COVID-19: China weighing ‘zero COVID-19’ exit
COVID-19: China weighing ‘zero COVID-19’ exit‘A STEP WE MUST TAKE:’ Trying to coexist with the virus would likely lead to a wave of infections, due in part to the ineffectiveness of Chinese vaccines, an expert saidAP, BEIJINGEven as authorities lock down cities in China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years, they are looking for an exit from what has been an arguably successful, but onerous disease prevention strategy. A statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), a study, interviews with Chinese public health staff and public messaging by government-affiliated experts indicate that China is exploring ways of slowly easing its zero-tolerance approach — with the emphasis on slowly. A health worker yesterday poses for a photograph at a COVID-19 testing site at a residential compound in Shanghai, China. “We should carve a very clear path and not spend all our time debating whether we should continue zero COVID-19 or coexist” with the virus. Moreover, China is using only domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines that are less effective than those developed by drugmakers in other countries.
Source:Taipei Times
March 18, 2022 22:11 UTC
EDITORIAL: KMT-TPP cooperation doubtful
EDITORIAL: KMT-TPP cooperation doubtfulThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not ruled out cooperating with other opposition parties in the local elections in November, especially in districts that are difficult to win, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on Friday. Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), said he had not talked to Chu about the issue, and that the scope of the KMT’s intended cooperation remains unclear. Taiwan’s opposition parties should also unite and “remove” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he said, adding that defeating the DPP would be more important than individual opposition parties’ gains. Chiang on Friday dismissed the idea of KMT-TPP cooperation, saying that the public might see it as a quid pro quo and it could lead to a decline in support for both parties. The KMT and the TPP might need to develop clearer positions before they can see whether they can cooperate.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2022 22:01 UTC
Love for Ukraine and wrath for Russia at US eateries
Blocks away, at the city’s long-popular Russia House restaurant, five windows have been smashed in and owners are thinking they might not reopen. People line up outside Ukrainian-owned D Light Cafe and Bakery in Washington on Saturday last week. Anastasiia and Vira Derun, sisters and owners of D Light Cafe and Bakery, sit in front of a “Stand With Ukraine” sign in Washington on Tuesday last week. The owners had been on the verge of reopening after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine. Its former name “just brings pain to people of Ukraine and others, even Russians,” Monamour said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 12, 2022 22:01 UTC
Smartphones to return to design classic foldables
Star of the early 2000s, the flip-phone is making a comeback, with the big names of the industry hoping the high-tech new version — the foldable smartphone — is on the verge of going mainstream. Samsung has been the pioneer in the sector, presenting the first foldable smartphone at the Barcelona conference three years ago. The South Korean firm accounted for 87 percent of foldable phone sales last year, analysts at Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) said. “Apple is a hugely influential company,” said Bendre, estimating that foldable sales would surpass 60 million when it gets involved. “This will add further credibility and help open up the foldable market to iPhone customers,” DSCC cofounder and chief executive officer Ross Young said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 04, 2022 02:46 UTC
Cabinet approves TRA’s transition to corporation
Cabinet approves TRA’s transition to corporationBy Lee Hsin-fang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Executive Yuan yesterday passed a draft regulation that would, if ratified by the Legislative Yuan, transform the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) into the state-owned Taiwan Railways Corp. The railway agency has an outstanding debt of NT$420.8 billion (US$15 billion) divided into four categories, which would each be handled differently. Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday about Taiwan Railways Administration’s corporatization. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who chaired yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, has asked Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai(王國材) to address TRA employees’ concerns about the agency’s debt and employees’ benefits. Su said that Wang would facilitate the reforms, adding that other department heads have been asked to offer the TRA assistance in the transition.
Source:Taipei Times
March 04, 2022 02:46 UTC
Housing deals drop 34.9% in special municipalities
The number of transactions totaled 15,646 in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. All municipalities, with the exception of Taipei, saw a retreat of more than 30 percent, local government data showed. Taipei posted a decline of 29.6 percent with 1,915 deals. It might introduce more tightening measures to induce a soft landing for housing prices as public complaints over unaffordability mount. Housing transactions would gain momentum this month, the analyst said, adding that developers and builders are about to launch spring promotion campaigns.
Source:Taipei Times
March 03, 2022 03:01 UTC
Stakhovsky hopes not to use gun to defend Ukraine
Stakhovsky hopes not to use gun to defend UkraineAFP, LONDONUkrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky hopes he does not have to use a gun after joining the fight to protect his country from the Russian invasion. Stakhovsky, who famously beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013, is the latest Ukrainian sports star to defend his country. Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky returns to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in their Davis Cup men’s singles match in Budapest on Sept. 15, 2019. I pretty much hope that I won’t have to use the gun,” Stakhovsky told BBC Radio 4’s Today program. They don’t understand war.
Source:Taipei Times
March 03, 2022 03:01 UTC
US delegation arrives for peace and security talks
US delegation arrives for peace and security talksROCK-SOLID COMMITMENT: A senior official in the Biden administration said that the two-day visit is intended to ‘demonstrate our continued robust support for Taiwan’Staff writer, with CNAA delegation led by former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen arrived in Taipei yesterday afternoon for discussions with top-level officials on regional peace and security, among other topics. The delegation, which includes four other former US defense and security officials and their staffers, departed for Taiwan on a US government aircraft on Monday and arrived at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 4:13pm yesterday. Led by Mullen, the delegation also includes Meghan O’Sullivan, a former deputy national security adviser under former US president George W. Bush, and Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense in former US president Barack Obama’s administration. The delegation is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) today to discuss regional peace and stability, Taiwan-US relations and various areas of bilateral cooperation, the government said. Meanwhile, a Taiwanese national security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, on Monday told the Central News Agency that Biden’s selection of former senior defense and security officials was meant to offer “reassurance” of the US’ commitment to peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.
