KMT referendum enters stage 2
KMT referendum enters stage 2MARCH DEADLINE: The KMT is to set up collection sites nationwide and lawmaker Jessica Chen called for support for the signature drive to safeguard public healthStaff writer, with CNAThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has begun to collect signatures in the second stage of its efforts to initiate a referendum opposing the government’s decision to lift a ban on pork imports containing ractopamine, it said yesterday. The referendum question would ask: “Do you agree to a total ban on the importation of pork and related products containing leanness-enhancing additives (ractopamine and other beta-agonists)?” the KMT has said. In line with the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the KMT in the second stage must collect the signatures of nearly 290,000 people, or 1.5 percent of eligible voters in the most recent presidential election, for the referendum to be held. Every KMT lawmaker would be responsible for collecting at least 1,000 signatures by the deadline, he said. KMT Legislator Jessica Chen (陳玉珍) urged the public to support the referendum initiative to safeguard people’s health.
Source:Taipei Times
January 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
PRC propaganda unrelenting: report
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei TimesBuilding on cognitive warfare, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aggressively manipulates virtual and real spaces to develop a “united front” strategy, the report says. Chinese academics have added “brain dominance” to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s traditional “three warfares” strategy: public opinion warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare, it says. “As these cognitive warfare operations were based on falsehoods, they were quickly repudiated and usually had the opposite of the intended effect,” the report says. “The author believes that the intended target for China’s 2020 external perception warfare, which superficially is about changing perception abroad about China ... has eventually been transformed into a form of domestic perception warfare to ensure stability,” it says. China used various media to push its perception warfare, including paid trolls and content farms to reach an audience willing to promote pro-Beijing propaganda, as well as employing hackers to launch cyberattacks, it says.
Source:Taipei Times
January 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Housing prices might increase 10%
Housing prices might increase 10%HIGH LIQUIDITY: Two and three-bedroom apartments would continue to dominate the market due to their relative affordability, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s housing prices might rise another 10 percent this year in locations with noticeable land supply and amid planned high-tech plants, as record-low interest rates would continue to motivate potential buyers, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan (戴德梁行) said yesterday. Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan managing director Billy Yen speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. New housing projects in locations near forthcoming technology plants across Taiwan would also be popular, as the jobs they create would spur real demand, Yen said. Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan expects liquidity-driven rallies to drive up office prices this year, aided by companies returning from abroad to cope with US-China trade tensions and a global supply chain realignment. The pace of increase in land prices might slow down this year after probably hitting their peak last year, allowing the trading volume to further expand, Yen said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Exchanges could share Taipei site
Exchanges could share Taipei siteBETTER COORDINATION: Four exchanges have invested in an urban renewal project at Taipei Beimen Post Office and might move there once construction is completedBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the Taipei Exchange (TPEX), the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) and Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (TDCC) could move into one building in downtown Taipei in six years, TWSE chairman Hsu Jan-yau (許璋瑤) said yesterday. The four companies have invested in an urban renewal project run by Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) that would transform the historic Taipei Beimen Post Office site into a national postal museum and two high-rises, Hsu told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan Stock Exchange chairman Hsu Jan-yau is pictured at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNATWSE rents office space in Taipei 101, while the other three are headquartered either in Taipei’s Songshan (松山) or Zhongzheng (中正) districts. The Financial Supervisory Commission, now in New Taipei’s City’s Banciao District (板橋), would probably also relocate to the same building, but it is still in talks with the National Property Administration (NPA), the landowner of the renewal project, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Legislator discusses CECC data use, privacy concerns
