Eye On Taiwan

PHOTO ESSAY/Cheering fans allowed into Taiwan’s pro baseball games Posted: 08 May 2020 02:46 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/08/2020 By: Kay Liu At the Fubon Guardians’ home venue in New Taipei. After nearly a month of games played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League greeted its first fans allowed back into the stadiums for the first time in two games played May 8. Some of the soldiers carried a giant national flag, while several chemical corp. soldiers sang the national anthem. Taoyuan's home team, the Rakuten Monkeys, continued to place cardboard cutouts and mannequins in the empty stadiums, along with a band of drumming robots.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan cricket English livestream to continue Posted: 08 May 2020 02:41 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: May 09, 2020 By: Staff writer, with CNA The outfield is pictured at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District yesterday. Photo: Grant Dexter, Taipei Times The second stage of the inaugural Taipei T10 cricket tournament starts today in the capital, with livestream English commentary for viewers around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The TCA Indians and FCC Formosans topped their groups in the first stage, which gave them direct entry to the semi-finals, which are to be played next week. The playoffs today are to begin with the ICCT Smashers, the Chiayi Swingers and PCCT United competing in Pool 1, while the Taiwan Dragons, the Hsinchu Titans and the Taiwan Daredevils are in Pool 2 tomorrow. The matches are at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Songshan District, with the first match of three starting at 11:30am each day.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan operators take mobile hit, ready 5G moves Posted: 08 May 2020 02:37 PM PDT Mobile World Live Date:  08 MAY 2020 The three major mobile operators in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom; Taiwan Mobile; and Far EasTone, reported similar results for Q1 over the past week, with all suffering declines in mobile revenue and device sales, and taking initial steps to prepare for 5G launches later in the year. All three won 5G spectrum in three bands in an auction concluded in January, with their business plans approved by Taiwan’s National Communications Commission in late March. Chunghwa Telecom The operator led the market during Q1, with GSMA Intelligence figures showing it had a 34.3 per cent share by subscribers compared with around 25 per cent each for its two rivals. Mobile service revenue slid 3 per cent year-on-year to TWD14.3 billion ($477 million), which the operator credited to market competition and VoIP substitution. Device sales fell 15.6 per cent to TWD8 billion. It didn’t release ARPU figures.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s economy shows resilience in Q1 Posted: 08 May 2020 02:33 PM PDT High demand of electronic components lift export growth, dining industry still struggling Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/08 By Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Electronic products, components still create momentum of Taiwan’s exports  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's international trade climbed in Q1 despite the severe impacts the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on the world economy; goods shipped to China, the U.S., and ASEAN countries saw the largest percentage increase. According to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF), the country's total exports in Q1 increased by 3.7 percent from last year, as a result of a 20 percent surge in electronic component exports alone. Meanwhile, imports shot up to 3.5 percent, mainly due to the high demand for manufacturing equipment and memory chips. Regarding trading partners, exports to the U.S. hit a historical high in Q1, with computers, disks, and Internet equipment making up the bulk of shipped goods. The sales of electronic components to Singapore turned a previous loss in exports to Southeast Asian countries over the past six quarters into a 5.6 percent increase. Because of the mixed demand for high-end technology, such as wafer testing and packaging, as well as raw materials for machines and plastic products, export growth to China was pegged at 6.7 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Acer, Asustek post higher April sales due to remote working, learning Posted: 08 May 2020 02:29 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/08/2020 By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang Taipei, May 8 (CNA) Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc., the two leading PC brands in Taiwan, both reported on Friday an increase in sales for April due to more people working and learning remotely, which boosted demand for computer products, offsetting the economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Acer said it posted NT$19.75 billion (US$661 million) in consolidated sales, up 41.1 percent from a year earlier, while Asustek announced its consolidated sales for the month rose 13.7 percent from a year earlier to NT$22.74 billion. In a statement, Acer said although the COVID-19 pandemic had forced many consumers to stay at home, the company benefited from solid demand because of an increase in online working and learning. Under such circumstances, Acer said sales of its Chromebook notebook computers rose 327.9 percent from a year earlier in April, while purchases of its ultrabook computers almost doubled last month.    [FULL  STORY]

