Wed, Jul 06, 2022
INFILTRATION: The TAO urged businesspeople who supported the association to wire money to its account at Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, prosecutors said China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) funded the pro-unification Concentric Patriotism Association’s attempts to influence Taiwanese politics, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. The office issued a wanted notice for the association’s late chairman Chou Ching-chun’s (周慶峻) wife, Lin Ming-mei (林明美), and its secretary-general Zhang Xiuye (張秀葉) on charges of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法). It said it would not posthumously indict Chou. Prior to fleeing to China, Zhang was quoted as telling the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau that Chou had received funding from the TAO’s main office, as well as the TAO branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong and Hubei provinces, prosecutors said. The TAO urged Taiwanese businesspeople who supported the association’s views to wire money to the association’s account at Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, Zhang was quoted as saying, adding that Chou’s wife was in charge of the account. Zhang told the Investigation Bureau that she and Chou were the only core personnel of the association. Chou had nominated Zhang to run for Taipei city councilor in 2018, but the campaign resulted in both being indicted for attempted bribery, receiving prison sentences of three years and six months, and three years and five months respectively. Using information from the investigation into the election bribery, prosecutors charged Lin and Zhang with contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-infiltration Act. Separately, prosecutors dismissed the charges against other members of the association, a director-general surnamed Hsiao (蕭), a deputy chairperson surnamed Lee (李) and an association member surnamed Cheng (鄭), citing a lack of evidence. None of the three members, while a part of the association, had any part in being in charge of, controlling or developing an organization that originated in China, they said.
Academia Sinica is to confer coveted academician membership only to distinguished academics who are Republic of China (ROC) citizens starting next year, its spokesman Kenneth Wu (伍焜玉) said yesterday. His comment came a day after the institution announced the change to qualification rules in a news release marking the opening of the 34th Convocation of Academicians. Candidates for becoming academicians would be required to state whether they are Republic of China citizens in writing during the application process for next year, but the rule change does not affect this year’s convocation, he said. The institution is mulling the establishment of foreign and honorary academicians as separate honors from national academicians, which would require the legislature to amend the Organic Act of the Academia Sinica (中央研究院組織法), he said. As the creation of new types of academicians would be a significant change for the institution, it would proceed cautiously with a mind to building a consensus, he added. Academicianship is a lifelong, non-remunerated position granted to academics of Chinese descent in recognition of outstanding achievement regardless of their citizenship. Citing the Nationality Act (國籍法), some academicians said that the nation’s citizenship laws are based on descent, which means anyone with a parent born in China before 1949 is legally a citizen of the Republic of China “This qualifies half of China as potential candidates for academicianship,” they said, suggesting that Academia Sinica should specify that academicians must have a Republic of China passport or national identification card.
Police on Monday arrested a suspect after a mass shooting left six dead at a US Independence Day parade in a wealthy Chicago suburb, casting a dark shadow over the nation’s most patriotic holiday. Robert Crimo, 22, was identified as a “person of interest” and became the target of a massive manhunt across the town of Highland Park in Illinois, where a rooftop gunman with a high-powered rifle turned a family-focused July 4 parade celebration into a scene of death and trauma. Firing into the holiday crowd, the shooter caused scenes of chaos as panicked onlookers ran for their lives, leaving behind a parade route strewn with chairs, abandoned balloons and personal belongings. Emergency officials said about two dozen people, including children, were treated for gunshot injuries, with some in critical condition. After a brief car chase, Crimo was taken into custody “without incident,” Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen told reporters. Earlier, police had warned that he was armed and “very dangerous.” Crimo bills himself as a musician and goes by the online moniker “Awake the Rapper.” The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence plaguing the US, where approximately 40,000 deaths a year are caused by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive Web site. It cast a pall over Independence Day, in which towns and cities across the US hold similar parades and people — many dressed in variations on the US flag — hold barbecues, attend sports events and gather for firework displays. In another July 4 shooting, two police officers were wounded when they came under fire during a fireworks display in Philadelphia, local officials said. CBS News aired video taken from a high-rise building showing crowds fleeing in panic as fireworks burst in the sky. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said both officers had been released from hospital after receiving treatment and that
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday said at his first news conference since taking office that he would work on easing restrictions on travelers while balancing the risks of a COVID-19 outbreak overwhelming the healthcare system. Most travelers visiting Hong Kong are required to serve a seven-day mandatory quarantine at designated hotels. Lee, a former security official who was the only candidate in the election for Hong Kong’s chief executive, took office on Friday, succeeding Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥). Speaking at his first news conference ahead of an Executive Council meeting, Lee said Hong Kong is an “international city” and that he was “conscious” of the need for Hong Kong to remain open and convenient to travelers. “But it is also important that we address the risks at the same time so that we will maintain good balance,” he said. Lee said that the territory’s health minister was evaluating data to determine how the quarantine duration could be adjusted and would formulate options for Lee to consider. COVID-19 cases have been rising in Hong Kong, with more than 1,000 daily compared with just over 100 daily in early May. The territory reported 1,841 new infections on Monday. Lee also said Hong Kong had a “constitutional duty” to enact a new security law, in addition to the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 that has wiped out most political dissent and put many democracy supporters under arrest, in hiding or in exile. Enacting Article 23 of the Basic Law has long been controversial. When the government first attempted to draft such laws in 2003, protesters took to the streets in massive demonstrations that prompted the government to shelve its plans. Lee said that Hong Kong’s situation and levels of security risks would be assessed before the legislation is enacted. “We’re very confident that we will be able to do
