In the act, “national languages” are defined as the natural languages used by ethnic groups in Taiwan, as well as Taiwan Sign Language. He asked whether enough teachers would be available to teach “national languages” at junior and senior-high schools when they become mandatory next year. The lack of teachers is the “biggest problem” with making “national language” classes mandatory for junior and senior-high school students, Cheng said. The definition of “national languages” in the act is wide-ranging, he said, adding that it is important to clarify which languages are to be options. In theory, languages such as Dutch, Spanish, Japanese and Cantonese could also be considered “national languages,” Ho said.

An amendment to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) passed 10 years ago stated that no animal traps may be manufactured, sold, displayed, imported or exported without explicit permission from the central government, the group told a news conference in the city. Veterinarian Wu Chia-ying tends a wounded palm civet cat in Taoyuan in an undated photograph. Taoyuan City Councilor Chen Jui-sheng (陳睿生) said the lack of legal restrictions against owning traps, and the absence of any punitive measures, makes it difficult for the government to enforce the law. Chen said he is mulling proposing an ordinance to ban ownership of animal traps in the municipality. The illegal sale of animal traps is punishable a fine of up to NT$75,000, he said.

No Cabinet reshuffle planned: SuNO SHELF LIFE: Premier Su Tseng-chang said he faced a choice between doing something for his government or being an ornament, and that he chose the formerBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerPremier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that there is no plan for a Cabinet reshuffle any time soon. Su made the remark at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei marking the second anniversary of his Cabinet. Premier Su Tseng-chang speaks at the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The government had not “ambushed ” the public on the issue of US pork imports containing traces of ractopamine, he said. The government is closely monitoring pork imports after the new rules went into effect on Jan. 1, Su said, adding that he has personally inspected the screening processes.

Full Wang revenue last month surged to NT$1.04bnBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaichung-based Full Wang International Development Co (富旺國際開發) reported that revenue for last month surged to NT$1.04 billion (US$36.5 million), thanks to the sale of an industrial property in Taoyuan and profit recognition from a new housing complex in central Taiwan. The land in Taoyuan generated NT$910 million in revenue, while a recently completed apartment complex contributed the remaining sum, it said. Full Wang International Development Co chairman Lin Cheng-hsiung is pictured on July 12, 2014, in Taipei. Photo: Lin Mei-feng, Taipei TimesFor the whole of last year, combined revenue totaled NT$3.2 billion, nearly doubling the level in 2019, Full Wang said. Sales of residential properties and industrial plots accounted for 74 and 25 percent of the company’s revenue respectively, Full Wang told an investors’ conference last month.

More sites locally infected cases visited are disclosedALLEVIATING FEARS: The CECC would only announce public places where it is difficult to identify everyone there at the same time as the couple, minister Chen said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced six places where two locally infected COVID-19 cases had visited between Thursday last week and Sunday, urging people who had been at the places at the same time to monitor their health. The couple, cases 838, a doctor, and 839, his nurse girlfriend, were reported by the center on Tuesday. The doctor had treated a patient with COVID-19 last week before he began suffering symptoms on Friday, while the nurse began suffering symptoms on Saturday. They work in the same hospital in northern Taiwan, but the nurse had not worked with COVID-19 patients, soBy Lee I-chia

Hundreds more hospital workers to be given testsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would test up to 400 more employees at the hospital where the nation’s two latest domestic cases of COVID-19 worked, although the center did not expect the results to reveal new cases. 838, a physician in his 30s who works at a hospital in northern Taiwan, and case No. 839, a nurse at the same hospital who is also the physician’s girlfriend — were confirmed by the CECC on Tuesday. Fifty-four contacts of the pair outside the context of the hospital were tested for COVID-19 and had returned negative results, he said. The 300 to 400 additional tests — all medical or administrative personnel — would be performed today and tomorrow, Chen said.

DGH says alterations to KMT’s pig vehicle illegalBy Cheng Wei-chi and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) yesterday said that alterations to a vehicle that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) made were illegal after the party unveiled a truck featuring a pig’s face to promote its referendum drive opposing imports of pork containing traces of ractopamine. The ears and snout attached to the exterior of the truck are clearly illegal alterations according to Article 16 the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), the DGH said. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei TimesIf someone reports the vehicle, personnel would recall it for inspection in accordance with the law, the DGH said. However, it is allowed as a display, as long as it is never driven on a road, it said. According to its records, the original color of the vehicle is not pink, it said.

Taiwan’s Tai breezes into quarter-finalsALL CLEAR: Although a player, a coach and a staff member are under observation after testing positive for COVID-19, officials cleared all other players to continueAFP, BANGKOKTaiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, the world No. 1, yesterday breezed into the quarter-finals of the Yonex Thailand Open, sweeping aside South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun 21-16, 21-10 in less than half an hour. The 26-year-old’s victory came as the BWF declared the tournament safe to continue following the latest round of COVID-19 testing. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying returns to South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun during their match at the Yonex Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday. In men’s doubles, Taiwan’s Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren 21-14, 21-18.

