Read News 2020.06.13: Global Focus Topics and Events

June 13, 2020 (ROC Year 109) — a daily roundup of trending global news topics, covering technology, lifestyle, travel, transportation, industry and finance, business, corporations, stocks, foreign exchange markets, investment, real estate, automobiles, breaking news, sports, entertainment gossip, art, design, politics, society, Taiwan, mainland China, cross-strait relations, weather, natural disasters, current affairs, and more.

The “Read News” section collects the headline events and brief summaries of the most important key news from around the world that deserve your attention in recent days, tracing the currents of society through the flow of news events listed quickly one after another.

Global Focus Topics for June 13, 2020

• International and Social Focus
• Technology and Information
• Business and Investment
• Science and Health
• Travel and Leisure

International and Social Focus

After finishing a day’s schedule, former Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu attended a memorial and prayer service for Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan on the evening of the 12th with KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang and fellow party councilors; the atmosphere was mournful. After the service ended, Han Kuo-yu and Johnny Chiang remained at the mourning hall, keeping vigil until midnight.

The NTU Student Association proposed establishing a “Campus Transitional Justice Task Force” to handle the transformation of NTU campus spaces and authoritarian landscapes, as well as the reconstruction and review of school history. If judged by the NTU Student Association’s standards, the first thing all NTU faculty and students would have to face is probably the injustice and anti-democratic problem of the student association and those in power now echoing each other and once again bringing party ideology onto campus.

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu will have his position officially removed today after the Central Election Commission announcement this afternoon. Looking back at Han Kuo-yu’s past achievements, aside from paving roads and clearing drains, there may be some special construction left in Kaohsiung. Former President Chen Shui-bian said today that Han Kuo-yu has a construction project that he never got to cut the ribbon for, and perhaps Han didn’t even notice it; he revealed that the future new Kaohsiung mayor should not forget to say thank you to him.

Japan’s Ishigaki City in Okinawa Prefecture plans to rename the Diaoyutai islets as “Tonoshiro Senkaku,” a statement that immediately sparked disputes among China, Japan, and Taiwan. The Diaoyutai issue is not only a sovereignty dispute but also involves interests such as natural resources, maritime rights, and natural gas, creating instability in regional hegemony and order. KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang invited President Tsai Ing-wen to go to Diaoyutai together to protest Japan’s bullying behavior with concrete action; the KMT caucus will also propose at the extraordinary session that Representative to Japan Hsieh Chang-ting return to report to the Legislative Yuan.

Beijing again issued a warning on the 12th against some Taiwanese politicians’ calls for constitutional reform, name rectification, and a new constitution. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said, “Those who dare to test the law will surely be severely punished.”

Thitu Island in the South China Sea is one of the disputed islands among China, the Philippines, and Vietnam, each claiming sovereignty over it. When Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recently landed on the island, he received welcome text messages sent one after another by Chinese and Vietnamese telecom companies, but none from the Philippines, leaving him quite embarrassed.

Technology and Information

Xiaomi officially unveiled the new Mi Band 5. The overall design still uses a detachable structure, allowing users to swap different wristbands; this time the charging method adopts a magnetic design, making it more convenient for users to charge the band body. The overall design is actually not much different from last year’s Mi Band 4, and the screen does not use the punch-hole design rumored in the market; sports recording modes have increased to 11, and it has built-in heart rate measurement, breathing training, and sleep recording functions, plus an additional menstrual cycle recording mode designed for female users.

Apple plans to announce at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at the end of June that it will replace Intel’s central processing units in Macbooks with Apple’s own chips. This is the first time in 36 years that Mac computers will use Apple-designed processors. So far, the Mac is the only major product not running on Apple’s own processors. The iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV all already run on Apple’s own chips.

Sony Interactive Entertainment held an online presentation on the 12th to unveil the new-generation game console PS5. Unlike the previous all-black design, the new machine adopts a black-and-white two-tone design, paired with an equally sleek controller, catching many gamers’ eyes. The official price has not yet been announced; it only revealed that it will go on sale before the end of this year, along with 28 new games launching simultaneously, including many classic blockbusters. Rival Nintendo is no slouch either: its game Animal Crossing has remained popular since launching at the end of March, and with Ring Fit Adventure continuing to sell well, it has driven strong console sales everywhere, setting a record of 100,000 units sold in one week in Japan.

Business and Investment

Major wafer foundry UMC was previously accused of assisting China’s Fujian Jinhua in stealing DRAM production technology from U.S. tech giant Micron. The Taichung District Court ruled on the 12th, sentencing the three involved — Jung Le-tian, Ho Chien-ting, and Wang Yung-ming — to terms ranging from 4.5 to 6.5 years. Chen Cheng-kun, former general manager of Micron Taiwan and vice president of UMC, now general manager of China’s Fujian Jinhua, is under separate investigation, and UMC was also fined NT$100 million.

Gold’s “opportunity cost” is zero or even positive, real interest rates are far below zero, massive monetary stimulus measures at home and abroad, and growing uncertainty about U.S. and global economic growth all mean gold appears to have strong support, with almost no reason for gold to decline in the near term.

The U.S. COVID-19 pandemic has flared up again, and investors worry that a second outbreak will hit the outlook for crude oil demand. Oil prices continued to fall on Friday, extending the overnight market’s plunge. U.S. crude futures are currently down 1.76% at US$35.72 per barrel, after earlier falling nearly 4% to US$35.02 per…