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected and passenger flow being expected to increase during the summer, so the international passenger arrival cap would remain at 25,000 people per week. The CECC would continue to monitor the number of domestic infections and severe cases, as well as healthcare capacity, when conducting reviews of border control measures, he said. The “3+4” quarantine policy — three days of home quarantine, followed by four days of self-disease prevention — that all inbound travelers have to follow, which was implemented on June 15, would also continue, Chuang said. Most neighboring nations had waited until their number of new cases fell from the peak to a lower level before loosening their quarantine measures, but Taiwan already loosened its measures on June 15, when daily local caseloads were still relatively high, so the center would need to observe the impact for a little longer before deciding if the quarantine rules can be dropped, he said. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the 25,000 people per week passenger arrivals cap, citing many overseas Taiwanese who would lose their right to vote in elections in November if they could not return to Taiwan before July 26 and complete their household registration. Chuang said
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong Kong jia you,” which drew fierce criticism from some Chinese on social media. The phrase was widely used during the territory’s anti-extradition protests in 2019, and was viewed as taboo by Beijing and the Hong Kong government. Some Chinese criticized Cheung for being “unpatriotic” because his words seemed to side with the protesters and some took issue that he did not mention the word “motherland” in the interview, while others criticized the phrase “ups and downs” as an expression of his discontent with the changes in Hong Kong. In response, Cheung on Sunday issued a statement saying: “I am a Chinese person who loves his country and Hong Kong. As an entertainer, staying out of politics is my principle. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and hope to grow old and die there.” The current situation in the territory is “unsatisfactory” in comparison to its most glorious days, he said, adding that the protests and the COVID-19 pandemic had caused an economic slump and thrown the public into a panic. As such, Hong Kong needs to be encouraged, he said. “Hong Kong jia you” has become taboo because it was used by “someone who made a mistake,” which is incomprehensible to him, he added. “I
MARKING PROTEST: Without a ban, Taiwan would be an accomplice in exploiting Uighurs, an advocate said, adding that ethnic cleansing should never be allowed The government should ban goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang, rights advocates told a news conference in Taipei yesterday, the 13th anniversary of riots in Urumqi. A protest in Xinjiang’s capital city in July 2009 turned into a violent conflict between Uighurs and ethnic Han Chinese. Beijing subsequently imposed tougher measures on the region. Taiwan East Turkestan Association president Ho Chao-tung (何朝棟) told the news conference that the riots had led to Beijing’s “re-education” camps being set up in Xinjiang. The government should ban products made with forced labor in Xinjiang, otherwise Taiwan would become an accomplice in exploiting Uighurs, Ho said, adding that ethnic cleansing should never be allowed to happen. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was promulgated in the US last month, prohibiting imports of cotton and other products allegedly involving forced labor, while the European Parliament passed a similar resolution last month. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) showed a can of tomato juice produced by Uni-President Enterprises Corp, saying that the product’s ingredients are from Xinjiang. “This is not just an issue of ethnic conflict, but a universal concern for human rights,” Hsu said, calling on Taiwanese businesses to exercise social responsibility by thoroughly reviewing the human rights and security issues in China’s supply chain. New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said that purchasing products linked to labor camps in the region supports Beijing’s “horrific approach.” Taiwan needs its own supply chain act, Chiu said. Wuer Kaixi, an exiled Uighur who is secretary-general of the Legislative Yuan’s International Human Rights Promotion Association, said that paying attention to human rights issues shows “Taiwan’s uncompromising stance on freedom and democracy to the world.” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office recently invited journalists from across the Taiwan Strait to report on Xinjiang affairs and attend the Counter-terrorism and De-radicalization in Xinjiang Exhibition, Wuer Kaixi said. Journalists
MEETING IN THE UK: Taiwan trade official John Deng met with his counterparts in London, ‘enhancing their friendly relations,’ and prompting China to issue a rebuke Trade engagement with other countries is not subject to China’s approval, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday after Beijing reportedly issued a warning to the UK over talks it conducted with Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), Taiwan’s top trade official. In a report on Monday, US-based news organization Politico said in its European edition that Deng had met with his counterparts in London in the middle of last month to discuss bilateral trade and to learn from the UK’s experience in applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Following the meeting, Beijing issued a warning to London, reiterating its stance that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territory, Politico reported. Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday confirmed that Deng had met with British “economic and trade officials” during a visit to the UK last month. Their discussions covered topics that included “the CPTPP and bilateral trade relations,” Ou said, adding that the ministry was pleased to see the two states enhancing their friendly relations, and their economic and trade ties. Regarding China’s reported warning to the UK, Ou said that only the popularly elected government of Taiwan can represent its people in the international community and engage in trade talks with other entities. Taiwan has never been part of the PRC, and neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to the other, Ou said. “The PRC, therefore, has no right to interfere in Taiwan’s foreign relations,” she said. The CPTPP, which grew out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the US left that pact in January 2017, is one of the world’s biggest trade blocs, representing a market of 500 million people and accounting for 13.5 percent of global trade. Its 11 signatories are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Taiwan on
