Tue, Mar 02, 2021
Taiwanese netizens and politicians yesterday mocked a Chinese plan to build a transportation network linking Beijing and Taipei, calling it “science fiction” and “daydreaming.” Their comments were in reaction to the Chinese State Council’s release last week of its “Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan,” which include several proposed transportation links, with one map showing a line running from China’s Jingjinji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei. “This is the Chinese leadership daydreaming again of [fulfilling its] fantasy of extending China’s transportation network to Taiwan. I suggest people regard it as science fiction,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said. “It is China’s ‘united front’ propaganda machine at work,” he added. “[Chinese leaders] believe that by building a transportation link to Taipei, the Beijing government can claim that Taiwan falls under Chinese jurisdiction,” he said. “In Europe, they have highway and railway networks linking many countries. These transportation networks go from the UK, France, all the way to Turkey. Does it mean that people consider all EU member states connected by transportation as belonging to one country?” he said. The Chinese plan says the highway and railway links would be completed by 2035, with the final phase of the project connecting Fuzhou in China’s Fujian Province to Taipei through an undersea tunnel through the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese pundits and politicians said that would be impossible given the political divide, as well as unrealistic because of the engineering, environmental and financial difficulties. Taiwan already has very good road networks that provide convenient access, Wang said. “On the other hand, corruption is rife in China’s transportation sector, and many government officials have been arrested for siphoning money off highway and railway construction projects,” he said. “I suggest China look after itself, instead of always coveting its neighboring country,”
A US national security commission is recommending that US universities take steps to prevent sensitive technology from being stolen by the Chinese military, a sign of growing concerns over the security of academic research. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), led by former Google chairman Eric Schmidt, was yesterday set to vote on its final report to the US Congress. A new section on university research was added to a recently published final draft, which also features numerous recommendations in areas including competition in artificial intelligence (AI) and the semiconductor supply chain. The fresh recommendations come as the US pushes ahead with the prosecution of at least five Chinese researchers arrested last year in various cities across the US on charges of visa fraud for not disclosing ties to the Chinese military. Among those arrested was Song Chen (宋琛), a former Stanford University visiting academic in neurology who faces charges including obstruction of justice, destruction of records and making false statements to a government agency. She pleaded not guilty at an arraignment last week in the US District Court, Northern District of California. “Dr Song is a physician. She was here to do medical research that would have benefited stroke victims in the United States had she been allowed to complete her work,” her lawyer, Ed Swanson, said in an e-mail. Other cases involve Tang Juan (唐娟), a visiting researcher at University of California (UC) Davis School of Medicine; Wang Xin, a visiting researcher at UC San Francisco who was working on projects related to metabolism and obesity; Zhao Kaikai, a doctoral student focusing on AI and machine learning at Indiana University in Bloomington; and Guan Lei (關磊), who worked as a researcher at UC Los Angeles’ mathematics department. Stanford, UC San Francisco and UC Davis all said they are cooperating with the authorities
OBSTRUCTION: Beijing is using checkpoints and contact tracing apps for the disease to spy on journalists, a foreign correspondents’ club said China has used extra surveillance and restrictions ostensibly imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic to block the work of foreign reporters already struggling with threats of detention and punitive visa restrictions, a press group said yesterday. As the country has largely brought the COVID-19 outbreak under control since it emerged in late 2019, Beijing has raced to promote an official narrative of heroism and success in its early handling of the pandemic. “As China’s propaganda machine struggled to regain control of the narrative around this public health disaster, foreign press outlets were repeatedly obstructed in their attempts to cover the pandemic,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC) said in its annual report, based on a survey of 150 of its 220 members. “China has used the pandemic as yet another way to control journalists,” it said. Strict COVID-19 measures have been regularly used to block or threaten reporters, the media group said, with about 42 percent of respondents saying they had been made to leave an area or denied access for health and safety reasons. The FCCC said journalists were asked to comply with measures that were not required of others, and that the introduction of COVID-19 checkpoints and contact tracing apps had created “additional opportunities for Chinese authorities to gather data and surveil foreign journalists and their sources.” Sources like medical staff in the city of Wuhan — where COVID-19 first surfaced — were interrogated by authorities or warned against accepting interviews, reporters said. For a third straight year, none of the respondents said working conditions had improved. Asked about the report, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said that it was “presumptuous, alarmist and has zero factual basis.” “We have always welcomed media and journalists from all countries to carry out interviews and reporting in
Police in Myanmar’s biggest city yesterday fired tear gas at defiant crowds who returned to the streets to protest last month’s coup, despite reports that security forces had killed at least 18 people a day earlier. The protesters in Yangon were chased as they tried to gather at their usual meeting spot at the Hledan Center intersection. Demonstrators scattered and sought in vain to rinse the irritating gas from their eyes, but later regrouped. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar after five decades of military rule. It came on Feb. 1, the same day a newly elected parliament was supposed to take office. Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party would have led that government, but instead she was detained along with then-Burmese president Win Myint and other senior officials. The army has leveled several charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, who yesterday made a court appearance via videoconference and was charged with two more offenses, her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told reporters. Accused of inciting unrest, she was charged under a law that dates from British colonial days and has long been criticized as a vaguely defined catch-all law that inhibits freedom of expression. That charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The other charge from carries a one-year sentence. Following her detention on the day of the coup, the 75-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi was initially held at her residence in the capital, Naypyidaw, but members of her National League for Democracy party now say they do not know where she is. The UN said it had “credible information” that at least 18 people were killed and 30 were wounded across Myanmar on Sunday. Counts from other sources, such the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news outlet, put the death
