title: Protests put brakes on Uniqlo overseas sales momentum

content_text:
Political flare-ups in Asia are putting the brakes on Fast Retailing Co’s overseas momentum, as the Uniqlo operator reported its worst quarterly revenue decline in a decade for its international segment.

Asia’s largest retailer has long counted on overseas expansion to power its growth in the face of a weak Japanese market.

Now that strategy is coming up against the political protests in Hong Kong, as well as a trade spat between Japan and South Korea.

Fast Retailing reported a 3.6 percent drop in first-quarter sales for Uniqlo’s international segment, citing “significant declines” in those two trouble spots.

Except for a minuscule decrease of 0.2 percent in 2017, it was the first quarterly drop for the segment in 10 years, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

Operating profit for the international business fell 28 percent, for the first quarterly earnings decline since 2016.

Fast Retailing, which also suffered from weak sales in Japan during the quarter, lowered its full-year outlook for operating profit by 11 percent.

For the guidance change, it pointed to the unrest overseas, as well as a depreciation of the yuan.

“The overseas growth comes with higher risk, but risk is always difficult to weigh until it hits you in the face,” Jefferies Group LLC analyst Mike Allen wrote in a note to investors.

The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which started in June last year and have at times turned violent, have left the territory’s economy on the verge of its first annual contraction in a decade and caused retail sales to plunge 24 percent in November last year.

The unrest has rattled international brands from Levi Strauss & Co to Tiffany & Co.

While the situation in Hong Kong has had a broad impact on retailers, the damage Uniqlo is seeing from a trade spat between Tokyo and Seoul has been more unique.

Fast Retailing has become one of the biggest targets of a South Korean consumer boycott of Japanese products that began in July last year.

“The [South] Korean business has continued to decline and there has been a bigger impact on sales,” Fast Retailing chief financial officer Takeshi Okazaki said at a briefing in Tokyo on Thursday. “[South] Korea is a very important segment for us and it’s not clear how long this situation will continue.”

The nation has the second-largest number of Uniqlo stores overseas after China.

Other overseas markets are holding up. China — a key driver of growth in the past — performed well, as did Southeast Asian nations, the company said.

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2020 Elections: Police, judiciary report crackdown on election betting

Banknotes and account books seized by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office and police during a raid on suspected illegal betting on today’s election results are displayed in Kinmen yesterday.Photo courtesy of Jincheng Police Precinct
The National Police Agency and judicial investigators yesterday presented reports on efforts across the nation to prevent “black money” from influencing today’s presidential and legislative elections.

There have been 15 cases of legislative candidates allegedly buying votes or participating in other forms of voter bribery, with 123 people questioned, two indictments handed down and four people detained, an agency report said.

A nationwide sweep uncovered 199 cases of alleged illegal gambling, resulting so far in the indictment of four proprietors in central Taiwan, it said, adding that more indictments would be handed down in the coming weeks, with suspected proprietors of gambling operations facing illegal gambling charges under the Criminal Code and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), and suspected gamblers facing charges under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).

Operators of a major illegal gambling ring in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) have been arrested, the city’s police reported on Thursday.

The raids arrested 18 suspects connected with illegal betting on the elections and seized NT$205 million (US$6.83 million) in illegal bets, police said, adding that proprietors provided the odds, communication links, devices and programs for people to place wagers.

A man surnamed Wu (吳) headed what is considered to be the largest illegal gambling ring uncovered in northern Taiwan, they said.

People betting on the results of the presidential election used the code word “fish” (魚) for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, and “green vegetable” (青菜) for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking re-election, they added.

Wu was among the people detained for questioning, while an unspecified amount of cash, mobile phones, fax machines and account books were seized, police said.

Police in Kinmen County said they are questioning a suspect surnamed Lee (李) regarding an alleged illegal gambling operation running election bets, adding that raids on Thursday led to the seizure of NT$270,000 in cash, notebook computers, mobile phones, account books and 36 wager receipts.

Judicial officials are also investigating sources of the money wagered in the illegal operations, as pundits and some candidates have said that most of the money was coming from China through underground banks and remittance services.

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people: 蔡英文 韓國瑜


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A group of prominent Internet pioneers is mobilizing to block the US$1.1 billion sale of control of the .org Internet domain, arguing that the takeover by a newly formed private company would hurt the millions of nonprofits that rely on it.

Registrations for Web sites ending in .org have long been overseen by the US nonprofit Internet Society via the Public Interest Registry (PIR).

In November last year, the society unexpectedly announced that it was selling control to a year-old company called Ethos Capital. The firm counts a former head of Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet’s governing authority, as one of its advisers.

In a move to press US-based ICANN to block the sale, prominent Internet executives said that they have created a nonprofit cooperative they are offering as an alternative owner.

“There needs to be a place on the Internet that represents the public interest, where educational sites, humanitarian sites and organizations like Wikipedia can provide a broader public benefit,” said Wikimedia Foundation chief executive Katherine Maher, who has signed on to be a director of the new nonprofit.

Crowd-sourced research tool Wikipedia is the most visited of the 10 million .org sites registered worldwide.

“The Internet Society’s central focus is not on domain name operations,” the society said in a statement on Tuesday. “We need to focus on the goals we have — to make the Internet available to the people who don’t have it, and to make sure the Internet is defended against its attackers.”

It has previously said that Ethos Capital would keep the same management team, consult with nonprofits and offer more services.

Hundreds of nonprofits have already objected to the transaction, worried that Ethos would raise registration and renewal prices, cut back on infrastructure and security spending, or make deals to sell sensitive data, or allow censorship or surveillance.

A statement provided by a spokesperson for PIR, the society and Ethos Capital said that the groups had committed “to maintaining PIR’s historical practices on .org pricing to ensure affordability, as well as to preserving the strong policies PIR already has in place to protect freedom of expression and safeguard against censorship.”

Some said they see ICANN’s response to the deal as a critical test of its sole authority over a rapidly expanding domain-name system already dominated by private industry and subject to government pressures.

“What offended me about the Ethos Capital deal and the way it unfolded is that it seems to have completely betrayed this concept of stewardship,” said Andrew McLaughlin, who oversaw the transfer of Internet governance from the US Department of Commerce to ICANN which completed in 2016.

Maher and others said the idea of the new cooperative is not to offer a competing financial bid for .org, which brings in about US$100 million in revenue from domain sales. Instead, they hope that the unusual new entity, formally a California Consumer Cooperative Corp, can manage the domain for security and stability, and make sure it does not become a tool for censorship.

Advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which previously organized a protest over the .org sale that drew in organizations such as the YMCA, Greenpeace and Consumer Reports, is also supporting the cooperative.

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title: Nonprofit leaders fighting deal to sell control of .org


content_text:
Supporters of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, cheer at an election rally in Kaohsiung yesterday.Photo: CNA

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A crowd yesterday gathered at a square next to the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung to show their support for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, on the eve of today’s presidential and legislative elections.

The crowd, estimated by the KMT at between 300,000 and 350,000, was in festive mood, with many dressed in Republic of China (ROC) attire and waving ROC national flags.

KMT Legislator Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) sent the crowd into a frenzy when she appeared in golden armor — which she said belonged to the fictional character Wonder Woman — just as she did on the eve of the Kaohsiung mayoral election in November 2018.

At 9:04pm, Han and his wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), took the stage amid chants of Dongsuan, a Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) expression meaning “get elected.”

Since he was elected Kaohsiung mayor in 2018, the city has grabbed the attention of the whole of Asia, Han said, adding that never had the municipality enjoyed so much attention.

An owner of a clay oven roll and soy bean milk shop in Los Angeles has donated NT$800,000 (US$26,650) to the Kaohsiung City Government’s Chinese-English bilingual education policy, Han said, adding that the donor is originally from Taipei and has had a hard time in the US after not learning English at a younger age.

A Singaporean couple had agreed to finance the education of all the children at a kindergarten in Kaohsiung’s Daliao District (大寮) after learning that Han had a “sleepover” at the kindergarten, he said.

Last month alone, the city had millions of visitors, which was remarkable, he added.

Residents in central and southern Taiwan have over the past three decades defended the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has veered away from its early ideals and become corrupt, Han said.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking re-election, is surrounded by corrupt bureaucrats, who have robbed her of her powers, he said.

The DPP has funded an Internet army to attack its enemies, but they went too far, leading to the suicide of Su Chii-cherng (蘇啟誠), former director-general of the Osaka branch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Japan, Han said.

Tsai’s administration has spent billions on its New Southbound Policy, which has had little success, he said.

The DPP suffered a rout in the local elections in 2018, but wants to continue to rule the nation, so it started vilifying me in the absence of good things to say about Tsai, Han said.

The DPP has bribed 90 percent of the media, which dare not criticize Tsai or her policies, and have resorted to biased reporting praising the government, he said.

Han urged his supporters to use their ballots to “change Taiwan’s destiny and restore the ROC’s pride.”

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title: 2020 Elections: Han Kuo-yu attacks DPP at election-eve event

people: 蔡英文 李佳芬 韓國瑜 許淑華


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TRADE

Trump eyes phase two delay

Negotiations for the second phase of a pending US-China deal are to begin promptly, but the outcome might have to wait until after November’s US presidential election, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday. Trump also openly cast doubt on whether US farmers would be able to supply China with the massive increases in agricultural exports expected to be part of the deal. “We’ll start right away negotiating phase two. It will take a little time,” Trump told reporters. “I think I might want to wait to finish it until after the election, because I think we can make a little bit better deal, maybe a lot better deal.”

INDIA

More opening up mulled

The government is considering further opening up its insurance and aviation sectors to foreign investors to help spur the economy, people familiar with the matter said. The Ministry of Finance has suggested increasing the limit on foreign direct investment in insurance and pension companies to 74 percent from 49 percent, and allowing foreign airlines to own Indian carriers, the people said. It also wants to allow 100 percent foreign investment in railway operations, education and rental housing management companies, the people said. The government wants to increase the amount of foreign direct investment to as much as 6 percent of GDP, the people said, compared with less than 2 percent.

AUSTRALIA

‘Black Friday’ boosts sales

Consumers in November last year opened their wallets to take advantage of “Black Friday” sales, providing a much-needed boost for retailers that have struggled in an environment of record-high household debt and stagnant real wages. Retail sales surged 0.9 percent, more than double economists’ 0.4 percent estimate, as consumers took advantage of steep discounts to buy ahead of the traditional holiday period, Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. The result sets up a potentially weak final month of the year if festive spending was pulled forward.

AIRLINES

Ryanair lifts profit forecast

Ryanair Holdings PLC increased its profit outlook for the year after stronger-than-expected bookings over the Christmas holiday period extended into this year. The carrier is targeting earnings in the 950 million euros to 1.05 billion euros (US$1.05 billion to US$1.17 billion) range, it said in a statement yesterday, adding that hitting the middle of the range would be the most likely outcome. Ryanair, scheduled to release third-quarter results on Feb. 3, said forward bookings are running ahead of last year and this should provide an uplift to fares in the fourth quarter.

AVIATION

Airbus expands in Alabama

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE is to expand production at its plant in Alabama, where it is to spend US$40 million to construct new facilities and add 275 jobs, the company said on Thursday. As part of a plan to build 63 aircraft in its A320 family of planes per month, Airbus said it would increase production at its factory in Mobile to seven airplanes a month by early next year. Airbus, which began producing aircraft in Mobile in 2015, employs about 1,000 people at the site assembling A220 and A320 models. The company added about 600 jobs last year.

