Sun, Aug 14, 2022
ORDNANCE: Under a five-year plan, the Chungshan Institute would make about 200 Hsiung Feng II and III/IIIE, and Hsiung Sheng missiles, an official said The Ministry of National Defense plans to counter the Chinese navy by producing more than 1,000 anti-ship missiles over the next five years, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The comments came after China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy began a series of military drills in a simulated naval blockade of Taiwan proper following a visit to Taipei by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Although China has in the past few years rapidly produced many warships and added them to its navy, these large vessels are more suited for warfare on the open sea than in the narrow confines of the Taiwan Strait, the official said on condition of anonymity. Taiwan’s radar systems and anti-ship missile units can track large or medium-sized warships with relative ease in waters near its stations, a capability proven by their performance during China’s naval drills and other activities, the official said. China’s 052-class guided-missile destroyers can be rendered combat ineffective or sunk after being struck by four anti-ship missiles, while two missiles should suffice for smaller craft, the official said, citing analysts. Torpedoes that strike a ship below its waterline would cause greater damage than missiles, the official said. As the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan enters into effect, Taiwan is initiating the mass production of locally designed missiles from this year to 2026, the source said. Under the five-year plan, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology would manufacture 70 Hsiung Feng III/IIIE missiles per year, while 131 Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Sheng missiles can be produced every year by sharing an assembly line, the source said. In addition, Taiwan is expected to receive 100 Harpoon missile launchers and 400 missiles from the US, which would be deployed in conjunction with domestically made systems, the source said. Taiwan’s ability to deploy multiple types of missiles would improve
The Chinese air force is today to send fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military. The training is to include air support, strikes on ground targets and small and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on its Web site. Beijing’s expanding military activities in the Asia-Pacific region have alarmed the US and its allies and form part of a growing strategic and economic competition that has inflamed tensions between the world’s two largest economies. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in June visited Thailand as part of an effort to enhance what he called the US’ “unparalleled network of alliances and partnerships” in the region. The Falcon Strike exercise is to be held at the Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in northern Thailand near the border with Laos. Thai fighter jets and airborne early warning aircraft from both countries would participate. The training comes as the US holds combat drills in Indonesia with Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Singapore in the largest iteration of the Super Garuda Shield exercises since they were first held in 2009. It also follows China’s sending warships, missiles and aircraft into the waters and air around Taiwan in a threatening response to a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell on Friday said that the US would take resolute steps to support Taiwan, including sending warships and aircraft through the Taiwan Strait. “We’ll continue to fly, sail and operate where international law allows, consistent with our longstanding commitment to freedom of navigation,” he said in a call with reporters. “And that includes conducting standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.”
Twenty-two public and 29 private universities missed their recruitment target by 14,000 students, despite reporting a record acceptance rate of 98.94 percent, the University Admission Committee said on Friday, underscoring the severity of student shortfalls due to declining birthrates. The committee, in a report on acceptance rates nationwide, said that 25,297 prospective students took entrance exams this year, 9,272 fewer than last year, as universities sought to recruit 39,350 students, but missed their target by 36.83 percent. In terms of student majors, foreign-language departments made up more than 62 percent of the departments that were unable to meet their recruitment targets, the committee said. Committee executive secretary and National Cheng Kung University Department of Education Affairs director Tsai Chun-li (蔡群立) said that the number of people taking the new exams had decreased sharply due to declining birthrates. This year was the first time by-subject exams were administered in lieu of the previous advanced subjects tests. The by-subject test only considers the scores — up to a maximum of 60 points in each subject — in category A mathematics, history, geography, civics, physics, chemistry and biology. The by-subject test is another option for students seeking to enter a university, with the other option being the General Scholastic Ability Test, which considers examinees’ scores on four out of five subjects, including general Mandarin; written Mandarin; English; category A or B mathematics, or both; social sciences; and the sciences. The committee said that private universities with established reputations have also been affected by declining enrollment, with Chinese Culture University reporting that it only recruited 257 students, despite having 2,635 available slots. The Union of Private School Educators and the National Federation of Teachers Unions (NFTU) urged the Ministry of Education to reconsider its policies related to student recruitment. Union of Private School Educators president Yu Jung-hui (尤榮輝) said that although universities
The US is imposing export controls on technologies that support the production of advanced semiconductors and turbines, protecting against their “nefarious” military and commercial use. The innovations “are essential to the national security” of the US and meet the criteria for the protection, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement on Friday. The agency creates and enforces export restrictions. “Advancements that allow technologies like semiconductors and engines to operate faster, more efficiently, longer and in more severe conditions can be game changers in both the commercial and military context,” US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in the statement. The move came as the US seeks to hinder the ability of China, which it sees as a strategic competitor, from developing advanced chipmaking technologies. It also follows passage this week of US legislation that includes about US$52 billion to boost domestic semiconductor research and development, and aims to bring more chipmaking back to the US. “We are protecting the four technologies identified in today’s rule from nefarious end use by applying controls through a multilateral regime,” US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Rozman Kendler said in the statement. The statement highlighted three technologies targeted by the controls, including two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors: gallium oxide and diamond. Chips made with these materials can work under more severe conditions, such as at higher voltages or temperatures, and devices that use them have “significantly increased military potential,” it said. The electronic computer-aided design software, made for the development of integrated circuits with gate-all-around field-effect transistor structure, is also targeted, it said. The software is used by military and aerospace-defense industries to design complex integrated circuits. Gate-all-around field-effect transistor structure is key to designing technology that enables “faster, energy efficient, and more radiation-tolerant integrated circuits” that
US DEAL INKED: Next year’s defense budget would be NT$15.4bn higher than this year’s, while the long-term plan to service Patriot systems would cost NT$2.52bn, sources said Taiwan’s Patriot missiles are getting a maintenance package of NT$2.52 billion (US$84.1 million) over four-and-a-half years from the US, a notification about the deal issued by the Ministry of National Defense showed on Thursday. The US Department of State in February approved the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s request to offer a maintenance package for Taiwanese Patriot PAC-2/GEM and Patriot PAC-3 missile defense systems, said a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. US-made Patriot missile defense systems are designed to shoot down hostile aircraft and ballistic missiles, capabilities that experts said Taiwan urgently needs amid China’s frequent incursions into its air defense identification zone and live-fire missile tests last week. The package includes support through the US Army International Engineering Services Program and the Field Surveillance Program, the official told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The programs would ensure that the missiles systems are reliable, adequately supplied with parts and upgraded, they said. These services were originally listed at US$100 million, with a program duration of five years, but the price was reduced following negotiations between Taipei and Washington, they said. The contract was signed by a ministry-led delegation of military officers and American Institute in Taiwan officials, and took effect on July 20, they said. Taiwan operates PAC-3s and PAC-2/GEMs — which are PAC-2s upgraded to PAC-3 performance standards. Improved PAC-3/MSEs are expected to be delivered in 2025 and 2026. Separately, the nation’s defense budget is slated to grow 4.2 percent next year, more than the 4.09 percent the Cabinet previously said it was considering, an official familiar with the matter said. Next year’s defense budget would be NT$15.4 billion higher than this year’s budget of NT$367.6 billion, they said, adding that the largest budget items would be personnel costs, operational costs and arms procurement. The salaries and benefits of military service
‘NO BREACHES’: The Cabinet got backing from the Constitutional Court after it said that the former irrigation association system was not based on constitutional rights The nationalization of Taiwan’s 17 irrigation associations under the Agency of Irrigation in July 2020 did not contravene the Constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday. The move did not contravene the principle of legal clarity, nor people’s freedom of association, guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution, said Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力), who heads the Constitutional Court. The nationalization process did not infringe on property rights, nor did it violate the non-retroactivity principle or the principle of legitimate expectation, Hsu said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators said the nationalization of the irrigation associations under the Irrigation Act (農田水利法) was disproportionate and amounted to stealing from the public. The irrigation agency was established without amending the Organizational Act of the Council of Agriculture (行政院農業委員會組織條例), and therefore breached the legal reservation principle and the Act Governing Central Administrative Agencies and Organizations (中央行政機關組織基準法), the legislators said. The agency was founded via executive order, instead of by following due process, they said. The Taoyuan irrigation association, a plaintiff in the case, said the act breached its members’ freedom of association, infringed on their property rights and endangered their livelihood. The Executive Yuan countered the argument, saying that irrigation associations are public legal persons that provide indirect administrative oversight on behalf of the government. Therefore, the former irrigation association system was not based on constitutional rights and the associations cannot ask for basic guarantees under the Constitution, the Cabinet said. Taiwanese expect improvements to food safety, and fair and efficient use of water in light of changing agricultural practices amid concerns over climate change, the Council of Agriculture said. These are expectations that the irrigation associations, many of which were mired in financial and administrative issues, could no longer meet, the council said. The need to nationalize the associations into a government agency was urgent and necessary, it said. The government initiated dialogue
UNVACCINATED: The newly reported severe cases include a one-year-old boy who has been admitted to an intensive care unit, where he was put on a ventilator The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported 21,056 local COVID-19 cases, 233 imported cases and 40 deaths from the disease. The center also confirmed that four unvaccinated children had developed severe COVID-19 symptoms. The largest number of new cases was in New Taipei City, with 4,082, followed by Taichung with 2,534, Taipei with 2,439, Taoyuan with 2,327, Kaohsiung with 1,744, Tainan with 1,507, and fewer than 1,000 cases in each of the 16 other cities or counties, CECC data showed. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said the daily local caseload dropped 3.2 percent from Friday, but increased 6.6 percent from Saturday last week. He said 149,567 local cases had been reported from Sunday to yesterday, up 0.9 percent from the previous seven-day period, so the COVID-19 situation “remained constant.” A total of 4,809,044 local cases have been reported this year, he said. With 106 new moderate or severe cases confirmed yesterday, 22,224 such cases have been confirmed this year, including 8,560 deaths, he said, adding that 99.53 percent of all COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic or mild. Chuang said that as of Friday, 125,179 children aged six months to four years had received a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 15.8 percent of the age group. The newly reported severe cases include a one-year-old unvaccinated boy, who developed a fever, shortness of breath and noisy breathing on Tuesday, and was diagnosed with COVID-19 that evening, Chuang said. After experiencing respiratory distress the next day, the boy was rushed to an emergency room, Chuang said, adding that he was admitted to an intensive care unit and put on a ventilator. Another newly reported severe case is a two-year-old boy, who has a medical record of febrile convulsion, Chuang said. The boy tested positive for COVID-19 on July 6
Police have detained a Taoyuan couple suspected of over the past two months colluding with human trafficking rings and employment scammers in Southeast Asia to send nearly 100 Taiwanese jobseekers to Cambodia. At a media briefing in Taipei yesterday, the Criminal Investigation Bureau presented items seized from the couple, including alleged victims’ passports, forged COVID-19 vaccination records, mobile phones, bank documents, checks and cash. The man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and his girlfriend, surnamed Tsan (詹), were taken into custody last month, after police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport stopped four jobseekers from boarding a flight to Phnom Penh, said Dustin Lee (李泱輯), an officer in the bureau’s International Criminal Affairs Division. Police detained Tsai at the airport after he allegedly dropped off the four people, Lee said. Family members of the jobseekers had informed police about their plan, he added. Tsan was later detained in the office she shared with Tsai, Lee said, adding that the couple face forgery and human trafficking charges. Police later stopped another three jobseekers from boarding a plane to Cambodia, Lee said, adding that they were apparently also recruited by the Cambodia-based trafficking ring. Investigators suspect that Tsai had transported nearly 100 Taiwanese to the airport as part of the operation, based on the about NT$2 million (US$66,733) he allegedly received for his services from the ring, Lee said. The ring is suspected of targeting Taiwanese through advertising on social media that promised jobseekers high-paying jobs in casinos and hotels in Cambodia, police said. However, local ring members allegedly took away jobseekers’ passports and other personal documents when they arrived in Cambodia, where they were then forced to work for telephone scam operations targeting Mandarin speakers, police said. Tsai and Tsan were allegedly responsible for the ring’s operation in Taiwan, including providing information and advance payments to people interested in the advertised jobs, applying for
A Taiwanese artist has created an installation piece that takes away people’s cellphones to encourage them to reflect on their relationship with technology. Cheng Hsien-yu’s (鄭先喻) Discharge What You Charged — which consists of cube-like lidded apparatuses on plinths arranged around a display space — is part of “Transistor,” a special exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Taipei. When a viewer places their phone on one of the apparatuses, its lid closes and locks the phone up for 15 to 20 minutes before opening again, revealing it almost completely out of battery, Cheng wrote in his Web site. The exibition’s organizers sought to encourage artists to create without feeling bound by conventions, and support one another through inspiration and collaboration, Hong Foundation chairman Royce Hong (洪裕鈞) told a news event on Friday, the exhibition’s opening day. The exhibition, which showcases 11 contemporary artists, has a special focus on works that challenge boundaries, reflect broadly on modern issues and demonstrate a spirit of originality, MOCA director Loh Li-chen (駱麗真) said. While most of the 23 creations have been displayed before, five pieces debuted at the show, she added. The new pieces include Hung Yu-chun’s (洪裕鈞) The Instant of Change (創變瞬態), which features a deconstructed and suspended Xing Mobility Miss R electric supercar prototype, Loh said. The other pieces that debuted at MOCA are creations by Hsu Chia-wei (許家維), Chang Shuo-yin (張碩尹) and James Ming-hsueh Lee (李明學). The exhibition also showcases Habitat, a collaborative piece by Cheng and Chang Ting-tong (張碩尹) that is comprised of a high-temperature box containing 8,000 mosquitoes that fed on the blood of the artists and a video game that electrocutes the insects when it is played. Another piece featured is Liu Yu’s (劉玗) If Narratives Are a Deluge, a multimedia creation that uses video and installation art to explore a flood myth