CRACKDOWN: The former lawmakers and advocates had been previously arrested and released, but they have been detained again and are to appear before a court Hong Kong police yesterday detained 47 democracy advocates on charges of conspiracy to commit subversion under the territory’s National Security Law, in the largest mass charge against the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s opposition camp since the law came into effect in June last year. The former lawmakers and democracy advocates had been previously arrested in a sweeping police operation in January, but were released. They have been detained again and would appear in court today, police said in a statement. They allegedly contravened the National Security Law, which was imposed by Beijing for participating in unofficial election primaries for Hong Kong’s legislature last year. The defendants are 39 men and eight women aged 23 to 64, police said. The move is part of a continuing crackdown on the territory’s democracy movement, with a string of arrests and prosecutions of Hong Kong’s democracy proponents — including outspoken advocates Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) and Jimmy Lai (黎智英) — following months of anti-government protests in 2019. The pro-democracy camp had held the primaries to determine the best candidates to field to win a majority in the legislature, and had plans to vote down major bills, which would eventually force Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) to resign. In January, 55 advocates and former lawmakers were arrested for their roles in the primaries. Authorities said that the advocates’ participation was part of a plan to paralyze the territory’s legislature and subvert state power. The legislative election that would have followed the unofficial primaries was postponed by a year by Lam, who cited public health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass resignations and disqualifications of pro-democracy lawmakers have left the legislature largely a pro-Beijing body. Among those arrested yesterday was former lawmaker Eddie Chu (朱凱迪). A post on his official Twitter account confirmed that he was being charged for conspiracy to commit subversion and that
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced a five-year, NT$11 billion (US$388.6 million) investment plan for the development of a 5G artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) innovation hub in Kaohsiung’s Asia New Bay Area (亞洲新灣區). The project, which is to begin this year, would involve the Kaohsiung City Government, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the National Development Council, the National Communications Commission and the Ministry of Culture. It aims to build Taiwan’s most comprehensive 5G and AIoT testing and demonstration facilities in the port city, the economics ministry said in a statement. The government seeks to attract 50 local and foreign companies, as well as 120 start-ups, to join the innovation hub over five years, generating NT$30 billion of new investment and creating NT$120 billion in production value, the statement said. The Executive Yuan made the announcement after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was briefed by the economics ministry and the city government about the investment plan earlier yesterday at a meeting at the Kaohsiung Public Library. Tsai said the development of Asia New Bay Area plays an important role in the government’s Great South, Great Development policy, which aims to balance the development gap between southern and northern Taiwan. It also represents a close collaboration between the central and local governments, she said. Kaohsiung is expected to become a “technology smart city” and demonstrates the realization of the policy, Tsai said. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) thanked the central government for its support and said the city government would offer incentives for participating companies. These would include zero-interest corporate loans for investments exceeding NT$400 million and a 25 percent wage subsidy for workers, Chen said. The city government would offer a preferential program for industrial land, he said. Companies setting up shop in the innovation zone would stay rent-free for the
AGING PARENTS: As the number of women waiting until after 35 to have children increases, so do the number of premature births in Taiwan, an expert said The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) is to implement a program for the home care of prematurely born babies, after more than 10 percent of babies born in 2019 were premature or underweight. Data from 2019 showed that 10.24 percent of newborns weighed less than 2.5kg, while 10.4 percent were preterm births, the HPA said yesterday, adding that it has produced a booklet for parents of premature and underweight babies, and that it is planning to offer a home-care program. When babies are born prematurely their organs are not fully developed, which can lead to heightened risk of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, periventricular leukomalacia and other conditions, the HPA said. Babies born prematurely can also develop health conditions later in life, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetic retinopathy, slow development or hearing problems, it said. The HPA has produced a booklet for parents of premature babies, but it has found that they are having difficulty coping, HPA Deputy Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said, adding that he hopes the government can do more to help, including when parents have to deal with related problems later in the child’s life. “We plan to have doctors visit families at home to give more detailed advice,” he said. “The program is to be implemented at five hospitals nationwide in the coming year.” Resources for parents of premature babies are concentrated in major cities, but the new program would make more resources available in rural areas, as well as outlying islands, Wu said. The majority of premature babies are twins or triplets, or are born to mothers who are more advanced in age or who have pre-existing medical conditions, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology secretary-general Huang Min-chao (黃閔照) said. The number of women having babies after the age of 35 is on the rise, which has led to an increase
STANDING BY ALLIES: A music festival would also feature Taiwanese punk band Fire Ex, as well as performers on traditional Japanese instruments An exhibition and music festival are to be held later this month in Taipei to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 20,000 people in Japan, the country’s representative office in Taiwan said yesterday. The exhibition, running from Wednesday next week to March 21, would feature photographs of scenes immediately after the disaster in the northeast of the country and pictures of what those areas look like today, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association said. It would also feature signature boards, signed by Japanese comic artists, expressing gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the association said in a news release. In a special section of the exhibition at Huashan 1914 Creative Park, a display of books about the disaster, by Taiwanese and Japanese writers, would highlight the friendly ties between the countries, it said. Other events include a fair and a music festival on Saturday and Sunday next week at the park plaza, it said. The festival would feature musicians playing traditional Japanese instruments such as taiko drums and the shamisen, a three-stringed lute, as well as Taiwanese indie band Fire Ex (滅火器), winner of the best band prize at last year’s Golden Melody Awards. Taiwan-based Japanese YouTuber Keigo Mihara would also participate, the association said. The magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck northeastern Japan, causing a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, and resulting in billions of dollars in losses in the Japanese economy. In the aftermath of the disaster, Taiwan’s government and private sector donated a total of ￥25 billion (US$234.26 million at the current exchange rate) in aid, and sent search and rescue teams to Japan, earning the country’s eternal gratitude, the association said.
