Tue, May 05, 2020
TIANANMEN-LEVEL BACKLASH: An internal Chinese report by the CICIR concluded that global anti-China sentiment is at its highest since the 1989 crackdown US President Donald Trump’s administration is “turbocharging” an initiative to remove global industrial supply chains from China as it weighs new tariffs to punish Beijing for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, according to officials familiar with US planning. Economic destruction and the US’ massive COVID-19 death toll are driving a government-wide push to move US production and supply chain dependency away from China, even if it goes to other more friendly nations instead, current and former senior US administration officials said. “We’ve been working on [reducing the reliance of our supply chains in China] over the last few years but we are now turbocharging that initiative,” US Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach at the Department of State said. “I think it is essential to understand where the critical areas are and where critical bottlenecks exist,” Krach said, adding that the matter was key to US security and one the government could announce new action on soon. The US Department of Commerce, the State Department and other agencies are looking for ways to push companies to move both sourcing and manufacturing out of China. Tax incentives and potential reshoring subsidies are among measures being considered to spur changes, the current and former officials said. “There is a whole of government push on this,” one said. Agencies are probing which manufacturing should be deemed “essential” and how to produce these goods outside of China. Other ways to punish China besides additional tariffs include sanctions on officials or companies, and closer relations with Taiwan. The US is pushing to create an alliance of “trusted partners” dubbed the “Economic Prosperity Network,” one official said. It would include companies and civil society groups operating under the same set of standards on everything from digital business, energy and infrastructure to research, trade, education and commerce, he said. “Diversification and
China has questions to answer over the information it shared about the novel coronavirus outbreak, but a post mortem over its role should come later, British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace said yesterday. Asked by LBC radio if China had questions to answer over how quickly it made the world aware of the extent of the crisis, Wallace said: “I think it does.” “The time for the post mortem on this is after we’ve all got it under control and have come through it and our economies are back to normal,” Wallace said. “China needs to be open and transparent about what it learnt, its short comings but also it’s successes,” he said. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said that there was “a significant amount of evidence” that the novel coronavirus emerged from a Chinese laboratory, but did not dispute US intelligence agencies’ conclusion that it “was not man-made.” “There is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,” Pompeo told ABC’s This Week. “Remember, China has a history of infecting the world, and they have a history of running substandard laboratories,” he said. “These are not the first times that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab,” Pompeo said, briefly contradicting a statement on Thursday by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which said that the virus did not appear to be man-made or genetically modified. Meanwhile, a four-page US Department of Homeland Security intelligence report dated on Friday and obtained by The Associated Press said that Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early January to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it. Not classified, but marked “for official use only,” the analysis states that,
Taiwan is cooperating with partners in other nations on cybersecurity after the Brno University Hospital in the Czech Republic and the US Department of Health and Human Services experienced cyberattacks in recent months, Executive Yuan sources said yesterday. Taiwan has begun sharing cybersecurity intelligence with both nations, as well as others, to cooperate on defense measures, as Taiwan has extensive experience dealing with cyberattacks, the sources said, adding that China has ramped up attacks on the nation’s disease-prevention data centers and medical facility Web sites. In a March attack on the hospital, one of 18 COVID-19 testing centers in the Czech Republic, several of the hospital’s main computer systems crashed, delaying the results of several dozen tests for people believed to be infected with COVID-19, the hospital said. Cyberattacks are often routed through third countries, making it hard to pinpoint their origin, the sources said. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has been asked to strengthen defense measures on its computer systems, and the Department of Cyber Security was helping monitor the networks, the sources said. In related developments, Taiwan was among 19 nations that participated in a videoconference last week on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic held by the US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). The conference on Wednesday focused on “sharing lessons learned regarding COVID-19 response, desires for resuming engagement and exercises in a post-COVID-19 world, and a commitment to continued cooperation across the Indo-Pacific region,” PACAF said in news release on Saturday. The participants also addressed opportunities for cooperation in areas such as supply chain support, protocols on transport of patients, and applications for COVID-19 testing and tracing, it said. A Taiwanese military official, who asked not to be named, said that military exchanges between Taiwan and the US, such as the PACAF conference, were nothing new.
Japan yesterday extended its nationwide state of emergency until May 31, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying the country’s coronavirus measures need more time to reduce infection rates. Abe told a task force that experts would review the situation by Thursday next week and that the government was prepared to remove some areas from the state of emergency early, if possible. Abe had indicated last week that he would probably prolong the measures beyond the original end date of tomorrow. “Japan is starting to see some positive results,” Abe said in televised remarks. “But with a considerable number of people infected at this point, the decline in infections is by no means at a sufficient level.” “We must decrease the number of newly infected people to below that level” to reduce pressure on the country’s healthcare system, he added. While Japan has not experienced the surge in cases seen in some countries, experts have warned of the risks of letting its guard down too soon, as limited testing makes it hard to assess the scale of infections. The state of emergency enables regional governors to request businesses to close down and ask people to stay at home as much as possible. Abe said at a later news conference that he is aiming to have Avigan, an antiviral drug developed by Fujifilm Holdings Corp, approved for use as a COVID-19 treatment by the end of this month. The Japanese Ministry of Health has also received an application for expedited approval of Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, he said. Thirteen prefectures with a special alert status, including Tokyo and Osaka, would need to adhere to current measures to reduce interpersonal contact by about 80 percent, Abe said. However, museums, libraries and some other facilities would be able to reopen if they take anti-virus measures. Abe said that he
SOME OPTIMISM: New Taipei City will today begin a gradual opening of publicly owned sports centers, libraries and other venues, but with entry restrictions The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) last night reported four new cases of COVID-19, bringing the nation’s total to 436, after announcing at its 2pm news briefing that there had been no new cases and it was mulling loosening disease prevention regulations. The four cases are members of the crew of the supply ship Panshih (磐石), one of three vessels that had taken part in a “Friendship Flotilla” to the Western Pacific and which became the center of a scandal after 31 crew tested positive for COVID-19 following the flotilla’s return to Taiwan, forcing 713 other navy personnel from the flotilla to be put into a 14-day centralized quarantine. That quarantine period ended at 12am yesterday, and tests on the 713 had been completed by noon, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told its afternoon briefing. Those whose tested negative would be released from quarantine, although they would still have to undergo a seven-day self-health management period, except for the 346 who had been on the Panshih, who would have to pass a second test today before they could be released, he said. The rest of the sailors, officers and cadets would be released from quarantine at 5:30am today, Chen told the evening briefing. The CECC and the Ministry of National Defense had increased communications in the wake of the Panshih scandal and established an ad hoc task force to modify the military’s standard disease prevention procedures, he added. As it is difficult for shipboard medical officers to diagnose COVID-19, navy vessels deployed on longer journeys would be equipped with simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits, he said, adding that the center would also arrange for the kits to be available on outlying islands and in remote areas. “I want to represent the ministry in apologizing again to
