Quanta Storage Inc president Ho Shih-chih addresses a news conference at the Taipei Exchange yesterday. Quanta Storage was the only defendant not to settle out of court with HP. In April, Quanta Storage tried repeatedly to delay HP’s push to collect on the judgement. HP said its economic expert excluded purchases by the foreign units, and the appeals court agreed, upholding the money judgement. HP also said Quanta Storage was using the pandemic as a ploy to dissipate its assets that could be used to satisfy the judgement.

Virus Outbreak: TRA resumes food sales on trains as virus curbs relaxedBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) yesterday prepared 18,000 boxed meals to be sold on trains and railway stations nationwide after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) lifted a ban on eating and drinking on trains as the local COVID-19 outbreak eases. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei TimesPassengers on TRA and THSRC trains still need to have their temperatures measured before entering stations. Wearing masks remains mandatory when social distancing guidelines requiring 1.5m between passengers cannot be observed on trains. The TRA may sell no more than 120 standing tickets for each express train service, while THSRC can again sell tickets for non-reserved seats. Wearing masks is not mandatory inside post offices if social distancing guidelines can be observed, it added.

University graduation ceremonies go small, high-techBy Rachel Lin / Staff reporterSeveral universities yesterday held their graduation ceremonies, which were smaller and incorporated videoconferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At National Taiwan University’s (NTU) event, students wore masks while speakers participated via videoconference. National Cheng Kung University students throw their caps in the air at their graduation ceremony in Tainan yesterday. National Taiwan University graduates yesterday attend the commencement at the school. “Hold on to your passion and cultivate your transcultural quotient,” Kuan told students.

Chen thanks CECC advisory panelBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterMinister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) yesterday expressed gratitude to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) advisory specialist panel for serving as its “brain” in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Taiwan yesterday reported no new COVID-19 cases and 429 patients have been released from isolation after recovering, said Chen, who heads the CECC. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung drinks a cup of Alishan tea during a visit to Chiayi County yesterday. Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei TimesThe CECC extends its special thanks to the panel, led by Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), for keeping its policies on the right track, he added. “Unless a competent authority has set its own regulations for better management, the CECC would no longer limit the number of participants or flow of people at certain activities,” Chen said.

Photo: Tu Chu-min, Taipei TimesFearing that it could fall behind China in the development of 5G technology, the US has asked its European allies to shift away from Huawei’s products, and its ban against US companies selling the tech giant’s computer chips is aimed at delaying Chinese 5G development, Wang said. Given these circumstances, Taiwanese businesses are likely to find it difficult to profit from both the US and China, she said. The US ban would affect everything from upstream IC design to downstream package testing and the manufacturing of components and smartphones, all of which are Taiwanese business interests, Wang wrote. The US is also interested in a UK-proposed alliance of 10 democracies to create an alternative pool of suppliers of 5G equipment, dubbed the “D10,” Wang wrote. Until one side can completely “crush” the other, the world is likely to be divided into the two technology camps, Wang wrote.

The university on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Research Center for Diplomacy Involving Taiwan as well as the Amalgamated Cross-strait Development and National Unification Policy Simulation Laboratory. The centers would use artificial intelligence to simulate scenarios involving a China unified with Taiwan under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework, it said. Through simulations and artificial intelligence, the Amalgamated Cross-strait Development and National Unification Policy Simulation Laboratory would “develop cross-strait policies that would advance international society’s understanding of and support for China’s national unification,” the university added. Taiwanese academics and think tanks should clearly see the intentions of the university’s new research centers and avoid exchanges with its academics, the council said. All Taiwanese should be clearly aware of Beijing’s “united front” methods and work together to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, the council added.

Councilors report alleged wrongs at Han recall voteBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterNew Power Party (NPP) Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Jie (黃捷) and other councilors yesterday reported complaints of suspected illegal activity as people in Kaohsiung headed to the polls to vote on recalling Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜). Kaohsiung councilors and residents at the polls were on the alert for illegal activity, as media reports had said that some people claiming to “monitor” polling stations were warning people not to cast a recall ballot, which could be viewed as intimidation. Huang said that when the polls opened at 8am, she began receiving reports of alleged election law offenses, such as people being filmed when entering the stations and other possible intimidation tactics. Kaohsiung voters yesterday enter a polling station to vote on recalling Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu. “There were also election workers making misleading statements at some polling stations, falsely informing those with no voter notification that they could not vote,” Huang wrote on Facebook, adding that the instruction was incorrect — people could vote with just their national identification card.

Kaohsiung voters recall Han Kuo-yu‘NEW LIFE HAS COME’: A total of 939,090 people voted to remove Han Kuo-yu from office, more than the 892,545 votes he won to become mayor in 2018By Huang Hsin-po, Hung Chen-hung, Hsu Li-chuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerKaohsiung residents in a recall vote yesterday overwhelmingly voted to remove Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from office. Supporters of a campaign to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu cheer outside the campaign headquarters after the recall vote passed in Kaohsiung yesterday. Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, front row center, bows at Kaohsiung City Hall after being recalled in a vote yesterday. A supporter of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu reacts outside Kaohsiung City Hall after Han was recalled in a vote yesterday. The four leaders of the campaign to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu talk to reporters at an international news conference in Kaohsiung yesterday.

