Last quarter, net profit plunged 43.6 percent to NT$911 million (US$32.01 million), compared with NT$1.61 billion in the previous quarter. Earnings per share fell to NT$0.3 last quarter, compared with NT$0.53 a quarter earlier and NT$0.42 a year earlier, the lowest since the second quarter of 2016. For the whole of last year, net profit contracted 19 percent to NT$7.67 billion, from NT$9.83 billion in 2019. Excluding the effect of unfavorable foreign exchange rates, the chipmaker said that net profit last quarter would have surpassed that of 2019. To fund the technology upgrade, Nanya plans to raise capital expenditure for this year to NT$15 billion, from NT$8.47 billion last year.

Enoch Wu joins bid for DPP Taipei chapter chairpersonBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterEnoch Wu (吳怡農), one of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rising stars, yesterday registered for the race to head its Taipei chapter, with the vote scheduled for Jan. 31. New Frontier Foundation deputy chief executive Enoch Wu, center, submits an application to enter the race for the Democratic Progressive Party’s Taipei chapter chairperson at the party’s Taipei headquarters yesterday. Surrounded by the press, Wu, the deputy chief executive officer of the New Frontier Foundation, yesterday morning filled out the registration papers at the DPP Taipei chapter office. He is viewed as a strong potential contender for the Taipei mayoral race next year. Another candidate for the Taipei chapter post is former Taipei city councilor Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠), who is the daughter of former DPP Legislator Yen Chin-fu (顏錦福).

Yangmingshan Park to appeal fine over deaths of buffaloesBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Yangmingshan National Park Service on Wednesday said it would appeal a NT$75,000 fine from the Taipei City Animal Protection Office, which accused the park of causing the deaths of water buffaloes by corralling them with fences. In the past few months, 24 dead water buffaloes have been found in Yangmingshan (陽明山), the office said. Water buffaloes walk in Yangmingshan National Park in Taipei on Wednesday. The park service said that there has yet to be a determination on which agency would be responsible for the water buffaloes. In that scenario, the park service could manage them as part of natural resources in the park, the council said.

18’s vessel monitoring system (VMS), Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Wang Cheng-fang (王正芳) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The Taipei Rescue Coordination Center and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been brought in to request US assistance in locating the ship, he said. The agency coordinated with four nearby ships to visit the last known coordinates of the unresponsive ship, Wang said. Tsai has instructed Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) to call Lee’s family to express her concern to them, he added. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Honolulu has asked the US Coast Guard to send ships to help with search-and-rescue efforts, the ministry said.

Commission seeks to return ill-gotten assets to ownersBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Transitional Justice Commission is drafting a bill that would return ill-gotten assets to the families of wealthy businesspeople and landowners whose assets were confiscated during the White Terror era, the commission said on Monday. A total of 177 people had their properties confiscated during the White Terror era, Formosan Political Prisoners’ Association honorary director-general Tsai Kuan-yu (蔡寬裕) said. The commission would submit a draft act this month, and would seek to compensate victims’ families either through the return of assets or monetary compensation, it said. The commission looked at more than 500 cases of confiscated assets listed among records held by the Ministry of National Defense, including 300 that were only recently uncovered, it said. The 3.2-hectare plot is one of the properties confiscated from Huang Tien-liang, he added.

Battery exchange robbed five times since openingBy Huang Shu-li and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerAn environmentalist in Yunlin County who makes cushioned footstools for people to buy with used batteries has been robbed five times in six months, he said on Tuesday. Hsieh Wen-ta, an environmental campaigner and footstool and curtain maker, holds a cushioned footstool at his kiosk in Yunlin County on Tuesday. Hsieh began promoting battery recycling 20 years ago over concerns about the damage discarded batteries do to the environment. His recycling kiosk, which is next to the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau, is the first of its kind in Taiwan, he added. Over the past 30 years he has recycled about 7 million batteries, and given away nearly 30,000 footstools, he said.

Police investigate delivery driver brawl in Jhubei City‘BAD BEHAVIOR’: A woman who ordered the meal that led to the disagreement told police that an argument over her address was no reason to resort to violenceBy Liao Hsueh-ju / Staff reporterHsinchu County police were yesterday investigating a brawl in Jhubei City (竹北市), involving two food delivery drivers over a dispute with a security guard. An image captured from a closed-circuit camera shows an altercation between an Uber Eats driver and a residential security guard in Hsinchu County on Wednesday. Photo: Tsai Ya-hsuan, Taipei Times“Hsu then used a messaging app to contact two friends, one of whom is a delivery driver for Foodpanda. It was bad behavior and the delivery driver needs better training,” the police quoted her as saying. Uber Eats said in a statement that it regretted the incident.

The central bank has capped the loan-to-value ratios for purchases by corporate and multiple home owners at 55 to 65 percent, as well as on unsold houses and land financing, in a bid to curb price hikes. “The presale market has a chance of breaking records this year on the back of continued economic growth, excessive liquidity and low interest rates,” My Housing Monthly research manager Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said. The under-construction Diamond Tower complex, an urban renewal project near the Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT Station in Taipei, is pictured yesterday. Presale projects in Hsinchu last year fell 10 percent to NT$100 billion, weighed down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Presale projects in northern Taiwan last year rose a total of 27 percent to NT$1.28 trillion, compared with the 13 percent increase seen in 2019, My Housing Monthly reported.

US Capitol riot regrettable, foreign minister Wu saysBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerMinister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday expressed regret over the riots at the US Capitol on Wednesday, while reminding Taiwanese in Washington to remain on high alert. Asked to comment on the riots at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, Wu said that it was regrettable to hear of the incident and that the ministry would continue to monitor the situation. Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu answers questions from reporters at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday. In contrast with the state department’s announcement, the Executive Yuan only said that the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was witnessing a peak in US-Taiwan relations. Both sides have worked closely on regional security and trade issues, and any international collaborations that would aid in efforts to maintain Taiwan’s democracy would be fully supported by the government, the Executive Yuan said.

Virus Outbreak: Medigen to begin phase 2 vaccine candidate trialsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterMedigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) on Wednesday said it plans to begin phase 2 clinical trials next week for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate and expects to apply by the end of June for emergency use authorization for the drug. The company received NT$1.7 million in government subsidies for its phase 1 trials and would receive another NT$300 million for its phase 2 trials. Hsieh said that he is confident about the phase 2 clinical trials, as Medigen’s vaccine candidate showed good immunogenicity in the phase 1 trials and no participants showed any serious adverse reactions or fever. Medigen is thus far the only company in Taiwan to proceed to phase 2 clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. It would be given access to a government Web site that has recruited more than 200,000 volunteers for domestic COVID-19 vaccine trials.

DPP legislator calls for TutorABC probeBy Huang Hsin-po and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) yesterday called for an official investigation into the online English-language education platform TutorABC, amid concerns that it is skirting restrictions on Chinese investment in the education industry by labeling itself as a technology company. TutorABC is the largest online English-language education platform in Taiwan, constituting a significant proportion of the market, Lin told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei TimesChina’s Ping An Insurance Group in 2019 purchased a controlling stake in iTutorGroup, which reportedly operates the TutorABC brand, Lin said. Many Chinese media reports have also called TutorABC a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance, Lin added. With its 200,000 members in Taiwan, TutorABC holds a considerable amount of personal data valuable to China, Lin said.

FSC to boost whistle-blower rewardsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe maximum reward for people who report financial crimes would be raised to NT$4 million (US$140,701) next week, a 10-fold increase to encourage whistle-blowers, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) told a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday. For lower-level crimes drawing fine of between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million, whistle-blowers would receive NT$50,000, also five times higher than the current amount, he said. It has paid NT$2.32 million in rewards since the program began, the FSC said. The commission would investigate information provided by anonymous whistle-blowers, but would not issue rewards in such cases, he said. “A few anonymous whistle-blowers claimed rewards after reporting companies that were fined or sentenced.

EDITORIAL: Xi’s worrisome new powersTwo recent developments relating to the reform of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could have far-reaching implications, not just for Taiwan, but the entire world. First, on Friday last week, revisions to China’s National Defense Law came into effect that increase the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) hold over the military. China’s unique political structure is characterized by multiple layers of competing and overlapping governance. Powerful provincial-level administrations are subordinate to a vast bureaucracy of the central government, which is itself subordinate to the CCP. Positioned at the apex of China’s political pyramid, the party operates a plethora of “leading groups,” “steering groups” and commissions that exert influence over central government departments.

Taipei’s kings of fish pasteThirty shops offering various seafood paste products across Taiwan were honored in a national competition last monthBy Han Cheung / Staff reporterChiu Chia-hao (邱家豪) once desperately chased down a butcher truck to obtain caul fat to recreate his late grandma’s signature dragon-phoenix leg (龍鳳腿), a fish paste snack made to resemble chicken wings. Shih Mo-chou has run the Xie Cheng fish ball brand for 52 years. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei TimesChiu’s Dragon-Phoenix Leg (邱記龍鳳腿), Cheng’s Da Fong Fish Ball (大豐魚丸) and Shih’s Xie Cheng Fish Ball (協成魚丸) were among 30 nationwide winners in the government-sponsored Fish Paste King competition (魚漿王爭霸戰), the results of which were announced late last month. Her late husband was having difficulty finding work, so a fish vendor at Taipei’s Dalong Market (大龍市場) suggested that they start a fish ball operation, which was lucrative at that time. At one point Shih had created 48 different offerings (not all of them included fish paste).

Virus Outbreak: Food sampling banned at annual Dihua Street marketNEW MEASURES: Existing stores would not be affected, but temporary stalls offering food and beverages would be banned in the area before the Lunar New Year holidayBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterStalls offering ready-to-eat food or beverages and free food samples would be banned at this year’s Lunar New Year market on Dihua Street (迪化街) in Taipei’s Datong District (大同) as part of the city’s COVID-19 prevention efforts, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. It would be the first time that the stalls would be banned at the annual market. The market usually opens two weeks before the Lunar New Year, offering customers foodstuffs and snacks for the holiday. People walk along Dihua Street in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area yesterday. The office would also help print posters to inform visitors that food samples would not be offered, he added.