Legislator discusses CECC data use, privacy concernsBIG BROTHER? More than 30 people under self-health management were detected near the Taipei City Government’s New Year’s Eve event, and seven people under self-health management were asked to leave concerts by rock band Mayday in Taoyuan on Thursday and Friday evening. The CECC used that information to issue text message warnings to people whose mobile devices were detected in the areas where the passengers had been, she said. “However, once the pandemic is over, what the standard for using personal data is remains a question to be answered,” Kao said. Personal data collected as part of COVID-19 prevention efforts would be destroyed after 28 days, in line with regulations, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 04, 2021 15:56 UTC
‘Pork dashboard’ shows zero imports
‘Pork dashboard’ shows zero importsPORK WATCH: The dashboard provides daily information on locally produced and imported pork products, including those containing ractopamine residueBy Chien Hui-ju and Chen Hsin-yu / Staff reportersThe government yesterday launched an online “pork dashboard,” which showed no pork imports since Friday, when the nation started allowing imports of pork containing residue of the leanness-enhancing additive ractopamine. It includes information on domestically produced pork, including the number of pigs slaughtered and weights of pork and edible pig organs. Premier Su Tseng-chang points to an image of the government’s new “pork dashboard” at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. All government agencies are prepared to inspect imported pork batch by batch, clearly label imported pork and follow relevant procedures,” he added. The real test begins when there are companies that want to import pork containing ractopamine, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
January 04, 2021 15:56 UTC
Continental launches sales of San Francisco condos
Continental launches sales of San Francisco condosBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterContinental Development Corp (大陸建設) yesterday started selling small apartments in the heart of San Francisco, California, as the Taipei-based company seeks to expand at home and abroad. The mixed-use complex, Serif (尚芮), on the intersection of Market Street and Turk Street is set to include 242 condominiums and an upscale hotel upon its completion in July, Continental Development chairman Christopher Chang (張良吉) told a news conference in Taipei. Continental Development Corp chairman Christopher Chang, center, Formosan Rubber Group chairman Peter Hsu, second right, and other guests drink a toast at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Small apartments have been popular in San Francisco due to its dense population of affluent singles, she said, adding that the elegant modern design would strike a chord with the target customers. The company said it would reserve 36 units for Taiwanese buyers, and 40 percent has already been sold to young wealthy professionals.
Source:Taipei Times
January 04, 2021 15:56 UTC
New vehicle sales hit 15-year high
Yulon said it was premature to give a forecast for vehicle sales this year as most automakers are pushing for a five-year extension of a NT$50,000 (US$1,760) reduction in commodity tax. 3 spot for sales, moving 30,426 units — a 7.9 percent decline from a year earlier — leaving it with a 6.7 percent share of the market. Yulon Nissan and Honda were the only two automakers among the top 10 firms in Taiwan that saw vehicle sales decline last year. China Motor Corp (CMC, 中華汽車), which distributes Mitsubishi sedans, was sixth in sales, moving 24,979 units, a 1.3 percent increase from the previous year. Tesla Inc saw its sales surge 84.9 percent to 5,819 units last year, making it the fastest-growing brand among imported automakers.
Source:Taipei Times
January 04, 2021 15:56 UTC
Beware of infiltration and enemies in Taiwan
After the US cut diplomatic ties with Taipei, the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to provide the “governing authorities on Taiwan” with the same treatment enjoyed by other sovereign states. The persistence of the “ROC in Taiwan” was a result of the US’ indulgence of the KMT’s authoritarian rule. Putting aside the question of whether the US treats Taiwan as a bargaining chip against China, why should Taiwan be one of China’s core interests? US General Douglas MacArthur even referred to Taiwan as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier.”Should free and democratic Taiwan be dependent on China? What is really worrying is communist infiltration and enemies within Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 16:07 UTC
FEATURE: Taichung still popular pick for LY relocation
FEATURE: Taichung still popular pick for LY relocationBy Huang Hsin-po, Wu Su-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe issue of relocating the Legislative Yuan (LY) out of Taipei remains a hot topic even a decade after it was first proposed, with Taichung the most popular among the proposed locations, legislators said. Other proposed locations include New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), Changhua County’s Tianjhong Township (田中) and Yilan County. The Legislative Yuan in Tapiei is pictured on April 30, 2010. The Legislative Yuan building was a girls’ high school during the Japanese colonial era, and the legislature’s administrative offices are in what used to be its dormitory. In 2012, then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) proposed moving the legislature to Taichung.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
Whither Taiwan’s universities?