Europe yesterday prepared for a further cautious easing of COVID-19 restrictions following signs that the pandemic might be slowing, with hard-hit Italy set to follow Spain in allowing people outside. More than 243,000 people have been killed and 3.4 million infected worldwide by the virus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed the global economy toward its worst downturn since the Great Depression. With signs that the spread of the contagion has been brought under control, parts of Europe, Asia and the US have begun to lift restrictions to try to inject life into economies crippled by weeks of closures and ease the pressure from populations wearying of confinement. After a two-month lockdown in Italy — with the second-highest number of virus deaths in the world — people from today will be allowed to stroll in parks and visit relatives. Restaurants can open for takeaway and wholesale stores can resume business, but there was some confusion about the extent of the easing. “I’m hoping this morning’s paper will clear up some of the many questions about what we can and can’t do,” said Pietro Garlanti, a 53-year-old cleaner, as he lined up at a kiosk. “I want to take my old mum to the seaside, can I?” Italian authorities have stressed that preventative measures are still needed. “On the one hand, we’re super excited for the reopening, we’re already organizing various activities the kids will be able to do with their grandparents outdoors, workshops in the garden, that sort of thing. The kids can’t wait to see them,” said Marghe Lodoli, who has three children. “On the other hand, it’s disorientating. The rules are not clear, and we’re not sure if just using common sense will do,” she said. Germany was also set to continue its easing today, while Slovenia, Poland
PREDICTION MODEL: The number of daily infections might fall below 2,500 by the end of next month, NTU College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen said The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely slow down by late next month, but disease prevention measures should be eased gradually, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. In the college’s 13th weekly report on COVID-19, college dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said that in the past four months, many countries have implemented measures including lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and social distancing, adding that infection and mortality rates in some countries have gone down. As the global pandemic continues, with more than 3.5 million confirmed infections, people have understood that social distancing works, but it also hurts the economy and social activities, so many countries and cities are trying to assess how to return to a relatively normal lifestyle, he said. Chen said that his prediction model, based on the number of daily reported cases, suggests that there would be fewer than 2,500 daily new cases worldwide by the end of next month. The wave of infection can be considered ended if reported cases worldwide drop below 2,000 per day, but there could be other waves in autumn or winter, he said. Different countries implement different degrees of social distancing and other non-pharmaceutical measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Chen said, adding that those that implement tighter social distancing regulations have controlled the outbreak better over the past few weeks. However, as they seriously harm economic activity, many countries are considering rolling back social distancing measures to revive their economies, he said. Overseas travel might also resume late next month, but countries might implement stricter quarantine measures, he added. Taiwan has succeeded in blocking the virus by implementing border controls, as well as quarantine and social distancing measures, in the early stages of the outbreak, but the government should consider how to gradually relax the regulations to revive the
As the COVID-19 pandemic affects society and people’s lifestyles, the way people engage in international exchanges might change and disease prevention measures could become the new normal, an academic said on Saturday. When facing a disaster, such as an earthquake, people tend to adopt a mental state called “normalcy bias” and expect things to continue the way they have in the past, according to their experience, said Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元), an associate professor of urban planning and disaster management at Ming Chuan University. While this way of thinking generally works for most situations, people have a propensity to use their experience to try to understand even inapplicable future events, including unprecedented disasters, he said. People might at first believe that “everything is going to be alright, because it always has been,” and take much more time to recognize that the current disaster is an exception from the norm, Ma said. At the early stages of the pandemic, most people in European countries and the US reacted with an attitude of: “We would not be so unlucky that we will fall victim to it,” or “It is nothing serious,” and continued to attend crowded events, which is an example of normalcy bias, he said. Japan was also caught off-guard in the pandemic’s early stages, Ma said. Although Japan has a well-thought-out disease prevention plan drafted by the central government and local communities, and has provided training for disease prevention personnel involved in the plan, people who were not involved in it had limited understanding of disease prevention measures, he said. Japanese generally exhibit low levels of political participation, with about 30 percent of the population still unaware of the disease situation, he added. The approach taken by Taiwan to fight COVID-19 was one that “adjusted along the way,” so although its advance planning was not as comprehensive
Taiwan is manufacturing certified and high-quality products to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, adding that many of the products have also secured certification in other countries. “The nation provides certified and effective disease-prevention products to the world. People can be reassured that products with Taiwan Excellence Awards certification are safe, reliable and high-quality,” said Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺), director-general of the ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Trade. The bureau announced the launch of a virtual healthcare pavilion on the Taiwan External Trade Development Council’s (TAITRA) Web site (http://anti-epidemic.taiwantrade.com). It features 42 disease-prevention products made by 33 domestic companies recognized with Taiwan Excellence Awards, ranging from masks, protective clothing and test kits to respiratory devices and disinfection robots, the bureau said. Through the online pavilion, interested buyers and journalists from more than 280 countries can watch Taiwanese manufacturers’ presentations, it said. The pavilion’s launch came after some countries, including Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands, reportedly rejected Chinese-made equipment designed to combat the coronavirus outbreak. Testing kits and masks made in China were below standards or defective, officials from those countries said. Taiwan can export disease-prevention products, because the products and the facilities they are manufactured in meet health certification standards at home and in destination countries, Chen said. “As the world combats the spread of COVID-19, we want to contribute to the world by engaging in free trade. Taiwan would not forget to help others, even though it regulates the export of certain products to protect its people,” he said. The nation has the capacity to produce ventilators used in intensive care units, but it needs to work with overseas partners, Chen said, adding that some key international companies have expressed an interest in working with Taiwanese manufacturers. Demand for Taiwanese-made disease-prevention products surged after the nation
VIRUS AID: About 340,000 uninsured people as well as 1.4 million farmers and fishers who do not qualify for other benefits would be eligible for the payment The government is to offer a one-time payment of NT$10,000 to workers not covered by social insurance programs, as well as farmers and fishers who do not qualify for other forms of financial aid, to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. Among those eligible are an estimated 340,000 people who work, but are not enrolled in labor insurance, farmers’ insurance, or any other social insurance program and have a household income of 1.5 to two times the average minimum living cost in their city or county, Su said. They include people who hold advertisement placards outdoors, street vendors and small-scale self-employed people, he said, adding that they would have access to the funds from Monday next week. Under a previous version of the program, those with a household income of less than 1.5 times the average minimum living cost in their city or county were eligible for a one-time payment of NT$30,000. In addition to the 340,000 eligible people, about 1.4 million farmers and fishers who make less than NT$500,000 annually and do not qualify for the NT$30,000 grant can apply for the NT$10,000 grant starting on Monday next week, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said. About 150,000 fishers who have labor insurance and have a monthly salary of less than NT$24,000 and an annual income of less than NT$400,000 are eligible for a one-time payment of NT$30,000, Chen said. However, none of Taiwan’s more than 1 million farmers qualify for that payment, he added. Farmers and about 200,000 fishers who have farmers’ insurance or no insurance may apply for the NT$10,000 payment instead, Chen said.