After investing US$17.24 billion last year, TSMC this year plans to spend US$25 billion to US$28 billion on manufacturing equipment and new facilities, including a fab in the US. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei TimesThe larger-than-expected capital spending prompted speculation that TSMC might use it to cope with new CPU orders from Intel Corp, rather than demand for smartphone application processors from Apple Inc.“We don’t comment on specific customers or areas. Our capital expenditure is based on long-term demand and the industry mega-trends of 5G and HPC,” TSMC chief executive officer C.C. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said that strong demand for 3- and 5-nanometer chips in HPC applications gave the chipmaker confidence to boost capital spending at such a significant rate. This quarter, revenue would grow 1.57 to 2.52 percent to US$12.7 billion to US$13 billion, from US$12.68 billion last quarter, the company said.

Taiwan takes three wins at Thai OpenWORTH WATCHING: Spain’s Carolina Marin sailed to victory, while Malaysia’s Liew Daren, ranked world No. 2, was yesterday forced into a three-set decider by Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk at the Yonex Thailand Open. 12 from Taiwan, took three sets to beat France’s 37th-ranked Brice Leverdez 21-12, 14-21, 21-16. Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen returns to Shesar Hiren Rhustavito of Indonesia in their Chinese Taipei Open match in Taipei on Sept. 7, 2019. Spain’s Carolina Marin returns to France’s Qi Xuefei in their Yonex Thailand Open women’s singles match in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday.

Tainan also attracted heavy property funds after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced plans to set up new plants in the area, JLL Taiwan said. TSMC’s suppliers would soon follow suit and the cluster effect would spur demand for residential spaces, Chao said. In related news, vacancy rates for grade A offices in Taipei edged up 0.1 percent to 2.16 percent last quarter, while rents grew a fractional 0.6 percent, JLL Taiwan said. The mild increase in vacancy rates came because some firms relocated to make way for other corporate tenants to earn rental income, JLL Taiwan said. The office market remains tight, and companies with space to spare are leasing it to make money, the consultancy said.

Trip cancelation understandable: KMTPRAGMATIC RELATIONS: It is understandable for the US Department of State to give priority to domestic stability, the KMT chairman said, calling for improved exchangesBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday said that the cancelation of US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft’s visit to Taiwan was understandable, while KMT spokeswoman Lu Chen-wei (盧宸緯) accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of using the matter for political gain, after DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that the KMT should bear “considerable responsibility” for the cancelation. The KMT has always advocated for pragmatic, substantive and sustainable relations between Taiwan and the US, he said. Chen earlier yesterday said that the KMT should bear “considerable responsibility” for the cancelation of Craft’s trip. She asked whether the KMT was also to blame for the cancelation of Pompeo’s trip to Belgium. Although the cancelation of Craft’s trip has been confirmed, the KMT welcomes visits aimed at promoting bilateral exchanges and common interests by US officials who have left office, she added.

The couple, cases 838, a doctor, and 839, his nurse girlfriend, were reported by the center on Tuesday. The doctor had treated a patient with COVID-19 last week before he began suffering symptoms on Friday, while the nurse began suffering symptoms on Saturday. The nurse visited Pxmart’s Taoyuan Ciwun Branch (桃園慈文店) between 6:15pm and 7:50pm on Thursday, the center said. People who were also at those places during those time periods should practice self-health management, it said. The center would not announce all locations that confirmed cases had visited, just public places where it is difficult to identify everyone who were there at the same time, Chen reiterated.

Calling off Craft’s trip ‘too bad, but understandable’MISSED OPPORTUNITY? While regretting that Craft could not make the trip, they said they would welcome her in the future. Canceling Craft’s trip was clearly the plan of US president-elect Joe Biden, who could not give US President Donald Trump more chances to wreak havoc, former representative to New Zealand Dale Jieh (介文汲) of the KMT wrote on Facebook. Meanwhile, Owen Churchill, a South Morning Post correspondent based in Washington, yesterday asked on Twitter whether Craft’s flight was in the air when the state department canceled her trip. In related news, Pompeo on Tuesday reasserted Washington’s adherence to the “one China” policy during a telephone interview with The Hugh Hewitt Show, which was produced before Craft’s trip was canceled.

Ministry planning low-orbit satellite launch in 2025By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan’s first low-orbit communications satellite would be launched by 2025, and the government has budgeted NT$4 billion (US$140.62 million) for its development, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said yesterday. The Beyond 5G communications satellite would be jointly developed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Wu told a news conference in Taipei. The program seeks to help local companies make inroads into the emerging low-orbit satellite communications industry, led by US rocket supplier SpaceX’s Starlink program, he said. In related news, the science ministry said it has submitted a space development draft bill for review to the Executive Yuan. The science ministry is seeking to upgrade the space organization and outsource it from the National Applied Research Laboratories, which is also governed by the ministry, Wu said.