The Taiwan Creative Content Agency is seeking opportunities for international coproductions and investments of Taiwanese films at this year’s European Film Market, the agency said yesterday. This year’s European Film Market, which started yesterday and runs until Friday, is being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said in a statement. The agency’s participation in the trade fair is aimed at increasing international visibility of Taiwanese films, creating opportunities for international coproductions and investments in them, and connecting Taiwanese projects and film professionals with the international market, it said. In addition to releasing an online catalog to recommend original and adapted works from Taiwan to international audiences, the agency would introduce its international coproduction and cofunding program to industry players from around the world at the fair’s Berlinale Co-Production Market, it said. This year, a total of 39 Taiwanese films — ranging from feature films to documentaries, animations and virtual reality projects — signed up to participate in the European Film Market, the agency said. They include director Giddens Ko’s (九把刀) latest film, Till We Meet Again (月老), starring Gingle Wang (王淨) and Kai Ko (柯震東); Man in Love (當男人戀愛時), which was adapted from a South Korean film of the same name and stars Ann Hsu (許瑋甯) and Roy Chiu (邱澤); and As We Like It (揭大歡喜), which retells William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and was selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Big Screen Competition, it said. Sounds of Taiwan (聽見臺灣), which traces the process behind composer Bao Yuan-kai’s (鮑元愷) creation of Sketches of Taiwan (臺灣音畫), and City of Lost Things (廢棄之城), which was directed by Yee Chih-yen (易智言), produced by Lee Lieh (李烈) and won the Golden Horse Award for best animated feature last year, were among the other films highlighted by the agency. To help more projects reach the international market,
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday released a pamphlet describing correct and safe methods of applying cosmetic and care products, regulations and the science of how products achieve their effects. The illustrated booklet contains about 80 pages and six chapters, including an introduction to the Statute for Control of Cosmetic Hygiene (化粧品衛生管理條例), as well as information on cosmetic and care product labels and how to read them. It also explains how to safely test, apply and preserve cosmetic products to prevent spoilage and contamination. The fourth chapter describes the mechanism behind how 10 types of common cosmetic and care products work to achieve their advertised effects, and how to choose products and apply them safely. The fifth chapter addresses more than 40 common myths about face, hair and body products, as well as folk prescriptions, and the regulations that they are required to follow, while the last chapter comprises six comics to warn readers of common mistakes made in purchasing or using care products. One of the myths is that washing hair with just warm water is enough to clean it, but the pamphlet says that this is “not totally correct,” as warm water only removes water-soluble substances, but not oil-based substances. Rinsing hair with warm water without using a cleansing product can make hair feel even greasier or stickier than unwashed hair, it says. The comics also remind people that they cannot purchase more than 12 units of any type of specific-purpose cosmetic products for personal use, and no more than 36 in total, in other countries to bring back to Taiwan. The e-book version is available on the FDA’s Web site, while the printed version is sold on the Web sites of National Bookstore (國家書店), Kingstone Bookstore and San Min Books, as well as Wunan Bookstore branches and National Bookstore’s shop in Taipei’s Zhongshan
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts is this month to present La Traviata, one of three operas it plans to stage this year, its general and artistic director Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬) said. The center, also known as Weiwuying, centered the productions around the theme of rediscovery and creating something new from the classics, he said. Chien, who conducted the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra for the 2016 version of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata, said that he is looking forward to restaging the production from March 18 to 21, because Italian-based Taiwanese soprano Keng Li (耿立) would take the lead role of Violetta Valery in two of the four performances, on March 19 and 21. This would be the first time that Kaohsiung-born Keng, who studied in Italy and won first prize and two other awards at the 2018 International Antonin Dvorak Singing Competition in the Czech Republic, has performed in a full opera in Taiwan, Chien said. In a predominantly local cast, Taiwanese soprano Huang Li-chin (黃莉錦) would share the role with Keng on the other two dates, Weiwuying said. Chien said that the other two operas are Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla, which would be presented to mark the late Argentine musician’s 100th birthday, and Norma, which was performed in 2004 by the National Symphony Orchestra, with himself as conductor. Maria de Buenos Aires would be a coproduction between Weiwuying and its counterparts in Hong Kong and Macau, Chien said, adding that it would be directed by Hong Kong choreographer Helen Lai (黎海寧). Chien said that he would once again be working with Li Huan-hsiung (黎煥雄), who directed the 2004 production of Norma. No dates have yet been given as to when the two productions would be presented.
RELIANCE ON CHINA: The amount of fruit exported to HK, Japan, South Korea and the US grew last year, and Taiwan now has approval to ship pineapples to Australia The government would continue to diversify export markets for Taiwan’s agricultural products, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday, after China on Friday announced that it would suspend imports of pineapples from Taiwan. Taiwan has exported 6,200 batches of pineapples to China since last year, but China only reported finding scale insects among the fruit 13 times, while 99.79 percent of the pineapples sent to China passed customs testing, council data showed. “We have been helping farmers explore markets with high-export potential to avoid the risks caused by having a single export market,” the council said. “We have offered different incentives to boost exports to target markets, assisted agricultural associations in participating in international and domestic agricultural product exhibitions, and worked with supermarket chains in Singapore and other countries to set up Taiwanese produce sections.” Some of Taiwan’s farmers have secured halal certification with the council’s assistance, allowing them to export their products to Muslim countries, it said, adding that these measures have not only led to a significant increase in agricultural exports, but have also helped diversify export markets. Over the past three years, Taiwan exported an average of about 91,000 tonnes of fruit per year, 80 percent of which went to China, the council said, adding that the amount of fruit exported to Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the US grew by 68 percent, 37 percent, 75 percent and 210 percent respectively last year. Exports of pineapples, wax apples and pomeloes to non-China markets rose by 164 percent, 77 percent and 147 percent respectively last year, it said. Pineapples exported to Japan reached a record 2,160 tonnes last year, the council said, adding that Taiwan has been given approval to export fresh decrowned pineapples to Australia after years of effort. The council said it would ensure that Taiwanese fruit can be exported
