Drua secure spot in playoffs with win over Reds
Drua secure spot in playoffs with win over RedsAP, WELLINGTONThe Fijian Drua yesterday made history by beating the Queensland Reds 34-17 in Suva to qualify for the quarter-finals of Super Rugby Pacific for the first time. “Obviously it was a real tough second half,” Reds captain Tate McDermott said. The Reds responded immediately with a try to Ryan Smith, but the Drua went ahead again with a try to Kelaveti Ravouvou. The second half belonged to the Drua, who added tries to Misake Doge and Tevita Ikanivere as the Reds lost discipline and McReight went to the sin bin. The Drua win moved them up to seventh, but a Western Force win over the Waikato Chiefs — the game was to finish after press time last night — would have put the Fijian side eighth.
Source:Taipei Times
June 03, 2023 21:46 UTC
At least 288 dead after three trains collide in India
Images from the crash site near Balasore, in the eastern state of Odisha, showed smashed train compartments torn open with blood-stained holes. Rescuers yesterday work at the site of passenger trains that derailed in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Photo: APAs dawn broke yesterday, rescue workers could see the full extent of the carnage. Authorities had sent “75 ambulances to the site and had also deployed many buses” to transport injured passengers, Panda added. At Bhadrak District Hospital in Odisha, ambulances brought in injured people, with bloodied and shocked survivors receiving treatment in crowded wards.
Source:Taipei Times
June 03, 2023 21:46 UTC
Taiwan in Time: Awkward first calls to China
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsA total of 730,351 calls were made to China that year, with 767,606 received calls. It was the same with phone calls, which were routed via the US, Japan and Singapore. CALLING ABOUT TIANANMENMuch of the news regarding the phone calls revolved around Tiananmen. “It appears that China regrets its prior eagerness to open up direct links with Taiwan … These calls from Taiwan to China are now exposing the truth and creating a huge headache for the CCP,” the United Daily News stated. “I started calling around 11am and got through to a relative serving in a government agency on my fifth attempt,” one reader told the China Times.
Source:Taipei Times
June 03, 2023 16:41 UTC
Militarization promotes violence
Militarization promotes violenceBy David PenderyThere is a worrisome trend toward militarization I observe in Taiwanese society, that I do not think has been commented on. I see a vast militarization taking place in Taiwan, with all the negatives that can come with that. Militarization can infuse itself into all levels of society, and become a dominant outlook that excludes more humane, benevolent and even civilized attitudes. This might undermine my claim here, and it might be that militarization and war readiness is simply a reality in modern world affairs. Militarization often promotes philosophies of innate violence and the legitimacy and inevitability of military conflict, in an attempt to acclimatize people to militarism and war.
Source:Taipei Times
June 03, 2023 16:41 UTC
Southbound policy needs tweaking
Southbound policy needs tweakingBy Fang Tien-sze 方天賜Ahead of May 20, the anniversary of the presidential inauguration, the performance of the New Southbound Policy has again come under scrutiny. In fairness, the New Southbound Policy is not without merit. Some administrative details also show that the government does not attach as much importance to the New Southbound Policy as before. After that, New Southbound Policy was never included in the list, which is regrettable. To put it bluntly, the New Southbound Policy is Taiwan’s risk-avoidance strategy.
Source:Taipei Times
June 03, 2023 03:41 UTC
Lai apologizes to sex abuse victims
Lai said he deeply regrets the situation and apologized to the victims, while also praising them for having the courage to come forward. People would remain anonymous as an investigation is conducted, and the party would provide legal assistance and counseling for victims who press charges, Lai said. Top officials of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have also been accused of negligence when responding to sexual harassment allegations. Separately, DPP New Taipei City Councilor Chang Chin-hao (張錦豪) said that a female employee at the New Taipei City Government committed suicide in 2020 after allegedly being sexually abused by a superior in a case investigated by the Control Yuan. Chang accused New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of concealing information about the case.
Source:Taipei Times
June 02, 2023 21:47 UTC
EDITORIAL: China reshaping global narrative
EDITORIAL: China reshaping global narrativeA Beijing-based think tank last week published a poll showing that the majority of Chinese consider “international military intervention in Taiwan” one of the top threats facing China. A poll conducted in China, where freedom of speech is curtailed, cannot accurately reflect public opinion. Direct elections are held only at the local level in China, where nominees are controlled and vetted by the CCP. That the South China Morning Post also reported on the poll suggests that the CCP intends to use it as propaganda in Hong Kong. Schools should also teach children about disinformation and other threats from China, and conduct audits to limit the impact of China-friendly educators.
