Rohingya refugees face soaring hunger and crime after aid cuts
Rohingya refugees face soaring hunger and crime after aid cutsThe cuts — forced by a massive shortfall in funding — have stoked fears of a rise in acute malnutrition and child deaths in the world’s largest refugee settlementBy Emma Batha / Thomson Reuters Foundation, LondonEvery day 5-year-old Jannat hunts for bottles and cans in the Rohingya refugee camp where she lives in Bangladesh. She is one of a growing number of children turning to garbage picking since the UN slashed rations for nearly 1 million Rohingya camp residents to just 9 cents a meal this month. A group of Rohingya refugees on June 14 prepare for midday prayer at a makeshift camp in Kutupalong, Ukhiya Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Increasing hunger could also drive up child marriage, child labor and domestic abuse as tensions spiral. UN agencies and humanitarian groups want Bangladesh to lift its restrictions so the refugees can begin to support themselves.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2023 20:10 UTC
Google seeking suppliers in India for Pixel phones
Google seeking suppliers in India for Pixel phonesBloombergAlphabet Inc’s Google is scouting for suppliers in India to assemble its Pixel smartphones as it borrows from Apple Inc’s playbook of diversifying beyond China. Google would be the latest global technology player to move production to India. Google Pixel 7a phones are displayed at a Google I/O event in Mountain View, California, on May 10. Google built about 9 million Pixel smartphones last year, Counterpoint Research said, and the discussions in India underscore its plans to move production beyond China and Vietnam. Local assembly could help drive up Pixel sales, and if the phone effort is successful, Google could also move production of other hardware such as speakers to India, the people said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2023 20:09 UTC
Officials call to protect macaques
The three members submitted a report on the conditions macaques face, in which they called on the Council of Agriculture — which oversees the Forestry Bureau — to review and improve laws governing the protection of wildlife, including macaques. The lack of such laws has resulted in people capturing macaques to raise them privately, and in some cases killing females to capture their infants, they said. The members said their investigation uncovered 151 cases of people raising macaques, with some reportedly buying the animals for NT$50,000 to NT$60,000 each. The members said that although the macaques are no longer on the protected species list, they are unique to Taiwan and should be protected by law. The report made suggestions about the rescue and release of macaques into the wild, including the potential to release the animals on Taiwan’s uninhabited islands.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2023 15:52 UTC
TRI slashes its GDP forecast to 1.45%
TRI slashes its GDP forecast to 1.45%CONSERVATION: Declines in electricity consumption by commercial users confirmed the institute’s view, it said, adding that high-voltage use last month fell 3.94 percentBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Research Institute (TRI, 台灣綜合研究院) yesterday cut its forecast for GDP growth this year from 2.51 percent to 1.45 percent, as high inflation and monetary tightening around the world create an unfavorable environment for exports and private investment. The effects of monetary tightening by major central banks has grown more evident this year and would persist, in light of weak corporate sentiment around the world, TRI president Wu Tsai-yi (吳再益) told an economic forum in Taipei. Recent drops in electricity use by industrial and commercial users confirmed its downbeat view, TRI said. Consumption of high-voltage electricity last month fell 3.94 percent from a year earlier, declining for the eighth consecutive month, it said. Energy consumption by semiconductor firms has also slowed in the past few months after aggressive gains in previous years, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2023 09:53 UTC
No AI partnership with Google, MediaTek says
People walk past a MediaTek Inc display at the PT Expo in Beijing on June 4. Photo: APThe report also said that MediaTek would collaborate with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to produce the AI server chips using its advanced 5-nanometer processes. Citing industrial sources, the report said that as part of the partnership with Google, MediaTek would provide serializer/deserializer solutions to Google, which would help the US company enhance its tensor processing unit efforts to make the newest chips used in AI servers. MediaTek is collaborating with other firms in AI development. By tapping into Nvidia’s core expertise in AI, the cloud, graphics technology and the software ecosystem, along with its advanced driver assistance systems, MediaTek would bolster the capabilities of its Dimensity Auto platform, the company has said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2023 00:33 UTC
Taiwan popular destination for Asia-Pacific travelers
Taiwan popular destination for Asia-Pacific travelersStaff writer, with CNATaiwan was ranked the seventh-most popular destination for travelers from the Asia-Pacific region in a report released by Mastercard Inc last week. Taiwan first entered the top 10 destinations for Asia-Pacific travelers in February in seventh place and retained that position in March, the Travel Industry Trends 2023 report said. Australia was the most favored destination among Asia-Pacific travelers, ahead of the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and the UK, in that order, said the report, which was released on Tuesday by the Mastercard Economics Institute. Mastercard Taiwan general manager Eva Chen poses for a photograph in Taipei on Tuesday last week. “Across Asia-Pacific, rapid urbanization, technological advancements and a burgeoning middle class contribute to the rise in outbound tourism,” the report said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 19, 2023 18:38 UTC
Perfect shot
TSMC regains US$500 billion market capAI RUSH: Investors, including Cathie Wood, remain upbeat about AI, and TSMC is seen as a key enabler for its growth, given its technology leadership, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) regained its US$500 billion market capitalization after investors ramped up bets on tech leaders best placed to ride an anticipated artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Asia’s most valuable company gained 3.31 percent yesterday in Taipei trading, fueled also by hopes that a post-COVID-19 chip downturn is nearing an end. That took its gain to 32.22 percent so far this year, cementing its position among the world’s 10 most valuable corporations after overtaking Visa Inc last month. TSMC’s gains contributed about 160 points alone to the TAIEX yesterday, which closed up 261.23 points, or 1.54 percent, at 17,216.60,
Source:Taipei Times
June 19, 2023 18:38 UTC
Khawaja scores Ashes century as Australia fight back
Khawaja scores Ashes century as Australia fight backAP, BIRMINGHAM, EnglandOpener Usman Khawaja raced away in delight and threw his bat high into the air on Saturday after scoring his first Test century in England as Australia made 311-5 on day two of the Ashes at Edgbaston. Australia’s deficit was down to 82 runs after Khawaja revived Australia’s fortunes with an unbeaten 126. Moments later, Khawaja was bowled on 112 by Stuart Broad, but was called back because of a no-ball. Australia’s Usman Khawaja celebrates scoring a century on day two of the first Ashes Test match against England at Edgbaston, England, on Saturday. The celebration “was a combination of having three Ashes tours in England and being dropped in two of them.
Source:Taipei Times
June 19, 2023 03:33 UTC
Sex pest laws must be tightened
Sex pest laws must be tightenedBy Liu Yung-chien 劉永健Recently, numerous sexual harassment and assault incidents have been exposed in Taiwan. Sexual harassment is different from sexual assault. For these reasons, sexual harassment laws are difficult to enforce. First, it should clearly define sexual assault, sexual harassment and indecency. If the legislature cannot address these problems, extending the statute of limitations for sexual harassment from one year to two years might be an alternative.
Source:Taipei Times
June 18, 2023 21:44 UTC
Taiwan in Time: The singer who ‘defected’ to Beijing
He was eventually deported (or in his words, half-coerced and half-tricked by the authorities into smuggling himself) back to Taiwan. Hou Dejian was one of the “four gentlemen” who led a hunger strike at this monument at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The 1978 Descendents of the Dragon (龍的傳人), which expressed pride in being Chinese, was a huge hit in both Taiwan and later China. Hou writes that he was struggling financially at that time as he was notoriously difficult to work with. “I didn’t have the courage to directly refuse them, but I decided to temporarily leave Taiwan,” he writes.
Source:Taipei Times
June 18, 2023 07:14 UTC
EDITORIAL: Awareness key in the face of China
EDITORIAL: Awareness key in the face of ChinaLocal media last week reported on a Coast Guard Administration officer in Penghu County who allowed four Chinese to disembark a yacht and wander around freely for several days without an entry permit, sparking shock and concern over national security. However, Lin said he was aware that the Chinese crew members had already snuck on land in the morning. After the negotiation, he said that they were free to wander around, enjoying the delicious food and beautiful scenery of Penghu. After the incident was reported, the Coast Guard Administration’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu branch issued a statement saying that Lin had been removed from his position and would be punished in accordance with to the law, while coast guard officers would receive additional training to prevent such incidents. The incident could have resulted in a national security breach if the intruders had had malicious intent.
Source:Taipei Times
June 17, 2023 21:39 UTC
Defense plays spot the uniform
Defense plays spot the uniformBy Fang Ping-sheng 方屏生On June 13, the Ministry of National Defense released the latest All-Out Defense Response Handbook. While the military’s effort should be applauded, the Ministry of National Defense should consider the situation more from the civilians’ perspective, particularly in terms of differentiating friend from foe. Hopefully, the All-Out Defense Response Handbook can be further edited to fulfill its purpose. The Ministry of National Defense should remove unnecessary details and make the handbook more accessible for the public, to boost people’s willingness to read it thoroughly and keep the important points in mind. The All-Out Defense Response Handbook must be taken seriously.
Source:Taipei Times
June 17, 2023 17:29 UTC
China’s lonely conquest dreams
China’s lonely conquest dreamsBy Tzou Jiing-wen 鄒景雯The US Indo-Pacific Command said that a Chinese warship cut across the path of a US destroyer and a Canadian Navy frigate doing a routine transit in the Taiwan Strait on June 3. Details regarding the two close encounters by the US and Canada were revealed to warn the international community of China’s “unsafe and unprofessional” maneuvers. However, the two partners would continue with their routine patrols in the Indo-Pacific in accordance with the freedom of navigation as international law stipulates. As defense ministers and military officials around the globe convened in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, it is worth investigating the reasons behind China’s escalating provocations. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu (李尚福) were at the annual defense conference.
Source:Taipei Times
June 17, 2023 03:45 UTC
Major state-run financial holding firms change leadership, approve dividends
Major state-run financial holding firms change leadership, approve dividendsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterMajor state-run financial holding companies yesterday formalized leadership reshuffles, and shareholders approved their dividend proposals. Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (合庫金控) chairman Lei Chung-dar (雷仲達) yesterday morning hosted the group’s annual shareholders’ meeting for the last time and assumed the leadership at Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) in the afternoon. Lei said Mega Financial has proved to be the most profitable among state-run financial conglomerates, backed by robust foreign currency transactions and bills financing. Taiwan Cooperative Financial has had impressive showings in land financing, commercial banking and trust business, Lei said. Lei’s appointment to Mega Financial was earlier delayed by malpractices on the part of its asset management subsidiary.
Source:Taipei Times
June 16, 2023 20:21 UTC
China will not let up: US professor
Beijing does not approve of Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who is the DPP’s presidential candidate, because of his stance on independence, Nathan said. Columbia University political science professor Andrew Nathan speaks at an event in Taipei yesterday. That is why Beijing frequently flies warplanes near Taiwan and is building up its military bases in the South China Sea, he said. The Taiwan question is a “zero-sum game” for the US and China, he said. He warned that there is “anti-China rhetoric” in the US Congress, adding that congresspeople often take a tough stance on China to bolster their own political interests.
Source:Taipei Times
June 16, 2023 17:08 UTC