Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei TimesFrom 2018 to this year, the commission handled 61 arbitration cases, commission data showed. Channels and cable operators often threatened to terminate broadcasts, and would not be fined if they actually did so. NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that cable operators and channels would first seek to settle issues through mediation by the commission. The commission would form an arbitration committee to review requests, Wong said. The committee would decide on a temporary fee that cable operators should pay to channels.

Photo: Kao Shih-ching, Taipei TimesAlthough some people think that only younger clients prefer electronic bills, many credit card holders in their 50s receive digital bills, as this saves them trouble recycling the papers, he said. The bank could save NT$960,000 (US$33,761) per year if 10,000 cardholders who receive paper bills opted for digital bills, he said. “We must offer paper bills unless customers opt out of the service. Over a year, that accumulates to 900 million bills, Hu said, adding that about 70 percent of credit card users receive paper bills. “Paper bills are an environmental issue Taiwan needs to work on,” he said.

Highest-ever bonuses given last yearStaff writer, with CNAEmployees in Taiwan received an average bonus of NT$70,513 (US$2,479.8) for last year, the highest-ever despite economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Tuesday. The average year-end bonus for last year, up from NT$69,577 in 2019, was calculated by combining all non-regular wages, such as bonuses, that employees received from December last year to February this year, it said. Photo: Clare Cheng, Taipei TimesIn Taiwan, companies tend to give year-end bonuses as an incentive to their employees before the Lunar New Year holiday. The three sectors with the highest year-end bonuses last year were finance and insurance (3.92 months), real estate (2.39 months) and manufacturing (1.82 months). The sectors with the lowest year-end bonuses were those hardest-hit by the pandemic: the hospitality and food and beverage industries (0.49 months), as well as arts, entertainment and recreation venues (0.46 months), Chen said.

Next Bank head resigned over costly IT: legislatorFORCED OUT? Following an on-site inspection, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) mandated an update to the bank’s system. The bank’s internal rules stipulate that purchases of more than NT$5 million require approval by the board, Fai said, adding that the board did not discuss the matter. “The board meeting in February did not discuss the matter,” Liu said. Next Bank said in a statement that it is still in the procurement process for the improvement of its IT system, adding that it would proceed in line with internal control requirements.

Yulon Motor cuts sales forecast in Taiwan by 3.8%By Lisa Wang / Staff reporterYulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday cut its forecast of vehicle sales in Taiwan to 427,000 units this year, attributable to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supply constraints of automotive semiconductors and shipping containers. Yulon forecast that sales would decline 3.8 percent from 444,000 vehicles sold last year. Yulon Motor Co senior vice president Lee Chien-hui, right, and deputy spokesperson Hsieh Hsun-kuei attend an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Amy Yang, Taipei TimesThe government might also phase out incentives for replacing older vehicles, which would weigh on the market, Yulon vice president Lee Chien-hui (李建輝) told investors in Taipei. Due to concerns over the possible cancelation of the policy, vehicle sales in the first quarter increased by 17.3 percent year-on-year to 118,000 units, he said.

CAL cancels April 17 Palau flight over weak interest‘NOT ECONOMICAL’: Although its average passenger load factor has edged upward, China Airlines said continued ‘travel bubble’ service depends on customer demandBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterChina Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航) yesterday said that it would cancel its flights between Taiwan and Palau on Saturday, despite the Taiwan-Palau “travel bubble” arrangement, as only two people had booked seats. “For the flight that is slated to fly from Taiwan to Palau on the afternoon of April 17, only two people purchased tickets, while no seats were sold for the flight that would return from Palau later on the same day,” CAL said in a statement. Photo: CNAUnder the travel bubble arrangement, people must join tour groups offered by local travel agencies, but there was little chance of the agencies continuing to offer the tour departing on Saturday, the official said. The flight from Palau to Taiwan today would fly as scheduled, because there would be 47 passengers aboard, it said. “Without the demand to transport cargo to Palau, CAL could not make up for the low passenger revenue with its cargo business,” the official said.

CECC may ease health rules for travel to Palau‘TRAVEL BUBBLE’: Strict self-health management rules for the first five days after returning to Taiwan may be relaxed after lackluster sales of tours to the Pacific islandBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is considering relaxing self-health management requirements for Taiwanese tourists returning from Palau after disappointing tour sales threaten the “travel bubble” agreement between the two countries. The CECC made the remarks yesterday after the six travel agencies designated to arrange tours to Palau reported lackluster sales following the pilot tours on April 1, which were joined by 100 tourists. Restrooms set aside for “travel bubble passengers” are pictured at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on April 4. Afterward, they are required to observe general self-health management guidelines for another nine days. “We will continue to work with travel agents to promote tours to Palau in the hope of maximizing the benefits brought by the ‘travel bubble’ agreement,” it said.

Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang bangs the gavel after legislators passed amendments to the Seafarers Act at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The Seafarers Act should therefore treat piracy as equivalent to war, especially after 2013 amendments to the Shipping Act (航業法) and the Fisheries Act (漁業法) that mandated owners to adopt anti-piracy security measures, it added. The amendments make the owners of vessels liable for deaths, injuries or harm suffered by the crew due to warfare or piracy. Article 43 has been amended so that the board must consist of one to three standing members among its total membership of seven to 15 experts in labor law. The standing members would increase the board’s efficiency and professionalism, as well as protecting workers’ right to organize and join a union, and to bargain collectively, the bill says.

