Hyperautomation to be top trend next year: Gartner
“The ultimate goal of hyperautomation is to automate anything that can be automated, everything from single tasks to entire business operations,” Gartner senior executive partner Michael Kung (龔培元) told reporters at a news conference in Taipei. The path to hyperautomation starts with task automation supported by robotic process automation, which is then enhanced through a combination of tools such as chatbots, smart speakers and virtual assistants, Gartner said. However, hyperautomation cannot be achieved without the help of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and advanced algorithms, Kung said. “It might be hard for us to visualize, but autonomous devices will be much more perceptive and will be able to interact with other devices,” Kung said. Democratization was named a forthcoming trend for next year, as more technologies are made accessible to the wider public, Gartner said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 04, 2019 15:56 UTC
China and US clash over Xinjiang, Hong Kong bills
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long regarded Hong Kong and Xinjiang as crucial areas for asserting territorial sovereignty, and has responded with fury to what it considers foreign meddling. “Xinjiang is China’s Xinjiang,” said a statement from the Chinese State Ethnic Affairs Commission, echoing another government mantra: “Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong.”The Uighur Human Rights Policy Act denounces the detention of an estimated 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and others in Xinjiang, home to the predominantly Muslim minority groups. Tensions over the US bills have cast doubt over the potential for a trade deal between the two countries, which have been embroiled in a 16-month tariff dispute. Asked about Trump’s comments, Hua yesterday said that Beijing too had no timeline for ending the protracted trade dispute. “We will not set any time limit on when the deal will or will not be reached,” Hua said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 04, 2019 15:56 UTC
Gravel claims false, Kaohsiung mayor’s brother-in-law says
By Ann Maxon / Staff reporterKaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) brother-in-law yesterday defended his family’s gravel business, saying that many reports about his father were “fake news” designed to defame him. Some media outlets have deliberately portrayed his father, Lee Jih-kuei (李日貴), who was a Yunlin County councilor between 1991 and 2003, as “an overbearing man who abused government power,” Lee Ming-che said. In reality, Lee Jih-kuei meant that Han wanted to be a legislator to resolve problems in the gravel industry, he said. However, the minutes also quoted Lee Jih-kuei as criticizing, in vulgar terms, then-Changhua County commissioner Chou Ching-yu (周清玉) for banning all gravel excavation in the county. Asked about the news conference, Han said that the reports about Lee Jih-kuei’s gravel business has greatly disturbed the family.
Source:Taipei Times
December 04, 2019 15:56 UTC
New Thai e-visa requirements draw travel agents fury
However, travelers and travel agents in Taiwan have said that the policy is disrespectful of Taiwanese tourists, and the government has humiliated the nation by agreeing to the arrangement. Nearly 700,000 Taiwanese tourists travel to Thailand each year. “If the office’s mind is set on mistreating Taiwanese tourists by enforcing the policy, I would write to travel agents across the nation, asking them to stop organizing tours to Thailand,” Hsiao said. The ministry should halt its visa-waiver program for Thai tourists, he added. This was not the first time TTEO has come under criticism from local travel agencies for enforcing unpopular policies.
Source:Taipei Times
December 04, 2019 15:56 UTC
Migrant workers announce rally
The brokerage system should be abolished to prevent migrant workers from being exploited, the association said at a news conference in front of the Ministry of Labor building in Taipei. The government should shoulder responsibility by including the protection of migrant workers’ rights in its public services, it said. The monopoly of placement agencies for migrant workers should be broken and replaced by a direct-hiring system in which a government-run agency directly employs workers from other nations, she said. Besides placement agencies, there are other channels in place for employers to hire migrant workers, it said. The importation of workers should operate on a free-market basis, while the ministry continues monitoring and checking the mechanisms in its bid to create a healthier environment for migrant workers, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Taiwan-US relations still ‘firm’ despite comments, foreign ministry says
Taiwan and the US share a solid trust in each other, and the ministry has not received any warning about bilateral relations, she said. Since 2017, US President Donald Trump’s administration has approved five arms packages to Taiwan, reflecting the US’ firm support of Taiwan, she said. Based on mutual trust and reciprocation, Taiwan would steadily and pragmatically continue to improve its partnership with the US, she said. Stilwell on Oct. 21 met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) in Washington. The meeting was announced on the Web site of the US Department of State without the meeting venue being specified.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Sharp to unveil 5G phone in Taipei
The 5G smartphone is scheduled to go on sale in Japan in the first half of next year, Sharp said, adding that sales would depend on the progress of 5G technology development in the nation. In Taiwan, the government has designated next year the first of the 5G era and is to hold 5G spectrum auctions for local telecoms from Tuesday next week. Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信), another Hon Hai subsidiary, is among the five Taiwanese telecoms that plan to take part in the auction. After the Taipei event, the show moves to Taichung from Thursday next week to Dec. 16, Tainan from Dec. 19 to Dec. 23 and Kaohsiung from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30. The company’s five largest customers account for 89.6 percent of its sales, with Sharp making up 8.5 percent, FIH Mobile said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Mobile payment firms join cross-border alliance
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterLINE Biz+ Taiwan Ltd (連加網路) and iPass Corp (一卡通票證) yesterday announced that they would be forming a cross-border mobile payment alliance with four regional peers: Japan-based Line Pay Corp, Thailand-based Rabbit Line Pay Co Ltd, and South Korea-based Naver Corp and NHN Payco Corp. The collaboration would enable the companies’ 78 million users to make electronic payments at stores that accept Line Pay, Naver Pay, Payco or Rabbit Line Pay, LINE Biz+ Taiwan said. “We noticed that Japanese, [South] Koreans, Thais and Taiwanese visit to each others’ countries frequently. That would benefit the payment operators’ partnered stores as well, as they would be able to market their products or services to more clients, it said. Customers would not need to download new mobile apps or register another app, as the apps offered by the six operators would be connected automatically, LINE Biz+ Taiwan said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Minister urges Taichung to rethink power plant threat