QUESTIONS REMAIN: The Transitional Justice Commission said that it is continuing to probe Chen Wen-chen’s death, and is seeking records of his surveillance in the US The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday said that it has made four discoveries in its investigation into the death of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor who died in July 1981 during a visit to Taiwan. Chen, 31, was found dead outside the library on the campus of National Taiwan University in Taipei on the morning of July 3, 1981. The Taiwan Garrison Command, a secret police body, had reportedly questioned him for more than 12 hours the day before. The commission said in a news conference in Taipei that Chen and his family had been under close surveillance before his death, and the government continued to monitor his family afterward. There was also no way to determine from the evidence available whether Chen ever left police custody after he was taken for questioning, it said. Chen’s body had been placed to make it appear that he had jumped from an upper floor of a campus building, but it was highly likely that he was murdered elsewhere and then thrown from the building, the commission said. It added that the government had obstructed Chen’s family in their search for the truth. When Chen’s body was found his wallet was not in the pocket he would normally place it, and there was a banknote in one of his shoes, commission member and defense attorney Greg Yo (尤伯祥) said, citing testimony from Chen’s family members. New evidence shows that Chen had been under surveillance since Sept. 30, 1979, when police intercepted a call between Chen and democracy activist Shih Ming-te (施明德), Yo said, adding that Chen and his family had also been monitored by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime while living in the US. Yo said that Chen was nearly hit by a black sedan that was following his bus during a trip to Kenting National Park after
INADEQUATE FINES: DPP Legislator Low Mei-ling said that fines are ‘very, very low,’ and some businesses can earn back the amount they paid in fines in ‘one night’ Several lawmakers yesterday called for tougher fire safety regulations after deadly blazes in Taipei and Kaohsiung raised concerns about fire safety. Lawmakers attending a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee questioned public officials over fire safety standards, with many calling for a review of regulations. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) raised the issue of disaster preparedness and fire safety in buildings constructed more than 30 years ago. She said that although buildings that are 30 years or older account for about 28 percent of sales of residential real estate in Taiwan, homeowners might have to wait decades before their properties undergo urban renewal. DPP Legislator Low Mei-ling (羅美玲) said that the fires in Taipei and Kaohsiung, which occurred about a week apart, show that fire safety inspections must be improved in public and private settings. Low called for a review of the fines stipulated by the Fire Services Act (消防法), saying that with some exceptions, they are “very, very low” and that businesses could potentially earn back the amount they paid in fines “in one night.” She also called for more random spot checks of fire safety equipment. From January to March, about 6,600 fires were reported nationwide, killing 48 people, Low said, citing National Fire Agency statistics. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) proposed that fire safety regulations be amended to impose heavier penalties on businesses that disable any one of five major fire safety features, including indoor fire hydrants, automatic fire sprinkler systems, automatic fire alarm systems, emergency broadcasting systems and smoke exhaust systems. “I feel like every time we [wait until] something happens to review” the situation, DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said. Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), who attended the meeting to answer lawmakers’ questions, urged businesses not to use fire safety equipment past their expiration dates. To prevent
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that a fire at a Cashbox Partyworld KTV on Taipei’s Linsen N Road on April 26 that resulted in six deaths was mainly due to the company’s misconduct. Ko again apologized for not fully protecting residents through the city’s fire safety inspections, before he and city officials gave a special report on the incident at the Taipei City Council yesterday morning. He said that Cashbox had committed two unlawful acts that resulted in the fire. First, it turned off the five major fire safety features: indoor fire hydrants, alarm systems, sprinklers, emergency broadcasting systems and smoke exhaust systems, he said. Second, fire compartmentation in the building — which helps prevent the spread of a fire with fire-resistant doors, floors and walls — had been damaged in renovations, which resulted in fire exit doors that could not be closed, he said, adding that this allowed the fire to spread rapidly to other floors. After the incident, the city conducted unscheduled fire safety inspections at many enclosed recreational facilities, and ordered those that failed to suspend operations, Ko said. Under fire safety regulations, the city can only order businesses to improve failed inspections within a given time limit, but the city government invoked the Administrative Enforcement Act (行政執行法) to order the immediate suspension of businesses that might cause serious safety issues, he said. The city government is to instruct the businesses to enhance fire safety management, improve and thoroughly implement fire safety inspections, and modify the related regulations, Ko said, adding that it would also review how to effectively manage inspections and prevent corruption in the process. The Taipei Construction Management Office should ensure that businesses have submitted all required documents, including fire safety plans, for construction or renovations, before it grants permits, he said. Responding to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor
Chunghwa Post yesterday unveiled a set of commemorative stamps for the nation’s 15th presidential inauguration on May 20. The package, to be released on the same day, contains three items: a stamp featuring President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is to begin her second term, and vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德); a collection of four designer stamps; and a stamp folio, Chungwha Post said. The stamp of Tsai and Lai show them smiling in white shirts to highlight their approachable nature, said graphic designer Aaron Nieh (聶永真), who designed the stamps. “The president and vice president are not legends high above the masses. They live under the same sky as we do,” Nieh said. The other four stamps each feature simple designs to convey the concepts of “blossoming,” “democracy,” “readiness” and “direction,” Chungwha Post said. The “blossoming” stamp, with a face value of NT$8, uses dots to depict firework bursts, the way the flower of democracy blossoms in Taiwan, it said. The NT$8 “democracy” stamp uses lines to create a mailbox, which contains a staircase leading to the Presidential Office, highlighting open communication channels between the government and the people, it said. The NT$15 “readiness” stamp uses shapes to depict a golf ball approaching the edge of a hole, as a way to show that the government is ready to serve the public with professionalism and perseverance, it said. The NT$15 “direction” stamp uses shades of colors to form a misty sky with a lighthouse in the distance, which signifies that after a fog there will always be the sun, it added. “The design of the package was finished amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Taiwan’s success in disease prevention has shown people at home and abroad its most trustworthy and reliable facets,” Nieh said.