BILINGUAL PLAN: The 17 educators were recruited under a program that seeks to empower Taiwanese, the envoy to the Philippines said The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines on Thursday hosted a send-off event for the first group of English-language teachers from the country who were recruited for a Ministry of Education-initiated program to advance bilingual education in Taiwan. The 14 teachers and three teaching assistants are part of the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which aims to help find English-language instructors for Taiwan’s public elementary and junior-high schools, the office said. Seventy-seven teachers and 11 teaching assistants from the Philippines have been hired to teach in Taiwan in the coming school year, office data showed. Among the first group is 57-year-old Pilipinas Arroyo, who taught at university and high-school level for 25 years in the Philippines, as well as 11 years at a university in Libya. Arroyo told the Central News Agency that when the opportunity to teach in Taiwan arose, she applied because she had a good impression of the nation when she visited in 2019. “It’s a combination of the old and new culture, that’s one thing I like about it. Very modern, but you are still able to preserve the old traditions, the old look of what you have,” Arroyo said. Another teacher, Rufina Guzman Defeo, said she wants to use her passion for teaching to help Taiwan achieve its goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030. Taiwan’s bilingual policy aims to bolster the English-language skills of Taiwanese, the office said. Pines Testa — another member of the group headed to Taiwan — applied not only because of the competitive salary and benefits, but also because the program gives her the opportunity to shape the lives of foreign students through teaching, the office cited the teacher boasting seven years of experience as saying. Representative to the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) said in a speech at the event that the program, launched in 2004,
Attending the Asia-Pacific Forum and Exposition for Sustainability, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) president Lee Shun-chin (李順欽) yesterday managed the company stall for a day, hoping to share the benefits of sustainable development with visitors. CPC’s stall at the Taipei World Trade Center features how it imagines gas stations will look in the future, as the company implements its strategies to produce better-quality gasoline, reduce carbon emissions and promote conservation, Lee said. People visiting the stall can experience the company’s green rally cars and view the energy storage products it has developed to meet demand as more vehicles are powered by electricity. The stall also features a maritime observation station where people can view the underwater world off the coast of Kaohsiung’s Yongan District (永安) and learn how the company is reusing water piped from its liquefied natural gas plant to raise the atsubanori seaweed. It also has bird calls of the least storm petrel recorded near Taoyuan’s Jhuwei Harbor (竹圍). Coffee is on offer and atsubanori eggrolls, which were developed by CPC and the Syin-lu Social Welfare Foundation. CPC won the gold, silver and bronze medals at this year’s Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards, demonstrating that the state-run corporation is working to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The expo, which began on Friday, ends today.
SUSTAINED PRESSURE: Lithuania’s deputy transportation minister said China intensified ‘illegal actions’ against the country after she had a ‘productive week’ visiting Taiwan The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned China’s sanctions against Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute for visiting Taiwan on Tuesday. China’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on Vaiciukeviciute for visiting Taiwan, adding that China would also suspend engagement with Vaiciukeviciute’s ministry and cooperation on transportation with Lithuania, a small Baltic republic. MOFA yesterday condemned the sanctions, saying they amounted to “irrational retaliation” by China. “Taiwan vows to continue to do its best to assist Lithuania to counter the unreasonable and arbitrary suppression of the Chinese government,” MOFA said in a statement. “Goliath = bullies like #China & #Russia; David = moral giants like #Taiwan & #Lithuania. We, the forces for good, won’t shy away from the values we hold close to our hearts despite threats & coercion,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Twitter yesterday. The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications said it regrets China’s announcement. “Beijing is choosing to continue and intensify the course of illegal actions against [an] EU member state,” the Lithuanian ministry said in a statement to Reuters. “This is not only not conducive to the development of China’s relations with the democratic world, but also reverses Beijing’s own declared policy so far of not hindering the development of a mutually beneficial relationship with Taiwan, one of the world’s most progressive economies,” it said. Lithuania’s recent bolstering of relations with Taiwan has infuriated Beijing and led to a fall in Lithuanian exports to China in the first quarter of this year to almost zero. Vaiciukeviciute said on Twitter on Friday that she had visited three cities and two seaports, and had 14 meetings in Taiwan over a five-day period. “A productive week in Taiwan, looking for more ways of LT Transport cooperation with TW maritime, shipping and aviation companies,” she wrote, referring to
Not far from the rusted-out tanks and anti-landing spikes that litter the beaches of Kinmen County, 92-year-old veteran Yang Yin-shih reads his newspaper in the shadow of the enemy that regularly adorns its pages. Several kilometers from Yang’s home on the tiny Kinmen Islands is China, where he can see for himself the military might that threatens his homeland. Beijing last week staged unprecedented war games around the self-ruled democracy in a hailstorm of rage after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan’s capital. As Chinese vessels dotted the Taiwan Strait and missiles plunged into the waters surrounding the islands, a real risk of conflict reared its head. However, Yang was unfazed by the latest beating of Beijing’s war drum, despite the islets of 140,000 people sitting just 3.2km across from the Chinese city of Xiamen. “I am not nervous. Kinmen is calm and quiet,” he said, cracking a smile between his morning routines of watching television and strolling through his neighborhood. Yang witnessed the deadliest bombardment of Taiwan’s closest islands to China more than 60 years ago, and said the latest drills are small in comparison. In 1958, China fired more than 1 million shells at Kinmen and nearby communities, killing 618 people and injuring more than 2,600. “The bombardment [in 1958] was more nerve-racking. It was more tense back then,” he said. “It’s hard to tell the situation — whether [China] intends to intimidate or has plans to attack.” Despite the current tensions and bitter memories of conflict, many Kinmen residents hold friendly views of China after years of close trade and travel links across the short stretch of sea. Taiwan suspended ferry services to Chinese cities because of COVID-19, but Yang Shang-lin, a 34-year-old in the tourism sector, said he hopes Kinmen will reopen to Chinese visitors soon despite Beijing’s sabre-rattling. “Taiwan is more
SAME JOB, DIFFERENT PAY: Established foreign caregivers said their contributions to Taiwan are being diminished by being paid NT$3,000 less than those with new contracts A new wage-hike policy does not immediately apply to tens of thousands of migrants already employed in the country and would lead to inequality, live-in migrant caregivers and domestic helpers in Taiwan have said, criticizing a policy the government introduced on Wednesday. The wage increase announced on Wednesday, the first of its kind since 2015 for family-employed caregivers, raises the minimum wage for live-in migrant caregivers to NT$20,000 from NT$17,000. The new minimum wage remains NT$5,250 lower than the standard minimum wage, as live-in caregivers are not covered by the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), a sticking point among many foreign workers affected by the policy. However, a particular concern is that the change only applies to newly arrived migrant workers and to terms of new contracts, but does not affect workers with existing contracts. Indonesian caregiver Fajar, president of the Indonesian workers’ solidarity organization Ganas Community, said that the Ministry of Labor did not learn from its previous handling of a minimum wage increase in 2015 that also only applied to new contracts, and raised the same objections. “I’m not surprised something like this happened again. The ministry should have learned from previous incidents where there was much dissatisfaction from workers who had been in Taiwan for a long time with no increase in salary,” Fajar said. It is not easy or practical for migrant workers to change employers to benefit from the change, she said. Even if the ministry advised or encouraged employers to raise wages, it would not be mandatory, and most would not follow such direction, Fajar said. Expecting workers to negotiate a raise with their employers, either through their manpower agency or on their own, would be “very unfair because if the employer does not agree, there will be conflict.” One of the workers who is not eligible for the raise is Pingtung-based Indonesian
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) plans to create its own international hotel brand as part of its corporatization. The Legislative Yuan in May passed the third reading of the State-run Taiwan Railways Corporation Act (國營台灣鐵路股份有限公司設置條例) — to transform the TRA from a regular government agency into a state-owned corporation — and amendments to the Railway Act (鐵路法), which would allow the TRA to utilize its assets more freely. Business not related to the TRA’s rail operations include real-estate investment, property leasing, food sales and merchandising, but income sources and asset development can be diversified after the amendments take effect. The TRA has been utilizing its assets and promoting tourism by rail, aiming to increase its income earned from affiliated businesses from NT$5 billion (US$166.83 million) last year to NT$10 billion by 2030, TRA Planning Department head Chiang Ming-i (江明宜) said on Friday. During the discussion phase of corporatization, the TRA proposed opening hotels, an idea modeled after the East Japan Railway Co’s operation of the Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei, he said. Potential land for hotels includes the TRA Employees’ Training Center in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) and land it owns in Yilan’s Jiaosi Township (礁溪), he said, adding that the agency could cooperate with hot spring hotel groups or create its own brand. Before taking on long-term hotel plans, the TRA should develop land around Kaohsiung Main Station, which was given to the railway operator after urban land readjustment, as well as its old dormitories on Taipei’s Andong Street and Shida Road, he said. To promote tourism, the TRA plans to transform the Pingsi (平溪), Neiwan (內灣) and Jiji (集集) branch lines into tourist lines, targeting tour groups and single-ticket tourists, he said. It also plans to launch excursion trains with new themes and continue to collaborate with travel agencies to promote tourism by railway, he said, adding
With a tantalizing array of satay chicken, wok-fried mud crab and chilled tiger prawns, the dinner buffet at Singapore’s Grand Hyatt hotel typically sets diners back about US$70. Those on a tighter budget and with an eye on sustainability can fill a box for one-tenth of that price. Across Asia, tech start-ups are taking food otherwise destined for landfill and providing discounted meals through mobile phone apps. About one-third of food is lost or wasted every year globally, and the mountains of waste are estimated to cause 8 to 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, the UN says. The Asia-Pacific region is among the worst in the world for food waste, accounting for more than half of food squandered globally. “A common mantra that I have is that being sustainable should be attainable,” said Preston Wong, chief executive officer and cofounder of Treatsure, which collaborates with chains including the Hyatt, Accor Group and the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel to allow app users to pick out and collect a “buffet-in-a-box” of food that would otherwise be thrown out. “I think technology can bridge that gap,” he said. With more than 30,000 users, Treatsure has saved an estimated 30 tonnes of food from going to waste since it launched in 2017, with users typically having to wait until the end of service before they can collect their food, Wong said. Still, that is a far cry from the 817,000 tonnes of food waste in Singapore last year, a 23 percent increase from the year prior. Authorities say the city state’s only landfill, Semakau, is expected to meet Singapore’s solid waste disposal needs up to 2035 and beyond. Hong Kong faces similar problems. It has already filled up 13 landfills, and about 3,300 tonnes of food waste per day were dumped in its
For Sara Velazquez and her husband, purchasing the 22 acres behind their rural Pennsylvania home was the start of a lengthy effort to preserve and resuscitate the hilly forestland. The question was how to pay for that work. “A nice, healthy oak forest — that’s what I want,” Velazquez, 28, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in June, sweeping her arm across the property’s shadowed valleys and mixed tree stands. “We have a lot of invasive species in here, so dealing with that is part of our plan over time,” said her husband, Dan Nelson, 37. However, just after they purchased the land in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them both out of work, raising concerns about how to pay the annual taxes on the land. One option could be logging, a common priority in the region, Nelson said. “It’s sort of the culture here. When we bought the property, everyone was like, ‘Are you going to log it?’” he said, adding that many see timber as “free money up in the woods.” Now they think they have found a different solution. In December last year, the couple signed a 20-year contract with the nonprofit American Forest Foundation’s Family Forest Carbon Program, which aims to help small-scale landowners with as little as 12 hectares do something new: access fast-growing “carbon markets.” The trees on Velazquez and Nelson’s properties are to absorb and store a measured amount of carbon for at least the next two decades. Credits for that effective reduction in climate-changing emissions are, in turn, sold to help corporations such as outdoor outfitter REI move toward their “net zero” emissions goals. To achieve the goals, companies are supposed to reduce their own emissions to nearly zero, but can buy emissions reductions elsewhere — known as “offsets” — to cover any remaining hard-to-cut pollution. Velazquez and Nelson, in turn, receive cash that helps
NOT OVER: The S&P 500 regained half its losses since falling from a record January high, which could signal a bull market, but an analyst said bad news is likely ‘still out there’ Wall Street closed higher on Friday as signs that inflation might have peaked last month increased investor confidence that a bull market could be under way, spurring the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ to post their fourth straight week of gains. The S&P 500 is up 17.7 percent from a mid-June low, with the latest gains coming from data this week showing a slower-than-expected rise in the consumer price index and a surprise drop in producer prices last month. The S&P 500 crossed a closely watched technical level of 4,231 points, indicating the benchmark index has recouped half its losses since tumbling from an all-time peak in January. A 50 percent retracement for some signals a bull market. “It’s really just a number, but it certainly makes investors feel better — at least those who bought near the bottom,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. “I wouldn’t declare victory over this bear market yet. There’s likely some bad news still out there, but there’s a very good chance we’ve seen the bottom,” Ghriskey said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 424.38 points, or 1.27 percent, to 33,761.05, while the S&P 500 gained 72.88 points, or 1.73 percent, to 4,280.15 and the NASDAQ Composite added 267.27 points, or 2.09 percent, to 13,047.19. For the week, the S&P 500 added 3.26 percent, the Dow rose 2.92 percent and the NASDAQ gained 3.08 percent. Volume on US exchanges was 9.99 billion shares, compared with the 11.04 billion average for the full session over the past 20 trading days. As the S&P 500 and NASDAQ posted their longest weekly winning streaks since November last year, analysts said the US Federal Reserve still has its work cut out as it seeks to tame inflation by aggressively raising interest rates without sparking a recession. “Markets certainly got great news
The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled that a National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) policy of allowing other government agencies and researchers to access its database is partly unconstitutional. Taiwan’s single-payer health insurance was launched in 1995, and by 2014 more than 99.9 percent of the population was enrolled. In 1998, the National Health Research Institute was commissioned to establish a database with information on insurance holders, and anonymized files became accessible for researchers in 2000. In 2016, the database was returned to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and integrated with a dedicated service center that imposed tighter privacy protections, but continued to grant access to the files. However, seven human rights advocates in 2012 asked the NHIA to limit access to the database. As the agency did not comply, they sued the NHIA. Their claim was rejected, but they appealed the initial decision, as well as ensuing decisions in favor of the NHIA by higher courts. After the Supreme Administrative Court in 2017 rejected their claim, they filed for a constitutional interpretation, arguing that granting access to highly sensitive personal information without people consenting to their files being used breaches privacy rights and the principle of information self-determination. The NHIA said that entities seeking access to the files must undergo an application process, which ensures privacy and that the purpose for which the files are used must be in the public interest. The ministry added that if individuals were allowed to have their files deleted or kept secret, researchers would face a sampling bias, harming studies that are in the public interest. It said the database also helped the government implement successful policies to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, the Constitutional Court ruled that Article 6 of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) — which requires the encryption of healthcare data, and
Just hours after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi departed Taiwan, Beijing initiated large-scale military drills, or what it called “Operation Stabilize Taiwan.” The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) reaction to Pelosi’s visit has created the most tense situation in the Taiwan Strait since the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1995 and 1996, which was triggered by a visit of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to his alma mater, Cornell University in New York State. However, what is truly baffling about this latest show of Chinese military might is that there is a consensus in academic circles that the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis was initiated by then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) because he needed to cement his authority within the CCP. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), now approaching the end of his second term in office, has already amassed an enormous amount of power within the party, including the chairmanship of the all-powerful Chinese Central Military Commission, so why would he feel it is necessary to orchestrate a fourth Taiwan Strait crisis? Is the stabilization of his authority within the party a possible explanation? After the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, Taiwanese academics specializing in cross-strait politics began to develop the theory that the harshness of China’s Taiwan policy directly correlates with the degree to which the political leader enjoys a position of strength within the CCP. After Jiang took over the reins from his predecessor, Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), he was initially living in Deng’s shadow. In China’s one-party political system, where political power is achieved “through the barrel of a gun,” hawkish generals in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army had the upper hand during the initial stages of Jiang’s presidency. According to the theory, Jiang lacked power, so even though there originally existed a tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing over Lee’s planned trip to
Much of the foreign policy conversation in the US over the past two weeks has centered on whether US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi ought to have visited Taiwan. Her backers pointed out that there was precedent for such a visit — a previous House speaker and US Cabinet members had visited Taiwan — and that it is important for officials to underscore the US’ commitment to Taiwan in the face of increasing Chinese pressure. Critics argued that the trip was ill-timed, because Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would likely feel a need to respond, lest he appear weak heading into the critical Chinese Communist Party (CCP) National Congress in the fall. There were also worries that the visit might lead Xi to do more to support Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. However, the focus on Pelosi’s visit is misplaced. The important question is why China responded not just by denouncing the trip, but with import and export bans, cyberattacks and military exercises that represented a major escalation over anything it had previously done to punish and intimidate Taiwan. None of this was inevitable. The Chinese leadership had options. It could have ignored or downplayed Pelosi’s visit. What we saw was a reaction — more accurately, an overreaction — of choice. The scale and complexity of the response indicated that it had long been planned, suggesting that if the Pelosi trip had not taken place, some other development would have been cited as a pretext to “justify” China’s actions. China’s increasingly fraught internal political and economic situation goes a long way toward explaining Xi’s reaction. His priority is to be appointed to an unprecedented third term as CCP chairman, but the country’s economic performance, for decades the principal source of legitimacy for China’s leaders, can no longer be counted on as growth
‘RUNNING ON FUMES’: The Australian said he would benefit from a few days rest before his next tournament in the US after he was knocked out in the quarter-finals Hubert Hurkacz on Friday overcame 53 winners from Nick Kyrgios to halt the Australian’s nine-match win streak with a three-set quarter-final victory at the ATP Montreal Masters. The Polish eighth seed made 43 winners of his own in a rapid-fire 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 6-1 triumph that put him into his fourth semi-final at the Masters level. It was a second win in as many matches for Hurkacz against Kyrgios, the first played on grass in June at Halle, Germany. Kyrgios, known for quick play, had several service games go by in less than one minute, with the Wimbledon finalist barely pausing between the end of one point and the start of the next. Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios, who won his first title in three years last week in Washington, was bothered at times by his foot, lower back and hip as he lost momentum in the third set. “I was just running on fumes a bit towards the end,” the 27-year-old said. “That’s normal, but I feel good, feel confident. I’ve got three or four days of rest until Cincinnati. I’m going to use that, really capitalize and just rest and recover.” The pair combined for 39 aces, with Hurkacz striking 20 of them. “Over the last two months, Nick has been playing incredibly,” Hurkacz said. “Today was a really tough match. Battling against him, it’s very challenging, but it’s also fun.” “Nick is a super opponent. He can make every single shot. He doesn’t really have that many weaknesses, if any. I was just trying to serve good and stay aggressive,” he said. Hurkacz faces Norway’s fourth-seeded Casper Ruud, who crushed home hope Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-2 in 74 minutes. Ruud advanced to his third Masters semi-final this season, having defeated Hurkacz in their previous meeting in May at Roland Garros. At the bottom of the draw, Dan Evans completed
Simona Halep on Friday served twice for her match against Coco Gauff without success before finally securing a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) quarter-final victory at the WTA Toronto Masters. The former No. 1, a two-time winner in Canada, made hard work of her triumph over the rising American teenager, who just missed a chance at cracking the world ranking top-10 for the first time. Halep needed a second-set tiebreaker to advance into the semi-finals in just under two hours, lining up a meeting with seventh-seeded American Jessica Pegula, who defeated Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3. Double Grand Slam champion Halep earned her 183rd match win at the Masters 1000 level. “I’m really pleased with the way I stayed strong mentally,” Halep said. “I fought for every point. That was really important, because she was doing the same thing. It’s never easy against her,” she added. In other quarter-final action, Brazil’s giant-killer Beatriz Haddad Maia claimed another victim as she upset Olympic champion Belinda Bencic with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win. The South American, who stunned world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round, won her 16th match since June, the month in which she claimed back-to-back grass titles in Nottingham and Birmingham. Bencic was broken four times and coughed up five double-faults. “I’m feeling happy, for sure, it’s a special moment,” Haddad Maia said. “I’ve worked a lot every day for a few years to live this moment.” “I didn’t start the match playing as I wanted,” she said. “I was missing more than normal in the first set, but I pushed myself to stay positive, to stay in the game — a tennis match can change very fast.” The Brazilian will aim for the final against Karolina Pliskova, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen.
Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi on Friday was omitted from the 30-man list of nominees for the award for the first time since 2005. The Argentina great edged out Poland striker Robert Lewandowski for the Ballon d’Or last year, but was not nominated this time after an underwhelming first season at Paris Saint-Germain. The 35-year-old forward also won the prize in 2019. It was not held in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Neymar also missed the cut this time. Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo were all included, as were Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Kevin de Bruyne, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. Alexia Putellas, Ada Hegerberg, Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema were on the list of 20 female nominees. US players Alex Morgan, Catarina Macario and Trinity Rodman were also named. The men’s list features six Manchester City players: Phil Foden, Joao Cancelo, De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and new signing Haaland. Liverpool also has six nominees: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz, Fabinho, Darwin Nunez, Salah and Virgil van Dijk. Mane, who helped Senegal win their first Africa Cup before leaving Liverpool for Bayern Munich, is included, as is Bayern teammate Joshua Kimmich. Benzema leads a group of six Real Madrid players. The others are Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric, Vinicius Junior and new signing Antonio Rudiger. The other nominated players are Sebastien Haller (Ajax), Rafael Leao and Mike Maignan (both of AC Milan), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) and Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus). The award is to be presented on Oct. 17.
Jorge Mateo had a career-high five hits on Friday, one of them off Taiwan’s Yu Chang on the mound as a position player, while Adley Rutschman and Cedric Mullins each homered off the Tropicana Field catwalk as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-3. Rougned Odor had four of the Orioles’ season-most 19 hits as Baltimore won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved into an American League wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the Rays. “Definitely one of our better offensive nights, the way we kept up those innings with the two-strike, two-out innings,” manager Brandon Hyde said. We “got a bunch of hits up and down the lineup.” Mullins and Anthony Santander had three hits apiece for Baltimore. Austin Voth (3-1) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his second straight start. “We’ve kind of caught fire and we’re just keeping with it,” said Voth, who was claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals on June 7. “It doesn’t feel like we’re cooling off or anything like that. We’re rolling,” he added. By the time Jose Siri got the Rays’ first hit leading off the sixth, the Orioles had a 7-0 lead. Randy Arozarena followed with his 14th homer for Tampa Bay. “We’ve got to somehow find a way to get out of this,” Rays manger Kevin Cash said. “It’s not coming easy for anybody.” Rutschman homered in the first off Corey Kluber (7-7), a blast that would have traveled an estimated 133.8m if not for the catwalk. Mullins’ 10th homer came in the eighth inning off Jimmy Yacabonis. Mateo, who drove in two runs and scored twice, also contributed a fine defensive play at shortstop in the fourth, barely throwing out Brandon Lowe on a toss from his gloved hand. “I’m very satisfied with that performance. It shows my hard
‘EXPRESSION OF HATE’: The author’s agent said that Rushdie would likely lose an eye in the attack, which Iranian state media hailed, calling the attacker ‘courageous’ Salman Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after an Iranian fatwa ordered his killing, was on a ventilator and could lose an eye following a stabbing attack at a literary event in New York state on Friday. The Indian-born British-American author of The Satanic Verses, which sparked fury among some Muslims who believed it was blasphemous, had to be airlifted to a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, for emergency surgery following the attack. His agent said in a statement obtained by the New York Times that “the news is not good.” “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” agent Andrew Wylie said, adding that Rushdie could not speak. Carl LeVan, an American University politics professor attending the literary event, said that the assailant rushed onto the stage where Rushdie was seated and “stabbed him repeatedly and viciously.” Several people ran to the stage and took the suspect to the ground before a New York State Police trooper present at the event arrested him. A doctor in the audience administered medical care until emergency first responders arrived. State police identified the suspected attacker as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from Fairfield, New Jersey, adding that he stabbed Rushdie in the neck as well as the abdomen. The motive for the stabbing remains unclear. An interviewer onstage, 73-year-old Ralph Henry Reese, was also injured in the face, but has been released from a hospital, police said. The attack took place at the Chautauqua Institution, which hosts arts programs in a lakeside community 110km south of Buffalo. “What many of us witnessed today was a violent expression of hate that shook us to our core,” the Chautauqua Institution said in a statement. LeVan, a Chautauqua regular, said the suspect “was trying to stab him as many times as possible before he was
UNPRECEDENTED VIOLENCE: The shooter was involved in a family dispute before the attack and was believed to have been killed by a local resident, RTCG reported A shooter on Friday killed at least 11 people including two children in a mass shooting in Montenegro’s central city of Cetinje, officials said, in one of the deadliest violent incidents to rock the Adriatic nation. “Eleven people were killed in Cetinje today,” Andrijana Nastic, a government prosecutor helping oversee the investigation into the incident, told reporters, saying the shooter was among the dead. “Two children are among the victims,” she added. A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the figure. The incident took place in Cetinje, about 36km west of the capital Podgorica, after the shooter was involved in a family dispute, Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG) said. The shooter was believed to have been killed by a local resident, said Nastic, dispelling earlier reports that said he had been shot by police. Six people were also wounded in the attack, with three in a critical condition, Ljiljana Radulovic, the director of the central hospital in Podgorica, told reporters. In the shooting’s wake, Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic called on the country to offer support to the families of the victims, saying the incident was unprecedented in the country’s recent history. “I invite all the citizens of Montenegro to be with the families of the innocent victims,” the prime minister wrote in a post on Telegram. Hours after the attack, Abazovic declared three days of mourning in the country. Montenegro is famed for its picturesque beaches, framed by nearby mountains that have long been a draw for tourists. Cetinje is the site of the country’s former royal capital and lies in a mountainous valley that has largely stagnated economically in the past few decades. Residents were left in shock in the shooting’s wake. “I can’t believe that this happened in Cetinje and Montenegro. I do not know what to say, I am speechless. I do