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title: World Business Quick Take


content_text:
Adimmune, Protein Sciences sign new Flublok agreement

Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) yesterday signed a new contract with Protein Sciences Corp, a subsidiary of Sanofi SA, to continue providing quadrivalent flu vaccine Flublok from 2022 to 2027 in a move to deepen their partnership.

Orders from US-based Protein Science have expanded at a double-digit percentage over the past three years, but Adimmune declined to reveal how many doses of Flublok it is to supply from 2022 to 2027, saying only that the number of orders would be higher than previously.

Adimmune manufactures and packages Flublok at its factory in Taichung’s Tanzi District (潭子).

“The new contract not only grants a source of stable revenue, it also recognizes the quality of manufacturing,” Adimmune said.

Demand for Flublok is expected to rise, as it is the only flu vaccine made without using eggs, minimizing the risk of vaccine resistance as viruses mutate, it said.

Flublok has been marketed in the US since 2017, Adimmune said.

To cope with rising orders, the firm plans to set up a new plant in Taichung to expand its production capacity for flu vaccines, tetanus vaccines and cell-culture products, it said.

The company’s board of directors is to consider the planned investment later this month and the construction of the new plant is likely to be completed by the end of 2022, it said.

Adimmune last month posted record-high revenue of NT$274 million (US$9.13 million) thanks to a payment from the Centers for Disease Control.

The company supplies quadrivalent flu vaccines to the centers for use in its flu vaccination programs. Adimmune finished delivering 4.1 million doses of quadrivalent flu vaccine to the agency on Jan. 2, it said.

Total revenue for last year was NT$1.29 billion, up 58 percent year-on-year.

The company is upbeat about its sales of flu vaccines in Thailand after it gained marketing approval from the nation’s regulator last year, while a phase III clinical trial of its quadrivalent flu vaccine in China is expected to be completed this year, it said.

Separately, TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd (太景醫藥研發控股) on Thursday posted revenue of NT$20 million for last year, down 29.75 percent year-on-year due to a high comparison base.

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title: Annual tax revenue hits a record-high NT$2.45tn: ministry

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The nation’s tax revenue last year hit a record high, although the figure for last month fell 2.6 percent from a year earlier, preliminary statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Finance showed.

Total tax revenue was NT$2.45 trillion (US$81.61 billion) last year, up NT$62.8 billion, or 2.6 percent, from 2018, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site.

Last year’s growth followed a 6 percent increase the previous year, ministry data showed.

The ministry attributed the growth mainly to increases in corporate income and land value increment taxes, as well as estate and gift taxes.

Corporate income tax brought in revenue of NT$645.31 billion, up NT$77.36 billion, or 13.6 percent, from 2018.

Land value increment tax revenue rose NT$10.59 billion, or 11.7 percent, to NT$101.14 billion, while revenue from estate and gift taxes rose by NT$2.76 billion, or 8.7 percent, to NT$34.58 billion, the ministry said.

However, revenue from individual income tax fell NT$11.42 billion, or 2.2 percent, year-on-year, while tobacco and alcohol tax revenue fell NT$1.61 billion, or 2.3 percent.

Revenue from the business tax fell NT$6.26 billion, or 1.5 percent, from a year earlier.

Revenue from the securities transaction tax dropped by 9.9 percent to NT$91.17 billion last year, as average daily turnover on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Taipei Exchange fell from NT$152.9 billion in 2018 to NT$140.8 billion.

Overall, total tax revenue last year was NT$62.1 billion more than the government’s target, the ministry said.

The ministry is to provide more accurate statistics next month, as the preliminary data do not include tax revenue collected by other government agencies.

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Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC, 台灣土地開發) on Thursday announced that it is to cooperate with Ezfly International Travel Agent Co (易飛網科技) and the Taiwan Association of Logistics Management (TALM, 物流協會) to build a logistics facility in Kinmen with the aim of tapping the e-commerce market on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The Taipei-based developer is to provide the plot of land, while Ezfly and TALM are to supply the know-how and e-commerce vendors, a memorandum of understanding the companies signed in Taipei said.

The logistics facility is to be located in a complex that houses the Wind Lion Plaza shopping mall, the companies said.

The collaboration would allow the three firms to take advantage of the booming e-commerce markets in Taiwan and China, TLDC chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) said.

E-commerce has grown rapidly from a global value of US$2.29 trillion in 2017 to an estimated US$4.47 trillion next year, TLDC said, without citing its source.

The planned logistics facility is to provide a duty-free warehouse for goods destined for China and Taiwan, Ezfly chairman Chen Xiongzhi (陳雄智) said.

“A conveniently located logistics facility and fast delivery times are critical to the success of an e-commerce business,” Chen said.

Kinmen has sea and air links to Taiwan proper and China’s Xiamen, making it ideal for an e-commerce hub, he said.

Many Taiwanese buy items from Chinese e-commerce operators, but Taiwanese vendors find it difficult to sell to Chinese customers due to heavy transportation costs and other issues, TALM chairman Wang Chin-feng (王清風) said.

A duty-free logistics center near China would help remove most of those obstacles, Wang said.

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title: TLDC, partners to build Kinmen e-commerce hub


content_text:
2020 Elections: Envy and solidarity from HK advocates as Taiwan votes

Members of the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and the National Students’ Union of Taiwan raise their fists behind placards urging students to go home to vote outside Taipei Main Station yesterday.Photo: CNA
Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates and budding politicians have flocked to Taiwan this week to observe its elections.

One delegation of about 50, including a batch of young Hong Kong district councilors who stormed to a landslide electoral victory in November last year, has been networking with key civil leaders, academics and officials.

“We want to learn and gain more experience, to help Hong Kong people as they struggle on their democratic road in the future,” said Raymond Tang (鄧威文), a district councilor who attended an evening seminar in Taipei with fellow delegates on countering fake news.

The links between the two places have never been deeper: Hong Kong has been convulsed by more than seven months of anti-China protests and Taiwan’s elections come amid heightened fears of an increasingly assertive China under President Xi Jinping (習近平).

“There’s an acute sense of threat from China. What’s happened in Hong Kong has made everyone reassess its relationship with Beijing,” said Joseph Cheng (鄭宇碩), a veteran pro-democracy advocate and one of the delegation leaders.

“Democracy has taken root in Taiwan and it refutes the basic argument that democracy is for the West, that it doesn’t apply to Chinese people, which is the argument propagated by Beijing,” he added.

In a Facebook video posted late on Thursday, 15 district councilors from Hong Kong, urged Taiwanese to treasure their unfettered democracy and to vote today.

“This time it’s over to you,” they said in a montage. “Hong Kong and Taiwan, let’s go for it together.”

Taiwan has become home to a small, but growing number of Hong Kong protesters who have fled the territory fearing politically motivated charges against them.

About 6,200 immigrants from Hong Kong and Macau are eligible to vote in Taiwan.

Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), a Hong Kong bookseller once abducted by Chinese agents, is trying to rebuild his life in Taiwan opening a new bookstore, set to open in March.

Lam said he is optimistic because of the burgeoning intellectual and political ties between Taiwan and his home.

“What we’re seeing in Taiwan is a country facing a military threat and economic encroachments from China. This is not a good combination and it perpetuates uncertainty,” he said, standing in an empty store space that he plans to fill with thousands of books focused on politics in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

“I hope my bookshop can make a little difference, to influence Taiwan, and raise their awareness,” Lam added.

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title: 2020 Elections: ‘New immigrants’ are campaigning for change

people: 羅美玲 牛春茹

content_text:
“New immigrants” — a term generally used to describe people from China and Southeast Asia who have married into Taiwanese families over the past two decades — are becoming increasingly political and their votes are being wooed by the nation’s major political parties.

One politically active new immigrant is Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator-at-large nominee Lo Mei-ling (羅美玲).

Lo, 50, is a third-generation Malaysian-Chinese who came to Taiwan in 1987 to study at National Taiwan Normal University. She later married a Taiwanese.

In 2014, she was elected as an independent to the Nantou County Council, and was successfully re-elected in 2018 as a member of the DPP.

Her main focus in politics has been new immigrants and long-term care for elderly people.

As a legislator, she would first want to evaluate how current policies affecting new immigrants are being carried out at the local level, instead of introducing new policies, Lo said.

“As a local councilor, I have noticed that it is impossible for local governments to perfectly execute every single central government policy. Sometimes, there is a huge gap between the central and local governments, so it is important to first determine to what extent policies are being implemented,” she said.

“In my opinion, it is more realistic to try to improve current policies and ensure that they are being carried out than it is to continuously roll out new policies,” she said, adding that she also wants the government to set up a council for new immigrant affairs.

Another politically active new immigrant is Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-at-large nominee Niu Chun-ju (牛春茹).

The 59-year-old graduated from Baotou Medical College in Inner Mongolia before working for Taiwanese firms in Shenzhen, China.

In 2000, Niu married a Taiwanese and relocated here, receiving her Republic of China (ROC) citizenship in 2009. That same year, she joined the KMT and in January last year established an association for new immigrants.

As a legislator, she hopes to reduce the waiting period from 10 years to five years for new immigrants who hold ROC citizenship and wish to run for public office, Niu said.

Aside from pushing for an emergency fund to help new immigrants who contract illnesses not covered by the National Health Insurance system, Niu said that she also wants to set up a council for new immigrant affairs.

“There are 550,000 Aborigines, but about 1 million new immigrants and their children. So I think new immigrants should be represented in the government just as Aborigines are represented by the Council of Indigenous Peoples,” she said.

Taiwan People’s Party legislative candidate Kimyung Keng (何景榮), 41, is a second-generation immigrant of a Taiwanese father and an Indonesian mother.

Born in Jakarta and raised in Taiwan, he was educated in the US on scholarship programs offered by the Taiwanese and US governments. Keng was selected as a 2016 Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Taiwan.

As a legislator for Taipei’s third electoral district, he would focus on two major policies: improving young people’s quality of life by making it easier for them to pay off student loans and by providing housing for them, Keng said.

“I will push for all operations at Taipei International Airport [Songshan airport] to be moved to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, and use the vacated land to build public housing for young people. This would be a win-win solution, because the Songshan airport poses a danger to area residents, as shown by the February 2015 plane crash,” he said.

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Formosa Plastics Group profit slumps on weaker demand and lower prices

The four major units of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團), the nation’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted a 39.8 percent year-on-year decline in combined profit for last year, due to weak demand and lower product prices, as well as narrower spreads between revenues and material costs.

The group’s four listed companies — Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (台灣化學纖維), Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) — posted combined net income of NT$127.16 billion (US$4.24 billion) last year, the lowest since 2015.

Based on their regulatory filings issued yesterday, Formosa Plastics, the group’s flagship company, reported a 24.7 percent year-on-year decrease in net income to NT$37.2 billion, or earnings per share of NT$5.86, the highest among the four units, while revenue fell 9.78 percent to NT$207.85 billion.

Formosa Chemicals and Fibre, which manufactures aromatics and styrenics, posted the group’s second-highest profit, reporting that net income dropped 38.5 percent year-on-year to NT$29.99 billion, or earnings per share of NT$5.14, while revenue decreased 20.47 percent to NT$324.37 billion.

Nan Ya Plastics, the nation’s largest plastics maker, posted net income of NT$23.07 billion, or earnings per share of NT$2.91, down 56.3 percent year-on-year, while revenue dropped 14.03 percent to NT$286.34 billion.

