BUSINESS
Motel fined for false ad
The Fair Trade Commission yesterday fined Li-Gin Spa Motel NT$100,000 for false advertising over its claim to operate a 24-hour surveillance system to prevent pinhole cameras or other forms of unwarranted filming. However, commision investigators found that the so-called surveillance system was in fact a hand-held unit on wheeled carts used by motel service staff. The commission said the investigation had shown that the motel was unable to offer 24-hour protection against unwarranted filming and its advertisement had therefore misled consumers.
CONSTRUCTION
Underused buildings targeted
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has instructed that 30 currently unused public facilities around the nation should be put to use within a year to prevent public money being wasted Wu said after the Public Construction Commission (PCC) presented the proposal for unused facilities. He also instructed the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the National Science Council to examine how industrial parks around the country are utilized and provide information for tenders interested in developing such sites, should they be deemed underused. According to PCC data, of the 158 unused facilities identified, 128 are now being in use.
INTERNET
Google doodles landmark
National Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, a Taipei landmark, was featured yesterday on Google Taiwan’s front page for the first time, as part of the company’s efforts to acknowledge the nation’s centennial next year. Google displayed the historic building on its “Doodle” service — the decorative changes that are made periodically to the Google logo to celebrate noted artists, scientists and anniversaries — to commemorate the Republic of China’s founding father Sun Yat-Sen (孫中山), said Caroline Hsu (許佳齡), head of communications for Google Taiwan, in an e-mail statement. Upon clicking on the Doodle, users are taken to a list of Web sites introducing Sun Yat-Sen and related information. Google has designed Doodles for the Chinese Moon Festival since 2008 and for the Dragon Boat Festival since 2006 for use in the Greater China area, but it has never before applied the image of a Taiwanese scenic spot in its more-than 1,000 Doodles worldwide since the service was launched in 1998.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit