Proposal to grant parents pandemic-leave subsidies
Proposal to grant parents pandemic-leave subsidiesBy Chen Yun and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerLegislators across party lines yesterday proposed an amendment that would grant COVID-19 pandemic-related leave subsidies to parents, potentially totaling up to NT$10 billion (US$357 million). Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling, left, speaks to the media at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday about proposed amendments granting COVID-19 pandemic-related leave subsidies to parents. The companies’ requests contravene workers’ rights, Lai said, but added that many small and medium-sized firms could not afford to grant their workers special leave. “It highlights the necessity of writing into law the rights of workers to take pandemic-related special leave bolstered by subsidy payments,” Lai said. The bill, signed by 21 legislators across party lines, was sponsored by Lai, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔).
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Home buyers face higher down payments: report
Home buyers face higher down payments: reportBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterProspective home buyers might have to come up with bigger down payments as local banks become increasingly conservative in issuing housing loans with the central bank warning against lax lending practices, a report by My Housing Monthly said yesterday. New houses in northern Taiwan with loan-to-value ratios (LTVs) of 80 percent dropped to 49 percent of all cases this year, the lowest since 2018 when the property market started to improve, the report said. Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times“The [central bank’s] moral suasion and two waves of selective credit controls appear to have worked, judging from the lending trend,” Ho said. Buyers would have to fork out more money when developers turn over ownership of completed residences, Ho said. Small apartments have been an easy sell over the past few years, while large luxury homes have difficulty finding buyers, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Lawmakers blast Novotel for using ‘Taiwan, China’
Lawmakers blast Novotel for using ‘Taiwan, China’‘OUTRAGEOUS’: The hotel sparked a public outcry by causing a cluster infection and has reduced Taiwan to a province of China, a lawmaker saidBy Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporterLawmakers on Monday criticized the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel for listing the nation as “Taiwan, China” on its Web site for online reservations, despite being of a subsidiary of state-run China Airlines Ltd. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Ho (何志偉) said the hotel has crossed the line by listing Taiwan as part of China. “While the packaging on the masks highlighted the message that ‘Taiwan can help,’ it also had the name of the airline, China Airlines, on it. As such, the masks, which were meant to show goodwill from Taiwan, were mistaken as gifts from China,” Lo said. “Now the transit hotel refers to Taiwan as part of China, which would make foreigners think they are in China,” Lo said, adding that most foreigners already have trouble distinguishing between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 16:00 UTC
Prudential has agreed to delay acquisition: Taishin
Prudential has agreed to delay acquisition: TaishinBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterTaishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控) yesterday said it has gained Prudential Financial Inc’s approval to delay its purchase of the US company’s Taiwanese unit as it awaits the Financial Supervisory Commission’s (FSC) approval of the acquisition. “We keep in close contact with the US company and update it about our latest communication with the FSC,” Taishin Financial president Welch Lin (林維俊) told a virtual investors’ conference in Taipei. Lin did not reveal how much additional time Taishin Financial would be granted, saying that it was striving to obtain the FSC’s approval. Taishin Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin is pictured at an investors’ meeting in Taipei in an undated photograph. Taishin Financial reported that its securities unit, Taishin Securities Co (台新證券), has become its second-largest profit contributor, accounting for 9 percent, or NT$394 million, of its total profits last quarter, after its banking arm, Taishin International Bank (台新銀行).
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
E Ink cautiously upbeat on revenue growth this year
E Ink cautiously upbeat on revenue growth this yearBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterE Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s sole supplier of e-paper displays, yesterday said it was optimistic about revenue growth this year, but tight supplies of display driver ICs and flat-panel displays might cap its sales. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesCustomer demand is not an issue for E Ink, as demand has greatly exceeded what the company can supply. The company expects capacity to grow multiple-fold after the new expansion plan is completed next year at the earliest. E Ink expects its gross margin to trend down in the following quarters, eroded by price increases in key components. The company expects the alliance’s membership to double to 200 companies next year.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
FSC mulls option to delay shareholders’ meetings
FSC mulls option to delay shareholders’ meetingsPROS AND CONS: The commission said the advantage would be to reduce public gatherings amid a COVID-19 outbreak, but stock-related issues would be delayedBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterPublicly traded companies might be allowed to delay their annual shareholders’ meetings until after next month given a surge in COVID-19 infections in Taiwan, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) said yesterday. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Thomas Huang speaks at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday. Listed companies are required to announce their book closure dates at least 60 days before their shareholder meetings so they can finalize their shareholder rosters. If companies are permitted to delay the meetings to later than next month, they might need to reschedule the book-closure dates, which would also affect shareholders’ interests, Huang said. The commission is also mulling whether companies should be allowed to hold shareholder meetings via videoconferencing, but there are some technical issues.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Changes to curb travel for Chungshan workers pass
Changes to curb travel for Chungshan workers passBy Wu Su-wei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, staff writer, with CNAThe Legislative Yuan on Tuesday passed amendments to the Act for the Establishment of the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (國家中山科學研究院設置條例) to impose travel restrictions on institute employees to protect technological secrets, among other changes. If the amendments are promulgated, institute employees would have to obtain permission from authorities before traveling abroad. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Yu-ling speaks at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on March 9. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) were among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who proposed the changes to the hiring rules. No gender should be represented by more than 75 percent of performance evaluation personnel, the amendments said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Agency announces new water supply curbs