Exports shrink on virus woes Posted: 08 May 2020 02:26 PM PDT SLUGGISH DEMAND: Mineral product shipments tumbled 63.2%, while exports of textiles fell 37.4% following the postponement and cancelation of sports events Taipei Times Date: May 09, 2020 By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter The nation’s exports last month shrank 1.3 percent year-on-year to US$25.24 billion, the lowest since May 2017, as poor shipments of raw materials — due in part to price routs — more than eclipsed robust shipments of electronic components, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The retreat could worsen to between 4 percent and 6 percent this month as most global nonessential businesses are closed to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, stalling trade activity, the ministry said. “Taiwan may feel a sharper pinch from the COVID-19 pandemic going forward, with downside risks looming larger than upside surprises,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei. Mineral product shipments tumbled 63.2 percent, the worst decline in history, as unprecedented shutdowns in Europe, the US and parts of Asia saw demand slump, Tsai said.   [FULL  STORY]

Legislature approves additional NT$150 billion in COVID-19 relief Posted: 08 May 2020 02:22 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 08 May, 2020 By: Leslie Liao The Legislature passed an additional NT$150 billion budget dedicated to COVID-19 relief The Legislature has passed a supplemental budget for COVID-19 relief, allocating an additional NT$150 billion (US$5 billion). This additional funding brings the total set aside for COVID-19 relief so far to NT$210 billion (US$7 billion).    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s vice president says ‘possibility’ that Covid-19 came from Chinese laboratory Posted: 08 May 2020 02:18 PM PDT France24 Television Date: 08/05/2020 By::Marc Perelman In an interview with FRANCE 24, Taiwan's Vice President Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist by training, discussed his country's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, while criticising the response of China and the World Health Organization. Chen refused to rule out the "possibility" that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. He also expressed concern about a second wave of the virus appearing in autumn or winter. Taiwan has some 440 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and so far only six deaths, despite being relatively close to the epicentre of the virus. Vice President Chen Chien-jen told FRANCE 24 his country had been able to control the pandemic because it took a very early decision to quarantine travellers from the Chinese city of Wuhan and quickly isolate and trace confirmed cases. He explained that this rapid reaction was a result of the experience of the SARS outbreak in 2003. Reacting to the Trump administration's claims that the virus had most likely originated at a laboratory in Wuhan – and not a seafood market as claimed by China – Chen said this theory could not be ruled out but that the only way to know was a thorough scientific probe. "The origin of the virus has to be examined scientifically and so far we can see that the virus originated from Wuhan. Whether it is from a laboratory or from the natural infection sources needs further confirmation," he said, adding that the laboratory theory was "one of the possibilities". He said that China clearly did not give the true figures of victims of the pandemic, saying that in the early stages, "only severe pneumonia cases were isolated and treated in hospital", thereby underestimating the real figures.    [FULL  STORY]

Paraguayan opposition call to dump Taiwan opposed by public: MOFA Posted: 08 May 2020 02:05 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/08/2020 By: Emerson Lim CNA file photo Taipei, May 8 (CNA) Calls by some "left-leaning" legislators in Paraguay, Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in South America, to shift formal ties to Beijing are opposed by public opinion in the country, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday, reiterating the long-standing friendship between the two countries. According to the latest issue of Americas Quarterly, published on May 7, the Paraguayan Senate took a vote on April 17 in a virtual session on whether to urge the president to change diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Confirming the report, MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said seven Paraguayan senators associated with the left-leaning party caucus "Frente Guazú" petitioned on March 30 to establish formal ties with Beijing in exchange for medical supplies from China and direct access to China's market. The 45-seat Paraguayan Senate voted against the proposal, 25-16, on April 17, with four absent, Ou said in a statement, adding that the ministry is closely watching developments. [FULL STORY]

