NPP think tank executive director Lee Chao-li (李兆立) said that a survey it commissioned showed that 53.1 percent of respondents said their willingness to visit Hong Kong had been affected by the legislation, while 36.7 percent said they were not affected by it. The poll showed that respondents with a higher education level were more conscious of how the legislation might affect them and were less willing to visit Hong Kong, NPP creative media director Jerry Liu (劉仕傑) said. Although the Mainland Affairs Council has cautioned “high-risk groups” — including people who support independence for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang and those who have criticized the Chinese or Hong Kong governments — not to travel to the territory, it should do more to warn all Taiwanese about the possible risks in visiting Hong Kong., Liu said. Meanwhile, the poll showed that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) have approval ratings of 60.8 and 56.1 percent respectively, which remains about the same as the previous survey. The poll also showed that 70.4 percent of people surveyed said they considered the procedure for purchasing the government-issued Triple Stimulus Vouchers convenient.

INTERVIEW: HSBC boss talks wind project financingFinancing plays a key role in offshore wind projects, but it also takes more consideration and knowledge than regular green loans. HSBC Taiwan Ltd chief executive officer Adam Chen poses for a photograph during an interview in Taipei on July 10. While one offshore wind developer sought corporate loans, with its parent company willing to guarantee the lending, not all offshore wind developers are willing to follow the same path. As there are a lot of issues to negotiate among all parties and banks, settlement on project financing for offshore wind project takes from 13 to 18 months on average. I personally have an upbeat outlook for financing offshore wind projects, as once the wind farms become operational, investors will feel more confident and commit more.

Art and pornography in TaiwanBy Liao Hsin-tien 廖新田As an art historian specialized in Taiwanese art history, I appreciate the Taipei Times’ feature, “Taiwan in Time: Private parts not allowed” (July 12, page 8) for showcasing a story about Taiwanese art. The article proves that Taiwanese art history is fascinating, which my own academic experience can also vouch for. First, the debate around “art or pornography?” is a general phenomenon of the modernization process in Asia, not to mention globally. Second, Lee Shih-chiao (李石樵) was not the only person involved in the controversy of art and pornography in colonial Taiwan. These two incidents are thought to be the peak of the controversy of art and pornography in Taiwan.

KMT labels DPP officials plagiaristsTIT FOR TAT: A KMT official said that members of the oral defense committee for incoming Control Yuan president Chen Chu’s thesis had close ties to the DPPBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday questioned the authenticity of theses from prominent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members, calling on the party to hold its members to the same academic standard it used to judge Kaohsiung City Councilor Jane Lee (李眉蓁). Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang at a news conference in Taipei yesterday points to a poster with allegations about Democratic Progressive Party officials having plagiarized their academic theses. While professors, Wu and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) served as thesis advisers for many prominent DPP members, Wang said. Wang said that these DPP officials should explain why they appear to have plagiarized other people’s work. DPP spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said the KMT has become so desperate that it is now attempting to vilify the DPP.

Planned cap on medical device costs scrappedQUALITY CONCERNS: The medical sector said that the policy would keep high-quality gear from entering the market and ignored differences between clinicsStaff writer, with CNAThe government on Friday scrapped a plan to cap patient’s out-of-pocket expenses for some medical devices, saying that it would instead focus on offering price comparisons and using non-legislative mechanisms to “persuade” healthcare providers who charge significantly more than industry norms to change their pricing. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s name and logo are pictured outside its Taipei headquarters in an undated photograph. The representatives also said that it would mainly benefit private insurance companies, saving them from high reimbursement costs. Hospitals and clinics whose prices exceed those norms would not be allowed to log their products on the NHIA’s medical device comparison Web site, he said. The NHIA would also “communicate with” and try to “persuade” institutions with excessively high prices to offer more affordable prices, he said.

Defense budget tipped to rise NT$10bnFISCAL 2021: If the funds to purchase 66 F-16 jets from the US were included, the increase in the national defense budget would be 7 percent from a year earlierBy Lee Hsin-fang, Rachel Lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe government budget for fiscal 2021 could see national defense spending increase to NT$335.8 billion (US$11.36 billion), up NT$10 billion, or 3 percent, from fiscal 2020, sources said on Friday. The Ministry of National Defense is discussing with the Executive Yuan additional funding to purchase advanced weaponry, they said. Equipment purchases, and maintenance and personnel fees comprise the main expenditures in the defense budget, although details cannot be divulged, an Executive Yuan source said. An official speaking on condition of anonymity said that the increase in the defense budget would be within normal parameters, as an exponential increase would breach the Budget Act (預算法). Tax revenue for fiscal 2021, estimated at NT$2 trillion, down NT$100 billion from fiscal 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, might lead to a deficit, the DGBAS said.

Artisan seeks to preserve paper flower craftBy Wu Po-hsuan / Staff reporterHsu Kuang (徐光), an 83-year-old daughter of a “Qing Dynasty princess,” has a passion for flowers and has devoted much of her life to preserving their beauty through realistic waxed crepe paper flowers, a skill she hopes to pass on to younger generations. Artist Hsu Kuang stands next to one of her waxed crepe paper flower arrangements in Taipei on July 2. She first learned to make ribbon flowers, embroidery and leather carvings, but she unexpectedly fell in love with waxed crepe paper flowers during a visit to Japan when she was 30 years old, she said. However, these days, few people know how to make waxed crepe paper flowers, she said. Humbly calling herself an “artisan” rather than an artist, Hsu said waxed crepe paper flowers are made of imported crepe paper and must go through six procedures to create: shaping, plastering, coloring, waxing twice and varnishing.

Referendum with elections is best: speakerBy Sean Lin / Staff reporterLegislative Speaker You Si-kun touted the benefits of holding a referendum in 2022 along with the nine-in-one elections to deal with constitutional issues such as lowering the legal voting age and abolishing the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan. Even though an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) last year decoupled referendums from national elections and stipulated that they be held every two years on the fourth Saturday of August starting next year, You said in an interview published on Wednesday by the Chinese-language Mirror Media magazine that separating constitutional referendums from national elections might not be a good idea. Legislative Speaker You Si-kun speaks at an event in Taipei on Thursday. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei TimesTherefore, it would be “very difficult” for a referendum to pass if it were held independently from national elections, he said. You said that he met separately with the three opposition caucuses in April, and all of them agreed that the referendum for the proposed constitutional amendments should be held in tandem with the national elections.

Premier promises defense after Chinese incursionsBy Sean Lin and Aaron Tu / Staff reportersThe government would mount an iron-clad defense of the nation’s sovereignty and its people’s safety, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday after a Chinese warplane breached the nation’s air defense identification zone on Thursday night. The incident marked a rare occurrence of a Chinese warplane entering the zone after nightfall. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei TimesThe ministry on March 17 said that two Chinese aircraft on March 16 conducted a night-time drill near Taiwan’s southwestern airspace. Instead it is sending warplanes to disrupt regional peace and put pressure on neighboring nations, which have condemned its actions, he said. A military observer in southern Taiwan surnamed Hsu (許) said that Chinese aircraft have intruded into the nation’s airspace at least 20 times this year.

Taipei sees hottest day since records began at 39.7°CStaff writer, with CNATemperatures in Taipei reached their highest in recorded history when the mercury hit 39.7°C yesterday afternoon, Central Weather Bureau data showed. The high temperature reading in the capital lasted from 2:19pm until 2:30pm and was the highest since a weather station was established in Taipei in 1896. The previous high in the city was 39.3°C, recorded on Aug. 8, 2013. Children play in a pool at the Taipei Water Park in Zhongzheng District’s Gongguan area yesterday. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei TimesFriday’s temperatures also surpassed 36°C in Taipei for the 17th consecutive day, and were the highest anywhere in the nation, followed by 38.6°C in Hualien County.

Virus Outbreak: StarLux to boost flights to Macau and PenangBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterStarting next month, StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) is to increase its number of flights to Macau and Penang, Malaysia, to meet rising air cargo demand and help its pilots build up flight hours, the airline said yesterday. From Aug. 1, Starlux is to offer four round-trip flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Macau International Airport every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, compared with three per week now, it said in a statement. It would also operate three round-trip flights per week from Taoyuan to Penang International Airport every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, from two at present, it said. However, StarLux has yet to resume its operations to Da Nang, as Vietnam has not eased its restrictions on air travel and cargo demand is low, he said. In the short term, domestic air travel would continue to outperform international travel, as a mandatory 14-day quarantine for returning citizens has dampened desire to travel abroad, it said.

KMT criticizes outcome of probeHANDS TIED: The Control Yuan said that regulations prevented it from censuring the Presidential Office and the NSB, but the KMT said it could impeach officialsBy Shih Hsiao-kuang / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday said that the Control Yuan had committed “self-castration” in failing to censure the Presidential Office and the National Security Bureau (NSB) over a cigarette smuggling case last year. Control Yuan members Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠), Wang Mei-yu (王美玉) and Peter Chang (張武修) on Thursday revealed the results of their investigation and issued corrective notices to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Customs Administration. The entrance to the Control Yuan is pictured in Taipei on June 17. However, in the cigarette smuggling case, the Control Yuan chose to circumscribe itself, making it nothing more than a “paper-made” apparatus, it said. The KMT said that Control Yuan members have become timid in the face of former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊), who is to become Control Yuan president next month.

Councilor urges investigation of claimed degreesBy Yen Chun-hung, Rachel Lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerThe Ministry of Education (MOE) should investigate politicians whose education credentials have come under scrutiny to uphold the integrity of academia, Changhua County Councilor Huang Sheng-lu (黃盛祿) said on Thursday. The entrance to the Ministry of Education in Taipei is pictured yesterday. Union of Private School Educators president Yu Jung-hui (尤榮輝) said that Taiwan’s higher education system is showing signs of commercialization, especially in master’s degree courses offered to working people. Universities are pandering to part-time students, lowering standards so they can more easily complete studies and obtain degrees, he said. Over the past five years, there have been 17 incidents in which educational degrees have been revoked due to thesis plagiarism, the ministry said.

The government had run a deficit of NT$38.2 billion to issue the vouchers, which is to be offset by a second NT$210 billion special budget proposed by the Executive Yuan, the DGBAS said. The lawmakers said that the Executive Yuan breached financial procedures, and then expects the opposition to stomach its budget proposal. The advance payment for the vouchers was decided to best serve the public interest, he added. The foundation said that the results show that the Democratic Progressive Party needs to propose another special budget to boost the economy. The various digital vouchers that have been issued by government agencies are a way to distract from a gloomy economic outlook, the foundation said.

TAIEX retreats on increasing US-China tensionsStaff writer, with CNAThe TAIEX yesterday closed lower after posting early gains because of mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and China, dealers said. The TAIEX closed down 109 points, or 0.88 percent, at 12,304.04 on turnover of NT$264.547 billion (US$8.95 billion). A man looks at monitors showing share prices at a brokerage in Taipei yesterday. However, the upturn was ended by mounting US-China tensions, which pushed the index below the nearest technical support level ahead of the five-day moving average of 12,352. In Taipei, many investors seized on the political unease as an excuse to lock in gains after the TAIEX closed at a 30-year high earlier this week.