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would use its online platforms to help promote sales of domestic pineapples, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, as a Chinese ban on imports of the fruit from Taiwan took effect. China’s suspension of pineapple imports from the nation has had a serious effect on the domestic pineapple industry since it was announced on Friday, Chiang said while meeting pineapple growers in Tainan. Besides pineapples, many other local fruits, such as wax apples, are exported to China, he said. “Taiwan’s fruits have always been very high-quality, and we certainly hope to sell them to more countries,” he said. However, he added that unlike exports of electronic products, fruit exports are restricted by factors such as their freshness, making the Chinese market important for domestic farmers. He urged Taipei and Beijing to discuss technical and inspection-related issues, and proposed that inspections be performed in batches, with only the problematic imports returned, adding that this would mitigate the losses experienced by pineapple growers. Chiang said he has asked the 14 KMT mayors and county commissioners to join forces to help support domestic pineapple growers and other farmers with any available resources. The KMT would also use its online platforms to help domestic growers sell pineapples, he said. The Democratic Progressive Party had promised farmers that it would help them develop new markets besides China, Chiang said, urging the government to fulfill its pledge. Encouraging Taiwanese to consume domestic pineapples is a short-term fix, KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) wrote on Facebook yesterday, adding that the government cannot encourage people to eat every food product that China bans. Lin also urged Beijing to enter discussions with Taipei to find solutions to pineapple export-related issues, saying that negotiations between the US and China took place even amid their trade dispute. “Optimistically, perhaps this is an opportunity
RISKY PARTNER: After the technology used to raise giant groupers was handed to China, the price of the fish went from NT$1,500 per 600g to less than NT$250 per 600g Agricultural experts yesterday urged the government to reduce reliance on China, which is the nation’s largest export destination for agricultural products, by finding other markets and seeking patent protection for some of Taiwan’s unique plants. On Friday, China announced that it was suspending imports of pineapples from Taiwan on the grounds that it had found scale insects among the fruit. The same day, Chinese media promoted Hsuwen pineapples produced in China’s Guangdong Province, which are actually a variety of pineapple from Taiwan. Wu Rong-jieh (吳榮杰), an honorary professor at National Taiwan University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, said it is no secret that some people have transferred agricultural technology to China. “Some consider personal interests above national interests and take the technology with them to China because of the short-term benefits. Others do not even consider China a hostile nation and even think of it as a motherland. Technology transfer becomes inevitable when you confuse political and economic issues,” Wu said. For example, Taiwan was once known for its giant groupers, which would take three years to grow, he said, adding that the market price went as high as NT$1,500 per 600g at one point. In 2008, after the technology used to raise giant groupers was given to China, many large indoor grouper facilities were built in China’s Fujian Province. Taiwan and China signed an economic cooperation framework agreement in 2010, which listed giant groupers as one of the tax-free items, and by 2014, the number of groupers produced in Taiwan reached a record 26,000 tonnes, 80 percent of which were exported to China, Wu said. However, groupers from China began to be sold in Taiwan in 2012, with the market price sliding to NT$500 per 600g, he said, adding that by then eight times more groupers were being produced in China than what was being produced in
A notification received by a farmers’ group in Kaohsiung from a Chinese trade company suspending one shipment of wax apples was an isolated case and would have no effect on cross-strait trade in the fruit, Taiwan’s agricultural authorities said on Sunday. The Liouguei Farmers’ Association in Kaohsiung’s Liouguei District (六龜) said that on Sunday it received a notification from its Chinese trade agent that a shipment of wax apples to China scheduled for next week had been suspended. The notification came three days after China told Taiwan that it was suspending imports of its pineapples, starting yesterday. Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said that the decision of one Chinese trade agent does not affect cross-strait trade in wax apples. If Taiwan or China decides to suspend trade of any agricultural produce, a bilateral agricultural trade agreement stipulates that a notification should immediately be sent to the nation in question, he said. The council has received no such notification, he added. Chen also urged local media to check their facts before filing sensationalist reports that could affect the prices of farm produce. Wang Cheng-yi (王正一), acting director-general of the Kaohsiung City Government’s Agriculture Bureau, said that the suspension involves one Chinese trading agent and one fruit shipment. The shipment was expected to contain about 300 to 400 cartons of wax apples, the bureau said. The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said that the farmers’ association has exported 7,648 tonnes of wax apples since last year, all of which passed Chinese inspections. Kaoshiung exported 1,331.5 tonnes of wax apples last year, with 99.5 percent going to China, the council said. There would be reduced output this year due to fruit being damaged by cold weather, with the wax apple harvest expected to begin in the middle of next month, it said. Kaohsiung
RARE POSITION: IHS Markit expects exports to increase by about 13 percent this year, as demand for electronics worldwide has recovered significantly since last year Taiwan’s economy might expand 4.1 percent this year, accelerating from a 3.11 percent pickup last year, as its exports would continue to benefit from surging demand for electronics products amid and after the COVID-19 pandemic, global research body IHS Markit said yesterday. Taiwan has been one of the world’s most resilient economies during the pandemic-triggered recession last year. Economic indicators at the beginning of this year signal improving growth momentum for its economy over the coming months, as the global economy and trade rebounds, the US-British information provider said. According to the latest IHS Markit survey of business confidence in Taiwan, the 12-month outlook for manufacturing production in January rose to its highest level since April 2014, reflecting strengthening new orders, it said. IHS Markit expects Taiwan’s exports to increase by about 13 percent this year, as global demand for electronics has recovered significantly from the lows seen in the first half of last year, when lockdowns in major countries disrupted production and consumer spending. With an improving economic landscape worldwide following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, global demand for electronics products would remain sturdy, IHS Markit said. The pandemic has sped up the pace of digital transformation for companies and organizations, a trend that underpinned the global shift to remote work and spurred demand for electronic devices, such as computers, printers and mobile phones, it said. That helps explain why Taiwan is in the rare position of posting an increase in GDP last year, when most other economies either plunged into recession or experienced a material slowdown caused by the shockwaves of the pandemic, it added. IHS Markit said the easing of lockdowns in many countries is facilitating a rebound in consumer spending, helping boost demand for a wide range of consumer electronics. Therefore, electronics demand would receive further backing from major technological developments, including rollouts of
