Mon, Oct 26, 2020
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Relations with India are promising amid rising pro-Taiwan sentiment in the South Asian nation, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng said Boosting exchanges with India would be prioritized in the government’s New Southbound Policy, as the US is actively engaging India in its Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a Cabinet official said on Saturday. The New Southbound Policy covers 18 nations: the 10 ASEAN members, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand. Among South and Southeast Asian countries, India is the only one that dares voice its opposition to China, and it is an important actor in the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, which has prompted the Executive Yuan to pay more attention to the country in its regional and diplomatic work, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Many Indian graduates in the areas of science and technology have visited Taiwan for internships or work, with many engineers working in Taiwan’s science parks, the official said, adding that Taiwan and India could further advance talent exchanges in related areas. However, bilateral interactions this year have been limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as the outbreak in India remains severe, the official said. This year’s planned exhibition on Taiwan-India exchanges under the New Southbound Policy has been transformed into a virtual event and delayed until Dec. 16 to 18, the official added. India-China relations have been tense since soldiers from the two sides clashed along the Line of Actual Control in May. Repeated attempts by the Chinese embassy in New Delhi to intervene with the Indian media, including a demand that they respect Beijing’s “one China principle” when covering Taiwan’s Double Ten National Day celebrations, have backfired. Taiwan-India ties are promising, said Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who manages the New Southbound Policy, when asked about an upsurge of anti-China and pro-Taiwan sentiment in India. Asked about the Cabinet official’s remark that India ties would be prioritized, Deng said that every country
Just a week before next month’s US presidential election, two of US President Donald Trump’s top national security aides are to visit India for meetings focused largely on countering China’s growing global influence. As the bitter race between Trump and former US vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s candidate, winds down, the talks this week in New Delhi aim to reinforce the US president’s anti-China campaign message. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper are to meet their Indian counterparts for strategic and security talks tomorrow, after which Pompeo is to travel on to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia. All of them are contending with a tug-of-war between Washington and Beijing that has intensified as Trump seeks to paint Biden as weak on China. Trump has played up his friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his re-election bid, but might have set his case back with an off-the-cuff remark about climate change at his debate with Biden on Thursday. “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India, it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” he said, defending his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Whether offense would be taken by the Indians or whether it would affect Pompeo and Esper’s mission is not clear. Yet, regardless of election considerations, it is a critical time in the US-India relationship as China looms large over what Washington has labeled the Indo-Pacific region. Heightened border tensions between New Delhi and Beijing have only added to Chinese-US animosity that has been fueled by disputes over Taiwan, the COVID-19 pandemic, trade, technology, Tibet, Hong Kong, human rights, and disputes between China and its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea. Those competing maritime and territorial claims would figure prominently at Pompeo’s last stop in
Samsung Electronics Co chairman Lee Kun-hee, who transformed the South Korean firm into a global tech titan, died at the age of 78 yesterday, the company said. Under Lee’s leadership, Samsung rose to become the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, and the firm’s overall turnover today is equivalent to one-fifth of South Korea’s GDP. Samsung’s meteoric rise helped make Lee South Korea’s richest and most powerful industrialist. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kun-hee Lee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics,” the company said in a statement. “Chairman Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the world-leading innovator and industrial powerhouse from a local business,” the firm said. “His legacy will be everlasting.” Samsung is by far the biggest of the chaebols that dominate business in South Korea. They drove the nation’s transformation from a war-ravaged ruin to the world’s 12th-largest economy, but nowadays are accused of murky political ties and stifling competition — with Lee himself twice convicted of criminal offenses, in one case bribing a president. When Lee inherited the chairmanship of the Samsung group in 1987 — founded by his father as a fish and fruit exporter — it was already the country’s largest conglomerate, with operations ranging from consumer electronics to construction. However, it was seen as a shoddy producer of cheap, low-quality products. “Let’s change everything except our wives and kids,” Lee said in 1993. The company gathered up and burnt all 150,000 mobile phones it had in stock, paving the way for the rebirth of the highly successful “Anycall” handset. With Lee at the helm, Samsung became a global behemoth: By the time he suffered a heart attack in 2014, it was the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips, and a major player in semiconductors and LCDs. Lee rarely spoke to the media, but was closely
An international treaty banning nuclear weapons has been ratified by a 50th country, the UN said, allowing the “historic” text to enter into force after 90 days. While nuclear powers have not signed up to the treaty, advocates who have pushed for its enactment hold out hope that it would nonetheless prove to be more than symbolic and have a gradual deterrent effect. Honduras was the 50th country to ratify. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called it “the culmination of a worldwide movement to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons,” according to a statement from his spokesman on Saturday. “It represents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations,” the statement said. Non-governmental organizations also welcomed the news, including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in bringing the treaty to fruition. “Honduras just ratified the Treaty as the 50th state, triggering entry into force and making history,” ICAN said on Twitter. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement: “Today is a victory for humanity, and a promise of a safer future.” The 75th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, marked in August, saw a wave of countries ratify the treaty, which would enter into force on Jan. 22, the UN said. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons — which bans the use, development, production, testing, stationing, stockpiling and threat of use of such weapons — was adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2017 with the approval of 122 countries. Eighty-four states have since signed it, though not all have ratified the text. The clutch of nuclear-armed states, including the US, the UK, France,
