Life insurers reduce declared interest rates
Life insurers reduce declared interest ratesBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe nation’s major life insurers this month are continuing to cut the declared interest rates for interest-sensitive products, due to falling bond yields amid a low-interest rate environment, the companies said yesterday. Life insurers release rates on a monthly basis, based primarily on their investment returns, which they use to calculate policyholders’ distributions. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) and Yuanta Life Insurance Co (元大人壽) also lowered rates. Nan Shan Life kept the rates for its US dollar policies unchanged, but cut the rates for its NT dollar products by 10 basis points, driving the rates to 1.95 percent, corporate data showed. Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽), Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) and China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽) did not adjust their rates.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Rights advocate Chen Wen-chen honored in Taipei
Rights advocate Chen Wen-chen honored in TaipeiBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterA memorial event for democracy advocate Chen Wen-chen (陳文成) was held in Taipei yesterday on the 39th anniversary of his death. Vice President William Lai, center, places a flower at Dr Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square at National Taiwan University in Taipei yesterday during a service to commemorate the 39th anniversary Chen’s death. The evening memorial had been scheduled for the Dr Chen Wen-chen Incident Memorial Square (陳文成事件紀念廣場) at NTU, but was moved inside the First Student Activity Center due to rain. It was co-organized by the NTU Student Association, the NTU Graduate Student Association, the Dr Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation and the Professor Chen Wen-Chen Memorial Foundation. Vice President William Lai (賴清德), Transitional Justice Commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), Dr Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation chairwoman Yang Huang Maysing (楊黃美幸), Professor Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation board member Huang Ching-chih (黃靜芝) and National Human Rights Museum Director Chen Chun-hung (陳俊宏) were among the attendees.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Property transactions recovering
However, the latest data for commercial property deals, a gauge of investment interests, represented a 53.6 percent decline from the same period last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined buyers. Factory and office buildings constituted the bulk of transactions in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taichung during the April-to-June period, the company’s valuation and advisory services director Wendy Hsueh (薛惠珍) told a news briefing. The Taipei 101 and the Breeze Nan Shan building in Taipei’s Xinyi District are pictured on April 21. Wan Hai plans to turn the Chong Hong building into its new headquarters and use the other office space to accommodate future expansions. Land deals appeared unaffected by the virus downturn with transactions totaling NT$80.1 billion last quarter, Yen said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan opens office to aid Hong Kongers wanting out
Taiwan opens office to aid Hong Kongers wanting outBy Chung Li-hua / Staff reporterThe Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchanges Office yesterday officially began operations, marking a milestone in the government’s support for Hong Kongers in their pursuit for democracy and freedom, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said. The office is tasked with helping Hong Kongers who plan to study, work, invest, start a business or settle in Taiwan. Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei TimesIt would also aid Hong Kongers whose security and freedom are at risk due to political factors on a case-by-case basis, as stipulated in Article 18 of the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例). The office’s name plaque uses a font often seen on Hong Kong’s shop signs, showing the government’s expectation of fostering positive interactions with Hong Kongers, Chen said during the ceremony. The legislation would apply to people without permanent residency in Hong Kong if they are found to have committed crimes defined in the act outside Hong Kong, the article states.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
HPA warns against passing up follow-up colonoscopy
HPA warns against passing up follow-up colonoscopyBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterFailure to undergo a follow-up colonoscopy after testing positive in a colorectal cancer screening can increase the risk of death from colorectal cancer by 64 percent, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. About 16,000 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2017, it said. The number of people who underwent a colonoscopy for diagnosis following a positive fecal occult blood test also fell by about 10 percent, as an estimated 10,000 people who tested positive did not undergo a colonoscopy, HPA data showed. Colorectal cancer usually does not show symptoms in its early stages, so regularly undergoing colorectal cancer screening is important for detecting early signs, Wu said. Among the about 500 possible colorectal cancer cases, about half might have only stage 0 or 1 colorectal cancer, which is highly curable and has a five-year survival rate of up to 95 percent, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Slow acceptance of 5G forecast: NCC officials