Taiwan’s export processing zones last year generated NT$400 billion (US$14.13 billion) in production value and are aiming for 5 percent annual growth this year after they are renamed, the Export Processing Zone Administration (EPZA) said. On March 28, the export processing zones, which fall under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, would be renamed science and technology industrial park zones, in accordance with an amendment made late last year to the Statute for the Establishment and Administration of Export Processing Zone (加工出口區設置管理條例). After the name change, the industrial park zones would prioritize smart upgrades, talent cultivation and business matchmaking on digital platforms, which would be funded with NT$100 million from the government, EPZA Deputy Director-General Liu Chi-chuan (劉繼傳) said. INTANGIBLE RESOURCES Intangible resources would also be poured into the industrial park zones to help companies transform and upgrade, Liu said. As for the distinction between the economics ministry’s industrial park zones and the Ministry of Science and Technology’s science park zones, Liu said that the former are dedicated mainly to mass production, while the latter engage in production, development and research. To boost production value in the industrial parks by at least an annual 5 percent this year, the ministry plans to expand the zones in Pingtung County and Kaohsiung to attract more private investments, he said. Taiwan has 10 industrial park zones in Taichung, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, spread over 530.3 hectares. The Taichung parks host mainly companies in the optical, electronics, flat-panel display, software and digital content industries, while the Kaohsiung parks are home to semiconductor, optoelectronics, logistics, software and digital content companies. Most of the businesses in the Pingtung park zone are water treatment plants and electric motor manufacturers.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to post a 25 percent year-on-year increase in sales in the first quarter of this year to US$12.91 billion, up from US$10.31 billion a year earlier, as its production is at full capacity, market advisory firm TrendForce Corp said in a note last week. The increase would help TSMC cement its leadership in the industry by taking a 56 percent market share in the global pure wafer foundry business, TrendForce said. Its forecast was in line with TSMC’s estimate in January, which pointed to a range of US$12.7 billion to US$13 billion for the first quarter. TSMC is to benefit from its efforts to develop a 5-nanometer production process, which began mass production in the second quarter of last year, TrendForce said. The process is expected to account for about 20 percent of TSMC’s total revenue in the first quarter, it added. TSMC is expected to continue to see solid demand for its 7-nanometer technology from major customers, such as US-based Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Nvidia Corp and Qualcomm Inc, as well as Taiwan’s MediaTek Inc (聯發科), TrendForce said. The 7-nanometer process is expected to make up more than 30 percent of TSMC’s total sales in the first quarter, the advisory firm said. TSMC is expected to receive an additional boost from strong global demand for 5G applications, high-performance computing devices and automotive electronics, it added. Smaller local rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) is expected to see its sales for the first quarter rise 14 percent from a year earlier to US$1.60 billion, giving it a 7 percent market share and placing it third globally, TrendForce said. UMC is expected to receive large orders in a wide range of products, such as driver ICs, power management ICs, radio-frequency applications and the Internet of Things, in the first quarter, it said. South
A national security official on Saturday said there were growing concerns over Beijing’s training of young Taiwanese as Internet celebrities to help China spread propaganda. The fear is that these tactics would cause Taiwanese to lower their guard on China, allowing it to wield greater influence here. Inevitably, this would help Beijing erode Taiwan’s democracy, by swaying people’s political positions and encouraging them to vote for China-friendly politicians, who could eventually sign agreements with Beijing that would see Taiwan lose its sovereignty, freedoms and way of life. This raises a few important questions: To what extent are people living in a democracy with free access to information susceptible to outside propaganda? How likely is it that Beijing’s propaganda could cause a majority of Taiwanese to abandon their democracy? To what extent can — and should — the government combat foreign propaganda? An op-ed published in the Guardian on Jan. 31, 2018, cited a seminar at the University of Oxford, where attending Russian journalists and activists “were much more resilient to propaganda” than expected. The writer attributed this to the group having “developed a capacity to detect” disinformation. In democracies, people could be as effective in resisting propaganda if they learned how it is devised and how it works — for example, by playing on emotions — the article said. A New York Times article from Sept. 11 last year said that the vast majority of misinformation online is actually shared by older users, who tend to be less discerning about the information they encounter on social media. This is particularly worrisome, as in most democracies the older generation is more likely to vote. That means that while Beijing’s propaganda campaign might not work on its intended target — young Taiwanese — it could still affect the voting habits of older Taiwanese. However, this does not
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) talked about “opposing the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in a recent Facebook post, writing that opposing the CCP is not the special reserve of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Not long after, many people within the KMT received a mysterious letter signed “Chinese Nationalist Party Central Committee” containing what looked like a declaration of opposition to, and a call to arms against, the CCP. Unexpectedly, the KMT’s Culture and Communications Committee came forward with a clarification, saying that the letter was not sent by the KMT and telling the public not to believe this piece of “fake news.” The committee also warned whoever sent the letter that forging the party’s letterhead and spreading disinformation could be a crime, and called on them to refrain from knowingly breaking the law. In other words, the KMT thinks that saying it is “opposing the CCP” is fake news and threatens anyone who will listen that spreading that letter would be tantamount to knowingly breaking the law. Compare that to the era of authoritarian KMT rule, when the party used political propaganda to brainwash Taiwanese into “opposing the CCP, restoring the nation, and liberating and saving their suffering mainland compatriots while the iron was still hot,” and engaged in psychological warfare against Chinese by air-dropping propaganda leaflets in China and proclaiming the sanctity of the “sacred mission to reconquer the mainland.” Today’s KMT is so gutless that it does not even dare say the words: “Oppose the CCP.” The KMT’s opposition to the CCP is indeed fake: Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) — who in 2016 traveled to Beijing to sit at the feet of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and listen as Xi gave a speech, and then discussed how the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could develop and project its power —
