Bars in Taiwan's capital to close as COVID-19 infections spread

TAIPEI - Taiwan reported a record rise in domestic COVID-19 cases on Friday with 29 new cases and will close bars and nightclubs in the capital, Taipei, as community transmissions in part of city spread.

While Taiwan has reported just 1,291 cases, mostly imported from abroad, out of a population of some 24 million, a recent small rise in domestic infections has spooked residents and the stock market.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference that of the 29 new domestic infections many were connected with an outbreak in Taipei's Wanhua district, a mix of old temples, trendy shops and hostess bars.

Chen called on people who think they may have had contact with infected patients to go to rapid testing stations the government is setting up around Wanhua.

"The sooner testing happens, the sooner the chain of transmission can be broken," he added.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said that bars, nightclubs, saunas and karaoke halls would close from Saturday.

The presidential office said a member of staff was in quarantine after meeting family members who had eaten with someone who later tested positive, but added that President Tsai Ing-wen had not had contact with the person and was in good health.

The cluster of infections has been linked by DNA sequencing to an earlier outbreak at an airport hotel and pilots at Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines Ltd.

Premier Su Tseng-chang, writing on his Facebook page, said there was no need to raise the island's COVID-19 alert level for the time being.

Comments by Chen on Wednesday that the alert level could soon be raised, which would potentially close all non-essential businesses, prompted a steep fall on the stock market, and officials have since downplayed the chances of that happening.

Taiwan has never gone into full lockdown. 

-reuters

Rescuers fear six trapped after Taiwan bridge collapse

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Rescuers were scrambling on Tuesday to reach six people they feared were trapped after a bridge collapsed in Taiwan, smashing onto a group of fishing boats moored underneath.

Dramatic CCTV images captured the moment the 140-meter long single-arch bridge came crashing down in Nanfangao, on Taiwan's eastern coast.

In the images, the road gives way and tumbles down onto at least three fishing boats as a petrol tanker that was crossing also plunges into the water.


The National Fire Agency said they believed six people were unaccounted for and could be trapped in the boats underneath the collapsed structure.

"The rescue operation is ongoing," the agency said in a statement, adding at least twelve people were injured, including six Philippine and three Indonesian fishing workers as well as the Taiwanese driver of the petrol tanker.


"We hope to safely rescue all in the shortest time to minimize the damage," Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters.

The petrol tanker burst into flames at some point after it hit the water, sending a thick plume of black smoke into the air.

It is not clear what caused the bridge, which was built in 1998 and spanned a small fishing port, to collapse.

Taiwan was skirted by a typhoon on Monday night, which brought heavy rains and strong winds to parts of the east coast.

But at the time of the bridge collapse the weather was fine.

Taiwan has a huge fishing industry and many of those who work on its boats are low-paid migrant workers from countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

source: philstar.com

Taiwan's parliament approves same-sex marriages in first for Asia

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's parliament legalized same-sex marriage on Friday in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass watered-down legislation. 

Lawmakers comfortably passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and another clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies.

The vote—which took place on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia—is a major victory for the island's LGBT community who have campaigned for years to have equal marriage rights and it places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement.

In recent months conservatives had mobilized to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those bills struggled to receive enough votes.

Gay rights groups hailed the vote on Friday, saying the ability to apply for a "marriage registration"—known as Clause Four—put their community much closer to parity with heterosexual couples.

"The passage of Clause Four ensures that two persons of the same-sex can register their marriage on May 24th and ensure that Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and to successfully open a new page in history," said the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.

Court order 

Two years ago Taiwan's top court ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution with judges giving the government until May 24, 2019 to make the changes or see marriage equality enacted automatically.

Other key sections of the law were still being debated and voted on Friday, including what, if any, provisions there will be for same-sex couples to adopt.

Whatever the result, the law will not bring full parity with heterosexual couples as even the most progressive version only offers biological adoptions.

Gay rights groups had previously indicated they were willing to accept compromises, as long as the new law recognized the concept of marriage, adding they could fight legal battles over surrogacy and adoption down the line.

"In Taiwan a marriage will take effect when it's registered, so allowing marriage registration is no doubt recognising the marriage itself," Victoria Hsu, a gay rights lawyer, told AFP.

Families divided 

In the last decade, Taiwan has been one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, staging the continent's biggest annual gay pride parade.

But the island remains a staunchly conservative place, especially outside urban areas.

Conservative and religious groups were buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman, illustrating the limited popular support.

In a Facebook post President Tsai Ing-wen said she recognized the issue had divided "families, generations and even inside religious groups".

"Today, we have a chance to make history and show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society," she added in a tweet ahead of the vote.

Tsai had previously spoken in favour of gay marriage but was later accused of dragging her feet after the court judgement, fearful of a voter backlash.

Taiwan goes to the polls in January.

Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered outside parliament for the vote, despite heavy downpours.

"We are just a group of people who want to live well on this land and who love each other," gay activist Cindy Su told the crowd.

But opponents were incensed by the vote, saying the inclusion of the "marriage registration" clause ignored the referendum.

Tseng Hsien-ying, from the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, told local media the vote "trampled on Taiwanese people's expectations that a marriage and a family is formed by a man and a woman, a husband and a wife".

Australia and New Zealand are the only places in the wider Asia-Pacific region to have passed gay marriage laws.

Taiwan is the first place in Asia to do so.

Vietnam decriminalized gay marriage celebrations in 2015, but it stopped short of full legal recognition for same-sex unions.

source: philstar.com

Taiwan shuts down as ‘Megi’ strikes

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan went into shutdown Tuesday as the island faces its third typhoon in two weeks, with thousands evacuated, schools and offices closed across the island and hundreds of flights disrupted.

Typhoon Megi (Philippine name: Helen) is expected to make landfall in eastern Taiwan later Tuesday but is already bringing widespread violent winds and torrential rain as it nears the island.

More than 5,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and around 2,000 are in shelters, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.  About 36,000 households have lost power due to the typhoon so far.

A total of 575 international and domestic flights were cancelled as of Tuesday morning, and 109 delayed. Most trains were also halted.

Television footage showed powerful waves surging past breakwaters in northeastern Yilan county and outlying Orchid Island.

Ahead of the storm, more than 3,700 tourists had already been evacuated at the weekend from Orchid Island and Green Island -- both popular with visitors.

At 0030 GMT, Megi was 220 kilometers (137 miles) southeast of the eastern county of Hualien, packing gusts of up to 198 kilometers (123 miles) per hour.

It is moving at 18 kilometers (11.2 miles) an hour -- slower than previously forecast -- delaying the time of landfall to around 0900 GMT Tuesday, according to Taiwan's weather bureau.

Hualien and Taitung, which are also popular with visitors for their coastlines and landscapes, will be in the firing line.

Those areas are still trying to recover from damage brought by Super Typhoon Meranti earlier this month -- the strongest storm for 21 years to hit Taiwan.

Meranti, which left one dead in Taiwan before killing another 28 as it moved to eastern China, was followed closely by the smaller Typhoon Malakas.

Mountainous regions in eastern Taiwan could see a total of up to 900 millimeters (35 inches) of rain through Wednesday, increasing the risk of landslides.

More than 35,000 soldiers are on standby to help with disaster relief.

source: interaksyon.com

At least 22 dead as Taiwan plane plunges into river

TAIPEI, Taiwan - At least 22 people were killed Wednesday when a turboprop passenger plane operated by TransAsia Airways clipped an overpass and plunged into a river in Taiwan, in the airline's second crash in just seven months.

Desperate crew shouted "Mayday! Mayday! Engine flameout!" according to a recording thought to be the final message from the cockpit to the control tower played on local television.

A "flameout" is when the flame that normally burns in the engine goes out, causing engine failure. Twin-engined planes are usually able to fly on one engine.

Aviation officials said they had not released the cockpit recording, suggesting that it may have come from amateurs monitoring the radio.

Dramatic amateur video footage showed the TransAsia ATR 72-600 hit an elevated road as it banked side-long towards the water, leaving a trail of debris including a smashed taxi.

"I saw a taxi, probably just metres ahead of me, being hit by one wing of the plane. The plane was huge and really close to me. I'm still trembling," one witness told TVBS news channel.

Rescue officials said that 15 survivors had been pulled out of the wreckage, but that 22 people were believed dead and 21 were still missing. Many of those on board were Chinese tourists.

It was the second serious incident involving a TransAsia Airways plane in a few months after another flight operated by the domestic airline crashed in July during a storm, killing 48 people.

 Racing against time

Wednesday's accident happened just before 11:00 am (0300 GMT), shortly after Flight GE235 left Songshan airport in northern Taipei en route to the island of Kinmen with 58 people on board, including five crew members.

Six airline officials including chief executive Peter Chen bowed in apology at a televised press conference.

"We would like to convey our apologies to the families (of the victims) and we'd also like to voice huge thanks to rescuers who have been racing against time," said Chen, confirming that 13 people had been killed.

Lin Kuan-cheng from the National Fire Agency later said that 13 people were dead and nine showing "no signs of life" -- the term used before death is officially confirmed.

Those missing are thought to be trapped inside the submerged front section of the plane.

"The focus of our work is to try to use cranes to lift the front part of the wreckage, which is submerged under the water and is where most of the other passengers are feared trapped," a senior rescue official told reporters at the scene.

There has been no official comment on the cause of the crash, but the black boxes have been retrieved.

Several former pilots told local media that the plane's sideways flip while in the air could have been caused by the failure of one of the engines.

Desperate rescue


As time ticked away for those inside the fuselage, rescue boats surrounded the wreckage which remains in the middle of the river, with 400 soldiers drafted in to help.

Emergency crews standing on sections of wreckage tried to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes. Those who were rescued were put in dinghies and taken to the shore.

As night fell, lighting equipment was brought in and a floating bridge would be put up, officials said.

China's Xiamen Daily said on its social media account that the 31 mainlanders on board were part of two tour groups from the eastern Chinese city.

Xiamen is in Fujian province, which lies across the Taiwan Strait from the island.

An employee of one of the tour agencies, surnamed Wen, told AFP that it had 15 clients onboard, including three children under 10 and a tour leader.

"It's an emergency," she said. "We're working with different work teams. We're trying to arrange for the relatives to go to Taiwan."

TransAsia's Chen said that of the 31 passengers from the mainland, three were children.

The rest of the passengers and crew were Taiwanese, according to the airline.

Aviation officials said the plane crashed minutes after taking off Songshan airport, after losing contact with the control tower.

Lin Chih-ming, head of Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration, said the ATR 72-600 was less than a year old and was last serviced just over a week ago.

The pilot had 14,000 flying hours and the co-pilot 4,000 hours, Lin said.

The airline said they had received the plane in April last year and it was the newest model of the ATR.

In last July's crash, the 48 people were killed when another domestic TransAsia flight crashed onto houses during a storm on the Taiwanese island of Penghu.

The ATR 72-500 turboprop plane deviated off course before plunging into the houses after an aborted landing during thunder and heavy rain as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan at the time.

NEWS VIDEO OF THE PLANE CRASH RECORDED BY A DASH CAM

source: interaksyon.com

Hundreds gather in Taiwan to support gay marriage bill

TAIPEI - More than 1,200 Taiwanese people joined a mock "wedding banquet" on Saturday aiming to drum up support for a same-sex marriage bill due to be sent to parliament soon, organisers said.

Participants sat around tables decorated with red cloths printed with the Chinese character for "wedding", as they had dinner and watched a video recording of local celebrities showing support as well as live performances in a makeshift banquet venue in a square outside the presidential office in Taipei.

"This looks likes a traditional wedding scene and even if it's not real, I think a picture is worth a thousand words and I hope we will get more public attention and support for same-sex marriages," said Richard Chen, a 22-year-old student from Taipei.

The event was aimed at building momentum for a bill on legalising same-sex marriage and civil partnership drafted by the advocacy group Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, set to be submitted to parliament when its next session begins in mid-September, the alliance said.

"We organised the event in the form of a wedding banquet in the hope that everyone regardless of his or her sexual orientation can have equal rights to get married and have families," said Severia Lu, a spokeswoman for the alliance.

"We are optimistic about the bill as public support in Taiwan is growing while there is also a global trend to recognise same-sex marriages after France, Britain and New Zealand enacted such laws."

Gay and lesbian groups in Taiwan, one of Asia's more liberal societies, have been urging the government for years to make same-sex unions legal.

Last year, more than 50,000 gays and lesbians and their supporters marched in Taiwan to push for legalising same-sex marriage as the island marked its 10th annual Gay Pride event.

However, the campaign suffered a setback in January when Chen Ching-hsueh and partner Kao Chih-wei dropped their appeal to an administrative court against a government agency which had rejected their marriage registration in 2011.

Chen said he had "lost his faith in the judiciary" but added that death threats to him and his parents via Facebook had been among factors prompting him to abandon the appeal.

"I think there is still a difficult road ahead of us because there is not enough public consensus on the issue of same-sex marriages. I think we have to wait for one or two years for the bill to be passed," said participant Ruby Tsai, a 24-year-old who works in retailing.

source: interaksyon.com

HTC third-quarter net falls 79 percent, lags forecasts

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s HTC Corp, the world’s fifth-largest smartphone maker, said its third-quarter net profit fell 79 percent, missing forecasts, as its flagship phones failed to keep pace with Apple Inc’s iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s Galaxy range.

The former contract maker has been suffering a sharp decline in its fortunes since the second half of 2011 following a fairytale ride when it built a strong global brand with phones based on Google Inc’s Android software.

Unaudited July-September net profit was T$3.9 billion ($133.17 million), the company said on Monday, down from T$18.68 billion in the same period a year earlier and T$7.4 billion in the previous quarter. It did not elaborate. Earnings had been expected to drop to T$5.57 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 21 analysts.

Samsung Electronics reported a record quarterly profit of $7.3 billion on Friday, nearly double last year’s figure, thanks to strong sales Galaxy smartphones as well high-end TVs.

“I expect HTC’s margin was down 2 basis points compared to Q2 due to a change of product mix. HTC was cutting prices and its low-end phones were selling better,” said Yuanta Securities analyst Dennis Chan in Taipei.

“The new models we saw in the past few weeks are not going to change the game. It will be able to keep its market share, but we won’t see much pick-up,” he said.

In the past few weeks, HTC has aggressively rolled out new models to regain market share in the fourth quarter. It released the “HTC J” targeted at the Japanese market last month and the “HTC One X+,” an upgraded version of its high-end flagship model last Tuesday, both running on Google’s operating system.

Last month, it also introduced two colorful models running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 software, the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S, among the first in the market.

HTC’s third-quarter revenue was T$70.2 billion. The company said in August it expected its third-quarter revenue to be T$70 billion to T$80 billion, compared to T$91 billion in the second quarter.

HTC shares closed down 0.86 percent at T$287 before the earnings were released, while the broader market fell 0.97 percent.

“Before we turn more structurally positive, we would like to see its flagship models contributing a large portion of its business, as its strategy of reducing its number of models leaves it much in need of a hit model for 2013. Until then, we see margins posing a downside risk,” wrote Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Yen in a research report.

source: interaksyon.com