Whither Taiwan’s universities? This outcome had long been predicted, the inevitable result of Taiwan’s low birthrates and surplus of universities. Hence, the paradox by which Taiwan’s cheap public universities are populated by students from better-off families, while the working class has to send its children to lower quality private universities, often by borrowing money. Safe from foreign competition, Taiwan’s universities can monopolize the local population, save for those few families wealthy enough to send their children overseas. Whatever changes, thanks to low birthrates, around half of Taiwan’s private higher education institutions are expected to close in the coming decade.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
THSR Yilan line proposal sent to MOTC: bureau
THSR Yilan line proposal sent to MOTC: bureauNO DESTINATION YET: Four sites for a terminal station were proposed. Prior to the publication of the final report, the Yilan County Government sent a letter to the bureau suggesting that the terminal station be at a TRA station planned for near Yilan County Hall, which is not scheduled to be built until 2030. The town, which is in the center of the Lanyang Plain, has a complete infrastructure nearby and is close to the county hall, the Yilan County Council Building and the Yilan Science Park, it said. A THSR line to the station there would boost urban development as well as the growth of the high-tech industry there, it said. Travel time to any of the four proposed stations would be about the same, so it would not be a factor in the final decision, the bureau said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
Chen Shui-bian hosts first episode of new radio show
Chen Shui-bian hosts first episode of new radio showTREAD LIGHTLY: As part of his medical parole, Chen is not allowed to discuss politics, but said his show would focus on life and inspiring storiesStaff writer, with CNAFormer president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday started a radio show on Smile Taiwan with Smile founder Shih Chuan (石川) as his first guest. Speaking to reporters before the program began, Chen said it was his first time hosting a show, and although he was unfamiliar with radio, he was not embarrassed to learn something new. Former president Chen Shui-bian smiles in Kaohisung yesterday before his debut as a radio show host. Chen was sentenced to 20 years in prison for money laundering and bribery, but was released on medical parole on Jan. 6, 2015, due to his deteriorating health. Responding to reports that the prison did not approve of his radio show, Chen said that prison authorities had visited him on Wednesday, and that they had communicated about it in advance.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
Sports lottery sales end year down 11%
Agency statistics showed sales revenue in 2019 reached NT$41.6 billion, while the pandemic caused the revenue to drop by about 11 percent. That led the Sports Administration to implement a contingency plan on March 16 to minimize the pandemic’s impact on sports lottery sales. Between March 17 and Dec. 31, Taiwan Sports Lottery offered a total of 28,909 games for betting, creating sales revenue of NT$31.9 billion, the agency said. “We thank the Sports Administration for enforcing the contingency plan and offering relief funds to sports lottery retailers during this difficult time. We continue to improve our service to help the nation expand the economies of scale for sports industry,” Taiwan Sports Lottery said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC
New revenue drivers to benefit Chilisin: analysts
New revenue drivers to benefit Chilisin: analystsBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterChilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新), the nation’s largest power inductor manufacturer, would continue to benefit from steady demand for inductor components due to the work-from-home economy, while high-margin molding chokes and low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) components are expected to become new revenue drivers, analysts said. A sign displaying the logo of Chilisin Electronics Corp is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township on June 20, 2018. The deal — with Chilisin acquiring 100 percent shares of Bothhand for NT$2.8 billion — would hurt Chilisin’s revenue outlook in the short term but benefit its operations in the long term, they said. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this month, Chilisin said on Dec. 23. Yuanta has retained its “buy” rating on Chilisin with a target share price of NT$135, but forecast that the company’s revenue would decline 10 percent year-on-year this year and net income would drop 4 percent from last year.
Source:Taipei Times
January 03, 2021 15:56 UTC