Formosa Petrochemical, the nation’s only listed oil refiner, posted the lowest earnings per share of NT$3.86 as its net income fell 38.7 percent to NT$36.81 billion, while revenue decreased 15.84 percent to NT$646.01 billion.

Despite the lackluster earnings performance, FPG announced that it would give each of its about 40,000 employees NT$20,000 in cash gifts in a bid to boost its year-end bonus payouts, compared with NT$15,000 in cash gifts the previous year.

The extra cash perk was agreed after FPG chairman William Wong (王文淵) met with representatives of the workers’ unions of the group’s major subsidiaries yesterday.

The cash gifts announcement came after FPG earlier this week said that it would issue year-end bonuses equivalent to 4.94 months of salary ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that starts on Jan. 24.

By including the cash gifts, employees’ year-end bonuses are expected to breach five months of salary, compared with the 5.83 months of salary the group paid last year.

The unions said the lower year-end bonuses were acceptable given the deteriorating bottom lines of the four units because of the global trade disputes, adding that Wong’s award of the cash gifts was to express his gratitude to all the group’s employees.

Wong on Thursday said that he remains cautious about the global petrochemical industry this year amid continued concerns over global trade disputes and political tensions in the Middle East.

Additional reporting by CNA

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content_text:
Sing Lan to set up global HQ in Kaohsiung

OVERSEAS EXPANSION:The company, which operates tea beverage chain 50 Lan, plans to invest NT$300 million as it targets the US, Canada, Australia and Malaysia
Sing Lan Co Ltd (新嵐企業), which operates tea beverage chain 50 Lan (50嵐), is to set up a global headquarters in Kaohsiung, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday after it approved the company’s application to invest in the nation via a government incentive program for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

With 174 stores nationwide, Sing Lan is targeting the US, Canada, Australia and Malaysia as it seeks to expand overseas. It plans to invest NT$300 million (US$9.99 million) expanding its logistics center and warehouses, as well as setting up the new headquarters in the Kaoshiung Hofa Industrial Park (高雄和發工業區), the ministry said.

The ministry also gave a green light to eight other SME investment applications, including Fox Automation Technology Inc (承鼎精密) and Gold Chains Sheet Metal Tech Co Ltd (高群鈑金), as well as hand tool suppliers Chu Min Co Ltd (茱銘) and Honiton Industries Inc (利徠實業).

Fox Automation, a subsidiary of Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc (京鼎), is to invest NT$1.8 billion setting up a smart manufacturing facility in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南), as the company aims to expand its production capacity and strengthen cooperation with Applied Materials Inc, the ministry said.

Gold Chains is to invest NT$500 million setting up a smart manufacturing facility for slot and gachapon machines, while Chu Min and Honiton are to invest about NT$200 million each establishing new plants in Taichung’s Taiping District (太平) to handle mounting orders, it said.

Seamless steel pipe manufacturer Meng Chang Precision Machine Industry (猛展鋼鐵), which supplies automakers Honda Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, is to invest NT$200 million to establish a new automated plant in the Yunlin Fengtian Industrial Park (雲林豐田工業區), while Fupite Plastics Mold Co Ltd (富比特塑膠模具), which counts auto parts maker Tong Yang Industry Co Ltd (東陽實業) and furniture maker IKEA among its clients, is to invest NT$200 million to set up a research-and-development center, it added.

The ministry has approved 121 SME investment applications since the program began in July last year, which would result in an estimated NT$53.2 billion in domestic investments.

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taiwan-subdivisions: 高雄 太平 竹南 雲林


content_text:
2020 Elections: CEC warns of ban on canvassing today

ELECTION DAY:After polling stations close at 4pm, votes for president are to be tallied first, regional/Aboriginal legislator votes counted next and political party votes tallied last
Central Election Commission staff test the ballot counting system at the Election Counting and Information Center in Taipei yesterday in preparation for today’s elections.Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
To ensure that today’s presidential and legislative elections proceed in an orderly fashion, people may not canvass for votes for any political party or candidate, including on social media, the Central Election Commission (CEC) reiterated yesterday, adding that offenders would face a fine.

Article 56-2 of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) prohibits people on election day from canvassing for votes, distributing election-related flyers, sending text messages, putting up posters, raising flags that bear candidates’ slogans or portraits, broadcasting from campaign vehicles or loitering near polling stations in clothing bearing candidates’ names, the commission said.

Offenders would be reported by polling station supervisors to the commission’s board of supervisors and would face a fine of NT$500,000 to NT$5 million (US$16,656 to US$166,561), with repeat fines possible if offenders refuse to comply, the commission said.

If people hand out water or other beverages to voters on behalf of a candidate or party, they would be stopped by polling supervisors, the commission added.

If people interfere with the voting by becoming violent or attempting to coerce others, polling supervisors would inform the commission to contact the police or a prosecutors’ office, it said.

On election day in 2012, the “Taiwan Cheers, Great!” Facebook page, set up by then-president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office, posted a message urging people to vote for Ma, resulting in a NT$500,000 fine from the commission.

Today at the polls, voters are to receive three ballots — a presidential ballot, a regional or Aboriginal legislator ballot and a ballot for a political party, which would determine the legislator-at-large seats.

According to the commission, more than 19.31 million people are eligible to vote today.

A two-month difference in voting residency requirements allows 19,311,105 people to cast their ballots for president, while 1,000 more can do so for the legislator-at-large seats, the commission said.

The election laws stipulate that Republic of China citizens must at some point have resided in Taiwan for a minimum of six consecutive months to be eligible to vote for president, or four months to vote for other civil servants.

Of the nation’s eligible voters, 13.37 million (69 percent) are registered in the six special municipalities: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the commission said.

People aged 40 to 49 make up the largest voting bloc with 3.74 million eligible voters (19 percent), followed by those aged 50 to 59 with 3.63 million, it said.

About 1.18 million 20 to 23-year-olds (6 percent) are eligible to vote in the presidential and legislative elections for the first time, it added.

After the polling stations close at 4pm today, votes for president are to be tallied first, followed by regional/Aboriginal legislator votes, with political party ballots counted last, the commission said.

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content_text:
By Hsieh Chun-lin and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer
Veterinarians, New Power Party (NPP) officials and others on Monday urged the government to create better laws to protect service dogs.

Service animals play a significant role in protecting the nation, but their living conditions often do not reflect that importance, NPP legislator-at-large nominee and veterinarian Kuan Hsin-ling (關心羚) told a news conference that also included NPP think tank deputy chief executive officer Peng Sheng-shao (彭盛韶).

As a consultant for the New Taipei City Police Department’s canine unit, Kuan said that she has witnessed firsthand the poor living conditions of service animals, adding that police dogs sent to work with the coast guard came back underweight and unhealthy.

An investigation found that the kennel used by the coast guard was substandard and crowded, with 15 dogs housed in eight cages, she said.

“These dogs help the nation rescue people, catch drug smugglers and prevent African swine fever from entering our borders — they work very hard,” Kuan said. “I hope the government can establish rules to protect them.”

The government should establish an approval system for those seeking to work with service animals and budget funds for training government personnel interested in working with the animals, she said.

Kuan also recommended mandatory training for people planning to adopt pets, which would be operated by local animal protection offices.

The courses would cover animal habits and how to handle younger animals, and it would help prevent the abandonment of pets, she said.

Laws should also be amended to allow veterinarians to assist pet owners with registration, she said, citing similar policies in other nations.

Kuan also urged for the establishment of a veterinarians union to draft labor policies and minimum salaries to improve working conditions.

Universities and colleges with veterinary science programs should also offer veterinarian technologist courses — similar to medical technologist programs — which could provide better training for veterinarian assistants, she added.

Veterinarians are often tasked with more than just veterinary duties, such as helping injured wild animals with recovery, assisting disease prevention efforts and making food safety assessments, Kuan said.

Despite the workload, there are only three Council of Agriculture officials assigned to supervise them, she said.

A separate department should be established to supervise veterinarians, similar to what is done in Japan, Hong Kong and elsewhere, she added.

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title: Veterinarians call for better treatment of service animals


title: Long-term sitting affects mood, study shows

content_text:
People sit inside cubicles in an office in Taipei on Dec. 26 last year.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Sitting for more than eight hours during the workday could increase anxiety and depression, but standing up and moving frequently could reduce or prevent the problems, a study showed.

Research published in the online journal Public Library of Science analyzed the emotional well-being of 42 adults who worked more than 30 hours per week, outfitting them with monitoring equipment for a week to measure their movement, focusing on how often they walk.

The study showed that the amount of time spent sitting during the workday had affected the participants’ anxiety and depression levels, as well as their mental activity.

Participants who sat for fewer than eight hours had Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores lower than groups who sat for eight to 10 hours or more than 10 hours, the study showed.

National Pingtung University of Science and Technology sports and health professor Hsu Chin-hsing (徐錦興) said that the longer people spend sitting, the lower their spirits.

If a person spends all day sitting at work and maintains a sedentary lifestyle at home, they would have a higher likelihood of developing anxiety and depressions, but if the same person engaged in sustained aerobic exercise, the brain would excrete endorphins, dopamine and other hormones that would induce feelings of pleasure, he said.

People can use apps on cellphones or wearable devices, or use a kitchen timer, to remind themselves to get up and move and to sit for not more than eight hours in a day, he said.

John Tung Mental Health Center director Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨) said prolonged sitting while working at a computer leads to soreness and pain in the neck, shoulders and waist.

Having few interactions with people during the day while concentrating at work allows feelings of anxiety and depression and negative emotions to build up, he added.

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people: 宋楚瑜 連戰 韓國瑜 蔡英文

content_text:
2020 Elections: Soong slams KMT, warns of its end

‘BEST CHOICE’:James Soong pointed out that Han Kuo-yu sat for a few minutes during the televised debate, but he, at 70 years old, did not budge a bit
By Chen Yun, Hsu Li-chuan and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporters, with staff writer
People First Party Chairman James Soong, front center, the party’s presidential candidate, hold hands with party candidates and supporters at an election rally last night in Taipei.Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), the PFP’s presidential candidate, yesterday criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and warned pan-blue supporters of the KMT that they were only digging its grave.

Soong was responding to comments by Broadcasting Corp of China president Jaw Shaw-kang (趙少康), who on Thursday at a rally on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard for Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, told the crowd that “to vote for Soong is to vote for [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).”

Tsai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is seeking re-election in today’s election.

Soong on Thursday night on Facebook said that as the KMT is saying that voting for him is to vote for Tsai and the DPP is saying that “to vote for Soong is to vote for Han,” their messaging indicates that he is the best choice outside of the two largest parties.

Taiwanese have waited two decades to be able to vote for a candidate who is both wise and capable, he added.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Soong said that in 2000, Jaw created phony polls to trigger the “dump-save” effect, which persuaded pan-blue supporters to not vote for him, then an independent candidate, but rather for former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), who was then the KMT’s candidate.

Pan-blue camp supporters should vote for someone who can truly champion the Three Principles of the People (三民主義) to uphold the ideals of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) and embody former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) willingness to work for the people, Soong said.

“Any effort to manipulate voter choice would only benefit me” due to the weakness of the KMT’s candidate and because changes to the economy and industry require an experienced hand to guide the nation in the right direction, he said.

Soong pointed out that Han took a seat for a few minutes during the televised presidential debate, but he, at 70 years old, did not budge an inch throughout the event.

It is evident who is more experienced and better off constitutionally, Soong said, adding that it would make no sense if people voted for an inferior choice when they have a better candidate.