The University of Edinburgh is to return the skulls of four Paiwan Aborigines who were killed in 1874, following requests from the central government, Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) Mayor Pan Chuang-chih (潘壯志) said on Friday. Japanese soldiers originally took the skulls as war trophies when they fought Paiwan Aborigines in retaliation for the killing of Ryukyuan sailors in the Mudan Incident, Pan told a news conference in Mudan. The remains changed hands twice before reaching the university in the same year, Pan said, adding that if the institution returns the skulls as planned, it would be the first time that human remains were repatriated to Taiwan. The conference was held to discuss how the return would be handled to meet the traditions and wishes of the Paiwan community. The Mudan Incident refers to the 1871 killing of Ryukyuan sailors, who were shipwrecked off the southern coast of Taiwan while returning to Miyako Island after paying annual tribute to the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Naha. When the 66 people aboard the vessel entered Paiwan territory, they were attacked due to a misunderstanding, and 54 were killed. The Japanese government sought compensation from the Qing court for the killings, but the court said that the incident was out of its hands. Japan then used the incident to challenge Qing sovereignty over Taiwan and in May 1874 sent a naval force to attack the Paiwan in retaliation. During the conference, Pan reiterated his proposals to the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Culture to build a memorial museum for the incident in the township, saying that hopefully on the 150th anniversary of the incident in 2024, people would have a proper venue to learn about this important chapter in Taiwanese history. Pingtung Cultural Affairs Department Director Wu Ming-jung (吳明榮) said that the department’s program to
CLOUDY OUTLOOK: Should the pandemic persist in the second half of the year, it would deal a heavy blow to Taiwan’s export-dependent economy, the CIER said The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month tumbled to 47.6, falling at the fastest pace in the survey’s history, as the COVID-19 pandemic diminished economic activity, but biotech and electronics suppliers benefited, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. Last month’s figure ended six straight months of increases and signaled a substantial deterioration in the health of the nation’s manufacturing sector, with companies unprecedentedly anxious about the future, it said. PMI readings aim to capture the pulse of manufacturing activity, with values larger than 50 indicating an expansion and those lower than the threshold suggesting a contraction. “The industry has emerged from concerns over supply chain disruptions after China resumed manufacturing activity, but fears loom over languid demand, if the eurozone, the US and some Asian markets remain closed to combat the virus,” CIER vice president Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全) told an online news conference. Should the pandemic persist in the second half of the year, it would deal a serious blow to Taiwan’s economy, which is heavily dependent on exports of electronics used in smartphones, laptops, tablets and other consumer gadgets. The sub-index on new business orders shed 13 points to 37.1, while the industrial output gauge lost 9.3 points to 40.2, both slumping at the fastest rate since the survey’s launch in July 2017. Firms reduced headcounts to cope with business declines, driving the employment measure down another 2.7 points to 46.5, the survey showed. The sub-index on customers’ inventory rose 7.1 points to an overly high of 50.5, adding pressure to adjustment needs, CIER researcher Chen Shin-hui (陳馨蕙) said. Fears of supply chain disruptions had prompted clients to build up inventory in previous months, he added. In the meantime, the reading on delivery time stayed high at 63.8, as travel bans worldwide upset sea and air shipments, Chen said. Firms’ forecasts are bleak,
RELIEF LOANS: Some banks are trying to get around the interest rate cap for loans to help firms affected by the pandemic by hiking other fees, a DPP legislator said The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) would investigate banks that charge “unreasonably high handling fees” when approving loans to companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday. “We will ask why the bank charged very high fees. If [the bank] cannot provide a fair reason or explanation, we will deal with the matter,” Koo told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei, without specifying what action it plans to take. He was responding to a comment by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵), who said she had received a complaint from an affected company, which was charged a handling fee of NT$80,000 (US$2,676) by Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) for a loan of NT$1.7 million, meaning it received only about NT$1.62 million. Under a relief program set by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the interest rate is capped at 1.845 percent for loans to companies affected by the pandemic, Lin said. Taipei Fubon’s high handling fee is a higher interest rate in disguise, she added. Lin said that handling fees vary from bank to bank and state-owned Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) had told her that it could have approved loans of up to NT$2.8 million with no handling fee. Taipei Fubon said in a statement later yesterday that it had clearly informed the borrower, one of its regular clients, about how it would charge handling fees and that the firm fully understood the terms. The bank charges a handling fee on all loans with maturity of at least one year and it usually deducts the fee directly from the loan, Taipei Fubon said, without revealing how it calculates its fees. “The handling fee of NT$80,000 is too high, given an average handling fee of NT$5,000 for mortgages at most banks,” a bank executive told the Taipei Times on condition of
Yageo Corp (國巨), the world’s No. 3 multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) supplier, yesterday reported a 2.63-fold sequential growth in net profit last quarter, as rising demand for high-capacity passive components used in 5G smartphones, servers and computers boosted gross margin. The company expects the growth momentum to carry into this quarter, given growing demand for 5G-related applications, work-from-home and online learning trends, as many countries around the world have implemented lockdowns and containment measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Yageo said it is boosting capacity utilization from 50 percent last year to cope with rising customer demand. Supply of passive components has been constrained since the runup to the Lunar New Year holiday, and Yageo’s inventory last quarter dropped to about 30 days from its normal level of 90 days. Despite the pandemic, demand is still outpacing supply this quarter, Yageo said. “The company’s operations, orders and shipments remain normal. The resumption of work at Chinese factories has also gradually improved,” the company said in a statement. Yageo usually sees a gradual uptrend in revenue in the first two quarters of a year, before hitting a peak in the third quarter. MLCC makers are widely expected to see a 20 percent sequential growth in revenue this quarter, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported last week. Yageo’s net profit soared to NT$2.35 billion (US$78.6 million) in the first quarter, compared with NT$893 million in the fourth quarter last year, but declined 9.27 percent annually. Earnings per share rose to NT$5.51 last quarter from NT$2.1 a quarter ago, but dropped from NT$6.11 a year earlier. Gross margin climbed to 40.3 percent last quarter from 33.5 percent the previous quarter due to rising prices. Separately, local peer Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) yesterday announced a capacity expansion plan amid a persistent supply crunch. The company said it is to invest NT$668 million to acquire
