Virus Outbreak: Sercomm net profit rises 34% on virus lockdowns‘BOON’: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major changes in people’s lives, such as telecommuting and distance education, Sercomm chairman Paul Wang saidBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterTelecom equipment maker Sercomm Corp (中磊) yesterday said that net profit last quarter expanded 34 percent year-on-year as remote study and work-from-home trends amid the COVID-19 pandemic boosted Internet use. Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei TimesRevenue last quarter surged 36 percent sequentially to NT$9.25 billion (US$313.13 million), with fixed-mobile products contributing the most. In the April-to-June period, Sercomm’s net profit expanded to NT$241 million from NT$180 million in the corresponding period last year. On an annual basis, net profit expanded 2.77 times from NT$87 million. The pandemic “provides a boon to networking companies,” Sercomm chairman Paul Wang (王伯元) said.

Ministry approves call to select new Tatung boardBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday approved an application by some individual and institutional shareholders of Tatung Co (大同) to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to elect a new board of directors, a month after the ministry deemed Tatung’s June 30 shareholders’ meeting invalid and rejected registering the board directors elected at that meeting. Under Lin Kuo’s instructions, Tatung blocked several shareholders, who collectively hold a 53 percent stake in the company, from voting at the June 30 annual general meeting on accusations that they received funding from Chinese investors. As the existing board is not legally capable of calling a shareholders’ meeting, the ministry said it therefore approved the petition by some rebel shareholders to hold an extraordinary meeting by the end of November to elect a new board, she said. Some of the rebel shareholders in a joint statement thanked the authorities for approving their petition and vowed to hold a fair and open meeting soon. “All shareholders’ rights will be equally respected.

Legal experts, party representatives say administrative court ruling aids ChinaBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterLegal experts and representatives of political parties yesterday accused the Taiwan High Administrative Court of aiding China in its “united front” campaign against Taiwan, after it ruled against the Ministry of the Interior, which had fined 27 Taiwanese for working for local government offices in China. Huang, along with legal experts and academics from the Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP), at a briefing yesterday urged the ministry to appeal the court’s ruling on Thursday last week. Independent Legislator Freddy Lim at a news conference in Taipei yesterday criticizes a Taiwan High Administrative Court ruling, which favored Taiwanese who were working for local government offices in China. Lim said that “the ruling would permit our citizens to work for an enemy state,” which has would to go to war to annex Taiwan. Huang said the ruling showed the failure of the government’s push for judicial reform, as the Taiwan High Administrative Court had in the past few years years made rulings that went against the public’s expectations.

Azar praises Taiwan’s health effortsCHASTISING CHINA: Taiwan’s approach to combating the coronavirus stands in stark contrast to the country where the outbreak began, the US health secretary saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterInternational organizations are not the place to play politics, especially when the matter relates to healthcare, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said in Taipei yesterday, adding that the region and the world are safer because of Taiwan’s commitment to health promotion. Thanking Azar for supporting Taiwan’s fight for international space, Wu said that the battle is not just about Taiwan’s status, but about sustaining democracy in the face of authoritarian aggression. The US would continue advocating for the contributions Taiwan can make to the world on important issues like health, Azar said, adding that he would discuss these issues and Taiwan’s global health leadership with Wu. Following his talk with Wu, Azar and his delegation attended a luncheon banquet hosted by Vice President William Lai (賴清德), representing Tsai. “The Indo-Pacific region and the whole world are safer because of Taiwan’s commitment to this public health work,” he added.

Jane Lee welcomes help from ex-Han teamBy Wang Jung-hsiang / Staff reporterKaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate for the Kaohsiung mayoral by-election on Saturday, yesterday said that having members of former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) administrative team help with her election campaign highlights her campaign’s main theme of being corruption-free. Photo: Ko Yu-hao, Taipei TimesIt seems that Han’s team is trying to return to power through the by-election on Saturday, Huang wrote. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang, right, accompanies Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee, the KMT’s Kaohsiung mayoral by-election candidate, while she campaigns in the city yesterday. Lee has asked Han to show his support for her in public, a person close to Han said, adding that although Han is not sure how he can help Lee in the by-election, he is certainly going to vote on Saturday. As Han’s former administrative team, led by Chen Hsiung-wen, have publicly showed their support for Lee, speculation is rife that Han would also step out to publicly support Lee.