Whale shark added to protected species list Posted: 08 May 2020 01:58 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: May 09, 20207 By: Wang Chun-chi and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer A whale shark swims past a whale-watching boat off the coast of Hualien County in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Turumoan Whale Watching and Water Entertainment Co The whale shark has been added to the nation’s list of protected species, the Ocean Affairs Council said on Tuesday, adding that offenders face fines and imprisonment. The whale shark, along with the giant oceanic manta ray and the reef manta ray, were on Tuesday last week added to the list, making the disturbance, abuse, slaughter or capture of any of the three species punishable by up to five years in prison, and a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million (US$10,033 to US$50,164), the council said. Whale sharks have been sighted in waters near Hualien for a few years now, and in March this year a roughly 6m whale shark swam into the Port of Hualien looking for food, it said. The capture of the three species has long been prohibited by stipulations in the Fisheries Act (漁業法), which require fishers to return the animals to the sea if accidentally caught, alive or dead, Hualien County Bureau of Agriculture Director Lo Wen-lung (羅文龍) said, but changes were made to enhance protection of the species by increasing the severity of punishments for offenders.    [FULL  STORY]

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Eye On Taiwan

Air France to cancel Taipei-Paris flight route from June 1 Posted: 07 May 2020 05:58 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/07/2020 By: Yu Hsiao-han and Lee Hsin-Yin CNA file photo Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Air France announced Thursday that it will cancel all direct flights between Taipei and Paris, with effect from June 1, citing financial issues due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The carrier said it will terminate its three round-trip services per week between the two cities, after it temporarily suspended the flights on March 8 this year amid the pandemic. In a letter to its business partners, Air France said the airline industry has been among those that have taken the brunt of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic since early 2020. [FULL  STORY]

IDB approves 756 aid requests Posted: 07 May 2020 05:55 PM PDT STAYING AFLOAT: IDB has issued NT$734 million in subsidies to help companies pay wages last month for up to 33,957 employees, and it plans another NT$1.12 billion Taipei Times Date: May 08, 2020 By: Natasha Li / Staff reporter Industrial Development Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Chih-ching, left, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) has approved 756 of 1,224 applications from companies seeking government subsidies due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said yesterday. Of the approved applications, 280 are from base metal and machinery equipment makers, 188 are from consumer goods and chemical materials manufacturers, and 120 are from information and communication technology companies, IDB data showed. The remaining applications are from businesses across various sectors, such as design, tourism and knowledge-based industries. “Applications are still pouring in and we are receiving an average of 100 applications per day,” IDB Deputy Director-General Yang Chih-ching (楊志清) said at a news briefing in Taipei. [FULL  STORY]

Poll: Tsai’s approval rating hits 75% as she heads into second term Posted: 07 May 2020 01:31 PM PDT Radi Taiwan International Date: 07 May, 2020 By: John Van Trieste President Tsai Ing-wen is enjoying her highest approval rating since 2016 according to the results of a new poll. The results of a recent poll released on Thursday show that President Tsai Ing-wen’s approval rating has reached 74.5% as she heads into her second term. That’s the highest approval rating Tsai has had since 2016, when she began her first term in office. The poll was conducted in late April on behalf of Taiwan Brain Trust, a group with ties to President Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Never Needed Shutdowns to Control Covid-19. Its Economy Is Stalling Anyway. Posted: 07 May 2020 01:27 PM PDT Barron's Date: May 7, 2020 By: Matthew C. Klein Americans hoping to boost the economy by lifting restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus should pay close attention to Taiwan. The country of 23 million has handled the novel coronavirus better than any other country in the world, with fewer than 500 confirmed cases and only six deaths. Taiwan never needed to shut businesses or impose lockdowns to stop the spread of the virus. But that hasn’t been enough to prevent the disease from taking a bite out of the economy. Taiwan’s experience is a sobering lesson on the limits of what “reopening” can achieve under even the best of conditions. The most obvious problem for Taiwan is that many of its businesses sell to customers in other countries. As spending falls elsewhere, Taiwanese producers will take a hit regardless of domestic conditions. According to a survey of Taiwanese purchasing managers by IHS Markit, new orders for manufactured goods fell in April at the fastest rate since January 2009. Big Crash Taiwanese manufacturers had the biggest drop in new orders in April since the globalfinancial crisis.    [FULL  STORY]

