Aboriginal advocates demand name rightsBy Chien Hui-ju / Staff reporterAboriginal rights advocates yesterday protested in Taipei, demanding that their names be written in the Roman alphabet on identification cards and official papers, and that Chinese versions of their name be dropped. A restaurant chain recently had a big promotion for people whose names contained “salmon” (鮭魚), “but when we want to use only Aboriginal names with our own script system, we cannot do so, because the law does not permit it,” said Savungaz Valincinan, a Bunun graduate student at National Dong Hwa University. Members of the movement “Call me by my Aboriginal name” hold a news conference outside the Ministry of the Interior in Taipei yesterday. The Aboriginal Language Development Act (原住民族語言發展法) guarantees the use of “Indigenous scripts” to record Aboriginal languages, which covers Aboriginal names, she said. “Our people were forced to use Chinese to write our names, but Chinese characters cannot be transliterated to closely match the sounds and meanings of our Aboriginal names,” said Bawtu Payen, an Atayal.

COVID-19: Increase in cases affects cultural, political eventsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterDozens of events across the nation have been canceled or postponed after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday raised the COVID-19 warning level and announced stricter restrictions on public gatherings. The concert hall yesterday said it would tighten COVID-19 prevention measures including implementing enhanced social distancing and dividing employees into two isolated teams. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum is to manage crowd numbers and cancel guided tours through June 8, the museum said. The new measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are also having an effect on political activity. Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would suspend its scheduled referendum campaign events, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday.

Commercial property sales surge 60% in Q1By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan started off this year with the fastest increase in commercial property sales, which soared 60 percent from a year earlier to US$1.3 billion last quarter, a report by Real Capital Analytics (RCA) found on Monday. Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei TimesHowever, investment activity across major income-producing property types in the Asia-Pacific region slipped 12 percent year-on-year to US$29.6 billion, with only five of major commercial markets seeing higher deal volumes, it said. China overtook Japan as the most active commercial property market by trading value, which reached US$8 billion, representing a 4 percent increase from the same period last year, it said. The comeback in retail investment activity continued, with sales rising to US$5.7 billion, or a 2 percent increase from a year earlier, it said. The retail recovery corresponded with price falls across major markets, driven by retailers rationalizing their occupancy strategies throughout the past 12 months.

Ma keeps on parroting Beijing’s propagandaBy Liou Je-wei 劉哲瑋During a speech on Saturday last week at a discussion forum titled “Resume cross-strait air travel: post-pandemic opportunity,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had criticized him for being pro-China and “selling out” Taiwan. Paradoxically, instead of reducing reliance on China, the government had increased Taiwan’s dependence on it, Ma said, adding that Taiwanese exports to China last year reached a historic high. This shows that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is more pro-China and has “sold out” Taiwan to a greater degree than he had, Ma said. In other words, far from demonstrating Taiwan’s increased reliance on China, last year’s record exports showed that China needs Taiwan. Ma sought to pin the blame for this entirely on the shoulders of Tsai, and called on her to return to the so-called “1992 consensus” so that dialogue between Taipei and Beijing could resume.

Virus jitters send TAIEX plummetingHELP? Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei TimesHowever, it lost its footing again, plunging 1,400 points to 15,165.27 points at 11:25am. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFPTurnover totaled NT$772.772 billion (US$27.64 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$12.17 billion of shares, TWSE data showed. The ministry has exchanged views on the issue with Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), the head of the fund committee, Su said, while declining to give clear-cut answers.

Taiwan participated in the assembly as an observer from 2009 to 2016, but has since been denied entry. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou speaks at a news conference at the ministry in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei TimesThe foreign ministry would work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to strive for the nation’s participation until “the last moment,” Ou said. Ou thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and like-minded nations for supporting Taiwan’s participation at the WHA, while calling on WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to quickly respond to the calls for “justice” and Taiwan’s participation. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) on Monday said that Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including WHO-related events, should be handled in terms of the “one China” principle.

New rules to cut cargo hauls 10%: CALLEFT OUT TO DRY? A CAL official told the Taipei Times that the center’s measures, dubbed the “Down to Zero 2.0” plan, had been misunderstood, as many thought that all 1,279 CAL pilots would immediately stop flying and be quarantined at government centers. The stricter anti-COVID-19 measures that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has imposed on China Airlines are predicted to reduce the airline’s cargo capacity by about 10 percent, the company said yesterday. Even though the company only expects a 10 percent cut in its cargo capacity, the new measures would still affect the air cargo market, a freight forwarder manager said by telephone. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) said that their shipments are not likely to be significantly affected by CAL’s reduced cargo capacity.

TOO MANY VEHICLESWith regard to traffic jams, Taiwan’s cities aren’t doing too badly. These include a lack of motorcycle parking slots, illegal parking on sidewalks and in fire lanes, and a great many accidents. The Taoyuan City Government has taken a step in this direction, and begun charging per hour at some motorcycle parking spaces. “The sidewalks were widened and new cycle lanes were put in place, resulting in fewer lanes and less space for vehicular traffic,” Chiu says. Contrasting the situation in Taiwan — where local governments have increased the supply of public parking spots — with that in Japan, Chiu says: “Public on-street parking spaces are scarce in Japan.

City government steps up disease prevention measuresBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Taipei City Government yesterday raised the alert level for COVID-19, with tighter disease prevention measures going into effect, after six locally transmitted cases with unknown infection sources were reported in New Taipei City and Yilan County. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that large outdoor events with more than 500 people and indoor events with more 100 people would be canceled. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, left, and Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang announce a series of restrictions and measures at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, after the Central Epidemic Command Center raised the COVID-19 warning to Level 2. As for the Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students exam, which is to take place this weekend, Ko said that precautionary and disease prevention measures would be announced this morning. While the situation is unclear, the city government has to reduce all public events for now, he said.

However, groups including the Economic Democracy Union and the National Students’ Union of Taiwan have voiced skepticism about the proposal, saying that protections against theft by Chinese entities are needed. Members of the Economic Democracy Union, National Students’ Union of Taiwan and Taiwan Citizen Front speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Economic Democracy Union researcher Chiang Min-yen (江旻諺) said that Tsinghua University takes advantage of its historical connection to NTHU to carry out “united front” work. Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) suggested two revisions to the draft regulations. First, Taiwan’s semiconductor institutes must ban students from China, as well as from South Korea, as it is Taiwan’s biggest competitor in the field, Lai said.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office charged a man surnamed Hsu (徐) over the destruction of a computer at the Zhonglun Police Station in Songshan Precinct after he allegedly entered the station early on April 16 with nine other people. Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chen Yu-ping speaks at a news conference at the office in Taipei yesterday. It showed a group storming into the station and a computer being knocked from a desk onto the floor. Hsu Shu-huan was reprimanded and removed from his post, while Yang was transferred to another station. They also did not charge Hsu Shu-huan and Fu, although their destruction of key evidence related to a crime was “unbecoming of a law enforcement officer,” prosecutors said.

Sinyi’s net income jumps more than 10% annuallyBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterSinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) yesterday posted NT$460 million (US$16.46 million) in net income for the first quarter, more than 10 times the amount reported a year earlier when the COVID-19 outbreak had slowed transactions. A Sinyi Realty Inc store is pictured in the Jinmei area of Taipei’s Wensha District on Sept. 29, 2017. The company yesterday posted NT$460 million (US$16.46 million) in net income for the first quarter, more than 10 times the amount reported a year earlier when the COVID-19 outbreak had slowed transactions. Sinyi’s brokerage business generated 80 percent of its revenue last quarter, while its agency and development arms contributed about 12 percent and 8 percent respectively. Sinyi said agency business is unlikely to grow in the second half, as developers have become conservative.

Japan firm plans Taiwan listingStaff writer, with CNAIKKA Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (第一化成控股), a maker of precision plastic injection molded components, is expected to become the first Japanese company to launch a primary listing in Taiwan, with its Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) listing scheduled for May 31, the exchange said. Its major operations are in Japan, as it is an electric vehicle parts supplier to large Japanese automakers. The maker of precision plastic injection molded components is expected to become the first Japanese company to launch a primary listing in Taiwan, with its Taiwan Stock Exchange listing scheduled for May 31. Concord Securities Co (康和證券) and First Securities Inc (第一金證券) would serve as the underwriters for the listing. IKKA Holdings produces electronic parking brakes and toilet and bathroom items in Japan and China, manufactures relay boxes in Vietnam and makes automation machinery parts in Malaysia.

Warning issued after 7 new local cases‘LOCAL TRANSMISSION’: The nation reported 11 new cases, including seven local infections in the north, the highest daily number of cases since the pandemic beganBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe COVD-19 situation has entered the “local transmission” stage and enhanced disease prevention measures have been implemented until June 8, the Central Epidemic Command Center announced yesterday as it reported six locally transmitted cases with unclear infection sources. The center reported 11 new cases yesterday: four imported cases from India, and seven local infections in northern Taiwan, the highest daily number of cases since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that one of the local infections — case No. He sought treatment at a hospital after developing a fever on Sunday and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, Chen said. Eating and drinking is banned on Taiwan High-Speed Rail and Taiwan Railways Administration trains, public buses and other public transportation, Chen said.

Innolux sees highest profit in 15 quartersBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterLCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday announced that net profit last quarter reached the highest in 15 quarters and that the strong momentum should carry into this quarter, sparking a sequential increase of 15 percent in the price of TV and laptop panels. People are also upgrading their electronic devices for distance learning, which has deepened an already tight panel supply, the company said. The LCD panel maker yesterday announced that net profit last quarter reached the highest in 15 quarters and that the strong momentum should carry into this quarter, sparking a sequential increase of 15 percent in the price of TV and laptop panels. This quarter, shipments of smaller display panels, those used in handsets, are to decline by a low single-digit percentage from last quarter, the company said. InnoCare, with initial capital of NT$200 million, makes display panels used in medical devices.