Youth is China’s economic future
Youth is China’s economic futureBy Nancy QianIn May this year, China reported that unemployment among those aged 16 to 24 had reached a record-breaking 20.8 percent, with the high-paying, high-skilled jobs that university graduates are trained for growing scarcer. Chinese students and their parents are finding this new economic reality difficult to accept, given the tremendous sacrifices they have made for higher education. All this is done with the expectation of enjoying future security in a rapidly growing economy — except that economic growth has waned. Young women tend to suffer more than young men in the labor market. To stem the reversal of its economic fortunes, China must address the root of the problem: the lack of high-paying, high-skilled jobs.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2023 22:07 UTC
Taiwan should regulate TikTok
Taiwan should regulate TikTokBy Roger Wu 吳哲文As next year’s presidential election gets closer, there are increasing concerns in Taiwan regarding the issue of election interference by China. These users regard TikTok as a source of news, information and entertainment, with other Chinese apps like Xiaohongshu becoming main amusement sources in people’s daily lives. TikTok and Douyin even pose a threat to national security and privacy due to loopholes in data security. If Beijing is capable of doing this, who can ensure that it would not use TikTok as a tool, waging a larger scale of public opinion warfare against Taiwan? Furthermore, the controversy over the draft digital intermediary service act has meant that the government has had to shelve it, missing the opportunity of regulating Chinese apps such as TikTok.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2023 21:55 UTC
‘Must-have’ Japanese whiskey turns 100 as demand soars
Copper stills at the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery produce whiskey in the town of Yamazaki, between Kyoto and Osaka, on March 27. Yamazaki Distillery senior general manager Takahisa Fujii speaks in an interview at the distillery in the town of Yamazaki in Japan’s Osaka Prefecture on March 27. The Yamazaki Distillery welcomes dozens of visitors from Japan and abroad each day, but those hoping to stock up on aged varieties come away disappointed. A street leading to the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery in the town of Yamazaki in Japan is pictured on March 27. Judith Ly, a German visitor to the Yamazaki Distillery, said she makes an exception for Japanese whiskey.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2023 17:21 UTC
TPP files lawsuit against SET News over alliance news
TPP files lawsuit against SET News over alliance newsTPP TO BOYCOTT: Members of the party decided not to take part in SET News’ political talk shows as a response, a spokeswoman saidBy Huang Hao-chen / Staff reporterThe Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday filed a defamation lawsuit against SET News over its report that TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has been in talks with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to forge an alliance in next year’s elections. The party is seeking NT$1 million (US$32,010) in compensation for defamation and tarnishing personal reputation, said Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), the campaign director of Ko’s presidential bid. Taiwan People’s Party presidential candidate Ko Wen-je’s campaign director Vivian Huang, second left, presses the accusation bell at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday, before filing a lawsuit against SET-TV. The party initially just wanted SET News to withdraw the story, but Ko has decided to sue, “believing only that can have a deterrent effect,” Huang said. TPP members will boycott SET News by not taking part in its political talk shows, TPP spokeswoman Chen Chih-han (陳智菡) said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 22, 2023 17:11 UTC
India restricts rice exports, fueling inflation fears
India restricts rice exports, fueling inflation fearsAFP, MUMBAI, IndiaThe world’s biggest rice exporter, India, has banned some overseas sales of the grain “with immediate effect,” the government said, in a move that could drive international prices even higher. India would ban exports of non-basmati white rice — which accounts for about one-quarter of its total, the Indian Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said. Global demand saw Indian exports of non-basmati white rice jump 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the ministry said. The increase came even after the government banned broken rice shipments and imposed a 20 percent export tax on white rice in September last year. India exported 10.3 million tonnes of non-basmati white rice last year and Rabobank senior analyst Oscar Tjakra said alternative suppliers did not have spare capacity to fill the gap.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2023 17:08 UTC
Workers favor leave on hot days: poll
Workers favor leave on hot days: pollMEASURES NECESSARY: The Ministry of Labor would gather more information on the issue and consider legislating heat-related work leave, Tzou Tzu-lien said yesterdayBy Lee Liang-hui, Yang Cheng-yu and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writerMore than 90 percent of workers surveyed said they would agree to an amendment requiring employers to allow leave on days when temperatures are high, job bank yes123 said yesterday. Among those surveyed, 93.2 percent said they would support mandated leave on days of high heat, while about 50 percent said that such a policy should be restricted to certain types of jobs and industries. Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said employers should ensure that employees working outdoors have ample cooling, stay hydrated and get adequate rest in order to prevent heat-related work injuries. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Tzou Tzu-lien (鄒子廉) yesterday said that the Ministry of Labor would collect more data and look into the issue of legislating heat-related work leave. The survey was conducted through the yes123 Web site from July 5 to 18, and a total of 1,302 valid responses were received.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2023 17:08 UTC
Outrage over coach’s jail sentence for underage sex
The court filing said that Ni pressured the victim to have sex when she was a junior-high student and an aspiring archer. In that ruling, the judges also imposed an additional three-month term for having sex with an underage female. They said having sex with a minor is a serious crime which would receive a more lengthy prison sentence in most nations. At high school, “Siao Ting” said that she was confused and thought that having sex would keep their relationship as friends and as coach and student intact. “Siao Ting” has since represented Taiwan in archery at the World University Games, the Olympic Games and other international tournaments.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2023 15:47 UTC
Gou’s geopolitics are myopic
Nonetheless, anyone who has read his op-ed would know that Gou’s article was filled with fallacies, one that is seriously out of touch with the international community and the public will. After more than seven years of efforts and dedication, the DPP government has finally put Taiwan in the global spotlight. However, the foreign policies proposed by the KMT and TPP presidential candidates would go against the public will and global trends. They are measures to undermine Taiwan’s global and geopolitical status, and eventually serve Taiwan to China on a silver platter. As the presidential candidates revealed their hand, it is up to Taiwanese to make the critical choice about the nation’s future.