CORONAVIRUS/Doctors inhibit key COVID-19 complication with blood purification Posted: 07 May 2020 01:22 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/07/2020 By: Chiu Chun-chin and Matthew Mazzetta Wang Wei-chieh (王偉傑) Taoyuan, May 7 (CNA) State-run Taoyuan General Hospital said Thursday it successfully used blood purification techniques to treat a patient suffering from complications of COVID-19, though a government expert cautioned more research is needed to determine the overall efficacy of the treatment. At a press conference, nephrologist Wang Wei-chieh (王偉傑) said his team used the techniques to inhibit an extreme immune response — known as a "cytokine storm" — which often causes death in severe COVID-19 patients. The patient in question was a 52-year-old woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 15, Wang said. On March 24, she was intubated after developing severe respiratory symptoms, and transferred to a negative-pressure isolation room two days later, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

Woman gets 18 years for matricide Posted: 07 May 2020 01:17 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: May 08, 2020 By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter A 44-year-old woman surnamed Lin (林) was yesterday sentenced to 18 years in prison for beating her mother to death last year, although the defense told the Shilin District Court of Lin’s mental illness and alleged abuse by family members. The judges convicted Lin of assaulting her mother and inducing injuries causing death, and said that despite having a mental illness, she had the ability to control her actions at the time of the crime, so the sentence could not be commuted to a lesser punishment. As it was the first ruling, Lin can file an appeal. An investigation showed that Lin lived with her 73-year-old mother in Taipei’s Tianmu (天母) area. The two had quarreled for many years, as Lin said she believed her mother took her things and had placed a death curse on her.    [FULL  STORY]

Tsai vows to continue work towards justice for indigenous peoples Posted: 07 May 2020 01:14 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 07 May, 2020 By: Paula Chao President Tsai Ing-wen (CNA photo) President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to continue pushing for transitional justice for Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Tsai set up the Indigenous Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee under the Presidential Office in March 2017.    [FULL  STORY]

