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The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed amendments setting penalties for economic espionage of up to 12 years in prison or a NT$100 million (US$3.37 million) fine, and banning employees in key industries from traveling to China without permission, as it seeks to stifle theft of key technologies. The first set of amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) stiffens penalties for helping China, Hong Kong, Macau, foreign countries or hostile foreign forces from obtaining, using or leaking business secrets involving “core” technologies through theft, cheating, coercion or reproduction without authorization. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said the amendments would “make Taiwan a model student in a clean supply chain system.” As an advanced country capable of protecting business secrets, Taiwan should be included in mechanisms such as the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, Chao added. Under the amendments, offenders could face five to 12 years in prison or a fine of NT$5 million to NT$100 million. Meanwhile, the theft of confidential business information would be punishable by a fine of two to 10 times the resulting economic gains, the law states, noting that such profits could be huge. The penalties also apply to three other forms of espionage: reproducing, using or leaking business secrets of core technologies without authorization or beyond their authorized scope; failing to delete, destroy or conceal business secrets after being told to do so by their owners; and obtaining, using or leaking business secrets despite knowing that they were obtained through criminal means. If current or retired military personnel, civil servants or public employees are convicted of such a crime, they would forfeit the right to apply for pensions and would be compelled to return amounts already collected, the amendments say. The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court would hear the first instance of economic espionage cases, and the High Court would hear the
Germany’s Bundestag on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on Berlin to push for Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities, as a delegation of Taiwanese legislators yesterday left for Switzerland to advocate for Taiwan on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA). The resolution, backed by lawmakers across party lines, urges the German government to work within the UN’s health agency to advocate for Taiwan’s participation in the WHA and relevant WHO mechanisms and activities as an observer. It also calls on the government to report to the Bundestag regularly about its efforts to support Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities. In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was significant that the Bundestag, backed by four parliamentary groups in support of Taiwan, passed the resolution. Taiwan looks forward to working with the German government and parliament to deepen bilateral ties and contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said in a statement. Ulrich Lechte, a spokesperson for the Free Democratic Party (FDP) parliamentary group, was cited by German media as saying that Taiwan could play an important role in the WHO and that its exclusion because of Chinese pressure must end. The FDP was one of the four party caucuses that cosponsored the resolution, along with the Social Democratic Party, CDU/CSU and Bundnis 90/Die Grunen. Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to this year’s WHA, which is to be held from Sunday to Saturday next week in Geneva, Switzerland. A group of cross-party legislators yesterday left for Geneva to voice Taiwan’s hope to participate in international discussions during the 75th WHA. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Lee De-wei (李德維) and Jessica Chen (陳玉珍), and New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) formed the observation group, which is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Thursday next week. Wang
Workers can turn in their COVID-19 isolation notification form any time within 30 days after the end of their isolation or quarantine period, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said yesterday, as the nation recorded 85,720 new domestic cases. The measure, which took effect yesterday, applies to employees who could not immediately give their employers official health notices requiring them to quarantine or isolate due to system delays, which have led to an uptick in labor disputes, Deputy Minister of Labor Wang Shang-chih (王尚志) said at the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) news briefing. Employees who are confirmed to have COVID-19 can apply for sick or injury leave, while those in self-isolation after being listed as a contact can apply for pandemic prevention leave, he said. Those in the latter category who display no symptoms are free to return to work, should they wish to do so, he said. Those who need to stay home to care for an isolating child can request family care leave or pandemic prevention care leave, he said. The COVID-19 certification Web site would on Wednesday next week be upgraded to reduce the waiting time for quarantine or isolation notices from 24 hours to between five and 10 hours, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said. Chen, who also heads the CECC, said that the quarantine notification system would be separated from the National Infectious Disease Reporting System to enhance their efficiency. The nation yesterday recorded 85,720 new domestic COVID-19 cases and 49 deaths, down slightly from the 90,378 new infections and 59 deaths reported a day earlier, the CECC said. The 49 deaths were people in their 30s to 90s, the CECC said, adding that 21 of them were unvaccinated, while 14 had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. All but one had chronic illnesses or severe diseases such
DISPUTED ISLANDS: The Philippine Coast Guard said it has set up outposts on three islands to monitor ship movements and promote safety China is holding military exercises in the disputed South China Sea coinciding with US President Joe Biden’s visits to South Korea and Japan that are largely focused on countering the perceived threat from Beijing. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration office in Hainan Province said the drills began on Thursday and are to continue through Monday. It said other aircraft and vessels would be prohibited from entering the area, but gave no further details. China claims the South China Sea virtually in its entirety and the crucial waterway has become a potential flashpoint for conflict in Asia. To assert its claim, it has built airstrips and other military infrastructure atop artificial islands built on coral reefs and atolls. Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam also exercise overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Since the beginning of the month, China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has been conducting a mission in the Sea of Japan. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense described it as “routine training” aimed at boosting performance that is “in line with relevant international law and international practice, and not targeting any party.” China also flew a pair of long-range nuclear-capable H-6 bombers through the area on Wednesday, Chinese media reports said. Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group left their home port at Yokosuka, Japan, for a “routine at-sea period,” the US 7th Fleet said. The ships and the carrier air wing “are expected to work with allies and partners, promote adherence to a rules-based international order, as well as maintain presence and flexibility to meet the needs of the US Department of Defense,” the US Navy said. The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it had established outposts on three islands in the disputed South China Sea to monitor ship movements and promote safety. Philippine Coast
