Thu, Oct 22, 2020
UNRESOLVED SAGA: Elected investors vowed to ‘make Tatung prosperous for the next century,’ but the FSC is still probing the issue of Chinese influence Activist investors led by Shanyuan Group (三圓建設) chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang (王光祥) won seven seats on Tatung Co’s (大同) nine-member board at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in Taipei yesterday, ending the founding Lin (林) family’s 102-year control. With approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, institutional shareholders held the special meeting to elect new board members, nearly four months after Tatung deprived 27 investors owning a combined 53 percent stake in the firm of their voting rights at a shareholders’ meeting on June 30. Shareholders with a combined 92.34 percent stake, or 2.03 billion shares, showed up to vote or had placed their ballots via an electronic voting platform operated by Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corp (台灣集保), said Hsin Tung Investment Consultancy Co (欣同) chairman Lin Hung-hsin (林宏信), who chaired the meeting. Candidates appointed by institutional investors won seven seats, including two independent director seats, with leading activist investors Wang, Lin Hung-hsin and Eastern Broadcasting Co (東森電視) chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) elected as new board directors and garnering 1.43 billion, 1.42 billion and 1.42 billion votes respectively. Tatung-appointed candidates won two seats, with Tatung chairwoman Lin Kuo Wen-yen (林郭文艷) receiving 1.3 billion votes to stay on the board and James Wang (王金來), a former chairman of Ernst & Young Taiwan, gaining 2.29 billion votes, the highest tally, to take the third independent director seat. The firm is to hold an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday next week at the earliest to elect a new chair, Wang Kuang-hsiang told a news conference yesterday. “We will support Lin Wen-yuan as the new chairman and hope to make Tatung prosperous for the next century,” Wang said. Lin Kuo, who took over as chairwoman in February 2018 when her husband, Lin Wei-shan (林蔚山), stepped down over a corporate scandal, feared institutional investors might sell the firm’s properties, while the board election was
The US House of Representatives’ China Task Force, launched by Republicans earlier this year, yesterday proposed the China task force act, a package of 137 pieces of legislation, seven of which involve Taiwan, in the hope of getting it passed before the 117th US Congress convenes on Jan. 3. The act encompasses a wide range of issues, including combatting Beijing’s influence around the globe, establishing the US’ dominance in determining 5G network standards and means for bringing UN members to task for abusing their influence within the UN system. The seven acts involving Taiwan address concerns such as the Taiwan Assurance Act reaffirming the regular sale of arms to Taiwan and supporting its meaningful participation in the UN and other international bodies, while the Taiwan defense act ensures that the US military has the capabilities to block Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aggression. If passed, the Taiwan symbols of sovereignty act would allow Taiwanese to openly wave national flags on US soil and wear official uniforms carrying representations of the flag, while the Taiwan non-discrimination act would serve as a legal basis for helping Taiwan to join the IMF and the employment fairness for Taiwan act would encourage global financial institutions to hire Taiwanese on a fair basis. The Taiwan fellowship act directs the US Department of State to establish a program to provide two-year fellowships in Taiwan to qualified US government employees, while the Taiwan relations reinforcement act, introduced by US senators Marco Rubio and Jeff Merkley, includes the establishment of an interagency Taiwan policy task force. The acts also include House Resolution 353, a bill directing the US secretary of state to develop a strategy for Taiwan to regain observer status in the WHO. The China Task Force said that two-thirds of the acts bundled under the China task force act have received bipartisan support,
Chinese health authorities investigating a COVID-19 outbreak have said that they discovered live coronavirus on frozen food packaging, a finding that suggests the virus can survive in cold supply chains. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday said that it had found traces of live COVID-19 on the outer packaging of frozen cod in the eastern city of Qingdao, marking the first time that live coronavirus has been detected on the outside of refrigerated goods. Researchers were investigating the source of a cluster of cases linked to a hospital in Qingdao. Genetic traces had previously been found in samples of frozen food, but no living virus had been isolated before. “It has been confirmed that contact with outer packaging contaminated by the new coronavirus can cause infection,” the agency said in a statement on its Web site, without specifying the origin of the batch of frozen food. China, which until the Qingdao outbreak had recorded no new local cases in 55 days, has been one of few countries to point to possible transmission through frozen food. When Beijing had a second outbreak in June after the coronavirus had been largely contained, officials suggested that the new cluster could have come from imported salmon. China in August increased inspection requirements for imports of frozen products after traces of the coronavirus were found on frozen chicken wings from Brazil. Researchers have also detected COVID-19 on imported shrimp and other frozen seafood. The center did not say whether the outbreak in Qingdao was caused by the frozen food packaging. The outbreak was traced back to two dock workers who are believed to have infected 12 other people at a hospital. It was not clear whether the dock workers contracted the coronavirus from the packaging of frozen food, but the center warned those handling frozen products not to have direct contact with
A Chinese soldier apprehended earlier this week by the Indian Army after he strayed across a tense de facto border was on Tuesday night handed back to China, an Indian government source in New Delhi said yesterday. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier had on Monday been captured in the Demchok area of eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army said in a statement. The Chinese military also released a statement, saying that Corporal Wang Yalong was handed over early yesterday. New Delhi on Monday said that it had detained Wang after he crossed into Indian-controlled territory, while China announced that Wang had gotten lost. Both sides have engaged in a tense standoff along their 3,500km border since a battle in June left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, as well as an unspecified number of Chinese casualties. Wang got lost while looking for a Tibetan herder’s yak, said Colonel Zhang Shuili (張水利), spokesman for the PLA’s Western Theater Command. “We hope that the Indian side will live up to its promise to hand over the missing Chinese soldier as soon as possible” to “maintain peace and tranquillity” on the border, Zhang said in a statement on Tuesday. An Indian government official on Tuesday said that Wang “was well,” but his release would come only “after completion of formalities.” “No time frame is fixed as of now,” he told reporters, on condition of anonymity. India and China have deployed tens of thousands of troops to the Himalayan region, despite several rounds of talks. Analysts have said that both sides are digging in for a long, hard winter showdown. Tensions have also spilled into civilian life, with some Indian nationalists demanding a boycott of Chinese goods, and the government banning a slew of social media apps from its major rival. India is also seeking closer security ties with other countries wary of China’s growing
