An LGBT bike ride!
Cyclists take a photo on Taipei's pride flag in the Ximending area before departing on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Asia Rainbow Ride)Today's Hear in Taiwan kicks off with a look at a bike ride that took place over the weekend to promote LGBT visibility: Rainbow Ride Asia! Visit their website: https://www.asiarainbowride.com/ and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asiarainbowrideAlso in today's show:
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 17:15 UTC
Microsoft to build Taiwan data center
Microsoft to build Taiwan data centerVISION: The US firm said it picked Taiwan as it has a complete hardware supply chain, abundant talent, a supportive government and shared sustainability goalsBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterMicrosoft Corp yesterday announced that it would build an Azure data center in Taiwan, and create a new team focused on the research and development of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware. The US company also pledged to help Taiwan train more than 200,000 “digital talents” to serve its ventures, Microsoft Taiwan Corp general manager Ken Sun (孫基康) told a news conference at Taipei 101. Describing it as the tech behemoth’s “biggest investment in Taiwan yet,” Sun said that Microsoft is “doubling down” on Taiwan due to the strength of local partners, a supportive government and conditions that align with its sustainability goals. Photo: CNA“We have been increasing our investment in Taiwan every year for the last five years,” Sun said. An additional factor in Microsoft’s investment in Taiwan is the company’s commitment to the environment, Sun said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 16:00 UTC
Most employers plan to hire new staff in Q4: poll
Most employers plan to hire new staff in Q4: pollStaff writer, with CNAAbout 70 percent of employers in the nation intend to recruit new employees in the fourth quarter of this year, as the local economy seems to be stabilizing amid efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan, the online 1111 Job Bank (1111人力銀行) said last week. Local employment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the second and third quarters, and hiring was postponed to the fourth quarter, the job bank’s media center head Henry Ho (何啟聖) said. Of the employers who are planning to hire new personnel in the fourth quarter, those in the construction and property sectors seemed the most eager, as the housing market has been showing signs of improving, the survey said. Employers in the information and communications technology industry are looking to hire new workers given the advent of 5G technology in Taiwan, Ho said. However, while demand for new personnel is increasing, 73 percent of employers are worried about finding the right workers for their businesses, the poll said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chiang urges Su not to end free press
Chiang urges Su not to end free press‘SHAMEFUL’: While a pro-independence group said that CTi News was broadcasting Chinese propaganda, the KMT chair said the government was threatening democracyBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday urged Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) not to be the “executioner” of press freedom and democracy in Taiwan. “If you can shut down news channel A today, then will you shut down news channel B tomorrow?” Chiang asked. “Our media can dig out inside stories and related issues.”People hold placards at a demonstration outside the National Communications Commission in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA“This is also the most important meaning of democracy, which is freedom of speech and freedom of the press. “More importantly, what you are threatening is people’s freedom, as well as Taiwan’s democracy.”Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councillor Lo Chih-chiang, left, and KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang speak to reporters in Taipei yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Macronix profit surges 22% on stay-at-home trend
Net profit expanded to NT$1.62 billion (US$56.05 million), from NT$1.33 billion in the second quarter. On an annual basis, net profit slumped 13 percent from NT$1.85 billion, or NT$1.01 a share, due to a higher tax payment, the company said. Macronix International Co chairman Miin Wu is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu on May 27. “Prices for NOR [flash memory chips] are quite stable. Macronix is evaluating expanding its 12-inch wafer capacity to cope with rising customer demand for its first 3D NAND flash memory chips, but no plan has been finalized, the company said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Lawmaker says progress needed on memorial hall
Lawmaker says progress needed on memorial hallBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterA lawmaker yesterday called for progress on plans to transform the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall into a public space, suggesting that it be converted into a “dictator history park” (獨裁者時代公園). Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui attends a meeting at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei TimesTransitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) said that a cross-agency task force has been set up to deal with the matter and the commission would continue to discuss the matter with the Ministry of Culture. “The letter was addressed to ‘Party Comrade’ Hsieh Kuan-sheng, Convenor of Political Affairs Unit at Judicial Yuan. It was not addressed to Hsieh as Judicial Yuan president.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
Intraday odd-lot trading begins slow
Odd-lot traders yesterday bought a total of 4.31 million shares, or 94 shares per transaction on average, the data showed. Odd-lot trading during regular trading hours became available yesterday. TSMC was followed by E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) with 208,322 shares traded, FocalTech Systems Co (敦泰電子) with 170,140 shares traded and Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) with 163,028 shares traded, the data showed. “It was no surprise that TSMC was popular among odd-lot traders,” TWSE trading division director Ben Chen (陳正斌) told the Taipei Times by telephone. TSMC’s 266,041 shares traded in the odd-lot trading mechanism were still much lower than the 14,958 units, or 14.95 million shares, that changed hands in regular trading yesterday, the data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
October 26, 2020 15:56 UTC
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Taiwan in Time: ‘Confusion and tears’ of an ill-fated clan
A family photo of Aisuke Sazuka, Yawai Taimo and their three young children. Left with four children and ostracized by the community, Yawai is one of the more overlooked tragic figures of the Wushe Incident. Isolated in the mountains, the Xakut did not encounter the Japanese until around 1906 — 11 years after the colonizers arrived in Taiwan. That same year, Aisuke Sazuka stole his father’s money and fled his hometown in rural Nagano Prefecture for Taiwan. Teng Hsiang-yang displays his three books on the Wushe Incident.