Accusations of a plagiarized report sparked a denial and a war of words — along with promises to sue and defiance in the face of such threats — as politicians clashed yesterday. Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said a thesis that Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) submitted while studying in a master’s program at Chung Hua University drew most of its content from a paper that was released a month earlier. Lin, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nominee for the Taoyuan mayoral election in November, denied the allegation, adding that he is mulling legal action against Wang, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Wang told a news conference that the Hsinchu Science Park Administration had penned an unpublished study titled An Evaluation of the Approval of Hsinchu Science Park Residents with the Taiwan Consumer Satisfaction Index Model in June 2008. One month later, Lin published his thesis, An Evaluation of the Approval of Residents of a Certain Domestic Science Park with the Taiwan Consumer Satisfaction Index Model, she said. The methodology, datasets and 88 percent of the written content, including typing errors, were identical across the two documents, Wang said, adding that original content comprised only seven of the 49 pages of Lin’s paper. The university should rescind Lin’s degree and the Hinschu City Government should investigate whether the mayor contravened intellectual property laws, she said. “Lin’s act of plagiarism is a breach of the academic code of conduct and also quite likely a breach of the government’s intellectual property rights,” she said. “Lin has lost all political credibility; the man should return his degree and drop out of the [Taoyuan] race.” Lin told a separate news conference at noon at the Hsinchu City Government that “[the allegation] is old news that media reports covered two weeks ago.” Allegations of plagiarism are rehashed leading up
The National Communications Commission’s (NCC) draft digital services act is an attempt to control freedom of expression and would make the free, democratic Republic of China an autocratic state, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday. The draft act, which the council approved last week, would impose levels of obligations on five categories of large online platforms. It would also establish special provisions for platforms that have more than 2.3 million domestic users — which would include YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo Auctions and DCard — with contraventions of the rules to draw fines of up to NT$10 million (US$335,965). However, KMT lawmakers accused the NCC of losing sight of its purpose. KMT caucus convener William Tseng (曾銘宗) said that since Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) became NCC chairman, the “supposedly independent organization has become an affiliate organization of the Democratic Progressive Party.” KMT Legislator Lee Kui-min (李貴敏) said that the draft act was, in effect, a government plan to control freedom of expression. The NCC’s record — from denying a CTi News license renewal to fining Chinese Television System — shows that it is no longer acting in a neutral and independent capacity, Lee said. While the draft act says that any oversight or investigative measures taken against digital media must receive judicial approval, the clause allowing the council to demand that platforms add a 30-day “warning label” to potentially offending posts — which would include whistle-blower accounts — before a court ruling is an overreach of the administrative branch, she said. “While Taiwan has separation of five powers, in spirit, it has separation of three powers — the administrative branch cannot supersede the judiciary or the legislative branches,” she said. The draft act’s main purpose is to empower the government to demand digital providers remove posts that the government considers to be “untrue” once a court ruling has ratified the accusation,
The government should release a detailed timeline showing how it plans to achieve its goal of phasing out several types of single-use plastics by 2030, Greenpeace Taiwan told a news conference yesterday that was also attended by New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如). Many people in Taiwan’s food and beverage industry support efforts to reduce plastic use, but feel that they are receiving insufficient support from the government, Greenpeace Taiwan said. The results of a survey conducted by the group last year showed that the main difficulties cited by business owners were a low proportion of customers who bring reusable containers, a lack of sanitation guidelines for shops that transition away from plastics and inconsistent policy enforcement by the government, Greenpeace Taiwan project director Tang An (唐安) said. It compiled a list of recommendations for the government based on the responses in the survey, including issuing a detailed blueprint or timeline to achieve plastic reduction goals and promoting the use of reusable containers, Tang said. The government should also consider imposing a surcharge on single-use plastics and using the proceeds to launch a fund to help businesses transition away from plastic use, she said. Wang said that policy reform could drive widespread behavioral changes. In Denmark, almost everyone carries reusable bags, partly because plastic bags are sold for the equivalent of about NT$20 at stores, Wang said, citing her experience while on a trip there. Taiwan on Friday implemented a policy requiring that most chain retailers selling take-out beverages must offer a discount of at least NT$5 to customers who use reusable cups for their purchases. In 2018, the Environmental Protection Administration announced a goal to phase out single-use straws, cups, shopping bags and eating utensils by 2030.
‘STILL RISKY’: The quarantine requirement for arrivals cannot be lifted, as COVID-19 cases have been rising in Europe and the US, the minister of health and welfare said The government might consider dropping a negative COVID-19 test result requirement for travelers from low-risk countries, but lifting the quarantine requirement for inbound travelers is still risky, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The CECC on Monday said it does not plan to further loosen border controls soon. National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital superintendent Huang Li-min (黃立民) said the “3+4” quarantine policy separates inbound travelers from family members for only three days, which is not enough to block the spread of the virus, so the government might consider changing it to a “0+7” policy. He also said that it might be more difficult for people in other countries to find places that offer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, so requiring travelers to provide a negative PCR result from a test taken within 48 hours of flying to Taiwan might prove an obstacle for many people. The government might consider requiring a negative rapid test result instead, he said. Asked about Huang’s comments, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, yesterday said “it is less likely that we will change the test requirement to a rapid test result, but it is possible that we might remove the [negative test result] requirement for travelers from low-risk areas,” he said. “It is still a little risky” to shorten the quarantine policy to “0+7,” as the number of new COVID-19 infections has increased by about 20 percent in European countries and the US, and cases caused by the new Omicron subvariant BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2 are being detected, so the center needs to observe the situation for a little longer. In related news, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said 35,914 new local cases and 103 deaths were confirmed yesterday. Among the 3,863,991 local cases
Spending more time in the sun might help people who have been having trouble sleeping during the COVID-19 pandemic, a doctor said. People who work from home and those who look at screens for long periods receive less sunlight and more blue light emitted by electronic devices, which can disrupt the body’s biological clock and affect sleep quality, said Lee Pei-lin (李佩玲), director of the sleep disorder center at National Taiwan University Hospital. The hypothalamus regulates the circadian rhythm by adjusting physiological functions according to changes in lighting from day to night, Lee said, adding that adjusting work and rest periods according to sunlight might relieve insomnia symptoms. The Health Promotion Administration in May released its latest Nutrition and Health Survey, which collected 7,541 responses from 2017 to 2020. Respondents older than 19 slept an average of 7.5 hours on weekdays and 8.1 hours over weekends, up by six minutes and 18 minutes respectively from the previous survey, which was conducted from 2013 to 2016. However, doctors said that sleeping longer does not mean sleeping better, and the time people spend in the sun has a direct influence on the cycle and quality of their sleep. People aged 16 to 18 slept the least among all age brackets, with almost half of them sleeping less than seven hours on weekdays, the survey found. About one-third of men aged 19 to 44 slept less than seven hours on weekdays, the national average, and 11 percent of them slept less than six hours on weekdays, it said, adding that both figures were lower in women. Shan Jia-chi (單家祁), a physician at Cathay General Hospital’s department of psychiatry, on Sunday said that each person has different sleep needs, which are related to the interaction between genetic heritage and environmental factors. Five hours of sleep might be enough for some people, but others
SLOW RESPONSE: The CECC said it would seek more information on the mechanism to obtain approval to dispatch an ambulance in an emergency The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has received a report from the New Taipei City Government about the death of a two-year-old boy nicknamed En En (恩恩), whose family has accused the city of slow action to provide emergency services after he developed complications from COVID-19, the center said yesterday. En En tested positive for COVID-19 on April 14. His health deteriorated and his parents called 119, the CECC’s 1922 hotline and a local public health center for emergency assistance that day. An ambulance arrived 81 minutes after the first call to 119. After six days of treatment, En En died of brainstem encephalitis. The case sparked controversy as En En’s father on May 27 began asking the CECC and the city government for the recordings of the emergency calls and asking why it took so long for the ambulance to arrive. The father said that he faced obstacles in obtaining the data. He asked if his son’s death was partially due to the delay in medical treatment and whether the city government’s policy was to only send an ambulance to a confirmed COVID-19 case after gaining approval from health authorities. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), the CECC’s spokesman, on Tuesday last week said that the CECC had asked the New Taipei City Government to submit an official report about the incident. The city’s health department on Monday said it had filed the report and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday said that the city government would provide additional explanation if the CECC has questions after reviewing the report. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that it had received the report and it would be reviewed by experts. The CECC would ask the city government to provide more information, including the communication situation between En En’s
Taiwanese singer Miu Chu (朱俐靜) passed away over the weekend after a battle with breast cancer, her family announced yesterday. She was 40 years old. The family wrote on Chu’s Facebook fan page that she died peacefully. “Thank you all for your concern. Miu, who was always full of laughter and always brought people positive energy with her music, left us peacefully on July 3,” the family said. The family asked for privacy at this time and said that details of a memorial service would be announced later. Chu was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. She was an alumna of the TV reality show Super Idol (超級偶像), winning the contest in the show’s third season in 2009. She was also known for singing the theme song Ten Million Times Tears (一千萬次的淚水) for the pop idol TV series Love Around (真愛黑白配) that ran on SET TV in 2013. Her other notable hit, The Power of Existence (存在的力量), was used as the opening song for the 2012 South Korean drama series Wild Romance. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and TV talk show host Li Jing (利菁) expressed their condolences over Chu’s passing. Chu had performed at the Tainan Summer Music Festival last year. “Thank you Miu. There is no more pain in heaven. Wish you a good journey,” Huang wrote on Facebook. “My baby Miu, tears cannot stop coming down. You are a sunshine angel and we all love you,” Li wrote on social media.
LOW AFFORDABILITY: Taipei had the highest mortgage burden at 64.91 percent of household income, far above the national average of 38.35 percent, official data show Housing affordability grew worse in the first quarter, as the average mortgage burden climbed by 0.52 percentage points to 38.35 percent nationwide, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The data suggest that mortgages accounted for a big chunk of the disposable income of households on average and this would worsen after the central bank raised interest rates twice and increased the mortgage burden by 1.5 percent. The ministry classifies mortgage burdens as follows: below 30 percent, reasonable; higher than 30 percent, slightly high; more than 40 percent, relatively high; and more than 50 percent, overly high. Mortgage burdens in Taipei constituted 64.91 percent of household incomes, retreating from 65.09 percent three months earlier as housing prices became less expensive at 16.22 times the average household income, the ministry said. Mortgage burden in New Taipei City ranked second at 51.45 percent, gaining 1.43 percentage points from the preceding quarter, the ministry said. During the first three months of the year, mortgage burden rose by 1.58 percentage points to 45.08 percent of household income in Taichung, where housing prices were 11.26 times the average household income, the ministry said. Meanwhile, Yilan, Hsinchu and Changhua counties, as well as Tainan and Kaohsiung, all saw mortgage burdens surpass 35 percent, but the figure in Taoyuan declined a fractional 0.26 percentage points to 31.5 percent. Keelung, Chiayi County and Yunlin County are among the few in Taiwan where the mortgage burden remained below the reasonable threshold of 30 percent, the ministry found. The report also showed that the home price index, which gauges fluctuations in residential property values in the nation, rose 2.99 percent from a quarter earlier to 121.01 in the first quarter. The ministry attributed the increase to robust economic growth, low interest rates and inflationary expectations. In the January-to-March period, Kaohsiung and Taichung saw the largest increase
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves last month increased by US$109 million to US$548.96 billion, rising for the second straight month, as demand for the local currency from exporters muted sell-off by foreign portfolio managers, the central bank said yesterday. Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed US$2.54 billion in fund outflows last month, but the central bank observed a larger capital flight of US$5.19 billion after including capital gains, Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) told an online news conference in Taipei. The pace did show signs of slowing last month, compared with March to May, Tsai said. Fund outfows so far this year totaled US$26 billion, he said. Last month’s fund outflows were the highest in June over the past nine years, after foreign investors sold a net NT$211.4 billion of local shares, the FSC said. The discrepancy between fund outflows and share sales showed that some foreign investors had not transferred funds abroad as they were looking for other investment targets, it said. For the first half of this year, cumulative net fund outflows from foreign investors totaled US$6.16 billion, compared with a net fund inflow of US$10.91 billion a year earlier, FSC data showed. During the same period, foreign investors sold a net NT$853 billion of shares on the main board and a net NT$41.5 billion of shares on the over-the-counter market, the data showed. The capital movements came after the US Federal Reserve indicated that it would hike interest rates for a third time by another 0.75 percentage points this month to fight inflation. That explained why major currencies lost value against the greenback, with the euro weakening 2.79 percent, the British pound shedding 3.87 percent, the Japanese yen softening 6.22 percent and the Australian dollar depreciating 4.11 percent, Tsai said. At the same time, local bonds and savings deposits held by foreign investors
EXPANSION: The airline will offer two flights per week to Milan from Oct. 25, and four flights per week to Munich from Nov. 3 using its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday announced that it would begin nonstop flights from Taoyuan to Milan and Munich later this year, marking its first expansion in the European market in 25 years. Starting on Oct. 25, the airline will operate two flights per week between Taoyuan and Milan, implementing a plan that was scheduled for February 2020, but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns across the world. The airline will also launch four weekly flights to Munich, Germany, on Nov. 3, it said. The schedules for the two flights will cater to in-transit passengers, as they will arrive in Taiwan early in the morning, allowing for connections onward to northeast and southeast Asia, the airline said, adding that it will use its Boeing Co 777-300ER aircraft on both routes. With the addition of the Milan and Munich routes, the airline said it would be expanding its service in the European market for the first time in 25 years and creating a more comprehensive flight network. The airline currently offers nonstop European flights from Taoyuan to Paris and Vienna. It also operates direct flights to London and Amsterdam, with one stop in Bangkok. Separately, StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday said it plans to recruit 48 Japanese crew members as part of its efforts to meet high air travel demand to north Asia and expand its presence in Japan, chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said. StarLux said Japanese nationals from across the globe, regardless of their gender or experience, are welcome to apply for an interview on its Web site from now through July 26, as long as they hold a college diploma certified by the Japanese Ministry of Education and an English aptitude certificate. Applicants will first undergo an online interview in English, with those who qualify to have an in-person interview in
On Feb. 8, 1918, the then newly formed government of the Soviet Union repudiated all bonds issued by the Czarist government, which was overthrown the previous year during the February Revolution. All debts accumulated by the Russian empire were declared null and void. A little over a century later, Russia last week again defaulted on its foreign debt, a result of US-led sanctions targeting Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The jury is still out on whether the sanctions will gradually degrade Moscow’s ability to continue what it calls a “special military operation.” Reports from the front lines indicate that Russian forces were making incremental gains in eastern Ukraine. It is possible that having severely damaged Russia’s economy, the sanctions might not only fail to stop the war, but also push Moscow into a closer alliance with Beijing and hasten the formation of a powerful new strategic bloc. This would have serious implications for Taiwan, Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific region. With NATO holding a key summit in Madrid last week, a parallel BRICS forum, hosted by Beijing, attracted less attention, and a key development from the forum — that Iran and Argentina have applied to join the economic grouping — became buried in the global news cycle. If Tehran and Buenos Aires join BRICS, enlarging it into “BRICSIA,” it would be a formidable economic alliance. Iran has about one-quarter of the oil reserves in the Middle East, while Argentina has the world’s fourth-largest shale oil and second-largest shale gas reserves. Add to this Russia’s vast oil and gas reserves, for which there is now a supply glut, and the block, with China at its center, would have access to a cheap and plentiful supply of energy for years to come. BRICSIA would also provide a means for Russia, China and Iran to
Being part of Taiwan’s military, I am not permitted to step foot into the “enemy territory” of China without prior approval, although I joined a group tour to Hong Kong and Macau in 1996 before the 1997 Hong Kong handover. I recall walking through the bustling streets, browsing shops selling wares from all over the world. I heard English, Cantonese and Mandarin being spoken fluently by passers-by and shopkeepers. I remember being envious, as I was trying hard to master a foreign language at the time. The free, open atmosphere, cultural variety and creativity left a huge impression on me. Taiwanese dramas have learned from and imitated the Hong Kong martial arts movie adaptations of renowned writers such as Jin Yong (金庸) and Lilian Lee (李碧華). However, times have changed. That Hong Kong is now gone. In the past few years, the Hong Kong government has suppressed civil liberties, shuttered non-establishment media and jailed media workers, while drama, news and publishing firms have been required to self-censor. Several days ago, I read an article about a young Hong Konger who said her dream was to be a music producer and that she regrets not having stayed in the UK after studying there. She said she fears getting on the wrong side of the authorities in Hong Kong, not just because of the self-censorship and the government supervision, but also the strict national security laws that have been implemented. Last year, I came across a store in Taipei selling Hong Kong-style red bean cakes and, wanting a taste of the Hong Kong I had visited 20 years ago, went in. I was greeted by a young lady with a Taiwanese accent who introduced the owner as a friend of hers who had just arrived from Hong Kong. I asked the owner whether she had moved to Taiwan because of extradition
As the geopolitical effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine become more obvious, the collective defense provided by NATO is the key security umbrella that unites European countries and protects them from further intrusion by their malicious eastern neighbor. With Finland and Sweden having been invited to join NATO — which, if they join, would increase the number of member states from 30 to 32 — two more nations in the region are in line to be included in the regional security pact. Meanwhile, the support that Russia has been receiving behind the scenes from China and other countries is one of the main reasons the war is still going on. From NATO’s perspective, China is no less of a threat to Europe than Russia. A a summit in Madrid last week, NATO unveiled an updated version of its core mission — its “Strategic Concept” — which for the first time recognizes that China poses a “systemic challenge.” The convergence of Russia and China has clearly prompted NATO to pay more attention to the Indo-Pacific region. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that China’s rise presents a challenge because of the diplomatic and military cooperation between China and Russia. The Strategic Concept states that the alliance will work together to defend its security interests by addressing the systemic challenge that China poses to European and Atlantic security. It says that NATO will defend its members’ common values and the rules-based international order, including freedom of navigation. Another highlight of the NATO summit was the participation of leaders of four countries in the Asia-Pacific region: Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for greater cooperation between the Indo-Pacific region and NATO. The Strategic Concept also reflects the common concerns of Asia-Pacific democracies. In response to China’s military expansion, its disruption of freedom of navigation and its
LEAVING A MARK: Captain Ben Stokes said the team is trying to rewrite how Tests are played, after Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow led them to a resounding win over India England rode unbeaten hundreds by Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to pull off their highest successful chase, coasting to a series-levelling seven-wicket victory in the rearranged fifth Test against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, yesterday. Chasing 378 for victory, England went into the final day needing 119 runs with seven wickets in hand. Root went on to smash a masterly 142 not out, his 28th Test century, forging a mammoth 269-run partnership for the unbroken fourth wicket with Bairstow. Root’s elegant century was studded with 19 boundaries and a six. Bairstow’s unbeaten 114, which included 15 fours and a six, was his second century of the match, as England triumphed with two sessions to spare. England’s previous highest successful run chase came in 2019 when they reached a 359-run target in an Ashes Test against Australia on the back of Ben Stokes’ brilliant unbeaten century. “When you have clarity like we do at the moment in the dressing room, it makes totals like that and just the game itself a lot easier,” Stokes said at the presentation ceremony. The target of “378 five weeks ago would have been scary, but it’s all good,” the captain said. “We are trying to rewrite how Test cricket is being played, in England in particular... We are bringing a new set of fans to Test cricket. We want to leave a mark.” It was a tremendous turnaround by England, who had been on the back foot after conceding a significant first-innings lead of 132. Root and Bairstow showed the kind of sustained aggression that is quickly becoming the hallmark of this England Test team since Ben Stokes assumed the captaincy and Brendon McCullum took over as head coach. Root grew so much in confidence that he treated Shardul Thakur like a spinner, stepping out against the seamer and then playing an audacious
Standout Filipino college basketball player Ricci Rivero said he wants to start his professional career by playing in the P.League+ as opposed to other leagues in Asia because of the sizeable Philippine community in Taiwan, his new team the Taoyuan Pilots said on Monday. “There are nearly 150,000 Filipinos living and working in Taiwan, the mere thought of playing in front of them and being the first to represent them in one of Taiwan’s best basketball leagues is already a big motivation for me to choose Taiwan over other Asian basketball leagues,” Rivero said in a Taoyuan Pilots statement. Although adjusting to leaving his home country could be difficult, Rivero believes the support of Filipinos in Taiwan will help, the statement said. “I do not make promises, but I’ll work hard. Starting my professional career in Taiwan comes with a lot of pressure, responsibility and maturity, but the decision to live [here] comes with no regrets, because I know it will help me become better,” Rivero said. Philippine sports management agency Virtual Playground on June 24 confirmed that Rivero would be suiting up for the Pilots by showing him wearing a Pilots jersey with the caption “Ricci Rivero to Taiwan.” Since then, Rivero has generated headlines across the Philippines and Taiwan as the first-ever import player from Southeast Asia in the world. “I am deeply honored. The trust given by the Pilots to have me on their team as the very first Asian to become a world import in the P.League+ is also a sign of their confidence in the basketball program of the Philippines. I am excited to work hard and contribute the best way I can,” Rivero said. Rivero played in Taiwan in 2017, when he was part of the Philippine De La Salle University basketball team who played
Taiwan’s Lu Ching-yao and Yang Po-han made quick work of their opponents on the opening day of the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The men’s doubles pair took 33 minutes to beat Germany’s Jones Ralfy Jansen and Jan Colin Voelker 21-17, 21-10, while Chang Ko-chi and Po Li-wei took 5 minutes longer to beat Singapore’s Andy Kwek and Jason Wong 21-19, 21-16. In the women’s singles, Hsu Wen-chi convincingly ousted Indonesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16, 21-16 in 36 minutes. Hsu Ya-ching and Lin Wan-ching were less fortunate in the women’s doubles, losing to Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi 20-22, 21-14, 21-14. Men’s doubles pair Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan lost 14-21, 21-15, 21-19 to South Korea’s Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang. Olympic gold medalists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for COVID-19, their agent said on Monday. The two have a “slight fever and sore throat,” the agent said. Additional reporting by CNA
Rafael Nadal swept into the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday, staying on course for a crunch meeting with Nick Kyrgios, who was on his best behavior in a battling five-set win. In the women’s competition, 2019 champion Simona Halep demolished Spanish fourth seed Paula Badosa in just 60 minutes to set up a meeting with Amanda Anisimova. Nadal, chasing a rare calendar Grand Slam, started his campaign at the All England Club slowly, but is now in the groove as he hunts a third Wimbledon crown. He showed no mercy to Dutch 21st seed Botic van de Zandschulp in their evening clash on Centre Court, overcoming a late wobble to seal a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) win. “I think I continued in a positive way until the end where I played a bad game,” the Spanish second seed said. “In a personal way, for me to be able to be in quarter-finals after three years [away from Wimbledon] it’s amazing for me, so very, very happy.” Nadal broke his opponent five times in the match, capitalizing on his fourth match point to reach the Wimbledon quarters for the eighth time. If the 22-time Grand Slam champion beats 11th seed Taylor Fritz and Kyrgios gets past Chile’s Cristian Garin, they will meet in a mouthwatering semi-final on Friday. Kyrgios earlier shrugged off a shoulder injury to beat US player Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-2. The last time the 40th-ranked player reached the last eight at a major was at the Australian Open in 2015, a year after he reached the same stage on his debut at the All England Club. Yet he is seen as a major threat to Nadal, whom he beat on his way to the quarter-finals in 2014. The Australian, 27, said he was trying to stay “in the moment.” “I’m not thinking about lifting a trophy
‘FAR FROM OVER’: With much of the ground already sodden, residents in the worst-hit areas said the water rose so fast they had no time to do anything but leave Rain-swollen rivers yesterday spilled mud-brown waters across swathes of Sydney, swamping homes and roads while forcing thousands to flee. Emergency services have now instructed about 50,000 people to evacuate or to prepare to escape the rising waters in New South Wales, officials said. Emergency workers carried out 22 flood rescues in Sydney overnight with the support of 100 army troops, they said. The floods, heavy rain and powerful winds led to power cuts for 19,000 homes, officials said. Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and floods becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change. Higher temperatures mean the atmosphere holds more moisture, unleashing more rain. “Sydney is not out of danger, this is not a time to be complacent,” State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York told a news conference. “It’s risky out there.” Meteorologists predicted the weather front would move northward along the east coast after dumping rain on Sydney for four days. The federal government has declared a natural disaster in 23 flooded parts of New South Wales, unlocking relief payments to stricken residents. With much of the ground already sodden, the water rose fast in the worst-hit areas and was soon lapping around the walls of some homes in the western Sydney suburbs. Many people affected have lived through successive east coast floods that struck last year and then again in March when more than 20 people were killed. “It is so fast, you can’t even get out that quick, you can’t even move anything,” resident Jenny Lee said after parts of her western Sydney suburb of Shanes Park were engulfed overnight. “You only can get help, take pet dog out. That’s it,” she said. In the western suburb of Windsor, resident Tyler Cassel fled his rental home with his partner in a yellow
Chinese authorities have blocked Canadian government representatives from attending the trial of Chinese-Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua (肖建華), the Canadian embassy said yesterday. Xiao, who went missing in Hong Kong five years ago, was due to go on trial in China on Monday, and Canadian consular officials had been pressing for consular access, the embassy said earlier in a statement. “Canada made several requests to attend the trial proceedings,” Nadia Scipio del Campo, public diplomacy counselor at the embassy, said in an e-mailed statement. “Our attendance was denied by Chinese authorities.” When asked for details, such as to confirm the location of the trial, the embassy said it would not comment further due to privacy considerations. Asked about Xiao’s trial at a media briefing on Monday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said he was not aware of the situation. China-born Xiao, who is known to have links to Chinese Communist Party elite, has not been seen in public since 2017 after he was investigated amid a state-led crackdown on conglomerates. Officials have not disclosed the specifics of the investigation. Xiao was taken from a Hong Kong hotel in a wheelchair with his head covered in the early hours of the day he went missing, a source close to him said at the time. Xiao was ranked 32nd on the 2016 Hurun China rich list, China’s equivalent of the Forbes list, with an estimated net worth of US$5.97 billion at the time.
A satellite the size of a microwave oven on Monday successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It has already been an unusual journey for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of their small Electron rockets. It is expected to take another four months for the satellite to reach the moon, as it cruises along using minimal energy. Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck said it was hard to put his excitement into words. “It’s probably going to take a while to sink in. It’s been a project that has taken us two, two-and-a-half years, and is just incredibly, incredibly difficult to execute,” he said. “So to see it all come together tonight and see that spacecraft on its way to the moon, it’s just absolutely epic.” The relatively low cost of the mission — NASA put it at US$32.7 million — marked the beginning of a new era for space exploration, Beck said. “For some tens of millions of dollars, there is now a rocket and a spacecraft that can take you to the moon, to asteroids, to Venus, to Mars,” Beck said. “It’s an insane capability that’s never existed before.” If the rest of the mission is successful, the Capstone satellite would send back vital information for months, and would be the first to take a new orbit around the moon called a near-rectilinear halo orbit: a stretched-out egg shape with one end of the orbit passing close to the moon and the other far from it. Eventually, NASA plans to put a space station called Gateway into the orbital path, from which astronauts can descend to the
Monsignor Javier Herrera-Corona, the Vatican’s unofficial representative in Hong Kong, delivered a stark message to the city’s 50-odd Catholic missions before finishing his six-year posting in March: the freedoms they had enjoyed for decades were over. In four meetings held over several months, starting in October last year, the 54-year-old Mexican prelate told Catholic missionaries in Hong Kong to prepare for a tougher future as China tightens its control over the city and he urged his colleagues to protect their missions’ property, files and funds, according to four people familiar with the private sessions, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. “Change is coming, and you’d better be prepared,” Herrera-Corona warned the missionaries, according to one of the people, who said he was summarizing the monsignor’s message: “Hong Kong is not the great Catholic beachhead it was.” Herrera-Corona’s message came amid a national security crackdown by Beijing on Hong Kong in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019, including the erosion of civil liberties, the arrest of dozens of pro-democracy activists, and perceived threats to the independence of the city’s judiciary. But his concerns went beyond the ongoing national security clampdown, the people said: Herrera-Corona warned that closer integration with China in coming years could lead to mainland-style restrictions on religious groups. On the mainland, Catholics have long been split between an underground church loyal to the Vatican and a state-backed official church. The Vatican has no official representation in China after diplomatic ties were cut in 1951 beyond the presence of two unofficial envoys in Hong Kong, who operate from a walled villa in a Kowloon suburb. Herrera-Corona’s replacement as head of that unofficial mission is due to arrive in the next month. Even before China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 that
