China on Friday announced that it would suspend imports of Taiwanese pineapples starting on Monday, citing biosafety concerns. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times“Domestic orders have already surpassed the total sold to China last year,” COA Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said, after announcing a total of 41,687 tonnes in domestic orders over the past four days. Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times“We are also looking at boosting exports to countries other than China. Last year, we sold US$131 million of fruit to China and US$52 million to all other countries combined,” Chen said. At 71 percent of total fruit exports, sales to China last year dropped slightly from 2016, when 77 percent of Taiwan’s fruit exports went to China, he said.

Student union urges safe entry for HK refugeesBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe National Students’ Union of Taiwan yesterday urged the government to provide safe entry for Hong Kongers seeking asylum in the nation. The government should continue to provide ways for students in Hong Kong to enroll in or transfer to local schools, and to expand the list of schools accepting such requests, it said. Union members also held a news conference in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in support of the Chinese University of Hong Kong student union, as well as the 47 pro-democracy figures facing charges under the territory’s national security legislation. They held placards and chanted slogans such as: “Support Hong Kong youth,” “Political participation is not a crime,” “There are no rioters, only tyranny,” and “Hong Kongers will not give up. We will not give up.”The news conference came after members of Syzygia (朔夜) — the newly elected executive committee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong student union — on Monday announced their collective resignation, citing death threats and intimidation.

HPA planning premature baby home-care programAGING PARENTS: As the number of women waiting until after 35 to have children increases, so do the number of premature births in Taiwan, an expert saidBy Yang Yuan-ting and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Health Promotion Administration (HPA) is to implement a program for the home care of prematurely born babies, after more than 10 percent of babies born in 2019 were premature or underweight. Data from 2019 showed that 10.24 percent of newborns weighed less than 2.5kg, while 10.4 percent were preterm births, the HPA said yesterday, adding that it has produced a booklet for parents of premature and underweight babies, and that it is planning to offer a home-care program. When babies are born prematurely their organs are not fully developed, which can lead to heightened risk of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, periventricular leukomalacia and other conditions, the HPA said. “The program is to be implemented at five hospitals nationwide in the coming year.”Resources for parents of premature babies are concentrated in major cities, but the new program would make more resources available in rural areas, as well as outlying islands, Wu said. The majority of babies born prematurely — defined as those born before 37 weeks of pregnancy — are healthy, but some face brain development problems, Huang said.

‘No terminal, no gas’: Official defends CPC projectLIMITING GROWTH: Stopping the LNG terminal project could lead to a power shortage and worsen air quality, as the nation would need to burn more coal, an official saidBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterA proposed referendum to stop CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣中油) third liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project in Taoyuan would exacerbate a potential energy crunch in northern Taiwan, a Bureau of Energy official and an academic told the Taipei Times yesterday. The proposed terminal is critical for supplying LNG to the Datan power plant, Bureau of Energy Deputy Director-General Lee Chun-li (李君禮) said. The site of CPC Corp, Taiwan’s third liquefied natural gas terminal project is pictured in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of an unnamed environmental protection group via CNA“No terminal, no gas,” he said by telephone. “Forget about starting the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, we cannot even find a way to let the second nuclear power plant run for its full lifespan,” Lee said, referring to the Guosheng plant.

Insurers’ FYPs continued to drop in January, but pace of decline slowingBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterLife insurers’ first-year premiums (FYPs) continued to fall in January, but the pace of decline slowed from previous months, helped by sales of investment-linked products, the Life Insurance Association said in a report on Feb. 19. The logos of local life insurance companies are pictured in an undated illustration. The association attributed the decline to insurers cutting declared interest rates and halting sales of unprofitable disability insurance products. Traditional life insurance policies comprise of regular life insurance, accident insurance, health insurance and annuity insurance products. Sales of accident insurance policies rose 2.5 percent in January and annuity insurance sales rose 34.3 percent, the report said.

Economic indicators at the beginning of this year signal improving growth momentum for its economy over the coming months, as the global economy and trade rebounds, the US-British information provider said. Taiwan’s economy is forecast to expand 4.1 percent this year, accelerating from a 3.11 percent pickup last year, research body IHS Markit said yesterday. With an improving economic landscape worldwide following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, global demand for electronics products would remain sturdy, IHS Markit said. Demand for industrial electronics is also expected to grow substantially over the medium term, as industrial automation and the Internet of Things would fuel demand for industrial electronics, IHS Markit said. These factors lend support to the medium-term outlook for Taiwan’s electronics sector exports and capital expenditure, which would be key drivers of economic growth, IHS Markit said.

Local firms step up for pineapplesBy Yang Yuan-ting and Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reportersTaiwanese firms responded swiftly to a call to buy the nation’s surplus pineapple crop after China abruptly stopped imports, with 10 local firms placing orders totaling 1,600 tonnes, Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday. Excluding the 13 batches, 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China since last year have met Chinese import standards, it added. The council has set up a hotline for companies to place large orders, and it took measures to stabilize pineapple prices. Taiwan last year exported 41,661 tonnes of pineapples to China for NT$1.49 billion (US$52.64 million), accounting for 91 percent of total pineapple exports, the data showed. “We are looking at companies to place orders to present pineapples as gifts to employees and customers.

