Dumpling chain to buy majority stake in DanteGROWING CHAINS: The acquisition of Dante Coffee adds to Bafang Yunji’s businesses, including a pork rice chain, a noodle outlet and boxed meal vendorStaff writer, with CNAA leading dumpling chain has agreed to acquire a 69 percent stake in coffee-shop chain Dante Coffee and Foods Co (丹堤咖啡), to diversify its business, it said yesterday. The dumpling vendor said it would pay cash to acquire Dante Coffee, which has 67 outlets in Taiwan, but did not disclose any financial details. New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi makes pan-fried dumplings during a visit to an outlet of pan-fried dumpling chain Bafang Yunji in the city on Sept. 4. As of the end of last year, Bafang Yunji owned 981 dumpling stores, and another 51 outlets of its other brands. On Thursday, Bafang Yunji shares traded between NT$160 and NT$177.50 on the emerging market.

Prosecutors charge Lien Tai-sheng over KTV fireSIX OTHERS: Prosecutors said that a search of Cashbox Partyworld offices found a key document authorizing operations amid repairs was stamped with Lien’s chopsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterTaipei prosecutors yesterday indicted media mogul Lien Tai-sheng (練台生) and six others over a fire on April 26 that killed six people and injured 67 at a Cashbox Partyworld KTV in Taipei. Police escort Cashbox Partyworld Co chairman Lien Tai-sheng, left, in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Chen Wei-tzu, Taipei TimesLien is chairman of Cashbox Partyworld Co and owner of Tee Kuang International Co, which leased the building to the KTV operator. “The executives continued operating the KTV business while the repair work was ongoing, instead of closing down,” prosecutors said. The executives and site managers were negligent in their responsibilities to monitor and supervise the repair work, and they failed to conform to bylaws on fire prevention, prosecutors said.

President Tsai Ing-wen speaks via videoconferencing at yesterday’s opening of the Yushan Forum, hosted by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation at the Grand Hyatt Taipei. Countries in the region can complement each other, she said, adding that Taiwan’s capability and willingness to collaborate with regional partners engendered its regional strategy for Asia — the New Southbound Policy. “We hope to work with regional partners and, together, to forge a resilient future,” Tsai said. “Any political attempt to prevent Taiwan from sharing its experience and making contributions does not serve the collective interests of the region,” she said. Tsai thanked the representatives from Australia, the US and other like-minded countries for joining the forum and expressing support for Taiwan in such a turbulent era.

“The client directly canceled all of its orders last month, which lowered our gross margin, as the client had requested high-specification orders with higher profit margin,” Lin told investors at an online earnings conference. The company yesterday reported that gross margin for last quarter declined due to order losses and said it had a conservative view about this quarter. As a result, there is a chance that the firm’s capacity utilization rate would drop in the fourth quarter, Lin said. The third-quarter gross margin of 65.6 percent was the lowest after 64.24 percent recorded in the first quarter last year, company data showed. “There is a figure for gross margin in my mind, and we will not accept orders with gross margins lower than that, although I cannot tell you how high this number is,” Lin said to investors.

Youth call for constitution based on ‘reality’NEED TO BE HEARD: Coalition organizer Lin Chun-chieh called for ‘all people of different generations to stand up and speak your vision of the country’By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterA coalition of youth groups yesterday urged lawmakers to draft a new constitution that would better reflect the separate governance of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The coalition, called the Taiwan New Constitution Youth Front, said that it wants a constitution that guarantees more rights, reflects the nation’s current political reality and contains the “voices of the youth.”The coalition’s call came after the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday formally established an ad hoc Constitutional Amendment Committee, following the approval of a list of 39 committee members from across party lines. Members of a youth coalition called the Taiwan New Constitution Youth Front participate in a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Under “such difficult circumstances,” it might be “more appropriate” for the nation to draw up a new constitution, Feng said. The Constitution has been revised seven times — mostly recently in 2005, he added.

A day to build a dream onFor the first time in more than 15 years, the Dream Community’s annual Dream Parade is shifting both its day and location, from downtown Taipei on a Saturday in October to tomorrow in New Taipei CityBy Diane Baker / Staff reporterJust over two decades ago, Gordon Tsai (蔡聰明) founded the Dream Community (夢想社區文教發展基金) on rezoned farmland owned by his family in what was then Taipei County’s Sijhih District (汐止), aiming to create a place where art and creativity would be part of residents’ daily lives. The annual Dream Parade, which will be held from 3pm to 6pm in New Taipei City’s Banciao District, will once again feature the Dream Community’s monster pirate fish-boat float. Illustration courtesy of the Dream CommunityThe Dream Community held its first Dream Parade in 2002, a small affair on nearby streets. The wide range in ages of the annual Dream Parade’s samba dancers is highlighted on Monday at a news conference at New Taipei City Plaza in Banciao District. Rain did little to dampen the enthusiasm of Dream Parade participants or audiences on Oct. 21, 2017, along Zhongshan South Road in Taipei.

Defense spending won’t deter PRC: US officialBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan’s planned increase to next year’s defense budget, although a step in the right direction, is insufficient to deter China’s threat, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA) David Helvey said on Tuesday. Helvey, who is performing the duties of US assistant secretary of defense for IPSA, made the remarks during the closing keynote speech of a two-day US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, a transcript released by the US-Taiwan Business Council showed. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou speaks at a news briefing at the ministry in Taipei in an undated photograph. Highlighting Taiwan’s leading position in the global semiconductor industry, he said nearly 47 percent of US-designed chips are made by Taiwanese companies. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) plan to build a wafer plant in Arizona is a “game changer” for the US semiconductor industry and national security, Helvey said.