Source:Taipei Times
June 02, 2023 18:47 UTC
Window shopping
Qualcomm says AI needs more power than the cloudBIG MARKET: As growth in the number of devices and data traffic accelerates, it will not be possible to send everything to the cloud, a Qualcomm executive said Qualcomm Inc is betting the future of artificial intelligence (AI) will require more computing power than what the cloud alone can provide. The world’s largest maker of smartphone processors is transitioning from a communications company into an “intelligent edge computing” firm, Qualcomm senior vice president Alex Katouzian said. The edge in question is the mobile device that a user taps to access a network or service, and Katouzian used his time headlining one of the major keynote events at the Computex show in Taipei to make the case for how big a market that would be. The US company’s chips help smartphones harness
Source:Taipei Times
June 02, 2023 18:46 UTC
Special guests
Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of TaiwanBy Rachel Lin and Jake Chung
Source:Taipei Times
June 02, 2023 10:18 UTC
End US’ strategic ambiguity policy
Moreover, geostrategically, the West must do whatever it takes to defend both Ukraine and Taiwan to prevent either Russia or China from successfully upending the international order. The time for word games and rhetorical posturing is over — Washington must end its policy of strategic ambiguity on defending Taiwan. The ambiguity was concisely articulated during the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis when Chinese defense officials asked then-US president Bill Clinton’s assistant secretary of defense, Joseph Nye, what Washington would do if China attacked Taiwan. Xi must be made to understand that those presidential utterances were not top-of-the-head responses, but reflections of well-considered internal US policy. If strategic ambiguity is not finally ended, it would lead to major strategic miscalculation on China’s part — precisely the opposite of what Nye thought he was achieving with his opaque formulation.
Source:Taipei Times
June 02, 2023 03:42 UTC
EDITORIAL: A rejected suitor vs a failing prince
EDITORIAL: A rejected suitor vs a failing princeTaiwan has never had a president who is not from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A monthly poll released by my-formosa.com on Monday showed support for Hou nosediving from 26 percent to 18.3 percent, the lowest among the three presidential hopefuls. It was a surprising turn, as Hou had just won re-election as mayor by a wide margin in November last year. After staying out of the limelight for a week following Hou’s nomination, Gou appeared on Tuesday at a religious festival in Kinmen County. Gou, by flirting with a third party, could cause panic and unease in the KMT for rejecting him.
Source:Taipei Times
June 01, 2023 17:25 UTC
Safeguarding democracy not the KMT’s nature
Until the presidential election next year, the candidates’ past and current remarks and endorsements will be closely scrutinized as indicators of their future leadership. The candidate with the worst symptom is none other than Ko, a loose cannon known for making insensitive and outlandish remarks. However, the KMT’s party-state mindset still lingers in him. Having received firsthand the KMT’s spoon-fed patriotism of accentuating the sovereignty of the “Republic of China” (ROC), or “anti-Taiwanese independence,” Hou is still repeating the same obsolete slogans and values in his campaigns. If the party had “democracy written in it,” it would have found it unbecoming not to reward Deng for advocating freedom of speech, let alone ordering a raid that resulted in Deng’s self-immolation.
Source:Taipei Times
June 01, 2023 17:24 UTC
MediaTek looking beyond phone chips
The Hsinchu-based chip designer said it has counted on smartphone chips, power management chips and chips for other applications to fuel its growth in the past few years, but it is developing new products to continue growing. MediaTek Inc chairman Tsai Ming-kai poses for a photograph at an event in Hsinchu City on Dec. 8 last year. MediaTek shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$76 per share, including NT$14 from its capital surplus. Replenishing demand for automotive chips and chips used in industrial devices peaked last quarter, meaning demand for those two segments would stagnate, Liu said. UMC shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$3.6 per share.
Source:Taipei Times
June 01, 2023 03:43 UTC
Working with Indonesia on health
Working with Indonesia on healthBy Asri JalalTaiwan has a lot to offer Indonesia on healthcare in terms of knowledge-sharing and collaboration. By working together, the countries could make significant strides in improving the overall health and well-being of their citizens. Taiwan’s high-tech healthcare system and emphasis on technology could provide valuable insights and best practices for Indonesia’s healthcare system, which is in need of modernization. This is due to better healthcare services, a higher standard of living and its more developed healthcare infrastructure. Public health initiatives, disease prevention and health education programs have also improved the well-being of the population.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2023 21:43 UTC
S Korea proposes same-sex marriage bill
S Korea proposes same-sex marriage billSYMBOLIC: The bill sponsored by a cross-party group of lawmakers was hailed as a ‘historic moment’ in the fight for marriage equality, but is unlikely to passThe Guardian, SEOULLawmakers in South Korea have proposed the country’s first same-sex marriage bill, in a move hailed by civic groups as a defining moment in the fight for equality. The marriage equality bill, proposed by South Korean lawmaker Jang Hye-yeong of the minor opposition Justice Party and co-sponsored by 12 lawmakers across all the main parties, seeks to amend the country’s civil code to allow same-sex marriage. Lawmakers vote on a bill during a plenary session at the South Korean National Assembly in Seoul on April 13. “It’s a historic moment, but this is just the start,” said Ryu Min-hee, a lawyer at the Marriage Equality Korea civic group. A Hankook Research survey said that 52 percent of respondents opposed the idea of legislating same-sex marriage in South Korea.
Source:Taipei Times
May 31, 2023 21:42 UTC