Slow acceptance of 5G forecast: NCC officialsBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterWhile the nation’s three main telecoms are launching 5G service this week, Taiwan is not going to see a large-scale migration from 4G to 5G, given the scarcity of smartphone models that can support the service, National Communications Commission (NCC) officials said yesterday. Photo: Wu Po-wei, Taipei TimesThe fees are the lowest in the world, compared with other nations where 5G service is available, NCC chief secretary Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said. A large-scale migration from the 4G to the 5G service would not happen until new 5G iPhones are launched, NCC officials said, adding that the estimation was made based on observations from the launch of 4G services. Meanwhile, an online poll by text messaging app Line on whether consumers would be motivated by the launch of 5G service to buy 5G smartphones found that more than 60 percent of respondents said they would not by a new phone to be able to access a 5G service. About 30 percent said they would consider changing their phones, and 10 percent said they would change their phones to access a 5G service.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT speaks out against security legislation for HK
KMT speaks out against security legislation for HKBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterPassage of the Hong Kong national security legislation by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee is regrettable, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said in a statement yesterday. Passage of the legislation would inevitably add greater uncertainty to Hong Kong’s future, it added. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang speaks during a meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee yesterday in Taipei. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesThe “characteristics of Hong Kong’s development” and its residents’ “space for autonomy” should not be sacrificed just for political reasons, it said. Hong Kong’s legislative and judicial bodies should “firmly defend Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, [and] uphold the tradition of freedom,” it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Gogoro showcases its first electric bicycle
Gogoro showcases its first electric bicycleBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterGogoro Inc (睿能創意) yesterday launched its first electric bicycle, the Gogoro Eeyo 1, in Taiwan, after unveiling the bike in New York in late May and in France on Tuesday. “The electric bike market is much larger than that of electric scooters,” Luke said. In Germany, 1.8 million electric scooters were sold last year, but sales of electric bikes were two to three times that number, he said. Gogoro has packed all of the bike’s electric components — including a motor, battery and sensors — inside its rear hub. Gogoro said it does not plan to launch sharing services for its electric bikes in the short term.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan, Somaliland to set up representative offices
The two nations have agreed to establish a “Taiwan Representative Office” and “Somaliland Representative Office,” Wu told a news conference in Taipei, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) a day earlier shared a foreign media report that Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has appointed a representative to Taiwan. While the exact dates for the offices’ launches are still to be negotiated, Taiwan has since Feb. 6 sent officials to Somaliland to make preparations, he said. Somaliland also has representative offices in 22 countries, he said, adding that Taiwan’s measure is no different from that of other countries. Both sides would appoint a senior diplomat and four officers for each new office, Wu said, but withheld the officials’ names. Establishing a representative office does not necessarily lead to establishing formal ties, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
TWSE changes Tatung to full-delivery stock
TWSE changes Tatung to full-delivery stockBAD RAP: The exchange said Tatung had seriously breached shareholders’ rights and failed to give a satisfactory explanation of its board election disputeBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterTatung Co (大同) shares yesterday plunged by the maximum daily limit of 10 percent to NT$18.90, the lowest in three months, after the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) on Tuesday evening changed the company’s classification to a full-delivery stock effective tomorrow. Under the exchange’s regulations, investors are not allowed to engage in margin trading of a full-delivery stock, TWSE spokeswoman Rebecca Chen (陳麗卿) told the Taipei Times by telephone. The punishment for Tatung reflects the exchange’s observation that it had seriously breached shareholders’ rights, she said. Vivian Tsai (蔡玉真), a Tatung shareholder and a media personality, led a group of 30 Tatung shareholders at a rally outside the Securities and Futures Bureau yesterday. The group was petitioning the Financial Supervisory Commission to order Tatung to hold a new board election.