The city government earlier yesterday also fined state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), which operates the power plant, NT$3 million (US$98,338), because the plant has used 11.08 million tonnes of coal since the beginning of this year, exceeding the maximum of 11.04 million tonnes stipulated by the Taichung Autonomous Act for Coal Regulation (台中市管制生煤自治條例). “Electricity [from the Taichung Power Plant] is for everyone’s use ... I hope that the Taichung City Government will stop making things difficult for civil servants, as a steady electricity supply remains the people’s number one priority,” Shen said. Taipower has reduced coal use by 5 million tonnes over the past few years to reduce air pollution, Shen said, adding that the Taichung plant only contributes to one of the nation’s pollution problems. The company would nevertheless strive to lower the plant’s coal use to 12.6 million tonnes for next year, Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Taipei Fubon launches blockchain-based Bagel Pay
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterTaipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) has launched a money transfer service for mobile devices, Bagel Pay, the nation’s first experimental “regulatory sandbox” application that deploys blockchain technology. The bank has teamed up with developer AMIS (帳聯網路科技) to provide the blockchain money transfer service. During the six-month experiment, Taipei Fubon customers can transfer funds to another person or company with an account at the bank or at Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), and vice versa, they said. Taipei Fubon said it is not charging a handling fee during the experiment and that it would be offering discounts to encourage its customers to use the service. If the experiment goes smoothly, the bank plans to utilize blockchain technology for other financial services, including lending and cross-border remittances, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Carrie Lam says US law, continuing violence will hurt Hong Kong economy
“Again, we’re seeing violent scenes that we don’t want to see anymore,” she told reporters after a weekly meeting with advisers. “There’s an overseas government that interfered with Hong Kong affairs, and that is most regrettable.”The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act requires an annual review by the US Department of State of the favorable trading status that the US grants to the territory. Lam is to visit Beijing on Dec. 16 and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Hong Kong broadcaster Cable TV reported last night, citing sources. The government said she was targeted by a “violent mob” while on a trip to promote Hong Kong. Cheng, who returned home from Beijing yesterday, told reporters that she had suffered a bone fracture around her wrist and had an operation in London.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Education levels stagnating around world despite more spending: OECD
Students’ average performance in reading, mathematics and science was largely stable in OECD countries last year, according to the results of the global test. The Paris-based policy’s forum said it was “disappointing” that there had been practically no improvement in OECD countries’ performance since it started the PISA project in 2000. It was all the more galling as per student spending in OECD member countries had risen more than 15 percent over the past decade, the report said. While important, funding was not everything, as demonstrated by the case of Estonia, which was the top-scoring OECD country in reading, despite education spending 30 percent less than the OECD average, the report said. Students’ social and economic background remained a leading factor for success at school last year, with the richest 10 percent of students in OECD countries reading at a level three years ahead of the poorest 10 percent, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
NPP seeks probe of Han’s in-law
The Yunlin County Government approved the application in just one day, even though the land use change contravened the Regional Plan Act (區域計畫法), he said. The county only fined the company NT$60,000 for illegal use of land and damage to the ecosystem, he said. Ye Yuan-zhi (葉元之), who is spokesman for Han’s campaign as the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, said that Huang has no evidence of wrongdoing by Han. The only so-called evidence of Han improperly using his influence is records from meetings on the embankment project, Ye said. “We will not play along, because we know that Huang is doing this to get attention and to promote the NPP,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Trump offenses not established: report
BloombergA report from Republican lawmakers said that the US House of Representatives’ investigation of US President Donald Trump failed to establish any impeachable offenses and instead paints a picture of “unelected bureaucrats” disagreeing with the president’s style, worldview and foreign-policy decisions. The findings are to be sent along with the Democratic report to the Judiciary Committee, which is to begin hearings this week to determine whether to bring articles of impeachment against Trump. “There is nothing inherently improper with Mayor Giuliani’s involvement, because the Ukrainians knew that he was a conduit to convince President Trump that President Zelenskiy was serious about reform,” the report said. “Their disagreements with President Trump’s policies and their discomfort with President Trump’s actions set in motion the anonymous, secondhand whistleblower complaint,” the report said. “For Democrats, impeachment is a tool for settling political scores and relitigating election results with which they disagreed.”
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC
Tehran rejects Amnesty’s toll of deaths in protests
AFP, TEHRANIran yesterday rejected as “utter lies” unofficial casualty figures given for street violence that erupted last month during demonstrations against a shock decision to hike fuel prices. Protests erupted in Iran on Nov. 15 after the announcement that gasoline prices were going up by as much as 200 percent with immediate effect. “They announced some numbers as well as some names... Their claimed numbers are sheer lies and fabricated,” he said in remarks aired on state television. US President Donald Trump yesterday said that Iran was killing thousands of people for protesting and urged the world to take more notice. “Not just small numbers which are bad, big numbers which are really bad, and really big numbers ...
Source:Taipei Times
December 03, 2019 15:56 UTC