COMPENSATION DENIED: Locals and environmentalists cheered the news, but were divided on how to proceed, with some suggesting that the structure be demolished An arbitration tribunal on Friday ordered the Taitung County Government to pay NT$629 million (US$21.75 million) to Miramar Resort Hotel Co (美麗灣公司) to take ownership of the company’s coastal resort as locals and environmental groups claimed partial victory in their more than a decade-long fight against the build-operate-transfer (BOT) project. Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) at a news conference yesterday called the ruling fair and reasonable. The tribunal saw fit to return the coastal site to Taitung residents, Yao said. The resort was built on a beach at Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) in the county’s Beinan Township (卑南). The payment is about half the NT$1.219 billion Miramar had demanded in compensation from the county government when it filed for arbitration in August 2018, in accordance with the Arbitration Act (仲裁法). Yao said the tribunal ruled that the county government had the legal authority to order the construction be halted in 2012 and that it had not contravened the original BOT agreement, as the situation was caused by “force majeure circumstances” and other uncontrollable factors. The firm fought numerous legal battles against the county government, as well as a coalition of Aborigines and environmental groups. Its executives said they filed for arbitration based on the BOT agreement signed in 2004 to build and operate the resort for 50 years before turning it over to the county government. They said they sought compensation due to repeated delays in construction caused by demands to undergo environmental impact assessment (EIA) and other procedural setbacks, and financial losses resulting from not being able to operate the resort after completing its construction. However, the tribunal ruled that the county government does not need to pay compensation, because the company undertook all of the phases of the project on its own volition, from the planning, design, construction and expansion to covering additional beach
The US Coast Guard (USCG) is basing Enhanced Response Cutters in the western Pacific for maritime security missions, the US national security adviser said on Friday, citing illegal fishing and harassment of vessels by China. US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien in a statement said that the coast guard also planned to evaluate next fiscal year the feasibility of basing Fast Response Cutters in American Samoa in the South Pacific. The statement described the US as a Pacific power and added that China’s “illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and harassment of vessels operating in the exclusive economic zones of other countries in the Indo-Pacific threatens our sovereignty, as well as the sovereignty of our Pacific neighbors and endangers regional stability.” It said US efforts, including by the coast guard, were “critical to countering these destabilizing and malign actions.” “To that end, the USCG is strategically homeporting significantly enhanced Fast Response Cutters ... in the western Pacific,” the statement said, without detailing where the vessels would be based or how many were involved. O’Brien said the new-generation coast guard vessels would conduct maritime security missions, such as fisheries patrols, and enhance maritime-domain awareness and enforcement efforts in collaboration with “regional partners who have limited offshore surveillance and enforcement capacity.” “Enhancing the presence of the USCG in the Indo-Pacific ensures the United States will remain the maritime partner of choice in the region,” the statement said. The coast guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement, which came just ahead of a planned visit to Asia by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo led a meeting of foreign ministers from India, Japan and Australia this month in Tokyo, a grouping Washington hopes to develop as a bulwark against China’s growing assertiveness and extensive maritime claims in the region, including to most of the strategic
SEEKING DISTRACTION: Especially those who have in the past few months spent more time indoors have developed habits such as collecting items, a psychologist said Frequently purchasing collectible items or eating large meals indicates that a person is engaging in “retail therapy,” a psychologist said on Saturday, adding that the trend could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting items such as figurines or toys is a way of dealing with stress, especially for those living in urban environments and experiencing stress in the workplace, counseling psychologist Yang Chien-yeh (楊茜燁) said. Citing one of her clients as an example, Yang said that she recently helped a male office worker who turned to collecting figurines from the Dragon Ball animated TV series to reconnect with his youth and manage work-related stress. Many people find dolls and figurines relatable, she said, adding that they often feel emotionally connected to them. For example, Iron Man or Batman figurines are seen as symbols of righteousness and fighting evil, while Japanese animated character Gudetama is symbolic of laziness or relaxation, Yang said. When a person experiences positive emotions, a part of the brain known as the amygdala shows heightened activity, while tactile and other sensory experiences trigger activity in the brain’s hippocampus, she said. “When a person is engaging with their collection, both the amygdala and hippocampus are stimulated and sensory memories get linked to positive emotions,” she said. “This also explains why people like taking pictures or buying souvenirs while on vacation and put them in their offices to bring back positive memories,” Yang added. Eating can also trigger happiness, as it triggers serotonin and dopamine production, she said, adding that in this respect, eating is more effective than exercising. The pandemic meant that people around the world have been forced to spend more time indoors, which has been stressful for some, and many have searched for distraction, she said. Online classes, puzzles and indoor exercises could also help alleviate stress, Yang said.
The more people rely on TV programs for scientific information, the lower they score in media literacy polls, a survey released on Wednesday last week by National Taiwan University showed. The Internet has emerged as the most common source of scientific information for Taiwanese, used by 58 percent of respondents, followed by TV (32 percent) and print media such as books (15.4 percent), magazines (9.5 percent) and newspapers (6.1 percent), the survey conducted by the university’s Science Media Center Taiwan found. In terms of which type of media they trusted, 32.1 percent of respondents said that no medium is trustworthy, while 36.2 percent said they trusted TV news, 20.3 percent trusted information that they found online and 5.9 percent trusted newspapers. Asked how often they seek to verify information in a news story, 32.8 percent of respondents said that they “often” consult other sources, 27.3 percent said that they “sometimes” do and 22.6 percent said that they never do. The survey included 15 questions to assess the respondents’ understanding of the limits of scientific research, scientific arguments and news headlines, as well as how well they could distinguish between factual and fabricated stories. For instance, the survey asked respondents whether the following statements were true or false: “Taiwan’s farmers use hormones to stimulate growth in chickens,” “5G networks can spread the virus that causes COVID-19” and “offshore wind turbines can topple during a typhoon.” The correct answer to all three questions is “false.” The survey found that people who rely more on TV programs scored lower in the test, while those who often verify information and have a higher level formal education scored higher. The survey was conducted by mobile and landline telephone interviews among Taiwanese aged 18 and older from May 25 to 30, and included 1,068 valid questionnaires. It had a margin of error of