The DPP talks about sovereignty, Soong said, but added that sovereignty should mean that people are the masters and that Taiwan’s sovereignty is in the hands of the people, and other nations should not be allowed to interfere.

After canvassing for votes in motorcades in the morning, Soong last night held a campaign in front of the PFP’s campaign headquarters in Taipei, where he shared the stage with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘).

Gou called the crowd to give their party votes to the PFP and the Taiwan People’s Party, and prevent the DPP from retaining its legislative majority.

The PFP said that nearly 5,000 people attended the rally.

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title: Event planned for eight killed in crash

taiwan-subdivisions: 汐止 烏來

content_text:
Event planned for eight killed in crash

CHOPPER TRAGEDY:A memorial is to be held next week commemorating them with a fighter jet flyby, and they are also to receive posthumous, one-rank promotions
A public memorial event for eight military personnel killed in a military helicopter crash of a UH-60M Black Hawk on Thursday last week is to be held on Tuesday at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), the Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.

Their coffins are to be draped with the national flag, the ministry said, adding that it would confer posthumous, one-rank promotions, with their families to receive their commendations and decorations.

Four Mirage 2000 fighters are to perform a “missing man formation” flyby, while three Black Hawk helicopters conduct a low-altitude flyby as a salute to the deceased, the ministry said.

The missing man formation starts with a standard “finger-four” formation and one aircraft, usually the leader of the second element, pulls up and out of formation to honor the person or people who have died.

The Black Hawk was on Thursday last week carrying the military personnel to Dongaoling Base (東澳嶺) in Yilan County when it went down in the mountains of New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) with 13 people on board.

The deceased were chief of the general staff general Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴), Political Warfare Bureau deputy director major general Yu Chin-wen (于親文), major general Hung Hung-chun (洪鴻鈞) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence, major Huang Sheng-hang (黃聖航) of the Office of the Chief of the General Staff, chief master sergeant Han Cheng-hung (韓正宏), pilot lieutenant colonel Yeh Chien-yi (葉建儀), copilot captain Liu Chen-fu (劉鎮富) and crew chief master sergeant Hsu Hung-pin (許鴻彬).

Shen’s and Huang’s ashes are to be laid to rest at Wujhihshan Military Cemetery in New Taipei City’s Sijhih District (汐止), although Huang’s urn would rest at a separate level, due to his rank, the ministry said.

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title: Puerto Rico government seeks earthquake aid

content_text:
The Costa Sur power plant stands in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, on Thursday.Photo: AFP
The aftermath of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that killed one person, injured nine others and severely damaged infrastructure in Puerto Rico’s southwest coast is deepening as the island’s government says it is overwhelmed.

Many in the affected area are comparing the situation to Hurricane Maria, a category 4 storm that hit in September 2017, as hundreds of families who are unable to return to their damaged homes wonder where they will stay in upcoming weeks and months as hope fades of electricity being restored soon.

“We have to remain outside because everything inside is destroyed,” said 84-year-old Brunilda Sanchez, who has been sleeping outdoors in a government-supplied cot in the southwest coastal town of Guanica. “We don’t know how long we’ll have to stay here.”

US President Donald Trump declared an emergency in Puerto Rico several hours after Tuesday’s quake hit, a move that frees up federal funds via the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for things ranging from transportation to medical care to mobile generators.

However, some local officials worry that the help will not arrive soon enough.

“FEMA is a very bureaucratic agency and it moves very slowly. So slowly that we’re still waiting for federal funds from Maria,” Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority director of generation Daniel Hernandez told reporters.

FEMA has already pledged to bring mobile generators to bolster the company’s biggest plant, which is near the island’s southern coast where the quake hit and is severely damaged, Hernandez said.

It is unclear how quickly the plant can be repaired, he said, adding that a damage assessment is ongoing, although some officials estimated it could take up to one year to repair.

Complicating efforts to restore power are strong aftershocks, with more than 40 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher since Tuesday’s quake, experts said.

Every time it shakes, personnel have to evacuate and further damage to the plant’s infrastructure is feared, Hernandez said.

Power company director Jose Ortiz said he expects nearly all customers to have electricity by early next week.

Preliminary assessments show that at least US$50 million in damage occurred, Ortiz said.

On Thursday, transportation officials closed a portion of one of Puerto Rico’s busiest highways because of what they called serious structural failures related to the quake.

Both directions of Highway 52, which runs from the capital, San Juan, to the southern coastal city of Ponce were indefinitely closed near Ponce.

Meanwhile, aftershocks have led to a rise in the number of people seeking shelter in southwest Puerto Rico as government officials continue to inspect homes and public housing complexes.

Puerto Rico Department of Housing Secretary Fernando Gil urged people to stay with family or in shelters if they felt unsafe in their homes as the government relocated more than two dozen people from damaged residences.

“Meanwhile, we will continue to identify what kind of help is needed to support all affected families,” Gil said.

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content_text:
JPMorgan, Nomura take extra Chinese office space

‘VOTE OF CONFIDENCE’:The firms have been at the fore of Beijing’s financial opening, and plan to build their asset-management and securities businesses
JPMorgan Chase & Co and Nomura Holdings Inc are taking extra office space in China, with both increasing headcount in the nation as it opens its US$45 trillion financial industry to more competition.

New York-based JPMorgan is boosting its space in Shanghai Tower, China’s tallest skyscraper, to 20,000m2 from 15,000m2, people familiar with the matter said.

Nomura, Japan’s biggest brokerage, is nearly doubling the size of its lease to about 5,000m2, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are not public.

Both institutions have been at the fore of China’s financial opening, laying out expansive plans to build their securities and asset-management businesses in Asia’s largest economy, and hiring along the way.

As the liberalization gathers pace, it is presenting the firms and their peers, such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc and BlackRock Inc, with a tantalizing opportunity to more easily compete for a slice of the nation’s ballooning wealth.

JPMorgan’s expansion comes less than a year after it relocated to Shanghai Tower in the city’s financial district because it needed more room. The lender has been hiring, a person familiar with the matter said, without giving details.

“This is a strong vote of confidence in their China business,” Jones Lang LaSalle Inc head of China research Daniel Yao (姚耀) said. “Foreign asset management companies have been at the forefront expanding in Shanghai.”

The office expansion is part of a long-term plan after the bank announced last year that it wanted to have all its Shanghai-based employees in one building, JPMorgan said in an e-mailed statement.

A Nomura representative declined to comment.

As of this month, foreign companies can apply for 100 percent control of insurance and futures ventures in China. In April, overseas players would be able to apply for licenses to start wholly owned mutual fund management firms.

Global firms could invest 7 trillion yuan to 8 trillion yuan (US$1.01 trillion to US$1.15 trillion) in Chinese assets over the next few years, the China Center for International Economic Exchanges said.

JPMorgan and Nomura both already have majority-owned securities ventures in China.

Nomura last month said that it expects its local headcount to climb to 500 by 2023 as it builds its wealth management business and expands into investment banking.

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has said the bank is committed to bringing its “full force” to China.

Additional office requirements from foreign financial institutions would spur strong demand in Shanghai’s office leasing market this year, helping ease elevated vacancy rates, CBRE Group Inc astern China head of research Ivy Lu (李婉菁) said.

Vacancy rates in the financial hub spiked to 19.4 percent at the end of last year, the highest level since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2008 to 2009, CBRE said.

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content_text:
Boeing employees mocked FAA

‘DEEPLY DISTURBING’:Documents show that employees groused about senior management, the company’s selection of low-cost suppliers and wasting money
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are parked on the tarmac after being grounded at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California, on March 28 last year.Photo: AFP
Boeing employees knew about problems with flight simulators for the now-grounded 737 Max and apparently tried to hide them from federal regulators, documents released on Thursday showed.

In internal messages, Boeing employees talked about misleading regulators about problems with the simulators. In one exchange, an employee told a colleague they would not let their family fly on a 737 Max.

Boeing said the statements “raise questions about Boeing’s interactions with the FAA [US Federal Aviation Administration]” in getting the simulators qualified, but said the company is confident that they work properly.

“These communications do not reflect the company we are and need to be, and they are completely unacceptable,” Boeing said in a statement.

Employees also groused about Boeing’s senior management, the company’s selection of low-cost suppliers and wasting money.

“I still haven’t been forgiven by God for the covering up I did last year,” one employee wrote in a message in 2018 in reference to dealing with the FAA.

“I know, but this is what these regulators get when they try and get in the way. They impede progress,” another wrote in August 2015.

“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys,” said another employee in 2017, apparently in reference to the FAA.

“Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn’t,” an employee wrote to a colleague.

“No,” the colleague answered.

Names of the employees who wrote the e-mails and text messages were redacted.

The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since March, after two crashes that killed 346 people.

Boeing is still working to update software and other systems on the plane to convince regulators to let it fly again. The work has taken much longer than Boeing expected.

The latest batch of internal Boeing documents were provided to the FAA and US Congress last month, and released on Thursday.

The company said it was considering disciplinary action against some employees.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said that the agency found no new safety risks that have not already been identified as part of its review of changes that Boeing is making to the plane.

He said that the simulator mentioned in the documents has been checked three times in the past six months.

“Any potential safety deficiencies identified in the documents have been addressed,” he said in a statement.

A lawmaker leading one of the congressional investigations into Boeing called the documents “incredibly damning.”

“They paint a deeply disturbing picture of the lengths Boeing was apparently willing to go to in order to evade scrutiny from regulators, flight crews and the flying public, even as its own employees were sounding alarms internally,” said US Representative Peter DeFazio, chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation Committee.

DeFazio said the documents detail “some of the earliest and most fundamental errors in the decisions that went into the fatally flawed aircraft.”

DeFazio and other critics have accused the company of putting profit over safety.

The grounding of the 737 Max is to cost the company billions of dollars in compensation to families of passengers killed in the crashes and airlines that canceled thousands of flights.

Last month, the company ousted chief executive Dennis Muilenburg and decided to temporarily halt production of the plane, a decision that is rippling out through its supplier network.

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title: Boeing employees mocked FAA


content_text:
US to boost its Asia cyberforce

EAST OF TAIWAN:The US Army secretary said the move would use data from low Earth orbit satellites to help neutralize investments China and Russia have made
The US Army is to expand efforts to counter China by deploying a specialized task force to the Pacific capable of conducting information, electronic, cyber and missile operations against Beijing.

The unit, which US Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy was to detail at an event in Washington yesterday, would also be equipped to hit land and sea-based targets with long-range precision weapons such as hypersonic missiles, possibly clearing the way for US Navy vessels in the event of conflict.

The task force would help neutralize some capabilities China and Russia already possess that are intended to keep US carrier groups away from the Asian mainland, McCarthy said in an interview.

It was not clear how quickly the unit, which would likely be based on islands east of Taiwan and the Philippines, could be deployed.

The move is designed to “neutralize all the investments China and Russia have made,” McCarthy said.

It would be bolstered by a new agreement with the US National Reconnaissance Office, which develops and manages US spy satellites, he said.

Under that accord, army tactical units would be better able to tap information gleaned from existing and future low Earth orbit satellites, he said.

The pivot would help US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper achieve a long-sought US goal of shifting more forces from Europe, the Middle East and Africa to the Pacific, better positioning the US to take on “peer competitor” China and historic rival Russia.

Under McCarthy’s vision, the move would allow the army to create a new paradigm in the Pacific, where ground forces would “punch a hole” in enemy defenses for air and naval forces.

Now, the ground-based unit in those island chains can create the support “for air and sea,” McCarthy said.

China’s military doctrine calls for a so-called “anti-access” strategy, backed by long-range anti-ship missiles and space-based surveillance capabilities, intended to keep US aircraft carrier strike groups well beyond the so-called first and second island chains.

The first island chain extends from the Kuril islands down to Borneo, while the second island chain generally extends from just east of Japan to Guam and down toward New Guinea.

The pivot includes greater army participation in regional war games like the “Defender Pacific” series and deploying a “Security Force Assistance Brigade” next year for the Indo-Pacific theater similar to ones set up and deployed to Afghanistan, he said.

The army started experimenting with the task force in 2018. The 17th Field Artillery Brigade from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State conducted nine major training exercises, plus simulations and war games to evaluate concepts.

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title: US to boost its Asia cyberforce


content_text:
Tensions flare in French pension protests

TEACHER’S LAMENT:A protester in Paris said that some teachers could see their pensions cut by up to 100 euros a month if all of the schemes are merged
Protesters wave flares and hold a sign that reads in French: “No to work to perpetuity” at a demonstration in Nantes, France, on Thursday.Photo: AFP
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to streets across France on Thursday in the latest mass protests against a pensions overhaul that critics say could cut benefits even while requiring people to work longer before retiring.

Tensions flared in Paris and other cities as some black-clad protesters smashed glass-paneled shopfronts and bus stops, while others hurled paving stones toward police, who tried to disperse crowds with tear gas.

It was the fourth day of demonstrations since the protest began on Dec. 5 with a massive public transport strike now in its 36th day.

Police said at least 24 people had been detained in Paris, where 56,000 people marched toward the Saint-Lazare train station, the French Ministry of the Interior said.

About 452,000 protesters turned out across France, the ministry said, as teachers and other public-sector employees joined train and metro workers.

The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) union said that almost 1.7 million people protested across the country.

“Teachers like us stand to lose the most. Some could see their pensions cut by up to 100 euros [US$111] a month!” Marylou Crampette, a 25-year-old school teacher, said at the Paris march.

Unions have staged their biggest show of strength in decades against plans for a single, points-based system that would sweep away the country’s 42 pension schemes, many offering early retirement mainly to public workers.

The government says it is ready to negotiate, in particular on plans that would effectively extend the minimum age for receiving a full pension from 62 to 64.

“For us, health and hospital workers, or in retirement homes, it’s totally impossible to work until 64 years old,” said Morgane Henry, 41, at a protest in Lyon.

Commuters in Paris were again hit hard by scaled-back metro services, while the Eiffel Tower was shut, as during the previous protests.

National train services also remained severely disrupted during what has become the longest continuous rail strike in France.

“Between the government’s stance of: ‘We’re talking, everything is on the table’ and the reality, you have to wonder if it really intends to ... take the views of unions into account,” CGT’s Philippe Martinez said ahead of the Paris march.

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title: Court ruling in US paves way for wall work by company

content_text:
Crews could start building a private border wall in south Texas in the next few days following a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday that lifted a restraining order against the project.

US District Judge Randy Crane’s order was the second federal ruling in two days in favor of border barriers.

Fisher Industries, a North Dakota-based construction firm, wants to install 4.8km of steel posts about 10m from the US bank of the Rio Grande, the river that forms the US-Mexico border in Texas.

Fisher Industries president Tommy Fisher wants to spend US$40 million on the private border wall — originally promoted by an online fundraising group — to prove that his company can build barriers more effectively.

The US government sued to stop Fisher on the grounds that building so close to the Rio Grande risked changing the flow of the river and potentially pushing floodwaters into Mexico, in violation of treaty obligations.

The US attorney’s office argued that the project could shift the river and the international boundary, which violated the US president’s authority “to conduct the foreign relations of the United States.”

Existing segments of fencing and the small sections that the government is building typically run along the Rio Grande levee or through property a significant distance from the river. The US is working to seize private land to build more sections of wall in Texas.

Crane issued a restraining order in December, but lifted that order on Thursday. He also declined to grant a restraining order at the request of the National Butterfly Center, a nonprofit next to the South Texas construction site.

The butterfly center and environmentalists say that building a border barrier so close to the river could increase erosion and potentially damage other land.

Fisher Industries has submitted documents to the government that argue installing fence posts and clearing and grading the land will reduce flooding, although environmentalists disagree with that claim.

Speaking after the hearing Thursday, Fisher said his work crews were ready to start working tomorrow and could install all of the steel posts in a week.

“We look forward to showing the whole entire world that you can have border protection where you need it,” Fisher said.

On Wednesday, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower court’s stay that had prevented US President Donald Trump’s administration from diverting US$3.6 billion from military construction projects to fund 280km of border wall.

The White House on Thursday said that the appeals court’s ruling rightfully lifted an “illegitimate nationwide injunction.”

The 2-1 ruling allows the government to move forward with 11 projects in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The longest and most expensive by far would span 83km in Laredo, Texas, at an estimated cost of US$1.27 billion.

Trump tweeted about the ruling and wrote that the “Entire Wall is under construction or getting ready to start!”

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title:
The Cape Town   Minstrels Parade
開普頓吟遊詩人嘉年華會 盛大登場

countries: 美國 南非

content_text:
A minstrel troupe marches through the city center during the Cape Town Minstrels Parade on Jan. 4 in Cape Town, South Africa.
在南非開普頓一月四日舉行的「開普頓吟遊詩人嘉年華會」中，吟遊詩人樂團的成員遊行經過市中心。Photo: AFP
照片：法新社

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The Cape Town Minstrels Parade sees more than 45 troupes, consisting of 25,000 to 30,000 performers, marching through the center of Cape Town dressed in bright colored costumes, playing music and dancing. The “Tweede Nuwe Jaar” celebration dates back to the time before slavery was abolished in the Cape Colony, during which slaves were allowed to relax on the day following New Year’s Day.

After emancipation, freed slaves formed dance bands, at first playing mainly European music, but later developing Creole repertoires.

Their New Year celebrations were significantly influenced by American minstrel troupes, initially comprised of white performers in “blackface” impersonating African-American slaves. These performers would wear eccentric clothing with colorful tailcoats, emulating society’s upper class.

The Minstrel Carnival, then, is a reminder of Cape Town’s slavery past, but also of the role of dance and music as a celebration of freedom.

Modern-day troupes aim at creating social cohesion, youth activities and a connection to culture in the mostly impoverished and crime-ridden communities in which the members live.

(AFP with staff writer)

今年的「開普頓吟遊詩人嘉年華會」吸引了多達兩萬五千名到三萬名表演者，組成超過四十五個歌舞團體共襄盛舉。表演者身穿色彩亮麗的服裝，載歌載舞，遊行穿過開普頓市中心。這場慶祝活動又稱為「第二次新年」，可追溯到開普殖民地廢除奴隸制度之前。當時，奴隸被允許在新年的第二天稍事休息。

在解放後，重獲自由的奴隸們組成舞蹈團體，一開始主要演奏歐洲音樂，後來發展出「克里奧爾」式、混合歐洲和當地音樂風格的曲目。

開普頓解放奴隸的新年慶祝活動深受美國的吟遊詩人樂團影響，後者起初是由白人表演者將臉塗黑，扮演非裔美國人。這些表演者穿著風格古怪的服飾，以及色彩鮮豔的燕尾服，模仿社會的上層階級。

也因此，開普頓的吟遊詩人嘉年華會提醒這座城市曾經有過奴隸制度的過往，同時也提醒人們舞蹈與音樂作為頌揚自由的角色。

今日樂團的目標主要聚焦於營造社會凝聚感、讓年輕人參與活動，並且與文化連結，而這些大多數窮困而充斥犯罪的社區，正是成員們的居住地。

（台北時報章厚明譯）

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
B: Your mother and father definitely carried out a courage-building custom on you when you were little, but being so young you wouldn’t remember.

A: I asked my mom: She said they went to a nearby mountain to find a large, round stone, and after making a circle on my chest several times placed it under my bed.

B: 你爸爸媽媽在你小時候一定幫你做過膽，只是因為你那時太小了，才會不記得這件事。

A: 我後來回去問我媽，她說他們當時還真的跑去附近的山上找了一顆又大又圓的石頭回來，在我胸前畫幾次圓以後放在我的嬰兒床底下。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: Restaurant review: Impromptu by Paul Lee

content_text:
The “snowman” dessert was a work of art.Photo: George Lee

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Impromptu — unrehearsed, unscripted, unprepared — such is the spirit of Paul Lee’s (李皞) eponymous restaurant. Tucked behind the luxury backdrop of the Regent Taipei Hotel (台北晶華酒店), Impromptu offers a clean swanky aesthetic.

Opened in August 2018, Impromptu quickly picked up one Michelin star. The secret behind its swift success is not only innovative cuisine, but the concept and holistic experience.

Impromptu first attraction is the open kitchen. Upon entering, every guest makes eye contact with the chef team. Without the kitchen-to-table separation, every guest can observe as the dishes come together, or on the rare occasion, fall apart. Whether it be rejoicing together at a perfectly executed dish or face-palming at an overcooked egg, chef and guest are allowed to truly bond. For this reason I highly recommend sitting at the bar.

Borrowed from the Japanese dining concept Omakase, Chef Lee’s vision entails a dining experience where guests give chefs complete creative freedom to design their meal. His restaurant has neither a menu, nor a wine list. It is this level of spontaneity that encapsulates the dining experience at Impromptu — you never know what new trick the chef will pull out of his hat.

For the full experience, I went with their Christmas tasting menu and cocktail pairing (prices vary depending on the season). The degustation begins with scallop and crown daisy wrapped in a thin daikon veil, topped with chorizo and altogether lie atop a bed of seashells and rocks. I picked it up with my fingers and ate it like it is a piece of sushi. The briny fragrance of the scallop coupled with the salty chorizo and daikon made the dish a little on the salty side; I would have preferred to eat each constituent ingredient on its own. I laud the effort to marry these salty ingredients though — they whetted my appetite.

Address: B1, No. 3, Lane 39, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City

(台北市中山區中山北路二段39巷3號B1)

Telephone: (02) 2521-2518

Open: Daily from 5:30pm to 10pm; closed Mondays

Average meal: NT$3000

Details: Reservation recommended; No menu; 10 percent service charge

On the Net: www.impromptu.com.tw

Up next were bite-sized glutinous tapioca balls stuffed with porcini and salted pork. I sunk my teeth into its crunchy outer layer without much care, only to be surprised by the soft mochi-like interior. The contrasting textures really stood out to me; I chewed for a few extra seconds, puzzled by the salty and earthy flavors, which usually are not paired with the chewy, gummy dough. At the end of the one-biter I was only partially convinced that the combination worked.

Then came “Eric’s daily bao tang,” a velvety rich broth topped with various herbs. As I sipped the broth, I felt it travel down my throat and warming the rest of my body, making me feel oddly awake in the restaurant’s dimly lit ambiance. The silky and creamy broth reminded me of chicken concentrate my grandmother used to drink, almost forgetting that I was sitting in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Things picked up with the next dish: a cloud of lemon verbena egg-white foam over slices of raw hamachi and strawberry. The consistency of the foam was light and airy; the hints of citrus and spice from magao, a mountain pepper, came together nicely. The bracing acidity and sweetness of the strawberry surprisingly elevated the mild buttery flavor of the fish. Traces of French influence is unambiguous here with the seafood-fruit pairing.

