Taiwan's TSMC begins mass production of 3nm chips

TAINAN, Taiwan - Taiwanese tech giant TSMC said Thursday it had started mass production of its 3-nanometre chips, among the most advanced to come to market.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company operates the world's largest silicon wafer factories and produces high-performance chips used in everything from smartphones and cars to missiles. It is also Apple's primary chip supplier.

Its 3nm-process chips are expected to have more processing power while using less power, boosting battery performance.

"Our 3nm technology will be used massively in future state-of-the-art technological products, including supercomputers, cloud servers, high speed internet and many many mobile devices," chairman Mark Liu said at a ceremony announcing mass production at a plant in the southwestern city of Tainan.

He added that the company plans to build even smaller 2nm plants in the Taiwanese cities of Hsinchu and Taichung.

TSMC's South Korean rival Samsung began mass production of its 3nm chips in June.

Taiwan plays an outsized role in the global chip industry.

TSMC alone accounts for nearly 50 percent of the world's production of chips below 10nm.

The concentration of such a crucial industry in one place has begun to cause geopolitical jitters, especially as China increasingly threatens Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that the Chinese Communist Party claims and has vowed to one day seize.

The global chip shortage during the coronavirus pandemic deepened those concerns.

TSMC has been lobbied by western powers to build more foundries overseas which it has agreed to do.

The company is constructing a huge $40 billion plant in Arizona which will eventually produce its own 4nm and 3nm chips, part of US efforts to ensure a stable supply of semiconductors on its soil.

President Joe Biden attended a ceremony earlier this month to announce a mammoth expansion of the Arizona plant, which is one of the largest foreign investments in the United States. 

TSMC has also agreed to build foundries in Japan and is exploring Germany as a possible location.

At the same time, Taiwan's tech companies and its government are keen to ensure the majority of state of the art production remains at home, in part because the industry affords the island some protection.

Any invasion or blockade of Taiwan by China would have catastrophic consequences for the global economy because so many crucial semiconductors are made there -- a buffer that analysts call Taiwan's "Silicon Shield".

President Tsai Ing-wen has played down concerns that Taiwan risks losing that shield -- and jobs -- by building foundries overseas and instead has portrayed the investments as a sign of the island's technological prowess.

"TSMC founder Morris Chang has repeatedly said Taiwan remains the best place for TSMC to invest in as Taiwan has a comprehensive ecosystem and a superior workforce," Tsai said earlier this week.

"He meant that we do not have to worry about Taiwan’s chip industry."

Agence France-Presse

Taiwan to extend COVID-19 curbs into next month

TAIPEI - Taiwan will extend its coronavirus curbs by 2 more weeks until July 12 as the situation has yet to reach a point where they can be relaxed, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said Wednesday.

Taiwan has been dealing with a rise in domestic infections since May after months of relative safety, leading the government to limit personal gatherings and close entertainment venues. Those restrictions were meant to end on June 28.

But Chen told reporters they would be extended.

"Although the overall trend has improved during this period, it has not met our requirements. So for 2 more weeks, everyone will endure and work together, hoping to reach a more stable level after July 12," he said.

Chen announced 104 new domestic infections, up from up from 78 on Tuesday.

Although Taiwan's numbers remain comparatively low, authorities are reporting community transmission and clusters of infections.

Taiwan has logged 14,260 cases since the pandemic began, including 599 deaths.

-reuters-

Dozens dead, many injured as train derails in Taiwan

TAIPEI --  A Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel on Friday after hitting a truck that had slid down a bank onto the track, killing at least 50 passengers and injuring 146 in the island's worst rail disaster in seven decades.

Images from the scene showed some carriages ripped apart by the impact, with others crumpled, hindering rescuers in their efforts to reach passengers.

By mid-afternoon no one was still trapped, though the fire department said it had found body parts, meaning the number of those killed, who included the driver, was likely to rise.

"People just fell all over each other, on top of one another," a woman who survived the crash told domestic television. "It was terrifying. There were whole families there."

Taiwan's government said there were 496 people on the train, including 120 without seats. Many were tourists and people heading home at the start of a traditional long weekend holiday to tend to family graves. One French citizen was among the dead, officials said.

The train was traveling from Taipei, the capital, to the southeastern city of Taitung.

It came off the rails north of the eastern city of Hualien after hitting a truck that had slid off a road from a nearby construction site, Feng Hui-sheng, the Taiwan Railways Administration's deputy director, told reporters.

Feng said the manager of the site, which was stabilizing the mountainside to prevent landslides, visited around 9 a.m. and stopped his truck in front of the site office.

"At present it is suspected because the vehicle wasn't braked properly, it slid for around 20 meters along the site access road and entered the eastern trunk line," he added.

The official Central News Agency said police had taken in the manager for questioning.

The fire department showed a picture of what appeared to be wreckage of the truck beside the derailed train, with an aerial image of one end of the train still on the track next to the construction site.

'EVERYTHING SHOOK'

Survivors described their terror as the train slammed into the truck and ground to a halt.

"It suddenly came to a stop and then everything shook," one told local television. "It was all so chaotic."

Passengers in some carriages still in the tunnel had to be led to safety, the railway administration said.

Images showed an injured passenger carried away on a stretcher, with her head and neck in a brace, while others gathered suitcases and bags in a tilted, derailed carriage as some walked on the train's roof to exit the tunnel.

The accident occurred at the beginning of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.

Taiwan's mountainous east coast is a tourist destination. The railway that snakes down from Taipei hugs the coast and is known for its tunnels, in one of which the crash took place. The link to Taipei opened in 1979.

Taiwan's state-owned railways are generally reliable and efficient, but have had a patchy safety record over the years.

The last major crash was in 2018, when 18 people died and 175 were injured when a train derailed in the island's northeast.

In 1948, 64 people are estimated to have died when a train burst into flames in northern Taiwan.

-reuters-

Taiwan holds Pride March amid COVID-19 lockdown

Participants march during the "Taiwan Pride March for the World!" at Liberty Square at the CKS Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday. Taiwan is one of the few countries where a gay pride event was held amid the lockdowns imposed in many parts of the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Associated Press

From settlement to counselling, Taiwan promises help for fleeing Hong Kongers

TAIPEI — Taiwan on Thursday promised to settle Hong Kongers who flee the Chinese-ruled city due to political reasons, offering help from employment to counselling as China pushes new security legislation that has triggered fresh protests.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen this week became the first world leader to pledge specific measures to help people from Hong Kong who may leave the former British colony due to the new legislation, a move that is certain to sour already poor ties between Taipei and Beijing.

Chen Ming-tong, head of Taiwan's top China-policy maker, the Mainland Affairs Council, told parliament the government will establish an organization to deliver "humanitarian relief" that includes settlement and employment in a joint effort with activists groups.

He said counselling services will also be available for Hong Kongers, some of whom may take part in increasingly violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

"Many Hong Kongers want to come to Taiwan. Our goal is to give them settlement and care," Chen said, urging the public not use the word "refugee" as it could be "emotionally harmful" for people from the city.

Chen, however, did not give details such as scale, timing and qualification of the relief program when pressed by lawmakers, saying the government is still working on the details.

Hong Kong's demonstrators have won widespread sympathy in democratic Taiwan, which China considers as its territory to be taken by force, if necessary. Taiwan has shown no interest in being ruled by autocratic China. 


Help for Hong Kong has won rare bipartisan support in politically polarized Taiwan and 3 opposition parties have introduced bills to make it easier for Hong Kongers to live in Taiwan if they have to leave the city due to political reasons. 

Taiwan has no law on refugees that could be applied to protesters seeking asylum, but its laws promise to help Hong Kongers whose safety and liberty are threatened for political reasons.

Some say Tsai's government is not moving fast enough.

"Please come up with details of the humanitarian relief at the soonest. Don't wait until people shed blood like water," said Chen Yu-jen, a lawmaker from main opposition Kuomintang party. 

Ivan Tang, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist, welcomed Tsai's support but cautioned a sense of urgency among protesters in the city, some of whom had been barred from entering Taiwan due to travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"They have nowhere to go... but the security law could be implemented soon," he said.

Taiwan has become a popular destination for Hong Kongers leaving the city, with the number of Hong Kong citizens granted Taiwan residency jumping 150 percent to 2,383 in the first 4 months of 2020 compared with a year ago, official data shows.

University applications to Taiwan from Hong Kong also rose 62 percent in 2020 from a year ago, and island's education ministry said this week it was planning to raise the quota for Hong Kong students. 

-reuters-

Taiwan’s weapon against coronavirus: An epidemiologist as vice president

TAIPEI — The calls come at night, when Taiwan’s vice president, Chen Chien-jen, is usually at home in his pajamas. Scientists seek his advice on the development of antiviral medications. Health officials ask for guidance as they investigate an outbreak of the coronavirus on a navy ship.

Like many world leaders, Chen is fighting to keep the coronavirus at bay and to predict the course of the pandemic. He is tracking infections, pushing for vaccines and testing kits, and reminding the public to wash their hands.

But unlike most officials, Chen has spent his career preparing for this moment — he is a Johns Hopkins-trained epidemiologist and an expert in viruses.

That experience has thrust Chen from behind the scenes to the forefront of Taiwan’s response to the crisis. He has embraced his rare dual role, using his political authority to criticize China for initially trying to conceal the virus even as the scientist in him hunkers down to analyze trends in transmission.

Chen is straddling the 2 worlds at a time when science has become increasingly political. Chinese and American officials are regularly trading unsubstantiated theories attacking each other about the origins of the virus.

Around the world, public health experts routinely spar with political leaders over how the virus spreads and the costs and benefits of lockdowns. Chen says that as vice president, only facts inform his policies.

“Evidence is more important than playing politics,” he said in a recent interview in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.

Now in the final weeks of his term, Chen’s legacy as vice president may be shaped by Taiwan’s success.

Chen, 68, with his frizzy gray hair and a toothy smile, is known affectionately in Taiwan as “elder brother,” and many people credit him with helping the island avoid the large-scale infections and deaths from the coronavirus have overwhelmed many countries.


As a top health official during the SARS crisis of 2003, he pushed a series of reforms to prepare the island for the next outbreak, including building isolation wards and virus research laboratories.

Taiwan’s early preparations put it in a strong position when the virus hit, and the island has earned widespread praise for its response. It has so far reported about 400 confirmed cases and 6 deaths, far fewer than many countries.

Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said Chen had a mix of “political clout and technical expertise” that was effective in Taiwan, a society where he said there was strong trust in science and respect for medical professionals.

Now Chen hopes Taiwan can play a leading role in helping the world recover from the virus and restart economic growth. He is overseeing efforts to develop a vaccine and produce tools like rapid coronavirus testing kits.

“Taiwan cannot stand by when other countries are in great danger,” he said.

Chen maintains the bookish manner of a research scientist and is largely unaccustomed to the attention. He has made a career out of staying out of political fights, even refusing to join the governing Democratic Progressive Party that is led by President Tsai Ing-wen.

“He is a scholar; he actually doesn’t care much about the power game,” said Chen Chi-mai, a deputy prime minister who as a public health student in the 1990s took an epidemiology class from Chen and remains a close friend. “He is popular because he is neutral.”

The president has deployed Chen as a leading voice to lobby for greater recognition for Taiwan on the global stage, including pushing for membership in the World Health Organization.

Chen is now at the center of a global battle over the narrative about how the virus spread worldwide.

He says Taiwan tried to warn the WHO in late December about the potential for the virus to spread from person to person but was ignored. The WHO has rejected the accusation, saying Taiwan merely requested information from the health agency but did not issue any warning.

Chen has seized the moment, denouncing China’s efforts to block Taiwan from joining the WHO and calling on countries around the world to study the “Taiwan model” of controlling the outbreak.

Chen’s prominence has made him a frequent target of criticism by mainland Chinese commentators, who have accused the government of using the pandemic to seek independence for Taiwan, which China’s government considers part of its territory.

“He wears the clothing of professionalism but deviates from the rigorous precision of science and blatantly speaks nonsense and fabricates rumors,” said a recent commentary by Xinhua, China’s official news agency. “The nature of it is particularly vicious.”

Chen laughs at the criticism.

“China has to be focused more on COVID-19 control rather than politics,” he said.

From a young age, Chen was surrounded by politics. He is the son of a powerful county leader in southern Taiwan and said he quickly developed an appreciation for the art of compromise.

“From my father, I learned that politics does not mean people have to fight against each other to the death,” he recalled in an interview in 2016 with Taiwan’s official Central News Agency. “Once people get stranded in such a confrontation, they will constantly find fault with each other.”

For much of his career, he made a point of avoiding politics, instead focusing on his first love, the natural sciences. He earned a doctorate in epidemiology and human genetics from Johns Hopkins University in 1982, and became an authority in hepatitis B as well as diseases associated with arsenic exposure.

At the height of the SARS outbreak, which infected 671 people and killed 84 people in Taiwan, Chen was tapped to be health minister.

At the time, the government faced a crisis of confidence after authorities sealed a contaminated hospital with more than 1,000 people inside. The move triggered panic and some people inside the facility, convinced that they or their loves ones had the virus, tried to kill themselves.

“We saw people jumping out of windows,” Chen recalled. “It was really chaotic.”

After working to contain SARS, Chen led Taiwan in its efforts to prepare for the next outbreak. The government established a disaster management center, increased production of protective gear and revised the infectious disease law, among other measures.

Chen returned to academic life until 2015, when Tsai, then a presidential candidate, tapped him to be her running mate.

As vice president, Chen has faced other challenges. He tackled pension reform, prompting protests from civil servants over cuts. A Catholic, he visited the Vatican three times as vice president, angering Beijing, which has urged the Vatican to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

He has supported same-sex marriage, which became legal in Taiwan last year, despite criticism from other Christians.

Mostly, he kept a low profile. But in late December, amid the first reports of a mysterious pneumonia emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan, about 600 miles northwest of Taipei, he jumped into action, worried about the possibility of an epidemic.

Chen quickly ordered the authorities to screen travelers from mainland China and to isolate people showing symptoms of the virus. By Jan. 21, the first case had arrived in Taiwan, and the government soon began rationing masks.

After an outbreak on a navy ship, he urged officials to test more than 700 crew members with the hope of collecting data for a study on asymptomatic patients.

On May 20, Chen will step down as vice president. He plans to return to academia and says the coronavirus will be a focus of his research.

Every day around 7 a.m., Chen goes to church, where mass has been canceled because of the virus.

“I pray to have the courage to change what we can change,” he said, noting the effort to produce better tests, drugs and vaccines. “We have to accept what we cannot change."

The New York Times

Taiwan pushes WHO participation in rare ministerial call with US

TAIPEI - In a rare teleconference between health ministers, Taiwan has thanked the United States for its support in pushing for the island's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the coronavirus pandemic and despite China's objections.