Revamping traditionDaxidaxi updates the traditional temple parade with its own mixture of music, costumes, exhibitions and workshops, dragging an old tradition into the 21st centuryBy Noah Buchan / Staff reporterArchitect Tammy Liu (劉真蓉) recalls being stumped when studying in the Netherlands a teacher asked her to describe Taiwanese culture. A member of an Eight Generals performance troupe performs on Aug. 1 in front of Puji Temple in Taoyuan’s Dasi District. UPDATING TRADITIONA lion dancing troupe performs in front of Puji Temple in Taoyuan’s Dasi District on Aug. 1 as part of Daxidaxi cultural festival. Students wearing traditional costumes that they made out of recycled materials perform on Aug. 1 in front of Dasi Puji Temple in Taoyuan’s Dasi District. Caricatures of Guan Gong designed for the Daxidaxi cultural festival, a two-week event held at Puji Temple in Taoyuan’s Dasi District.

Chinchillas worth NT$7.5m seized at Kaohsiung HarborBy Hung Ting-hung and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department yesterday at the harbor seized 50 smuggled long-tailed chinchillas valued at NT$7.5 million (US$253,970). The rodents, each worth NT$150,000 on the pet market, were seized after police officers Pan Shih-ying (潘詩盈) and Shen Ya-chin (沈雅欽) found them in a minivan at a harbor checkpoint, the department said. Smuggled chinchillas look out of a makeshift cage after being seized by customs officers in Kaohsiung yesterday. Photo copied by Hung Ting-hung, Taipei TimesThe animals were likely smuggled from China, it said, adding that it was the largest number of illegally imported chinchillas the department has ever seized. Chinchillas are native to the Andes mountains in South America, and live in rock crevices and caves at high elevations, the Taipei City Animal Protection Office said.

Taipei councilors accuse Ko of trying to benefit FargloryBy Kuo An-chia, Tsai Ssu-pei and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerDemocratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Independent Councilor Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) on Monday formally accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and former Taipei City Government secretary-general Chang Jer-yang (張哲揚) of trying to illegally benefit Taipei Dome contractor Farglory Group. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je yesterday talks about the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic during a forum on tourism in Taipei in the post-pandemic era. Chang also allowed Farglory to circumvent Article 127 by applying to host concerts on a per-event basis, the councilors said. The city government has set a bad precedent by allowing Farglory to make “corrections” before issuing a license, Lin said. Ko yesterday said that his administration would not be defined by the Taipei Dome project, nor would the project be allowed to become a “festering sore,” adding that he welcomes any scrutiny of the project.

Former New Power Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang in Hsinchu County yesterday answers a question about whether he intends to stand for party chairman again. Following Lai, Hong Kong police arrested advocacy group members Andy Li (李宇軒) of Hong Kong Story and Lee Tsung-tzu (李宗澤) and now-disbanded Demosisto founding member Agnes Chow (周庭) on charges of colluding with foreign forces. “We strongly condemn this misuse of the Hong Kong National Security Law to suppress dissidents,” the NPP said. Addressing speculation that former NPP executive chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) might be tapped for the position again, NPP caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) yesterday said there were no such plans at present. Several party members have expressed an interest in running for chairperson, and the party hopes a new chairperson would be chosen quickly, he said.

“Taiwan and international society should continue monitoring the political situation in Hong Kong and ask the Chinese regime to abide by its legal obligations as stated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Taiwan’s government should coordinate with officials in other nations in imposing sanctions against China, as well as preparing for the arrival of more migrants from Hong Kong,” they said. Lai had frequently said that he would not leave Hong Kong or his employees behind, Thumper said. The fates of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers are connected, and we must not let them hang out to dry,” Hung said. Taiwanese will stand by Hong Kongers in defending their common shared values of democracy, freedom and human rights, she said.