The Chiayi District Court last week pronounced a 55-year-old man surnamed Cheng (鄭) not guilty of the murder of a railway police officer last year, which surprised many and triggered a variety of remarks derogating people with schizophrenia. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians jumped on the opportunity to score political points, with KMT Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) calling for Cheng and people with schizophrenia who have committed a serious crime to be locked away in a special prison for life unless they are proven to be cured. KMT legislators Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) and Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) asked whether Cheng was “schizophrenic” when he committed the crime, and KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) even suggested that the court could consider imposing the death penalty on Cheng. These remarks are no less shocking than Cheng’s crime and show the politicians’ complete ignorance of one of the most prevalent mental illnesses of our time. Schizophrenia 101: The syndrome cannot be “cured,” it can only be kept under control. The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation says that no cure exists for schizophrenia, but that it is treatable and manageable through medication and behavioral therapy. Although numerous studies have shown that people with schizophrenia are prone to violent episodes, the Mayo Clinic says that people with the syndrome also have symptoms that might include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking and impaired communication. Moreover, while there is not yet a definite answer to whether schizophrenia is a neurodegenerative disorder, “several studies show that there is a decline in neurocognitive functioning prior to and in connection with onset of illness,” a 2009 research paper published in the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry says. In other words, whether Cheng was “schizophrenic” when he committed the crime is not the question. One could argue that schizophrenia patients’ thinking is impaired at all times, regardless of
After accusing Taiwan of launching “personal attacks” and a “racist campaign” against him at a news conference on April 8, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus quickly stirred up another controversy over whether the WHO had ignored Taiwan’s warning at the end of last year about possible human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus. That dispute extended the battle of words between Tedros and Taiwan, with unexpected results. It turned into a “battle of unequals” initiated by Tedros, but his display lacked meticulous tactical thinking and effective strategic adjustments. Taiwan used this to its advantage by highlighting the effects of its epidemic prevention efforts and successes. It also allowed Taiwan to promote its “Taiwan can help” strategy, which has given the nation more visibility internationally than it has experienced in decades, while also focusing global attention on its outstanding epidemic prevention efforts. All this has helped Taiwan create an international environment more conducive to once again opening the doors to the World Health Assembly (WHA). How did Taiwan manage to turn the tide? Tedros had already been the target of international criticism during the early stages of the pandemic following a series of pro-China statements, as well as a stream of misjudgements regarding the virus, including the denial of human-to-human transmission in a tweet posted by the WHO as late as Jan. 14. Amid growing global criticism, Tedros was unable to take it anymore and launched a “counterattack” at a WHO news conference. Unfortunately, he made multiple mistakes that a successful strategist would avoid when planning a counterattack. His attack was not only inaccurate, but also aimed at the wrong target, at the wrong time and the wrong place. In the end, he failed to achieve the result he hoped for and gave Taiwan a chance to turn the tide. Tedros’ verbal assault against Taiwan failed for
In an admirable opinion piece in the Taipei Times, Aletheia University associate law professor Wu Ching-chin (吳景欽) addressed the ruling in the 2014 Kaohsiung gas explosion case by the court of second instance from the perspective of the ability of juristic persons to have criminal responsibility (“Culpability for 2014 gas explosions,” May 2, page 8). Wu said that the criminal responsibility of juristic persons in work-safety related projects should be resolved by the Supreme Court. As a retired engineering professional, I feel that the ruling is a bit off the mark. Just as the warranty for every product will expire at some point in time, every project has an end-of-life date. Even buildings made of rebar and concrete will fall and disappear because of erosion by wind and rain, and the onslaught of earthquakes and land subsidence. Common sense tells us that underground pipelines will corrode and crack, be crushed by vehicles or destroyed by earthquakes. After nuclear power plants, the public infrastructures that have the most stringent demand for quality are reservoirs. The nation’s 95 reservoirs are managed by 15 different units. Some managers who place great importance on reservoir safety will make safety inspections every five years according to the regulations and follow up with any necessary improvements. Others are focused on expenses and delay as much as they possibly can. The responsibility of the top management can therefore be determined by whether their subordinates have reported maintenance needs. If their subordinates have neglected to report such needs, top management would only have administrative responsibilities, but if the needs have been reported, they would be criminally responsible. In the Kaohsiung gas explosion case, front-line workers and managers were responsible for maintaining the pipelines. Looking at fluctuations in pipeline pressure should have told them that the pipelines were leaking. There are detailed general maintenance
HEADING TO THE MAJORS? R.J. Anderson on CBSSports yesterday listed Rakuten Monkeys batter Chu Yu-hsien as the top player to watch from Taiwan and South Korea. Chu Yu-hsien on Sunday set the record for fastest player to 10 home runs in Taiwanese professional baseball as the Rakuten Monkeys defeated the CTBC Brothers 9-3, a day after they recorded their 1,000th win. Facing left-handed pitcher Jose de Paula in the fourth inning, Chu drilled a fastball over the right-field fence for a two-run homer as the Monkeys cruised past the Brothers at the Taoyuan International Baseball Stadium. Lan Yin-lun also contributed to the Monkeys’ victory, going three for four with four RBIs to help starting pitcher Weng Wei-chun pocket the win. Weng yielded six hits and three runs before departing in the seventh inning. With his dinger, Chu, in his fifth year with the Monkeys, set the CPBL record for the fastest player to 10 home runs, doing it in just 13 games and 51 at-bats, breaking the previous best of 20 games and 73 at-bats set by Lin Chih-sheng in 2009. “Each time I go out to bat, I look for particular pitches to hit... It’s a great feeling to set this home run record, but I think someone could break it,” Chu said. “It is important to help my team to win the title this season, so I must stay healthy to get into the starting lineup regularly through this campaign.” Chu’s performances this season have created a buzz at home and abroad — he is 0.472 batting, 0.500 on-base and 1.057 slugging. It has put him and the Monkeys in the spotlight with most of the sporting world inactive due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the media branding Chu the “Dimple Cannon,” because of his ever-present smile, and “Home Run King of the World.” Baseball journalists in Japan and the US have highlighted Chu’s superb batting displays, calling on teams in their respective nations to procure his services. R.J. Anderson on the US
