Photo: Lee Ching-hui, Taipei TimesThat some consumers chose to redeem their Triple Stimulus Vouchers via mobile payment services could also boost online transactions, the commission said. It was the first time that transactions through e-payment services outperformed those via mobile credit cards, the data showed. Mobile credit cards reported the second-largest transactions, with NT$36.6 billion in the first seven months, followed by mobile debit cards with NT$35 billion, mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) with NT$2.7 billion and electronic stored-value cards with NT$1 billion, the data showed. Although mobile payments still make up a comparatively small part of non-cash payments, which surpassed NT$3 trillion last year, they are expected to continue growing this year, the commission said. Taiwan started mobile payment services in 2016, with accumulated transactions reaching NT$299.1 billion as of the end of July, the data showed.

TaiGen teams up with Luminarie to tap into N AmericaBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterTaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥研發控股) on Wednesday said that it is venturing into the North American market through its partnership with Luminarie Canada Inc, which would develop and commercialize its antibiotic Taigexyn in Canada. Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei TimesLuminarie would purchase Taigexyn at a pre-negotiated price from TaiGen for its commercialization, it said. TaiGen also licensed Luminarie to seek another company that would commercialize Taigexyn in the US, to leverage the Canadian pharmaceutical company’s network in North America, it said. “We are interested in Luminarie because we share the same innovative vision for Taigexyn,” TaiGen chairman Philip Huang (黃國龍) said in a statement. Through the partnership with Luminarie, TaiGen has expanded the drug into 35 markets, including Taiwan and China, said the official, who declined to be named.

Star Lin An-ko sets league and club home run recordsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterUni-President Lions outfielder Lin An-ko on Tuesday blasted two homers to set league and club records, and lead the Lions to a 14-1 rout over the CTBC Brothers as the CPBL heads into the final month of the season. Uni-President Lions outfielder Lin An-ko arrives at the dugout to congratulations from teammates after his second home run against the CTBC Brothers at the Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium in Tainan on Tuesday. Lin was in 2018 drafted by the Lions, after he pitched left-handed on Taiwan national youth teams, at the high-school and university levels. Although in his second season, Lin is in the running to be named Rookie of the Year. Lin leads the league with 30 homers and tops the RBI chart with 94.

Moon exhibits look to draw tourists during long breakBy Kuo Hsuan-hsuan and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerLocal governments have set up art installations or exhibitions featuring images of the moon to attract tourists during the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival starting today. Illustrator Jimmy’s installation art “A Wish to the Moon” is pictured at Bitan in New Taipei City’s Sindian District on Monday ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival today. The Chiayi City Government said that it is hosting the nation’s biggest light exhibition at Beisianghu Park (北香湖公園) daily from 6pm to 10pm throughout this month. Besides a giant moon installation floating over the lake in the park, there are seven other light displays themed around the four seasons, the city government said. The exhibition is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors before it closes on Oct. 11, the theater said.

No to pork import surcharge: ChenRACTOPAMINE: Levying a health surcharge on US pork imports might be deemed a nontariff barrier, Chen Shih-chung said, while leaving room for further discussionsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterMinister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) yesterday said that he is not in favor of imposing a health surcharge on imports of US pork containing traces of the feed additive ractopamine. At a meeting of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s National Health Insurance Committee on Sept. 18, several members proposed imposing a food safety surcharge on US pork. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, center, answers questions about US pork containing traces of ractopamine at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Liou Wan-ju (廖婉汝) said that she supports the idea of imposing a health surcharge on importers of US pork containing ractopamine, which could balance out the difference in prices between US and local pork. Chen said that imposing a health surcharge on US pork might be deemed a nontariff trade barrier.

Tsai urged to ‘rectify’ nation’s name‘LONG OVERDUE’: The Republic of China is a military-political regime of the KMT that illegally occupied Taiwan, Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen saidBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterIndependence advocates yesterday at a rally called on government leaders to “rectify” the nation’s official name as “Taiwan” as they denounced Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu’s (吳釗燮) remark of “not seeking formal ties with the US” during a media interview. Members of the Taiwan Republic Office demonstrate outside Democratic Progressive Party headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “Therefore it is long overdue to rectify nation’s name as ‘Taiwan.’ Only by doing so can we establish full normal diplomatic ties with the US and other countries,” Sim said. “We condemn Wu for his statement that Taiwan is not seeking full diplomatic relations with US at this moment during an interview with Washington-based National Public Radio,” he said. “We want to know if Wu is receiving instructions from President Tsai, or was he under political pressure to say so to hide some sensitive issues?

However, lawmakers during a question-and-answer session pressed the board to announce specific timelines for releasing final investigative reports on the two accidents. Taiwan Transportation Safety Board Chairman Young Hong-tsu speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei yesterday. As for the report on the bridge collapse, Young said that the board was set to finalize a draft of the report in a meeting yesterday afternoon. Young said that the board could not deliver the report on the bridge collapse sooner due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of investigators for highway and freeway accidents. “We only have four investigators for highway accidents, but we would need 11 to handle the workload,” Young said.

