Eye On Taiwan

Taitung wins national baseball event; will represent Taiwan in LLB Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:15 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/26/2020 By: Hsieh Ching-wen and Joseph Yeh New Taipei, April 26 (CNA) A junior high school baseball team from Taitung County in southeastern Taiwan beat its rival from northern Taoyuan Sunday to win the county's first championship title in the Hsieh Kuo-cheng Cup for 21 years, gaining a berth to represent Taiwan in the Little League Baseball's (LLB's) Junior League Baseball Asia-Pacific Regional Tournament scheduled to be held in July. Taitung's Pei Nan Junior High School triumphed over Taoyuan's Hsin Ming Junior High School with a 3-1 score at New Taipei's Sanchong Baseball Stadium in a game that was played behind closed doors on account of fears over the COVID-19 coronavirus. The team's head coach, Huang Kuei-yu (黃貴裕), attributed the hard-earned victory to the joint efforts of the team's two left-handed pitchers, Huang Yu-yao (黃宇耀) and Huang Chin-hao (黃錦豪). Starting pitcher Huang Yu-yao gave up one run in five innings, with four strikeouts and four hits, while Huang Chin-hao, meanwhile, had two scoreless innings as a reliever, giving up one hit and no runs.    [FULL  STORY]

Monkeys’ slugger hailed despite loss Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:12 PM PDT Fubon FLOURISH: The Guardians hit three homers to edge out the CTBC Brothers 5-4 yesterday, with closer Chen Hung-wen chalking up a save in the final inning Taipei Times Date: Apr 27, 2020 By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter The Uni-President Lions’ Lin An-ko hits a solo home run during their game against the Rakuten Monkeys in Tainan yesterday. Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times Taiwanese and international sports media lauded slugger Chu Yu-hsien of the Rakuten Monkeys, dubbing him “the new Babe Ruth” and “the world’s home run king” after he blasted another shot out of the ballpark to bring his season total to eight in eight games, but their pitching woes continued as they lost two to the Uni-President Lions over the weekend. Although Rakuten’s first baseman has had hot hands to start the season, he cooled off somewhat last night, picking up only one hit in four at-bats as his team slumped to second straight defeat to the roaring Lions. The Monkeys on Friday had made history with their seventh consecutive win, breaking their own 2011 record of six wins to start a season, behind a pitching gem by starter Wang Yi-cheng in a 14-4 rout of the Lions in Tainan. However, the Lions have awoken from their early-season slumber, scoring 20 runs over the weekend against Rakuten pitching staff and winning 12-5 yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

MediaTek to Enable Cutting-edge AV1 Video Codec Technology on Android Smartphones Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:08 PM PDT Taiwan News Date: 2020/04/28 By:  prnasia.com HSINCHU, Taiwan, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — MediaTek has announced it will enable YouTube video streams using the cutting-edge AV1 video codec on the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G SoC. The MediaTek Dimensity 1000 is the world's first smartphone SoC to integrate an AV1 hardware video decoder, enabling it to play back AV1 video streams up to 4K resolution at 60 fps. With its improved compression efficiency, AV1 gives users incredible visual quality and smoother video experiences, while using less data. Video streaming is the number one activity in smartphone use, so by using the Dimensity 1000's more power efficient hardware-based AV1 video decoder, users can enjoy longer battery life while still streaming at the best quality settings. Combined with its ultra-fast 5G connectivity in a single chip, the Dimensity 1000 leads the industry in design and capability. "MediaTek is engaged in consistently upgrading its offerings to enhance user experience, and AV1 technology is a prime example. Video is now the most used form of communication, with 70% of Millennials and Gen Z reportedly using streaming services," said Dr. Yenchi Lee, Assistant General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Business Unit. "Industry reports state that the video streaming market is likely to expand at a CAGR of 19.6% and touch $124.57 billion by 2025, and it is one of the principle drivers of 5G services. MediaTek is leading the way in enabling effective video streaming with AV1." The AV1 video codec is creating a landmark change in the video streaming industry. First released in 2018 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), AV1 is royalty-free, crafted to replace the VP9 codec and become the Internet Video Codec (NETVC) standard. AV1 is an ultra-high-performance video codec technology that delivers 30% more compression efficiency over existing VP9.    [FULL  STORY]

Dream Lucid refutes Nathan Rich’s claims that Taiwan belongs to China Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:05 PM PDT British vlogger picks apart Nathan Rich's assertion that Taiwan is part of China Taiwan News Date: 2020/04/28 By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Caricature of Nathan Rich. (YouTube, DREAM清醒夢LUCID screenshot) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In his latest video, a British blogger with strong ties to Taiwan goes after American YouTuber Nathan Rich's erroneous claims that Taiwan is part of China. In his latest YouTube video uploaded on Sunday (April 26), Christopher Raymond Hall, who goes by the handle DREAM清醒夢LUCID, itemized and refuted each of Rich's claims in a video about China's supposed sovereignty over Taiwan. Hall started out by introducing Rich, an American and former Scientologist who now works in Beijing as a propagandist for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In response to Rich's claim that "Taiwan is not a nation," Hall pointed out that Taiwan has its own currency, military, flag, president, and democratic legislature. After Rich claimed "Taiwanese separatists" were attacking the World Health Organization (WHO), Hall retorted that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has rejected the proposed "one country, two systems" framework, declaring that Taiwan and China are in fact "two countries, two systems." Rich then went on to say that "Taiwan is not a country, Taiwan is not a nation, it is not a sovereign state. And that's not just my opinion. That's just a fact." In disgust, Hall said, "You may be OK selling your soul to the CCP, but I am not."    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan could boost daily mask output to 19 million by mid-May Posted: 28 Apr 2020 03:01 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/28/2020 By: Wu Po-wei, Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin CNA file photo. Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Taiwan could see its surgical face mask production top 19 million per day by mid-May after 22 additional production lines went into operation, Economic Affairs Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said Tuesday. Speaking during a radio interview, he said that the 19 million daily output is only a conservative estimate, expressing optimism that the 22 additional production lines could exceed that number once they are running smoothly. Taiwan currently produces 17 million masks a day on 92 lines, according to Shen. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Taiwan was only capable of producing 1.8 million masks per day, but through the government's initiative to install additional machines needed to boost production, daily output has surpassed the 10 million mark after mid-March.    [FULL  STORY]