Thesis advisers still liable: MOEACADEMIC ETHICS: Universities should improve their mechanisms to ensure the quality of graduate theses and hold faculty accountable for breaches, the MOE saidBy Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNAAlthough some universities have been requiring students to take full responsibility for breaches of academic ethics, their thesis advisers should still be held accountable for such breaches, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday. Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei TimesAcademic institutions also need to accept accountability to improve their mechanisms for quality assurance for graduate theses in the face of ethics breaches, it added. The ministry would take into account universities’ performance on thesis quality and addressing academic dishonesty when determining their student quota and evaluating a school’s application to establish a new department, it said. The ministry said that it would reveal the information on how universities discipline departments to uphold academic ethics and the outcomes. The university said that it also has mechanisms in place to hold to account advisers who have been implicated in breaches of academic integrity.

EDITORIAL: Changing opinions about universityIn an unprecedented move, a recent graduate from Changhua Girls’ Senior High School put off attending college to join the workforce. Under the program, high-school graduates work for one to three years while receiving a regular salary, as well as a government stipend that is deposited into an account they can access after the program ends. In a society where the vast majority of high-school graduates attend university and not doing so brings great shame to the family, the program’s low numbers are not surprising. In response to the student’s decision, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said: “Our young students do not all have to take the ‘express train’ from elementary school to university and even graduate school. Yet things are changing, and students need to keep up with the realities of the world.

Cathay to recognize NT$8.8bn lossCORPORATE SCANDAL: Cathay Life has invested NT$13.3 billion in Bank Mayapada since 2015, but the latest loss of NT$8.8 billion has completely written off its investmentBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterCathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) yesterday said it would recognize an investment loss of NT$8.8 billion (US$298.1 million) in Indonesia’s Bank Mayapada Internasional Tbk PT due to concerns about the lender’s operations amid a corporate scandal. The company said it would revise its earnings result for June, from a net profit of NT$6.52 billion to a net loss of NT$520 million, its first monthly loss over the past 17 months. After booking an investment loss of NT$5.2 billion in Bank Mayapada earlier this year, Cathay Life has so far recognized total investment losses of NT$14 billion in the lender, executive vice president Lin Chao-ting (林昭廷) told a news conference in Taipei. However, the recognized investment loss of NT$8.8 billion has completely written off its investment in the Indonesian lender, Lin said. So we are still evaluating if we should be a controlling shareholder in Bank Mayapada,” Lee said.

Average take-home pay rises in June‘POSITIVE MOVEMENTS’: Monthly wages increased as the COVID-19 outbreak eased in Taiwan and most companies emerged from its effects, the DGBAS saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterAverage monthly take-home pay in June rose 1.41 percent from a year earlier to NT$42,352, while total wages including overtime and performance-based compensation increased 4.09 percent to NT$50,581, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. By sector, airline employees had the highest monthly take-home pay at NT$65,728, while workers at financial and insurance companies enjoyed the highest total wages at NT$84,405, aided by the distribution of bonuses, the agency said. People worked an average of 168 hours in June, an increase of 5.4 hours from one month earlier, the agency said. Overtime pay averaged NT$1,675, a drop of 2.73 percent from May, it said. For the first six months of this year, average take-home pay advanced 1.47 percent to NT$42,277 per month, while total wages increased 1.03 percent to NT$57,505 per month, it said.

Pollution laws not strict enough: groupsBy Hsieh Chun-lin / Staff reporterLawmakers and environmental groups yesterday called for more stringent monitoring and control of industrial hazardous waste at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, saying that pollution has affected Taiwan’s food safety and people’s health. Last year, there were 19.84 million tonnes of industrial waste in Taiwan, environmental groups said, citing results of an investigation. That did not include “construction surplus of sand and gravel materials” and soil already deemed polluted, they said. A report also indicated that 84 percent of industrial hazardous waste was only superficially treated and has turned up relabeled as a different product, they added. The actual number and amount of waste are much, much more than those that have been reported,” Chen said.