This Week in Taiwan 0509-0515
May 10: It is reported that the Penghu Defense Command, Huadong Command, and the 6th, 8th, and 10th Regiments of the Army will be renamed to five Combat Zones. Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng confirmed this on May 10 and expressed hopes that this arrangement will enable commanders of combat zones to better coordinate the army, navy, and air forces and strengthen the joint combat capability of the military. This move will change the status quo in Taiwan where army generals serve as theater commanders.
May 10: The storm from the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection of China Airlines pilots continues to grow. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced a "Zero Clearing Program 2.0," where all pilots will be recalled for quarantine for 14 days. No one operating airplanes is translating to dramatic impact to China Airlines, which relies heavily upon its cargo business. Because Eva Air does not have many cargo planes, it will be difficult for cargo to be shared. Exports of semiconductors and other high-technology products are expected to bear the brunt.
May 10: The Ministry of Finance recently announced amendments to regulatory measures related to electronic payments, providing that the tax authorities can collect personal information from electronic payment providers. In other words, information like phone numbers, national identification numbers, and account IDs of consumers who use electronic payment methods like JKOPay and O'Pay to spend more than NT$480,000 (about US$17,158) in six months will be submitted to the tax authorities. As soon as this notice was published, many Internet users immediately criticized the measure as an invasion of privacy.
May 12: The coronavirus pandemic continues to break out. After sliding some 652 points on May 11, Taiwan stocks on May 12 continued to fall 1,147 points or 8.55 percent at one point, setting the record for the largest drop. The stock index closed 680 points lower than the previous trading day, at 15,902 points, with an astonishing daily trading volume of NT$772.7 billion (about US$27.6 billion).
May 14: A busbar failure occurred at an ultra-high voltage sub-station in Luzhu District, Kaohsiung at 2:37 PM on May 13. Four units at the Xingda Power Plant tripped, causing a major power outage across Taiwan, disrupting businesses and traffic. Power supply was not restored until about 8 PM, and the outage affected some 4.16 million households over six rounds of regional power suspensions. The Taipower Comapny will compensate a sum of NT$470 million (about US$16.8 million). In an emergency press conference held in the evening, President Tsai Ing-wen explained that the major blackout was due to a power grid problem and apologized to the people.
According to Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua on May 14, investigation of the cause of the power outage found that a staff member of Taipower accidentally turned on the isolation switch during the test of the transmission expansion project, which caused a ground fault of the bus bar, in turn causing the Xingda Power Plant to trip. The major blackout exposes the government's claim that Taiwan is not short of power is only an illusion, critics claim.
May 14: Taiwan's Apple Daily published an open letter to readers in the evening, stating that due to unbearable business losses, deterioration of the political situation of Hong Kong, and pro-China forces suppressing various advertising resources, the newspaper will cease print publication from May 18 and concentrate its resources on developing its website. Apple Daily launched publication in Taiwan 18 years ago and has exerted a huge impact on Taiwan's media environment.
May 14: The Central Election Commission held a committee meeting and approved referendum cases on preserving algal reefs, opposing American pork containing the additive ractopamine, and tying referendum votes to general elections. In addition to the previously approved referendum case on resuming the 4th Nuclear Power Plant, there will be a total of four referendum cases on the ballot August 28 this year.