TAIPEI REACTIONS: Joanne Ou decried China’s ‘gangster diplomacy,’ while MOFA said its Fiji counterpart dealt fairly with the incident and protected the trade office’s rights The world should denounce the actions of Chinese embassy staffers in Fiji against a Taiwanese diplomat during a National Day celebration in Suva, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday as it thanked the Fijian government for its help after the Oct. 8 incident. Two Chinese diplomats tried to force their way into a celebration held by the Taipei Trade Office in Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva on Oct. 8, and a Taiwanese diplomat who tried to stop them taking photographs suffered a head injury. MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing that the ministry had reported the incident to Fijian police, who are investigating it together with the Fijian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Asked if MOFA would file a lawsuit against the Chinese diplomats, Ou said that filing a police report was the first step, and the ministry has prepared related documentation if further action is needed. China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy, which has engendered ill feeling from many countries, has become “gangster diplomacy,” but it keeps telling lies to cover up other lies it has told, she said. Other nations should jointly denounce the Chinese embassy’s actions, as what happened to Taiwan might happen to them, she said. Taiwan is a “peace-loving country” that invites people to events around the world for Double Ten National Day, and it would continue to do so, she said. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) told lawmakers on Monday that the incident is complicated, because the Fijian government wanted to downplay it. The English-language Fiji Times yesterday cited Fijian Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu as saying that the police “will not be conducting further investigations” as the case is being handled at diplomatic level, as agreed by all parties involved. Asked about Tudravu’s comment, Ou said the incident involves diplomatic concerns, and the
Seabed waste off the west coast is 1.5 times higher than the global average, with the mouth of the Tamsui River (淡水河) nearly 90 times dirtier, the environmental consultancy IndigoWaters (澄洋環境顧問) said yesterday. The firm in September last year began collaborating with local oceanographers on Taiwan’s first survey of seabed waste off the west coast, collecting 6,000 samples from near the mouths of eight rivers and conducting 215 inspections. Of the samples, 83.3 percent were found to contain trash, the group said. Based on the survey, every square kilometer of seabed had about 121,074 pieces of trash weighing 102kg, IndigoWaters chief executive Yen Ning (顏寧) said. This is considerably higher than in the waters near neighboring countries, as Tokyo Bay has an average of 66.6kg per 1km2, the ocean off South Korea has 31kg to 73kg and China has 15.9kg, she said. The results are particularly concerning near the Tamsui River, where every square kilometer of seabed has on average 2.68 million pieces of trash weighing 6,292kg, nearly 90 times the global average weight, the group said. Previous research has shown that 94 percent of all ocean waste falls to the seabed, but it is not distributed evenly throughout the oceans, IndigoWaters said. Every square kilometer of the ocean floor has 70kg of trash on average, but this weight is mostly concentrated in coastal areas, it said. Waste poses a threat to the benthic ecology, especially fish and shrimp that feed on organisms that live on the ocean floor, said Fang Lee-shing (方力行), a professor at National Sun Yat-sen and Cheng Shiu universities who collaborated on the survey. As the waters off western Taiwan are important for fishing, it is urgent to understand the state of seabed pollution in the area, he added. Although this trash is in a place humans cannot easily see, “it will definitely come back to
CLEAR BEFORE LEAVING: Two baby boys and a woman in her 30s tested negative before departing for Japan, but tests taken after their arrival came back postive Three Taiwanese tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived in Japan earlier this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported a new imported case. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said that one of the three cases in Japan is a Taiwanese baby under the age of one, whose parents work in Japan. The infant came to Taiwan with his parents in January, and the parents paid for the family’s COVID-19 tests on Oct. 10 ahead of their planned return to Japan on Monday last week, he said. The boy and his parents have not developed any symptoms of COVID-19, but the baby’s antigen test upon arrival was positive, while his parents’ were negative. The second case is a Taiwanese woman in her 30s who went to Japan for work on Wednesday last week, after paying for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on Monday last week, which was negative. Her antigen test upon arrival was also positive, but another PCR test on Tuesday came back negative, Chen said. The third case is another a one-year-old Taiwanese boy whose parents live permanently in Japan, Chen said. The baby came to Taiwan with his mother in January, while his father returned in February. The parents sought treatment for their son for a fever and respiratory symptoms on Sept. 28, and he appeared better on Oct. 5, however, an antigen test upon arrival in Japan on Wednesday last week came back positive, while his parents tested negative, Chen said. A total of 155 close contacts of the two infants and the woman have been identified, and 147 were tested; 114 people received a negative PCR test result, while 33 tested negative in both a PCR test and an antibody test. As of yesterday, a total of 49 travelers from Taiwan
COMMITTEE MEETING: Legislators focused their questions on how the board released its final report, rather than on the substance of its findings The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) yesterday came under fire from members of the Legislative Yuan’s Transportation Committee over its release on Monday of the final investigation report on the 2018 derailment of a Puyuma Express train. Board Chairman Young Hong-tsu (楊宏智) was at the committee meeting to brief lawmakers about the board’s performance over the past fiscal year and answer questions about its budget for the next fiscal year. However, as yesterday was the second anniversary of the derailment, which killed 18 people and injured more than 200, the committee chairman, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀), asked participants to stand for a minute of silence for the victims before starting the question-and-answer session. After that, lawmakers focused their questions on how the board released its 435-page report, the culmination of a year-long probe. They criticized the board’s meeting with victims’ families on Sunday to tell them about the report, where the relatives were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements before the meeting began, even though the agreements had been designed for investigators working on the board’s probe and board members. Young was also criticized for saying that the board would not give a media briefing when it released the report to avoid raising painful memories for family members, only for the board to notify reporters at 10:05am on Monday that it would hold a news conference at 10:30am to present the report. There is nothing wrong with considering the feelings of family members, but what relatives want is the truth and to know that such a tragedy would not be repeated, lawmakers said. The board decided to hold a news conference after family members said such an event would not hurt their feelings, and after it received requests for interviews from multiple media outlets, Young said. The board rarely hosts an information