Source:Taipei Times
March 02, 2022 04:08 UTC
Toshiba CEO steps down amid restructuring efforts
Toshiba CEO steps down amid restructuring effortsAP, TOKYOToshiba Corp chief executive officer Satoshi Tsunakawa is stepping down as the embattled Japanese technology giant seeks to restructure and restore its reputation. “I have been at Toshiba for only three years, but I love Toshiba,” he said. An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is set for March 24, when the plan is to be put to a vote. Approval for yesterday’s personnel changes, including a resignation of another board member, and the nomination of two others, is to be sought in a shareholders’ meeting in June, Toshiba said. This might be Toshiba’s “last chance” to fix its reputation and brand power as a technology company and win back trust, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
March 02, 2022 02:37 UTC
China not coming to Russia’s aid, US official says
China not coming to Russia’s aid, US official saysReuters, WASHINGTON and BERLINChina so far does not appear to be helping Russia evade Western financial sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, but doing so would “do profound damage” to China’s reputation, a senior official from the administration of US President Joe Biden said on Saturday. “The latest signs suggest that China’s not coming to the rescue,” the official told reporters after announcing that the US and its allies agreed to impose sanctions against Russia’s central bank and disconnect key Russian banks from the SWIFT international financial transaction network. Reports that some Chinese banks have stopped issuing letters of credit for purchases of physical commodities from Russia were a positive sign, the official said. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4. Photo: APThis “suggests that, much like has been the pattern for years and years, China has tended to respect the force of US sanctions,” the official added.
Source:Taipei Times
February 27, 2022 22:10 UTC
TSEC to invest NT$1.4bn after InvesTaiwan approval
The TSEC Corp logo is pictured during the annual PV Taiwan show at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center on Oct. 16, 2018. Rooftop solar panels at the new Mitsui Outlet Park in Tainan’s Gueiren District are pictured on Saturday. New Green Power acted as the engineering, procurement and construction company for the Tainan project, providing end-to-end solar energy services, including designing the solar systems, giving procurement details and installing the panels. The Tainan project includes PV panels installed on the main roof of the shopping mall, as well as in the mall’s parking lots, the company said. New Green Power first cooperated with the Japanese developer to built rooftop and parking lot PV panels in the Mitsui Outlet Park at the Port of Taichung, which opened in March 2019.
Source:Taipei Times
February 27, 2022 22:10 UTC
Facebook’s parent talks up plans to build ‘metaverse’
Facebook’s parent talks up plans to build ‘metaverse’AFP, SAN FRANCISCOMeta Platforms Inc chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday talked up his company’s efforts to build the “metaverse,” an immersive virtual world he has billed as the Facebook parent’s future. A man poses for a photograph in front of a sign at Meta Platforms Inc’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Feb. 2. Photo: AFPThe metaverse is a 3D virtual world where people would be able to interact using sensors, head gear and other gadgets. Meta’s early metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds, already allows people to socialize virtually while represented by avatars. Hit global video games such as Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox, which run on traditional gaming platforms, are seen as precursors to the metaverse.
Source:Taipei Times
February 24, 2022 23:43 UTC
Unemployment falls to 3.61%, for 7th month of declines
Unemployment falls to 3.61%, for 7th month of declinesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe unemployment rate last month fell to 3.61 percent, declining for the seventh consecutive month, as fewer people quit or lost their jobs to downsizing and closures ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The latest data represented a downturn of 0.03 percentage points from a month earlier and a 0.05 percentage point retreat from a year earlier. The job market has recovered to the level prior to a nationwide level-3 COVID-19 alert in May last year, judging by the unemployment rate and the number of jobless people, Chen said. The jobless reading could rise 0.04 to 0.08 percentage points this month, Chen said. People aged 45 or older had the lowest unemployment rate of 2.17 percent, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 24, 2022 23:43 UTC
COVID-19: Japan order first from overseas for ITRI test kit
COVID-19: Japan order first from overseas for ITRI test kitStaff writer, with CNAThe developer of the iPMx molecular rapid COVID-19 test system has received the first overseas order for the new product, from Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. A person displays the iPMx molecular rapid COVID-19 test system at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The iPMx system’s compact canister is 57 times lighter than traditional testing devices, weighing only 600g, ITRI said. Chiou said the system is like a “mobile laboratory” and is highly sought after in the Japanese testing market. ITRI is developing a second-generation iPMx system, which would also be able to detect flu, Chiou said.
Source:Taipei Times
February 24, 2022 03:04 UTC
Book review: Dispatches from a troubled region
Book review: Dispatches from a troubled regionThis thoroughly researched book examines the marine degradation in the South China Sea and the major players who can do something about itBy Bradley Winterton / Contributing reporterTaiwan is one of seven nations laying claims of one kind or another to islands in the South China Sea. MARINE DEGRADATIONDISPATCHES FROM THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, by James Borton. Almost 55 percent of the world’s fishing vessels, many of them small, operate in the South China Sea. “The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire,” declared former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Taiwan, Borton argues, is a highly responsible player in the South China Sea game.
Source:Taipei Times
February 24, 2022 03:04 UTC