If I was serious about reducing my environmental impact, a friend teased, I should be putting soy milk, not cow’s milk, in my drink. What little soybean oil was produced was burned in lamps, or blended with more popular cooking oils, such as peanut or rapeseed oil. Despite old folks complaining that cooking with soybean oil made their stoves not merely greasy, but actually so sticky that only strong detergents could remove the glue-like gunk, the low price of soybean oil has ensured its popularity ever since. Yet, liter for liter, it’s responsible for barely a third of the carbon emissions generated by cow’s milk. Soymilk bottlers also add calcium and vitamins to make up for its deficiencies compared to cow’s milk.

Nanya to invest NT$300bn for new 12-inch fabBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterDRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said it plans to invest about NT$300 billion (US$10.66 billion) to build a 12-inch fab to produce 10-nanometer chips, as demand for memory chips for 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and consumer electronics applications soars. Nanya Technology last invested about NT$200 billion for its process technology migration from 30 nanometers to 20 nanometers and 10 nanometers. Nanya Technology expects its output for this year to be flat or to increase slightly from last year, after an annual expansion of 35 percent last year. With the introduction of more advanced technologies, the new fab would help Nanya Technology broaden its product portfolio and expand its customer base from about 800, Lee said. Nanya Technology had joined forces with major DRAM chipmakers, including Micron Technology Inc, to develop new-generation process technologies.

Europe office touts Taiwan’s role‘TSMC-PLUS’: Filip Grzegorzewski said that the nation plays a key role in global supply chains and has more to offer in terms of manufacturing than TSMC aloneBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan plays a key part in global supply chains, but it has many things to offer in addition to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Head of Office Filip Grzegorzewski told a news briefing yesterday. Grzegorzewski made the remarks after the European Council on Monday released the EU’s Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Head of Office Filip Grzegorzewski speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “The EU will strengthen cooperation with certain partners on counterterrorism, cybersecurity, maritime security and crisis management,” it said. Many countries have unveiled policy programs targeting the Indo-Pacific region, including France in 2018, and Germany and the Netherlands last year, Grzegorzewski said in Taipei.

New agency to oversee mobilization of reservesRESTRUCTURING: The All-out Defense Mobilization Office and the Armed Forces Reserve Command are to be folded into a ‘defense reserve mobilization agency’Staff writer, with CNAThe military is to form a new reserve mobilization agency while expanding the scope of civilian forces that can be mobilized as part of its efforts to bolster the nation’s reserve forces amid increasing threats from China, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The ministry would integrate two existing military agencies — the All-out Defense Mobilization Office and the Armed Forces Reserve Command — into a “defense reserve mobilization agency” by January next year, the report said. The act forms the legal basis for the defense ministry to mobilize civilian forces. It defines volunteers the defense ministry can mobilize in case of need as volunteer police officers and volunteer firefighters. The defense ministry in February said that starting next year, it would introduce new rules governing the call-up of reservists to improve their combat readiness.

In addition, export orders last month increased for a fifth straight month of double-digit percentage growth to set a record for the month of March, ministry data showed. Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling speaks to reporters in Taipei on May 20 last year. Export orders grew year-on-year for the 13th consecutive month last month totaling US$53.66 billion, the Ministry of Economic Affairs reported yesterday. Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei TimesMonths when export orders surpass US$50 billion — which happened for the first time in September last year — might become the “new normal,” Huang said. “I’m not saying that it is going to happen every single month, but we can expect more and more months when export orders do break US$50 million,” she said.

This is not only blasphemous, but unsanitary.”Dragon dancers perform at the 2006 Baosheng Cultural Festival at Taipei’s Baoan Temple. Founded by settlers from Quanzhou, China, Dalongdong Baoan Temple is one of more than 200 shrines in Taiwan dedicated to Baoshengdadi (保生大帝), the Taoist god of medicine. According to the Dalongdong Baoan Temple, he was said to be a child genius with a photographic memory who was well-versed in traditional Chinese medicine as a teenager. LEGENDS ACROSS TAIWANThe earliest Baoshengdadi temple in Taiwan appeared in the Tainan area during the Dutch occupation. The Japanese limited Taiwanese religious activity after its arrival, and between 1896 and 1904, the Dalongdong Baoan Temple was used as an elementary school.

NHRI finding could curb spread of prostate cancerStaff writer, with CNANational Health Research Institutes (NHRI) researchers have found that stimulating activity of a certain gene might suppress the ability of prostate cancer to spread to the bones, a finding they said could lead to new medicines. Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer among men globally and the sixth-most common cancer in Taiwan, Chuu said. Chuu Chih-pin, an associate researcher at the National Health Research Institutes’ Institute of Cellular and System Medicine, center, and colleagues present their prostate cancer metastasis research results at the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taipei on Friday. The NHRI team used in vitro and mouse-based experiments to study how prostate cancer spreads in bone marrow, which, along with the lymph nodes, is one of the most common sites of metastasis, Chuu said. The team first observed that ROR2 levels were significantly lower in metastatic tumors compared with the primary tumor in the prostate or in normal prostate tissue, he said.

Alishan firefly population plummetsLIGHTS OUT: Photographers and locals have said that while it is still worth seeing the fireflies, dry conditions in central and southern Taiwan have affected their numbersBy Tsai Tsun-hsun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerEnthusiasts are reporting a massive decline in Alishan’s firefly population this year, as the nation’s Tourism Bureau prepares to open parks for the firefly watching festivals. The low and medium-altitude regions of the Alishan Range — which runs from Miaoli County to Chiayi County — are home to 42 kinds of fireflies or about two-thirds of all firefly species in Taiwan, the Alishan National Scenic Area Administration said. “The firefly population is less than one-third of the size it was last year; the lack of rain has been catastrophic to the ecology of fireflies,” photographer Chuang Hsin-jan (莊信然) said. People who want to see the fireflies should go to the Alishan National Scenic Area (阿里山國家風景區), rather than the higher-altitude Alishan National Forest Recreational Area (阿里山國家森林遊樂區), he said. The bureau offers three tours that combine daytime activities in the area with nighttime firefly viewing, the office said.