Newly married and with his first child on the way, auto worker Wang (王) wanted to move into the apartment he bought in Wuhan three years ago, but those hopes were dashed by China’s ballooning property crisis. Saddled with nearly US$300,000 in debt and with his unit nowhere near completion, the 34-year-old decided he had enough and stopped making mortgage payments. He is among numerous home buyers across dozens of cities in China who have boycotted payments over fears that their properties will not be completed by cash-strapped, debt-laden developers. “They said construction would resume soon,” Wang said, only giving his surname. “But no workers showed up.” Beijing-based Wang was planning to start a family after purchasing the home. “It wasn’t easy for us to buy this home. It all came from my savings,” Wang said. “Now there’s no home, and we still owe 2 million yuan [US$296,608] in mortgage payments.” After years of explosive growth fueled by easy access to loans, Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on excessive debt in 2020. That squeezed financing options for property sector giants such as Evergrande, as they struggled to make repayments and restructure mountains of debt. Now they are facing mortgage boycotts and government pressure to deliver presold homes. In Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, buyers such as Wang said they received multiple postponement notices on their apartments from developer Myhome Real Estate, months past the promised delivery date in late last year. The builder said in a notice this week that it had managed to release some frozen funds, adding that it expects to complete the Wuhan project late this year. Wang said he stopped repayments this month, and that complaints to authorities in the city did not make a difference. “There’s no hope in life, carrying on with payments like this,” he said. The “crisis of confidence” in China’s housing market points
Aug 15 to Aug 21 Within hours, a minor traffic dispute between two taxi drivers had escalated into a full-out street brawl involving hundreds of combatants. Armed with metal bats, car locks and even tear gas, the midnight battle on Aug. 17, 1995 between Chuan Ming (全民) and Beiqu (北區) taxi drivers associations lasted for over four hours at the roundabout on Tingzhou Road (汀州路) in Taipei. Scattered clashes also broke out in other areas of the capital, as well as in what is today’s New Taipei City. The crowd dispersed around 4:30am, but peace lasted only a few hours. Around 7am, about 50 Beiqu cars, each carrying five armed men, stormed Chuan Ming’s headquarters in Sanchong District (三重). They smashed up more than 20 vehicles and blew up one of the shipping container offices with petrol bombs. Then-Taipei County Commissioner Yu Ching (尤清) managed to broker a truce that evening, but just minutes later, the discovery of five Beiqu drivers who were seriously injured by samurai swords rekindled the violence. The fighting went on until Yu finally convinced the two sides to apologize to the public on Aug 19. It was a huge blow for the already poor image of the nation’s taxis, especially since the government had just approved a fare hike and requested them to improve their service. The police were panned for their inability to contain the situation, leading to calls for reform. And it was surely not a good look for Taiwan, as the world was watching it due to the unfolding Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. DRIVERS UNITE Shen Chia-hsin (沈嘉信) writes in the 1997 study, “The development of social activist groups: Chuan Ming Taxi Association’s violent behavior and image as an example” (社會運動團體的發展:以全民計程車司機聯誼會暴力行為與形象為例) that such associations developed initially to combat the government’s restrictions on issuing taxi licenses. Due to
It’s baking hot in New York, which can only mean one thing for the city’s small mammal population: it’s splooting season. This week, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius, the city’s parks department urged residents not to worry about the health of squirrels seen sprawling on the ground, legs extended behind them like a person whose arms gave out halfway through a yoga class. “On hot days, squirrels keep cool by splooting (stretching out) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat,” the department tweeted. Perhaps even more remarkable than the phenomenon itself was the word the government agency used. Splooting? Is that a real thing? The science certainly is. Squirrels’ bellies have less fur than other parts of their bodies, so splooting helps them cool down, says Dan Blumstein, a professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA. It’s a popular trick among mammals, including the marmots he studies, which “on hot days will lie on rocks as it gets hot, because the boulders are still cooler,” he says. But until recently, he says, he didn’t know the term “splooting.” “I always called it ‘doing the rug,’” he says. DOGGO LANGUAGE Grant Barrett, a lexicographer and co-host of the radio show A Way With Words, explains that the term comes from Doggo language, a form of canine-inspired Internet-speak that has grown into its own tongue. Typically appearing on social media with pictures of dogs, the language features an array of cutesy words including “bork” (a version of “bark”), “mlem” (a kind of tongue movement) and “pupperino” (self-explanatory). Like squirrels and marmots, dogs sploot. Corgis, stubby legs sticking out behind them, are particularly adept at it and may deserve credit for inspiring the term — though pinpointing its exact origin may be an exercise in futility, Barrett says. “It would take you days or even a week