Vanguard profit down due to new fab Posted: 28 Apr 2020 02:56 PM PDT EXPECTATIONS: Gross margin is likely to improve to 31 to 33 percent this quarter, but chairman Fang Leuh said that the second half of the year remains very uncertain Taipei Times Date:  Apr 29, 2020 By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter The Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp logo is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu on Jan. 9. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times Vanguard Semiconductor International Co (世界先進), which makes power management ICs and driver ICs for displays, yesterday said that net profit last quarter fell 1.4 percent from the previous quarter to NT$1.48 billion (US$49.27 million) as a newly acquired fab from GlobalFoundries Inc dragged down gross margin and prices. Net profit was NT$1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Despite the quarterly decline, net profit rose 6.4 percent annually from NT$1.39 billion. Earnings per share fell to NT$0.89 from NT$0.91 the previous quarter, but rose from NT$0.84 a year earlier. Gross margin dipped to 31 percent last quarter from 36.1 percent the previous quarter, as well as in the first quarter of last year, the company said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]

VIDEO: Congressional friendship group donates 2,300 gowns to Osaka Posted: 28 Apr 2020 01:30 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 28 April, 2020 By: Paula Chao Congressional friendship group donates 2,300 gowns to Osaka Congressional friendship group donates 2,300 gowns to Osaka[/caption] A congressional friendship association has donated 2,300 protective medical gowns to Osaka to help the Japanese city weather the COVID-19 crisis. The cross-partisan association, founded by DPP lawmaker Kuo Kuo-wen, is aimed at promoting friendship between Taiwan and Japan. Taiwan and Japan do not have formal diplomatic relations. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, DPP lawmaker Kuo Kuo-wen said his association has mailed 2,300 gowns to Osaka. Kuo says Osaka desperately needs protective medical gowns. The city is short of medical gowns and often uses raincoats instead. Kuo says there is a serious need for medical supplies there and Taiwan should send donations to help out.    [FULL  STORY]

‘Mask diplomacy’: Taiwan donates half a million masks to Canada with appeal for closer ties Posted: 28 Apr 2020 01:25 PM PDT The Globe And Mail Date: April 28, 2020 By: Steven Chase People wear face masks to protect against the spread of COVID-19 as they ride on a bus in Taipei last week. The island has proven extremely successful at containing COVID-19, with only 429 infections and six deaths as of Tuesday, and this has left it in a position to extend medical assistance to other countries. CHIANG YING-YING/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Taiwan is donating half a million masks to Canada, expressing hope that some can be used to protect Indigenous communities, as the self-ruled island tries to counter the Chinese government’s effort to isolate it during the pandemic. Taiwan, a democracy of more than 23 million people, has been prevented from taking part in World Health Organization activities to fight COVID-19 because of Beijing, which regards the jurisdiction as a renegade province. The island has proven extremely successful at containing COVID-19, with only 429 infections and six deaths as of Tuesday, and this has left it in a position to extend medical assistance to other countries. Taiwan’s donation of medical supplies to Canada is the latest in a string of gifts from Taipei to other jurisdictions, from the United States to Japan to the European Union, as the island practices what’s being called “mask diplomacy.”    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan bans four types of sleeping pills for certain patients Posted: 28 Apr 2020 01:20 PM PDT Those who have experienced sleepwalking, semi-conscious movements not to be prescribed these medications Taiwan News Date: 2020/04/28 By:  Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer File photo, a drugstore employee reaches for medicine from shelf. (AP photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday (April 29) banned doctors from prescribing medicine containing any of four ingredients to people who have experienced an episode of sleepwalking or other movements while in a partially conscious state. The four medications are eszopiclone, zaleplon, zolpidem, and zopiclone. The last three are currently listed in Class IV drugs, meaning they are available only by prescription. FDA division chief Hung Kuo-teng (洪國登) said that while these four drugs are most commonly prescribed for insomnia, there have been reports in various countries about their side effects, which include sleepwalking. So far, the agency has received around 200 complaints across Taiwan, including reports of sleepwalking and even sleepdriving. Fortunately, no major accidents related to these drugs have been reported. According to official data, over 4 million people around the country take some form of sleeping pill each year.    [FULL  STORY]

No order from Duterte to deport OFW for libel: Philippines envoy Posted: 28 Apr 2020 01:16 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 04/28/2020 By: Joseph Yeh Angelito T. Banayo, chairman and resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Angelito T. Banayo, chairman and resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office. CNA file photo. Office. CNA file photo. Taipei, April 28 (CNA) The Philippines top envoy to Taiwan said Monday he has not received instructions from President Rodrigo Duterte to arrange the deportation of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Taiwan to Manila for allegedly libeling the president online. In a phone interview with CNA, Angelito T. Banayo, chairman and resident representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), said he would have received the instructions had they been issued but had not received any such directives to date. He also noted that deporting anybody from Taiwan is the sovereign right of the host government and is "not within the prerogative of a foreign government like the Philippines," which MECO represents in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties. "So the question of deportation is something that only the Taiwanese government can decide upon," he said.    [FULL  STORY]