In February, US President Joe Biden’s administration sent two aircraft carriers to the South China Sea in an escalation of signaling between Washington and Beijing. China is pressing Biden to reverse the across-the-board “confrontational” strategy of former US president Donald Trump’s administration. That would be a mistaken return to failed pre-Trump policies that the new team seems poised to avoid. Biden is trying to balance several competing imperatives: keeping China at bay, but still in communication while his team develops its own policy, and distinguishing his strategy from that of the administrations of former US president Barack Obama and Trump without scrapping the latter’s important initiatives. The day after the carrier passages, Biden accepted a telephone conversation that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had sought for months, which had been delayed until Washington could consult with US allies — a deliberate departure from the perceived “go-it-alone” Trump style. Biden wrote on Twitter that he “shared concerns about Beijing’s economic practices, human rights abuses, and coercion of Taiwan. I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people.” In a statement on the two-hour conversation, the White House said that Biden “affirmed his priorities of protecting America’s domestic welfare and preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific.” He “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,” it said. “The Taiwan question and issues relating to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, etc, are China’s internal affairs and concern China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the US side should respect China’s core interests and act prudently, Xi stressed,” China’s Xinhua news agency said. Later that day, Biden visited the Pentagon and announced an expedited review of the US’ defense posture in Asia. The panel would focus on
READY TO POUNCE: Ante Rebic scored the winner for AC Milan as they edged an intense battle with rivals AS Roma 2-1 to remain within four points of leaders Inter Romelu Lukaku on Sunday scored after 33 seconds and set up another in Inter’s 3-0 win over Genoa to keep their title push on track ahead of city rivals AC Milan, who beat AS Roma 2-1. Inter remain four points ahead of second-placed Milan, who got back to winning ways in Rome after consecutive league losses, including the previous weekend’s derby defeat. Champions Juventus are a further six points adrift after being held 1-1 at Hellas Verona on Saturday, but have played a game fewer. Atalanta BC, equal on points with Juventus, take fourth spot two points ahead of Roma, who drop to fifth following the loss to Milan. Lukaku scored with the first chance at the San Siro, then laid on Matteo Darmian for Inter’s second in the 69th minute. Alexis Sanchez came off the bench to add a third with 13 minutes to go. “We’re first in the standings and it’s a good feeling,” Lukaku said as Inter try to deny Juventus a 10th consecutive league title after finishing runners-up last season. Antonio Conte’s side followed on from the 3-0 derby win over Milan, notching a fifth win in a row as they push for a first league title since 2009-2010. “We’re happy because our hard work is paying off,” Conte said. “We know that there are 14 games left. Let’s keep our antennas up until the end if we want to do something good.” Lukaku led the way, completing a give-and-go with Lautaro Martinez after good work from Nicolo Barella to fire in from an angle for his 18th Serie A goal of the season, one shy of leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo. The 27-year-old has scored six goals in the past five games. “I’m in a good moment of my career, but the important thing is that Inter win,” the former Manchester United striker said. “These matches
LeBron James on Sunday scored 19 points, then had plenty of time to sit back and enjoy the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James, playing in his 1,300th regular-season game, added six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in just 24 minutes on court. He sat out all of the fourth quarter along with the rest of the starters from both teams as the Lakers closed out what had become a tough month with a dominant victory, despite the continuing absence of forward Anthony Davis. The NBA champions, who lost five of their first six with Anthony sidelined, have now won two straight. “When you lose a mega-piece like AD, it’s going to take some time both offensively and defensively,” James said of the adjustments required. James said the Lakers were becoming more comfortable in the roles they have had to adopt with Davis sidelined, an absence that Lakers coach Frank Vogel said called on them to develop a “little bit of a new identity.” Six Lakers scored in double figures as they avenged a narrow loss to the Warriors in January. James capped an overwhelming first half with a pull-up three-pointer that put the Lakers up 73-44. Eric Paschall led the Warriors with 18 points off the bench as star Stephen Curry was limited to 16. The end of the Warriors’ three-game winning streak was made more painful by the departure of Draymond Green with a sprained ankle in the second quarter. The Lakers’ win was not even the most lopsided of the night. That belonged to the Memphis Grizzlies, who trounced the slumping Rockets 133-84 in Houston, Texas. However, there was plenty of drama in Boston, where forward Jayson Tatum drove for two baskets in the final 15 seconds to lead the Celtics to a 111-110 come-from-behind victory over the Washington
Manchester United on Sunday were left frustrated by a video assistant referee (VAR) penalty controversy in their 0-0 draw at Chelsea, while a revitalized Gareth Bale struck twice in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 rout of Burnley. Liverpool took advantage of dropped points for Chelsea to move within two points of the top four by ending a four-match losing streak with a 2-0 victory at Sheffield United. Second-placed Manchester United had hoped to close the gap on Manchester City with a victory at Stamford Bridge, but instead they now sit 12 points behind the English Premier League leaders as their title hopes fade following a run of one win in four games. Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel is unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions since replacing Frank Lampard, but the stalemate also did little for the Blues top-four challenge. The biggest talking point of a dour clash came in the first half when Manchester United’s appeal for a penalty was rejected by referee Stuart Attwell after he consulted the pitch-side monitor when Callum Hudson-Odoi appeared to handle in a challenge with Mason Greenwood. “It was a penalty, 100 percent nailed on. If that’s a natural position for a hand to be in when the ball comes in then I must be blind,” Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. Tuchel disagreed. “How can this be a VAR intervention? I don’t understand why the referee has to check it, but I’m glad it was no penalty,” the Chelsea coach said. After five defeats in their previous six league games, Spurs eased the pressure on Jose Mourinho with a significant contribution from Bale, who made just his third league start of the season. The Wales forward’s most impressive display since his loan move from Real Madrid gave him four goals in his past four appearances. Bale took just 68 seconds to score with a
Constructing intricate models with Lego has become an important part of preparation for French Open champion Iga Swiatek and the 19-year-old Pole is confident her game is shaping up for success on all kinds of surfaces. The 19-year-old Pole last year became the youngest woman to win the Roland Garros title since Monica Seles in 1992 and on Saturday she picked up the second trophy of her career at the Adelaide International. Swiatek has often attributed her success to her sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who has helped the Polish player improve her mental strength and process her thoughts during intense matches. Work on her psychology now involves building Lego models, said Swiatek, who yesterday rose to a career-best ranking of world No. 15. “Daria had this idea to do some models and Legos, and I think it works perfectly for my mind, because I’m this kind of person who just likes to think logically and construct,” Swiatek told reporters. “I actually did in Melbourne like two wooden models. I traveled with them from Poland, and it’s weird because when I’m at the airport I have like two big luggage, my tennis bag and two models in my hands. So it’s kind of funny,” she said. Swiatek said she has completed about 70 percent of the Lego blocks she had ordered before traveling to Australia, where she did a 14-day quarantine before playing the year’s first Grand Slam. “I’m pretty sad that the time is going to end soon, but it’s great, it’s really good fun, so everybody should try Lego,” she said. Swiatek last year became the first woman to win at Roland Garros without dropping a set since Justine Henin in 2007 and again she did not lose a set in Adelaide, where she dropped only 22 games. Swiatek had not reached the quarter-final of a hard-court WTA
STILL FIGHTING: Not only did participants risk arrest by attending an illegal rally, some chanted the banned slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our time’ Defiant Hong Kongers yesterday risked arrest outside a local court in the biggest demonstration in months, as dozens of the territory’s most prominent democracy advocates were jailed on subversion charges and authorities in Beijing moved to limit the opposition’s role in future elections. The arrests of 47 opposition figures — including key protest organizers Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), Benny Tai (戴耀廷) and Jimmy Sham (岑子傑) — over their roles in an informal election primary last year represented the most sweeping use of a national security law imposed by China. The proceedings drew hundreds of supporters outside the courthouse in West Kowloon. Not only did participants risk arrest by attending an unauthorized rally, some chanted: “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our time” — a slogan banned since the law’s enactment. “I’m here to support our comrades,” Hong Kong district councilor Leon Kwan (關俊笙) said. “As long as this breath lasts, I’ll fight until the end.” At another court in the same complex, a handful of other prominent democracy advocates — including Martin Lee (李柱銘), Hong Kong’s so-called “Father of Democracy,” and media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) — were being tried on separate charges over their roles in an unauthorized rally. The latest charges were condemned by Washington and the EU, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the “immediate release” of the democracy advocates. The cases were just one of several moves by authorities to clamp down on the opposition ahead of a legislative election planned for later this year, after it was delayed from September last year. The move comes ahead of China’s National People’s Congress, with senior officials calling for an overhaul of Hong Kong’s election system that could further reduce the already-limited influence of pro-democracy politicians. China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong (夏寶龍) was meeting with Hong Kong officials in Shenzhen
China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number of Western lawmakers accusing China of genocide, Beijing is focusing on discrediting the female Uighur witnesses behind reports of abuse. Chinese officials have named women, disclosed medical data and information on their fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. Officials said that the information was evidence of bad character, invalidating their accounts of abuse. “To rebuke some media’s disgusting acts, we have taken a series of measures,” Xu Guixiang (徐貴相), deputy head of Xinjiang’s publicity department, told a news conference in December last year that was part of China’s pushback campaign. It included hours-long briefings, with footage of Xinjiang residents and family members reading monologues. A Reuters review of dozens of hours of presentations and hundreds of pages of literature, as well as interviews with experts, shows a meticulous and wide-reaching campaign that hints at China’s fears that it is losing control of the Xinjiang narrative. “One reason that the [Chinese] Communist Party is so concerned about these testimonies from women is because it undermines their initial premise for what they’re doing there, which is anti-terrorism”, said James Millward, a professor of Chinese history at Georgetown University in Washington and an expert in Xinjiang policy. “The fact that there are so many women in the camps ... who don’t have the faintest appearance of being violent people, this just shows how this has nothing to do with terrorism,” he said. Uighurs make up most of the 1 million people that a UN estimate says have been detained in Xinjiang camps under what Beijing calls a
Papua New Guinean security services yesterday called for calm, as incidents of rioting and looting followed the death of a beloved former prime minister. Papua New Guinean Minister for Police William Onglo said that officers would “step in to fully restore order” after disturbances in Port Moresby and the second city of Lae. Several stores were reportedly ransacked during a national day of mourning for the nation’s first prime minister and “father of the nation” Sir Michael Somare, who died of pancreatic cancer on Friday last week. “Rioting is never our Melanesian way to show respect,” Onglo said in a statement. Somare’s daughter, Dulciana, decried reports of “looting and property being destroyed,” urging compatriots to follow her father’s “composure and gentle ways.” “My darling Dadda we are not ready for a Papua New Guinea without you in it,” she said. Known across the nation simply as “The Chief,” Somare led Papua New Guinea at its independence from Australia in 1975 and was prime minister for 17 years, in three separate terms. A national holiday had been declared to commemorate his passing, forcing businesses to close. In one instance in Lae, an Asian-owned store appeared to have been specifically targeted. Local media showed footage of dozens of people, including children, running from the store carrying snacks and bottles of drinks. Several Asian-owned stores were raided last year, seemingly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Papua New Guinean Police Commissioner David Manning on Friday last week had warned against unrest, saying officers “throughout the country will be out in full force to ensure that opportunists do not take this sad day in our history to create fear and panic.” Papua New Guinea is one of the poorest nations in the Pacific. Violent crime and social unrest are commonplace.
Taimali Township (太麻里) is about 15km south of Jhihben Township (知本) in Taitung County, a glorious ride along the electric blue Pacific coastline. Having spent several days scouting out the upper reaches of the Jhihben River gorge for possible camera trap locations for Formosan clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), a friend and I decided to explore the next river drainage to the south. The Taimali River gorge is yet another remote and relatively unknown wilderness area of Taitung County that has likely never been properly surveyed for wildlife, and this is certainly the second place that I plan to search for clouded leopards, once the cameras come and permission is granted. There are no signs to guide the curious into the Taimali River gorge; one needs a sense of direction and some luck. But my sense of direction didn’t fail me. The narrow road shrank, becoming potholed and overhung with foliage, then turned to stone and then to dust. I had to ask my friend to hop off while I navigated the steep dirt path down to the rocky riverbed, where I parked and locked the scooter. PARADISE FOUND Suddenly the vista opened up. A deep and swift river cut a meandering channel through the wide valley, and this we had to cross numerous times. Thick, gorgeous forest lined both sides of the valley, and though we noticed the faint outline of jeep tracks, one got the sense that this place was rarely visited by people. Hiking upriver, a high, goldish mountain loomed invitingly in the distance. Yes, we could envision clouded leopards here. We found scat belonging, most likely, to yellow-throated marten, and macaques crashed around in the canopy above us. And then, in the distance, dust began to kick up. Was it a black bear or clouded leopard fleeing evil humans? No,