Women in Taiwan often say “my aunt is visiting” (大姨媽來了) or “my ‘that’ is here” (那個來) when their menstrual cycle arrives — but there are no euphemisms to describe it at the Red House Period Museum (小紅厝月經博物館), which opened on Thursday. “Due to a lack of understanding, fear of blood and various taboos, the period has historically and globally been something that cannot be discussed publicly,” a display on period stigma at the museum states. “Or, it is replaced by all sorts of indirection.” The museum estimates that there are more than 30 such terms in Taiwan to describe that time of month, related phenomena and items such as menstrual pads. Taiwan is not alone: there are over 5,000 terms used across the world to avoid saying the actual word. Located on a market street in Taipei’s Datong District (大同) frequented by the elderly, the museum’s bright red facade stands out — especially the statue of a smiling, anthropomorphic drop of blood sitting on a bench. Once inside, visitors encounter a large, bright-red tree and a wall of vaginas. Anatomy lessons, art displays, personal stories and period-related products, the museum has been three years in the making by With Red (小紅帽), a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating period poverty, period inequality and period stigma. In addition to the museum, the organization has an ongoing exhibition at the Taiwan Women’s Center (國家婦女館) with period-related stories they’ve collected from four generations of Taiwanese women. “Periods are the elephant in the room,” founder Vivi Lin (林薇) says in a video at the museum. “It’s obviously there, but we don’t see it. But when we create a physical space in this city … that’s immediately noticeable, people can’t ignore it anymore.” The first part, which explains how the uterus and menstrual cycle works, leans toward the cutesy side
A year before Britain handed Hong Kong to China, then-president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) hailed the “one country, two systems” plan for the city as a model for the country to one day unify with Taiwan. Taiwan would get “a high degree of autonomy” — the same pledge China used for Hong Kong — while keeping legislative and independent judicial power, and its own armed forces, according to Jiang’s speech, copies of which were distributed at Hong Kong’s handover center in 1997. For Taiwan though, the proposal has never been an option. Even the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — a vestige of the losing side in China’s civil war and the main force backing eventual unification — has rejected the model. Making President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) task even more daunting is a drastic shift in the consensus in Taiwan against any form of integration with China, thanks to the nation’s growing sense of nationhood and to the Chinese Communist Party’s sweeping crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. China’s handling of Hong Kong shows “all promises of autonomy and respect for local conditions will be violated,” said Steve Tsang (曾銳生), director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, who has written books on Hong Kong and Taiwan. “It becomes very difficult even for advocates for greater engagement with the mainland in Taiwan itself to be able to sustain that argument.” On July 1, China celebrated the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover, the halfway mark in the 50 years of autonomy enshrined in a treaty cementing China’s deal with Britain. The UK has said China breached commitments made under the deal, but Xi called “one country, two systems” a success and has personally endorsed it as the model under which he intends to take over Taiwan — by force, if necessary. The dispute over
The Taipei Times bilingual pages are having a makeover, with professionally curated content for both English and Chinese learners of all levels, starting this month. With our new partners Ivy English, English OK and others, Taipei Times readers can improve their language studies while keeping abreast of important issues in Taiwan and abroad. A new departure for us is the addition of a Chinese-language learning module, with content provided by the National Taiwan Normal University “Mandarin Teaching Center.” Watch this space! 《台北時報》雙語版最優質的中英文內容，多年來一向受到讀者們的喜愛。本月起版面全新升級！每週和《常春藤解析英語》、《English OK中學英閱誌》……等專業英語機構合作，提供豐富多元且實用的英語學習內容，不但適合各種程度學生及上班族自修，老師、家長用它當教材也超便利。原先頗受歡迎的雙語新聞則予以保留，持續帶領大家了解國內外之重要議題。 而此次改版除了英語學習以外，本報特別和台灣師範大學「國語教學中心」聯手，即將為外國讀者們推出華語學習單元，打造最強全方位中英文雙語版，精彩內容在網站上也看的到唷！
Taiwan opens polar research station in Arctic (1/3) 台灣研究站插旗北極（一） A: The summer weather is so hot. I really feel like moving to the Arctic. B: Well, you might just have a chance. A: Are you serious? B: According to news reports, Taiwan established its first polar research station at the Arctic’s Svalbard Archipelago, called the “Tai Arctic.” You might have a chance to work there someday. A: 夏天好熱唷，我真想搬到北極。 B: 搞不好你會有機會喔。 A: 你是認真的嗎？ B: 新聞說，台灣首座「極地研究站」，上月底在北極冷岸群島成立了，你也有機會前進北極。 （Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe “Thor: Love and Thunder” has bolted into theaters. Before its release, the film’s trailer showed a naked Thor baring his “thunderous” yet “censored” ass. Director Taika Waititi has revealed that fans will get the unpixelated version on the silver screen, promising them that they “get the full Hems’ Worth.” Speaking to the press at the movie’s world premiere, Hemsworth said that his decision to bare just about everything was a long time coming. After playing Thor for 11 years, Hemsworth said: “In each film we’ve taken off another item of clothing, and now we just kind of took it all off.” He then made sure to credit Waititi with the idea, adding that “it was all his doing.” Director of photography Barry Baz Idoine also added: “It’s incredibly hard to shoot Chris Hemsworth’s butt. I mean, nobody concentrates, nobody does their job, everybody’s looking at the butt, they’re not looking at what they’re supposed to be doing. That was a challenge.” “Thor: Love and Thunder” hits theaters in Taiwan from today. (Translated by Rita Wang, Taipei Times) 漫威電影宇宙最新鉅作《雷神索爾：愛與雷霆》，在先前預告中驚喜曝光卻被「打碼」的雷神，全裸上陣首露「正宗電臀」，經由導演塔伊加維迪提親口確認，「無碼全見版」將於電影正片中首度公開，只有在大銀幕上才能親眼見分曉。 克里斯在世界首映會上「語重心長」地說，這十一年來扮演索爾，「每一集都脫掉一件衣物，直到這集脫到一件不剩！」同時也揭發塔伊加對自己心懷不軌：「這一切都是他的算計！」攝影指導貝瑞巴茲伊多因也補充說：「他的臀部真的超難拍，因為讓所有工作人員都分心目不轉睛！」 《雷神索爾：愛與雷霆》於七月六日在全台大銀幕磅礡登場。 （自由時報）
| New Taipei City | 31-35 | 70% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 30-32 | 30% | |
| Hsinchu City | 30-32 | 20% |  |
| Taipei City | 31-35 | 70% | |
| Miaoli County | 30-33 | 40% | |
| Taoyuan City | 30-33 | 80% | |
| Keelung City | 30-31 | 70% | |
| Yunlin County | 30-34 | 60% | |
| Taichung City | 31-34 | 60% | |
| Nantou County | 30-34 | 80% | |
| Changhua County | 31-33 | 40% | |
| Chiayi County | 30-34 | 30% | |
| Chiayi City | 30-34 | 50% | |
| Tainan City | 30-32 | 30% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 30-32 | 30% | |
| Pingtung County | 29-32 | 30% | |
| Yilan County | 30-33 | 30% | |
| Hualien County | 30-32 | 20% |  |
| Taitung County | 30-32 | 20% | |
| Kinmen County | 28-30 | 30% | |
| Penghu County | 29-31 | 30% | |
| Lienchiang County | 28-30 | 30% | |
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