Sinphar apologizes for drugs with quality problemsSELF-REGULATING: Sinphar last week examined all of its drug lines after the FDA found in July that six of its drugs had potency issues. The agency demanded that Sinphar stop selling the six and recall them, to safeguard the interests of consumers. The company found that another 17 drugs had less than 90 percent of their labeled potency and would recall them, Lou said. The reduction of the drugs’ potency could be attributed to the manner in which they are packaged, as the firm packaged some of its ointments in plastic bottles instead of aluminum tubes, making it easier for the chemicals to evaporate, she said. Meanwhile, some drugs’ potency weakens due to improper storage methods, the firm said.

Jko Fintech members to leave Jko Asset’s boardBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterJko Fintech Co (街口金融科技) on Tuesday said that it would withdraw from the boardroom of Jko Asset Management Co (街口投信) and would not exercise control over that company’s operations, although it has a 25 percent stake in it. Jko Fintech, which has two seats on Jko Asset’s board, would have its representatives resign at a board meeting on Thursday next week and would not appoint new board members, it said in a statement. Jko Fintech chose to leave Jko Asset’s boardroom completely as it wants to address its disagreement with the commission, Hu told the Taipei Times. As the commission is worried that Jko Asset’s corporate governance would be affected by Jko Fintech’s involvement, “we hope to ease its concerns by staying away from Jko Asset’s operations and leaving the boardroom,” Hu said. However, he would not return to the Jko Asset boardroom even if he wins, Hu said.

As of Monday, the university owed teachers salaries for three months, he said. Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei TimesThe union estimates that it owes about 30 teachers NT$10 million (US$345,244), he said. Despite “oppression” by the university, the teachers have continued to hold classes, conduct research and serve the university, he said. Yesterday marked the third time the union and teachers have demonstrated outside the ministry’s offices, he said. The Private School Law (私立學校法) gives the government the authority to “replace illegal [university] presidents” and to “petition for the removal of illegal [university] board members,” he said.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in June had said that the nation’s reservists would play a more important role in national defense. Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) told lawmakers that there had been 1,710 and 1,029 incidences of Chinese planes and ships respectively having crossed into the nation’s air defense identification zone so far this year. Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday. Administratively, all reservists would fall under a defense mobilization agency that would be established in January 2022 and is expected to cost NT$8.9 billion (US$307.3 million), he said. The ministry would need to construct additional facilities due to the increased number of reservists who would be recalled for training, Yen said.

High Court rules against Kuan’s libel lawsuitBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe High Court yesterday ruled against former government minister Kuan Chung-ming’s (管中閔) libel lawsuit against two journalists for reports alleging that he has links to Chinese schools. Kuan filed an appeal, with the High Court yesterday upholding the lower court’s decision. Kuan did not disclose that he had served as an independent director for Taiwan Mobile Co, a member of the Fubon Group. He was also alleged to have worked for several universities in China, which listed Kuan as a visiting professor. Kuan in his lawsuit claimed that the reporters did not verify the information and had tarnished his reputation.

NCC to invite experts to CtiTV News hearingBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNational Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) yesterday said that the commission is seeking to invite expert witnesses with backgrounds in communications, finance and law to attend an administrative hearing for CTiTV News’ license renewal application. KMT Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said that this would be the first time that the NCC held an administrative hearing for a TV news channel’s license renewal application since its establishment in 2006. “I hope you realize that you are not just handling a license renewal application. “When we review CtiTV News’ license renewal application, we will look at its performance in the past six years. Holding an administrative hearing shows that we have thoroughly followed administrative procedures in reviewing the case,” Chen added.

KMT proposals on Taiwan-US ties passWU INSPIRED: The KMT caucus submitted the proposals, which passed unanimously, after the foreign minister said that Taipei was not seeking diplomatic ties with the USStaff writer, with CNATaiwan-US relations are based on pragmatic partnerships in defense, trade, politics and other areas, while “step-by-step” developments are key to bilateral ties, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said yesterday, after the Legislative Yuan unanimously passed two resolutions proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus related to Taiwan-US ties. Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei TimesThe other resolution states that the focus of the government’s diplomatic efforts with the US should be to work toward the resumption of formal diplomatic ties with Washington. In a news release issued after the vote, the KMT caucus said that it was curious the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus had supported the two proposals, given Wu’s comments. However, she sidestepped reporters’ questions on whether the ministry would work toward the resumption of diplomatic relations. Hopefully, the KMT would continue to think for the nation based on the best interests of the nation, Su said.

Virus prompts concerns over real-estate bubbleBloombergAuthorities might need to take action to prevent cash flows generated by global COVID-19 pandemic support measures causing a local property-market bubble, central bank Deputy Governor Chen Nan-kuang (陳南光) said. Central bank Deputy Governor Chen Nan-kuang is pictured in this undated photograph. The only restriction currently enforced by the central bank is limiting loans on high-end residences to 60 percent of the property’s value. Banks are not particularly optimistic about the residential property market, but are more positive than they were previously, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told reporters last month. “I hope the central bank can be more proactive in considering how to establish the information we need to take preventative measures as early as possible,” he said.