Paraguayan envoy reaffirms nation’s ties with TaiwanBy Peng Wan-hsin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerParaguayan Ambassador to Taiwan Marcial Bobadilla Guillen yesterday said that his country resolutely opposes the establishment of ties with Beijing, despite increasing pressure from China. Companies in Paraguay have been calling for the government to cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing, but “Taiwan, not China, is Paraguay’s friend,” Guillen cited Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez as saying. Benitez hopes Taiwan and Paraguay will continue to deepen that friendship, Guillen said during an inauguration ceremony for the 23-member Republic of China (Taiwan) — Republic of Paraguay Inter-parliamentarian Friendship Association. Paraguay Ambassador to Taiwan Marcial Bobadilla Guillen, center, takes part in a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, accompanied by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wen Yu-hsia, right. By the end of this year, Taiwan would have imported an estimated 20,000 tonnes of Paraguayan beef worth US$100 million, 10 times the amount it imported five years ago, he said.

Attorney Fang Yen-hui yesterday presses the “accusation bell” at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office to file a lawsuit on behalf of Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang and other KMT members. Su Chen-ching reportedly visited again the following month, accompanied by Su Jia-chyuan, whose office told the TETO staff to meet the pair at the airport, or arrange events or offer support. The Legislative Yuan should investigate how deeply Su Jia-chyuan and Su Chen-ching are involved in the operation of state-owned businesses, Yu said. Wang called on the foreign ministry to respond formally to the allegations the KMT raised on Monday. Meanwhile, Lo said that if Su Jia-chyuan wanted to sue somebody he should sue the foreign ministry, since he and other KMT members had only quoted material from the telegram.

Local environmental groups have said that the surge in tourists has exceeded the island’s estimated environmental carrying capacity of 15,000 people. Tourists walk on a path known as “Moses Parting the Sea” in Penghu County on Saturday. People line up outside a popular breakfast shop in Magong on Sunday as tourists swarm Penghu County during summer vacation. Penghu County Government statistics showed that the island received about 12,000 travelers per day. Eighty percent of the transit passengers were Southeast Asian travelers headed to the US and Canada, airport statistics showed.

TAITRA launches virtual reality exhibitionBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) yesterday launched an online exhibition for 28 local manufacturers, who were scheduled to display their products at the Hannover Industrial Fair until the fair was canceled for the first time in its 73-year history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the trend for fairs and exhibitions to go ‘online to offline,’” TAITRA president and chief executive Walter Yeh (葉明水) said at a news conference in Taipei. From left, Su Zin Industry Co CEO Brian Su, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) president and CEO Walter Yeh, and TAITRA digital commerce department director Chen Lin-chun pose for a photograph in Taipei yesterday. In addition to the online exhibition, TAITRA is working with individual companies to implement “martech” (marketing technology) tools, such as big data analysis, influencer targeting and buyer behavior analysis, Yeh said. TAITRA said it plans to hold 80 online VR exhibitions for local businesses each year.

Unfavorable fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic would cause a “slight setback” to revenue this quarter, compared with last quarter’s NT$19.41 billion (US$656.8 million), Powertech president Hung Chia-yu told investors in a teleconference. However, revenue this quarter is forecast to surpass the NT$17.71 billion the company made in the third quarter last year, he said. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei TimesThat would mean the quarter-on-quarter setback would be within 9 percent. However, Powertech said that it was maintaining its target of posting record-high revenue this year. Demand for replacement 5G smartphones and the installation of more base stations for 5G networks would fuel demand for memory chips in the third quarter, Hung said.

Changing to maintain ‘status quo’By Tzou Jiing-wen 鄒景雯However the questions are phrased, opinion polls in Taiwan on cross-strait relations always result in a majority of respondents advocating maintaining the “status quo,” but what does that actually mean? In the past, maintaining the “status quo” meant Beijing refraining from taking aggressive action, and Taipei avoiding policies that might provoke Beijing. This allowed the two sides, on the surface at least, to maintain the pretense of an unbroken “status quo.”However, the rules of the old “status quo” have long since ceased to apply, and Beijing has lately taken to attacking the “status quo” in an attempt to reshape the wold order. If the Tsai administration’s policy is to maintain the cross-strait “status quo,” that would mean choosing to submit to Beijing’s logic. This is the kind of “status quo” Taiwan should hold on to.

The difference between being a legislator and an ambassador is that the former is a matter of personal success or failure, but failure on a diplomat’s part regarding Taiwan-US relations could not be tolerated, she said. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), who serves on the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee, was chosen as caucus chairman. He said that 71 legislators across party lines had joined the caucus as of Sunday night, making it the largest legislative caucus. DPP Legislator Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) are the two other cochairs. Christensen said that the Legislative Yuan USA Caucus embodies the goodwill of Taiwanese from all walks of life toward the US, which he has personally experienced over the decades.

Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li attends a news conference held by the Judicial Yuan in Taipei yesterday on the results of its opinion poll on the introduction of a lay judge system. Photo: CNAEarlier yesterday, the Judicial Yuan released a survey that showed most people were in favor of a lay judge system. More than 94 percent of respondents said that in criminal trials using a lay judge system, the ruling should provide the reason for the verdict, while 97 percent said defendants should have the right to appeal rulings, he added. However, another survey released yesterday by a group of legal reform advocates showed that 81.9 percent were in favor of a jury system, 63.2 percent supported a lay judge system and 83.4 percent backed a “twin track” proposal. “Taiwanese have pursued a jury system for more than a century.

Ministry thanks US lawmaker Yoho for bill proposalStaff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTONThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked US Representative Ted Yoho, who on Friday announced plans to submit a bill to the US House of Representatives to authorize the US president to respond with military force if China attacks Taiwan. The ministry would monitor the bill’s progress and, together with the US, promote regional peace, stability and prosperity, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s logo is pictured at the ministry in Taipei in an undated photograph. Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times“This [bill] is something that’s going to lay very clear what our intent is,” Yoho said. “But when [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has announced that he’s ready to draw blood over Taiwan and reunify them, they forgot to ask Taiwan,” Yoho said.

Government urged to halt CPC project to save reefsBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterEnvironmental protection groups yesterday urged the government to halt a construction project by state-owned oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan in Taoyuan’s coastal Datan Village (大潭) to save algal reefs and to hold an official hearing on the issue. The formation of the shallow-water algal reefs began about 7,500 years ago and they stretch along 27km of Taoyuan’s coast, geological research have found. CPC’s plan to build the nation’s third liquefied natural gas terminal at the nearby Guantang Industrial Park could spell doom for the reefs, environmentalists have said. New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that the government should halt the project immediately and improve its sustainable energy policies by developing rooftop solar systems. “The government gives excuses, such as northern Taiwan having not enough sunlight to develop rooftop solar systems, but Japan, with its higher latitude, has many rooftop solar panels,” she said.

Assessing the judicial system, it has said since the beginning that only experts could participate in trials, [but through a lay judge system] later on common people could also participate. The lay judge system being proposed now would allow lay judges to rule on cases together with professional judges. In the end they scrapped the jury system and kept the lay judge system. If a lay judge system goes smoothly, in six years after assessments are made, would there be a chance that a jury system would be implemented? I would not rule out the possibility that a jury system could replace a lay judge system at that time.

Mega says profitability at HK branch may decreaseBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterState-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) yesterday said that profitability at its Hong Kong branch might decline this year due to conservative operations amid political uncertainty in the territory. Robert Tsai (蔡永義), president of the banking arm of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), said that the Hong Kong branch has turned conservative in lending operations after Beijing pushed through national security legislation for the territory. Profitability at the Hong Kong branch weakened 10 percent in the first half of this year, although it remains the most profitable among its overseas units, Tsai said on the sidelines of a public function in Taipei. Mega International Commercial Bank president Robert Tsai, second left, and Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun, second right, pose for a photograph with others at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The branch is seeking to close the gap by improving profit from its foreign-currency assets and foreign-exchange trading, he said.

Tsai made the remarks in a speech at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) national congress in Taipei, which she presided over in her capacity as party chairperson. Tsai highlighted major missions for the party. Tsai also called on opposition parties, saying that all parties should cherish the “constitutional moment.”Second, the DPP should dedicate more resources to cultivating young talent for the nation, she said. The KMT would establish a constitutional amendment committee comprising party members and academics to discuss issues, including the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan, she said. New Power Party caucus whip Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said his party would support constitutional reform, as it would address issues that have long been unresolved.

Kenting beaches packed with microplastic debrisHEALTH RISK? The microplastics found in Kenting sand have an average density of 200 microplastic particles per kilogram, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium deputy director Chen Te-hao (陳德豪) told reporters on Thursday, citing surveys conducted by the museum. The microplastics might become new channels for the transmission of pathogenic bacteria and antibody-resistant bacteria, he said. Nanwan Beach in Pingtung County’s Kenting area was packed with visitors yesterday. The concentration of microplastics in seawater was found to increase by five times when the Kuroshio current flowed by the coast of Taitung County, he said.

Commission takes people on tour of White Terror-era holding, torture sitesBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Transitional Justice Commission yesterday took members of the public on a guided tour of sites where political prisoners were held and tortured during the White Terror era. Among the sites visited was a facility where the government used to torture political prisoners to extract confessions from them. A woman during a tour led by the Transitional Justice Commission yesterday stands at a monitoring podium at a former Investigation Bureau detention center in Taipei to see how guards could watch all the prisoners at once. The Investigation Bureau appeared to have chosen the site of the facility — a one-story building — because of its location at the fringe of the city, he said. Another detention center at 28 Liangzhou St in Taipei was later demolished and replaced with a parking lot.