Source:Taipei Times
July 21, 2023 09:38 UTC
Modi condemns state ethnic violence
Modi condemns state ethnic violence‘MOBOCRACY’: The opposition party called on the prime minister to speak about the violence in Manipur, saying the country would never forgive him for his silenceAP, NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday broke more than two months of public silence over deadly ethnic clashes in the northeast, saying that the assaults of two women as they were being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur state were unforgivable. The shell of a burnt house stands following ethnic clashes and rioting in Sugnu in the Indian state of Manipur on June 21. The clashes have persisted, despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar that is now divided in two ethnic zones. Police said the assault on the two women happened on May 4, a day after the violence started in the state. They are from the Kuki-Zo community, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur, said in a statement.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2023 17:15 UTC
Export orders shrink for 10th month in all major categories
Export orders shrink for 10th month in all major categoriesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterExport orders last month shrank 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$44.18 billion, as demand in all major product categories from all major trading destinations declined by double-digit percentages, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. It was the 10th consecutive month of contraction in the critical economic bellwether, boding ill for customs-cleared exports in the next one to three months. Export orders from the eurozone registered the steepest retreat of 44.2 percent, followed by a 23.6 percent plunge in US orders, the ministry found. Export orders from China and Hong Kong shed 19.7 percent year-on-year last month, as the economic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy turned out to be slower than expected, the ministry said. In the second quarter, export orders decreased 20.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said, adding that the annual decline reached 20.8 percent in the first six months of the year.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2023 16:02 UTC
Zhang retires in tears after opponent erases ball mark
Zhang retires in tears after opponent erases ball markReutersChina’s Zhang Shuai on Tuesday retired from her Hungarian Grand Prix match in tears after her local opponent Amarissa Toth erased a ball mark on the clay court following a disputed line call. The chair umpire then stepped down to take a look at the mark and confirmed the ball had landed outside the line. China’s Zhang Shuai looks toward the court during her first-round women’s singles match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic at Wimbledon in London on July 5. “Wait, wait, wait. Keep the mark,” Zhang yelled.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2023 05:44 UTC
‘Mission Impossible’: fears over AI
‘Mission Impossible’: fears over AIBy Lee Ya-ching 李雅靖Tom Cruise’s latest Mission Impossible film has jumped on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon, breaking the pattern of the evil antagonist being either an ambitious human or a malevolent alien species. In the age of AI, even if you are not an active information technology (IT) user, your personal information is still at risk of being breached. The AI antagonist in the Mission Impossible film is able to hack into systems connected to the Internet, acquire all the information it needs, and use the information and technologies to put everything under its control. Finally, AI could replace humans. The movie vaguely tells the audience that a powerful, omniscient and cognitive AI can replace humans and possibly annihilate them one day.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2023 00:43 UTC
Chinese intelligence official to control Hong Kong security
Chinese intelligence official to control Hong Kong securityReuters, HONG KONGChina’s appointment of a top intelligence official to run Hong Kong’s national security regime underscores its determination to tighten its grip on territory, diplomats and analysts said. Dong Jingwei (董經緯), 59, is the highest-level Chinese security official to be appointed to a senior role in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the National Security Law on the territory in 2020. A taxi drives under the flags of China and Hong Kong outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong on July 5. Under the security law, China’s national security office has sweeping investigative and surveillance powers, and enjoys immunity from Hong Kong laws. “The appointment of such a powerful intelligence figure as Dong to take charge in Hong Kong is a bit of surprise,” one Asian envoy said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2023 23:42 UTC
EDITORIAL: Journey to the White House
EDITORIAL: Journey to the White HouseVice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, on Monday last week told a forum in Yilan County that next year’s election is a choice between Zhongnanhai — the corridors of power in Beijing — and the White House. “If a Taiwanese president can enter the White House, we will have achieved the political objective that we have been pursuing,” he said. If Taiwan’s president can be welcomed into the White House — without drawing an extremely negative reaction from Beijing — it would show that the nation has finally been officially recognized as part of the international community. Ko also neglected to mention that the reason Lai would have to choose between Zhongnanhai and the White House is that the former would almost certainly refuse to deal with him, as it has with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) since 2016. Lai would not be visiting the White House, nor is he expected to meet any high-ranking US officials.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2023 19:57 UTC
Russia launches night attacks across Ukraine
A firefighter yesterday works where storage facilities were hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo: ReutersBudanov posted amateur footage apparently taken at night of a large blast with fireballs shooting out from the flames. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles targeting more parts of Ukraine than in recent days. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram. Popko said the attacks were especially fierce in Odesa for a second consecutive night.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2023 18:45 UTC