Venice holds autonomy referendum
The ObserverGiorgio Suppiej was badly beaten up when he campaigned for Venice to break away from its mainland borough, Mestre, in 1979. “It took me two months to recover.”That referendum was unsuccessful, as were subsequent ones in 1989, 1994 and 2003. “Venice is furious,” said Suppiej, whose experience in 1979 only made him more determined to fight for autonomy. Venice’s population has fallen from about 175,000 in the post-World War II years to 55,000 today. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro is vehemently against the referendum and even took legal action to try to block it, despite promising a vote in his 2015 election campaign.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Postal workers protest in Taipei to demand equal pay
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterAbout 500 Taiwan Postal Workers’ Union members protested outside the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei yesterday, demanding that employees of Chunghwa Post Co doing the same jobs be paid equally. The workers then marched to the Executive Yuan to submit a petition. The workers called for the rates that Chunghwa Post pays employees to be more flexible and that they not be based on its revenue. Hierarchical employees should be treated the same as transferred workers, from starting salaries and bonuses to paid leave, the protesters said, adding that employees should be paid subsidies and bonuses monthly. “The Executive Yuan should ask Chunghwa Post to deliver the best retirement plans for transferred staff,” the protesters said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
TPCU students take top prizes at invention fair
By Dennis Xie / Staff writer, with CNATaipei City University of Science and Technology (TPCU) students won four golds, three silvers, three bronzes and four special prizes at the Seoul International Invention Fair on Saturday. A Bluetooth alcohol detection helmet for scooter riders, from a TPCU team of information engineering students, Tang Yuan-chi (湯元麒) and Gao Li-yu (高立瑜), and advising professor Chang Hsien-Chung (張獻中), earned a gold medal and a special prize at the international invention fair. The helmet uses Bluetooth earphones and a breath alcohol device to measure alcohol levels, which would prevent the scooter from starting if too high, it said. TPCU’s electrical engineering team also won a gold medal and a special prize with a safety device that alerts a scooter rider of dangerous turns. The school’s computer and communication engineering team won a special prize for its smart drying rack that automatically dries and sterilizes clothes.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Agency reiterates China ban for nation’s athletes
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe nation’s athletes are banned from participating in national events hosted by China, or if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or Chinese government and military are involved, the Sports Administration reiterated over the weekend. The agency issued the statement after China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday said that its General Administration of Sports is amending regulations to allow Taiwanese athletes, coaches and referees to work in China with China-issued certificates. The act does not ban Taiwanese athletes from playing for professional teams in China or competing at events held by the private sector there, nor does it ban Taiwanese coaches and referees from securing certificates from sports associations in China, Huang said. The Sports Administration and the council do not have records of Taiwanese athletes who have competed in national sports events in China, Huang said. Asked how the nation plans to keep top athletes from moving to China to chase career opportunities, the sports agency said it has a comprehensive plan to give athletes opportunities and retirement plans.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Ko describes his ideal legislature
Ko, the chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), made the remark on the sidelines of a campaign event for a TPP legislative candidate when asked about Hon Hai Precision Industry founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) comments about his ideal number of parties in the legislature. Gou on Saturday said that having two major and two minor parties in the legislature would be ideal, as it would give people more options, as opposed to having one dominant party or two balancing parties. If there are two major parties and one minor party, the latter might become arrogant, he added. Gou’s aides have been included in the TPP’s and People First Party’s (PFP) legislator-at-large nominee lists, and they are among the TPP’s legislative candidates for the Jan. 11 elections. Over the past two decades, the New Party, the PFP, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the New Power Party have gained popularity, but then declined, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Ministry considers installing more AEDs
Staff writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering installing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at more public places, including temples, to reduce fatalities from sudden cardiac arrest, a senior health official said. The ministry was investigating the feasibility of expanding the current installation of AEDs to more public spaces, such as popular temples, community centers and junior-high and elementary schools, Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said. The review came after the death on Wednesday of Canadian-Taiwanese actor and model Godfrey Gao (高以翔) in China. Sudden cardiac arrest is among the leading causes of death in the US, according to the American Red Cross. In that condition, “the heart can no longer pump blood to vital organs, and eventually the heartbeat stops, leading to death,” Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
South Korean export decline worse than predicted
Exports dropped 14.3 percent from a year earlier for a sixth straight double-digit decline, South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data showed yesterday. The government was more upbeat on the outlook for next year, saying that shipments hit bottom in October and would rebound from the first quarter of next year. The trade data showed that chip exports, the largest category in South Korea’s overseas shipments, dropped 30.8 percent, compared with falls of more than 30 percent in the past few months. The export numbers add to signs that the Asian country is on course for its weakest economic growth in a decade. Shipments to China dropped 12.2 percent last month from a year earlier, reflecting slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy and South Korea’s biggest export destination.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Expect 5G boom to hit sooner: MIC