A Lesson for AMERICA? Posted: 07 May 2020 01:10 PM PDT Taiwan’s Single-Payer National Health Insurance Milken Institute Review Date: May 4, 2020 By: tsung-mei cheng The idea of single-payer (government) health insurance — sometimes made more appealing to Americans by calling it Medicare for All and first proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders in 2017 — has gained considerable traction thanks in large part to the Democratic presidential primaries. A January Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that a narrow majority of Americans (56 percent) favor Medicare for All. But the candidates who want a single-payer system haven’t spelled out precisely what they mean. And most Americans, it is safe to say, have at best a fuzzy idea about what a true single-payer approach is and how it would work. If Americans are somewhat familiar with any single-payer system, it’s the one in Canada. Here, I outline another single-payer system built almost from scratch more recently — and in a place that’s even more affluent than Canada: the island of Taiwan. Arguably the most startling aspect of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system is how they manage to get high-quality outcomes for a small fraction of what Americans pay — and how well they have managed the coronavirus pandemic. But I get ahead of myself. The Origin Story Before Taiwan chose to go the single-payer route, it had a crazy-quilt of 13 separate insurance schemes — Labor Insurance, Government Employees Insurance, Farmers Insurance and so on — which together covered just 59 percent of the population. And a disproportionate number among the remaining 41 percent were people who could least afford to go without: children, women, the elderly and disabled, and informal sector workers who had to pay out of pocket for needed care or forego it. Impoverishment from costly illnesses was commonplace, and health disparities were wide. But when Taiwan decided that enough was enough, it plowed through a thicket of obstacles in relatively short order. After some seven and a half years of planning and 18 months of toiling through the legislative process, the government implemented its national insurance program in March 1995 — a full five years ahead of the original schedule. And once in place, it was implemented in startlingly little time: by the end of 1995, 90 percent of Taiwan’s then 21 million residents were enrolled.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan protests WHO’s reference to Taiwan as part of China Posted: 07 May 2020 12:59 PM PDT Taiwan's foreign ministry asks UN health agency to refrain from kowtowing to Beijing Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/07 By:  Taiwan News, Staff Writer WHO Legal Counsel Derek Walton. (Screenshot from WHO’s streaming video) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Thursday (May 7), Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested against the World Health Organization’s labeling of the island nation as part of Chinese territory. The UN health agency’s annual assembly will be held virtually within two weeks, and much attention has been focused on Taiwan’s participation in addition to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Taiwan had been invited to the World Health Assembly (WHA) from 2009 to 2016 as an observer, but the island nation’s access has been blocked in recent years due to Beijing's growing pressure on international organizations to exclude Taiwan. Answering a question at a press briefing Wednesday (May 7) concerning Taiwan’s invitation to the upcoming WHA on behalf of Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Derek Walton, a legal counsel for the WHO, said Taiwan’s participation is a decision to be made by the agency’s member states. In his response, which included mostly officials statements that other WHO staff had made before, Walton specifically referred to Taiwan as “Taiwan, China,” while stressing that the WHO Secretariat is not entitled to decide Taiwan’s participation.    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. secretary of state urges WHO chief to invite Taiwan to WHA Posted: 07 May 2020 12:52 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/07/2020 By: Stacy Hsu, Tang Pei-chun and Joseph Yeh United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (CNA File Photo) Washington, May 6 (CNA) United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) to invite Taiwan to this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), saying it is within a WHO director-general's power to do so. In a press briefing, Pompeo reiterated Washington's support for Taipei's participation as an observer in this year's WHA, the decision-making body of the WHO, which will be held online from May 18-19 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. "Today I want to call upon all nations, including those in Europe, to support Taiwan's participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly and in other relevant United Nations venues," he said. He also urged WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to invite Taiwan to the WHA, "as he has the power to do, and as his predecessors have done on multiple occasions." [FULL  STORY]

Eye On Taiwan

Taiwan baseball to let 2,000 fans in for Friday’s games Posted: 06 May 2020 03:19 PM PDT Taiwan’s CPBL to become world’s first baseball league to allow fans in since coronavirus outbreak Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/06 By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer Taiwan’s CPBL to allow maximum of 1,000 fans per game starting Friday.  (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan professional baseball (CPBL) will become the first majors in the world to bring fans back into the stadium on Friday (May 8), after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed a maximum of 1,000 fans will be allowed at each game. After being the first baseball league to open its 2020 season worldwide, the CPBL has sought approval from the CECC to allow spectators back into the seats. Since the season began on April 12, the teams have been playing behind closed-doors with cardboard cut-outs and dummies standing in for the crowd. The games have also been broadcast live in English and have attracted a lot of international attention. Media outlets, including the New York Times and Reuters, have praised the Taiwanese sports league for its pandemic prevention measures as well as the country's overall success in containing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). During a daily press conference on Wednesday, Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced that 1,000 spectators each will be allowed to enjoy Friday's games in person at the Xinzhuang Stadium in New Taipei City and the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung. Chen said fans must have their temperatures taken, wear face masks and maintain 1.5 meters of social distancing, reported Yahoo News.    [FULL  STORY]

CORONAVIRUS/Taiwan pro baseball games to admit 1,000 fans beginning Friday Posted: 06 May 2020 03:15 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/06/2020 By: Yang Chi-fang, Yeh Su-ping and Joseph Yeh CPBL’s opening game on April 12. Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Taiwan's professional baseball league, which has played in empty stadiums since the beginning of the season, will open its games to 1,000 fans starting Friday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Wednesday. CECC chief Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the CECC approved the Chinese Professional Baseball League's (CPBL's) proposal to admit up to 1,000 fans as part of measures it is taking to relax social distancing restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases dwindles. CPBL Secretary-General Feng Sheng-xian (馮勝賢) thanked the CECC for its decision and said the league has prepared detailed epidemic prevention measures for fan attendance at games. Feng said the presence of fans will be a major morale boost for the CPBL, which has played more than 20 games without fans since its first game of the season at Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on April 12.    [FULL  STORY]