In turn the United States thanked Taiwan for sharing its medical best practices. Taiwan has limited the coronavirus outbreak to just 429 confirmed cases and six deaths.

Taiwan's lack of membership at the WHO, due to China's objections which considers the island merely one of its provinces, has infuriated Taipei, which says its exclusion has created a glaring gap in global fight against coronavirus.


In a teleconference late Monday, Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung thanked US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar "for the strong support extended by the United States for Taiwan's participation in the WHO", Taiwan's Health Ministry said in a statement.

"Minister Chen told Secretary Azar that he hopes the US will continue to support for Taiwan's full participation in the World Health Assembly as observer and WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities," the statement added.

The World Health Assembly is the WHO's decision-making body.

Taiwan attended it as an observer from 2009-2016 when Taipei-Beijing relations warmed, but China blocked further participation after the election of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who China views as a separatist, charges she rejects.

Taiwan's Health Ministry said that Azar reaffirmed "the continued and concrete support from the US of expanding Taiwan's participation in the WHO and global health arena".

The WHO and China both say Taiwan has been given the access to and information it needs from the body during the pandemic, but Taiwan says that has been limited.

Azar, in a tweet, said he had thanked Chen for Taiwan's "efforts to share their best practices and resources with the US" "Now, more than ever, global health partnership is crucial and I appreciate Taiwan's contributions."

Direct, public interactions between ministerial-level officials from Taiwan and the United States are unusual as the two do not have official diplomatic ties.

The United States, like most countries, only has formal relations with Beijing, though it is Taiwan's strongest backer on the international stage.

Earlier this month Taiwan and the United States discussed how to get "closer coordination" between the island and the WHO during the coronavirus outbreak, drawing a rebuke from China for "political manipulation" of the epidemic.

US President Donald Trump signed a new law last month requiring increased support for Taiwan's international role. China threatened unspecified retaliation in response.

Taiwan has been far more successful than many of its neighbors keeping the virus in check thanks to early and stringent steps to control its spread.

-reuters-

Taiwan reports 22 new coronavirus cases, mostly navy sailors

TAIPEI - Taiwan's government on Sunday reported 22 new coronavirus cases, 21 of whom had been on a Taiwanese navy mission to the Pacific island state of Palau last month.

The new cases bring Taiwan's total to 420, six of whom have died.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sam Holmes)

-reuters-

Taiwan reports no new coronavirus cases for first time in a month

TAIPEI - Taiwan on Tuesday reported no new cases of the coronavirus for the first time in more than a month, in the latest sign that the island's early and effective prevention methods have paid off.

Taiwan has won plaudits from health experts for how it has fought the virus, including starting as early as Dec. 31 checks on passengers arriving from China's Wuhan city, where the first cases were reported late last year.

Taiwan has reported 393 cases to date, and six deaths. A total of 338 were so-called imported cases, where people were suspected of getting infected overseas before entering Taiwan, with the rest cases of local transmissions.

"Of course, we hope it has passed," Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference, referring to the virus on the island. "But we still need to be on our guard. Of course, we feel happy at no new cases today."

Chen said the last time Taiwan reported no new cases was March 9, after which numbers spiked for a time with people coming back to the island from places now reeling from the virus in Europe and the United States.

The number of people discharged after they were diagnosed with the coronavirus has reached 124, Taiwan's government added.

However, restrictions remain in place, such as compulsory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals onto the island, and the number of international flights has fallen dramatically.

Taiwan has not gone into total lockdown because of the virus and life has continued relatively normally, though the government has promoted social distancing and mandated the wearing of face masks on public transport.

-reuters-

iPhone manufacturer says to make ventilators in COVID-19 fight

TAIPEI - Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn will make ventilators with US firm Medtronic Plc to help patients afflicted by the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Wednesday.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is best known for assembling Apple's iPhones at factories in China.

In a statement released through company founder Terry Gou's office, Foxconn said it was currently cooperating with Medtronic to design and develop ventilators, and medical and technical personnel from both firms were working closely on this.

The companies hope to speed up production time so the ventilators can be put to work as soon as possible, it added.

Medtronic Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak told CNBC that Foxconn's Wisconsin plant would be used to make the ventilators.

Other companies in the United States are also rushing to make ventilators as the coronavirus spreads rapidly there.

Ford Motor Co said last week it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric's healthcare unit, and can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients infected by the coronavirus. 

-Reuters-

Taiwan tells agencies not to use Zoom on security grounds

Taiwan's cabinet has told government agencies to stop using Zoom Video Communications Inc's conferencing app, the latest blow to the company as it battles criticism of its booming platform over privacy and security concerns.

Zoom's daily users ballooned to more than 200 million in March, as coronavirus-induced shutdowns forced employees to work from home and schools switched to the company's free app for conducting and coordinating online classes.

However, the company is facing a backlash from users worried about the lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting sessions and "zoombombing," where uninvited guests crash into meetings.