Tainan City councilor calls for adopting RomanizationCHANGING IT UP: With Bopomofo rarely used outside of Taiwan, the lawmaker said that Romanization would help the government in its internationalization efforts Tainan City Councilor Lee Chi-wei (李啟維) yesterday called for the use of Romanized spellings to make Taiwanese dialects and languages internationally recognizable. Speaking at a news conference in Tainan to mark International Mother Language Day, Lee said the use of zhuyin fuhao (注音符號, Mandarin phonetic symbols commonly known as Bopomofo) made it difficult to promote interest in, or recognition of, the nation’s dialects and languages, as the system is not commonly used outside of Taiwan. “The legislature has already passed the Development of National Languages Act (國家語言發展法), but under the current circumstances that act is like a candle in the wind,” heBy Tsai Wen-chu and William Hetherington

Wanhua store declared heritage siteBy Yang Hsin-hui and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chin Yi Ho (金義合) building opposite the Wanhua Train Station was on Friday unanimously approved by the Taipei City Government’s Cultural Asset Review committee as a cultural heritage site. In the past few years, the family had intended to knock down the building and construct a building for commercial and office use. The Chin Yi Ho building near the Wanhua Train Station in Taipei is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo copied by Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei TimesHowever, they backed away from the idea, saying that the building had great significance to the family. The consensus was to conserve the building, Lu said.

KMT uses issues, swag to attract youthBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is this year setting its sights on young, moderate voters by focusing on policy issues such as animal protection and housing, and offering trendy merchandise, the party’s youth director said on Saturday last week. To boost waning support for the KMT among young voters after last year’s general election, the party first focused on reaching out to people already within the pan-blue camp, KMT Youth Department director Chen Kuan-an (陳冠安) said. People hold Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) merchandise and books about Taiwanese history at a news conference in Taipei to launch an online shopping portal on Nov. 17 last year. Another task for the department is to design merchandise, Chen said. However, many young pan-blue supporters are not enthusiastic about working in politics due to the party’s opaque promotion system, he added.

“Starting on March 1, individuals under home isolation will also be subject to the ‘one person per housing unit’ rule,” he said. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesPeople undergoing home isolation cannot stay in a housing unit in which non-isolated people live, unless they obtain special approval, the CECC said. However, she tested positive upon ending centralized quarantine on Thursday, he said. He tested positive in a paid test on Thursday after having completed quarantine at a hotel, he added. The other case is a Philippine migrant worker who tested positive in a paid test on Friday while practicing self-health management, Chen said.

People who owe parking fees for one week or longer should be denied parking public spaces, Ko said at a city government meeting on traffic affairs yesterday. The city in 2015 established a mechanism to enforce parking fee payment, and in 2018 added a mechanism to track and lock vehicles that have unpaid fees, the Taipei Parking Management Development Office said. The office last year collected NT$25 million (US$883,205) in fines from 210,000 vehicle owners who had not paid their parking fees, it said. Ko urged officials to target vehicles instead of owners, saying that vehicles should be denied parking in the city if there are outstanding fees. Vehicles whose owners have not paid their fees in more than a month should be towed immediately, Ko said.

Su Chen-ching bows out of DPPBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) yesterday announced that he was removing himself from the party until he clears his name in a bribery case. Su, 56, has represented Pingtung County constituencies for four terms as a legislator. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Su Chen-ching is pictured at a news conference in Taipei yesterday at which he announced that he is leaving the party. Although the corruption case has been a setback, observers had said that Su might run as an independent candidate. A run by Su as an independent would likely split the DPP vote, political commentators had said.

I was eating a late dinner after spending all afternoon at the library researching and writing about some of the more obscure victims of the 228 Incident, the infamous anti-Chinese Nationalist Party uprising in 1947 that was brutally suppressed. They proceeded to look it up online and appeared astonished at the new information, especially over the number of alleged victims. The entrance to the special exhibition, Scars on the Land at the National 228 Memorial Museum. An overall view of the special exhibition Scars of the Land at the National 228 Memorial Museum. Scars of the Land shows a before and after photo of the National 228 Memorial Museum, which used to be home to the Taiwan Provincial Assembly.

Quanta planning NT$910m expansion in ThailandBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterQuanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) is to invest NT$910 million (US$32.15 million) to expand capacity in Thailand through its subsidiary QMB Co, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The investment is part of Quanta’s NT$2 billion Thai expansion plans, which it announced in a regulatory filing in November last year. Quanta Computer Inc chairman Barry Lam speaks at a meeting of the AI on Chip Taiwan Alliance in Taipei on Sept. 21 last year. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesIn an investors’ conference call, Quanta chairman Barry Lam (林百里) described the move to Thailand as a “must.”According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange filing, Quanta entered into a contract with Cheer You Construction Thailand (啟宇營造). In addition to investing in Thailand, Quanta has continued to expand its Taiwanese production capacity.