Separated from their families and holed up in a hotel in rural eastern Australia, the New Zealand Warriors face a stiff test of character in the coming weeks as the National Rugby League (NRL) looks to restart its season. The Warriors on Sunday boarded a charter plane in Auckland, New Zealand, and touched down in Tamworth, a town of 43,000 people in New South Wales, where they are to spend two weeks in quarantine before the planned NRL resumption on May 28. Strict travel curbs remain in both Australia and New Zealand, as the nations edge closer to stamping out COVID-19, but the Warriors, the only non-Australian team in the NRL, were granted special dispensation to travel to Australia, where authorities are keen for sports to resume and ease frustrations after more than a month of self-isolation. The Warriors are seen as trailblazers for an eventual trans-Tasman linkup in which Australia and New Zealand might resume travel between each other, providing a boost to their economies. “Congratulations to the NRL and the Warriors for being the first to participate in what we hope will become, further down the track, a COVID-19 trans-Tasman bubble,” New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said yesterday. Like sports across the globe, the NRL was halted in March as governments scrambled to tighten their borders as the COVD-19 pandemic took hold. The competition’s governing body warned of “catastrophic” consequences for the NRL if it was unable to generate revenue by playing games. Warriors coach Stephen Kearney said his team were grateful to be given a chance to play again, while mindful of the bigger picture as a safe resumption of sports is put under the microscope. “We do feel that, with that, comes certainly a huge responsibility on our part, too,” Kearney told reporters in a videoconference yesterday. “The boys were made
Former Haiti international Judelin Aveska on Sunday scored the only goal of the match as Hang Yuan edged Ming Chuan University 1-0, while Taipower and Tatung scored big wins over bottom-of-the-table teams, and Taichung Futuro shut out Taiwan Steel for a surprise 1-0 victory in the Hua Nan Bank Taiwan Football Premier League. At Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City, Hang Yuan midfielder Lin Ming-wei almost gave the home side the lead in the 20th minute when the former Taiwan youth team captain collected a long pass in the penalty area and hit a bicycle-kick with his back to the goal, only for the ball to hit the crossbar. However, Hang Yuan were rewarded for their domination of possession just before halftime when the Ming Chuan University defenders attempted to clear a corner, but the ball fell to Aveska, whose header flew past goalkeeper Lee Ming-wei for the all-important goal. Having played with Hang Yuan in 2018, Aveska signed to play in Chile before returning this season. He said that had been the right decision. “I had promised Hang Yuan’s coaches that I would come back again for this team, then we saw this coronavirus situation, and I believed Taiwan would be a safe country ... and I am now happy to play football in Taiwan,” Aveska said. Aveska had received more lucrative offers from clubs in Chile and Lebanon, “but I gave my promise and decided to return for Hang Yuan,” he said. “My family in Haiti told me don’t come to Taiwan, because it is too close to China for the coronavirus, and would be dangerous for me,” he added. “I told my family that Taiwan is totally different from China... Taiwan is a very special place and I like to live here. I enjoy being free here, not like in Haiti or
India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has revealed how he thought of committing suicide while struggling with personal problems before making a spectacular comeback to the national side. Shami battled weight issues, injury and a legal quarrel with his estranged wife before a stellar performance at the Cricket World Cup last year re-established the 29-year-old as a key player. With cricket and sports halted in the COVID-19 lockdown, Shami opened up about his own and his family’s fears to teammate Rohit Sharma during an exchange on Instagram. “I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress,” Shami wrote. “I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They were scared I might jump from the balcony.” Shami’s contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India was withheld in 2018 because of allegations of domestic violence, only to be reinstated later. The bowler also struggled with injury that saw him spend nearly a year on the sidelines, leading to weight gain. He said his family and friends helped him bounce back. “My two or three friends used to stay with me for 24 hours [during my days of depression]. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else,” he wrote. “I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun. Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot.” A lean and hungry Shami made a strong comeback in the India team at the 50-over Cricket World Cup. He took 14 wickets in four games, including a match-winning hat-trick. Shami has claimed
PLANNING STAGE: Jacinda Ardern said trans-Tasman travel would not happen soon, as more health measures would be needed to lock in the gains New Zealand has made New Zealand and Australia are discussing the potential creation of a “travel bubble” between the two countries, even as Australia yesterday reported its highest number of COVID-19 cases in two weeks. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that she has accepted an invite from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take part in a meeting of Australia’s emergency coronavirus cabinet today, stoking anticipation of a travel deal. The neighboring countries have claimed success in substantially slowing the progress of the virus to a level well below those of the US, Britain and Europe. However, Ardern said that more health measures would need to be put in place before trans-Tasman travel could restart. “I wouldn’t say it would be in the very, very near short term,” Ardern told a news conference in Wellington. “Don’t expect this to happen in a couple of weeks time. We need to make sure we are locking in the gains all New Zealanders have helped us achieve and make sure we have health precautions in place.” Australia has recorded about 6,800 infections and 96 deaths, and New Zealand 1,137 cases and 20 deaths. Both have a COVID-19 mortality rate of just 1 percent and have maintained low single-digit rises in new cases for weeks, successes they attribute to social distancing regulations and widespread testing. “Both our countries’ strong record of fighting the virus has placed us in the enviable position of being able to plan the next stage in our economic rebuild and to include trans-Tasman travel and engagement in our strategy,” Ardern said. A New Zealand rugby league team on Sunday arrived in Australia to self-isolate for two weeks before joining Australia’s tournament later this month, after receiving special permission. The two countries’ leaders are to discuss ongoing measures to prevent the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 infections as they
Migrant workers in Malaysia are now required to be tested for COVID-19, a senior minister said yesterday, as the government eased six-week long curbs on movement and businesses. Thousands of Malaysians joined the morning rush hour as businesses resumed for the first time since the imposition on March 18 of restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. Malaysian Minister of Defense Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters that foreign workers in all sectors must now undergo mandatory screening for COVID-19 after an outbreak was last week reported among migrants working at a Kuala Lumpur construction site. “The costs for testing must be borne by the employer,” Ismail Sabri added. The announcement comes after Malaysia detained hundreds of undocumented migrants over the weekend, sparking criticism from the UN and rights groups. Ismail Sabri had earlier defended the arrests, saying that all of those detained had tested negative for the virus. Migrant workers have been a particularly vulnerable community during the pandemic. In neighboring Singapore, thousands of infections have been linked to migrant worker dormitories. There are about 2 million registered foreign workers in Malaysia, but authorities say that many more are living there without proper documents. Malaysia, which until the middle of last month had the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia, has defended its decision to relax curbs despite a recent climb in cases. Yesterday, it reported 55 new coronavirus cases, for a total of 6,353 infections. Nine of its 13 states have expressed reservations over the easing move, opting to delay it or toughen restrictions. The largest palm producing state of Sabah, on Borneo island, said that it would stick to a previous shutdown order that runs until Tuesday next week, to ensure that people “are not exposed” to the virus, Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal said in a statement on Sunday.