If government agencies must hold video conferencing, they "should not use products with security concerns, like Zoom," Taiwan's cabinet said in a statement on Tuesday. It did not elaborate on what the security concerns were.

The island's education ministry later said it was banning the use of Zoom in schools.

Zoom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Taiwan would be the first government formally advising against use of Zoom, although some US schools districts are looking at putting limits on its use after an FBI warning last month.

Zoom Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan last week apologized to users, saying the company had fallen short of the community's privacy and security expectations, and was taking steps to fix the issues.

Zoom competes with Microsoft's Teams, Cisco's Webex and Google's Hangouts.

Taiwan's cabinet said domestically-made conferencing apps were preferred, but if needed, products from Google and Microsoft could also be considered.

Zoom's shares dipped 1 percent in premarket trading on the Nasdaq. They have lost nearly a third of their market value since touching record highs late March.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

China military drills during virus outbreak anger Taiwan

TAIPEI - Anger is rising in Taiwan over China continuing to buzz the island with fighter jets and warships even as they both fight the global coronavirus pandemic.

The self-ruled democratic island has had to scramble its own fighter jets in response to recent Chinese maneuvers, designed to show that Beijing's military might remains unbowed by the health crisis.

But the tactic is winning few friends among the Taiwanese.

"As the world grapples with the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, China's military maneuvers around Taiwan have continued unabated," President Tsai Ing-wen said in a tweet late Tuesday accompanied by pictures of her visiting troops.

"Whether it's national defense or preventing the spread of disease, our armed forces remain as vigilant as ever," she added.

Beijing has ramped up drills around the island since Tsai was first elected in 2016 because she refuses to acknowledge its concept that Taiwan is part of "one China."

There has been little let up during the devastating coronavirus outbreak that began in China.

Taipei's defense ministry said four "targeted" drills have been conducted by China near its borders this year, which it said was "concrete evidence of provocations and threats."

Taiwan ran an exercise with its own F16 fighter jets on Tuesday in response.

"China continues the drills to show to the world, as well as to assure its people, that it has maintained military strength and defense abilities in the midst of an epidemic," Lin Ying-yu, a military analyst at National Chung Cheng University, told AFP.

The incursions have sparked anger on Taiwanese social media with some even calling for Chinese jets to be shot down.

"I firmly support to government to contain the outbreak of the China/Wuhan pneumonia and resist the harassment of the communists' military," read one message left on Tsai's Facebook page.

A Chinese military jet briefly crossed the median line separating the two sides in February, less than a month after Tsai was re-elected in a landslide.

The coronavirus has killed more than 3,000 people in China. But despite its close proximity, Taiwan has just 235 cases and two deaths. 

The island has been held up as a model for how to respond to the pandemic, even though Beijing ensures it is frozen out of global bodies such as the World Health Organization. 

"Taiwan is recognized internationally for its epidemic prevention that shows democratic Taiwan is beating authoritarian China and this is unacceptable for China," said Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker in Tsai's ruling party. 

China has lashed out at Taiwan for "using the outbreak to promote independence" because Taipei has signed bilateral agreements with countries, including the United States, on epidemic prevention and also sought to join the WHO.

Beijing still claims the self-ruling island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the two sides have been ruled separately for more than seven decades.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taiwan confirms first coronavirus death on island, cases at 20

TAIPEI - A taxi driver has died from the coronavirus in Taiwan, marking the first such death on the island and the fifth fatality outside mainland China from an epidemic that has curbed travel and disrupted global supply chains.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said during a news conference on Sunday that the deceased person was a 61-year-old man who had diabetes and hepatitis B. Taiwan has to date accumulated 20 confirmed cases.

The deceased person had not traveled abroad recently and was a taxi driver whose clients were mainly from Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, the minister said. One of his family members was also confirmed to have the virus.

The pair constituted Taiwan's first local transmission cases, the minister said, adding that authorities were trying to find out as soon as possible the source of contraction.

"So far, we are not able to gather his contact history, so we are actively making investigations, hoping to find out the source of the contraction," Chen said.

The island will on Monday start testing all patients who show symptoms associated with coronavirus and had traveled abroad recently, the health ministry said.

The coronavirus, thought to have emerged at a wildlife market in the central Chinese province of Hubei, has killed 1,665 people in China with latest figures showing 68,500 cases of the illness.

Taiwan has banned entry to Chinese visitors and foreigners with a recent history of travel to China and suspended most flights to its giant neighbor. Many schools have also extended their Lunar New Year holiday to late February to curb the spread of the virus.

In a response to panic buying of masks on the island, the government scrambled to build several mask production lines and Premier Su Tseng-chang has vowed to more than double its daily mask production to 10 million by early March. 

(Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Apple supplier Foxconn aims to resume production in virus-hit China by month-end

TAIPEI - Taiwan's Foxconn hopes to resume half of its production in China by month-end, a source told Reuters on Wednesday, as the supplier to tech giant Apple and others reopens plants shut over a coronavirus outbreak.

The world's largest contract electronics maker also aims to resume 80 percent of production in China in March, added the source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, citing internal targets set by Chairman Liu Young-Way.

Foxconn's reopenings after the Lunar New Year holiday were delayed by the rapid spread of the virus in China, which has killed more than 1,100 people, as the World Health Organization warned against a global threat potentially worse than terrorism.

"Chairman Liu hopes by end of February the production could reach 50 percent," said the person, who declined to be identified in the absence of authorization to speak publicly.

"Shipments will be affected, but it's too early to give an exact number. We might still have a chance to make it with overtime, but we also need to monitor consumer sentiment to come for the end products," the source added.

The reference was to electronics, including smartphones.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to email and telephone calls to seek comment.

Foxconn got the green light this week to reopen major plants in China, and its plant in the eastern city of Kunshan was also approved on Tuesday to resume production, an internal document reviewed by Reuters showed.

But just about a tenth of the workforce had returned to two key plants in southern Shenzhen and central Zhengzhou as of Monday, a source told Reuters.

The two plants make up the bulk of Foxconn's assembly lines for Apple's iPhones and further delays to production after the enforced closures could hit global shipments.

Apple estimated first-quarter revenue in a wider range than usual to factor in the virus uncertainty.

On Monday, Foxconn reported a drop of 12 percent in revenue in January from a year ago, to T$364.6 billion ($12 billion). It did not give details.

Shares of Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, gained 1.6 percent in Wednesday trade, outperforming a gain of 0.8 percent in the benchmark.

They have lost more than 8 percent since the market reopened after the holiday break.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sexist slurs mar Taiwan presidential elections

TAIPEI — Taiwan has forged a reputation as Asia's most progressive democracy and it boasts a higher proportion of women in parliament than anywhere else in the region -- yet misogynistic insults have littered its presidential race.

The campaign for the January 11 polls has exposed an undercurrent where female politicians face a gauntlet of personal abuse and jibes that their male counterparts rarely suffer.

The island's most prominent female politician is President Tsai Ing-wen, 63, who is seeking a second term.

She has once again faced insults based on her gender, much of it focused on the fact she is not married and does not have children.

Wu Den-yih, chairman of the opposition Kuomintang party, earlier this month used a Taiwanese slang term to dub Tsai "an unlucky woman" who had brought misfortune to her people.

And her presidential opponent Han Kuo-yu, 62, invoked 2 characters from an ancient Chinese erotic novel to describe Tsai's rivalry with her running mate.

Han's running mate Chang San-cheng also said Tsai could not understand the hearts of parents because she was "a woman who has never given birth".

In a Facebook post, Tsai hit out at the campaign rhetoric.

"I find such a political culture unacceptable and we will not accept any personal attacks against women using such language," she wrote.

Wu later apologized, saying he respected women and meant to criticize Tsai's job performance.

'SOWS AND VASES' 

Taiwan's election will be closely watched because much of the campaign has centered on relations with authoritarian China which has ramped up pressure since Tsai's 2016 election.

Tsai, a law professor and trade negotiator before she became a politician, is one of the few female leaders in Asia not to have hailed from a powerful political dynasty.

She is loathed by Beijing because her party refuses to accept the idea that Taiwan is part of the so-called One-China policy which denies the island's independence.

Han, the outspoken mayor of Kaohsiung city, favors much warmer relations with China.

But it is not just Tsai on the receiving end of gender-based jibes.

Chen Chu, a senior figure from Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party who was a political prisoner for 6 years when Taiwan was a dictatorship, has often been singled out for her appearance.

The KMT's Wu described her as "fatty" and "a big sow" while Taipei's mayor Ko Wen-je, head of the new Taiwan People's Party, described her as "a fatter Han Kuo-yu".

During a failed attempt to win the KMT's nomination, Taiwan's wealthiest man and Foxconn founder Terry Gou dismissed his wife's initial opposition to his bid by saying "the harem should not meddle in politics". He later apologized for his remarks.

The DPP are not free of accusations either.

A spokeswoman for KMT candidate Han complained that she was called "a vase" by Tsai's staff -- a derogatory term used to describe a pretty woman that lacks substance.

PROGRESSIVE ISLAND 

On paper Taiwan has impressive credentials on progress towards gender equality in politics.

The 2016 election that swept Tsai to power also returned a legislature where 38 percent of the seats were held by women, by far the highest proportion in Asia. 

The next highest proportion is the Philippines with 29 percent while South Korea and Japan have 17 and 10 percent, respectively, according to a database compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union as of January 2019.
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Taiwan's progressive image got a further boost when it became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriages in May.

But commentators say sexism and traditional views of gender still dominate -- and flourish during elections.

"Taiwan has made progress in gender equality but conservative forces are still strong," Tseng Chao-yuan, from the women's rights group Awakening Foundation, told AFP.

"It's disgusting that gender discriminatory comments keep recurring," she said, urging female politicians to stand up to the old-boy networks that dominate their parties.

A veteran figure within Tsai's own party once remarked on her first presidential run in 2012 that a "skirt-wearer is unfit to be a commander-in-chief". He later endorsed her.