By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterAbout 50 telecom operators around the world have launched commercial 5G services and the number is expected to more than triple to 170 next year, indicating that 5G commercialization should proceed faster than expected, Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) said. MIC estimated that global 5G handset shipments would hit 260 million units next year and 540 million units in 2021, the Liberty Times reported on Thursday. While 5G has faster transmission speeds, 5G signals have a shorter transmission distance than 4G signals and do not transmit very well through walls and tend to weaken during transmission, Chung said. “The 5G trend looks set to bring exponential growth opportunities for Taiwanese component makers and networking equipment suppliers. However, challenges for the 5G industry include telecom operators’ attitude toward 5G investment, the realignment of the 5G supply chain and the progress of 5G spectrum license granting, Wang said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
2020 ELECTION: Tsai, Han on the campaign trail
Tsai urged members of the public to support her re-election bid as she opened the New Taipei City headquarters for her campaign in Banciao District (板橋). “I would not be who I am today if it had not been for New Taipei City,” she said, adding that she is grateful to it. As the largest special municipality in Taiwan, New Taipei City plays a key role in every direct presidential election, she said. Then-Taipei county became the special municipality of New Taipei City on Dec. 25, 2010, and the nation’s most populous city. If the DPP can win New Taipei City, it would be able to win in the overall elections, she said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Beijing wants rollback on US tariffs
Reuters, BEIJINGBeijing is insisting US tariffs must be rolled back as part of any phase one trade deal with Washington, the Global Times newspaper said yesterday, citing unnamed sources, amid continued uncertainty on whether the two sides can strike a deal. “A US pledge to scrap tariffs scheduled for December 15 cannot replace the rollbacks of tariffs,” the newspaper said in a tweet, referring to an additional round of tariffs on Chinese imports to be implemented in the absence of a trade deal. The Global Times is published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. Top trade negotiators for both countries also spoke again and agreed to continue working on the remaining issues. US Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing invited US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin for in-person talks in Beijing.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Military police deploy Kestrel missiles
The Kestrel missile launcher is a disposable, shoulder-launched, single-shot system that can fire a high-explosive anti-tank warhead or a high-explosive squash head. The command deployed the first of them in the capital in October as part of a two-year program first announced last year. It has so far procured 397 missiles, 238 test missiles and five training simulators from the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, the command said. The missile systems cost NT$43.03 million (US$1.41 million), it said, adding that next year the command plans to purchase 48 more missiles, 40 test missiles and three training simulators, which would cost of NT$5.97 million. With the lightweight launchers, which could be deployed in high-rises or transported in vehicles, military police can launch mobile counterattacks in urban combat and retake crucial governmental structures, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Ex-Taliban prisoner talks about failed rescue efforts
AP, SYDNEYAn Australian teacher held captive with an American colleague by the Taliban for more than three years believes US special forces tried and failed six times to free them. Some of them were so compassionate and such lovely, lovely people. Weeks said he had hugged some of his Taliban guards when they parted company on the day of his and King’s release. Still, the sight of the two US Black Hawk helicopters arriving to take them away had been an enormous relief. “From the moment I sighted both Black Hawk helicopters and was placed in the hands of special forces, I knew my long and tortuous ordeal had come to an end,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
London Bridge attack becomes political football
Staff writer, with agenciesBritain’s political leaders are sparring over who is responsible for the early release of a convicted extremist who launched a stabbing attack in central London on Friday that left two people dead and three injured. The argument centers over the early release from prison of Usman Khan, who served about half his sentence before being set free. After a one-day pause out of respect for victims, the Friday attack is dominating the political scene as the election nears. He also announced plans to review Britain’s security, defense and foreign policy in the wake of the terror attack, which came ahead of a NATO summit that begins in London later today. He said he understood that the Parole Board was not involved in Khan’s early release and there was no probation service involvement in monitoring him.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
Pro-China parties must be rejected
Ip, who worked hard to push for national security legislation during her stint as the Hong Kong secretary for security, was severely punished by voters for supporting police violence. Although district councils have very little say within Hong Kong’s political framework, the pro-democracy camp has equated the elections to a referendum, and this carries far-reaching political implications. After the elections, councilors-elect representing about 1.6 million voters rushed to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to rescue the students still trapped there. Even so, the pro-democracy camp — including well-known activist Leung “Long Hair” Kwok-hung (梁國雄) — was defeated in 12 districts due to internecine fighting. This raises the question of whether Taiwan will vote against pro-Chinese parties in next month’s presidential and legislative elections.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC
INTERVIEW: StanChart CFO talks change, strategy
Taipei Times (TT): Many Taiwanese do not feel as much of a need as before to save money in the bank due to low interest rates. We noticed that Standard Chartered [StanChart] Taiwan’s deposits rose only 1.06 percent last year from a year earlier. Andy Halford: Interest rates go up and go down. The fact is that no one will know how the benchmark rates would change in the next 10 months or 20 months. Even though in a low interest rate environment, customers still need to find a home for their money.
Source:Taipei Times
December 01, 2019 15:56 UTC