Almost all suppliers of Huawei will require a license from the department to be able to ship chips to Huawei. MediaTek said it “has already applied to the US side based on regulatory rules,” according to a brief company statement yesterday. MediaTek was originally considered a major beneficiary of the export ban on US technology, as Huawei has been increasingly adopting chips designed by MediaTek as substitutes for those designed by its semiconductor arm, HiSilicon Technologies Co (海思), to circumvent the US restrictions. Local companies, individuals and organizations would require the ministry’s approval to provide or transfer technologies or patents to Chinese entities, the ministry said. The new rules would also include the licensing or transfer of patents relating to layout designs of integrated circuits.

Kao Chi to close flagship store due to safety issueStaff writer, with CNAThe flagship store of Kao Chi (高記), a restaurant known for serving Shanghai delicacies in Taipei’s Yongkang Street commercial circle, is to close its business before the end of the month. Kao Chi made the announcement on Wednesday after the Taipei City Government found the three-story building on Yongkang Street that houses the restaurant in contravention of building regulations. The flagship store of Kao Chi restaurant on Taipei’s Yongkang Street is pictured on Wednesday. Instead of making the changes, Kao Chi decided to shut the store after closing its three other restaurants in Taipei this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Kao Chi started selling Shanghai delicacies from a mobile street stand in 1949.

Taiwan’s bid to join the UN to cite COVID-19 effortsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe nation’s campaign to rejoin the UN this year would highlight its achievements in containing COVID-19 and its commitment to multilateralism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chief Secretary Lily Hsu, center, speaks alongside the ministry’s Department of International Organizations Director-General Bob Chen, left, and ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. As usual, the ministry would ask the nation’s diplomatic allies to speak up for Taiwan during the debate and write to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, she said. The ministry would also hold General Assembly-related events at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York City, said Hsu, who was director-general of the TECO in New York before assumed her current post, adding that most of the events would be held virtually due to COVID-19-related crowd size restrictions. On Sept. 23 last year, Hsu was invited by the US to attend a speech by US President Donald Trump at the UN headquarters, which was regarded as a diplomatic breakthrough in Taiwan.

KMT slams DPP’s pork import rulePORK FEED ADDITIVES: As the government is to allow US meat imports containing ractopamine residue, the opposition accuses Tsai of peddling a backroom dealBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called on the government to reverse its decision to lift the ban on US pork containing ractopamine residue, saying that public health and farmers are not to be bargained with. Even Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers had not been informed of the decision until yesterday noon, which shows the administration’s opaque decisionmaking process, Lin said. The Executive Yuan has not laid out any plans to help them cope with the import of US pork, Lin said. Tsai had made Taiwan a vassal state of the US, Lin said, adding that Tsai should report to the legislature on how the decision was made. When the DPP was the opposition party, it vigorously opposed the import of US pork containing ractopamine, but it has made a U-turn now that it is in power, KMT chairman Johnny Chiang said (江啟臣).

Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesOverseas streaming platforms do not follow NCC rules, putting local channels at a disadvantage, Fu added. Locally made movies typically cost more to broadcast than foreign films, added Lee Chen-yi (李貞儀), who heads NextTV’s movie channel. The government should reward cable TV operators who reach the 20 percent primetime target, rather than punish those who do not, Long Turn TV president Chen Yi-chun (陳依君) said. With demanding regulations, decreased movie production, and competitive over-the-top media services from abroad, cable TV operators are squeezed by internal and external pressures, Chen Yu-jen said, urging the NCC to keep up with the times by easing the regulations. Cable TV operators’ opinions would be shared with the NCC and inform further discussions, he added.

Taipei drops charges against ‘The Slaughter’ authorBy Jason Pan and Wu Liang-yi / Staff reportersThe Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday dropped charges against US author Ethan Gutmann and Taiwanese political pundit Brian Wu (吳祥輝) in a defamation case brought by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) over Gutmann’s allegations that Ko had played a role in China’s forced organ harvesting program. US author Ethan Gutmann holds up a copy of his book The Slaughter in an undated photograph. When neither Gutmann nor Wu apologized, Ko’s lawyers on Oct. 4 filed a complaint in Taipei, accusing Gutmann of defamation. of In dropping the charges, prosecutors said that someone had asked whether Ko was a “liar,” prompting Gutmann to answer. They also cited written communication between the two when Gutmann was writing the book, and Ko had given him the go-ahead.

“Over the past few decades, Taiwan has been the center of Mandarin pop music,” Tsai said at an opening ceremony at the center in Nangang District (南港). “The opening of the TMC means that Taiwanese pop music is about to restart,” Tsai said, adding that fans from across the nation should support their favorite artists by attending concerts at the center. This is the magic of pop music,” Ko said. “We hope Taiwan’s music talent can gather at the center, and make this a temple of Asian pop music,” Ko added. Meanwhile, the Maritime Cultural & Popular Music Center in Kaohsiung is also expected to celebrate its opening this year, the ministry said.