A kind of interlude was the house-made bread and whipped butter. Just the right amount of charring on the outside and delicate, flecked with grains on the inside — perfectly baked, but slightly boring.


content_text:
Food stirs up interest at Vegas tech show

Vegan pork and appliances that help plan your meals are some of the new gadgets and goodies at the Consumer Electronics Show
Impossible Pork Char Siu Buns are sampled on Monday during an Impossible Foods press event for Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.Photo: AFP
What’s cooking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)? AI meal planning, a robot to chop your onions and vegan pork.

Food and tech have come together at the annual lifestyle and gadget extravaganza, with blockchain, artificial intelligence, voice recognition and computer vision technologies keeping things fresh.

Here are a few of the innovations on display in Las Vegas this week:

AI IN THE KITCHEN

Many a family is flummoxed by getting meals on the table every night of a busy week. AI may be able to help with that. Its use in meal planning and preparations was a hot topic at CES.

GE Appliances, a division of China’s Haier, unveiled its smart hub integrated into a microwave which uses AI to analyze food in a consumer’s refrigerator and make recipe suggestions.

“You can see all the food you have and get a recommendation (for recipes), to cut down on waste,” said GE’s Jeremy Miller.

If the unit is paired with a compatible cooktop and oven, the system will also keep track of the cooking process to help ensure adequate, personalized cooking.

GE also announced a new kitchen concept dubbed Shift, which will use face and voice recognition technology to personalize its design in real-time to accommodate family members of different heights, ages or cooking abilities.

For those cooking outdoors, Weber unveiled its smart app along with a new connected grill.

The system uses AI to get just the right amount of browning and ensure accurate cooking of anything from pizzas to whole turkeys, said Chris Scherzinger, chief executive of Weber-Stephen Products.

“With our 70 years of grilling experience, we have developed algorithms to know exactly how to get the right sear and ensure that the interior is cooked,” Scherzinger said as grills were fired up outside the Las Vegas Convention Center.

CHOPPING THE ONIONS

A new cooking bot unveiled at CES also aims to leverage AI for kitchen-challenged consumers.

The appliance from Hong Kong-based CookingPal — named “Julia” — is paired with a smart hub that can suggest recipes based on what’s in the fridge — and then handle much of the preparation.

Julia, set to launch late this year, can even handle tasks such as weighing, chopping, kneading, and cooking in a single, tabletop device — and then clean up after itself, according to the company.

“Everyone hates to chop the onions,” said Anna Khomenko, marketing manager for CookingPal, adding that the new robot can help streamline kitchens by performing functions of several appliances.

Don’t you hate when you run out of milk? California startup PantryOn introduced a system that can be added to any refrigerator or pantry to keep track of foods running low.

Unlike some other systems, PantryOn is based on weight, and “it can make a shopping list for you,” said founder Fadi Shakkour. You can then order foods from within the app.

VEGAN PORK IS HERE

Impossible Foods, the maker of plant-based meat substitutes, made its second CES appearance and introduced its Impossible Pork, which — like its ground beef — is fully vegetarian.

The new product was being served to CES participants in sausage, dumplings and other dishes.

“Impossible Foods cracked meat’s molecular code — starting with ground beef, which is intrinsic to the American market. Now we’re accelerating the expansion of our product portfolio to more of the world’s favorite foods,” said chief executive Patrick Brown.

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title: N Ireland draft published

content_text:
A draft deal to revive Northern Ireland’s defunct government was published on Thursday, three years to the day since the province’s executive collapsed in acrimony.

The document throws down the gauntlet to the region’s parties ahead of a Monday deadline, which would see an election called if no deal is agreed.

“I think we have a document, which hopefully for all of them, will make them think carefully about coming back in,” British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith told broadcaster Raidio Teilifis Eireann. “The prize, if each of them takes that leap, is that they can all take responsibility for the first period of this new decade to move things on.”

Smith said he had written to the speaker of the Belfast Assembly at Stormont, asking him to call representatives to return to the chamber yesterday and allow the restoration of the executive.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster — whose party must agree to the deal if an executive is to be formed — gave tentative backing to the draft.

“On balance, we believe there is a basis upon which the assembly and executive can re-established in a fair and balanced way,” Foster said in a statement. “This is not a perfect deal and there are elements within it which we recognize are the product of long negotiations and represent compromise outcomes. There will always need to be give and take.”

Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of the second key party, Sinn Fein, said on Thursday that they would “meet tomorrow [yesterday] to fully assess” the paper, promising to give it “careful consideration.”

The devolved government at Stormont collapsed after a financial scandal boiled over into wider disputes between the pro-British DUP and republican party Sinn Fein.

Under the terms of a 1998 peace accord, the two parties must share power.

Since Sinn Fein pulled out of the executive in January 2017 the territory has been managed by its civil service, without ministerial direction.

Negotiations to revive Stormont have been snagged on disagreements over the provision for Irish language in the province and a controversial mechanism which gave minority movements the power to veto legislation.

However, in recent weeks pressure to resolve the disputes has grown.

Nurses have taken strike action over pay and unsafe levels of staffing — issues which cannot be remedied without an executive.

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title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
THAILAND

Gunman kills three

A masked gunman opened fire in a shopping mall, killing three people, including a two-year-old, as he robbed a gold shop then escaped, police said yesterday. CCTV footage from the Robinson mall in Lopburi Province, about 145km north of Bangkok, shows the gunman walking to a counter at about 8pm on Thursday and shooting a seller and another person before jumping on the counter and grabbing gold products. “The robber was merciless. We are looking for him in every place. Please trust us, we will definitely get this man and bring him to justice,” police commander Lieutenant General Ampol Buaruppon told reporters. The parents of the child who died in the shooting posted a message on Facebook, saying: “We love you very much. We are so sorry that we cannot protect you. Rest in peace our angel.”

UNITED STATES

Taco Bell sleeper sought

Police have asked for help to identify a man who broke into a Taco Bell restaurant in Lawrenceville, Georgia, prepared food and fell asleep early on Christmas morning. At about 12:15am on Dec. 25, a man approached the Taco Bell and entered through a drive-through window. Surveillance video showed him using the fryers to make himself a meal. After eating, he took a nap on the floor. Prior to leaving about three hours later, the suspect stole a laptop and tablet, investigators said.

UNITED STATES

Hacked sign distracts drivers

An electronic road sign that was hacked early on Thursday asked drivers on Highway 92 in Pine Knot, Kentucky, to “send nudes,” media reported. Officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said someone had hacked through the password-protected system. Driver Tevon Stephens said he noticed the sign while going to work. “We needed to bring awareness to it so the road departments would add cameras or add locks to the equipment to keep from distracting the drivers,” Stephens said.

UNITED STATES

Epstein video lost

Video footage of the area around Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell on a day he survived an apparent suicide attempt “no longer exists,” federal prosecutors told a judge on Thursday. Officials at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York believed that they had preserved footage of guards finding Epstein after he appeared to have attempted suicide, but actually saved a video from a different part of the jail, prosecutors said. The FBI also has determined that the footage does not exist on the jail’s backup video system “as a result of technical errors,” US attorneys wrote in a court filing. Epstein hanged himself in jail Aug. 10 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, officials said.

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title: Muslim militants kill 25 soldiers in Niger attack

content_text:
Muslim militants on Thursday carried out a large assault on Niger’s military, leaving at least 25 soldiers dead along with dozens of jihadists only a month after the worst attack of its kind in years, the military said.

The violence struck the town of Chinagodrar right on Niger’s border with Mali.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmarks of an Islamic State-linked group that said it was behind an ambush last month near the town of Inates.

Thursday’s assault came just days before French President Emmanuel Macron is due to meet in France with the president of Niger and other leaders from the Sahel region — a meeting that was pushed back a month ago after the unprecedented attack on Niger’s armed forces.

The leaders from France’s former colonies of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are due to discuss the role of the French military in the face of mounting attacks.

The Nigerien Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that 63 jihadists had been killed along with the 25 soldiers in the attack about 11km from the border with Mali.

On Wednesday, UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel Mohamed Ibn Chambas spoke of “a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets” in recent months.

Chambas told the UN Security Council that terrorist attacks have increased five-fold in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger since 2016.

There were more than 4,000 deaths reported last year, compared with an estimated 770 deaths in 2016, he said.

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content_text:
109年加強重要節日安全維護工作將自109年1月16日22時起至 1月30日24時止實施，為期15天。虎尾警分局表示，本工作以春節連續假期為工作期程，由各警察單位依轄區特性及地方需求，常態化及在地化整備配合執行，以「治安平穩、交通順暢、民眾安心」為工作主軸，統合警察、消防、義警、民防及相關行政機關力量，期讓民眾能過一個順遂、如意的春節假期。

為達工作順利進行，虎尾分局長郝心誠特召集所屬各單位主管，並邀請轄內義警、民防、守望相助隊、志工、各機關學校、金融機構、交通運輸業暨大型賣場代表舉辦工作協調會，就今年度工作主軸，擬定可行、有效之措施，結合各界力量共同為地方治安、交通、為民服務付出一份心力，期能獲得轄區民眾之肯定。

分局長郝心誠指出，本項工作已回歸常態化，治安採取犯罪預防、偵防並重方式，交通則以機動、彈性與即時疏導為手段，加強稽查與防制作為，降低事故發生；另要求員警秉持同理心與熱忱，結合協勤民力積極投入與治安、交通、為民服務等有關之具體服務，期能增進良好警民關係，讓轄區民眾能夠平安、快樂、安心的過好年。

虎尾警分局邀請義警、民防、守望相助隊、志工、各機關學校、金融機構、交通運輸業暨大型賣場代表舉辦109年加強重要節日安全維護工作協調會，期能獲得民眾之肯定，安心過好年。

taiwan-subdivisions: 虎尾 安平

title: 加強重要節日維安　虎尾警召開工作協調會


title: 心理諮詢沒煩惱　中市衛生所全面設免費諮詢服務

content_text:
現代人在生活中面臨各種壓力，常忽略心理健康重要性。台中市政府衛生局與專業心理師團隊合作，在全市衛生所設置免費心理諮詢服務，由心理師提供個別心理諮詢服務，維護並促進市民心理健康，此外，為使服務深入偏遠山區，梨山地區更可透過視訊連線方式進行諮詢。

衛生局舉例說明，恩恩(化名)患有憂鬱症，時常負向思考甚至有尋短念頭，雖有按時回診並服藥，但找不到可傾訴的對象。透過轉介，恩恩尋求衛生所心理諮詢服務，透過與心理師談話，釐清自己的問題並調整因應。恩恩表示，衛生所的心理諮詢服務可以提供民眾了解自我狀況，正視情緒抒發的重要性。

衛生局長曾梓展表示，每個人在生活中總會遇到挫折、失落或難以克服的關卡，如有需求，歡迎向各區衛生所預約免費心理諮詢服務，或撥打24小時免費安心專線1925(依舊愛我)，由專人聆聽心聲並提供心理、情緒支持與關懷。另外，衛生局心理健康網自我檢測區(http://bit.ly/2rA3cK5)也有「心情溫度計(簡式健康量表)」提供民眾檢測情緒、評估心理健康狀態。


title: 彰縣衛生局年節食品進行稽查　檢驗結果2件青菜不合格

taiwan-subdivisions: 清水 彰化縣

content_text:
農曆春節將到來，民眾團聚圍爐聚餐機會增加，彰化縣衛生局為維護年節食品安全，針對食品加工廠、傳統市場、超市、大賣場、食材盤商、年菜餐廳、網路賣場等之年節食品進行稽查，共抽驗禽畜水產及加工品、生鮮蔬菜、醃漬蔬菜、乾貨、豆製品、糕粿類、堅果類食品及年菜等產品共計111件，檢驗結果2件不合格(1件青江菜、1件大白菜)，違規率1.8%。