Source:Taipei Times
July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP caucus defends Chen Chu
DPP caucus defends Chen ChuFOR THE RECORD: DPP lawmakers touted Chen’s record as a human rights activist and rebutted claims that she was the subject of numerous impeachment probesBy Hsieh Chun-lin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday called on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to focus its efforts on legislative interpellation and stop slandering former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Chu (陳菊), who has been nominated to head the Control Yuan. The KMT’s claims that during her tenure as Kaohsiung mayor, Chen and her team had been the subject of multiple impeachments issued by the Control Yuan are exaggerated, Chung said. DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said that nominating Chen to chair the National Human Rights Commission is the perfect arrangement in the history of Taiwan’s human rights development. According to the Organic Act of the Control Yuan National Human Rights Commission (監察院國家人權委員會組織法), the Control Yuan president should be appointed as chairperson of the commission. DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) commended Chen’s contributions to labor pension reform, support for gender equality, same-sex marriage and declassification of political files.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC
Minister blasts Taichung over fine
Minister blasts Taichung over fineBy Natasha Li / Staff reporterDeputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) yesterday condemned the Taichung City Government for sanctioning Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) for restarting the No. 2 generator at the Taichung Power Plant. “The Taichung City Government has been on Taipower’s case since last year... Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Tseng Wen-sheng, center, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “Taichung has consumed an average of 31,500 gigawatt-hours last year, higher than the Taichung Power Plant’s annual output of 30,000 gigawatt-hours,” Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chunghwa Telecom debuts 5G service
Chunghwa Telecom debuts 5G serviceNOT A PANACEA: Offering 5G services would not solve the problem of declining telecom incomes, chairman Sheih Chi-mau said, expecting a flat 5G telecom revenueBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterChunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) yesterday became the nation’s first telecom to debut its 5G services, offering tiered tariffs that include a threshold of NT$599 and flat rates, as it aims to switch half of its subscribers to the 5G network within three years. Chunghwa Telecom Co mobile business unit president Max Chen speaks at the company’s 5G launch event at the company’s headquarters in Taipei yesterday. Chunghwa Telecom plans to double the number of its 5G base stations to 4,000 by the end of this year, compared with 2,000 now, he said. Taiwan Mobile also plans to offer tailor-made 5G rate plans for mobile game players later this year, Lin said. Taiwan Mobile’s rate plans are similar to those of Chunghwa Telecom, with additional free high-speed broadband connection.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC
Tatung creates controversy with board election
Lin Kuo Wen-yen (林郭文艷) was re-elected as chairwoman of the household-appliance maker’s nine-member board, but prior to the vote she announced that several shareholders would not have voting rights. Tatung management won six director seats and three independent director seats, leaving minority shareholders led by Shanyuan Group (三圓建設) chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang (王光祥) empty-handed. It was the first time a publicly listed company in Taiwan has blocked shareholders’ voting rights. Tatung cannot use this as an excuse to take away shareholders’ voting rights,” Tsai said. “Disputes regarding voting rights should be part of a firm’s self-governance.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC
Senhwa aims NT$1.5bn via 15 million shares
Senhwa aims NT$1.5bn via 15 million sharesEXPERIMENTAL DRUG: While news about a COVID-19 vaccine is more eye-catching, developing a treatment would be more viable, the Senhwa boss saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterSenhwa Biosciences Inc (生華科) aims to raise NT$1.5 billion (US$50.57 million) by issuing 15 million new common shares in the third quarter of this year to fund the research of new drugs, including the experimental drug Silmitasertib for the treatment of COVID-19, the company said on Monday. The price of the new shares would depend on the firm’s average share price over the five days before the secondary offering, Chang said. As Senhwa Biosciences shares have stayed above NT$100 in the past few months, the company expects to raise at least NT$1.5 billion from the issuance of 15 million new shares, Chang said. Senhwa Biosciences shares advanced 9.96 percent to NT$139.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, after an international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, identified Silmitasertib as one of the several drugs that could disrupt the viral takeover of cells. The company’s shares have risen 120 percent from NT$63.5 in March, when the company began focusing on exploiting the experimental drug to treat COVID-19.
Source:Taipei Times
June 30, 2020 15:56 UTC