Taiwan, US hold first online coast guard discussions
Taiwan, US hold first online coast guard discussionsBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterTaiwan and the US yesterday held the first coast guard working group meeting to discuss joint missions at sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The videoconference was convened in line with a memorandum of understanding signed on March 25 that established a joint coast guard working group, the ministry said in a statement. Patrol vessel the Chiayi is pictured in Kaohsiung on April 29, the day the ship was handed to the Coast Guard Administration. Photo: CNADuring the meeting, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and the US Coast Guard exchanged opinions over maritime law enforcement, including fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities, and joint search and rescue missions, the ministry said. The meeting came after media reports on Tuesday said that Taiwan and US coast guard personnel had conducted a joint drill off the coast of Hualien County, reports that the CGA denied.
Source:Taipei Times
August 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Mixed reaction to sports head quitting
Sports Administration Director-General Chang Shao-hsi sits alone on a July 21 flight to Tokyo to attend the Olympic Games. That arrangement was necessary to allow social distancing between the athletes, which would not have been possible in business class, as there are only 36 seats in that section, it said. It flew all Taiwanese athletes in business class on their return from Tokyo after the Games. After submitting his request to resign, Chang was told to first go to Tokyo to handle matters related to the athletes. DPP caucus secretary-general Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that somebody has to take full responsibility for letting athletes sit in economy class, as it was a mission handed down by the president and the premier.
Source:Taipei Times
August 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Dad gets 10 years in gas station death
Dad gets 10 years in gas station deathBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday handed a heavier, 10-year sentence to a man after his three-year-old daughter died from an air pump at a gas station. The High Court found Kuang guilty of deliberately causing injury to a child resulting in death. The incident took place in January 2019, when Kuang drove to a gas station in Kaohsiung for the self-service car wash, as his daughter sat in the front passenger seat. He was found guilty of failing to look after the girl and allowing her to play with the air pump. The High Court ruled that Kuang had directly caused the girl’s death, most likely by putting the air nozzle in her mouth.
Source:Taipei Times
August 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
IT service sector revenue expands 11%
A teacher attends an online English class from her home in New Taipei City on May 19. In the first half of the year, the computer and IT services sector posted record combined revenue of NT$209.2 billion, up 12.4 percent year-on-year, the ministry said. The computer programming industry’s revenue rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$157.1 billion, while the IT services industry increased by 15.8 percent to NT$52.1 billion, it said. However, the technical support and professional services sector’s revenue declined 1.1 percent from a year earlier to NT$74.1 billion, the ministry said. Overall, the technical support and professional services sector reported first-half revenue edging up 0.4 percent to NT$144.6 billion, the ministry added.
Source:Taipei Times
August 11, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taipei helping divers join competition in Cyprus
Department of European Affairs Deputy Director-GeneralKendra Chen attends a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei yesterday. Department of European Affairs Deputy Director-General Kendra Chen (陳詠韶) told an online news briefing yesterday that the ministry has twice urged the office to ensure that the divers can enter Cyprus and participate in the competition. “The case is pertinent to national dignity and people’s rights,” and the ministry would do its best to ensure the divers join the competition, she said. The divers are communicating with the ministry in the hope that they can enter Cyprus and join the competition, he said. To ensure that the divers can enter Cyprus, the association might suggest that they identify as coming from China and undergo PCR testing before their flight, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 16:04 UTC
Nearly 90 percent of public identify with Taiwan: poll
Nearly 90 percent of public identify with Taiwan: pollBy Chen Yu-fu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerNearly 90 percent of the public identify themselves as Taiwanese and about two-thirds said they are willing to fight for the country in case of war, a survey released yesterday by the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation showed. The question about national identity showed that 89.9 percent identify themselves as Taiwanese and 4.6 percent as Chinese, while 1 percent consider themselves to be both, the poll showed. Asked about Taiwan’s future, 50.1 percent of the public support maintaining the “status quo,” 38.9 percent back independence and 4.7 percent favor joining China. Asked about the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, 65.1 percent of respondents said they referred to the country’s Olympic delegation as “Taiwan” in conversation, while 27.6 percent said they called it “Chinese Taipei” or “Zhonghua” (中華), the poll showed. The poll, conducted from Tuesday to Friday last week, collected 1,071 valid samples and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 16:00 UTC
Group urges deeper ties with the Baltic
Group urges deeper ties with the BalticCOMMON VALUES: The government could consider creating ‘travel bubbles’ with the region and including Baltic languages in foreign ministry exams, lawmakers saidBy Chien Hui-ju and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Legislative Yuan’s Friendship Association With the Baltic States yesterday urged the government to adopt policies to deepen relations with central and eastern Europe. The ministry should consider including eastern European languages in its exams, as fluency in Baltic languages would increase the efficiency of promoting bilateral relations, he added. The ministry should also initiate a review on how to best utilize its offices in the Visegrad Group to interact with more European countries, he said. Chang Liao suggested stepping up interaction between the legislatures of Taiwan and the Baltic states. The countries in central and eastern Europe have experienced similar oppression that Taiwan has undergone, and they also strive to achieve democracy and liberty, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Environmental Impact Assessment: What happens to bento boxes after downing that chicken leg with rice?
