to ensure the health and safety of its hundreds of thousands of workers, including scanning a QR code on employees’ mobile phones for health screening. Hon Hai’s factories are dependent to a great extent on migrant workers from poorer regions.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Cathay Pacific CEO asks staff to take unpaid leave
In a video message to the company’s 27,000 employees, Tang said they were being asked to take up to three weeks leave with no pay between next month and June. Cathay has 500 to 600 employees in Taiwan, local Chinese-language media reported. Tang said that Cathay was experiencing “one of the most difficult Chinese New Year holidays we have ever had” because of the outbreak. “With such an uncertain outlook, preserving our cash is now the key to protecting our business.”He announced a series of measures to tackle the crisis, including asking staff to voluntarily take unpaid leave. The last time Cathay asked staff to take unpaid leave was in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crash.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
NZ issues first red weather warning
The Guardian, WELLINGTONPart of New Zealand’s South Island has been cut off after days of torrential rains washed away roads and forced 2,000 people to evacuate, and as the national weather authority, MetService, issued its first ever red weather warning. Lewis Ferris at MetService said the storms had generated its first red warning, a new alert the agency created in May last year. The gas — harmful to people and the environment — would likely be released into the floodwaters, though emergency management authorities hope it would be diluted by the water. Those living on higher ground in Gore were allowed to stay, but should expect to be without power or water until today, emergency management officials said. Those people were being evacuated by helicopter yesterday, officials said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan’s fortune-tellers: what’s in store for 2020
Tsai discourages any type of risky behavior, stressing multiple times that Sheep should shun all types of conflicts and strictly abide by the law. “You will be cutting your way through thistles and thorns this year,” Tsai writes. Their love life will also be grim, as existing relationships will fade and their sex life will lose spark. “It’s advisable to spend this year happily single and free of bonds,” Tsai writes. “If you can break up with someone smoothly, that’s already very fortunate,” Tsai writes about Snakes.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Siemens says growth on track, despite slow start
Net earnings at the Munich, Germany-based group, whose products range from trains to factory equipment and wind turbines, fell 3 percent year-on-year in its October-to-December first quarter, to just under 1.1 billion euros (US$1.2 billion). Operating profit declined sharply at both its factory automation unit, down 32 percent, and the gas and power division, down 63 percent. Despite the operating loss at Gamesa, the wind turbine arm boosted revenues 82 percent, taking in 4.6 billion euros to account for more than one-fifth of the group’s 20.3 billion euros total in the quarter. The energy unit is slated to be bundled with the gas and power division into a new business called Siemens Energy, which is to be spun off later this year. The company “will list Siemens Energy on the stock exchange in September as planned,” Kaeser said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
Thailand cuts rate as virus outbreak hurts economy
BloombergThe Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low as a coronavirus outbreak in China, a stalled government budget and bad drought imperil economic growth. The central bank yesterday lowered the policy rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent in a unanimous decision, the third cut in its past five meetings. The virus has delivered a severe blow to Thailand’s tourism industry, undermining the outlook for the economy. “The outbreak may be temporary, but it’s a huge shock to the economy,” said Naris Sathapholdeja, chief economist at TMB Bank PCL in Bangkok. The bank is likely to revise the economic growth forecast at its next meeting, Titanun said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT Youth League says chair election should be put off
By Shih Hsiao-kuang and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League yesterday called on the party to postpone its chairperson by-election. Former KMT chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) last month resigned after the party’s defeats in the Jan. 11 elections. The KMT should put off the election and help with prevention efforts for the 2019 novel coronavirus, KMT Central Review Committee member Chang Ya-ping (張雅屏) told a news conference outside KMT headquarters in Taipei. Former KMT Youth League secretary-general Lee Zheng-hao (李正皓) said he doubted whether either of the two candidates registered for the by-election — former KMT vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a former Taipei mayor, and KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) — would arouse public interest. Former KMT Youth League head Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) said he felt the by-election was being rushed, and that the KMT was not allowing enough time for candidates to discuss their political views.
Source:Taipei Times
February 05, 2020 15:56 UTC