Passage of US bill ‘shows anti-China sentiment’
Passage of US bill ‘shows anti-China sentiment’By Peng Wan-hsin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerUS lawmakers’ passage of a bill that aims to ensure the country’s leadership in the Indo-Pacific region shows growing anti-China sentiment in the US Congress, a researcher said on Friday. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday passed the Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement Act (EAGLE Act), which contains several provisions regarding the US’ diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan. “The renaming of Taiwan’s representative office in the US in particular must be addressed, because the current name — the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office — does not sound political in nature,” Ding said. “The current name reduces Taiwan’s status to that of Hong Kong.”Former minister of foreign affairs Chen Chien-jen (程建人) said the bill shows that US-China relations have hit a new low. The EAGLE Act needs to be reviewed by the full House before being put to a vote in both chambers of Congress and being signed into law by the US president.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
Sea alert for In-Fa could be issued today, CWB says
Sea alert for In-Fa could be issued today, CWB saysBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterA sea alert for Typhoon In-Fa could be issued this morning as it moves toward Taiwan, although it remains uncertain if its center would make landfall, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, In-Fa was classified as a tropical storm and was centered 800km east of Taipei, moving west at 13kph with maximum sustained winds of 101kph. In other news, the bureau yesterday announced that it had completed the installation and renovation of 576 automatic weather observation stations nationwide. The bureau has since 1985 budgeted funding annually to build the 24-hour automatic weather observation system, it said. By 2005, 257 rain observation stations and 119 weather observation stations had been installed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
DBS reports increase in digital corporate clients
DBS reports increase in digital corporate clientsBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterDBS Bank Taiwan (星展台灣) yesterday said that the number of corporate clients using its online banking service has grown 10 percent since May. DBS Bank Taiwan general manager Lim Him-chuan and DBS mascots gesture at a news conference in Taipei on April 28. To meet rising demand, the bank yesterday launched its refined online banking platform, DBS IDEAL, which features a new cross-border payment tracking service. No other local banks provide such a service in Taiwan, Lim said. Lim said he was confident that DBS Bank Taiwan’s online corporate banking service would outperform many of its peers, as most banks’ digital banking services only focus on consumer banking, which requires less investment than corporate banking.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT urges plan for new semester
KMT urges plan for new semesterBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Education should hold discussions and prepare for a possible reopening of schools in September, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yi-hua gestures in an undated photograph. Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei TimesThe new school year is to begin on Sept. 1 for elementary, junior-high and high schools. Even if schools were to reopen, multiple plans would be needed to respond to different situations that could occur, she said. Furthermore, as the size of each school building is different, a single plan should not be applied to all schools across the nation, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 20, 2021 15:56 UTC
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: ‘Chinese Taipei’ misrepresents Olympians
More people are saying that “Chinese Taipei” is a gross distortion and fraudulent representation for Taiwan’s star athletes in terms of their identity, roots and hometowns. Premier Su Tseng-chang delivers a speech at a send-off ceremony for the national Olympic team at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) yesterday. Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei TimesMost Taiwanese athletes are not from Taipei, and most have said in interviews that they identify as Taiwanese. It is high time that the government and sports authorities rectified the nation’s title to “Taiwan” for international sports events. “Chinese Taipei” is a misnomer, an absurd and wrongful representation of Taiwanese athletes, and should be discarded to stop misleading sports audiences around the world.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Pandemic takes toll on family businesses: PwC
Family businesses with declining revenue increased from 14 to 22 percent in 2019, rising to 41 percent last year, it said. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Taiwan vice chairman Kevin Lin, second right, speaks at an online news conference in Taipei yesterday, alongside other executives. Family businesses are complex, given the nature of the personal relationships on which they are built. Compared with global peers, local family businesses assign more importance to the need to strengthen their product line-up and diversify their source of income, which is positive, PwC Taiwan said. A considerable number of family businesses in Taiwan and abroad said they still do not have strong digital capabilities, although the issue is a major concern.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Taipei mulls procuring third doses: mayor
COVID-19: Taipei mulls procuring third doses: mayorWHO’S FIRST? Asked to elaborate, Ko yesterday said that the city government’s annual budget would not be approved until the end of the year. Health workers administer COVID-19 vaccines at the Expo Dome in Taipei’s Yuanshan Park yesterday. KMT Taipei City Councilor Wang Hsin-yi (王欣儀) said that she and other KMT councilors had in May called for Taipei to procure vaccines on its own, which she said reflected the will of the city’s residents and would protect their health and safety. Taiwan should follow other countries, which are mulling administering third doses to help combat SARS-CoV-2 variants, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: KMT calls for universal cash payments