Environmental Impact Assessment: What happens to bento boxes after downing that chicken leg with rice? During his bachelor existence, he admitted, he always threw empty bento boxes in with other non-recyclable solid trash. Cleaned bento boxes, ready for recycling. Used paper tableware is pictured in January last year. Yet used bento boxes are often trucked a considerable distance — Tainan, for instance, is over 200km from the nearest recycling plant — and processing them requires significant amounts of electricity and water.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Deterrence key to managing China threat: Moriarty
Deterrence key to managing China threat: MoriartyStaff writer, with CNA, WashingtonThe US will have to bolster its regional deterrence capability to manage the threat to Taiwan posed by an increasingly assertive China, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty said. American Institute in Taiwan Chairman James Moriarty talks to the media in Taipei on April 15, 2019. However, there is “no hope” that this approach would succeed, given what Taiwanese have seen happen in Hong Kong, Moriarty said. “Unfortunately, I fear that we’re at a stage where deterrence is probably the most important thing Taiwan can do,” he said. Asked if Washington should replace its policy of “strategic ambiguity” with an explicit guarantee to defend Taiwan, Moriarty expressed skepticism.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Coast guard denies it held joint drill with US
Coast guard denies it held joint drill with USBy Yu Tai-lang and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAThe Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday denied reports that a joint military drill was held with the US off the coast of Hualien County, saying that the activity that took place was part of regular exercises to familiarize new vessels with sea conditions around Taiwan. If there had been a drill, it would have been the first since the two nations on March 25 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint coast guard working group. Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei TimesInvolved in the exercise were the 4,000-tonne Chiayi (嘉義) heavy patrol vessel, the 1,000-tonne Taitung (台東) patrol vessel, the 600-tonne Chengkung (成功) medium patrol vessel and a 100-tonne coast guard vessel, the Liberty Times reported. The paper reported that a CGA official confirmed there was a joint exercise with the US, but refused to comment further as the matter involves sensitive information. The two sides preferred to maintain a low profile, as it was their first joint exercise, carried out ostensibly for rescue and counterterrorism purposes, the paper said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: TPP calls for stimulus checks, instead of vouchers
COVID-19: TPP calls for stimulus checks, instead of vouchersBy Chen Yun and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday said that stimulus checks, not the Executive Yuan’s proposed “quintuple stimulus voucher” program, are what Taiwan’s economy needs to recover amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan People’s Party legislators Lai Hsiang-lin, left, and Jang Chyi-lu hold placards during a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday calling on the government to review the effectiveness of last year’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program. Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei TimesA comprehensive and objective review of the Triple Stimulus Voucher program’s effectiveness should be conducted, he said. Checks boost the economy better than vouchers and efficiency should matter to the government, as it has spent NT$679.5 billion of the NT$840 billion COVID-19 relief budget, she said. The government needs to be more generous with relief money, broaden eligibility standards and stop agencies from repackaging pre-pandemic programs as relief measures, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Rules for proposed vouchers tightened
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is reportedly planning to launch a new scheme modeled on last year’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program, which offered Taiwanese and permanent residents NT$3,000 in vouchers for NT$1,000. This year’s program would offer NT$5,000 in vouchers for NT$1,000 to reflect the significant impact of COVID-19 on local industries since an outbreak began in May. The vouchers are intended for use at commercial outlets, such as retail stores, restaurants, night markets, department stores, hotels and arts venues, they said. Asked whether the vouchers could be used for online shopping, the official said that vendors who operate exclusively online would in principle be excluded. Chinese-language media have reported that the quintuple stimulus vouchers could be issued next month at the earliest.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
ChipMOS raising prices due to higher costs and demand
The Hsinchu-based firm started to raise prices of packaging and testing services last month to reflect higher raw material costs and worsening capacity constraints amid constant delays in the delivery of new manufacturing equipment, it said. Higher utilization rates and price increases are to give a further lift to the company’s net profit this quarter, ChipMOS chairman Cheng Chih-chieh (鄭世杰) told a videoconference. Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times“In the wake of recovering demand, the company expects the growth momentum to extend into this quarter from last quarter,” Cheng said. “Customer demand remains strong.”The driver IC segment contributed 45.4 percent of total revenue last quarter, while the chip testing and packaging segment accounted for 43.1 percent. ChipMOS booked NT$60 million of income from its Chinese subsidiary Unimos Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co Ltd (紫光宏茂) last quarter, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
August 10, 2021 15:56 UTC
Taiwanese lose more years to illness: ministry
Taiwanese lose more years to illness: ministryPANDEMIC EFFECT: People with chronic conditions might have postponed treatment, an expert said, expecting the trend to continueBy Wu Liang-yi / Staff ReporterTaiwanese are spending more years of their life in poor health, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed. The population’s average disability-adjusted life years was 8.41 years in 2019, nearly a month longer than in 2018, the data showed. Disability-adjusted life years measure the time a person spends in poor health, has a disability or dies before reaching a population’s average life expectancy. Chiu Hung-yi (邱弘毅), a public health professor at Taipei Medical University, said that the measure primarily expresses the social effects of chronic diseases. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that there are two ways to address the issue.
Source:Taipei Times
August 08, 2021 16:00 UTC
Report calls on NASC to boost readiness rate
Last year, the Dauphins achieved an overall readiness of 69.45 percent, but their readiness has declined yearly from a high of 79.45 percent in 2018, it said. For example, over a 90-day period, the three Dauphins assigned to the Kaohsiung unit achieved a readiness rate of 50 percent on 55 of the days, it said. Five of the Black Hawks, or 35 percent of the fleet, failed to achieve the readiness goal, with the worst Black Hawk logging a readiness rate of only 31.51 percent, it said. Over the past three years, four of the five Black Hawks, as well as the Beechcraft, have consistently failed to meet maintenance standards, it added. Asked for comment on Saturday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that a readiness rate of 65 percent was the bare minimum required for the corps to function.
Source:Taipei Times
August 08, 2021 15:56 UTC