Agency announces new water supply curbsBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Water Resources Agency (WRA) yesterday announced more water restrictions for some areas in Taiwan, with the water supply to Taoyuan and New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) to be curbed from tomorrow. More curbs would begin in Hsinchu County on June 1 unless exceptionally heavy rainfall occurs next week, the agency said. Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei TimesSo far this month, Hsinchu city and county received less than 10mm of water, Wang added. Science and technology parks that have independent sources of water would not be subject to the supply cuts, the agency said. Nantou County, the southern parts of Changhua County and Yunlin County, and Lienchiang County, would face a nighttime reduction in water pressure, the agency said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Medigen begins making its vaccine
Medigen begins making its vaccineBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterMedigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗) on Tuesday said it has begun manufacturing its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, which it hopes to offer once it obtains an emergency use authorization (EUA). An employee works in a Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp laboratory at the Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park on June 9 last year. Medigen tested three doses of its vaccine — low, medium and high — in the phase 1 trials, with the medium dose showing the best potential, so the phase 2 trials only use the medium dose, he said. Medigen has not found serious adverse reactions or vaccine-associated enhanced diseases among participants in the phase 2 trials, it said. An independent data monitoring committee said that its candidate is safe at a meeting on May 8, Medigen said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
New free SMS service to bolster contact tracing
New free SMS service to bolster contact tracingBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Executive Yuan yesterday launched a free short message service (SMS) that would boost the government’s contact-tracing efforts without disclosing personal data to third parties. A person entering Taipei Railway Station yesterday shows the free text message function that appears after scanning a QR code. When entering a store or a restaurant, customers simply need to scan the code using a QR code reader on their smartphone, and a link would pop up, she said. People would not have to pay for the text message, Tang said. If people’s mobile phones do not have a QR code reader, they can instead manually type the venue’s identification code in an SMS and send it to 1922, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Biden must have a clear message
Biden must have a clear messageBy Joseph BoscoAs a Chinese Communist Party attack on Taiwan seems more plausible, three current or former high-ranking US Navy officials recently warned of the danger. Two weeks later, US Admiral John Aquilino, Davidson’s successor, testified that Beijing could act against Taiwan even sooner. When Chinese military officials in 1995 asked the administration of then-US president Bill Clinton how it would respond if China attacked Taiwan, they were told: “We don’t know... However, even Biden himself must reinforce a message of clarity and resolve to end the ambiguity on defending Taiwan. If Biden has delivered a private warning to Beijing, as Trump said he did, Xi will decide whether a deniable message is even less credible than former US president Barack Obama’s public “red line” on Syria proved to be.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2021 16:07 UTC
EDITORIAL: Stop ‘escaping’ the outbreak
EDITORIAL: Stop ‘escaping’ the outbreakAs the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases in Taiwan, it is immensely important for people to stay at home and only travel if absolutely necessary. Classes are being canceled and people are working from home to reduce traffic, but in some cases the outbreak has sparked unnecessary travel. There have been reports of university students, most of whose classes have been moved online, returning home from the level 3 alert areas of Taipei and New Taipei City to “take refuge” from the outbreak. Former Taoyuan city councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇), who now resides in Taitung, yesterday posted a more egregious example on Facebook. The heads of several Aboriginal-majority townships in Pingtung County on Monday advised hikers not to visit until the outbreak is contained, or at least plan their routes to avoid villages.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2021 16:07 UTC
COVID-19: Commuters offered disease prevention tips online
COVID-19: Commuters offered disease prevention tips onlineStaff writerA pediatrician has offered some tips on preventing the spread of COVID-19 while commuting. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFEWhen possible, Ou said she finishes breakfast at home and leaves for work 30 minutes earlier than usual to avoid the crowds. After arriving home from work, Ou takes off her shoes at the entrance and disinfects her keys, as well as any clothing she would not be washing the same day. Separately, dietitian Kao Min-min (高敏敏) also wrote on Facebook measures people can take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. People should cook their own meals or order takeout as much as possible, Kao wrote.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Penghu urges visitors to stay away
The Penghu County Government has suspended the Penghu Fireworks Festival and other tourism events until June 8, Lai said at a disease prevention meeting. “We urge students, police officers, civil servants and military personnel who are from Taiwan proper, but currently study or work in Penghu, to consider postponing trips home until after May 28. Those returning to work or school from Taiwan proper should observe self-health management guidelines for 14 days,” Lai said. Airlines canceled 52 domestic flights to Penghu and 44 flights to Kinmen from Friday last week to Sunday, Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) data showed. Prior to the surge in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Taiwan proper, nearly all flights departing for Penghu at the weekend were full, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Kaohsiung tightens restrictions after second infection
COVID-19: Kaohsiung tightens restrictions after second infectionStaff writer, with CNAKaohsiung yesterday further tightened its COVID-19 restrictions after a local hospital reported a second confirmed infection. Medical workers on Monday evacuate people from a hospital in Kaohsiung’s Fongshan District after an administrative worker tested positive for COVID-19. He stayed at home on May 9 and developed a sore throat the next day. He returned to the hospital on Monday, even though his sore throat persisted, the department said. Because of the sore throat and his travel history to Wanhua, the hospital tested him for COVID-19 and the result came back positive the same day, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
May 18, 2021 15:56 UTC