Thailand has loosened restrictions on some businesses after progress in containing COVID-19, bringing life back to the streets, including the hawker-food heaven of Bangkok’s Chinatown. Thailand was the first country outside China to record a case of the novel coronavirus, back in January, but its daily tally of new cases has fallen to single digits for the past week, with a total of 2,969 confirmed infections and 54 deaths as of Sunday. The government has welcomed the progress with a relaxation of some lockdown rules, allowing food stalls and restaurants outside shopping malls to reopen, and allowing shops to sell alcohol for drinking at home. “My stall has been closed for 40 days, because no one’s been here. I’ve lost 70 percent of my income,” said Taweesak Tabthong, the owner of a famous Chinatown shark fin restaurant, who was happy to see a queue of customers outside. Up until Sunday, restaurants and street stalls were only allowed to sell food for takeaway or delivery. Customers are now allowed to eat in again, but are meant to observe social distancing, with tables spaced apart. Wannika Naphon, happy to be getting out for a meal for the first time in weeks, said that she was confident businesses would be careful with distancing. “I’m sure Yaowarat will return to normal with a lot of tourists soon,” she said, referring to the street by which Bangkok’s Chinatown is known. Under the relaxed rules, outdoor markets, small shops, parks and outdoor sports facilities, barbers and pet groomers can reopen. However, a nighttime curfew, from 10pm, would remain until the end of the month so it would be some time before Bangkok’s famous nightlife even begins to return to normal.
Few Taiwanese have been following the spread of the novel coronavirus in the US more closely than Steven Chen (陳俞亨), who works for the Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Corrections. Earlier this year, he received admission offers from four American universities, and has accepted a spot at Temple University where he will enter a PhD program in criminal justice. “I’ve no idea whether I’ll be able to go to the US this August because AIT [American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy in Taipei] is suspending new visa applications and interviews,” says Chen, who obtained his master’s degree in Scotland. The university has told him that if he can’t attend in the fall, they’ll defer his admission directly to the fall of next year. “That’s good, yet I wish to start my studies as soon as possible,” he says. ONLINE LEARNING Like Chen, Huang Chu-hui (黃筑彗) previously studied abroad, and says that the pandemic won’t disrupt her plans to study abroad in the future. “No matter the circumstances, I’m dead set on furthering my studies abroad. I’ve personally benefited a lot by stepping out of Taiwan. Studying overseas allows us to view things from a different perspective. I believe the pandemic will eventually come to a halt,” she says. Huang, who plans to do a master’s degree in translation and interpreting in the UK, is currently enrolled at a university in Hong Kong. Since November, she’s been taking her final-year courses through the Internet while living at home in Taipei, due initially to the protests in Hong Kong, but more recently because of COVID-19. “I’m quite familiar with the online teaching system, and I don’t think this will be a major factor preventing me from studying in the UK. I prefer face-to-face teaching, but there’s no need to put my educational ambitions on hold until the
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of Taiwanese studying outside the country at any one time often exceeded 70,000. Before going abroad, many of them sought advice from companies that specialize in helping students book language courses or gain admission to foreign universities. But because of the pandemic and consequent travel restrictions, Taiwan’s overseas-study counseling industry is on course for a dismal year. Eri Liao (廖為慶), founding partner of StudyLawyer, a company that specializes in helping clients gain admission to law schools in North America and elsewhere, says that compared to last year, business in the first quarter of 2020 was down 20 to 25 percent. Liao says that applications to UK schools have been more impacted than those to the US. “About 10 percent of our clients who’ve received offers have asked for a one-year deferred enrollment, but only a few law schools have agreed,” he says. Liao, who oversees branches in Taipei, Shanghai and Hong Kong, doesn’t think the pandemic will dent local enthusiasm for overseas education. Globalization is driving demand for talented individuals with international backgrounds, he says. “Studying abroad is a necessary step to improve one’s competitiveness. If there’s a global economic downturn, more candidates will chase fewer positions, and this will push job seekers to better themselves,” Liao says. The epidemic’s impact became noticeable just after Lunar New Year, say Pieter Funnekotter, CEO of the UKEAS Group, and Laurent Morel, Taiwan general manager of EF Education First. UKEAS — which was founded in Taiwan in 1993 — provides free counseling and application services for Taiwanese students who wish to study in the UK, US and other countries. It earns a commission each time a client books a language course or is accepted by a university. UKEAS doesn’t plan to close any of its nine offices in Taiwan,
On the Web cam it is clear that Telyn is back. Sleek, powerful and yellow-eyed, the osprey has successfully raised a dynasty high above the wind-buffeted grass near the west Wales coast. Last year came Berthyn, Peris and Hesgyn — they sound like Game of Thrones characters. The watchers are waiting for Telyn’s mate, local hero Monty. A magnificent fisherman, heroic provider and model father, he’s been a fixture at the Dyfi Osprey Project since 2008. But where is he? “Is Monty back?” says every third post on the Web cam’s chatboard. He isn’t — instead, there’s a new pretender on the nest, upstart Idris. He’s doing everything right, ingratiating himself with Telyn, bringing offerings of sea trout and twigs, chasing off intruders and yes, mating. Is this the end for the Burton and Taylor of ospreys? Unswayed by Idris’s can-do attitude and beady-eyed charm, Team Monty is inconsolable. “Still waiting for Monty? His usual slot is mid-afternoon,” says one hopeful post. “Hope Monty is home tomorrow, he is all I have known since 2011, love you, amber eyes,” says another. Still they wait. Sex and violence, birth, death and bitter rivalry: welcome to nest-flix. More and more of us are becoming bird voyeurs, tuning into nestcams in the hope of getting a peep at the precarious miracle of new life. At a time when the world is frightening and our outlook on it has become simultaneously restricted and vertiginously wide, wildlife cams are enjoying unprecedented popularity. They offer connection and continuity — the transporting sensation of watching a creature indifferent to human endeavour going about its life. Edinburgh Zoo has seen a surge of viewers watching its penguins, pandas and koalas, from an average of around 100,000 plays per month to more than 5 million in March this year. One small Hampshire
With efforts to promote telecommuting lagging despite the coronavirus crisis, Japan is taking another look at an ancient custom that stubbornly remains an analogue anomaly in an otherwise high-tech nation: the need to stamp documents with seals. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on citizens to stay at home, aiming for a 70 to 80 percent reduction in contact to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, but the goal has proved elusive. “I want the relevant ministries to conduct necessary reviews rapidly,” Abe told a meeting of his economic and fiscal policy council last Monday, according to the Web site of his official residence. He singled out changes to the “system and custom of seals and submitting paperwork” as necessary for promoting remote work. Abe’s government itself has also hindered social distancing efforts. The process of applying for government subsidies to prevent job losses during the current crisis has required small businesses to hand over papers in person at unemployment offices, exposing them to the risk of infection. Last Monday, though, Abe instructed Cabinet ministers at a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP), to overhaul regulations and identify inconvenient and unnecessary steps in administrative procedure such as a traditional seal or face-to-face paper submission — a prelude to scrapping or simplifying them eventually. Usually a small cylinder carved with the characters for a person or company’s name, hanko or inkan are pressed on red ink pads and then stamped on documents as needed. A custom originally imported from China over a thousand years ago, the use of hanko was formalized by Japan’s modern government in the mid-1800s, with citizens required to legally register one with their name to use on important papers and documents. In business, they can be used on virtually everything, from contracts to applications and even just to
A: I’m sure your mom will love the Mother’s Day cake. Is it a complicated recipe? B: No. It’s a pound cake flavored with lemon zest and a lemon frosting on top. A: Sounds delicious. B: The trick is to prick the top of the cake while still warm, then drizzle over the frosting. It will sink into the cake, but leave a crisp frosting on top. A: 我覺得你媽媽一定會很喜歡這個母親節蛋糕。食譜會很複雜嗎？ B: 不會耶。它就是一個磅蛋糕，加上檸檬皮調味，上面覆蓋一層檸檬糖霜。 A: 聽起來好好吃啊。 B: 訣竅在於，趁蛋糕剛烤好還溫熱的時候，在蛋糕上層戳洞，再把糖液澆在上面。糖液會滲進蛋糕裡面，但是外層會凝固成脆脆的糖霜。 English 英文: Chinese 中文:
To remain vigilant during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and because the coronavirus can be deposited on buttons when hands come into contact with them, the Tainan City Government Fire Bureau teamed up with a water dispenser manufacturer to develop a foot-operated water dispenser as a means to reduce the risk of infection from people coming into contact with the virus. This dispenser is operated by pushing the buttons with the foot instead of the finger, with pedals for hot water, warm water and ice water options, as well as a separate hot water cut-off pedal, to reduce the danger of fire bureau personnel or visitors scalding themselves, while at the same time reducing the chance of picking up the virus. As many as 150 people work in the Tainan City Government Fire Bureau building, in addition to the many visitors (applying for inspections and fire disaster and emergency certificates) who come and go in the building on a daily basis. To implement Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che’s strict regulations prioritizing the fight against the pandemic, and to reduce the risk of being infected by the virus, any bureau staff or visitors entering the premises must wear a mask, clean their hands with disinfectant, have their temperature taken and register with some form of ID. Now, however, the addition of the foot-operated water dispenser takes the anti-pandemic efforts up another notch. According to bureau chief Lee Ming-feng, the bureau itself and all of the fire department branches under it have pro-actively complied with the city government’s anti-pandemic measures. Since the water dispensing machine is one of the pieces of equipment the staff use most on a daily basis, designing this way of dispensing the water by operating the machine with the feet, and reducing the chance of coming into contact with the buttons
| New Taipei City | 26-30 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 26-30 | 20% | |
| Hsinchu City | 26-31 | 20% | |
| Taipei City | 26-29 | 20% | |
| Miaoli County | 26-30 | 20% | |
| Taoyuan City | 26-30 | 20% | |
| Keelung City | 25-29 | 20% |  |
| Yunlin County | 25-30 | 10% | |
| Taichung City | 27-32 | 20% | |
| Nantou County | 25-31 | 20% | |
| Changhua County | 26-31 | 20% | |
| Chiayi County | 25-30 | 10% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-31 | 10% | |
| Tainan City | 27-29 | 0% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 27-30 | 0% | |
| Pingtung County | 24-31 | 0% | |
| Yilan County | 24-29 | 20% | |
| Hualien County | 25-29 | 0% | |
| Taitung County | 25-29 | 0% | |
| Kinmen County | 24-27 | 30% |  |
| Penghu County | 25-27 | 10% | |
| Lienchiang County | 22-25 | 20% | |
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