The first data users’ workshop for the Taiwan-US weather satellite constellation Formosat-7/COSMIC2 opened virtually yesterday, hosted by the Hsinchu Science Park-based National Space Organization (NSPO). The three-day event, also called the 5th International Conference on GPS Radio Occultation, has drawn 285 participants from 33 nations, including US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Neil Jacobs. The six-satellite constellation was launched in June last year, and opened its data to public use in March. The NSPO received 68 research papers for the workshop, highlighting findings about the atmosphere, space weather and ionospheric changes, Formosat-7 project head in Taiwan Vicky Chu (朱崇惠) said at the opening ceremony at NSPO headquarters,. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) in July started analyzing the data transmitted by Formosat-7 and found it helpful for improving forecasts for tropical areas, Chu said. CWB’s analysis showed that the precision of temperature forecasts 6km from the ground in tropical areas within five days has improved 4 percent, she said. While the NSPO has said that Formosat-7 data would improve weather forecast by 10 percent, that estimate was based on simulation models, and the levels of improvement would vary among different statistical bases, CWB Deputy Director-General Mark Cheng (程家平) said. Workshop participants are also marking the decommissioning of the Formosat-7’s predecessor, the Formosat-3/COSMIC constellation, which was launched in 2006. Designed to last five years, it was used for 14 years until its formal decommissioning on May 1. The forum had been scheduled for May, but was postponed and changed into a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that Jacobs had to cancel his plans to visit Taiwan. Addressing yesterday’s opening, Jacobs said that the wide use of radio occultation (RO) by weather prediction centers worldwide was largely due to the successful demonstration of the technology achieved in the COSMIC-1/Formosat-3 program. COSMIC-2/Formosat-7 features advanced technology and its data
The inaugural Taiwan Creative Content Fest (創意內容大會) is to be held next month to connect Taiwanese creators with buyers from around the world, the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) said yesterday. The showcase, with a theme of Human Touch: A Closer Future (眾感未來), is to feature live and virtual events from Nov. 17 to Nov. 22. It aims to expand on existing events such as the Taipei International TV Market & Forum and XMediaMatch, and include programs designed to facilitate content development, international coproduction and venture-capital matchmaking, the TAICCA said. Tea Uglow, creative director of Google’s Creative Lab in Sydney, and Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), are to give the keynote addresses. WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks Asia Pacific president Ricky Ow, Studio Dragon chief producer Hannah Lee and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs producer Christophe Bruncher are scheduled to speak as part of a discussion on the television industry in the Asia-Pacific region from a global perspective. As of yesterday, 113 buyers from 21 countries have registered for the event, the agency said.
‘BACKED BY ENEMY’: CtiTV is one of the few channels promoting unification, the New Party chairman said, while pro-Taiwan groups called it a propaganda outlet Pan-blue camp supporters yesterday lodged a protest at the National Communications Commission (NCC) against what they say is a possible move by the government to shut down CtiTV News, adding that politics should not interfere with freedom of the press. Protesters included representatives from the New Party, the Blue Sky Action Alliance, the 333 Political Party Alliance and other pan-blue groups. “We stand here today because CtiTV News is one of the few media outlets in Taiwan that is still willing to give groups supporting unification with China a voice. If the news channel is gone, there would only be one voice in the nation,” New Party Chairman Wu Cherng-dean (吳成典) told reporters. “Freedom of the press in a democratic country cannot be compromised. The government can use the law to handle any technical infraction committed by the news channel, but it cannot use its political judgement to determine if the channel should or should not be closed. That decision should be made by the market,” he added. National Civil Servant Association honorary chairman Harry Lee (李來希) said that former NCC chairwoman Nicole Chan (詹婷怡) resigned after being scolded by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) at a Cabinet meeting for the commission’s failure to curb the spread of misinformation. This shows that the NCC is no longer an independent agency, Lee said. NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said the commission respects comments from the public. “The commission is an independent collegial administrative organization and we hope that the public would leave us room to handle CtiTV News’ license renewal application independently,” he said. Meanwhile, pro-Taiwan activist groups called on NCC members to conduct a rigorous review and not act leniently against CtiTV News when having verified serious breaches and illegal conduct by the channel. In light of the findings, the channel’s
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused CtiTV News of trying to mislead the public by publishing a half-page advert claiming that the party interfered in the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) review of its application for a license renewal. CtiTV News is distorting the commission’s review process by painting it as a political conflict and turning it into a smear campaign against the DPP, party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said. “The NCC is an independent body, which carries out reviews and makes decisions based on its members’ professional expertise, as well as regulations and legal requirements governing media operations,” Yen said. “We condemn the baseless accusations in CtiTV News’ advert, which claims that the DPP is a ‘black hand’ that has politically interfered with the NCC’s [operations]... CtiTV News is fabricating news to make false accusations against our party,” Yen added. The advert on the bottom front page of the Chinese-language China Times, a CtiTV News affiliate, features two slogans — “Defend media freedom” and “Safeguard democratic values” — and allegations that the DPP had pressured the NCC into “shutting down” CtiTV News. It also says that while “the DPP prides itself on upholding Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is now burning down those values.” Yen said the advert got only one thing right — that the DPP leadership and top officials have not expressed their views on CtiTV News’ case, as “our party has defended media freedom, and we respect the NCC’s review process.” “The advert actually proves that the DPP did not politically interfere in the process,” she added. CtiTV News has in the past few days been presented a series of reports and programs that reflect the stance of Want Want China Times Group, the parent company of CtiTV News, to attack lawmakers and academics, she said. “Is this in line with