8% of Taiwanese women do not return to work after parental leave, data shows Posted: 06 May 2020 03:10 PM PDT Those returning worry about wage gap, glass ceiling, lack of support from coworkers Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/06 By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer (Getty Image photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Mother's Day nears in Taiwan, a local women's group is pointing out that discrimination against working mothers is still very real, with 8 percent of women in the country not returning to their jobs after parental leave. According to a recent poll, the main reason for Taiwanese women remaining out of the workforce after giving birth is that their jobs have often been taken by the time they are ready to return. Taiwan is doing better with gender equality in the workplace than other Asian nations, but the Garden of Hope Foundation drew attention on Wednesday (May 6) to the reality that the gender wage gap and glass ceiling, however improved, still remain serous issues in the country. Women in Taiwan tend to take primary responsibility for childcare; up to 83 percent of those who took parental leave in 2018 were women.    [FULL  STORY]

Climeon Wins First Geothermal Order in Taiwan Posted: 06 May 2020 03:07 PM PDT Renewable Energy Magazine Date: 06 May 2020 Climeon has received its first order within geothermal heat power in Taiwan, a new geographical market for the company. The order comes from Baseload Power Taiwan and includes Climeon Heat Power systems as well as design and consultancy services for the surrounding power plant. The total order value amounts to about $4 million. The target is to deliver the heat power modules by the end of the year. Associated design and consultancy services will be delivered as the project progresses. The power plant is expected to be one of the first commercial geothermal heat power plants in the country. ­ “We are proud to continue our global expansion through a first order in Taiwan. The geological conditions combined with financial incentives for green electricity production makes Taiwan an interesting market with great potential for Climeon,” says Thomas Öström, CEO of Climeon. “Taiwan is a prioritized market for Baseload Capital and we are very happy be able to start executing on a first power plant in the country,” says Van Hoang, president of Baseload Power Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

CPI falls for 3rd straight month in April Posted: 06 May 2020 02:59 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/06/2020 By: Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao CNA file photo Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI) in April fell from a year earlier for the third consecutive month amid concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus, largely due to falling transportation and fuel prices, according to government statistics released Wednesday. The CPI for April fell 0.97 percent from a year earlier following an 8.56 percent drop in transportation and communications costs and a 35.5 percent plunge in fuel prices caused by plummeting international crude prices, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). Education and entertainment costs were also down 1.8 percent from a year earlier in April, as hotel operators cut prices by 15.44 percent and travel agencies slashed the price of domestic tours by 4.6 percent to attract consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the DGBAS added. Bucking the downturn, food prices rose 1.27 percent from a year earlier in April, with the price of fruit up 14.18 percent, but with the cost of eggs and vegetables dropping 13.63 percent and 7.32 percent, respectively, to offset soaring food prices, according to the DGBAS. [FULL  STORY]