Yageo chairman Pierre Chen, right, speaks to reporters at a press briefing in New Taipei City’s Shenkeng District yesterday. Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times“I believe Yageo’s revenue and profit will continue to grow after combining [revenue] from Kemet Corp starting from July,” Chen said. As they are niche products, the acquisition of Kemet would help Yageo ride volatility in the consumer electronics industry, Chen said. More than 60 percent of Yageo’s revenue came from consumer electronics, smartphones in particular, he said. Yageo would not relocate production capacity out of China, despite trade difficulties and a technology race between Washington and Beijing, it said.

Virus Outbreak: Border controls to remain: CECCSUCCESSFUL POLICY: The center said that 6,000 people have undergone testing at airports and ports, while nearly 150,000 home quarantine notices have been issuedBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterNearly 40 percent of the nation’s imported COVID-19 cases were intercepted at the border, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, adding that maintaining strict border controls remains an important policy. The center would not prioritize the entry of overseas students, Chen said when asked about the issue yesterday. The center yesterday did not report any additional COVID-19 cases. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, 6,000 people with possible COVID-19 symptoms have undergone testing at airports and ports, while the center has issued nearly 150,000 home quarantine notices, Chen Tsung-yen said. Whether to lift the ban on flight transfers could be discussed when those plans are ready, Chen Shih-chung said.

Amendments aim to halt meddling with electionsBy Huang Hsin-po / Staff reporterThe Ministry of the Interior on Thursday finalized draft amendments to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) targeting vote-buying, gambling and foreign actors meddling with local elections. Photo: Huang Hsin-po, Taipei TimesTo prevent disinformation from influencing voters, the proposed amendments borrow from US legislation a provision requiring advertisements for elections and recall votes to specify who paid for them. The amendment would only apply to local and legislative elections, not presidential elections, the ministry said. The Political Parties Act does not limit the number of parties that a person can join, which created the loophole, Civil Affairs Department Director Lin Ching-chi (林清淇) said. If passed into law, the amendments would apply to the 2022 local elections, it said.

Virus Outbreak: KMT accuses Tsai of double standards in criticizing MaBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of applying double standards, saying that her criticism in 2008 of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration consumer voucher program could apply to the stimulus coupons that her administration is launching next month. The arguments Tsai made 12 years ago can be applied to today’s stimulus coupon program, Wang said, adding that the central government has taken too long to finalize its stimulus program. Tsai criticized the Ma administration’s economic policy as being “haphazard,” “disorganized” and “directionless,” she said. Those comments are an accurate “prediction” of the “mess” that characterizes the Tsai administration’s COVID-19 relief efforts, she added. She urged Tsai to “reflect,” and to not use a different set of standards as the ruling party, compared with when she was in the opposition.

Chen was responding to a question about the reasoning behind the central government’s decision not to allow foreign students into the nation for now. The COVID-19 situation is different in many places, he said, adding that every nation has its own set of standards for loosening travel restrictions, and a responsibility toward its people. Taiwan has its own standards for lifting travel ban, he said, adding that the standards are in place to protect the public. For important business or trade-related travel, the center might consider shortening travelers’ quarantine period while ensuring the safety of the community, he added. As residents at long-term care facilities tend to be older, he advised them to wear a mask and follow hand hygiene.

Tiananmen Anniversary: Local leaders mark ‘forgotten’ massacre‘HISTORICAL TRUTHS’: Figures from across the political spectrum touted Taiwan’s democratic values and urged China to face the ‘ghost of its past’ — Tiananmen SquareBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNALocal officials and public figures across party lines yesterday commemorated the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre while highlighting democratic values and the importance of learning from history. People observe a moment of silence at a candlelight vigil at Liberty Square in Taipei commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing. Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei observes a moment of silence at a candlelight vigil at Liberty Square in Taipei yesterday commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing. In a radio interview yesterday, Hong Kong dissident and bookstore owner Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) said that he supports Taiwan’s stance of doing more than saying. Lam yesterday afternoon attended a news conference held by the New Power Party to mark the anniversary and its support for Hong Kong.

‘Financial strength’ key for Prudential buyer: FSCCAPITAL ADEQUACY: Some financial firms would like to acquire a foreign insurer for new profit momentum, but it comes with greater pressure, an academic saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Wednesday said that it would scrutinize the financial health of the buyer of Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan (保德信人壽) after local media reported that potential buyers submitted bids on Monday. Financial strength is critical as local life insurers must adopt International Financial Reporting Standards 17 in five years, which have stricter rules on the calculation of liabilities, the official said. The commission rejected Taishin Financial Holding Co’s (台新金控) application to acquire New York Life Insurance Taiwan Corp (紐約人壽) in 2013, and turned down IBF Financial Holdings Co’s (國票金控) application to acquire MetLife Taiwan Insurance Co (大都會人壽) in 2010, the official added. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported that First Financial Holding Co (第一金控) and Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) had participated in the tender. Prudential Life Insurance Co of Taiwan, which began operations in 1990, has 700 sales personnel and 300 employees.