NEW YEAR’S EVE: Examples from South Korea and Japan show that 15 local COVID-19 infections could emerge in a short period if measures are not taken The Taipei City Government would cancel its New Year’s Eve Party and all large events if 15 or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 are reported in the city within a week, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday. Addressing the Taipei Cross Border E-Commerce Annual Convention, Ko said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many uncertainties to society, and that e-commerce is on a path of no return and would continue to grow. Many countries have not effectively controlled their COVID-19 outbreaks, and although Taiwan implements strict border controls and there have been few inbound passengers, the pandemic is unlikely to end soon, so people have to adapt to “the new normal,” Ko said. “The world is not the same anymore and there is no way of returning to [the way things were] before,” Ko said, adding that people have to practice risk management in this new situation. If Taiwan does not report any local infections for a long period, the New Year’s Eve Party would be held as usual, he said. Citing examples of cluster infections in South Korea, Japan and Singapore, Ko said 15 new COVID-19 cases could emerge in a short period if precautionary measures are not fully implemented. “When people ask me if the New Year’s Eve Party will be held, my answer is: ‘Who knows?’” Ko said, adding that the events could be canceled only three days before their scheduled date, as anything could happen, so risk management is crucial. Asked about Ko’s remarks in a separate setting, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said that as infection risk is low in Taiwan, the center respects local governments’ decisions on whether to hold large events, but urged attendees to wear a mask. Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday released the virtual reality (VR) video Three Crucial Steps (關鍵三布局) to share Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic with the world, adding that people would be able to experience it at the Presidential Office Building from next month. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) demonstrated watching the video with a VR headset at a news conference in Taipei. After the ministry last year introduced VR videos about its Twin Oaks estate in Washington as part of the events celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, it this time is employing VR technology to share the nation’s struggle to contain the pandemic, he said. A VR experience section would be set up at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei next month, where visitors can put on VR headsets to experience the video in immersive surroundings, the ministry said. The video has English-language and Chinese-language versions, with the Chinese version featuring narration by former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), an epidemiologist. Chen says in the video that when seven atypical pneumonia cases were reported in China at the end of last year, his first thought was: “SARS is coming back.” Taiwan’s experience in fighting SARS in 2003 prepared it for COVID-19, he said, adding that prudent action, rapid response and early deployment are the three key principles in the nation’s effective response to the pandemic. Solidarity among 23.7 million Taiwanese and transparency also account for the nation’s success, Chen said. The pandemic would be effectively controlled across the world if governments and people trust each other, he added. While it was difficult to buy masks in Taiwan at the early stage of the pandemic, the government in February started working with local engineers to develop more than 100 kinds of applications to check mask stocks at pharmacies, Minister Without Portfolio
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is to hold a series of commemorative events to mark the 75th anniversary of Taiwan’s retrocession on Sunday, including a concert that would be attended by several former KMT chairpeople, it said yesterday. KMT Culture and Communications Committee chairwoman Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference in Taipei that on Oct. 25, 1945, Taiwan “officially returned to the domain of the Republic of China and cast off Japanese colonization.” “Taiwan’s retrocession is a day that is very worth commemorating,” she said. “However, now we see that the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] administration does not even commemorate [it] anymore,” she added. At a time when the DPP administration says that the People’s Republic of China should not hold Retrocession Day activities, it should organize activities of its own to show that the day “is meaningful only when commemorated in the Republic of China,” Wang said. The KMT has invited Mainland Affairs Council officials and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to a commemorative concert, but they turned down the requests, she said. The National Policy Foundation, a think tank affiliated with the KMT, is to hold a seminar today to discuss the significance of Taiwan’s retrocession in areas including society, culture, economics, politics and national defense, as well as the role that the KMT played before and after the retrocession, the party said. The seminar is to be moderated by KMT Deputy Secretary-General Huang Kwei-bo (黃奎博), it said. Tomorrow, the KMT is to launch an online exhibition featuring historical materials and photographs preserved by the party related to the retrocession, it said. A commemorative concert focusing on local songs performed in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) is to begin at 2:30pm on Sunday, Wang said. Several former KMT chairmen — including former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), former vice president
RESTRUCTURING: Taichung and Taoyuan profited most from local firms moving back high-end manufacturing amid the US-China decoupling of trade ties, the ministry said The government’s “Invest in Taiwan” initiative might this year see NT$627.1 billion (US$21.7 billion) of investment pledges realized, with several firms raising stakes and two dropouts due to customer losses, Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday. Wang made the statement at the monthly meeting of the Third Wednesday Club, a local trade group featuring the top 100 firms of each business sector. Since early last year, the government has launched three programs intended to help local companies grapple with US-China trade rows and the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly through moving production lines back to Taiwan. Thus far, the ministry has received NT$1.13 trillion of investment pledges, with NT$251.3 billion invested last year and NT$375.8 million to be fulfilled by the end of this year, Wang said, adding that investments have for example been made by motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉), cloud computing equipment supplier Wiwynn Corp (緯穎科技), communications solutions provider Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技) and networking equipment supplier Wistron NeWeb Corp (啟碁科技), among others. Local firms have been moving high-end manufacturing facilities home to diversify investment risks as the US and China decouple trade ties. The restructuring allowed local firms to benefit from order transfers when China and ASEAN member countries came under lockdown earlier this year to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Packaging specialist Taiwan Lamination Industries Inc (台灣積層工業), Highlight Tech Corp (日揚科技) and Wistron NeWeb have increased investments to meet growing demand for their products, Wang said. Two companies have called off investment plans after their top customer, China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), canceled orders, she said. As of Friday last week, the government had this year given its approval to 389 companies that pledged to invest NT$284.9 billion and created 24,821 jobs in Taiwan, Wang said. Taichung emerges as the biggest investment destination, while Taoyuan enjoys the most new jobs,