The menu at The Canteen in southwest England doesn’t just let diners know how much a dish costs. They can also check its carbon footprint. The carrot and beetroot pakora with yogurt sauce is responsible for just 16 grams of CO2 emissions. The aubergines with a miso and harissa sauce with tabbouleh and Zaatar toast caused 675 grams of carbon dioxide. As customers weigh their options, the menu at the vegetarian restaurant in Bristol includes a comparison with a dish that it does not serve: the emissions from a UK-produced hamburger. “Three kilos for a burger, wow! I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Enyioma Anomelechi, a 37-year-old diner sipping a beer outside in the sunshine. The menu notes that a real beef burger’s emissions is “10 times the amount of its vegan alternative.” The carbon footprints of businesses and consumers have come under growing scrutiny as countries scramble to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to achieve net-zero emission by 2050. The Canteen became last month the first restaurant to agree to put its carbon footprint on the menu under a campaign spearheaded by UK vegan campaigning charity Viva! The restaurant’s manager, Liam Stock, called the move a way to “see what we are doing; to understand and improve ourselves.” The average British person has an annual carbon footprint of more than 10 tonnes, according to UK government figures. Britain has set the ambitious goal of reducing harmful emissions by 78 percent by 2035, compared with 1990 figures, in order to meet its international climate change commitments. Switching to a plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways for an individual to reduce their carbon footprint, experts from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in April. The livestock industry replaces CO2-absorbing forests with land for grazing and soy crops for cattle feed. The
The Taipei Times bilingual pages are having a makeover, with professionally curated content for both English and Chinese learners of all levels. 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 Training Center.” 《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。近日起版面全新升級！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，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！
炎炎夏日氣溫節節升高，全球暖化造成的極端氣候正在影響世界各地。自六月以來，熱浪襲捲歐洲各地，許多國家都出現了超過攝氏40度的高溫，就連台灣氣溫也是屢創新高。暑假出國如果不小心中暑的話，學會這些英文單字才能和外國人描述症狀喔！ heat exhaustion熱衰竭 熱衰竭的英文是heat exhaustion，exhaust (v)有多重意思，可解釋為「使精疲力竭」或是「用完、耗盡」，另外還有「廢氣」的意思。 We felt exhausted after a long journey. （在長途旅行後我們感到筋疲力盡。） To find the resolution, we’ve exhausted all our resources. （為了尋找解決方式，我們已經用盡了所有資源。） One of the culprits of air pollution is car exhaust fumes. （汽車廢氣是造成空氣污染的罪魁禍首之一。） exhaust的形容詞是exhaustible「窮盡的」，經常與exhaustive (adj)搞混，這裡的意思為「徹底的、完整的」，是多益測驗的重要單字，常和study／research 搭配，例如(an) exhaustive study／research「完整的研究」。 heat stroke中暑 中暑（heatstroke）比熱衰竭更為嚴重，stroke解釋為「中風」，但是要注意stroke也是strike的過去式。strike當動詞有「打，襲擊」的意思，當名詞時則是「罷工抗議」。 If someone you know shows signs of a heat stroke, first, take him/her to a shaded area. （如果你認識的人出現中暑的症狀時，首先將他移至陰涼處。） A magnitude 4 earthquake struck the island. （島上發生了一次四級地震。） 熱傷害的症狀 熱衰竭和中暑常伴隨著許多症狀，例如昏眩（dizziness），嚴重頭痛（severe headache）、疲倦（tiredness）、噁心（nausea）、嘔吐（vomit）、肌肉痙攣（muscle cramp）…等，如果身旁友人全身發熱，卻沒有出汗（no sweating），但說出意識不清的話，則需要儘快就醫，這些單字在向醫生描述症狀時都非常實用。 sweat「流汗」可當動詞和名詞使用，但是口語上常聽到的no sweat 並不是「沒有出汗」，而是「沒問題、不費力」的意思。 We were covered in sweat after we finished an hour of Zumba. （跳完一個小時的尊巴舞後，我們汗流浹背。） A: Can you help me move the desk? （你可以幫我搬那張桌子嗎？） B: No sweat! （沒問題！） vomit (v)「嘔吐」的同義字是throw up，嘔吐前常有的噁心感可以用形容詞nauseous或sick to one’s stomach來表示。 “You could feel your heart rate increase rapidly without doing any strenuous activity and the culprit is a heat stroke. You may begin to feel sick to your stomach or physicallyvomit.” （「在沒有做任何耗費體力的活動下，如果你的心跳加快，罪魁禍首有可能就是中暑，你可能感覺噁心，甚至開始嘔吐。」） During the boat ride, my sister felt nauseous and vomited. （乘船時，我妹妹感覺噁心想吐。） 熱傷害該怎麼處理？ Keep out of the sun between 11am and 3pm when the sun’s rays are strongest. （避開中午十一點到下午三點太陽最強的時候。） keep out of就是avoid「避免」的意思，也可以解釋為「不參與，不涉及」。 Store the medicine on the top shelve and keep it out of reach of children. （將藥物存放在頂層架子上，避免小孩拿到。） Keep in the shade, use sunscreen with a high SPF and UVA rating, and wear a wide-brimmed hat. （待在陰涼處，使用具高防曬係數的防曬乳，並戴上寬邊帽。） shade(n) 有不同的意思，在此指的是「有遮蔽，陰影」的地方，例如tree shade (n)「樹蔭」，多益測驗中也會看到lampshade (n)「燈罩」；此外，shade也可解釋為「顏色色調，色彩」。 The paint comes in different shades of blue, and it’s hard to choose one that matches our furniture. （這油漆有不同深淺的藍色，很難選擇一種適合我們家具的顏色。） 【多益模擬試題】 1. ________ actual colors might differ slightly from what appears on your monitor, we recommend ordering several samples in similar shades first. (A) If (B) Even (C) Since (D) Therefore 2. This list of topics is not ________ but it will give you an idea of the issues which will be discussed in the meeting. (A) different (B) striking (C) faint (D) exhaustive 解析： 1. 正解為(C)。語意為「由於實際顏色可能與螢幕上顯示的有些微不同，我們建議您先訂購幾個顏色相似的樣品。」本題要選擇符合句意的副詞來引導子句，故(C) Since為正確答案。 2. 正解為(D)。語意為「這份主題列表並不詳盡，但它會讓您對會議中將討論的問題有所了解。」本題為單字題，要選出符合句意的單字。(A)「不同的」，(B)「明顯的」，(C)「輕微的」，(D)「完整的」符合句意，故為正解。 SOURCE: https://www.englishok.com.tw/toeic/toeic-issue/heat-stroke 文章由 English OK 授權使用: www.englishok.com.tw
Here are the house rules of the Lin family. 以下為林家的家規。 The Lin Family’s House Rules 1. Ask first if you want to take something that doesn’t belong to you. 2. Think twice before you do everything. 3. Brush your teeth and take a shower before you go to bed. 4. Do not shout when Dad and Mom are talking on the phone. 5. Be home by 9 p.m. and always tell Mom where you are going. ---------- 必備單字 1. belong v.屬於（國中基本1200字） 2. rule v.規則（國中基本1200字） 實用字詞 1. take a shower 「淋浴式」的洗澡；take a bath為「泡澡」 2. belong to someone 屬於某人 3. twice 兩次，think twice為「三思、多加思考」 ---------- 閱讀技巧：將長句分成短字詞，以利閱讀 Ask first／if you／want to／take something／that doesn’t／belong to you. 先詢問／若你／想要／拿東西／但卻不／屬於你。 斷句練習： Brush your teeth and take a shower before you go to bed. 解答： Brush your teeth／and／take a shower／before you／go to bed. 刷牙和洗澡／在你…之前／睡覺。 考題練習： TOEIC Bridge測驗 X 國中會考題型 1. Who should follow the rules? (A) Kids (B) Parents (C) Students 2. Which of the following is NOT on the list? (A) What to do before going to bed. (B) What to do before taking something that doesn’t belong to you. (C) What to do before going to school. 3. When should Tom be home if he wants to go to the movies tonight? (A) Before 9 in the morning. (B) Before 8 in the morning. (C) Before 9 in the evening. 文章由 English OK 授權使用: www.englishok.com.tw
| New Taipei City | 27-29 | 0% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 27-28 | 20% |  |
| Hsinchu City | 27-28 | 20% | |
| Taipei City | 27-29 | 0% | |
| Miaoli County | 26-28 | 20% | |
| Taoyuan City | 27-29 | 0% | |
| Keelung City | 27-29 | 0% | |
| Yunlin County | 26-27 | 0% | |
| Taichung City | 27-28 | 20% | |
| Nantou County | 26-27 | 0% | |
| Changhua County | 27-28 | 20% | |
| Chiayi County | 26-28 | 0% | |
| Chiayi City | 25-26 | 0% | |
| Tainan City | 25-28 | 20% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 28-29 | 20% | |
| Pingtung County | 25-26 | 20% | |
| Yilan County | 24-27 | 0% | |
| Hualien County | 26-28 | 0% | |
| Taitung County | 25-28 | 20% | |
| Kinmen County | 27-28 | 0% | |
| Penghu County | 28-28 | 0% | |
| Lienchiang County | 27-28 | 0% | |
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