But there are signs the sexist insults are backfiring.

Taiwan's younger voters are much more likely than older generations to support progressive issues such as gay marriage, and social media has filled with criticism of the language being used in this year's campaign.

Most polls show Tsai leading Han by a wide margin -- although some more recent data suggests Han might be closing the gap.

"Such vulgar and discriminatory language hurts all women living on this land," one Facebook post read.

"Women need to come out to vote to show our anger and teach them a lesson."

Agence France-Presse 

Taiwan revels in first pride parade since legalizing gay marriage

TAIPEI - Some two hundred thousand revelers marched through Taipei in a riot of rainbow colors and celebration on Saturday as Taiwan held its first pride parade since making history in Asia by legalizing gay marriage.

The island has long hosted the region's largest pride marches but this year Taiwan's LGBT community and their supporters had an extra reason to celebrate.

In May, lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalize same-sex marriages, becoming the first place in Asia to do so.

Over 2,000 couples have since wed, many of them taking part in Saturday's festival.

"I am very excited because it's the first pride parade after same-sex marriages are recognized and I got married," said Shane Lin, who became one of the first to wed his partner in the days after the new law came in.

"I am very moved that people around the world are joining us," the 31-year-old said.

Behind him passed a stready stream of color, from dancers with gym-honed bodies to unicorn floats and rainbow balloon arches.

"I support marriage equality because it is a basic human right," Henry Wu, a heterosexual teacher who brought his five-year-old son to the march, told AFP.

"Taiwan made huge progress in legalizing same-sex marriages ... I feel very proud we are the first in Asia to do so," he added.

In the last decade, Taiwan has become increasingly progressive on gay rights with Taipei home to a thriving LGBT community and increasingly large pride marches.

Organizers estimated more than 200,000 people attended Saturday's festivities.

But the issue of same-sex equality has deeply polarized society.


[BOLD] Landmark ruling, conservative backlash

Taiwan's Constitutional Court made a landmark ruling in 2017 to legalize gay marriage and ruled its decision must be implemented within two years.

Conservative and religious groups mobilized to oppose amending the Civil Code and comfortably won a series of referendums last November in which voters rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman.

In May, conservative lawmakers put forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions but those measures ultimately failed in parliament.

Opponents have vowed to punish incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen and the lawmakers who supported the gay marriage law at January 11 elections when voters will elect both a new president and a new parliament.

But it remains to be seen whether the issue will harm her on the campaign trail, especially in more rural and conservative places, during an election that will more likely be dominated by the relationship with China and local economic issues.

Taiwan's gay marriage law still contains restrictions not faced by heterosexual couples.

Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognized.

"Marriage equality is the beginning, it's not the end," said Leong Chin-fai, a 31-year-old Macanese national who is currently unable to wed his Taiwanese partner.

"We hope to keep pushing for issues including recognition of international marriages, parental and adoption rights," he added.

Taiwan is at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. It is also praised as a "beacon" of democracy in the region for its democratic reforms and civil liberties since it emerged from one of the world's longest periods of martial law.

But International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) noted Taiwan still faces key challenges and passed a motion condemning its use of death penalty Friday as it wrapped up a week-long congress in Taipei, its first held in Asia.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dior apologizes for China map excluding Taiwan

BEIJING - Luxury brand Dior has become the latest company to apologize to China over a perceived insult to national sovereignty, saying Thursday it "cherishes the feelings of the Chinese people."

The French luxury brand found itself in hot water after using a map of China which did not include Taiwan, a self-ruled island which Beijing views as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

The scandal broke after a student posted an anonymous video to the Chinese social media app Weibo, purporting to show a presentation Wednesday at Zhejiang Gongshang University, in eastern China.

In the video a presenter from Dior displays a map without the island of Taiwan marked, which quickly drew criticism online and prompted Dior to deny that it represented the brand's position.

"Dior always respects and maintains the principle of One China, strictly upholds China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and cherishes the feelings of the Chinese people," the French brand said in a statement.

"The company has started to investigate seriously and promised to deal with it severely," Dior's statement read.

By Thursday afternoon, the hashtag "Dior apologizes" had more than 250 million views.

China reacts strongly to any brand that appears to insult its territorial sovereignty.

"Haven't we talked about this many times this year? It's definitely intentional," one netizen posted on Weibo.

A number of companies and international airlines have edited their websites to refer to the democratic island of Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" or "Chinese Taipei."

Hotel chain Marriott's website in China was shut down by authorities for a week in 2018 after a customer questionnaire listed Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries, prompting the hotel chain to apologize and change the wording.

Brands that appear to support the unrest in Hong Kong have also faced consumer ire, including the territory's flagship carrier Cathay.

Jewellery brand Tiffany removed an advert showing a woman covering one eye earlier this month, after Chinese consumers accused the company of supporting protesters by referencing a well known injury.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taiwan bridge collapse crushes fishing boats, some crew feared trapped

TAIPEI - A bridge collapsed into a harbor in northeastern Taiwan on Tuesday, crushing several fishing boats with some crew feared trapped, authorities said, although the number of casualties was not immediately clear.

