Monthly Archives: April 2016

Manufacturing sector posts 1st sales drop in 3 years

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/02
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) The local manufacturing sector suffered its first year-on-year sales 201604020020t0001drop in three years in 2015 as many manufacturers’ pricing power was hurt by falling prices of international crude oil and steel products, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Citing statistics, the MOEA said that revenue generated by Taiwan’s manufacturing sector for 2015 fell 3.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$26.42 trillion (US$815 billion).

The oil/coal and chemical sectors witnessed sales for 2015 falling 29.7 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, to NT$1.51 trillion and NT$1.89 trillion, in the wake of the weakness of the global oil market, the ministry said.

A supply glut in the global steel market, which pushed down steel product prices, sent the local base metal sector into a tailspin, with the segment posing a 15.6 percent year-on-year decline in sales to NT$1.17 trillion in 2015, the ministry said.     [FULL  STORY]

Alishan Forest Railway to introduce 1-day, 2-day tickets

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-02
By: Central News Agency

From May 1, people planning to visit the Alishan Forest Recreation Area will have the option of buying a 1-day or 2-day train ticket, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said Saturday.

The tickets will allows passengers to travel on the Chushan, Shenmu and Zhaoping lines of the Alishan Forest Railway for an unlimited number of times during the validity of the tickets, the TRA said.

A 1-day ticket will be sold for NT$400 (US$12.38) for adults, while a 2-day ticket will cost NT$500, the administration said, adding that travelers will be able to purchase the tickets at the TRA’s Chiayi station or any stations along the Alishan Forest Railway.     [SOURCE]

Formosa Petrochemical to cut fuel prices next week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/02
By: Wei Shu and Romulo Huang

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (台塑石化), a private gasoline supplier 201604020023t0001in Taiwan, announced Saturday that it will cut its gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.3 (US$0.009) and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, next week, starting from April 4 at 1 a.m.

Formosa Petrochemical said it decided to lower the prices after the weighted average of international crude oil prices fell this past week, while taking competitive factors of the domestic market into account.

Formosa Petrochemical has been implementing its fuel price cuts a day earlier than state-owned oil supplier CPC Corp., Taiwan (中油), its major rival in the local market, since February.

CPC is scheduled to announce its price adjustments Sunday noon, with the new prices set to take effect at midnight.

After the latest price adjustments, fuel prices at Formosa Petrochemical gas stations will decline to NT$18.1 per liter for super diesel, NT$21 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$22.5 per liter for 95+ octane unleaded and NT$24.8 per liter for 98 octane unleaded.      [SOURCE]

Ko ranked last on mayoral list

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2016
By: Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) ranked last in an evaluation of the mayors of the six special municipalities, while Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) topped the list.
The online forecaster Exchange of Wisdom published its evaluation results on Wednesday, with Ko having the lowest “market price.”

Lai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), topped the list with his “price” of 80.9, with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP coming in second, followed by Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) and Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), both from the DPP, and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Ko, an independent, ranked last with his “price” at 34.6.

The exchange said that Lai last month made the news with issues such as the legislature’s review of an amendment to the Local Government Act (地方制度法); his dismissal of reports about a haunting around the Weiguan Jinlong complex, where 115 people died after the complex collapsed in an earthquake on Feb. 6; his efforts to promote the city’s tourism and his management of post-earthquake affairs.

The amendment, if passed, would require the elections of speakers and deputy speakers of city and county councils to be held with disclosed ballots, which is said to have been tabled in the wake of Tainan City Council Speaker Lee Chuan-chiao’s (李全教) alleged vote-buying for the position in 2014.     [FULL  STORY]

DPP pledges to work to maintain cross-strait stability

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-02
By: Central News Agency

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday said it has taken note of a statement by the U.S. government encouraging Taipei and Beijing to continue their efforts to maintain cross-Taiwan Strait peace and stability.

“Cross-strait peace and stability is the joint responsibility of the two sides. We will work hard for it,” DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) said.

Wang added that the DPP also appreciated Washington’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and its attention to cross-strait peace.

He was responding to remarks made by U.S. National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Dan Kritenbrink in a press briefing held Thursday, prior to a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平).

On a question related to Taiwan, Kritenbrink said he expected the issue of Taiwan would be raised in the meeting because it almost always comes up in any meeting between the two presidents.     [FULL  STORY]

Sunny weather to continue till the first part of Sunday: CWB

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/02
By: Chen Wei-ting and Lilian Wu

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) The weather during Taiwan’s four-day Tomb Sweeping Festival that 40958991began on Saturday will be sunny and warm in the first two days, while turning cooler in the second half of the holiday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

According to the CWB, highs will be 26-28 degrees Celsius in northern and eastern Taiwan, and 29-31 degrees in central and southern Taiwan on Saturday and Sunday. But it also reminded the public to watch for a drop to between 18 and 20 degrees at night.