Temple decorates Matsu statue for rainmaking ritualBy Hsieh Chieh-yu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTainan’s Orthodox Luermen Shengu Temple (正統鹿耳門聖母廟) decked out its Matsu statue in a new costume, with a litter and porter, for a rainmaking ritual at Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) this weekend. Wang Ming-yi (王明義), head of the temple, on Thursday said that temple administrators were informed by the goddess via divination that a rainmaking ritual must be performed. A Matsu statue wearing a new costume and seated on a rattan throne is pictured in Nantou County’s Lugu Township on Wednesday. Photo: Hsieh Jieh-yu, Taipei Times, courtesy of the Lugu Township OfficeYesterday, a rainmaking ritual was held with the statue on the lakeshore, he said, adding that the statue is today scheduled to travel around the county’s Lugu Township (鹿谷) to bring rain. Last year, the temple’s Matsu statue traveled around Taiwan in a 21-day blessing ritual to protect the nation against COVID-19, Wang said.

Writer receives honorable mention for a third timeBy Chien Hui-ju and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerWriter Lee Wang-tai (李旺台) received an honorable mention for the third time at yesterday’s Historical Novel Award ceremony, for his biographical stories about Japanese colonial-era Hakka physician Chhi Pong-hin (徐傍興). The biennial award ceremony, held by the New Taiwan Peace Foundation, was launched in 2017. That was when the historical foundation of Taiwanese culture was thoroughly altered,” he said. Competition judge Sung Tse-lai (宋澤萊) said Lee did an “outstanding job” of capturing the personality and legacy of the doctor. I hope that by sharing facts about the past, we can give Taiwanese new hope,” Koo said.

Crane driver charged in TRA probeNARROWING DOWN: After searches at 23 locations and questioning 109 people, prosecutors say that mishandling at a construction site might have caused the crashBy Jason Pan / Staff ReporterProsecutors yesterday indicted seven people in connection to the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment in Hualien County on April 2, in which 49 people died and more than 200 were injured. Lee Chin-fu (李進福) a United Geotech construction superintendent, was charged with negligence in causing death and document forgery, she said. Tung Hsin director HuangPing-ho (黃平和) and Lin Chang-ching (林長清), a site supervisor, were charged with contravening the Government Procurement Act, she said. Prosecutors charged Tung Hsin with breaches of the Government Procurement Act, Chou said.

Tsai rebuts rumor of water delivery from FukushimaBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday warned Taiwanese about cognitive warfare against the nation and denied rumors that Taiwan was planning to receive water from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The social media post is “a typical example of cognitive warfare,” Tsai said, without elaborating who might be behind the document. Threatening activities by military aircraft and ships, as well as spreading fake news to undermine the solidarity of society, are common cognitive warfare strategies, Tsai said, adding that cognitive warfare would likely become more sophisticated. Taiwanese should be aware that disinformation from unknown sources might serve a cognitive warfare agenda, Tsai said, adding that people should not further spread such social media posts. “Taiwan’s freedom is hard-won, and we will not allow cognitive warfare to tear apart our society,” Tsai said.

CDC announces pill program for HIVStaff writer, with CNATwo groups of people considered at high risk of contracting HIV now have access to free preventive treatment, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. The treatment, in the form of a pill, is being provided to partners of people with HIV and people under the age of 36, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said. Known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the medicine is recognized internationally as an effective prevention treatment against HIV, Lo said. Centers for Disease Control personnel at a news conference in Taipei on Tuesday hold signs with information about an HIV pill program. The program was launched on April 1, offering 30 PrEP pills per month to female partners of people with HIV, Lo said.

NPA not doing enough on crime, KMT saysQUESTIONING FAIRNESS: Premier Su Tseng-chang has not held Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai to the same safety standards as ex-mayor Han, KMT lawmakers saidBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused the National Police Agency (NPA) of inefficient gun control and said that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) was placing party considerations over those of the nation in addressing crime. Su dismissed the top-ranking police officers in Kaohsiung and Tainan last year, citing a lack of concrete action against crime, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) said, adding that despite the move, crime rates have risen since Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) took office on Aug 24 last year. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Yu-hsuan, left, and KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Huang Tzu-che, right, listen as KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. KMT Kaohsiung City Councilor Chiu Yu-hsuang (邱于軒) called on Su to hold Chen to the same standards as he did Han in assessing Kaohsiung’s safety ratings. Su has tapped Hsu and NPA Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) to oversee efforts to curb crime in New Taipei City and Kaohsiung, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.

TSEC bags major deal, upbeat on turnaroundBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterSolar module supplier TSEC Corp (元晶太陽能) has secured a NT$2.3 billion to NT$2.5 billion (US$81.15 million to US$88.21 million) major supply contract for two new ground-mount solar farms in Taiwan, boding well for the company’s hopes of making a turnaround. The new orders would start to contribute to revenue from this month through February next year, TSEC said in a statement on Thursday. Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei Times“With new orders on hand, the company has clear business visibility for this year,” TSEC said in the statement. Earlier this year, the company landed a major order to supply 120 megawatts of solar modules, it said. The investment would add between 350 megawatts and 400 megawatts solar module capacity a month, the company said.