Business, tourism districts ghost towns, but supermarkets packed with crowds after epidemic warning raised to Level 3

People stayed away from normally crowded areas including Taipei City’s Xinyi District, and popular tourist hotspots such as Jiufen, but supermarkets in residential districts around Greater Taipei were crowded with people who waited in cues for up to an hour to stock up on such survival essentials as toilet paper and instant noodles, today, Saturday, May 15. The crowded supermarkets versus empty streets phenomena appeared after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 180 new cases of COVID-19, leading to

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Food scandal: Restaurateur who passed off duck liver for foie gras has prison sentence commuted

The owner of a high-end teppanyaki restaurant in Kaohsiung City won an appeal to the Supreme Court, effectively reducing her penalty to a commutable prison sentence of 5 months from a previous 1 year, 6 month sentence for the crime of passing off duck liver as genuine foie gras, yesterday, May 13. The legal saga began at lunchtime on September 19, 2016, when a man named Lu (盧) took his wife to the Cardial restaurant on Longde Road, Gushan District,

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Full power should be restored by 9:40 pm: Ministry of Economic Affairs

Full power capacity should be restored by 9:40 pm, ending a series of blackouts around Taiwan, the Minister of Economic Affairs said at an emergency press conference this evening, May 13. The announcement was made after island-wide power rationing in the form of rolling blackouts plunged millions of households and businesses into darkness for up to one hour at a time from 3:00 pm this afternoon. The power rationing was implemented after a power grid accident at the Xingda (Hsinta)

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Power plant shutdown leads to island-wide rolling blackouts

An accident at the Kaohsiung City Xingda (Hsinta) thermal power plant caused island-wide rolling blackouts this afternoon, Thursday, May 13. Executive Yuan spokesperson Luo Bin-cheng said today (13) that the Xingda Power Plant has been shut down due to an accident and the power supply capacity of the system is insufficient. It is expected that the emergency rolling power outages will be implemented at 3 pm today. Taipower will do its best to repair it. And report to the public after finding

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Supermarket shelves emptied of epidemic survival products as residents fear possible lockdown

People rushed to supermarkets this evening, Wednesday, May 12, to stock up on supplies of products such as instant noodles, toilet paper, and disinfectant alcohol after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) raised the epidemic alert warning to Level 2, and the mayor of New Taipei City hinted that a city-wide lockdown could happen. CECC Director Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) told the media this morning that Taiwan could soon be under an epidemic warning Level 3, after 16 cases tested positive

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Taiwanese PC maker Gigabyte apologizes for mocking quality of “Made in China” components

Taiwan-based PC maker GIGABYTE (TWSE:2376) issued an apology today, after facing criticism in China over statements made on its website which implied that computer components manufactured in China were of inferior quality to those made in Taiwan. The introduction to Gigabyte’s e-sports notebook series “Aero” claimed that Gigabyte implements strict quality control, manufacturing their notebook computers in Taiwan instead of China, where product quality is low. The comment drew the ire of Chinese Internet users on social media platforms such

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Pilots under pressure: keeping your job is a challenge for locals and foreigners alike

The Novotel hotel at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will no longer provide accommodation to foreign pilots after an outbreak of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, Friday, April 30. Health and Welfare Minister and Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) director Chen Shih-chung said that the most likely source for the infection was a foreign pilot, and that foreign pilots have “divergent” behaviors, being less likely to follow instructions for epidemic prevention. Four of 10 CAL pilots who tested

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Man seriously injured after paraglider accident

A paragliding instructor was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after crash landing on a beach in Dulan Township, Taitung County today, April 23. According to China Times, the 70-year-old senior instructor, named Deng, was flying a powered paraglider at around noon, when it suddenly lost power and fell from a height of around three stories. Witnesses at a nearby camping area immediately called emergency services and rushed to the man’s assistance. Deng suffered a serious head injury and was

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First EMU3000 intercity train will arrive in June: expected to relieve congestion on east coast line

Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) announced today, April 11, that the first of 50 newly-purchased EMU3000 trains will be delivered in June, and priority will be given to reducing congestion on the Eastern Trunk Line. The EMU3000 will function as a multipurpose, non-tilting intercity train, and is expected to increase passenger capacity by 40% on the east coast line, effectively solving the problem of excess demand during peak travel periods. The trains were purchased from Hitachi Corporation, Japan, in a record-breaking

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Bank clerk married same spouse 4 times, divorced 3 times in little more than a month to claim extra marriage leave

A bank clerk in Taipei City married the same spouse four times and divorced three times in a 37-day period last year, in order to claim 32 days marriage leave, United Daily News and Liberty Times reported today, April 11. According to a lawyer named Lin who posted about the unusual case on his Facebook page, the bank was issued a fine for only paying for the mandatory 8 days leave for the first marriage. According to Lin, the clerk

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Taiwan tech companies report large revenue gains as ICT demand continues to surge

Taiwan PC manufacturer ASUSTek (TWSE: 2357) announced a consolidated group revenue for March 2021 of NT$45.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 74% due to continuing strong demand for laptop computers. The company reported today, April 9, that group revenue for the first quarter of 2021 was NT$116.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 64%. ASUSTek said that the company has a positive outlook on PC market demand and an active growth strategy going forward. In the first quarter of 2021, the

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