Wireless carriers in Canada will not be allowed to install Huawei Technologies Co (華為) equipment in their high-speed 5G networks, the Canadian government said on Thursday, joining allies in banning the giant Chinese technology company. China yesterday condemned the ban, describing it as “groundless” and based on spurious security risks. Canada had been the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence-pooling alliance — which includes the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand — not to bar or restrict use of equipment from Huawei in its 5G networks. “We are announcing our intention to prohibit the inclusion of Huawei and ZTE [中興通訊] products and services in Canada’s telecommunications systems,” Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne said. Canada’s ban also includes ZTE Corp, one of China’s biggest tech companies and one that is state-owned. “Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it,” Champagne said, adding that Canada’s wireless companies would not be offered compensation. Canada’s major wireless companies had already started working with other providers. “There are many hostile actors who are ready to exploit vulnerabilities in our defenses,” Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino said. The government did an extensive review and is redoubling efforts to protect Canadians, he said. China condemned the move against one of its national champions as a form of “political manipulation” carried out in coordination with the US, which was aimed at “suppressing” Chinese companies in violation of free market principles. “China will comprehensively and seriously evaluate this incident and take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the Chinese embassy in Canada said in a statement posted on its Web site. The US government has been lobbying allies like Canada for years to exclude Huawei from new
LETTER TO BIDEN: Excluding Taiwan from the proposed framework would run counter to the US’ economic interests and send the wrong message to China, 52 senators said A bipartisan group of 52 US senators on Wednesday urged US President Joe Biden to include Taiwan in the in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), amid concerns that Taiwan would be left out of the agreement. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and Republican Senator Jim Risch led 50 other senators from both parties in penning a letter to Biden, saying that including Taiwan in the IPEF would be an invaluable signal of Washington’s “rock solid commitment” to Taiwan, and its prosperity and freedom, they said in a press release. Expressing their concerns that “Taiwan will not be included in the proposed IPEF,” the senators underlined the important role that Taiwan plays in global supply chains, and in trade and economic relationships with the US, as well as the potential consequences of Taiwan’s exclusion. “Excluding Taiwan from IPEF would significantly distort the regional and global economic architecture, run counter to US economic interests, and allow the Chinese government to claim that the international community does not in fact support meaningful engagement with Taiwan,” the letter read. The IPEF, an initiative that Biden proposed last year, aims to enhance the US’ economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. It has yet to be clearly defined. A US Congressional Research Service report last month said the framework would include modules covering “fair and resilient trade, supply chain resilience, infrastructure and decarbonization, and tax and anticorruption.” Thanking the US senators for their support, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) yesterday said the ministry would push for Taiwan’s inclusion in the IPEF “step by step” through the “direct channels of communication” between the ministry and the US. The senators’ support showed that Taiwan’s important role in global supply chains has been recognized by the US, which is a positive development in Taiwan’s pursuit of IPEF inclusion, Wang said at a meeting of the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed “deep regret and dissatisfaction” that Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation to the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA), which is set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in three days. “We find it deeply regrettable that the WHO has once again failed to remain professional and politically neutral to extend an invitation to Taiwan,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference in Taipei. The WHO has disregarded the widespread international support for Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the organization’s decisionmaking body, which is necessary and urgent, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. The upcoming assembly, which runs from Sunday to Saturday next week, would be the first in-person WHA since the start of the pandemic. Ou said that 13 of the nation’s diplomatic allies that are WHO members had sent a proposal to the WHO Secretariat to include a discussion on the nation’s possible inclusion in this year’s assembly as a supplementary item. Related discussions over the matter are to be held during the session, she added. Regardless of whether Taiwan is invited to attend this year’s WHA, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) and other government officials would travel to Geneva to share Taiwan’s healthcare experience on the sidelines of the annual event, as Taiwan has done in the past, she said. Ou said it is unlikely at this point that Taiwan would receive an invite before the event starts. “Apparently, the WHO has no intention of giving a response on the widespread international support for Taiwan,” she said. The Republic of China was expelled from the WHO in 1972, one year after losing its seat in the UN. It was able to send delegations to participate in the WHA as an observer under the designation “Chinese Taipei” from 2009 to
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a businessman surnamed Lai (賴) said that NT$5.2 million (US$175,350) in cash was stolen from his residence. Police believe Tu was involved in at least 14 burglary and sexual assault cases dating back to 1998. He is among the most wanted suspects in the nation, Daan Police Precinct Chief Fan Chih-kun (范織坤) told a news briefing in Taipei on Thursday, adding that investigators could link him to more cases. Fan said that Tu had broken into houses or apartments late at night, mostly in Taipei, but some incidents were in Kaohsiung. Investigators started to connect what they had thought were unrelated cases after upgrades to the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Forensic Science Center in 2018 helped police link DNA and fingerprint data from various cases in national databases to Tu, Fan said. After first matching DNA and fingerprints from a 2016 case to a separate incident, investigators were able to link the same suspect to a string of burglaries and sexual assaults from 1998 to 2014, he added. The connections and the theft last month led to the formation of the task force, which included Daan police and other Taipei police precincts, bureau units and the Yilan County Police Bureau. Tu would allegedly scout out wealthy families to
‘AVALANCHE’ OF LOSSES: Advertising spent on newspapers fell from NT$11 billion in 1996 to NT$1.1 billion in 2020, leading to reduced coverage and job cuts, the report said More than 60 percent of staff losses at Taiwan’s major newspapers could be traced to the monopolization of online advertising by Google and Facebook, posing a threat to the nation’s media landscape and its democratic system that relies on the third estate, a journalism expert said. In a research report released yesterday, National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Journalism professor Lin Chao-chen (林照真) issued a “wake-up call” about the effects of online platforms on the nation’s news media. Nearly 60 percent of traffic to newspapers’ online content goes through Google and Facebook, but the platforms do not pay for the right to display it, Lin wrote. The digital platforms therefore have a monopoly on advertising, which traditionally provides most of the publishers’ revenue, she added. News media around the world have long clamored for a solution to the issue, saying that the current landscape traps them onto major platforms while denying them a chance to earn critical advertising revenue. Legislative solutions to the issue have gained momentum in the past few years, with the EU in 2019 passing the European Copyright Directive, which requires platforms to pay publishers for content aggregated on their sites. Australia last year passed the New Media Bargaining Code, and Canada is expected to follow suit. In response, Google has signed deals with hundreds of media companies, agreeing to pay for the right to display their news content. In Taiwan, the issue has only just started to be discussed. To investigate the effects digital platforms are having on the domestic news environment, Lin reviewed the nation’s three major Chinese-language newspapers: the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), United Daily News and the China Times. Readers have developed new habits thanks to platform algorithms, which use news content to encourage people to spend more time on their sites to gather more data to sell to
Tzuhui Care School, the only placement agency for juvenile offenders in Kaohsiung, is seeking to raise NT$43 million (US$1.45 million) for its new campus after school funding fell 95 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ting Hsin Hede Educational Foundation, which has donated NT$1 million and helped the school to raise funds, is asking the public to donate to support teenagers seeking to turn over a new leaf, foundation spokesman Ou Yang Shao-wei (歐陽劭瑋) said on Friday last week. Students at the school mostly come from broken homes or have had traumatic childhoods that led them astray, he said. The school provides daily care, education and counseling, as well as technological and vocational lessons to help students enter and adapt to the workplace, he said. In the past 13 years, it has helped 182 teenagers, 70 percent of whom have a stable job or graduated from high school or university after leaving Tzuhui, he added. The school is building a new campus, as the current one is not large enough and the rent has become too expensive, school chief executive officer Hu Ching-ting (胡靜婷) said. The new campus is to include dormitories, restaurants and offices, as well as classrooms for baking, cooking and practicing other skills, she said. There would also be environmentally friendly facilities such as solar energy power generation areas and planting areas to operate the school in a sustainable fashion, she added. Although the school already raised enough funds to purchase the land for the new facilities, construction plans have been hindered by rising costs, labor shortages and reduced subsidies, Hu said. The school’s income also fell drastically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a heavy financial burden, she added. Despite the difficult situation, teenagers at the school are still moving toward a brighter future, she said. A 14-year-old, identified by the alias Small P, was
Entertainment productions that do not implement safety procedures could lose their public funding, the Ministry of Culture said on Monday, citing rules it plans to propose by September. The announcement came two months after two film crew members fell to their deaths in a ravine in Miaoli County’s Nanjhuang Township (南庄) while working on the TV drama series First Embrace (初擁). A 38-year-old camera operator surnamed Huang (黃) and a 34-year-old audio equipment operator surnamed Wang (王) died in the incident. The ministry is to draft new rules requiring producers to spend a portion of their budget on safety before they can qualify for public subsidies, Deputy Minister of Culture Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌) said during a meeting of the legislature. The failure of a production to comply with labor standards or to prepare risk evaluations, safety plans and occupational safety training would be grounds for the government to withhold financial support, he said. Under the proposed regulations, film producers must present a risk assessment report and self-check safety plan to receive filming support from the Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry, he said. Productions that involve high-risk activities — including filming from heights, stunts, underwater work or pyrotechnics — would be required to submit an additional safety checklist to obtain the bureau’s assistance, he said. The National Performing Arts Center would be tasked with enforcing rules for performances at its venues, promoting safety standards and providing consultation to producers, he said. The center must also find experts to conduct safety inspections at local venues, he said. The ministry would offer safety seminars in collaboration with the Taiwan Association of Theater Technology, the Taipei Art Creator Union and other performing arts groups, he said. The ministry is also to create a standard template for contracts in the performing arts and film industries to improve occupational safety by the end
CONFIDENCE RATED: Separate surveys showed President Tsai’s approval ranging from 43 percent to 48 percent, with economic performance among the few setbacks The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation and the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association yesterday released separate polls on Taiwanese satisfaction with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) governance over the past six years. About 63.9 percent of respondents said that coexisting with COVID-19 is a suitable policy for Taiwan, 11.5 percent preferred the “zero COVID” model adopted by the Shanghai City Government and 24.6 percent declined to provide an answer, the association’s poll showed. The poll also showed that 48.3 percent of respondents were confident that Tsai is handling cross-strait relations appropriately, while 36.1 percent said that they lacked confidence in her approach. Overall, the poll showed that 49.2 percent of respondents were satisfied with the governance of the Tsai administration, while 29.1 percent expressed dissatisfaction. The association’s poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, interviewing 1,073 adults in telephone interviews after calling randomized landline numbers. It has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.98 percentage points. The association’s poll was weighted based on gender, age and region. Taiwan Thinktank member Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that she was impressed by the Tsai administration’s ability to maintain high satisfaction ratings, even amid unprecedented political, economic and military turmoil. The foundation’s poll separately showed that 26.8 percent of respondents were “extremely satisfied” with the performance of Tsai’s administration, 16.5 were “satisfied,” 23.1 percent were “ambivalent,” 13.1 percent were “moderately dissatisfied” and 16.2 percent were “extremely dissatisfied.” In descending order, 56.7 percent were satisfied with the performance of the administration’s foreign relations, 51.1 percent were satisfied with national defense, 49.5 percent were satisfied with cross-strait policies, 47.3 percent were satisfied with economic performance, 42.4 percent were satisfied that Taiwan had developed its own COVID-19 vaccine and 37.3 percent were satisfied with the administration’s judiciary reforms, the foundation’s poll showed. Measuring dissatisfaction, 48.5 percent cited Taiwan’s vaccine development, 44.8 percent said economic
ENERGY CRUNCH: President Tsai’s aim to eliminate nuclear power has destabilized the power supply and increased coal reliance, the National Policy Foundation said Inflation could cause Taiwan’s GDP growth to drop below 4 percent this year, or 0.4 percentage points than the government’s forecast, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-aligned National Policy Foundation said yesterday. The party-affiliated think tank made the comment at a news conference that highlighted inflation and energy issues on the sixth anniversary of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration. Lin Chu-chia (林祖嘉), the think tank’s economic and fiscal policy convener, said that the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank’s interest rate hike and inflation would likely have a cooling effect on economic growth. The consumer price index last month showed a year-on-year increase of 3.38 percent, while greater price increases were reported for some essential goods, he said. The price of eggs soared 24.39 percent and the cost of restaurant meals increased 5.56 percent, he said, citing two examples. The Tsai administration’s policy to eliminate nuclear energy by 2025 was not accompanied by a corresponding increase in renewable energy, which reported sluggish growth over the past five years, he said. This has resulted in an unstable energy supply along with increased reliance on coal-fired power plants, which has triggered more frequent and longer power outages, he said. Citing a poll the think tank released on Friday last week, Lin said that 62 percent of Taiwanese disapproved of Tsai’s handling of the economy, 60.6 percent said that large-scale blackouts would occur in the next two years and 53.8 percent said that the energy supply was unstable. “The Democratic Progressive Party’s government’s [green energy] obsession is getting in the way of Taiwan’s economy and public health,” KMT Legislator Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) said. The government did not have a clear path to a net zero emissions goal, despite the creation of programs the would cost an estimated NT$900 billion (US$30.35 billion) by 2030, she said. Regarding the Environmental Protection Administration’s carbon tax scheme, Wu
The manufacture and use of animal traps that mutilate their catch should be banned via legal amendments, animal protection groups said yesterday. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) also urged the government to make efforts to prevent further mutilation of animals that occurs every day. Animal Care Trust (ACT) secretary-general Hsu Juo-ching (徐若菁) said the group often found animals bloodied by traps during investigative missions, adding that the number of stray dogs on Yangmingshan (陽明山) with fewer than four functioning legs is proof of the dangers of such traps. These traps are used to keep animals away from farms, but are ineffective, Hsu said, adding that farmers should adopt more humane methods of protecting their land. A child could step into a boar trap and be hung from a tree, which would make Taiwanese think twice about such traps, ACT founder Sean McCormack said. Government measures to modify trap designs to reduce their harm cannot be enforced due to legal loopholes, Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said. Ho also urged the Executive Yuan to review the Forestry Bureau’s proposed amendments to Article 21 of the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保護法), which were submitted a year ago and would ban the use of all traps. New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that traps permanently maim animals, and the government should either limit the legal uses of such devices or ban them completely. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said that if people would not tolerate humans being caught in these types of traps, they have no right to use them on animals. Either people should be licensed to use these traps, or their use should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, he said. Separately, Forestry Bureau staff demonstrated redesigned animal traps, which allow for adjustable diameters and pressure plates, preventing bears
The Executive Yuan on Thursday passed draft amendments to the Mining Act (礦業法) to bolster legislative protection for the environment and indigenous land rights. Mines predating January 2008 must undergo environmental impact assessments, and failure to comply or complete the process would result in penalties up to and including the loss of mining permits, Executive Yuan officials told a news conference following the weekly Cabinet meeting. This means that older mines would be made to comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) if the amendments pass into law, the officials said. Mine owners would be required to submit studies for mines they operate that are subject to the new rules, they said. Additionally, every mine operator would be required to prepare an environmental mitigation plan and a decommissioning plan, they said. Indigenous people would have the right to extract mineral resources from recognized indigenous land without a mining permit, they said. No new mining operations could be initiated on or near indigenous land without the consent of the local indigenous community, they said, adding that ongoing operations must stop if the community withholds consent. Mine operators that do not request consent would lose the permit to mine that area altogether, they said. The Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法) would delineate the process for miners to request consent, the officials said. The public would be able to fully monitor the permit process via a digital platform, which would incorporate mechanisms that allow for the involvement of local residents, they said. The amendments would enable authorities to limit the amount of materials that could be extracted by an operation, while mining sites would be required to create guidelines drawn up by certified environmental engineers, they said. The proposed changes to the Mining Act include stricter penalties for contravening environmental rules, and mandate that a share of mining royalties be distributed to local
The Taiwan Statebuilding Party on Thursday called for an end to “big money politics” and suggested limits on campaign spending for city and county councilor candidates in November’s local elections. “We ask the government to enforce regulations to end ‘black gold’ influence in elections,” party official Chang Po-yang (張博洋) said at an event in Kaohsiung. “Black gold” refers to the monetary influence of organized crime. For November’s city and county councilor elections, the party recommends a campaign spending cap of NT$3 million (US$101,163), Chang said, adding that parties should rely on idealistic young people and other volunteers to spread their messages. Without spending constraints, Taiwanese politics is destined to become the exclusive domain of corporations, wealthy people, family dynasties and candidates with ties to organized crime, he said. Media reported in 2018 that successful city council campaigns spent a minimum of NT$15 million, former party chief financial officer Chang Ting-ting (張婷婷) said. “We even heard that one candidate for Kaohsiung City council in 2018 had spent NT$80 million,” she said. “That is an outrageous figure. A person could buy a luxury mansion in Taiwan for that money.” Party executives and candidates at the event built a mock brick wall of cardboard and paper, with “bricks” displaying expensive campaign items such as promotions, television advertising, billboards, banquets, campaign trucks and brochure printing costs. Party members took turns hammering bricks off the wall to represent knocking expensive items off of campaigns. Wealthy people and powerful interests regularly spend more than NT$20 million to help a candidate win a seat, Chang Po-yang said, adding that councilors become more interested in helping donors recoup their “investment” rather than following up on promises. “Big money” campaign funding has led to well-known scandals regarding office-assistant expenditures, and charges of fraud, bid-rigging and public-project embezzlement, he said.
CHINA WATCH: A statistics official said that export orders this month might decline by US$51.7bn to US$53.2bn after China this week started to ease city lockdowns Export orders last month tumbled 5.5 percent year-on-year to US$51.9 billion as lockdowns in major Chinese cities weakened demand for most categories, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. It is the first time in two years that the gauge of actual shipments in the following one to three months has slipped into contraction, which was induced by supply chain bottlenecks after China halted business activity in Shanghai and Kunshan, home to major manufacturing facilities of Taiwanese companies. Department of Statistics Director Huang Yu-ling (黃于玲) said export orders this month might decline by US$51.7 billion to US$53.2 billion, or a 1.1 percent decline to a 1.7 percent uptick, after China this week introduced gradual reopenings. The slowdown is most conspicuous for information and communications products, which slumped 21.5 percent to US$1.21 billion as sales for laptops and smartphones floundered, Huang said. The ominous cyclical movement came after the US and Europe opted to coexist with COVID-19, and showed less dependence on remote working and schooling products, the ministry said in a report. The digital transformation has continued, fueling demand for networking devices and severs, it said. That helped explain why export orders for electronics bucked the downtrend with a 4.3 percent increase as demand in the US and in Southeast Asian markets remained strong, although it slackened in China, it said. The lackluster showing in the Chinese market was probably due to supply chain disruptions, it said. Orders for optical products were the most affected, with demand for flat panels used in TVs and personal computers faltering, putting pressure on selling prices, the statement said. Demand for base metals and machinery equipment fell 8.8 percent and 11.6 percent respectively as customers in China, the US and other countries turned conservative about capital investment, the ministry said. Export orders for plastic products dropped 7.3 percent as demand for disease prevention products
CHINA LIFE: Despite its terms not stipulating that policyholders with COVID-19 who are not hospitalized must be compensated, China Life said that it would be flexible Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) yesterday said that its insurance unit would weather rising COVID-19 insurance claims and no fundraising is needed. Fubon Insurance Co (富邦產險) said it has sold about 2.31 million COVID-19 insurance policies and as of the middle of this month had paid NT$1.1 billion (US$37.09 million) of claims from 29,000 policyholders. It pays a total of NT$50 million per day in claims, it said. It is difficult to calculate how much more compensation it would have to pay, as local COVID-19 infections are still on the rise, with a peak not expected until next month, Fubon Insurance said. Fubon Insurance reiterated that it would not avoid its responsibility to policyholders. “Fubon Insurance has net value of NT$30 billion to NT$40 billion, and assets of NT$130 billion, not to mention the high net value of Fubon Financial,” Fubon Financial president Jerry Harn (韓蔚廷) told an investors’ conference amid speculation that the company would be unable to bear the burden. Policyholders would receive compensation, Harn said. The loss rate on COVID-19 insurance policies was about 15 percent, the company said. Three factors would affect the figure, including the ultimate number of local infections, the government’s virus policy and clarification of disputes, it said. If the financial pressure becomes too heavy, Fubon Insurance would consider applying to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) to use part of its special reserve to write off losses, it said. The insurer can allocate as much as NT$15.5 billion, it said. Fubon Financial Holding reported an annual decline of 9.4 percent in net profit to NT$46.5 billion for the first quarter, mainly because of a drop of 7 percent in net profit at Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) to NT$36.4 billion amid decreasing first-year premiums and lower returns on investments, corporate data showed. Realized capital gains from fixed-income investments plunged about 75 percent year-on-year to NT$6.7
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday said that they plan to acquire a 30 percent stake in local semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Power Electronics Corp (APEC, 富鼎) for about NT$2.89 billion (US$97.45 million) through a joint venture, their latest effort to broaden their semiconductor portfolios. The joint venture, XSemi Corp (國創半導體), has offered to buy 35 million Advanced Power Electronics shares at NT$82.58 per share, statements filed by the companies to the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed. That represented a discount of 26.68 percent compared with Advanced Power Electronics’ closing price of NT$112.5 yesterday. Advanced Power Electronics is one of the nation’s biggest makers of metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET), a device that is widely used for switching and to amplify electronic signals. The company has developed a comprehensive product lineup with more than 1,000 MOSFET products on offer, it said. Hsinchu-based XSemi is a chip designer that specializes in analogue and power semiconductors primarily used in automotive and industrial devices. The collaboration would help XSemi expedite its business development process, and improve its product portfolio and customer reach, especially with more business opportunities emerging, such as electric vehicles, digital healthcare and robotics, the statement said. “APEC’s products will also complement highly with XSemi’s internally developed power management ICs, silicon carbide chips and modules as total solutions to provide to Hon Hai and Yageo’s existing and future customers,” the statement said. Hon Hai is a major iPhone assembler, while Yageo is the world’s No. 3 supplier of passive components. “Semiconductors have been one of the three key technology pillars of Hon Hai,” said Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉), who is also chairman of XSemi. “On top of XSemi’s participation through its analogue and power products on the auto collaborations, its power module has also shown great progress,” Liu said in the statement. “With the private placement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday issued a statement warning about employment scams in Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, saying that more than 40 cases had been reported since February. Taiwanese responding to job ads promising high salaries had been held against their will by employers after arriving, and forced to engage in telephone fraud or other illegal activities, the ministry said. Some were reportedly beaten or forced to pay exorbitant sums of money before they could leave. The ministry issued a similar warning on Jan. 25, and that more than 40 cases have occurred since then shows that young people have not gotten the message or are not heeding the ministry’s advice. The issue is of serious concern, as large numbers of Taiwanese being held captive in a foreign country — especially one in which Taiwan has no representative office — could turn into a diplomatic crisis. The government should investigate what drives Taiwanese to respond to such ads, and devise ways to help them meet their needs. It is unclear whether the victims knew that they would be engaging in illegal activities, but numerous reports of Taiwanese being deported to China from Southeast Asian countries and elsewhere in the past few years should have provided some indication of what such work involved. Promises of highly paid, unskilled employment in a foreign country, in jobs that require no knowledge of English or the local language, should be alarming. Taiwanese are not the only targets of such fraudulent activity. Reuters in September last year reported that foreigners in Cambodia were being targeted on social media for jobs that turned out to involve investment fraud, and that victims from Asia and Africa responding to such ads were being trafficked and abused by Chinese captors. The government must communicate to young Taiwanese the risks of
In its ongoing war of resistance against Russian interlopers, the Ukrainian military has from day one displayed dazzling prowess on the front lines in one particular domain: cyberwarfare. Not only has Ukraine been able to withstand attacks on its Internet infrastructure by the Russian military — and fend off destructive smash-and-grab attacks by Russian military cyberunits — Ukraine has comprehensively won the cognitive warfare battle, too. In Taiwan, many voices are questioning whether the nation is sufficiently prepared to fight a similar battle within the cyberdomain. Any attempt to invade Taiwan would include cyberattacks to paralyze the normal operations of government and commerce, with the aim of sowing chaos and weakening the public’s will to resist, thereby ensuring a speedy resolution to the conflict. However, it is possible that, like Russia, China could become bogged down in a stalemate were it to launch an invasion of Taiwan. Certain things need to be done to improve the resilience of the nation’s online defenses, as well as the military’s ability to launch counter cyberattacks. Regarding infrastructure, the basic operational components required for an online network include external power and communications systems, servers, databases, operating systems and computer terminals at various levels within a network. The network could also include a satellite and terrestrial wireless communications system. To resist attack and damage, online networks primarily rely on backup infrastructure and parallel systems, so that multiple redundancies are designed into the network — or as a popular Chinese idiom states: “A wily hare has three burrows.” The government and private-sector companies should establish backup servers and databases across dispersed locations. The government should also consider an external backup of primary network connection facilities and databases within a trusted nation, which would be connected to Taiwan. Additionally, the war in Ukraine shows the effectiveness of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet constellation. The government should
With a Taiwan contingency increasingly more plausible, Taiwanese lobbies in Japan are calling for the government to pass a version of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), emulating the US precedent. Such a measure would surely enable Tokyo to make formal and regular contact with Taipei for dialogue, consultation, policy coordination and planning in military security. This would fill the missing link of the trilateral US-Japan-Taiwan security ties, rendering a US military defense of Taiwan more feasible through the support of the US-Japan alliance. Yet, particular caution should be exercised, as Beijing would probably view the move as a serious challenge to its ambition to annex Taiwan. Tokyo’s security-seeking move might then provoke Beijing only to destabilize cross-strait relations and possibly give it a pretext for aggression, as China is more confident than ever in its military power and coercive diplomacy. Is there any way to avoid such a dilemma? Since Japan stopped recognizing the Republic of China (ROC) in 1972, Tokyo has strictly avoided direct state-to-state interaction with Taipei, adhering to the non-governmental framework. This policy line is a logical progression from the 1952 San Francisco Peace Treaty in which Japan abandoned its territorial sovereignty over Taiwan without assigning it to any country. No wonder Tokyo’s official position is that the international legal status of Taiwan remains undetermined, despite Beijing’s and Taipei’s claims. Given that military-to-military contact is a quintessential form of state-to-state relations, a Japanese TRA would constitute an about-face of the longtime policy. In contrast, the US Congress legislated the TRA in 1979 amid the normalization of US-China relations, which involved ending recognition of the ROC on Taiwan. The act was designed to preserve the “status quo” over the Taiwan Strait, which was then acceptable for Beijing, given its priority of swiftly normalizing US relations. The TRA does not directly authorize US-Taiwan military-to-military contact. It
TOFFEES STICKING AROUND: Everton manager Frank Lampard credited the spirit of the club, the fans and the players for keeping his side in the Premier League Everton on Thursday staged a dramatic fightback from two goals down to preserve their English Premier League status with a 3-2 win against Crystal Palace, while Burnley climbed out of the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. Frank Lampard’s side recovered from conceding twice in the first half as Michael Keane and Richarlison netted after halftime, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late winner sparked wild celebrations at Goodison Park. After a nerve-jangling battle to avoid playing outside the top flight for the first time since 1953-1954, Everton can finally relax with one game to play. Their thrilling comeback was a microcosm of Lampard’s reign since he took over in January, with Everton staring disaster in the face before pulling back from the brink. Everton are four points above the relegation zone, leaving fourth-from-bottom Burnley and third-from-bottom Leeds United scrapping for survival. “It is the character of this club, the fans and the players that dragged us through,” Lampard said. “The players to a man were incredible. The fans lifted them and we created a special night in Everton’s history. The spirit of the club was immense. I’m overwhelmed.” Burnley, who host Newcastle United in tomorrow’s final round of fixtures, climbed above Leeds on goal-difference thanks to their point at Aston Villa. They will be safe if they match Leeds’ result at Brentford on the last day. Whatever happens tomorrow is unlikely to surpass the emotion at Goodison, where fans wept tears of joy during a frenzied post-match pitch invasion. The celebrations turned nasty when supporters taunted Palace manager Patrick Vieira, who responded by kicking one fan. Palace had silenced the boisterous crowd with their 21st-minute opener. Vitaliy Mykolenko allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta to get in front of him and the Palace forward headed in Eberechi Eze’s free-kick. Several bottles were thrown toward Mateta and the atmosphere turned even more toxic in the
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting on Thursday captured her second Women’s World Boxing Championships title after stunning Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Irma Testa of Italy in the under-57kg final in Istanbul, Turkey. The 26-year-old Taiwanese registered a 4-1 majority decision in her first meeting with Testa, one of the stars of the Women’s World Boxing Championships that is being held at Istanbul’s Basaksehir Youth and Sports Facility. Lin took a 3-2 split scoring lead in the first round as she showed a lot of ambition by launching a strong attack. Testa rallied in the second round with a number of hooks, but Lin was faster in most of the exchanges and finished the period with a powerful right-handed jab. Lin’s final round guaranteed that she would win her second world title after claiming the bantamweight (under-54kg) title at the 2018 Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi, India. After Thursday’s bout, Lin praised her opponent, while expressing happiness at her second major title. “I have never met Irma Testa before, but I was looking forward [to] this contest. She is wonderful, a great boxer, and this was my most difficult contest in these championships. I had six contests in the event and of course I am tired, but so happy that I could win my second world title,” Lin said. Lin won Taiwan’s first-ever boxing world title at the 2013 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships in Bulgaria.
Jayson Tatum on Thursday scored 27 points as the Boston Celtics roared back to level the NBA Eastern Conference Finals series with a 127-102 thrashing of the Miami Heat in Game 2. Bolstered by the return of Marcus Smart and Al Horford, who both missed Tuesday’s 118-107 Game 1 drubbing, Boston were a team transformed as they squared the best-of-seven series 1-1. Boston made only 11 of 34 from three-point range in Tuesday’s lopsided opener, when Miami outhustled them to claim a decisive victory, but the Celtics shrugged off that misfiring performance in emphatic fashion, draining 20 of 40 from beyond the arc to overwhelm Miami. Tatum led the scorers, but there were huge contributions throughout the Celtics lineup. Smart finished with 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, while Jaylen Brown also posted 24 points, including 12 from three-point range. Grant Williams added 19 from the bench, while Horford and Payton Pritchard had 10 points each. Jimmy Butler led the Miami scoring with 29 points, but only three other Heat players made double figures. Celtics coach Ime Udoka said the return of Smart and Horford had been decisive. “It was great to have them back, they’re a calming presence,” Udoka said. “I don’t think we played as poorly as the last game suggested. We won three quarters of that game, but we saw a lot of positives and areas that we could attack.” Smart admitted that he had found it hard to sit out Game 1 with a foot injury. “I felt bad that I couldn’t be out there with my teammates going to battle with them,” Smart said. “We’re playing a really good Miami team and it’s a blessing to be on the same court going to war. It was tough having to watch it.” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said his team had expected a Boston backlash. “I’m sure
In four games over a pressure-filled week, the Tampa Bay Lightning have gone from the brink of playoff elimination to a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Ross Colton on Thursday scored with 3.8 seconds remaining, giving the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series. The Lightning have won four straight since falling behind Toronto 3-2 in the first round and will look to take a commanding series lead over the Presidents Trophy-winning Panthers when the matchup moves across the state to Tampa for Game 3 tomorrow. Colton said he was just trying not to get scored on in the final minute. He wound up being the hero when Nikita Kucherov retrieved a loose puck behind the Florida net and flicked a perfect no-look, backhand pass that Colton lifted over Sergei Bobrovsky’s right shoulder to win it. “I was kind of trying to sit back and let the plays come to us, but when you’re on the ice with [Kucherov] you have to be ready for anything. Once I saw the puck behind the net, I just went to the front of the net,” Colton said. “He’s got eyes in the back of his head, as you can see, because I didn’t even know he knew I was there. He gift-wrapped it for me. Luckily it just squeaked under the bar there, but unbelievable play by him.” Florida, who had the NHL’s best record during the regular season, now have to win four of the final five games in the series to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, while the Lightning are playing like a team determined to become the first to win three straight Stanley Cup titles since the New York Islanders captured four in a row in the early 1980s. “We’re
MIND CONTROL: The Hungarian leader boasted he and his allies control most media outlets, which is critical to pointing out the ‘insanity of the progressive left’ Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday told a conference of US conservatives that the path to power required having their own media outlets, calling for shows like Tucker Carlson’s to be broadcast “24/7.” Orban, recently elected to a fourth term, laid out a 12-point blueprint to achieving and consolidating power to a special meeting of the US Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), under the slogan “God, Homeland, Family,” held in Budapest. Orban said that with his fourth electoral victory on April 3, Hungary had been “completely healed” of “progressive dominance.” He suggested it was time for the right to join forces. “We have to take back the institutions in Washington and Brussels. We must find allies in one another and coordinate the movements of our troops,” Orban said on the first day of the two-day conference. He told Republicans in the Balna conference center on the banks of the Danube that media influence was one of the keys to success. In Hungary, the prime minister and his allies have effective control of most media outlets in the nation, including state TV. “Have your own media. It’s the only way to point out the insanity of the progressive left,” he said. “The problem is that the Western media is adjusted to the leftist viewpoint. Those who taught reporters in universities already had progressive leftist principles.” He portrayed the US media as being dominated by Democrats, who he claimed were being “served” by CNN, the New York Times and others. “Of course, the GOP has its media allies, but they can’t compete with the mainstream liberal media. My friend Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there,” he said. “His show is the most popular. What does it mean? It means programs like his should be broadcast day and night, or as you say, 24/7.” Carlson had been
WEAPONIZING FOOD: The US accused Russia of blocking exports of Ukrainian grain, while Moscow said Western sanctions were worsening food supply around the world The US and Russia on Thursday blamed each other for the worsening food situation around the world as the war in Ukraine unfolds. Washington called on Russia to allow exports of Ukrainian grain that is held up in Black Sea ports. Ukraine is one of the world’s top producers of wheat. “Stop blocking the ports in the Black Sea. Allow for the free flow of ships and trains and trucks carrying food out of Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a UN Security Council meeting organized by the US. “Stop threatening to withhold food and fertilizer exports from countries that criticize your war of aggression,” he said. “The food supply for millions of Ukrainians and millions more around the world has quite literally been held hostage by the Russian military,” he added. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia countered by saying his country was being blamed for all of the world’s woes. He said the world has long suffered from a food crisis caused by an inflationary spiral stemming from rising costs of insurance, logistical snarls and speculation on Western markets. He added that Ukraine’s ports are blocked by Kyiv itself, which, he said, has placed mines along the Black Sea coast. And Ukraine does not want to cooperate with shipping companies to free up dozens of foreign freighters that are blocked in port, Nebenzia said. He also denounced Western sanctions against Russia, saying their consequences were worsening food insecurity around the world. Blinken countered that “sanctions are not preventing Russia from exporting food and fertilizer.” “Sanctions imposed by the United States and many other countries deliberately include carve outs for food, for fertilizer and seeds from Russia,” he said. “The decision to weaponize food is Moscow’s and Moscow’s alone,” he said. Serhii Dvornyk, a member of Ukraine’s mission to the UN, agreed. “We demand that Russia stop illicit grain
The Brexit-supporting father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has acquired French citizenship after making an application last year, a French Ministry of Justice source said on Thursday. A Conservative who once worked for the European Commission in Brussels, Stanley Johnson opposed Brexit at first, but swung behind the EU departure project following 2016’s narrow referendum vote that was championed by his son. The elder Johnson’s ties to France are through his French mother, and he speaks the language fluently. The 81-year-old filed his citizenship application at the French consulate in London in November last year, with a six-month deadline for the justice ministry to object elapsing on Wednesday. “Based on the facts in his application, and without a refusal by the justice minister, Mr Stanley Johnson acquired French nationality on May 18, 2022,” the ministry said. “This decision concerns only Mr Stanley Johnson and does not extend to his descendants,” the ministry added. “I’ll always be European, that’s for sure,” Stanley Johnson told RTL radio in French in a December 2020 interview. He had come under fire at home for his plans, announced at the same time most Britons were losing the right to travel freely across the EU as a post-Brexit “transition period” ended. “It’s not a question of becoming French. If I understand correctly I am French. My mother was born in France, her mother was completely French, as was her grandfather,” Stanley Johnson said. “For me it’s a question of obtaining what I already have and I am very happy about that,” he added. French law normally prevents children of its citizens from claiming nationality if their family has been abroad for more than 50 years without making use of their rights. However, their applications can still be considered if they can prove “concrete ties of a cultural, professional, economic or family nature” with France — a
Producing the world’s meat has rarely been this expensive. In southern Calgary, Don Lowe, who’s been a cattle rancher for 40 years, had hoped to expand his herd of 800 beef cows this year, but with feed prices skyrocketing, he’s struggling to hang on to the animals he has. Across the ocean in East Yorkshire, England, pig farmer Kate Moore says the upkeep of her 32,000-strong herd is becoming exceedingly hard. “It’s horrendous,” said Moore, who is now is chalking up a loss of about ￡60 (US$75) per animal because of the soaring cost of feeding and taking care of them. “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel at the moment. The British pig industry will never be the same.” Farmers across the world — with more than 40 billion pigs, cows, buffalo, sheep, goats and poultry — are contending with near-record prices for livestock feed as supplies of grains and soy shrink. Bills for everything from the electricity that keeps their barns well-lit and warm to truckers that haul their animals to abattoirs have also soared. Crop and energy costs surging in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine have compounded their woes even as they struggle with everything from droughts curbing grazing lands to bird-flu outbreaks from North America to Europe that wiped out millions of poultry. Hit from all sides, many farmers are selling livestock or breeding fewer, showing output will be capped in the longer-term. The number of beef cows being slaughtered in the US is the highest since records started in 1986, and those cows not giving birth to calves will result in smaller herds. That means meat prices — already at record highs — won’t fade fast, further weighing on household budgets that are straining under higher costs for other staples and necessities. The UNs’ Food
When a friend messaged voice actor Bev Standing to ask whether she was the voice of TikTok’s text-to-speech feature, the Canadian performer’s surprise soon turned to irritation. She had never done work for the popular social media platform, yet the voice was unmistakably hers. Standing concluded that speech recordings she had done for another client years earlier had somehow been obtained by TikTok, and fed into an algorithm which allows users to turn written text into a voiceover for video clips in the app. She sued TikTok in a case that was settled in September — one that performing artists say was symptomatic of the growing challenges artificial intelligence (AI) poses to creatives. “I am a business. I need to protect my product, and my product is my voice,” Standing said. “They [TikTok] weren’t my client. It’s like me buying a car and you driving it away. You didn’t buy it, you don’t get to drive it.” From digitally resurrecting dead celebrities to improving lip sync for movies dubbed in foreign languages, AI has been increasingly deployed in the movie and audio industry in recent years, sparking debates around ethics and copyright issues. A documentary on the late chef Anthony Bourdain faced a backlash after using AI to recreate his voice. Working actors and other performing artists say they are also concerned about the impacts of AI on their livelihoods, with some calling for creators to be given more rights over their work and how it is used. British actor and comedian Rick Kiesewetter signed away all rights to recordings of his voice and face movements in a job for a tech firm several years ago. Now he feels somewhat uneasy about it. “I just don’t know where this stuff is going to end up ... It could even end up in porn as far as I know,” he said. LEGAL
In one of the most remote parts of Chiayi County, a hamlet shares the exact same name as a well-known center of tea production in New Taipei City. Pinglin (坪林) in Dapu Township (大埔) is around 550m above sea level. The road to it is good enough for any car or motorcycle, and so few people live there that it’s an ideal place for the virus-afraid to go sightseeing. I rode in from Yujing District (玉井) in Tainan, taking Provincial Highway 3 through Nansi (楠西) and above Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫). At the entrance to Chiayi Farm (嘉義農場), I halted briefly, curious if this government-owned attraction — 40 hectares of orchards and formal gardens — would soon reopen. There was no one around I could ask, but nothing I saw hinted that it’ll come back to life in the near future. A little further on, the turnoff to Pinglin, opposite the km341 marker on Highway 3, is clearly marked in English as well as Chinese. Less than 2km up the road to Pinglin, Chiayi Local Road 147 (嘉147), I stopped to inspect a sign I don’t think I’d seen before. It wasn’t, as I first assumed, a reminder that the Buddhist practice of fangsheng (放生, the “merciful release” of captive creatures into the wild to accrue merit) can wreak ecological havoc. Instead, it was a warning from the Forestry Bureau’s Chiayi District Office that anyone caught catching or trading protected turtle species could be sentenced to a jail term of up to five years, and fined between NT$300,000 and NT$1.5 million. Among the species it specifically mentioned were the Yellow-margined box turtle (食蛇龜, “snake-eating turtle,” Cuora flavomarginata) and the Yellow pond turtle (柴棺龜, Mauremys mutica). A short distance further on, where the cliff-and-creek scenery is especially delightful, I came across what could be evidence of
he Taipei Times bilingual pages are having a makeover, with professionally curated content for both English and Chinese learners of all levels, starting this month. With our new partners Ivy English, English OK, VoiceTube and others, Taipei Times readers can improve their language studies while keeping abreast of important issues in Taiwan and abroad. A new departure for us is the addition of a Chinese-language learning module, with content provided by the National Taiwan Normal University “Mandarin Teaching Center.” Watch this space! 《台北時報》雙語版最優質的中英文內容，多年來一向受到讀者們的喜愛。本月起版面全新升級！每週和《常春藤解析英語》、《English OK中學英閱誌》、《VoiceTube》影音平台……等專業英語機構合作，提供豐富多元且實用的英語學習內容，不但適合各種程度學生及上班族自修，老師、家長用它當教材也超便利。原先頗受歡迎的雙語新聞則予以保留，持續帶領大家了解國內外之重要議題。 而此次改版除了英語學習以外，本報特別和台灣師範大學「國語教學中心」聯手，即將為外國讀者們推出華語學習單元，打造最強全方位中英文雙語版，精彩內容在網站上也看的到唷！
This is an announcement about the English speech contest. 這是關於英語演講比賽的公告。 ABC School Announcement This year’s English speech contest is coming next month! All the topics are listed on the school’s website at: www.abcschool.edu/speech. The deadline for registration is May 31. Each class should register at least one student. 必備單字 1. list v. 列表、列舉（國中基本1200字） 2. speech n. 演講、言論（國中挑戰800字） 3. topic n. 題目、話題（國中挑戰800字） 實用字詞 1. deadline for registration 報名截止時間 2. at least 至少、最少 閱讀技巧： 將長句分成短字詞，以利閱讀 All the topics / are listed on / the school’s website. 所有的題目／都被列在／學校的網站上。 斷句練習： Each class should register at least one student. 解答： Each class / should register / at least / one student. 每個班級／應該報名／至少／一位學生。 考題練習： TOEIC Bridge測驗X國中會考題型 1. What is the announcement about? (A) An English contest (B) An English website (C) A website contest 2. When is the deadline for registration? (A) March 13 (B) March 31 (C) Next month 3. How many students from each class may register for this contest? (A) Only one (B)At least one (C) More than one 解答： 1. (A) 2. (B) 3. (B) 文章由 English OK 授權使用: www.englishok.com.tw
A: Are there any other organisms facing extinction? B: Reportedly, over 40 percent of amphibians, 25 percent of mammals and 13 percent of birds could face extinction. A: These are really frightening statistics. B: If humans do not look after the animal kingdom, one day we too might become extinct. A: 那其他生物會不會也面臨絕種危機啊？ B: 據說百分之四十的兩棲動物、百分之二十五的哺乳動物、百分之十三的鳥類都可能滅絕。 A: 這些數字看起來好驚人。 B: 如果人類再不保護動物，總有一天自己也會滅絕。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩） Audio recordings for Speak Up! dialogues will be suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.
| New Taipei City | 24-25 | 30% | |
| Hsinchu County | 24-26 | 20% | |
| Hsinchu City | 24-25 | 20% | |
| Taipei City | 23-25 | 30% | |
| Miaoli County | 24-26 | 20% | |
| Taoyuan City | 23-25 | 30% | |
| Keelung City | 22-23 | 30% |
| Yunlin County | 27-30 | 20% | |
| Taichung City | 28-30 | 20% | |
| Nantou County | 28-30 | 20% | |
| Changhua County | 26-28 | 20% |
| Chiayi County | 27-29 | 20% | |
| Chiayi City | 28-31 | 20% | |
| Tainan City | 28-30 | 20% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 29-30 | 20% | |
| Pingtung County | 29-32 | 20% |
| Yilan County | 24-26 | 30% | |
| Hualien County | 25-27 | 40% | |
| Taitung County | 26-28 | 80% |
| Kinmen County | 22-25 | 20% | |
| Penghu County | 24-26 | 20% | |
| Lienchiang County | 19-20 | 20% |