Otto von Bismarck once famously remarked that the “great European war will come out of some damn foolish thing in the Balkans.” We may have inched closer to that damn foolish thing in recent weeks. On Feb. 1, a new law came into effect in China, which codified Beijing’s claim that its well-armed Coast Guard could remove vessels in its waters “illegally” and use force against them if necessary. This is no more or less a “law” than any other law administrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), since Beijing could use its Coast Guard to attack vessels from other nations any time it wanted to, without any such law. It is merely another way Beijing legitimates the conflict it seeks to its own people, always a problem for authoritarian states. However, it does signal the increasing seriousness of China’s expansion into its neighbor’s territories. Although Taiwan is often identified as a major flashpoint, and there is much handwringing about US freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea — a pavane whose steps are understood by all involved — the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan — are the only place in which armed vessels of China and Japan are frequently in dangerous and turbulent proximity to each other. The islands have been Japanese territory since Tokyo claimed them in the 1890s. Prior to that they had been uninhabited rocks belonging to no nation. In the late 1960s, a survey suggested the possibility of oil beneath them, and suddenly both governments of China — the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) — discovered that the little cluster of islands had been Chinese since the Neolithic period. The PRC and ROC governments then hastily reinvented their history
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March 01 to March 07 There was only one Taiwanese department head in Taiwan’s first post-World War II provincial government: Sung Fei-ju (宋斐如), who served as deputy director of the department of education. Sung, who lived in China for over two decades, had close ties with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and was also allowed to start his own newspaper, the People’s News-Leader (人民導報). Aside from Sung, only a handful of Taiwanese held significant positions in the government, almost all of them banshan (半山, half mountain) like him. The term refers to those who moved to China and returned to Taiwan after World War II. Sung’s standing, however, did not save his neck during the 228 Incident, an anti-government uprising on Feb. 28 1947 that was brutally suppressed. He was dragged away from his home on March 11 and never seen again. Lin Cheng-te’s (林政德) book Banshan and 228 (半山與二二八) explores the various roles these banshan took up before, during and after the incident. Despite their allegiance to the government, they tried to help their people in their own way, and in Sung’s case, paid the ultimate price for it. HOPEFUL RETURN As World War II neared its end, the KMT set up a committee led by future governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) to make plans for the takeover and rule of Taiwan. Several founding members were banshan, and Sung joined the following year. They flew to Taipei on Oct. 5, 1945, set up headquarters and began working with local elites such as Lin Hsien-tang (林獻堂) to prepare for the Japanese governor-general’s formal surrender on Oct. 25. Sung was one of many Taiwanese who, unsatisfied with Japanese rule, turned to the “motherland” of China. He moved to Beijing in 1922 to attend university, and from 1932 to 1935
You like the great outdoors, don’t you? (2/5) 你不是很熱衷戶外活動嗎？（二） A: Well, the first thing you’ll need is a pair of good walking shoes or boots. The guide emphasizes the need for something with ankle support. Some of the terrain will be quite uneven underfoot. B: Will we be carrying much gear with us? A: According to this list, you’ll need a large backpack, with a capacity of at least 50 liters. It says everyone in the group will be carrying extra food. B: Extra food? We have to carry that up the mountain ourselves? A: Well, the guide is planning a BBQ at the top of the mountain. The more food we carry up, the bigger the feast on the peak! A: 你首先要有一雙好走的鞋子或靴子。嚮導很強調有腳踝支撐功能的鞋子，因為有些地方地勢不平，不好走。 B: 我們要帶很多裝備嗎？ A: 這清單上寫說，要帶一個大背包，容量最少要有五十公升。它說每個隊員都要多帶一點食物。 B: 多帶點食物？我們要自己把這些食物背上山去嗎？ A: 嚮導計畫到山頂辦烤肉。我們食物帶得越多，山頂的饗宴就會越豐盛！ （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
Despite repeated announcements by Taoyuan City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection that its environmental maintenance workers “only collect trash, not red envelopes,” a lot of people still sought to show their gratitude during the Lunar New Year period by stuffing red envelopes into the garbage trucks and then hurrying away, making it hard for the environmental maintenance workers, busy with their cleaning work, to return the gifts before the donors ran off. The department’s response to this problem was to turn the public’s gesture into an act of true kindness by donating all of the more than NT$165,000 it received in red envelopes to the Taoyuan City Government’s social assistance fund account, thus allowing the public’s kindness to reach more families in need of practical help. With a COVID-19 cluster on its doorstep, the department was kept busy disinfecting densely populated areas and public spaces all over the city at the same time as removing the clutter discarded by every household in their pre-Lunar New Year cleanouts. This greatly increased the volume of garbage collection work for the city’s thousand-strong environmental maintenance workers, who had to working non-stop right up to the evening of Lunar New Year’s Eve, when they finally got off work and went home for dinner with their families. Early in the morning of the fifth day of the first lunar month, the environmental maintenance workers were at it again, starting work earlier than usual, some of them busily sprucing up the townscape and carting garbage away, while others rushed off to every schoolyard to carry out disease prevention disinfection before the start of the new semester. Lo Wen-lin, Director of Taoyuan City Government’s Environmental Maintenance and Inspection Division, said that although the public’s gestures of gratitude brought warmth to the environmental maintenance workers amid the year’s end winter
You like the great outdoors, don’t you? (1/5) 你不是很熱衷戶外活動嗎？（一） A: Are you ready for the hiking trip next weekend? B: Hiking trip? Oh, that completely slipped my mind! I haven’t done anything about it! A: No worries, I have a list here of all the things you will need to take with you. Let’s go through them now. You like the great outdoors, don’t you? I’m sure you have most of the equipment you’ll need tucked away somewhere at home. B: OK. Hit me with it. What’s first? A:下週爬山你準備好了嗎？ B: 爬山？喔我完全忘光光了！我根本就還沒開始準備！ A: 沒關係，我這邊有一張清單，列出應該要帶的東西，我們來看一下。你不是很熱衷戶外活動嗎？想必大部份的用品你家裡已經有了。 B: 那好，你就唸來聽聽吧。第一項是什麼？ （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
| New Taipei City | 18-21 | 90% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 17-20 | 80% | |
| Hsinchu City | 17-20 | 70% |  |
| Taipei City | 18-21 | 90% | |
| Miaoli County | 17-20 | 70% | |
| Taoyuan City | 17-20 | 90% | |
| Keelung City | 17-20 | 100% | |
| Yunlin County | 19-21 | 30% | |
| Taichung City | 20-22 | 50% | |
| Nantou County | 19-21 | 40% | |
| Changhua County | 19-21 | 40% | |
| Chiayi County | 19-21 | 20% |  |
| Chiayi City | 19-21 | 20% | |
| Tainan City | 20-22 | 20% |  |
| Kaohsiung City | 22-23 | 20% | |
| Pingtung County | 20-22 | 20% | |
| Yilan County | 19-21 | 20% |  |
| Hualien County | 20-21 | 20% | |
| Taitung County | 21-22 | 20% | |
| Kinmen County | 17-17 | 50% | |
| Penghu County | 19-20 | 30% | |
| Lienchiang County | 12-15 | 90% | |
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