E Ink positive on outlook for the rest of this yearBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterE Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s sole supplier of e-paper displays for e-readers and electronic shelf labels, yesterday gave a positive outlook for the second half of this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic is stimulating demand. The pandemic “is increasing demand, as we expected,” E Ink chairman Johnson Lee (李政昊) told an investors’ teleconference. Shipments of e-paper displays are expected to grow at an annual rate of 20 to 30 percent this year and growth might be even stronger next year, E Ink said. Demand for E Ink’s new color e-paper displays, dubbed Kaleido, has also improved and the firm is boosting capacity 10-fold, it said. E-paper displays for e-readers accounts for 60 percent of the firm’s revenue, it said.

A man thrusts a sharp object into a “divine pig” in the Yongjhen Temple in Miaoli County’s Toufen District yesterday. Photo: Cheng Ming-hsiang, Taipei TimesAfter they have grown to a certain size, divine pigs cannot even walk, as their feet can no longer support their weight, Tsun added. In Taiwan, some temples hold divine pig weighing competitions as part of their religious and cultural festivals. The government should dole out immediate punishments and stop certain divine pig breeders from continuing the abuse, she said. Folk traditions should be respected, but it is a completely different matter if a breeder raises divine pigs by abusing them to maximize economic gains, Wu said.

The ministry has already asked the Executive Yuan for funding, Wang said. Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times“We are waiting right now, but we expect approval within days so that we can start processing the relief,” she said. The stimulus program is to help businesses still down by more than 50 percent year-on-year, she added. When asked about the ministry tightening rules against Chinese business interests, Wang said that in addition to more regulation of Chinese firms investing in Taiwan, the ministry is also clarifying statutes governing information transfer to China. “After our clarification, any skill transfers or licensing agreements that are technical in nature must be approved by the ministry,” Wang said.

Blockbuster TV productions lead award nominationsBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Culture (MOC) on Wednesday announced the nominees for the 55th Golden Bell Awards, which are to be presented at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Sept. 26. While 1,995 works entered the competition last year, 2,055 television productions were considered this year, it said. The Victims’ Game is to compete with Yong-jiu Grocery Store (用九柑仔店), Someday or One Day (想見你), Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner (噬罪者) and The Mirror (鏡子森林) for best television series. The ceremony for the Golden Bell Awards for television is held separately from the Golden Bell Awards for radio, which is to take place at the same venue on Sept. 19. For a full list of nominees for this year’s Golden Bell Awards, visit gba.tavis.tw/55th.

Beijing slams Washington’s South China Sea sanctionsAFP, BEIJINGBeijing yesterday slammed Washington’s “tyrannical logic” over the latest US sanctions targeting Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, worsening tensions between the two superpowers. China has aggressively pursued its territorial claims in the South China Sea, building small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities. A handout provided by the US Navy shows sailors observing aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan from the USS Nimitz as their carrier strike groups conduct joint operations in the South China Sea on July 6. Photo: EPA-EFE / Seaman Dalton ReidheadThe US on Wednesday announced sanctions on two dozen Chinese companies and associated unnamed officials for taking part in building artificial islands in disputed waters. In July, the US formally declared Beijing’s pursuit of territory and resources in the South China Sea as illegal, explicitly backing the territorial claims of Taiwan and other Southeast Asian countries against China’s.

US, Taiwan reshaping supply chains: AITCLEAN 5G: TSMC’s plans to increase US investment is a clear signal that the future of high-tech supply chains remains in the US-Taiwan nexus, the AIT director saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe US is working with Taiwan to restructure global supply chains under the shared values of transparency and accountability, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said, according to a transcript released by AIT yesterday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei TimesWashington aims to diversify and bring supply chains closer to end users, and ensure that countries like China do not hold supply chains hostage for political purposes, he said. The US works with like-minded partners, including Taiwan, Japan and the EU, to develop new supply chains based on shared values, he added. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) plans to boost investment in the US send “an unmistakable signal that the future of high-tech supply chains remains in the US-Taiwan nexus,” Christensen said. All of Taiwan’s 5G suppliers — Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) — are listed in the US’ Clean Path, showing that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, he said.

Virus Outbreak: Findings of mass antibody survey to be releasedBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterResearchers at National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health yesterday said they would today release the findings of a mass COVID-19 antibody survey in Changhua County. Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) and Tony Chen (陳秀熙), the former dean and deputy dean of the college respectively who are members of the survey project, issued a news conference invitation to reporters at noon yesterday. Tony Chen of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health talks to reporters in Taipei yesterday about a COVID-19 antibody survey in Changhua County. Chan, who heads the project, on Sunday suddenly called off a presentation planned for Tuesday to publish the “mid-term” findings of the survey, sparking speculations over the reason. The researchers would release the findings to the public as soon as possible and in a “service-oriented” fashion, he added.

This reporter climbs treacherous terrain en route to the Beidawu Mountain summit. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei TImes“You’ll be forgiven for believing this is the top, but it isn’t. A photo of the Shinto shrine at the false summit of Beidawu Mountain. Photo: Han Cheung, Taipei TImesAs mentioned earlier, I barely make it in the end. Photo courtesy of Steven CrookBlue Skies Adventures organizes trips up Beidawu Mountain: www.blueskiesadventures.com.tw