10.13.111 "Read the News" — A Quick Overview of the Day's Focus Issues

October 13, ROC Year 111 (2022 AD): a daily real-time online roundup of hot focus topics from global news events, covering technology, life, travel, transportation, industry and finance, business, companies and enterprises, stocks, foreign exchange markets, investment, real estate, automobiles, real-time news, art, design, politics, society, Taiwan, mainland China, cross-strait relations, weather, natural disasters, current affairs, and many other dimensions of intelligence.

The “Read the 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, letting you see the real-time context of society through the flow of news events listed quickly one by one.

International and Social Events

Another piece of evidence has emerged that the Tsai administration procured domestic vaccines to shield Medigen. According to an audit report submitted by the Ministry of Audit to the Legislative Yuan, as of January 15 this year, some of the vaccines delivered by Medigen had exceeded the contract performance deadline by more than 30 days, yet the CDC of the Ministry of Health and Welfare did not actually impose the 2% penalty for breach of contract on that portion of the payment, clearly inconsistent with the contract provisions.

Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng said today that as long as a CCP aircraft enters the airspace, it counts as a first strike; since the other side has made the first strike, the national military must then respond, because after a self-defense counterattack comes war.

On the 11th, a male body was found by the Tamsui River in Wugu District, New Taipei City. After verification, the identity was confirmed as 29-year-old Chou Chia-hung, known to the outside world as the Executive Yuan’s “ace editor.” Premier Su Tseng-chang lamented upon hearing the news, “I am extremely sad and reluctant to let go.” Han Ching, an aide to DPP Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Yun-peng, posted on Facebook, beginning with “My boyfriend has passed away.” She recalled that through many major events in their time together they had almost never quarreled; the only quarrel was because she suddenly learned Cheng Yun-peng was going to run for Taoyuan mayor, and “was so anxious that I took it out on him.”

Taiwanese businessman Liu Wei-fu, dubbed the “King of Antrodia cinnamomea,” returned to Taiwan in 2017 and set up the Taiwan branch of the “China Rare Fungus Hall Group,” touting a pioneering “log cultivation method” combined with a “family rich farmer” scheme, recruiting members through direct sales to invest a 75,000-yuan deposit per unit, receiving a fixed 700-yuan Antrodia cultivation fee each week during the two-year contract, and getting the full deposit back at maturity. The group is suspected of illegally absorbing more than 2 billion yuan over two years through this scheme.

DPP Taoyuan mayoral candidate Cheng Yun-peng participated in multiple campaign rallies during his self-health management period, sparking questions. In response, KMT Taoyuan city councilor candidate Ling Tao posted today that he had filed a named report with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Taoyuan City Health Bureau, demanding an investigation based on the evidence and a fine of 300,000 yuan in accordance with the law.

Science and Technology

Google Cloud announced on Tuesday that it has formed a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to jointly advance Web3 innovation. Starting in early 2023, Google Cloud will allow customers to pay for cloud services with cryptocurrency, and Coinbase also said it will use Google’s cloud infrastructure.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently announced that Starlink has begun providing service in Japan, the first country where the service has launched, meeting the communication needs of remote areas such as Japanese mountains and outlying islands. SpaceX announced the news on its official Twitter, and Nikkei Asia reported that Japan’s Starlink service costs about 12,300 yen (about US$84) per month, with the satellite communication transceiver equipment priced at 73,000 yen.

Business and Investment

The yen’s exchange rate against the US dollar hit a new low since August 1998 on Wednesday (the 12th), once reaching 146.39 yen to the dollar, breaking through the level that prompted Japanese officials to intervene in September, showing that traders are preparing for US inflation data and the impact of further Fed rate hikes.

The United States recently imposed HPC and memory chip export bans on mainland China, which have already affected military and other fields. TrendForce said today (the 12th) that if the conflict intensifies in the future and the ban expands to commercial servers, demand in the downstream mainland China server market could at worst enter negative growth.

The big winners of Europe’s energy crisis are the US and mainland China economies; high natural gas prices are pushing European manufacturers toward exports. Currently, more and more European companies producing steel, fertilizer, and other basic goods are also moving their operations to mainland China and the United States, where energy prices are more stable.

Nature and Medicine

Muscle is a high-speed operating tissue full of large numbers of mitochondria. After a COVID-19 diagnosis, mitochondrial function becomes impaired and undergoes autophagy, transmitting signals that cause myofibril breakdown and muscle degeneration, causing acute sarcopenia. Besides direct viral damage and subsequent systemic inflammatory responses, the main causes of muscle mitochondrial damage include dietary malnutrition, low blood oxygen, and bed rest. Therefore, to prevent post-diagnosis sarcopenia, one should supplement protein, vitamins, and other nutrients.

Travel and Leisure

Yesterday it was reported that the Tainan tourist attraction Fort Zeelandia was to be renamed, causing the Ministry of Culture’s Facebook page to be flooded with comments; although the Ministry of Culture clarified multiple times, some people and media still misunderstood that Fort Zeelandia was to be renamed, and speculation about “de-Sinicization” even appeared.

Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun said on Facebook last night that regarding the smoke exhaust review of the Far Glory Dome, Far Glory only cooperated with the submission last month, and the fire evacuation floor and smoke exhaust test review passed yesterday. Taipei City Government spokesperson Chen Chih-han said today that as long as the approval letter is sent out of the committee next, and once all procedures are complete, the Dome is expected to meet everyone safely within half a year, estimated to be around June next year, when trial operation is expected.

The Republic of China began restricting entry for non-citizens on March 19, ROC Year 109, and citizens entering began to be subject to 14-day home quarantine…