TELLING STORIES: The decorative pieces highlight local culture and history, including the unique legacy of a democracy pioneer from the county’s Wupei Village An artisan in Yunlin County has crafted more than a dozen ornamental window grills commemorating stories from his community, turning otherwise nondescript buildings into what the locals hope will be popular tourist destinations. The window grills in Kouhu Township’s (口湖) Wupei Village (梧北) are part of a project to revitalize the area through culture and the arts, Wupei Community Development Association director-general Wang Chun-sheng (王春生) said on Tuesday last week. Metal sculptor Tseng Wen-chang (曾文昌) crafted 13 of the grills telling 10 stories dear to the community, including that of Lee Wan-chu (李萬居), a man from Wupei who is considered to be a pioneer of Taiwanese democracy, Wang said. Lee was one of the “Five Dragons and One Phoenix,” the title given in the 1950s to the six members of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly who were born in the nation and known for their strident and vocal pursuit of democracy. The six in 1960 founded the China Democracy Party to challenge Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, an early action in the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) movement that was squelched after only a few months. Another window grill celebrates a local lion dance troupe comprised of more than 10 members who are all at least 65 years old, with the oldest member already past 80, Wupei Village Warden Lee Shang-ying (李尚穎) said. Many of the members are getting too old to continue, he said, adding that the grills would help preserve their story. Another set of window grills decorates a convenience store across from a temple owned by a 92-year-old woman, with one displaying cans of candy, betel nuts and the year 1967, when the store was opened, he said. The store also features a window that celebrates Wupei agriculture, with the image of a woman working on a field surrounded by rice, sugar cane and peanuts. Apart from
A bank teller in Miaoli County prevented a woman from falling for an online dating scam, as they deemed her attempt to transfer US$500 abroad suspicious. The teller informed the police after a woman, surnamed Huang (黃), on Wednesday last week requested the transfer to a Chinese bank account. Huang said that the money was emergency funding for her “husband,” a person who goes by the name James, who she connected with about six months ago through an online dating app, the Jhunan Township (竹南) police precinct said. Three officers persuaded Huang that she was the target of a scam. Although the two had never met, Huang talked to James every day and deemed that they developed a close relationship, to the point of calling each other husband and wife, police said. James then asked Huang to transfer money to cover living expenses, they said. However, Huang was prevented from transferring the money, and thanked the teller and the officers for their vigilance. This case was unusual for its length, precinct chief Yang Tsan-chun (楊贊鈞) said on Saturday. The alleged scammer spent a half-year developing a relationship with Huang, Yang said, adding that if it were not for the bank teller, the scam would have succeeded. Cross-border online dating scams are becoming increasingly common, Yang said, calling on the public to be cautious when chatting with strangers online. If someone brings up a money transfer, this might be a sign that it is a scam, he said. The most common scam involves a person posing as an attractive man with a good job abroad, Yang said. After gaining the potential victim’s trust, the scammer would ask for large sums of money to be transferred to their account, he added. Yang said that people who suspect a scam should call the 165 anti-fraud hotline, contact authorities through the National Police Agency’s anti-fraud app
Younger women should pay more attention to possible signs of breast cancer, as more than 30 percent of new cases in Taiwan in 2017 were found in women aged below 50, the Taiwan Breast Cancer Society said on Oct 13. Younger women who have not entered menopause have increasingly been diagnosed with breast cancer in the past few years, society chairman Tseng Ling-Ming (曾令民) said, citing Taiwan Cancer Registry data. In 2017, the number of younger women diagnosed with breast cancer was 20 percent higher than in 2013, he said. Clinical experience and data show that breast cancer in younger women often involves bigger and higher-grade tumors, with 7 percent of younger women diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time found to develop late-stage breast cancer, Tseng said. Although breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women in Taiwan, many younger women do not know that they are at risk, he said, adding that it is also more difficult for them to notice the indicators, such as lumps, as younger women have denser breasts, meaning more breast tissue than fat tissue. Clinical studies at Taipei Veterans General Hospital show that if breast cancer patients are younger than 35, they are four to five times more at risk of the cancer spreading to other organs including the brain, Tseng said. However, breast cancer treatment in Taiwan has seen significant improvement in the past two years, as doctors are deploying more effective treatment methods based on the type, stage and grade of tumors, he said. A wide range of treatment and prevention for breast cancer is available, including hormone, ovarian suppression and targeted therapies, as well as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and genetic tests, he added.
TAIPEI CONFERENCE: A Presbyterian pastor and Wuer Kaixi were among the speakers at a forum held by Taiwan Friends of Tibet and the Taiwan East Turkestan Association Representatives of three of the world’s major religions and others attended a conference in Taipei yesterday to denounce religious persecution in China. The event was organized by Taiwan Friends of Tibet and the Taiwan East Turkestan Association, and was attended by representatives of Christian churches, Tibetan Buddhists and Muslims, as well as followers of Falun Gong. Attendees decried the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rule as being directly opposed to religious faith and said that the opportunity to “take down the evil CCP has arrived.” The party has been attacking Christian groups ever since it took power, but has now turned monstrous, said Pastor Huang Chun-sheng (黃春生) of the Che-lam Presbyterian Church (濟南教會), which is next to the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. It not only indiscriminately imprisons and kills Christians, expels missionaries, destroys Bibles and cracks down on churches, but even edits Christian scriptures and vilifies Jesus to glorify itself, Huang said. Beijing used to permit churches that adhered to the so-called “three-self doctrine,” but its move in 2018 to place religious affairs under the party’s United Front Work Department clearly showed the world that the party believes that it supersedes all religions, he said. “Even today, there are still many people who hold out mistaken hope for the CCP, leaving no room between them and evil,” Huang said. “They need to wake up.” The CCP is afraid of religion because its ideological pull is stronger than the party’s, said Taiwan Association for Democracy Advancement in China chairman Wuer Kaixi, an Uighur who was a prominent student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989. At its core, the CCP is a criminal organization that after stealing the country used its position to plunder China’s resources, and has fanatically persecuted anyone who stands in its way, he said. In predominately the Muslim Xinjiang region, having a beard, wearing
A Hong Kong man who allegedly hired private investigators to follow and photograph Hong Kong activists visiting Taiwan was deported yesterday after his residency permit was revoked by the National Immigration Agency (NIA). Lee Pun-ho (李彬豪) had violated the terms of his residency permit and was therefore deported, the agency said in a statement posted on its Web site, without elaborating on the specifics of his case. Lee has been barred from re-entering the nation for a certain period, it said, without saying how long the ban would be in place. Lee first came to Taiwan in 2015 to study psychology at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City and last year began working for a local company. He told the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office that he had been asked by a private investigation firm in Hong Kong to hire a local firm to follow three pro-independence advocates from Hong Kong during their visit to Taiwan in January last year, including former Student Localism convener Tony Chung (鍾翰林). During their visit, the trio met with a reporter surnamed Su (蘇) from the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) and Yang Yueh-ching (楊月清), the head of an anti-communism group in Taiwan. Photographs of their meeting were published in two pro-Beijing newspapers in Hong Kong, the Wen Wei Po and the Ta Kung Po. The newspapers described Su and Yang as “Taiwan independence activists” and “emissaries of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).” Su and Yang pressed charges against Lee with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for “offenses against privacy,” and office investigators found that the people who trailed and photographed the trio were employed by Unity Credit Investigation Co. Unity Credit’s chief executive told prosecutors that the Lee had hired the company for NT$20,000 a day. The office on