COVID-19: KMT calls for universal cash payments‘MOST EFFECTIVE’: The COVID-19 situation this year is different from that of last year, and the government should think of a better way to help people, Johnny Chiang saidBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) maintains that universal cash payments would be the “most effective” form of COVID-19 relief, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, following news reports that government plans for another stimulus voucher program are in the works. Since last month, the KMT has on multiple occasions urged the government to provide a universal relief payment of NT$10,000. Earlier in the event yesterday, Chiang brought up his party’s proposal for universal cash relief payments, describing it as the “simplest, fastest and most effective” relief measure, which has proven effective in other countries. Chiang also repeated his party’s calls for the government to impose a price freeze on fuel and electricity as part of COVID-19 relief. Many people are still struggling, despite a partial relaxation on Tuesday last week of COVID-19 restrictions, Chiang said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 19, 2021 15:56 UTC
Slovak count’s visit to Taiwan inspires exhibit
Slovak count’s visit to Taiwan inspires exhibitBy Tsai Yun-jung, Peng Wan-hsin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporters, with staff writerTo commemorate 250 years since Count Moric Benovsky touched foot on Taiwan, the Slovak Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and the Lanyang Museum are planning a special exhibition to begin in May next year. He stayed there for 16 days, establishing a “point of contact” between the two countries, the Yilan County Government said on Saturday. Dancers of the children’s folklore group Kornicka from Slovakia perform at the 2018 International Children’s Folklore & Folkgame Festival in Yilan County. Starting with dakujem, or “thank you” in Slovak, Tsai said that the mutual support of democracies creates a virtuous cycle. Many Central and Eastern European nations, including Slovakia and Lithuania — which last month also announced a donation of vaccines — share with Taiwan the experience of democratization, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 18, 2021 16:00 UTC
COVID-19: TPP lawmaker urges vaccine priority overhaul
It is crucial to allow every Taiwanese to get their first shot, she said, adding that the second doses for government officials in the second vaccine priority group should be postponed. People receive COVID-19 vaccines in New Taipei City yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) gives “important government officials necessary for maintaining disease prevention work” second-highest COVID-19 vaccine priority. The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should be reserved for priority group members who have not received their first dose, she said. Some countries, including Germany and Iceland, have approved second-dose vaccinations with the BioNTech or Moderna jabs, following the AstraZeneca vaccine, she said, adding that Taiwan should follow that example.
Source:Taipei Times
July 17, 2021 15:56 UTC
US line on Taiwan unreasonable
US line on Taiwan unreasonableBy Lindell LucyOn July 6, US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell said: “We do not support Taiwan independence.”Campbell’s statement was confusing, immoral, anti-democratic and disappointingly common. Taiwan’s official name, the Republic of China (ROC), is a relic inherited from the Chinese Civil War and Taiwan’s authoritarian past. The CCP falsely claims Taiwan is a province of the PRC and regularly threatens to take it over by force. If the anti-secession law were actually intended to be enforced, the CCP should have invaded Taiwan a long time ago. It is time to stop saying that we do not support Taiwanese independence.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2021 16:12 UTC
EDITORIAL: EU can do more to support Taiwan
EDITORIAL: EU can do more to support TaiwanGerman Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz said recently that Germany is attempting to balance its relationships with Taiwan and China. Prinz and Casabonne-Masonnave also talked about their countries’ desire for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sending naval vessels into the region to make a statement of support for freedom of navigation. The representatives’ statements imply that Taiwan is a valuable friend for what it represents in terms of freedom and democracy. Who is to say that Beijing would not do the same to EU countries when their politicians speak up about human rights in Hong Kong or Xinjiang? Friendly nations should bolster ties with Taiwan to send a clear message to Beijing that democracies will stand together.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2021 16:12 UTC
Groups urge respect for replica vessel
Groups urge respect for replica vesselBy Hung Jui-chin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerAdvocates of a replica of a 17th-century merchant ship on display in Tainan on Wednesday said that comments calling for the troubled piece to be burned exposed an attitude against cultural heritage among politicians. An Anping resident surnamed Lin (林) said that the ship is the only reproduction of a vessel from that era. Tainan Citizen Thinktank, a non-governmental organization, said that the city should not shy away from spending money to improve maintenance of the Taiwan Cheng Kung. The replica was unseaworthy because, among other issues, not enough research was done of the building process for such vessels, the think tank said. The culture department said that the Taiwan Cheng Kung has not “expired” and the city government is maintaining it.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19: Slovakia to donate 10,000 jabs in return for masks
That makes Slovakia the second European nation to announce a plan to donate COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan. Last year, Taiwan sent masks to Slovakia when the country was in difficult times. Now Slovakia hopes to make slight contributions in return by donating 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan,” the Slovak office wrote on Facebook in Mandarin and Slovakian. The Taipei Representative Office in Bratislava yesterday wrote on Facebook that Slovakia had as early as late May expressed its intention to donate medical supplies to Taiwan. Ou thanked Slovakia for its sincere friendship and goodwill, adding that Slovakia and Taiwan have been maintaining close cooperation across different sectors.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2021 15:56 UTC
T3EX board approves 10m share issue
However, based on its closing price of NT$244 in Taipei trading yesterday, it could raise at least NT$2 billion from the share offering, it said. The Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp container ship YM Continuity is moored in Kaohsiung on June 25. “We cannot forecast or guess how Yang Ming’s share price will fluctuate in the future,” T3EX said. In the first quarter, T3EX saw its unrealized profits increase as the share price of Yang Ming, in which it owned about 20 million shares, climbed. Despite T3EX’s pulling out, Yang Ming yesterday raised NT$29.12 billion from its 160 million common share issue, it said in a filing with the stock exchange.
Source:Taipei Times
July 16, 2021 15:56 UTC