EU to cohost GCTF meeting todayBUSINESS FOCUS: Germany’s envoy to Taiwan is to participate in the meeting, which is to revolve around the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the global economyBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe EU today for the first time is to join Taiwan, the US and Japan to host a meeting of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The virtual meeting would focus on supply chain restructuring, and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) told a news briefing in Taipei. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of North America Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Asked whether “supply chain” refers to the semiconductor industry, Hsu said that the meeting would discuss industrial supply chains generally, without a focus on specific sectors. Pompeo on April 1 tweeted a photograph of a meeting with Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) at the Twin Oaks estate in Washington.

Scientech erects first plant in China on demand for reclaimed wafers for testingBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterScientech Corp (辛耘) yesterday said that it is building its first Chinese plant to capture a share of China’s rapidly growing reclaimed wafers market. Also expanding capacity at home to meet rising demand, Scientech expects to add 20,000 wafers per month this year and next year. Together with its factory in China, Scientech said that it would become the world’s biggest supplier of reclaimed wafers. “As chip supply constraints continue, demand for reclaimed wafers will increase. Companies are using more reclaimed wafers for testing at this point,” Hsu said.

Ministry finally accepts Hailong wind farm plan‘LONG JOURNEY’: The firm said that it looks forward to delivering on its commitments, after many meetings on how the local supply chain could benefit from the projectBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterAfter more than two years of negotiations with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the 300 megawatt (MW) Hailong Offshore Wind 2A (海龍離岸風電) farm off the coast of Changhua County has finally come up with a plan that meets the ministry’s local content requirements. “This will be an ‘anchor project’ that pushes forward the development of Taiwan into an export hub for the wind energy supply chain for the [Asia-Pacific] region.”Hailong plans to work with partners Siemens Gamesa and CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering Co Ltd (台船環海風電) on the project. They have said that the practice leads to cost overruns and there are not enough local suppliers that meet the exacting standards for making offshore wind turbine components. Earlier this month, Cristina Lobillo Borrero, director for energy policy strategy and coordination at the European Commission, asked whether Taiwan’s local content policy might be in contravention of WTO rules. She also said that the policy is bad for Taiwan’s energy users.

Frontline health workers need voice, alliance saysBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterFrontline healthcare workers should be on the National Health Insurance Committee, the Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety said yesterday, urging the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) to include them. From left, Taiwan Medical Alliance for Labor Justice and Patient Safety director Tseng Chia-lin and alliance director-general Lin Ping-hung, and Taiwan Anesthesia Union chairman Chu Ning-wei hold placards at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times“If frontline healthcare workers are not included in the National Health Insurance Committee, the sweat and blood situation of healthcare labor will not improve,” Taiwan Anesthesia Union chairman Chu Ning-wei (儲寧瑋) said. The naming of committee members is done following the National Health Insurance Act (全民健保法), but the “healthcare service providers” are all top officials of hospital associations or medical superintendents, so “management” is represented, but workers are not, Chu said. The NHIA must include at least one representative of frontline healthcare workers on the committee, Lin said.

Stock market boosts tax revenueBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiwan’s booming stock market contributed to a record quarter of tax revenue, figures released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance showed. Tax revenue for last month was NT$200.9 billion (US$7.06 billion), up 19.2 percent year-on-year, with cumulative tax revenue from January to March totaling a record NT$467.2 billion, an annual increase of 16.6 percent. Photo: Wu Chia-jung, Taipei TimesDepartment of Statistics Deputy Director-General Chen Yu-feng (陳玉豐) said that Taiwan’s booming stock market has resulted in securities transaction tax revenue growing for 18 consecutive months. While Taiwan’s tax revenue has been increasing as a result of a flourishing economy, Chen said that first-quarter tax revenue was also bolstered by new housing projects in Taipei, New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Kaohsiung. Besides, the first quarter is not the most important tax quarter for the Taiwanese economy, Chen said.

Commission to propose legislation to deal with White Terror perpetratorsBy Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporterTransitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) yesterday vowed that the commission would propose legislation to deal with investigations into the perpetrators of White Terror atrocities and other human rights abuses of the past. The White Terror era refers to the suppression of political dissidents following the 228 Incident, an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, which was brutally suppressed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime. Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui, right, and Deputy Chairwoman Yeh Hung-ling hold a news conference yesterday in Taipei. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei TimesThe government subsequently imposed martial law, which was lifted on July 15, 1987. The commission would draft bills on transitional justice to handle unjust decisions by government administrative offices in the past, she said.

A nurse adminsters a COVID-19 vaccine to Chinese Taipei Football Association representative Yu Chia-huang yesterday in Taipei. At Taipei City Hospital’s Heping branch, where he was vaccinated, Ko was joined by other city officials, as well as players on the Chinese Taipei Football Association representative team and Taipei taxi drivers who transport those headed into quarantine. About 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed to vaccinate Taiwan’s population, but the nation has so far secured only 31 million doses, including those already received, Ko said. Lin said he hoped that he and other officials getting vaccinated would help ease public concerns about the vaccine. Lu said she felt that making the vaccine publicly funded would also help encourage more people to get vaccinated.