Lee Chin-cheng (李進誠), a former prosecutor who served as director-general of the commission’s Examination Bureau in 2005, had a previous six-year sentence reduced to one year by the High Court after it was ordered by the Supreme Court in July 2017 to review the case. Lee Chin-cheng, a former prosecutor who served as director-general of the Financial Supervisory Commission Examination Bureau in 2005, is pictured at the High Court in Taipei on April 24, 2006. He was found guilty of leaking information about a government investigation into the company to Lin Ming-da (林明達), who reportedly profited from the information. On appeal, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the High Court for review, and in 2013, the High Court found that there was a lack of evidence regarding some of the charges, but not corruption. The verdict was appealed again, and the Supreme Court sent it back to the High Court for another review.

Cabinet backs extending domestic travel subsidiesRESCUE PACKAGE: Stimulus measures have generated about NT$63.5 billion for businesses, and mitigated the damage that could have hit the local tourism industryStaff reporterThe Executive Yuan supports a plan by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to extend the subsidies for domestic travelers until the end of next month, the Tourism Bureau said on Monday night. To promote the second phase of the nation’s “disease prevention tours,” which were launched in July, the bureau has been offering NT$1,000 (US$34.30) subsidies per hotel room. The second phase of “disease prevention tours,” the Triple Stimulus Vouchers and incentives offered by other government agencies have boosted consumer confidence and maintained positive momentum for domestic tourism, the bureau said. The program has given NT$8.91 million in subsidies to independent tourists traveling nationwide, while more than 9,500 hotels have participated, bureau data showed. “It has influenced some travel agencies that previously organized outbound tours to invest resources and personnel in developing domestic tour packages.”

NGO department set to mark 20th anniversaryGLOBAL PARTICIPATION: A leadership forum is to be held to exchange opinions with NGOs on issues such as China’s suppression of Taiwan on the world stageBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing a series of events next month to mark the 20th anniversary of its Department of NGO International Affairs, including a ceremony to recognize outstanding non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a forum to gather opinions about Chinese suppression of Taiwan. The department was established in October 2000 to promote international cooperation and help domestic civic groups join global NGOs, Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Constance Wang (王雪虹) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Constance Wang speaks at a news conference at the ministry in Taipei on Thursday last week. The department and the NGOs plan to issue a joint statement at the forum to promote even closer partnerships in the future, she said. Featuring documentaries, photographs and written records, the exhibition would demonstrate how the department used NT$196 million (US$6.72 million) of donations to help Nepal with its reconstruction efforts, she said.

Danish firm to build nacelle assembly facility in TaichungBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterDanish firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S (CIP) yesterday signed a contract with Fortune Electric Co (華城電機) to build a wind turbine nacelle construction facility in the Port of Taichung. “The nacelle contains all the generating components and all the software controls for a wind turbine. Putting it together is a complicated process [that requires] a lot of know-how,” Hsu told the Taipei Times by telephone. MHI Vestas would begin assembly after the facility is completed, she said. “We have to complete 46 9MW turbine platform units by the end of 2023 to be in compliance with our contracts,” Hsu said.

Local capital drove all of the deals, of which 72 percent were concentrated in Taipei, Taoyuan and Tainan, Cushman & Wakefield said. Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan general manager Billy Yen speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, bought three factories in Tainan for NT$9.35 billion to meet capacity expansion needs, Cushman & Wakefield said. Adding another purchase of NT$660 million last quarter, TSMC poured more than NT$10 billion into the commercial property market, becoming a major contributor, it said. The housing market also recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic judging by transaction volumes and prices, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan general manager Billy Yen (顏炳立) said.

HPA recommends ‘3-3-3 principle’ for holiday BBQMID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL: The health agency advised eating more fruit and vegetables, limiting oil intake and doing more exercise, among othersBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday recommended a “3-3-3 principle” for eating healthy when barbecuing over the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend. As many people enjoy eating barbecue during the holiday, the agency warned the public that eating too much barbecue or red meat and exercising too little can increase the risk of colorectal cancer. The “3-3-3 principle” promotes healthy eating, especially during the holidays, HPA Director-General Wang Ying-wei (王英偉) said. The WHO has suggested that 21 to 25 percent of colorectal cancer cases are linked to insufficient physical activity, the agency added. The agency urged people aged 50 to 74 to take advantage of free government-sponsored fecal occult blood tests every two years, which aid in early detection of colorectal cancer.

Schools offer 50 scholarships for Czech studentsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterSeven Taiwanese universities are to offer 50 scholarships for Czech nationals to study Chinese in Taiwan, one of the achievements of a visit by a delegation headed by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. “I am Taiwanese” refers to a statement Vystrcil made in a speech on Sept. 1 at the Legislative Yuan. A Czech student in Taiwan speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, at which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced 50 scholarships for Czechs to study Chinese in Taiwan. All of the schools have Chinese language centers recommended by the Ministry of Education, Department of European Affairs Director-General Johnson Chiang (姜森) said. The schools are to submit their proposals to the ministry, which would offer subsidies for the program, he said, without elaborating on the duration of the scholarships or the amount of the subsidies.

United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) shares soared 10 percent to close at NT$27.5 as 380 million shares changed hands on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. People walk in front of the gate of a Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp factory in Shanghai on Sept. 7. Smaller local foundry Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (力積電) and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co are also options, Chiao said. It is worth watching to see whether any of the contract chipmakers increase their capital expenditure for next year, the analyst said. Shares of SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, yesterday fell 3.88 percent to close at HK$17.86 in Hong Kong trading, a four-month low.