The sunny weather will continue until the first half part of Sunday. But a front is expected to pass over Taiwan on Monday, and the weather in northern Taiwan will become cooler, with the high dropping to 24 degrees.

Sporadic rain can be expected in the mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan and also in northern and eastern Taiwan April 4-5 before the island returns to sunny and warm weather after Tuesday.

The CWB said the temperature next Wednesday and Thursday will rebound quickly, giving people the feeling of summer coming.     [FULL  STORY]

Committee to review execution cases

MA’S MESSENGER?Lawyer Chou Wu-jung said that the minister of justice’s trip to China was highly inappropriate due to concerns over national security leaks

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

On returning to Taiwan late on Friday from a landmark visit to China, a country infamous for its high execution rate, Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) said her ministry would tread carefully when dealing with cases involving capital punishment.

Addressing calls by some groups to execute convicted offenders on death row, Luo said the Ministry of Justice would deal with the issue in a prudent manner, adding that the ministry has formed a “special review committee” for capital punishment cases that involve potential miscarriages of justice.

A plan to set up the committee came before a four-year-old girl was decapitated in Taipei on Monday.

“In the aftermath of the case, everyone sees the need for this special review committee to implement and carry out its mandate,” Luo said. “Therefore, we request prosecutors’ offices at all levels to pass on all cases involving capital punishment to the ministry for review by the committee.”

Luo said that she is unaware of the progress of the review process on various cases, so she does not know whether any inmates on death row would be executed before May 20, when President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration steps down.     [FULL  STORY]

Hon Hai’s Terry Gou signs deal with Sharp

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-04-02
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Chairman Terry Gou signed 6745505the 388.8 billion yen (NT$111.8 billion, US$3.4 billion) investment deal with Sharp Corporation in Osaka Saturday.

The official signing gives the Taiwanese company 66 percent of Sharp, and crowns a saga lasting years, during which offers for the ailing Japanese brand name came and went until a final agreement was reached last Wednesday. The agreement is expected to cement the role of Hon Hai, which is also known by the name Foxconn, as one of the world’s biggest manufacturer of computers and cell phones, in particular for Apple Inc. Control over Sharp will allow the Taiwanese company to improve its development of high-definition LCD panels for mobile devices, reports said.

Immediately after the signing, Gou, Sharp Chairman Kozo Takahashi, and Hon Hai Vice Chairman Tai Jeng-wu stood for minutes hand in hand posing for the media in front of a screen with the company names and the flags of Taiwan and Japan.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan, Thailand jointly crack down on drug traffickers

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/02

Bangkok, April 2 (CNA) Taiwanese and Thai police and investigators have worked together 29083619to crack down on drug traffickers who were planning to smuggle 48 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan, a senior Thai officer said Saturday.

It was the most serious drug trafficking crime in Thailand to have been thwarted in recent years, said Rewat Klinkaysorn, head of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau in the Southeast Asian country, at a news conference.

In collaboration with Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau, Thai police seized the drugs, 1,050 bullets and 13,000 ecstasy pills, as well as about NT$4.96 million (US$153,536) in cash, Rewat said.     [FULL  STORY]

Random Killing Aftermath: Court orders hospitalized man’s release

MAYOR MOCKED:A Facebook campaign targeting Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said more community activities should be organized ‘to lure the eccentric Ko from his home’

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 03, 2016
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that the Taipei City Government’s alleged forced

A Taipei District Court document saying that a man surnamed Ting who was forcibly hospitalized on Thursday should be released from hospital is pictured yesterday. Photo: Hsiang Cheng-chen, Taipei Times

A Taipei District Court document saying that a man surnamed Ting who was forcibly hospitalized on Thursday should be released from hospital is pictured yesterday. Photo: Hsiang Cheng-chen, Taipei Times

hospitalization of a homeless man surnamed Ting (丁) on Thursday was flawed, demanding that Ting be discharged immediately from Taipei City Hospital’s Songde Branch.

It is unclear whether Ting had any intention of hurting himself or others at the time of his hospitalization, but Ting was hospitalized against his will and deprived of his personal freedom, which is a breach of the Mental Health Act (精神衛生法), the court said.

The Songde hospital on Friday night said that it had transported Ting back to his usual spot at National Chengchi University (NCCU) in a taxi out of respect for his request to be discharged made in a teleconference with the court earlier that afternoon.

However, questions over the incident remained as statements by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and the Taipei Department of Health did not seem to match up, adding to the confusion over the incident.     [FULL  STORY]