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is holding a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of Taiwan’s “retrocession” to highlight the close links between the Republic of China (ROC) and Taiwan, and has nothing to do with Beijing’s “one China” principal, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote yesterday on Facebook. The ROC government defeated Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was why Taiwan was able to return to the ROC and Taiwanese were freed from half a century of repressive Japanese colonial rule, Ma wrote. Retrocession paved the way for today’s democracy, freedom and prosperity in Taiwan, and commemorating Retrocession Day is a reminder of the close links between the ROC and Taiwan, Ma wrote, adding that it should be a responsibility of all ROC presidents. His Facebook post followed criticism by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳), who accused the KMT of using the day to play along with the Chinese government’s “one China principle” and its events commemorating the day. Such a remark showed some people’s “ignorance of historical facts” and their “confused national identity,” Ma wrote. Taiwan became a Japanese colony after China lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki. The KMT has held a series of events, including an online exhibition of historical materials and photographs related to Taiwan’s return to the ROC, and a concert. Retrocession Day was a public holiday in the ROC from 1946 until the then-DPP government in December 2002 amended the Implementation Regulations on Memorial Days and Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法) to remove its public holiday status. The KMT has criticized the DPP for not holding a commemorative event this year. The People’s Republic of China held seminars in Beijing on Thursday to mark the occasion. Taiwan’s retrocession
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED Many of the issues expected to be discussed today were raised during the channel’s license renewal in 2014 or stem from the promises it made then In the weeks since the National Communications Commission (NCC) said that it would hold an administrative hearing today on CTi News’ application to renew its operating license, debate over its license has turned the renewal process from an administrative procedure to a political issue that could divide the nation in the months to come. Some pro-independence groups have urged the commission not to renew the license, saying CTi News has not kept the promises it had made when it renewed its license in 2014. They accused the channel of accepting funding from China, turning itself into a propaganda machine for pro-Beijing politicians and abusing the freedom of the press. Supporters in the pan-blue camp see the hearing as part of a bid by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government to close the channel, one of the few in the nation that gives voice to supporters of unification with China. They have accused the commission of suppressing the freedom of the press, and some of its members of being biased against the channel. The NCC on Thursday issued three statements urging the public to give commissioners room to review the case. Asked why the commission was planning to hold its first-ever administrative hearing for a channel’s license renewal application, the commission’s spokesperson, Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), on Sept. 23 said that it wanted to ensure “the procedures that it follows to review the case are complete,” adding that administrative hearings had been held in other cases. Supporters have questioned if the application can be reviewed without preconceptions, as two of the three commissioners who are to preside over today’s hearing today — Lin Lih-yun (林麗雲) and Wang Wei-ching (王維菁) — were vocal opponents of Want Want China Times Media Group’s bid to acquire China Network Systems (CTS), the nation’s second-largest multiple system’s operator, and
SLOW RECOVERY: Thailand has begun offering a visa to people from low-risk nations, so China Airlines is also planning eight round-trip flights per week from next month EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday partially resumed passenger flights to Bangkok, with China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) planning to do the same next month as Thailand begins to lift its travel restrictions. EVA and CAL, Taiwan’s two largest carriers, have continued to operate flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic, although they have not entirely been passenger flights. As the Thai government banned the entry of international tourists from April, flights from Taipei to Bangkok operated by the two carriers have only contained cargo, while passengers in Bangkok could board flights returning to Taipei. Now that Thailand has begun to ease its travel restrictions, EVA yesterday began to resume two round-trip flights per week between Taipei and Bangkok, while CAL plans to operate eight such flights next month and nine such flights in December, the two airlines said. The airlines have not set a fixed schedule for the flights, as their times and dates would be adjusted depending on the pandemic situation, they said. Thailand allows entry to its citizens and residents, although a measure introduced early this month allows foreign nationals from countries deemed to be low-risk to apply to travel to Thailand under a “Special Tourist Visa.” Separately, Japan’s ANA Holdings Inc plans to cut about 3,500 jobs by fiscal year 2022, and temporarily transfer employees to Toyota Motor Corp and other automakers, Yomiuri Shimbun reported, without saying where it got the information. The Japanese carrier would announce a business plan tomorrow that includes the cutbacks and a halt to hiring to slash labor costs, which account for about 30 percent of the company’s fixed expenses, the newspaper reported. The global airline industry is facing a painfully slow recovery from the effects of the pandemic. ANA is expecting a record full-year loss
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (正崴精密), a Taiwan-based cable and connector maker, plans to start mass production for Apple Inc later this year from its new plant in India, a person familiar with the matter said, the latest sign of the US company’s increasing presence in the South Asian country. Apple’s major assembly partners, Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) — known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) — Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Wistron Corp (緯創), have all set up either a subsidiary or an iPhone assembly plant in India. The chairman of Cheng Uei, also known as Foxlink, is Gou Tai-chiang (郭台強), the brother of Hon Hai founder Terry Gou (郭台銘). India is trying to attract manufacturing for Apple, Samsung Electronics Co and other major smartphone brands with an incentive program, as political tensions between the US and China escalate. The global COVID-19 pandemic has increased also pressure on companies to review their supply chains. Cheng Uei said in a statement on Friday that a company engineer was caught on internal video surveillance this month damaging automation equipment at the new plant near Chennai, India. The suspect is a Chinese national, and the incident was reported to local police and the Chinese authorities, it said. Separately, companies from Taiwan and India on Thursday signed four memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for further industrial cooperation in areas ranging from green technology to electronics. During the Taiwan-India Industrial Collaboration Summit, which was held online this year due to COVID-19, representatives from both nations vowed to work more closely amid the pandemic and the US-China trade dispute, which have accelerated restructuring of the global supply chain. It is an opportune moment for the two nations to cooperate, as India is eager to replace China as the next “world’s factory” after seeing many businesses relocate from China