Driver IC maker Novatek posts record-high net profit Posted: 06 May 2020 02:55 PM PDT Taipei Times Date: May 07, 2020 By: Natasha Li / Staff reporter Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠), the world’s leading supplier of driver ICs for LCD panels, yesterday reported a record-high net profit of NT$2.21 billion (US$73.9 million) for last quarter, rising 12.38 percent from a year earlier and 22.7 percent from the previous quarter. That translated into earnings per share of NT$3.63, up from NT$3.23 a year earlier and NT$2.96 the previous quarter. Revenue grew 13.01 percent on an annual basis and a milder 2.21 percent sequentially to NT$16.89 billion, thanks to robust sales of system on a chip (SoC) and driver ICs for mobile applications, which contributed 30 percent and 70 percent respectively to overall sales, the company said. An undated photo shows Novatek Microelectronics Corp’s logo at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times Gross margin was better than expected, rising 0.39 percentage points to a record 33.2 percent, compared with Novatek’s forecast of 31 to 33 percent, due to a better product mix and nonrecurring engineering income, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Education Ministry rolls out Hokkien, Hakka classes for immigrants Posted: 06 May 2020 01:33 PM PDT Radio Taiwan International Date: 06 May, 2020 By: John Van Trieste The education ministry is rolling out classes in the Hokkien and Hakka languages for new immigrants to Taiwan. The education ministry has started classes in the Hokkien and Hakka languages for immigrants to Taiwan. The initiative is part of the ministry’s adult education program. Last year, the ministry’s Mandarin-language program for immigrants attracted more than 10,000 students. However, a survey of immigrants’ needs revealed that many need to master the Hokkien and Hakka languages. Though long treated as mere dialects of Chinese, banned from schools, and discouraged in public life, they remain the home language of many Taiwanese families. They have also enjoyed promotion in recent years, with both now having dedicated television stations. [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese official reveals China suspected ‘human to human’ transmission by January 13 Posted: 06 May 2020 01:29 PM PDT The statement by a Chinese official is believed to have been the first acknowledgement the virus was likely to be spreading between humans The Telegraph Date: May 2020 By: Nicola Smith Medical staff wearing protective clothing at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan in January CREDIT: AFP One of the first foreign infectious disease experts to gain access to the Chinese city of Wuhan – the original epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak – was told by a Beijing official on January 13 that “limited human to human transmission cannot be excluded.” The statement made to Chuang Yin-ching, a senior official working for Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control, is thought to be the earliest acknowledgement that the pandemic which has now wreaked havoc across the world was already underway. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Mr Chuang’s provides a fascinating window into the confusion on the ground and tensions between health officials that may have allowed the disease to spread out of control in the early stages of the crisis.  He and a colleague had been permitted to visit Wuhan from January 13-15 to discuss the emerging novel coronavirus with Chinese health officers and doctors.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s health minister asks WHO for first-hand information on coronavirus Posted: 06 May 2020 01:24 PM PDT Second-hand information could compromise Taiwan’s ability to devise timely measures, said Chen Shih-chung Taiwan News Date: 2020/05/06 By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The head of Taiwan’s coronavirus response task force called upon Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (CNA photo) the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide the island nation access to first-hand information about the pandemic for better disease control. Taiwan, excluded from the WHO, can only access second-hand information about the development of the COVID-19 outbreak, preventing the country from acting fast and efficiently, said Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Minister of Health and Welfare and head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The “Iron Minister," which is the moniker Chen has earned for his diligent work and indefatigability, made the plea when speaking to foreign reporters in Taipei on Wednesday (May 6). "We're unable to see the woods for the trees,” Reuters quoted him as saying, adding that Taiwan could become a gap in global efforts to fight the epidemic if it fails to receive first-hand information for a clearer picture. The nation has lodged complaints against the WHO, including over erroneous case numbers it had for Taiwan and unanswered inquiries about the disease, the report said.    [FULL STORY]

Presidential inaugural ceremony to be streamlined amid COVID-19 Posted: 06 May 2020 01:18 PM PDT Focus Taiwan Date: 05/06/2020 By: Yeh Su-ping, Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao President Tsai Ing-wen (right) and Vice President-elect Lai Ching-te / CNA photo Jan. 11, 2020 Taipei, May 6 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) second inauguration ceremony on May 20 will be streamlined amid ongoing efforts to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said Wednesday. Unlike in previous years when presidential inaugurations involved multiple public events, the May 20 ceremony will be simple and solemn, Chang said. The event will start with a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Office, after which Tsai will move to the Taipei Guest House, where she will give an address and meet with envoys from foreign representative offices and diplomatic missions in Taiwan, Chang added. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no foreign guests have been invited to attend the ceremony, with political leaders from Taiwan's diplomatic allies and friendly countries set to send video messages of congratulations, according to Chang.    [FULL  STORY]

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