OVERHEATED MARKET?: The gauge would be designed to provide more reliable information than private-sector data, and help improve policymaking, the council said The National Development Council (NDC) is considering creating a business climate index on Taiwan’s property market, allowing policymakers to better monitor market movements and intervene if necessary, NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Kung made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Committee where lawmakers from across party lines voiced concerns about housing price hikes driven by capital repatriation. Kung said that the council is assessing the possibility of creating an index designed to provide more accountable and transparent information than data provided by private-sector market analysts, and could help improve policymaking. The council would compile a report on the matter within a week, Kung said, but declined comment on whether the local property market is overheated and requires government action, due to unclear data. The housing price to annual income ratio in Taiwan has dropped from 9.46 to about 8, suggesting that the market in most areas is stable, Kung said. Housing prices in Taipei still lag behind the peaks in 2014, but are approaching new highs in Taichung, he said, adding that housing prices are also relatively high in Tainan and Kaohsiung. The upward trend has drawn attention from the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior, and led to discussions among the agencies, Kung said, adding that the council is moderating the conversation. The finance ministry has said it would not extend favorable tax conditions that are due to expire in August next year to attract capital return. Capital repatriation is believed to have fostered this year’s property boom, while trading elsewhere in the world is taking a hit amid the COVID-19 pandemic, analysts have said. Kung said that it has not yet been decided whether the real estate climate gauge should take the form of an index, an indicator or another form. The government has to
Life insurance companies in Taiwan increased their combined property investments by NT$128.8 billion (US$4.46 billion) to NT$1.34 trillion in the first eight months of this year, data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed on Tuesday. The increased investment by life insurers for the whole of this year is expected to hit a new record, compared with the previous high in 2012, when life insurers added NT$111.8 billion in new property investment, FSC data showed. That prompted the FSC in 2013 to implement tighter regulations on real-estate investment by life insurers to curb an overheated market. This year, the advance property investment came as insurers sought targets with better returns amid low interest rates and volatility in global financial markets, the commission said. Among the new investments in the January-to-August period, NT$50.6 billion, or 39 percent, were in superficies, while the remaining funds were put into land, commercial buildings, hotels and build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects, it said. Major deals included Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) winning superficies rights to a plot of land in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) for NT$31.28 billion and Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) acquiring Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei (王朝大酒店) for NT$25.52 billion, the data showed. Life insurers pursue property investment for stable, predictable and long-term returns that help match their liability, as they provide long-term policies, the commission said. As of the end of August, insurers’ combined property investment was 4.77 percent of their working capital, far below the regulatory ceiling of 30 percent, the commission said. For this quarter, life insurers are expected to continue investing in properties, after Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) last week announced that it won a BOT contract for a new facility in National Taipei University with an annual royalty of NT$1.67 billion. Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) on Tuesday announced it had won a BOT contract
The scuffle between Chinese embassy staffers in Fiji and a Taiwanese diplomat at a Republic of China (ROC) Double Ten National Day celebration has turned into a public relations opportunity for the government, Beijing and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Although the incident occurred on Oct. 8, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) downplayed it, only for the story to be picked up by the foreign media, forcing the ministry to respond. The public and opposition parties asked why the government had failed to remonstrate more strongly in the first instance. It is still unclear whether the ministry missed a trick with its initial downplaying of the incident, but since its hand was forced, the government has used it to its advantage. Reports by Western media about the incident have been fair and balanced, with many viewing it within the context of China’s increasingly aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy. While this conclusion is being reached in the international media, it is hardly a conceptual leap. Still, the government capitalized on it, with MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) describing China’s approach as “gangster diplomacy” and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) saying Chinese officials overseas “are acting like hooligans.” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) attempted to switch the narrative by saying at a news conference in Beijing that it was Taiwanese officials who attacked the Chinese embassy staff. He said Taiwan’s version of events was tantamount to a “thief crying ‘stop thief.’” Given the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) record, especially in the past year, Zhao’s metaphor is pure projection and will fall on deaf ears. Taiwanese should not be surprised that Chinese officials acted in this way, or that the CCP remains unapologetic, although it certainly is shocking that a Taiwanese official was hospitalized because of the incident. The government’s belatedly strong response harbors
In a Facebook post on Wednesday last week, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) wrote: “The KMT must fall for Taiwan to improve.’ Allow me to ask the question again: Is this really true?” It matters not how many times Hsu asks the question, my answer will always be the same: “Yes, the KMT must be toppled for Taiwan to improve.” In the lengthy Facebook post, titled “What were those born in the 1980s guilty of?” Hsu harked back to the idealistic aspirations of the 2014 Sunflower movement before heaping opprobrium on the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) record in office in an attempt to clean up the KMT’s image. Instead of digging through the past and focusing on events that took place six — or even 10 — years ago, Hsu need look back no further than the beginning of this year to the KMT’s response to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China and former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) assertion at a security forum in August that “the nation is not safe.” How many times have Ma’s public pronouncements either served to hinder the government’s cross-strait policy, or, by singing from Beijing’s hymn sheet, aided China in its propaganda war and ultimate aim to annex Taiwan? Ma has taken to using the phrase “The first battle will be the last” — meaning that if China were to try to invade Taiwan, it would defeat Taiwan in a single, decisive battle. Ma is inferring that the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration have pushed Taiwan to the brink of war with China. His intention is to brainwash the public into recognizing the so-called “1992 consensus,” and believing that bowing and bending the knee to Beijing is the path to peace. Any rational person understands that the only way to
US President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, former US vice president Joe Biden, are holding their final debate tonight. In their foreign policy debate, China is sure to be a major issue of contention for the two candidates. Here are several questions the moderator should pose to the candidates: For both: In the first televised US presidential debates in 1960, then-Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy and his Republican counterpart, Richard Nixon, were asked whether the US should intervene if communist China attacked Taiwan’s outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu. Kennedy said no, unless the main island of Taiwan was also attacked. Nixon said the US should defend all of Taiwan, including its main island and the smaller ones. Sixty years later, China is again threatening to attack Taiwan, possibly starting with Kinmen and Matsu. What should Washington’s position be? For Biden: In 1995, China fired missiles across the Taiwan Strait and asked what the US would do if it attacked Taiwan. Then-US president Bill Clinton’s administration answered: “We don’t know and you don’t know; it would depend on the circumstances.” That policy of strategic ambiguity has been followed by every subsequent Democratic and Republican administration. Should it still be the US approach? Or, since China believes it can successfully pull off a military move against Taiwan, is it time to be clear on US intentions and deter China from the kind of miscalculation that triggered the Korean War? For Trump: You told Fox News recently that China knows what the US would do if it attacks Taiwan, presumably because you or someone in your administration told Chinese officials. But does Taiwan know the US’ intentions? Certainly, the American people do not yet know. Are you prepared to inform them tonight what the US policy is on defending Taiwan? For both: A Chinese military
‘JOB NOT DONE’: The outfielder, who hit a homer and stole two bases, said that players ‘have to be good at all aspects of game all the time and not take plays off’ Los Angeles outfielder Mookie Betts put himself in rarefied company with a standout performance in the Dodgers’ Game 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the 116th World Series on Tuesday. Betts sparked the Dodgers’ four-run fifth inning with a walk and two stolen bases, joining Babe Ruth as the only players in World Series history to record such an inning. After walking to lead off the inning, Betts stole second base. After Corey Seager walked, Betts reached third on a double steal, giving the Dodgers runners on second and third with one out. Betts took an aggressive stance off the bag at third and when teammate Max Muncy hit a ground ball to first, Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz could not get the ball to the plate in time to prevent him from scoring on a head-first slide. Betts said that the base-stealing was a way to create “havoc” on the base paths. “That’s just another element that Mookie brings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He does a lot of studying to be able to create stress.” Betts added a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth — his first hit of the night — joining Chase Utley as the only players with a homer and two stolen bases in a World Series game. Utley also did it against the Rays — for the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the 2008 World Series. Betts is the only player in World Series history to post a home run, two stolen bases and two runs scored in a single game. “I like winning,” Betts said when asked whether scoring or driving in runs gave him more satisfaction. “Whichever one is needed that day, I like doing that. You can’t do just one, you have to do both.” Betts, who joined the Dodgers prior to this season after helping
Marcus Rashford once again sank Paris Saint-Germain after netting the decisive goal in a 2-1 Champions League win in the French capital. Rashford, who scored the winning spot-kick when United knocked PSG out two seasons ago, drilled home a low shot three minutes from the end, which won a thrilling Group H contest at a near-empty Parc des Princes. United had taken the lead in the 23rd minute when Bruno Fernandes slotted home from the spot at the second attempt, but Anthony Martial inexplicably headed Neymar’s corner into his own net 10 minutes after the break. The rest of the match was an end-to-end affair, with both sides opting to go for the win rather than hold on for the draw. Rashford took the points after twice being denied by Keylor Navas. “Of course it’s a nice feeling. More importantly we win the game and we’re in a strong position now in the group,” Rashford told BT Sport. “It’s the first game, the concentration and intensity we showed today we have to take forward in the next games in the Premier League.” The win sets United up nicely for next week’s home clash with RB Leipzig, who are top of the group after beating Istanbul Basaksehir 2-0 in Germany. In Group G, Ronald Koeman got his first Champions League campaign as Barcelona coach off to a winning start with a confident 5-1 win over Ferencvaros. The Hungarian side, the first team from the country to make the group stage in 11 years, started brightly and even had the ball in the net via Tokmac Nguen only for the powerful 12th-minute strike to be ruled out for offside. Messi won and converted the penalty to give the Catalans a 27th-minute lead and the match was as good as done when Ansu Fati clipped home Frenkie de Jong’s sumptuous pass just
China wants to unite its 1.4 billion people through soccer, while also using the sport as “a bridge to work with the rest of the world,” Chinese Football Association secretary-general Liu Yi told reporters in an interview published yesterday. Liu spoke about what lies behind the country’s push to become a major soccer power by 2050. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping — who is described by state media as an “avid soccer fan” — the world’s most populous country has grand plans to host and even one day win a World Cup. Liu spoke about “using football to motivate the whole nation.” “Football is a beautiful game to educate the new generation of young Chinese and also to [help] our nation to team up as one and be more cohesive,” he said. Like China’s success at the past few Summer Olympics, Liu called soccer “another tool to unite a nation and also demonstrate what we can deliver.” “And football, as I said, is a bridge between China and the rest of the world. Everyone plays football,” he said. “China is still open and the development of Chinese football needs help from external stakeholders like the AFC [Asian Football Confederation], FIFA and also other federations as well, and other leagues as well,” Liu said. “We are definitely going to carry on with that kind of partnership, working with all the international governing bodies, brands and stakeholders.” China’s ambitions are striking for a team who have reached the World Cup only once, in 2002, when they failed to win a point or score a goal. China are 76th in the FIFA rankings and their chances of reaching the Qatar 2022 World Cup are in the balance, underlining how far they have to go to reach the top. However, speaking in Suzhou, where the Chinese Super League is in a “bubble” amid the
TENNIS Federer eyes Australia Roger Federer is practicing pain-free after undergoing two knee surgeries this year and said that he expects to return to the circuit at the Australian Open in January. The 39-year-old Swiss reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park at the start of the year, but missed the rest of the season after undergoing a second arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. “I’m on the right track,” he told German-language magazine Schweizer Illustrierte. “I’m gradually coming back, but I’m going to take my time and don’t want to put any pressure on myself. I will only take part in a tournament when I am 100 percent fit. At the moment, it looks like I can make my comeback at the Australian Open in January.” SOCCER European plans slammed The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) said a report that Europe’s top teams are in talks to become founding members of a new competition shows that “billionaire owners are out of control” and proves that the sport cannot regulate itself. A Sky News report said that more than 12 teams from the top five leagues — in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — are in negotiations over what has been dubbed the European premier league, with a provisional start date in 2022. “The latest reports of plots ... to create a European super league, expose the myth that billionaire owners care about the English football pyramid, or indeed anything other than their own greed,” the FSA said in a statement. “This has to be the last nail in the coffin of the idea that football can be relied upon to regulate itself. These billionaire owners are out of control. Decisive action is now needed to protect the game we love.” RUGBY UNION Lions to play Japan The British and Irish Lions yesterday said that they would host Japan
LIFE GOES ON: After a strict lockdown that left millions on the brink of starvation, Indians embrace work to avoid starvation and get ready for several major festivals India is on course to top the world in COVID-19 cases, but from Maharashtra’s whirring factories to Kolkata’s thronging markets, people are back at work — and eager to forget the pandemic for festival season. After a strict lockdown in March that left millions on the brink of starvation, the government and people of the world’s second-most populous country decided life must go on. Sonali Dange, for instance, has two young daughters and an elderly mother-in-law to look after. She was hospitalized this year in excruciating pain after catching the novel coronavirus. However, after the lockdown exhausted the family’s savings, the 29-year-old had to return to work at a factory where she earns 25,000 rupees (US$340) a month. “Now that I have recovered, I am no longer so scared of the disease,” she said amid the din of machinery at the Nobel Hygiene plant east of Mumbai. The pandemic’s confirmed fatality rate has been heaviest in richer nations with older populations — the US death toll is double that of India, despite having only a quarter of the population. Poor countries have suffered far worse economic pain, with the World Bank predicting 150 million people could fall into extreme poverty worldwide. Many children in the developing world are now working to help their parents make ends meet, activists say, while thousands of young girls have been forced into marriage. In Varanasi in northern India, 12-year-old Sanchit no longer attends school and instead collects cloth discarded from bodies before cremation on the city’s ghats (steps leading down to a river). “On a good day, I earn about 50 rupees,” he said. The IMF projects India’s GDP would contract by 10.3 percent this year, the biggest slump of any major emerging nation and its worst since independence in 1947. When India went into lockdown, it was a human catastrophe, leaving millions in the
A COVID-19 outbreak among hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian fishers flown to New Zealand to bolster its struggling deep-sea fishing industry has prompted that country’s largest daily increase in infections in months, authorities said yesterday. More than 230 fishers were flown in from Moscow last week, with 18 of the crew members then testing positive for COVID-19 while in quarantine, New Zealand Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said. The Pacific nation has almost eliminated local transmission of the virus, but regularly records small numbers of new cases in returned travelers. The fishing cluster pushed the daily tally of new infections to 25, the highest level since April, sparking concern among officials in New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s recently re-elected government. New Zealand has recorded more than 1,500 cases and 25 deaths in a population of almost 5 million and has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic. Health officials said that two new cases had also been linked to a port worker, who might have come into contact with a vessel now docked off Australia’s east coast. Broad travel bans remain in place in New Zealand and those granted exemptions — including the fishers, who were classified as essential workers — are forced to quarantine for 14 days. Bloomfield said the new cases highlighted the threat of overseas arrivals. “We cannot afford to be complacent, we are not being complacent at the border,” Bloomfield told media. The maritime sector has also come under scrutiny in Australia, where dozens of crew members from a cattle ship docked off the nation’s west coast tested positive for the virus. “It is becoming clear that ships arriving with COVID-19 on board is one of the weakest links and the biggest risk to our way of life in Western Australia,” Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said on Tuesday. Australia as of
From monitoring vital signs to filtering filthy air and even translating speech into other languages, the COVID-19-fueled boom in mask-wearing has spawned an unusual range of high-tech face coverings. As masks become the norm worldwide, tech companies and researchers are rolling out weird and wonderful models to guard against infection and cash in on a growing trend. One of the wackiest comes from Japan, where start-up Donut Robotics has created a face covering that helps users adhere to social distancing and also acts as a translator. The “C-Face” mask works by transmitting a wearer’s speech to a smartphone via an app, and allows people to have a conversation while keeping up to 10m apart. “Despite the coronavirus, we sometimes need to meet directly with each other,” Donut Robotics chief executive Taisuke Ono said. The lightweight silicone device could have immediate benefits for people, such as doctors who want to communicate with patients from a distance, the company said. It can translate speech from Japanese into English, Korean and other languages — a function that will become more useful once travel restrictions are eased. However, it does not offer protection from COVID-19 and is designed to be worn over a regular face covering. It goes on sale in February for about ￥4,000 (US$38). Donut Robotics raised nearly ￥100 million via crowdfunding to develop it, a success Ono believed was driven by a desire for innovations to make life easier during the pandemic. Another mask developed in Singapore is aimed at protecting medics treating COVID-19 patients. It has sensors that monitor body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels, and relay data to a smartphone via a Bluetooth transmitter. “Many of these frontline workers will be exposed to patients when they are taking their vital signs,” said Loh Xian Jun (羅賢俊), one of its inventors and an adjunct
This year’s Kuandu Arts Festival (關渡藝術節), which opened on Sept. 23 and runs through Nov. 29, is focused on music. Under the theme “Joy of Music,” a nod to the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, the program features performances by seven symphony orchestras as well as several Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA, 國立臺北藝術大學) student and faculty shows, in addition to the annual film and animation festivals. However, there is still room for other performing arts, and two productions this weekend and next at the university in the hills of Taipei’s Guandu area (關渡) feature students from the School of Dance. The dance department is celebrating its 38th anniversary, so it is fitting that this weekend’s show, Four Chapters Of The Floating Life (浮生四闕), feature works ranging from ballet to contemporary to post-modern, choreographed by two faculty members, a guest professor and an alumnus. The show’s artistic director, Chiang Chiou-o (蔣秋娥), choreographed 2020 Spring, a classical ballet-based work set to Max Richier’s take on the “Spring” section from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Alumnus and Batsheva dancer turned freelance dancer/choreographer Lee Chen-wei (李貞葳) has contributed Unfold Unpaid (非常非償), an exploration of the conflicts and disasters confronting modern society, set to music by Teho Teardo, Death Grips, Ben Frost and others. Australian Leigh Warren’s GREEN T, created for graduate students, is a three-part work inspired by the ideals of the postmodern movement and the pop culture of the time, set to music by John Cage and Steve Reich. The final work on the program is The Floating Life (浮生) by Zhang Xiaoxiong (張曉雄), a restaging of a work he created for the 2006 Hong Kong Dance Academy Dance Festival, To Friends in Heaven. Zhang adapted the piece for Taipei Crossover Dance Company (台北越界舞團) in 2008 and then restaged it this year for the students.