衛生局表示，蔬菜檢出殘留農藥不合格，已違反食品安全衛生管理法第15條規定，依法可處6萬元以上，2億元以下罰鍰，不合格產品已於第一時間勒令販賣商下架不得販售，並進行查辦。另抽查網路購物平台食品共190件，有3成廣告內容不符定型化契約規定，主要違規包括無賣家食品登錄字號、無負責廠商資訊及產品有效日期等；另查獲8件食品標示不合格，其中1件「臘肉」的網頁及外包裝標示均無賣家、產品負責廠商及產品資訊，產品來源及成分不明；1件「乳酪絲」及1件「黑糖茶磚」檢出防腐劑己二烯酸，但外包裝無標示含防腐劑，且「乳酪絲」網頁廣告還宣稱「不添加任何加防腐劑」，涉及標示及廣告不實，可處4萬元以上，400萬元以下罰鍰。

衛生局建議，清洗蔬菜可先以清水浸泡，再以流動清水沖洗，有助去除殘餘農藥，而年貨採購要掌握「一、外觀色澤風味要自然；二、包裝產品標示要完整；三、散裝食品來源要清楚；四、採買環境要清潔衛生；五、要適量採購、適當保存」5要原則，並牢記網購食品6訣竅：「一、食品登錄字號優先看(並應有賣家電話、地址)；二、網頁產品訊息要完整(要有品名、廠商名稱、地址、電話，成分、有效日期、重量、原產地等)；三、誇張廣告勿相信；四、取貨當下要檢查 (檢視產品品質，外觀有無破損、標示是否完整、有無逾期)；五、交易紀錄要保留；六、消費糾紛可撥打1950尋求消保官協助」，以維護自身權益。

最後提醒民眾，春節期間飲食要記得「均衡、適量、少油、少鹽、多纖維」，享受美食同時亦要多運動，以健康過好年。


title: 流感遠超過去四年：2800萬劑疫苗投放全國

content_text:
原標題：流感遠超過去四年：2800萬劑疫苗投放全國

導讀：過去4年流感發病數總和為172.7萬，而截至2019年11月，2019年流感發病數已超230萬。

實 習 生 李倩 武漢報導

2020年的陽曆新年跨年，對於很多武漢人而言，與往年略有不同。

從2019年12月30日晚間開始，兩份紅頭文件開始通過微信等渠道在網路上流傳。一份是由武漢市衛健委發佈的關於報送不明原因肺炎救治情況的緊急通知：武漢市華南海鮮市場陸續出現不明原因肺炎病人。為做好應對工作，各有關醫療機構立即清查統計近一周接診過的具有類似特點的不明原因肺炎病人。另一份則是由武漢市衛健委醫政醫管處發佈的緊急通知，要求各有關醫療機構加強責任領導、規範醫療救治、嚴格信息上報，未經授權任何單位、個人不得擅自對外發佈救治信息。

通報及時消除恐慌

這次武漢不明原因肺炎有多嚴重，醫學能治嗎？

張曉文是武漢某高校的一名大四學生，她告訴21世紀經濟報導記者，政府發佈信息相比2003年要來得更快。但與此同時，她認為武漢人民似乎未像2003年一樣進行高強度的防護，外出時戴口罩的人寥寥無幾。

「隨著消息披露得越多，大家就越淡定了，特別是知道這個病毒並沒有出現人傳人的跡象時。」武漢某高校一位老師1月10日接受21世紀經濟報導記者採訪時回憶道，「另外疫情爆發在自己居住地，身處在這個漩渦的中心也會比較的恐慌，但是恐慌沒有持續很長時間，因為當天中午就有官方發聲了。」

現居住在武漢市江夏區的市民朱迅則認為，對這件事的調查和跟進需要一些時間，不是說馬上就可以給出一個答案的。「但無論是後續的武漢市衛健委的通報還是各家媒體的跟蹤報導都讓我們做一個普通市民比較放心。」

從街頭採訪的結果看，武漢人整體上對政府相關通告、媒體信息披露工作迅速透明表示滿意，同時對相關部門進一步開展病原鑒定和病因溯源工作表示期待。

值得注意的是，1月5日，世界衛生組織（WHO）就肺炎事件發佈通報表示：「根據目前掌握的信息，不建議對中國實施任何旅行或貿易限制。」

今冬流感頻發

事實上，這種擔憂僅是今年流感頻發的一個縮影。當全國各地紛紛落雪之時，元旦前後則成為流感肆虐的季節。

根據我國最新流感監測周報顯示（截至2020年1月5日），我國內地絕大多數省份流感活動水平繼續上升，已進入冬季流行季，部分地區流行水平較高。南方省份檢測到的流感病毒以A（H3N2）亞型和B（Victoria）係為主，北方省份主要是A（H3N2）亞型。

2020年第1周，南方省份哨點醫院報告的ILI%為6.6%，高於前一周水平（6.2%）及2016-2018年同期水平（3.3%、6.0%和4.9%）；北方省份哨點醫院報告的ILI%為5.9%，也高於前一周水平（5.5%）及2016-2018年同期水平（3.8%、5.7%和5.3%）。

這也意味著，在新型冠狀病毒襲擊武漢的同時，全國的流感感染率同比也有所提升。據國家疾病預防控制局數據顯示，過去4年流感發病數總和為172.7萬。而截至2019年11月，2019年流感發病數已超230萬，遠超過去四年總和。

另一方面，今冬全國流感疫苗計劃供應量也有所提升，國家衛健委疾控局約2800萬劑次投入全國市場，比2018-2019年流行季明顯增長。

急遽的升溫降溫、氣候乾燥、霧霾天氣、室內外的空氣污染等都是呼吸系統疾病高發的原因。此外，天冷阻擋戶外運動，我們機體的抵抗力隨之下降，與此同時，為抵禦寒冷關閉門窗后，室內二氧化碳濃度過高，空氣質量下降也易引發呼吸系統疾病。

那麼在冬季天氣寒冷，呼吸道疾病發病率高的情形下，我們該如何做好防護工作呢？

在這種情況下，應盡量避免去人員集中，空間密閉、流通差的場所，如商場、影劇院、歌廳等公共場所；日常注意開窗通風，保持室內空氣新鮮清潔，避免室內溫度過高和濕度過低。最佳的室內溫度一般保持在22度左右，濕度50％。為了解決冬季室內乾燥，空氣污染，還可以利用加濕器、空氣凈化器改善室內的空氣質量。霧霾天氣時不要到戶外活動。

中國疾病預防控制中心指出，在日常工作與生活中應注意增減衣服，防止受涼；注意休息、適量運動、避免勞累；養成良好的個人衛生習慣，勤洗手，盡量避免用手觸摸眼睛、鼻子和嘴，咳嗽、打噴嚏時用手帕或紙巾掩住口鼻；而在飲食上則可適當進補，增加熱能，注意均衡飲食，少吃辛辣等刺激性食物。

21世紀經濟報導及其客戶端所刊載內容的知識產權均屬廣東二十一世紀環球經濟報社所有。未經書面授權，任何人不得以任何方式使用。詳情或獲取授權信息請點擊此處。


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原標題：武漢「虛驚」

實 習 生 劉迅 武漢報導

距首次通報僅9天，武漢不明原因病毒性肺炎即被專家組初步「驗明正身」。

1月9日，據央視新聞，病原檢測結果初步評估專家組就武漢不明原因病毒性肺炎疫情病原學鑒定進展問題公開表示，截至2020年1月7日21時，實驗室檢出一種新型冠狀病毒，獲得該病毒的全基因組序列，經核酸檢測方法共檢出新型冠狀病毒陽性結果15例，從1例陽性病人樣本中分離出該病毒，電鏡下呈現典型的冠狀病毒形態。

得益於檢測手段的進步，從2019年12月31日武漢衛健委首次通報疫情到專家組初步認定為「新型冠狀病毒」僅用時9天，相較於此前SARS驗證時間長達5月已經得到大幅縮短。

根據武漢衛健委通報的最新情況，至2020年1月5日，共有59例病毒性肺炎病例，其中重症患者7例，其餘患者生命體征穩定，無死亡病例。1月8日，央視新聞消息稱，已有8名患者治愈出院。1月10日，據長江日報消息，大多數患者的病情都屬於輕到中度。經治療，患者的病情多可得到控制，最初入院的患者中已有部分治愈出院。目前其他在院的患者大多數病情穩定。

何為新型冠狀病毒

根據央視新聞消息，冠狀病毒是一類主要引起呼吸道、腸道疾病的病原體。這類病毒顆粒的表面有許多規則排列的突起，整個病毒顆粒就像一頂帝王的皇冠，因此得名「冠狀病毒」。冠狀病毒除人類以外，還可感染豬、牛、貓、犬、貂、駱駝、蝙蝠、老鼠、刺蝟等多種哺乳動物以及多種鳥類。目前為止，已知的人類冠狀病毒共有六種。其中四種冠狀病毒在人群中較為常見，致病性較低，一般僅引起類似普通感冒的輕微呼吸道癥狀。另外兩種冠狀病毒則是著名的SARS冠狀病毒和MERS冠狀病毒，即嚴重急性呼吸綜合征冠狀病毒和中東呼吸綜合征冠狀病毒，可引起嚴重的呼吸系統疾病。

而引起此次疫情的新型冠狀病毒不同於已發現的人類冠狀病毒，對該病毒的深入了解需要進一步科學研究。

香港中文大學呼吸系統科講座教授許樹昌此前公開表示，此次不明肺炎疾病的嚴重程度比SARS低，他表示當年SARS每4宗病例中有1宗為嚴重病例，全球整體死亡率約為9.6%。這次肺炎疫情雖然仍在發展中，但至今未有死亡案例，1月8日亦有8人已出院，顯示嚴重程度較低。

即使確診為新型冠狀病毒導致的肺炎也並非無葯可醫。香港大學醫學院微生物學系傳染病學講座教授袁國勇此前公開表示，早前已對SARS進行研究，發現蛋白酶抑製劑等藥物能有效治療SARS、中東呼吸綜合征等冠狀病毒引起的呼吸道疾病。

上述專家組表示，從病人中發現病原的核酸、基因組和抗體證據，短期內可以完成。病原的分離和致病性鑒定等科學研究，則需要數周時間。而針對一種新發病原體的特效藥物和疫苗研發可能需要數年時間來完成。

人非病毒正常宿主

冠狀病毒在自然界分佈很廣，宿主主要集中在各種禽鳥、哺乳動物。通過比對新型冠狀病毒的全基因組序列與各類動物的冠狀病毒，或許能排查找到「武漢肺炎」的病原。

值得注意的是，在動物界帶有最多冠狀病毒的動物是蝙蝠。基於此，袁國勇認為，本次「武漢肺炎」或是從蝙蝠開始，再傳給某種野味，繼而傳染給人類。

根據武漢市衛健會發佈的通告顯示，初步調查表明，未發現明確的人傳人證據，也未發現醫務人員感染。果殼網數據顯示，在近年來病毒引發的危害性流行事件中，人獸共患病超過75%。如SARS與蝙蝠、果子狸； MERS與駱駝；埃博拉出血熱（EBHF）與果蝠、猩猩……此前並不存在於人類社會的病毒通過野味市場或者密切接觸被帶到了人類聚居地。而海鮮產品大多常與急性腸胃炎的病毒相關，而非呼吸道傳染性病毒相關。

