Taiwanese caught up in Chinese firm’s databaseBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with the Guardian and CNAProminent and not-so-prominent Taiwanese have been swept up by a Chinese tech firm in a database of the personal information of millions of people around the world. Radio Free Asia on Tuesday reported that at least 2,900 Taiwanese political and business leaders were among those caught up in the database. Considering that relatively few Taiwanese and dissidents are included in the database, Zhenhua Data is likely peripherally related to “united front” work as a contractor, Shen said. The database was leaked to US academic Christopher Balding, who was previously based in Shenzhen, but has returned to the US. “We are a private company,” said the woman, surnamed Sun, denying any links to the Chinese government or military.

Taiwanese singer, actor Alien Huang found dead at homeUNDER INVESTIGATION: Huang’s body was found just outside the bathroom and showed no signs of a struggle, and no alcohol or drugs were foundStaff writer, with CNASinger and actor Alien Huang (黃鴻升) was found dead at his home in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) yesterday. Huang was also known by the nickname Xiao Gui (“little ghost”). Alien Huang gestures at the premiere of the movie Acting Out of Love in Taipei on March 12. Huang was a graduate of Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, and classmates included actress Hsu Wei-ning (許瑋甯) and singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳). Yang — who dated Huang for several years — said via her agent that she “cannot describe how much it hurts” to lose Huang, who was “like family” to her.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang, center, chairs a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee at the KMT’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “We urge Tsai Ing-wen, the current president, not to contradict last year’s Tsai Ing-wen, the presidential candidate,” he said. In other news, the British Office Taipei is encouraging Taiwanese to purchase British pork products, which do not contain ractopamine because the UK has banned it. Since allowing British pork into the country two years ago, Taiwan has imported more than ￡10 million (US$13 million) of the products, the office wrote on Facebook yesterday. The event sought to help local supermarket retailers and hotel caterers appreciate the flavor of British pork products in various cuisines, it added.

We believe there is no need for this draft act,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said. The goals for the draft act can be achieved by amending the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), he added. “The draft act is aimed at criminals. “We have to deal with new forms of digital crimes in cyberspace, so we need new ways of investigation,” Lee said. “It has been found that most of the communications for selling illegal drugs are done through [the messaging app] Line,” Lee said.

Shin Kong Life to adapt portfolio after FSC demandBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterShin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) yesterday said that its insurance unit would adjust its investment portfolio after being banned from buying new stocks a day earlier by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC). “We will research what we can do based on the commission’s specific instructions after we receive the regulator’s formal documents,” Shin Kong Financial spokesman Sunny Hsu (徐順鋆) told the Taipei Times by telephone. The commission on Tuesday fined Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) NT$27.6 million (US$941,722) for reckless investment, and demanded that the insurer reduce its overseas investment ratio from 43 percent to 39 percent. Shin Kong Life had a pool of NT$3.02 trillion investment funds as of the end of June, with a recurring yield of 3.32 percent. The commission’s press release announcing the Shin Kong Life fine reached more than 11,000 page views as of press time last night, a relatively high number for a government press release.

Cross-strait ties need equality: KMT chairmanStaff writer, with CNACross-strait exchanges should be based on mutual respect and held on an equal footing, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, a day after the party pulled out of a forum in China because of what it perceived as a demeaning remark by a Chinese commentator. Chiang attributed the party’s last-minute decision not to attend the 12th Straits Forum opening in Xiamen on Saturday to the complexity of the cross-strait situation. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang gestures during an interview with Pop Radio in Taipei yesterday. Chiang said that the decision highlighted the need to conduct cross-strait exchanges based on “mutual trust and goodwill and on an equal footing,” principles always upheld by the KMT. The KMT has viewed the forum as a symbol of peace between Taiwan and China, and has sent delegations each year.

NTUST candidate drops out of raceWORKING OVERTIME? National Taiwan University professor Lee Duu-jong is pictured in this undated photo. The home page of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Web site is pictured in this screengrab captured yesterday. Despite the controversy, Kuan took office as NTU president in January last year. The Thousand Talents Program was an initiative launched by Beijing in 2008 to attract top academics and scientists from abroad.

“Before the [Jan. 11 presidential election], the Tsai administration told everyone that it supports Hong Kong, but so far the Tsai administration’s support for Hong Kong appears to be just talk,” KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu criticizes the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in Tainan yesterday, saying that its claims to support Hong Kong and Hong Kongers are just a joke. The Tsai administration’s Hong Kong Humanitarian Aid Project only applies to people who enter Taiwan legally, he said. “Although on the surface the Tsai administration says it wants to support Hong Kong, in reality, it appears to be taking advantage of Hong Kong,” Chen said. The DPP should prioritize the proposed amendments to the Hong Kong and Macau act in the upcoming session, he said.