A disconsolate mother dressed in white wanders through Mexico City’s floating gardens looking for her children killed by COVID-19, in a pandemic-era adaptation of a legend rooted in Aztec mythology. The traditional play La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) returns to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Xochimilco ahead of the Day of the Dead with a poignant tribute to the victims of COVID-19. The ghost with flowing black hair, who according to legend reappears every year searching for her downed children, has spread throughout Latin America. “It’s dedicated to the memory of all the people who left without saying goodbye to their loved ones and for all the families who have suffered this loss,” Nayeli Cortes, who has played the role of the weeping mother for 11 years, said. Measures such as face masks made of transparent plastic or cloth and a smaller audience enabled the 27-year-old performance and its flamboyant costumes to survive the pandemic. COVID-19 has killed 86,000 people in Mexico, one of the world’s highest tolls, and as in other countries kept people apart from their families. “Not being able to hug, hold hands or kiss (relatives) is very frustrating and that’s why right now it’s dedicated to them,” said stage director Maria Luisa Castillo. “We know that they are here with us and it is the homage that we can give them, and also to tell them, ‘Here we are. We remember you. You will never be forgotten.’” According to experts, the legend of the wandering ghost was first documented around 1550. It is associated with supposed dire omens prior to the Spanish conquest that predicted the end of the Tenochtitlan empire 500 years ago. The audience watched the show from the gondolas that ply the canals of Xochimilco, which usually attracts about a million tourists a year but was shut for almost
The prognosis for biodiversity on Earth is grim. According to a sobering report released by the UN last year, 1 million land and marine species across the globe are threatened with extinction — more than at any other period in human history. According to a recent study, about 20 percent of the countries in the world risk ecosystem collapse due to the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, a result of human activity in tandem with a warming climate. The US is the ninth most at risk. Despite this desperate outlook, the Trump administration, as part of its aggressive rollback of regulations designed to protect the environment, has lifted protections for America’s animals. It has shrunk several national monuments and opened up a huge amount of federal land for oil and gas drilling, coal mining and other industrial activities — actions that conservationists warn could imperil species whose numbers are already dwindling and that are core to the health of our ecosystems. Here we look at some of the animals most at risk from Trump’s rollbacks. WOLVERINES In 2019, the Trump administration changed the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, making it harder to protect animals. “There are many species that have been wrongly denied protection over the last several years because of this,” says Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Just last week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will deny protections for the snow-loving wolverine under the Endangered Species Act. Wolverines were wiped out across most of the country by the early 1900s following unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns. According to Hartl, they are slowly clawing their way back in some areas but there are presently fewer than 300 wolverines left in the contiguous US. SAGE GROUSE The Trump administration plans to open up drilling on 9m acres of
A: How are your legs? Not too tired? This is the final stretch. We’re almost at the top. B: So do we need to walk up that path? I think I’ll be fine: it looks like a gentle ascent, and there are steps all the way. A: Appearances can be deceptive. The path gets quite steep further on, and the steps become broken and irregular. We’re not out of the woods yet. B: What does that signpost say? If we take the right fork we will get to a temple in 25 minutes. A: Nice try. We’re going straight on, to the peak. A: 你的腿還好嗎？不會太累嗎？這是最後一段路了，我們快到山頂了。 B: 所以我們要往上走那條路嗎？我應該是沒問題的，那看起來是緩緩的上坡路，而且一路上都有階梯。 A: 外表會騙人。再遠一點坡度就變蠻陡，而且台階會變得破碎不規則。我們還沒脫離險境。 B: 那個路標寫什麼？如果我們走右邊的岔路，二十五分鐘以後就會到一座寺廟。 A: 你想得美！我們要繼續往前走，走到山頂。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei TimeS／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
Since its premiere on Oct. 2, US comedy series Emily in Paris has caused a sensation across the world. The Web TV series, starring actress Lily Collins, tells the story of Emily, a young woman who moves from Chicago to Paris for a job, as she struggles both at work and in love while experiencing culture shock. The show has topped streaming giant Netflix’s global chart and is the most-watched show in Taiwan. But the American perspective of the lead character has offended some French critics, who say that the “City of Lights” is not just about berets, croissants and cafes, and that Paris is almost “unrecognizable” in the show. Interestingly, the rom-com series was created by Darren Star, the executive producer of HBO’s Sex and the City, and both tell the story of a young woman trying to survive in a big city unfamiliar to her. For many viewers, the new show is like an “ode” to the old one and is bringing back their good old memories. (Eddy Chang, Taipei Times) 美國喜劇影集《艾蜜莉在巴黎》十月二日開播後，在全球掀起追劇熱潮。該網劇由女星莉莉柯林斯主演，劇情敘述一名年輕女子為了工作機會，而從芝加哥搬到巴黎。不但工作愛情兩頭燒，同時還飽受「文化衝擊」。 該劇近日稱霸串流影音龍頭網飛的全球排行榜第一名，在台灣也是收視冠軍。不過主角的美式觀點卻也惹惱某些法國影評，他們說譽稱為「璀璨之城」的巴黎不是只有貝雷帽、可頌和咖啡館，還說劇中的巴黎都快讓人認不出來了。 有趣的是，這部浪漫喜劇是由達倫史達所創作，而他正是《慾望城市》的執行製作。兩部影集都是關於年輕女性試圖在陌生的大城市生存的故事，因此許多觀眾覺得新作在向舊作致敬，並讓他們想起之前美好的回憶。 （台北時報張聖恩)
A: We can rest here. This is a good place to catch our breath, drink some water and enjoy the waterfall. B: It’s not the highest waterfall I’ve ever seen, but I like the way the water is cascading down those fallen boulders. A: Can you see that rock halfway up the waterfall? Is that two people sitting on it? B: I think you’re right. It’s a great vantage point to see the top of the waterfall. I wonder how they got up there. A: 我們可以在這裡休息一下。這地方很適合喘口氣、喝點水，還有欣賞瀑布。 B: 雖然不是我見過最高的瀑布，但是我喜歡瀑布落在這些倒下的大石塊的樣子。 A: 你看到瀑布往上中間的石頭嗎？那是兩個人坐在上面嗎？ B: 說的對，那是看瀑布頂端的絕佳位置。不知道他們是怎麼爬上去的？ （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱譯） English 英文: Chinese 中文:
| New Taipei City | 24-25 | 90% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 23-24 | 40% | |
| Hsinchu City | 23-24 | 20% |  |
| Taipei City | 23-24 | 90% | |
| Miaoli County | 23-24 | 20% |  |
| Taoyuan City | 22-24 | 80% | |
| Keelung City | 23-24 | 100% | |
| Yunlin County | 24-25 | 20% | |
| Taichung City | 25-26 | 20% | |
| Nantou County | 24-25 | 20% | |
| Changhua County | 24-25 | 20% | |
| Chiayi County | 24-25 | 20% | |
| Chiayi City | 23-25 | 20% | |
| Tainan City | 25-26 | 20% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 26-27 | 20% | |
| Pingtung County | 24-25 | 30% |  |
| Yilan County | 24-24 | 90% | |
| Hualien County | 24-25 | 40% | |
| Taitung County | 24-25 | 50% | |
| Kinmen County | 23-25 | 10% | |
| Penghu County | 24-24 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 20-22 | 20% | |
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