Investment advisory agencies last week issued a “buy” rating for Makalot Industrial Co Ltd (聚陽實業) after the ready-to-wear apparel maker reported better-than-expected pretax profit for last quarter. The company on Monday last week reported that pretax profit last month rose 9.9 percent from a month earlier and 5.2 percent year-on-year to NT$383.65 million (US$13.27 million), on revenue of NT$2.69 billion. Its third-quarter pretax profit increased 104.6 percent quarterly and 21.7 percent annually to NT$1.03 billion, on revenue of NT$8.03 billion. The company’s pretax gross margin was 23.5 percent last quarter, up from 21.9 percent the previous quarter, backed by further optimization of its product mix and increasing demand for high-margin products such as casual home wear and mask covers. Last quarter’s results beat estimates by Daiwa Capital Markets Inc, thanks to its improving product mix, well-controlled operating expenses and greater order allocation from brand clients, it said in a note. Makalot counts GAP Inc, Fast Retailing Co’s GU sub-brand, Kohl’s Corp, Target Corp, Walmart Inc and Hanesbrands Inc among its major brand clients. The companies have been accelerating their consolidation of suppliers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the US-China trade dispute, analysts said. Makalot is expanding production lines and recruiting more workers in its Vietnamese and Indonesian plants to manufacture orders for Target and GAP, while its Chinese and Cambodian plants would focus on GU orders, analysts said. Makalot also benefits from strong demand for products related to epidemic prevention and the company has already begun producing protective gowns and isolation clothing. During the Medical Taiwan International Medical, Health and Care Exhibition held earlier this month in Taipei, Makalot said that anti-epidemic materials are in high demand and the company is targeting European and American markets where the pandemic has not been alleviated. “We see the trend of product mix improvement continuing in the second
Take a look at what is happening in global supply chains: Taiwan has received NT$1.13 trillion (US$39.08 billion) of investment pledges from companies to move parts of their production lines back home; India is emerging as the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer, as large companies such as Apple Inc move their operations there; and Japan plans to significantly ramp up a program encouraging businesses to build production sites in Southeast Asia to diversify supply chains out of China. If there were any doubt about the effects of the US-China trade dispute and the COVID-19 pandemic on the landscape of global supply chains, the news that continues to come through should make it crystal clear: There is an increasing need to make supply chains more flexible and resilient in the post-COVID-19 world. That is because there is growing awareness that supply chains have become weak and vulnerable to events beyond the control of those who manage or rely on them. A report issued in August by global consultancy McKinsey & Co — Risk, resilience, and rebalancing in global value chains — indicated that under the threats of trade disputes, cyberattacks, pandemics and a number of climate-related events, companies in the next three to five years might move production of a quarter of global goods to new countries. Based on McKinsey’s estimate of how much global trade could relocate, 16 to 26 percent of global exports, including pharmaceuticals, apparel, communication equipment and petroleum products — worth US$2.9 trillion to US$4.6 trillion in 2018 — could be in play. The aforementioned risks often have severe repercussions on how businesses operate. For instance, McKinsey said that companies would need to strike a balance between their “just-in-time” lean production systems and a new “just-in-case” mindset of having sufficient backup inventory of key raw materials and safety stock of finished goods. This could
In her inaugural address in May, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced three major areas of reform for the military: asymmetric warfare capabilities, the reservist mobilization system and the management structures. However, the most pressing area of reform is to engender a sense of Taiwanese consciousness in soldiers, sailors and pilots. The concept of “ethnically Chinese Taiwanese” needs to be gradually built up during recruits’ education and training. The Chinese Communist Party constantly pushes the idea that “Chinese do not fight Chinese,” while retired officers largely identify themselves as “Chinese on Taiwan.” Tsai has been in office for almost five years, and during this time she has frequently advocated, and herself put into practice, “the Taiwanese point of view.” However, the question remains: Given the decades of Sinicization under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), is the military capable of loyally serving its commander-in-chief in the event of a war with China? The People’s Republic of China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the legal representative of China. This means that the Republic of China can only represent Taiwan, but calling the nation Republic of China (Taiwan) will not cut the mustard. What is needed is to change the way military personnel think about their identity and make them “upright and dignified Taiwanese” rather than the “upright and dignified Chinese” that Taiwanese were taught they needed to be during the Chiang era. Whether our ancestors came from China, Japan, the Netherlands or Spain or were Austronesian, we are all Taiwanese. Fostering a Taiwanese consciousness must start with military training and education. The Tsai administration continues to plot a course for the nation as a sovereign and independent state under the banner of Republic of China (Taiwan), which has converged with a growing anti-China force in the US and pro-independence forces in Taiwan. These elements are moving closer and closer
Nations, according to political scientist Benedict Anderson, are composed of imagined communities; it follows that those communities would naturally have their own national narratives. How each story develops and who influences it is a different matter. Certainly history plays its part, but the primary influence would always be the nation’s rulers, those that historically came out on top. Whether those rulers are democratically elected or are dictators who grabbed power adds to the mix. If dictators and one-party state heads have gained control, then the national narrative would too often aim to defend, justify and glorify their right to rule. This is the challenge that the democratic nation of Taiwan faces, but not of its own narrative, rather it is that of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), its enemy on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. There, the PRC leaders strive to incorporate Taiwan’s story into their own by fabrication or by force if necessary. Taiwanese know that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled or even held a position of power in Taiwan, yet the CCP never fails to trot out memes claiming that Taiwan is an “inalienable part” of China and that it has been so “from time immemorial.” Taiwanese also know their history; they are conscious of Taiwan’s Aboriginal origins, as well as its colonial past, and so any rampant attempts by the CCP to rewrite its history can be laughed off. However, that does not hold for the rest of the world. How much of Taiwan’s history, do the people of other nations know? Unfortunately, they know too little and therein lies the rub. Many nations interested in maintaining their lucrative trade with China are all too willing to accept the CCP’s narrative and the “one China” principle that Beijing touts. Those nations would of course have some background knowledge of how