Source:Taipei Times
October 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP seeks to demote Sun Yat-sen at oath ceremonies
Despite persistent objections from KMT lawmakers, the three proposed amendments passed their first reading, pending reviews at the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee. Thirty-one KMT lawmakers, led by party Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), also proposed amendments to the two oath acts, although in a diametrically opposed spirit. The “ROC” is Taiwan’s formal name until a constitutional amendment is passed to change the nation’s name, KMT lawmakers wrote in the proposals. Earlier, Fan said that the KMT proposals clearly target hers. Before changing the oaths, KMT lawmakers should use “ROC” in their party’s name, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
October 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
First two of TRA’s ‘most beautiful local trains’ arrive
First two of TRA’s ‘most beautiful local trains’ arriveStaff writer, with CNAThe Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday took delivery of two of 52 commuter trains ordered from South Korea, calling them the “most beautiful local trains” it has ever had. The EMU900 trains, painted silver and green, feature a streamlined body with soft curves, while their interiors have been carefully designed to meet commuters’ needs, TRA Director-General Chang Chen-yuan (張政源) said. An EMU900 carriage is lowered onto a pier at the Port of Hualien yesterday as the Taiwan Railways Administration took delivery of two new commuter trains from South Korea. Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei TimesThe new trains are expected to provide better service for commuters, who account for 80 percent of the TRA’s passengers, Chang said at a ceremony at the Port of Hualien, where the trains were delivered. To celebrate the occasion, the TRA ran its 79-year-old DT668 locomotive to the ceremony, gaining the attention of railroad fans.
Source:Taipei Times
October 24, 2020 15:56 UTC
Beijing must end threats: US’ Steinberg
Former US deputy secretary of state James Steinberg addresses by video a forum organized by the Mainland Affairs Council in Taipei yesterday. A responsible Beijing — one that does not infringe on the rights of other nations when promoting its own — would be beneficial for everyone, he said. Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong speaks at a forum organized by the council in Taipei yesterday. US support is not limited to the Taiwan Relations Act or the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act, he said. Steinberg said that Taiwan should step up development of 5G networks, artificial intelligence systems and its biomedicine industry.
Source:Taipei Times
October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Invasive semi-slug suspected in Taoyuan
Invasive semi-slug suspected in TaoyuanBy Wei Chin-yun and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerAn environmental educator and researcher on Monday said that he believes he found a species of invasive semi-slug that was thought to have disappeared from Taiwan, potentially posing a threat to certain crops. Watson Crick’s Scientific Lab founder Hua Shun-fa on Monday holds up a leaf with what he suspects might be two members of an invasive semi-slug species in Taoyuan. Most invasive snails are brought by flora imported for gardening, but are usually stymied by the required pesticide treatment for imported plants, he said. The Taoyuan Department of Agriculture said that it had not heard of any P martensi sightings before now. Hua said that the semi-slug is a good host for the rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans.
Source:Taipei Times
October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
First round-island cruise launched
First round-island cruise launchedBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNATaiwan’s first round-the-island cruise liner yesterday docked in Kaohsiung on a four-day voyage launched as part of the tourism industry’s efforts to boost domestic travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, standing behind a mascot, welcomes the passengers of a cruise ship sailing around Taiwan after it arrived in the city yesterday on the second day of the tour. Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei TimesThe maiden cruise was well-received, with 80 percent of the tickets having been sold, the tour operator said. A cruise ship circumnavigating Taiwan proper is moored in Kaoshiung yesterday, the second day of the trip. Each passenger spends about NT$2,500 each time the ship docks, so a considerable amount is added to local economies, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Life insurers can handle strong NT dollar, Huang says
Life insurers can handle strong NT dollar, Huang saysBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe capital adequacy of the nation’s life insurers would remain healthy even if the New Taiwan dollar continues trading above NT$29 to the US dollar, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) told lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee on Thursday. In light of the strong NT dollar, the Insurance Bureau in August ran a stress test on the nation’s life insurance companies to assess the impact of exchange-rate risk on their finances, Huang said. The entrance to the head office of Cathay Life Insurance in Taipei is pictured on July 16. “Overall, it seems that local life insurance companies could handle a strong NT dollar,” Huang told the meeting. Increased net profit at life insurance companies last year are expected to help cushion their foreign-exchange losses, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC
Four bailed amid rail investigation
Four bailed amid rail investigationSINFONG SAGA: Hua Sheng Engineering Construction and TRA personnel posted bail amid an investigation into alleged collusion over a public tender in Hsinchu CountyBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterFour people were released on bail yesterday amid a probe into alleged corruption over a NT$110 million (US$3.8 million) contract for work at a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) station in Hsinchu County. The investigation was launched into the tender process for a contract to the reconstruction of the station in Sinfong Township (新豐), which was awarded to Kaohsiung-based Hua Sheng Engineering Construction Co. The entrance to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office in the city’s Zhongzheng District is pictured yesterday. The two men reopened the public tender, which was won by Hua Sheng at a reduced bid of NT$100 million, prosecutors said. The High Court ruled in the company’s favor and ordered the TRA to pay it NT$4.94 million.
Source:Taipei Times
October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC