Tax revenue soars on strong economyLOOKING AHEAD: Many local firms posted profit growth this year on the back of strong demand and the expectation that the COVID-19 pandemic would abate worldwideBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe national treasury last month collected NT$293.2 billion (US$10.58 billion) in tax revenue, an increase of 28.5 percent from a year earlier, as all tax categories posted strong gains on the back of economic improvement, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Corporate income tax revenue soared 52.3 percent to NT$21.6 billion, while personal income tax revenue increased 17.8 percent to NT$29.4 billion, the ministry’s monthly report showed. Business tax revenue increased 19 percent to NT$85.5 billion, while sales tax revenue jumped 36 percent to NT$17 billion, the ministry said. Securities transaction tax revenue grew more than twofold to NT$29.4 billion as daily turnover spiked to a record NT$578.1 billion, Chen said. Land increment tax revenue increased 25.3 percent to NT$10.9 billion, as the number of taxable cases rose 32.3 percent to 64,525, Chen said.

Good Liver Clinic’s ‘jab hookup’ probedSPECIAL ACCESS? However, a Good Liver Clinic branch was on Tuesday found to have a long line for vaccinations. The Democratic Progressive Party legislative caucus yesterday holds a news conference calling on the Taipei City Government to provide answers to questions concerning the city’s vaccine rollout. Yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a Cabinet meeting: “Vaccines are precious right now because of their limited supply, so administering them must follow the CECC’s rollout protocols. “It is very unfair because many frontline medical personnel have not yet gotten vaccinated,” DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said.

CECC reports 263 local virus cases and 28 deathsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 263 domestic cases of COVID-19, three imported cases and 28 deaths. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s daily news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei TimesNew Taipei City had the most local infections, with 112 cases, followed by 58 in Taipei and 43 in Miaoli County, it said. As of yesterday, Taiwan had recorded 12,222 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1,152 imported and 11,017 domestic cases, with 361 deaths, CECC data showed. In related news, 10 negative pressure isolation units from Japan arrived in Taiwan yesterday evening on a China Airlines (中華航空) cargo flight.

Book review: Neither here nor there: Study casts light on aging Taiwanese migrants to the USThe overall feeling among those interviewed for this fascinating book is that “Americanization” has made them more progressive and tolerant as parents, grandparents, husbands and wivesBy James Baron / Contributing ReporterWith droves of Taiwanese Americans reportedly bolting stateside on “vaccine tours,” the issue of transnational healthcare opportunism is back in the public eye. Still, the perception remains that many Taiwanese Americans are taking advantage of both systems in an unscrupulous manner. A fair few deflected by railing against “undeserving others,” including undocumented Latinos, immigrants from China and even lower-income Taiwanese. In Chapter 5, which is titled Navigating Networks of Support, a woman surnamed Guo relates the difficulty of engaging in politics with family back home. “But Mr Guo explained, ‘Yes, they are from Taiwan, but they are waishengren.’ For Mr and Mrs Guo, not everyone from Taiwan counted as ‘Taiwanese,’” Sun concludes.

‘Bullied’ student dies in apparent suicideBy Yao Yueh-hung and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerA student at National Chengchi University jumped from the roof of his apartment in the early hours of Sunday after he was allegedly bullied online. At 3am on Sunday, Huang jumped from the roof of his building, leading to questions over whether bullying had played a factor in the apparent suicide. Following the alleged suicide, classmates posted on the online bulletin board Professional Technology Temple confirming that Huang had been bullied online. However, Huang began having conflict online with two new roommates, she said. The school said it would get in touch with students affected by the suicide, and encouraged any student who has problems to ask the school for help.

That represents a payout ratio of about 51 percent based on its earnings per share of NT$5.39 in the first three months of this year. TSMC said that its board of directors approved the cash dividend distribution yesterday. A new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co facility is pictured in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan on Jan. 25. The board yesterday approved postponing its annual shareholders’ meeting until July 26. The board yesterday also approved the promotion of Jonathan Lee (李俊賢) to vice president.

Taiwanese go player attains top rank in JapanWINNING HAND: Hsu Chia-yuan, 23, was on Monday upgraded to ninth dan for holding two of Japan’s seven professional go titlesBy Lin Tsuei-yi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter in Tokyo, with staff writerProfessional go player Hsu Chia-yuan (許家元) was on Monday conferred the title of ninth dan — the highest professional ranking — at a ceremony in Tokyo. Taiwanese professional go player Hsu Chia-yuan holds his ninth dan certificate at a ceremony in Tokyo on Monday after winning the 59th Judan competition in April. Hsu had been given the rank of eighth dan after his Gosei win, but was upgraded to ninth dan on Monday for holding two of the seven professional go titles in Japan. Hsu, who began his professional go career in 2013, became the third-fastest player in Japan to reach the rank of ninth dan, behind Shibano Toramaru and Yuta Iyama. Hsu challenged Toramaru in the Judan competition, winning three out of five matches to claim the title.

COVID-19: Official probed over misinformationLOST IN TRANSLATION? Hsinchu County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chien-hsien of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), center left, presents a certificate of appreciation on May 26. They even tried to falsely accuse the foreign minister of a country friendly to Taiwan,” Kuan said. I urge the KMT chairman to apologize to the public and to Japan’s foreign minister. Or do they want people to see that the KMT have sunk to such unethical, low moral standards?” Kuan said.

Clinic to be fined over shots programPRIORITY GROUPS: A line of people were waiting at the Good Liver Clinic, apparently to get shots, while the CECC announced more priority groups for jabsBy Lee I-chia and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei-based Good Liver Clinic is to be fined NT$2 million (US$72,028) after giving free COVID-19 vaccine shots to people not in groups eligible to receive them, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Tuesday in an exclusive story citing an anonymous tip reported that a Taipei clinic was doling out unused vaccines. Vaccine production, storage and logistics personnel have also been added to the second priority group, Chen said. “The major changes to the list are the fifth and sixth priority groups,” Chen said. Only about 2,000 people are in the fourth priority group, mainly diplomats, athletes or contestants representing Taiwan.

Food and beverage sales down 60%: surveyStaff writer, with CNAThe government’s tightened restrictions to control a domestic COVID-19 outbreak have reduced sales in the local food and beverage industry by more than 60 percent, an iChef Co Ltd (資廚管理顧問) survey said yesterday. The survey covered more than 7,000 restaurants and food stalls nationwide to show the effect the restrictions have had on the sector, iChef said. Under the level 3 alert, restaurants and food stalls can provide only takeout services, while on-site dining is not allowed. In the first three weeks of the level 3 alert, takeout and food delivery accounted for more than 70 percent of the industry’s total sales. In the first, second and third week of the level 3 alert, sales from food delivery services rose 36 percent, 48 percent and 41 percent respectively, Chen said.

The nation’s largest radio station was penalized five times during the three-year period for promoting specific products in its programs, accumulating NT$600,000 (US$21,608) in fines, NCC senior specialist Chen Shu-ming (陳書銘) said. The company must also reinforce educational training for workers and ensure that it has a sound financial management plan, the commission said. The commission would offer administrative guidance to BCC if it should change its business plan in accordance with the court’s ruling, Wong said. The radio station was also required to submit in August a financial statement in which its broadcast and non-broadcast revenue are listed in separate categories, Wong said. As Jaw did not accept the position that was offered to him, BCC did not breach regulations in this regard, Chen said.

Greatek output to drop due to virus casesBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterChip tester and packager Greatek Electronics Inc’s (超豐電子) shares tumbled more than 3 percent yesterday, as it said it expected output to drop by about 10 percent this month because it has shut some production lines to test all employees for COVID-19 after reporting eight confirmed cases. Greatek was one of five electronics companies in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南) that reported COVID-19 infections among migrant workers. Two new rapid screening test centers were yesterday launched at the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s (南部科學園區) two campuses in Tainan and Kaohsiung. The rapid screening test centers can so far test a combined 1,000 people a day, the Southern Taiwan Science Park Administration said in a statement yesterday. Rapid screening test centers were launched at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.

Wanhua, home to the Ximending (西門町) shopping area, is usually one of the most visited parts of Taipei. However, people have been avoiding the district since last month, when a COVID-19 outbreak was discovered there. Now, only local residents can be seen on the streets of Wanhua and they pass by quickly without entering the shops, Taipei Business District and Industrial Confederation chairman Hung Wen-ho (洪文和) said. “Most businesses have shuttered up. Only aBy Yang Hsin-hui and William Hetherington

Environmental Impact Assessment: Will vertical farms upend conventional agriculture? Indoor farms — often called vertical farms, because they occupy small pieces of land but feature multi-level growing areas — bypass the unpredictability of nature. Curl leaf lettuce growing indoors at YesHealth’s vertical farm. What’s more, Taiwan has scores of disused industrial sites that could be repurposed into vertical farms. However, it tends to release toxins only when heated or exposed to sunlight; inside a vertical farm, this is unlikely to happen.

Mega Bank fined NT$10m over lax mortgage controlsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterState-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) was yesterday fined NT$10 million (US$360,972) for its lax internal control over 28 mortgages totaling NT$350 million, whose applications were made by dummy accounts, the Financial Supervisory Commission said. Mega Bank became the nation’s third bank to be punished for failing to detect mortgage applications made by dummy accounts. Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) was fined NT$3 million in 2016 for offering mortgages to 34 figurehead accounts, some of whom belonged to vagrants, and Hwatai Bank (華泰銀行) was fined NT$3 million in 2018, commission data showed. However, the lender last year found in an internal audit that the mortgage applications were made by figureheads who used funds from a third party to repay the loans, Huang said. Mega Bank has estimated that it would likely incur a loss of NT$22 million due to the 28 problematic mortgages, Huang said.