SHOCK RETIREMENT: Nurmagomedov said that it was his late father’s dream, and as he had choked out Gaethje and McGregor, he was no longer interested in the sport MMA world lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on Saturday announced his shock retirement from the sport after revealing he promised his mother that his clash with Justin Gaethje would be his last fight. The Russian, who won by a second-round technical knockout, was fighting for the first time since the death of his father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov in July. “I’m the UFC undisputed, undefeated champion with a 13-0 record [in UFC], and 29-0 in all of my pro MMA career,” he said after his win in Abu Dhabi. “Today I want to say this is my last fight. No way am I coming here without my father. When UFC comes to me about Justin I spoke with my mother for three days.” “She didn’t want me to fight without father and I said this is my last fight — and I have given her my word,” Khabib Nurmagomedov said. “Thank you so much Justin. I know you are great, I know how you take care of your people. Be close with your parents, because you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. Thank you coach, thank you guys. Today is my last fight in the UFC,” he said. “It was my father’s dream. Justin and Conor [McGregor] will fight in January, I have choked both out; I am not interested in this,” he added. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, 57, passed away after suffering complications from COVID-19 in the summer. Long-time rival McGregor of Ireland, who lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018, was amongst the first to congratulate the 32-year-old Russian on his career. “I will carry on. Respect and condolences on your father again also. To you and family. Yours sincerely, The McGregors,” he tweeted. UFC president Dana White joined the tributes and revealed at a news conference as Fight Island ended that Khabib Nurmagomedov had broken his foot in
Brett Phillips squatted on the field crying, Randy Arozarena sprawled in the dirt pounding his hands on home plate. Tears of joy, smacks of celebration — and a crucial, crazy win for the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays. In one of the wildest World Series finishes ever, the light-hitting Phillips delivered a tying single off Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned into the game-ending hit when the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped the ball twice, allowing Arozarena to scramble home and lifting the Rays to an 8-7 victory on Saturday that suddenly evened things at two games each. “Golly, what a special moment,” Phillips said. The Dodgers led 7-6 when center fielder Chris Taylor misplayed Phillips’ ball in right-center for an error and chased it down while Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run. Arozarena kept charging around third base, but stumbled and fell well before reaching home. He was able to get up and score when catcher Will Smith looked up too early and missed the relay throw, letting it squirt toward the backstop while Arozarena dived on top of the plate. “Once I saw Randy slip, I was like: ‘Aw, shoot, at least we tied it up,’ and then he missed the ball,” said Phillips, who had entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth. “I don’t know what happened, but then he scored. The next thing I know, I’m airplane-ing around the outfield and I get dogpiled and here I am,” Phillips said. Jansen came on in the ninth for the Dodgers and struck out Yoshi Tsutsugo before a broken-bat single by Kiermaier, the longest-tenured Rays player. Arozarena, the rookie who earlier hit his postseason record ninth homer, drew a two-out, full-count walk to set up the improbable final play. “You got to stay positive,” Jansen
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp praised his team’s ability to cope with “injustice” as the Premier League champions survived a scare on Saturday to beat Sheffield United 2-1. Klopp’s side trailed to Sander Berge’s controversial first-half penalty at Anfield, with the Reds frustrated that the video assistant referee (VAR) gave the spot-kick, despite Fabinho’s foul appearing to take place outside the area. However, Roberto Firmino equalized before the break and Portugal forward Diogo Jota completed the escape act with his second goal since signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers last month. After losing Virgil van Dijk to a serious knee injury in last weekend’s Merseyside derby draw at Everton, the Reds have proved they can survive without their influential Dutch centreback. “The penalty was not even a foul. During a season there are so many different periods, we have had an injustice and we have had to go again,” Klopp said. “I love these games. You have to work hard. You earn the easier games when it all goes your way on nights like this.” A gritty 1-0 UEFA Champions League midweek win against Ajax set the tone and Liverpool again dug deep to earn their first win in three Premier League games. “We struggled with [Oli] McBurnie in the first half, but we changed our positioning and won the second balls. We were dominating at 2-1 and had some really good football, but then they came back,” Klopp said. “They never give up, I respect that so much. They go and go and go. [Sheffield United coach] Chris [Wilder] is doing a wonderful job,” he added. LA LIGA AFP, BARCELONA Real Madrid on Saturday averted a crisis in the best way possible by beating Barcelona 3-1 in the first empty El Clasico, landing an early blow in La Liga’s title race. Barca had the chance to inflict a third consecutive defeat
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton said he expects it to be tough securing the bonus point win against France in Paris this week to assure them of the Six Nations title, but if “anyone can do it, we can.” The 35-year-old fly-half scored 18 points in Ireland’s 50-17 victory over Italy at Lansdowne Road on Saturday to set up a thrilling climax in the final weekend of the northern hemisphere rugby championship. Sexton admitted playing to an empty stadium — due to COVID-19 pandemic protocols — had meant he and his teammates had had to create “their own energy.” That did not transfer itself into the singing of the national anthems. “I mimed most of it, it is very strange hearing yourself sing,” said Sexton, who had cast a quizzical look at the teammate beside him after the first of Ireland’s two anthems. However, Sexton was far happier with what took place afterward — to the background of piped crowd noise — even if one of his passes led to an intercepted try. “France are an outstanding team and we have our work cut out,” he said. “However, if anyone can do it, we can.” Sexton memorably dropped a last-second winning goal in Paris in 2018, which set the Irish on their way to the Grand Slam. However, with England likely to secure a bonus point win in Rome against an Italian side who have yet to register a point, the Irish require four tries this time around. The French, too, entertain hopes of winning the title as they, like England, are just a point adrift of Ireland. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said that defense could be the key to winning the title. “If we defend like we did for most parts of the game we give ourselves a chance of achieving that,” Farrell said. “It is great to take momentum
DRAG QUEEN SUPPORT: Pro-democracy advocates have planned a march to the German embassy today to protest the amount of time the Thai king spends in Bavaria Thousands of people yesterday protested in the center of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, in the first demonstration since Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ignored pro-democracy advocates’ Saturday night deadline to resign. It was also the first major show of force since Prayuth lifted the Oct. 15 emergency measures that had been meant to stop three months of protests against the government and monarchy, but which brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets. “If he doesn’t resign, then we must come out to ask him to quit in a peaceful way,” protest leader Jatupat “Pai” Boonpattararaksa said yesterday as people chanted “Prayuth Out.” The prime minister’s office posted a note on Twitter to say he was not quitting. He has said the crisis should be discussed in parliament, which is due to hold a special session today and tomorrow, but his opponents have little faith in an assembly dominated by his supporters. There was no sign of a major police presence around protesters at the Ratchaprasong Intersection, an emotive location for protesters as it was the scene of bloodshed in 2010 in a crackdown by security forces on anti-establishment protests. A government spokesman said there would be no use of force and called on people to remain peaceful and respect the law. In the relaxed atmosphere, a group of drag queens gathered at the intersection to put on a show. Protesters are also planning to march to the German embassy today as a message to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who is currently in Thailand, but spends much of his time in Bavaria. “Going to the German embassy reflects the evident problem of the king’s exercise of power is making many people uncomfortable and raises questions whether it violates the German law,” activist Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep said. Pro-democracy advocates seek the departure of Prayuth and a new constitution. They say that
DEPENDS ON TYPE: The industry minister said that significant work might be required before production could begin, depending on type of vaccine approved It could take up to a year for Australian biotech company CSL to develop the capability to make a COVID-19 vaccine if a non-protein-based version proves safe and effective, Australian Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews has said. Andrews said CSL would be able to immediately start making a protein-based vaccine, but “significant work” would be required if it was another type based on mRNA, or messenger ribonucleic acid. Vaccines traditionally introduce proteins into the body to provoke the immunity system into responding, but if an mRNA vaccine of the kind being developed by US company Moderna is approved, it would be the first of its type, experts say. During an interview yesterday with the Australian Broadcasting Corp’s (ABC) Insiders program, Andrews was pressed to give a timeframe to get production up and running in Australia if an mRNA vaccine was approved. “I would hope that we would be able to do it in about the nine-month to 12-month timeframe,” she said. “But I think we need to be really conscious that with a vaccine, there are a lot of variables in there. So we don’t have the vaccine proven at this point in time, we don’t know what the base for that vaccine is going to be, so we are trying to prepare across a wide range.” The government would give support to CSL to help it ramp up its capability and roll out technical upgrades, she said. Australian Minister for Health Greg Hunt later in the day moved to assure people that the nation was “very strongly placed” when it came to securing access to and producing vaccines. “We in a strong position, we’re progressing, there’s never a guarantee — but what we know is that we’ve been exceptionally cautious in relation to vaccines and each day the evidence is stronger and the
Prominent political factions in Sudan have rejected a deal brokered with the help of the US to take steps to normalize ties with Israel. The agreement was sealed on Friday in a call between US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudanese transitional leaders. It would make Sudan the third Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel this year, although some Sudanese officials have said it should be approved by a yet-to-be formed transitional parliament. The issue is sensitive in Sudan, formerly a hardline critic of Israel, dividing opinion among military and civilian leaders heading a transition after former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was toppled following months of protests in April last year. The government has said establishing ties with Israel should be treated separately from Sudan’s removal from the US state sponsors of terrorism list, a move Trump said would proceed days before announcing the deal on normalization. Sudan, mired in economic crisis, was offered help with debt relief, food security and economic development in the statement announcing normalization. Among those criticizing the deal was the National Consensus Forces Alliance, a leftist coalition and key component of the Freedom and Change alliance that emerged from the uprising against Bashir. “The transitional power intentionally violates the constitutional document and makes steps towards normalization with the Zionist entity, breaking with the principles and commitments of Sudan’s Three Noes,” the alliance said in a statement. The “Three Noes” refers to a commitment made in Khartoum by Arab states in 1967 to “no recognition of Israel, no peace with Israel and no negotiations with Israel.” The Popular Congress Party, a Muslim faction that backed al-Bashir, also condemned the move. On Thursday, veteran opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi threatened to pull the support of his Umma Party from the government if it went ahead with the move. Some Sudanese say
While the world will be closely watching the US election, some countries will be watching more closely than others. A number of world leaders have a personal stake in the outcome, with their fortunes depending heavily on the success — or failure — of President Donald Trump. Perhaps none has so much riding on a Trump victory as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader, who had a rocky relationship with President Barack Obama, has praised Trump as “the greatest friend” Israel ever had in the White House. Trump has delivered a series of diplomatic gifts to Netanyahu, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, withdrawing from Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and offering a Mideast plan that heavily favors Israel over the Palestinians. The White House brokered the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. But Netanyahu’s close relationship with Trump — and more broadly the Republican party and its evangelical Christian base — has come with a price. It has undercut Israel’s traditional bipartisan support in Washington and alienated many Democrats, especially the rising progressive wing, and the largely liberal Jewish American community. “For Netanyahu, a Biden victory would be a disaster,” said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations at Israel’s Bar Ilan University. He noted that Biden has already promised a different approach to Iran and the Palestinians. Sidelined and humiliated by Trump, the Palestinians have made no secret about their hopes for a Biden victory. “If we are going to live another four years with President Trump, God help us,” the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said last week. Here is a look at some of the other world leaders who have a big stake in the US election: THE UK’s BORIS JOHNSON The Conservative prime minister’s bombastic style and populist instincts have often been compared
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Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 When Sawako Sazuka became a household name in Tokyo with her 1939 hit The Girl from the Savage Village, the local headlines described her as an “orphan of the Wushe Incident” (霧社事件). The incident took place on the morning of Oct. 27, 1930, when hundreds of Aboriginal Sediq warriors, simmering after years of colonial mistreatment, attacked and killed 134 Japanese gathered for a sports meet. The Japanese retaliated, crushing the rebellion in two months and forcing the villagers to relocate and assimilate. While Sazuka did have Aboriginal blood, as her song suggested, she was not Sediq — her father was Aisuke Sazuka, the Japanese police chief of Wushe who was killed in the attack, and her mother was Yawai Taimo, an Atayal princess. The two married purely for political reasons, which was quite common in those days; it’s said that uprising leader Mona Rudao’s sister, Terwas Rudao, was abandoned by her Japanese husband, which fueled his growing resentment. Left with four children and ostracized by the community, Yawai is one of the more overlooked tragic figures of the Wushe Incident. Historian Teng Hsiang-yang’s (鄧相揚) 1998 book on the event, Heavy Mist, Deep Clouds (霧重雲深) details the trials and tribulations of Yawai and her descendants, who felt that they were neither Japanese or Atayal, much less Taiwanese or Chinese. Famed writer and social critic Bo Yang (柏楊) called Yawai’s life a “Shakespearean tragedy,” writing in the book’s foreword: “As their homeland went through great changes, three generations of that family each bore the heavy burden of their fates. Born with this burden amid turbulent times, they were like leaves in the wind with no control over their lives.” GOVERNING THE SAVAGES Yawai’s father was a powerful Atayal chief of the Xakut subgroup in Masitoban Village, about 30km north of
In the 2006 movie Island Etude (練習曲), a handsome young man with a guitar slung across his back rode his bike around Taiwan meeting a variety of interesting characters against a series of spectacular sceneries. Suddenly, everybody and their mum, including Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a candidate in the then-upcoming 2008 presidential election, was inspired to try the 1,000km circumnavigation of the island on two wheels. At the end of 2015, the route received government sanction with the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) investing NT$1.2 billion (US$41.7 million at today’s rate) to link a dozen local cycle paths. This also helped bring the challenge to international attention, and led to local cycle stores offering quality bikes for rental and tour companies adding cycling options to their portfolios. Another NT$3.2 billion was later earmarked for a four-year project of improvements and extensions, meaning that cyclotourists now have a plethora of routes to choose from, some sticking close to the coast, others presenting more challenging roads through inland foothills. The first decision is whether to proceed clockwise or counterclockwise. The MOTC handbook Cycling Around Taiwan recommends starting at Songshan Railway Station (松山車站) in Taipei and traveling in a counterclockwise direction so “you can improve your fitness and become more skilled and comfortable on your bike before the more difficult sections.” SUITED FOR ALL If this makes it sound like unfit and inexperienced cyclists are encouraged to ride 100km in one day for the first time in their lives, and then repeat that for another 9 days, well, they are — since they are probably going to do it anyway. The round-island ride is almost a rite of passage for people graduating from university, or graduating from middle age. Most local cyclists tend to set off from their hometowns; a few cycle clockwise, perhaps to avoid riding
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions in comments for a documentary that premiered last Wednesday, sparking cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue. The papal thumbs-up came midway through the documentary Francesco, a two-hour film that traces the seven years of his pontificate and his travels, which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. The film, which features fresh interviews with the pope, delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality and the people most affected by discrimination. “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said in the film. “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.” While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis endorsed civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope, and no pontiff before him had, either. The pope, who early in his papacy in 2013 made the now-famous “Who am I to judge?” remark about homosexuals trying to live a Christian life, spoke in a section of the film about Andrea Rubera, a gay man who with his partner adopted three children. (AP and staff writer) 在上週三首映的一部紀錄片中，教宗方濟各發表了一段意見，成為第一位支持同性民事結合的教宗。此舉讓同性戀天主教徒歡呼，也讓保守派要求梵蒂岡根據此議題的官方教導加以澄清。 教宗的這段讚許，出現在紀錄片《方濟各》中段；這部兩小時長的影片，記錄教宗就任七年來的職務及旅程，並在羅馬國際影展首映。這部影片特別收錄了對教宗的新採訪，探討方濟各最關心的問題，包括環境、貧窮、移民、種族與收入之不平等，以及受歧視影響最大的人。 「同性戀者有權在家庭中生活。他們是上帝的孩子」，方濟各在影片中說道。「你不能將某人趕出一個家庭，也不能使他們因此過著悲慘的生活。我們必須要制訂一部民事結合法，這樣他們就可以受到法律保護」。 方濟各在擔任布宜諾斯艾利斯總主教時，便認可同性戀伴侶的民事結合，以取代同性婚姻。但他擔任教宗後未曾公開表示支持民事結合，他之前的教宗也從未表示過支持。 對於想要過基督徒生活的同性戀者，教宗早在二○一三年擔任教宗後不久，便說「我憑什麼去評斷他（∕她）」？這句話現已成為名言，也收錄在影片中有關安德里亞‧魯貝拉的部分；魯貝拉是一名男同志，與其伴侶收養了三個孩子。 （台北時報林俐凱編譯）
I’m a real culture vulture (1/5) 我超愛藝文（一） A: Wow! That’s a real work of art! B: It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s a wonderful combination of simplicity and grandeur. And this is just the bridge over to the main building. The entire gallery was designed and built by a renowned Japanese architect. A: I must say I cannot wait to see some great art. I’m a real culture vulture. I love visiting galleries and museums around the world, but this year that’s impossible. B: Think of this year as an opportunity to explore what you have at home. A: 哇！這就叫做藝術！ B: 真是美啊，你說是吧？這是精簡和宏偉的絕妙組合。而且這只是連接主建築的橋而已。這整座美術館是一個有名的日本建築師設計建造的。 A: 我真的等不及要看看一些偉大的藝術作品了！我超愛藝文。我很喜歡到世界各地去逛美術館、博物館。但是今年是不可能的了。 B: 你就把今年想做是探索國內藝文的機會好了。 (Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯) English 英文: Chinese 中文:
Fifty-one-year-old Chen Tzu-yin and his 78-year-old father Chen Yung-tsai, both residents of Huatan Township in Changhua County, climbed the main peak of Yushan in just under 11 hours, achieving the father’s lifetime dream to scale the nation’s tallest mountain, which they did in a single day’s round trip. As a young man, Chen Yung-tsai and his wife worked as terrazzo floor installers, which involved back-breaking work. After retiring, Chen worked on his home farm. Five years ago, Chen’s daughter took him to climb several suburban mountains, including Guguan Seven Heros and Mocha mountains. Chen was bitten by the mountain climbing bug and, together with his son, who also enjoys climbing, promised each other they would one day scale Yushan. Chen Yung-tsai says that every Taiwanese should climb Yushan at least once during their lifetimes. Chen’s son, Chen Tzu-yin, who works at the Huatan Township Farmers’ Association, on hearing of his father’s wish, originally planned to climb Yushan five years ago, together with three generations of the Chen family. However, his father began to suffer from a minor ailment, so the plan had to be scrapped. This year, his father’s health situation improved so that he was able to resume his daily exercise regime of a 4km jog and horizontal bar exercises at the Wunhsiang Elementary School playground. When his father again proposed the idea of climbing Yushan, Chen Tzu-yin thought that his father was not getting any younger and immediately set about making arrangements for an expedition to Yushan. Chen Tzu-yin said to himself, even if we cannot reach the top, at least I will have helped to fulfill my father’s wish. On Oct. 7, Chen Tzu-yin took his father to climb Yushan. Setting off from Changhua County at midnight, the two reached Yushan’s Tataka Saddle at 6am and Paiyun Lodge by 9:40am.
| New Taipei City | 22-23 | 0% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 21-22 | 0% | |
| Hsinchu City | 21-22 | 0% | |
| Taipei City | 22-22 | 10% | |
| Miaoli County | 21-22 | 0% | |
| Taoyuan City | 21-22 | 0% | |
| Keelung City | 23-23 | 10% |  |
| Yunlin County | 22-23 | 0% | |
| Taichung City | 23-24 | 0% | |
| Nantou County | 22-23 | 0% | |
| Changhua County | 22-23 | 0% | |
| Chiayi County | 21-23 | 0% | |
| Chiayi City | 22-23 | 0% | |
| Tainan City | 23-24 | 0% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 24-25 | 0% | |
| Pingtung County | 23-24 | 0% | |
| Yilan County | 21-22 | 20% |  |
| Hualien County | 22-23 | 10% | |
| Taitung County | 23-23 | 0% | |
| Kinmen County | 21-21 | 0% | |
| Penghu County | 23-23 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 19-20 | 0% | |
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