BirdLife boots out Taiwanese group over politicsBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNA and AFPA Taiwanese bird protection group yesterday said that it has been kicked out of BirdLife International — a global conservation partnership — after it refused to sign a statement saying it would never advocate independence. The Taipei-based Chinese Wild Bird Federation said that BirdLife International last week voted to remove it, ending a partnership that had been in place since 1996. Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Taipei TimesThe federation said that it was informed that its Chinese name — which contains “ROC” — “posed a risk” to UK-based BirdLife. Signing such a statement would be inappropriate, because “we are a conservation organization,” not a political one, it said. There are no national borders for birds, it said, adding that cross-border collaboration on bird conservation efforts is important.

FSC fines Shin Kong Life for reckless investmentPOOR INTERNAL CONTROLS: Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa said the company is expected to get back on track while its chairman is suspendedBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday fined Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) NT$27.6 million (US$939,415) for a reckless investment that endangered its solvency, and suspended its chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) for poor supervision. The penalty is the second-highest in a single case after Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) was fined NT$30 million in September last year and its chairman Du Ying-tzyong (杜英宗) suspended for two years, the commission said. Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa, center, announces a NT$27.6 million fine for Shin Kong Life Insurance Co at a news conference in New Taipei City yesterday. “We expect the insurance company to get back on track by overhauling its mechanisms for investment and risk management while Wu is absent,” Shih said. The commission did not set a deadline for Shin Kong Life to trim the ratio, but demanded that it not buy any local or foreign stocks and exchange-traded funds before the adjustment is completed, Shih said.

China rebound drives 32% jump in Tong Yang profitBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), a supplier of automotive metal sheets and bumpers, yesterday reported that pretax profit last month surged 32 percent to NT$135.29 million (US$4.6 million) from July thanks to recovering demand in the Chinese market. It was the fourth consecutive month of pretax profit growth for Tong Yang, indicating that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are easing, the Tainan-based company said. Although a monthly increase, the figure was a decline of 36 percent from a pretax profit of NT$211.21 million that it made a year earlier, company data showed. A man looks at a Tong Yang Industry Co automotive bumper at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall in an undated photograph. Aftermarket business refers to the secondary market in the automotive industry, which offers the sale, distribution and installation of vehicle parts, chemicals, equipment and accessories to people who have purchased from automakers.

Virus raises demand for Sharp low-end displaysBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterSharp Corp is to restart production of mid to low-range display panels to take advantage of demand generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharp president Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳) said yesterday. Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, Tai said that he expects another strong year for notebook computer sales thanks to demand generated by distance learning. “This wave of demand took us by surprise, and most of it has targeted mid to low-range display panels,” Tai said. Photo: Chen Rou-chen, Taipei TimesAlthough Sharp specializes in advanced, high-end displays, restarting its production of mid to low-range displays would better satisfy market demand and help to supply Tokyo-based laptop maker Dynabook Inc, its wholly owned subsidiary, he said. The relatively new plant would keep Sharp on the cutting edge of manufacturing new panel displays, Tai said.

Airlines’ losses could have been much worse: LinBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe nation’s airlines would have sustained greater financial losses if it were not for the government relief package and booming air cargo service market, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) statistics showed that all of the airlines reported financial losses during the first half of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei TimesCAL’s subsidiary Mandarin Airlines and EVA’s Uni Air sustained NT$340 million and NT$18.40 million in losses respectively. “The financial losses sustained by Taiwanese flight carriers have been relatively smaller compared with those of international carriers in other countries,” he added. Revenues from an increase in their air cargo services helped compensate local airlines for their losses, he said.

Strong backbone can thwart ChinaBy Yeomin YoonA nation existing globally respects what other nations think, and appropriates other nations’ perceptions of itself. On this occasion, the residents and political leaders of East Asian nations should reflect on their China policy. East Asian countries, especially China’s smaller neighbors concerned over how the “risen China” will treat them, should learn from young Taiwanese. I wonder if the young people found in China’s smaller neighbors have the kind of backbone and strong determination displayed by these young Taiwanese. One cannot rule out that subjugated Asian nations could become another Tibet, Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia.

NHI program marks 25 yearsBy Lin Hui-chin and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) yesterday thanked the public and healthcare providers for their long-term support as it celebrated the 25th anniversary of the National Health Insurance (NHI) program and the record-breaking number of registers on its “My Health Bank” service. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, front row fourth left, Premier Su Tseng-chang, front row fourth right, and National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Lee Po-chang, front row third right, attend an event in Taipei yesterday celebrating the 25th anniversary of the National Health Insurance program. Following the introduction in February of the government’s real-name system for mask rationing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of My Health Bank accounts increased from 1.68 million to 5 million, Su said. The proposal would allocate NT$10.3 billion to hospitals for compensation for critical care and medicine services, among other items, it said. The proposed budget, which is still under review, would take effect on Jan. 1 next year at the earliest.