Several injured people were taken to hospital, while divers plunged into the waters in a search for those feared trapped in a couple of fishing boats, 2 government officials from the port township of Suao told Reuters.

"The bridge collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. while an oil tanker vehicle was on it, setting the vehicle on fire," said Shih I-chun, the secretary of the town's mayor. "We feared that some fishermen might be trapped in the boats."

Authorities have pressed soldiers into the rescue effort and set up an emergency center to run the operation.

The collapse of the bridge, which carries traffic over the busy fishing port, damaged 3 fishing boats and 2 vehicles, including the tanker, the officials said, though the reason for the collapse in clear weather was not immediately clear.

Late on Monday, Typhoon Mitag, packing maximum winds of 162 kph, swept past northeastern Taiwan, injuring 12 people and cutting power to more than 66,000 homes, with more than 150 flights cancelled.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taiwan joins global protest in support of Hong Kong

TAIPEI - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei and four other major Taiwanese cities on Sunday as part of a global "anti-totalitarianism rally" in support of Hong Kong protesters who have been demanding greater democracy for the last four months.

Similar rallies were held in over 40 other cities around the world including Berlin, Sydney and Tokyo.

In the capital Taipei, organizers said more than 100,000 showed up at a march that began outside the legislative compound and also ended there.

Braving heavy rain, participants chanted "Free Hong Kong" and "Taiwan with Hong Kong," with many holding placards critical of Beijing's proposal to use the "one country, two systems" formula for Taiwan.

Senior members of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which has long been identified with Taiwan independence, took part in the march.

Since June, there have been protests almost every weekend in Hong Kong, many turning violent, initially triggered by a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong people to be sent to mainland China for trial.

The protesters have now made a list of five demands, which include and independent inquiry into alleged police brutality and democratic reform.

The organizers of Sunday's march said that Taiwan and Hong Kong should object to "one China" and peace agreements with China. "One China" refers to Beijing's view that Taiwan is not a separate and independent country from mainland China.

They also called on Taiwan's government to establish a legal framework to shelter Hong Kong people who flee political persecution.

Before the march began, Hong Kong singer-activist Denise Ho was attacked by a Chinese man who poured a can of red paint over her head while she was talking to reporters.

Undaunted, Ho continued the interview and said she will not be intimidated by what she called "red terror."

"What such dramatic behavior tells us is that China wants us to shut up," Ho said. "But we will never back down because there is nowhere to go."

President Tsai Ing-wen criticized the perpetrators on her Facebook page, saying that her government will not tolerate such "violent disruption" and that no one should ever attempt to challenge Taiwan's democracy and rule of law.

Despite disagreeable weather, the march in Taipei attracted people from all walks of life and of different nationalities.

Also taking part in the march was Paul Lin, cofounder of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps and a political commentator.

Lin was born in the Chinese city of Chongqing but fled to Hong Kong, where he became a journalist and a vocal critic of China. He and his Taiwanese wife relocated to the United States and then Taiwan, where he became a citizen.

Lin said what Taiwan can learn from Hong Kong is that the Communist Party of China is not at all trustworthy because it has no problem negating its commitment to Hong Kong.

Another participant, Daniel Lin, said he attended the march because he wanted Hong Kong people to know that Taiwanese people care about them.

The 37-year-old businessman who came to the event with his dog said he hopes all Hong Kong people will be able to enjoy the same level of individual freedom, security and human rights they had before the city was handed over to China in 1997.

Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing has since then endeavored to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province awaiting reunification.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Zara seeks to distance brand from HK protest controversy

BEIJING - Spanish apparel giant Zara, seeking to avoid becoming embroiled in controversy over protests in Hong Kong, issued a statement on Chinese social media late on Monday expressing support for China's sovereignty over the Asian financial hub.

Zara made its statement after the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao asked in a headline whether the closure of four of the company's Hong Kong shops on Monday was in support of a strike call by students, a question that was seized upon by mainland social media users.

Zara, owned by Inditex, said it supported the "one country, two systems" policy under which China rules Hong Kong, and had not supported strikes.

It was not immediately clear why Zara closed the stores on Monday, as reported by Ming Pao, although shops in Hong Kong have often shut their doors when protests are taking place nearby.

Zara did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

The brand became a top trending topic on China's Weibo social media platform, with one hashtag "Zara statement" viewed more than 170 million times as of Tuesday morning.

On Monday, thousands of Hong Kong university and school students boycotted class and rallied peacefully for democracy, following a weekend marred by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago.

Foreign brands are under increasing pressure from Chinese consumers and regulators to fall into line on contentious issues around Chinese sovereignty and its territorial claims.

Last month, a number of Chinese brand ambassadors of fashion labels from Coach to Givenchy severed ties with the companies over products which they said violated China's sovereignty by identifying Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries.

Last year, Zara was criticized on Chinese social media for placing Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China sees as a break-away province, in a pull-down list of countries on its Chinese website. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com