事實上，人並非冠狀病毒的正常宿主，其感染人類需達到某種特定條件，例如免疫力下降、接觸病毒時間長或病毒產生變異等。而判斷病毒是否具備人傳人的條件則需要通過流行病學特徵與接觸史、病毒序列特徵與進化關聯性，以及人群的傳播模型進行分析。簡單來說，若出現群體性病例、醫護人員感染，才會懷疑人傳人情形。

21世紀經濟報導及其客戶端所刊載內容的知識產權均屬廣東二十一世紀環球經濟報社所有。未經書面授權，任何人不得以任何方式使用。詳情或獲取授權信息請點擊此處。

title: 武漢「虛驚」


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原標題：航司市場化改革遭遇春節「難題」 2020年春運上演新版「人在囧途」

導讀：在民航局控制航班增量、時刻收緊，運力供給緊張共同作用的背景下，放開價格管控，一旦到旺季，票價彈性和利潤彈性將出現明顯增長。

實 習 生 趙夢婷 北京報導

「不開玩笑，我真的也買不起回家的票。」1月9日晚，一家大型航空公司高管在與媒體人聚會上笑稱春運票價緊張，航空公司員工的免票資格在旺季時間根本候補不到座位，自己掏腰包買票則被機票價格嚇退了。「太貴了！」這位高管的話頓時讓現場笑成一團，「這是上頭條的題」……

打開攜程、同程藝龍網等OTA，臨近春節的機票價格迅速走高，尤其是熱門航線。

今年的機票真的有這麼貴嗎？是否是航班供應太少了以致價格漲得那麼凶？事實並非如此。「今年春運民航日均保障航班量將超過17000架次，比去年增長約13.3%。」中國民用航空局總飛行師萬向東在1月9日的春運新聞發佈會上表示。

也就是說，供應端是在擴容的，水為何還在外溢？萬向東向21世紀經濟報導表示，或與需求端增長太快有關，「2020年春運民航旅客運輸量將再創歷史新高，預計達7900萬人次，同比增長約8.4%。」而整個春運的客運量預計將有30億人次。

1月10日，21世紀經濟報導記者從民航局新聞部門了解到，目前國內航線票價有兩種，一類已經形成競爭的航線實行市場調節價，另一類航線實行政府指導價。頭等艙、公務艙票價已經放開，實行市場調節價。截至目前，實行市場調節價的國內航線旅客運輸量佔國內旅客運輸總量的80%左右。隨著國內航線票價市場化範圍的擴大，國內航線的票價水平主要取決於航空市場供需狀況。

春運機票逐年攀升

如同「天下武功，唯快不破」，搶票經驗的首要秘訣也是「早點下手」，所以很多老百姓早在過年前幾個月就開始訂票了。「幸虧買得早。」招商金融職員嚴娛稱自己過年回家的機票是去年11月買的，提前兩個多月，當時已是經濟艙全價票，如今機票價格漲了好幾倍。

也不是所有機票都是越早買越便宜。「哎呀，今天的機票價格居然比我一個月前買的還便宜！」旅遊局工作人員王崇仁氣哼哼地向21世紀經濟報導記者抱怨，因為怕春節機票價格太貴，他提早一個多月下手搶票，沒想到先買的機票反而比後面放出來的票價還貴。

王崇仁出生在東北，因家人早早在三亞置了業，所以每年全家都會去三亞過年。考慮到春節三亞機票不好買，不僅趕上探親流，還有大量旅遊客流，王崇仁早早下手，12月14日就動手買除夕那天飛三亞、大年初五再回北京的機票。但他吃驚地發現，儘管提前了一個月多月買票，票價並不便宜。心儀的國航只剩下了公務艙，北京飛三亞往返票價高達14000多元，南航也差不多。王崇仁甚至考慮買中轉航班回家，可是深圳飛三亞的機票更貴，單程都要6000多元。最後他搜遍全網找到最便宜的航司是海航，北京三亞往返票價6800元，相當於單程3400元。

回憶起近幾年春節的機票價格，王崇仁感慨如今機票是越來越貴了。他依稀記得最初春節機票要是早點下手往返還能買到折扣機票，然而近年不但沒有折扣，連經濟艙全價機票都不好買，而這兩年明顯還感覺到機票價格逐年增加。

「近幾年，同樣是年三十到年初五，我買的往返機票從4500-5000元，漲到5500元，今年則上升到6800元。」王崇仁稱，北京-三亞前兩年平時的全價機票價格只有2500元，後來是3160元，春節價格似乎又漲了。「再漲我可真是買不起，回不起家了。」王崇仁憂慮道，6800元的票價都能讓他去趟歐洲和美國了。

1月8日，記者查詢了一下北京到海口、三亞的往返航班價格，發現確如王崇仁所言，除了少量航班還有6677元的價格，大量票價都在1.2萬元、1.5萬元、1.7萬元，甚至還有2.1萬元的票價。除了北京到海口三亞的票價緊俏，深圳、上海往返海口和三亞的價格也動輒上萬元。

攜程網機票部門相關負責人表示，除了返鄉團聚以外，旅遊過年正成為越來越多家庭的新選擇，前往三亞、海口避寒已成為人們過年的新潮流。因此春節前一周到海南的機票十分緊張。如1月17日起上海出發飛往三亞，就出現多個航班經濟艙機票售罄的情況。

多條航線價格大漲

據民航局運輸司司長於彪介紹，從具體航線上看，今年春運昆明-北京，成都-上海，南京-三亞，杭州-三亞，溫州-上海，鄭州-海口等航線旅客預訂量增長較快，座位銷售較為緊俏。

攜程相關負責人告訴記者，節前一周，去往哈爾濱、鄭州、長沙等地的機票比較緊張，大多數熱門出發時段航班經濟艙僅剩下全價票。比如，1月19日起，北京飛哈爾濱，經濟艙全價票一票難求，多數航班只剩下公務艙。

同程藝龍的春運機票預訂數據顯示，春節前國內機票的平均票價（不含稅費價格，下同）基本在1000元以內波動，除夕前一天國內機票的平均價格為956元，在除夕當天還出現了一個價格低谷，平均票價為763元。但從大年初二（2020年1月26日）開始，國內機票平均價格快速拉升，到1月30日春節黃金周最後一天達到了1227元的春運最高水平。

同程藝龍品牌公關與政府事務部總經理柴瑩輝指出，整體來看，春運期間，國內機票的平均價格基本一直高於國際機票，主要原因在於國內巨大的探親流大幅拉升了國內航班的客流量。

記者從OTA資料庫查詢，今年春運期間的國內機票價格曲線在走向上與去年相近，除夕前兩天都有一個小的價格波峰，在除夕和春節當天則都出現了一個明顯的波谷，平均票價峰值都出現在假期的最後一天，總體呈現出一個「V」形走勢，整體價格波動情況基本一致。

與2018年之前相比，今年的春運國內機票客流高峰時段的票價較平峰時段的票價漲幅更大。2020年春節黃金周假期最後一天的國內機票票價高達1227元，較平峰票價上漲了65.8%，而2018年春節黃金周期間國內機票高峰平均票價較平峰票價僅上漲了8.8%。

為驗證上述結論，記者向攜程和同程藝龍數據部門調取了2017年-2020年幾條熱門航線價格對比，發現每個航線的價格上漲幅度頗大。

市場化改革另一面

春節機票漲得這麼兇猛，顯然不是航班供應不足所致。實際上2020年春運民航投入的運力為歷年最高。

萬向東稱民航局允許國內各機場根據實際能力適度提升保障容量，航空公司根據市場需求科學預測旅客流向，統籌安排加班、包機和臨時經營航班，深挖潛力，盡最大可能滿足旅客出行需求。

國航商務委員會市場部總經理羅勇向21世紀經濟報導表示，為保障春運順暢，國航擬在2020年春運期間加大航線運力投入，計劃投入飛機運力431架，同比增幅1.9%，安排航班53974班次，其中新增加3173班次，同比增幅6.3%，提供座位1086萬個，同比增加5.8%。

東航方面計劃春運期間執行航班11.89萬班次，同比增加6.11%，其中增加航班6716班；提供座位數量超過2000萬，同比增加6.88%；運輸總投入約329億座公里，同比增長7.83%。

海航則表示會重點增加海口、三亞、廣州、深圳等熱門城市的航班運力，以及廣州=西安/三亞/成都、深圳=三亞/鄭州、海口=貴陽/珠海等熱門航線班次，海航相關負責人稱預計加班超過600班，運輸旅客480餘萬人次，日均運輸旅客達12余萬人次。

萬向東透露，截至1月8日，民航主管部門已經收到了航空公司春運期間申請的加班共計17600班，其中國內含港澳台是14656班，港澳台航線是804班，國際航線2140班。他表示後期各航空公司還將陸續增加或者調整一些航班。

既然不是航班供應不足，春運機票價格為何比往年還要高？「造成這一差異的原因主要是今年春節假期較早，探親流、務工流及旅遊人群高度疊加，客流密度大幅增加，出行需求相對更為集中。」柴瑩輝表示，春節黃金周期間選擇乘飛機出行的消費者最近兩年一直保持著8%以上的增速，需求的快速增長是根本原因。

2017年以來機票價格漲幅波動劇烈，也與民航價格改革不無關係。

我國民航國內旅客運價從1992年起經歷了從政府嚴格管制到逐漸放鬆管制的多年探索，2004年國家發改委和民航局發佈了《民航國內航空運輸價格改革方案》，就基準票價水平、境內外銷售票價並軌、票價浮動幅度、市場監管特殊群體優惠等多方面進行了改革。隨後准許各航空公司於2010年在國內航線頭等艙、公務艙實行「市場調節價」，2013年、2016年《中國民用航空局、國家發展和改革委員會關於完善民航國內航空旅客運輸價格政策有關問題的通知》、《關於深化民航國內航空旅客運輸票價改革有關問題的通知》相繼出台，2017年底，國家發改委、民航局發佈了《關於進一步推進民航國內航空旅客運輸價格改革有關問題的通知》，放開了部分航線的定價權，進一步放寬了市場調節價航線的範圍。

此前便有專家認為，在民航局控制航班增量、時刻收緊，運力供給緊張共同作用的背景下，放開價格管控，淡季也許影響不明顯。一旦到了旺季，民航票價彈性和利潤彈性將非常大，機票價格或將出現明顯增長。

京滬航線兩年三漲便證明了這一觀點，從2020年1月1日起，東航、國航等多家航空公司京滬航線經濟艙全價票價格將上漲10%，這已經是京滬航線自2017年以來第三次漲價。經過去年6月份、12月份兩度漲價之後，機票從1240元漲到1480元，如今機票價格再次上漲，高達1630元，加上機建燃油總共要1680元。

而即使並未提價的航線相較於平日的大力折扣在春節期間也幾乎都恢復原價，需要從廣州返回恩施的易女士告訴21世紀經濟報導，由於春節漲價嚴重，她不得不購買了1350元的全價機票，而平日促銷機票一般只需500元不到，且這個航班並非直達，中途需經武漢停留一個小時左右才能再飛恩施。據記者調查，目前同樣一趟航班，從1月15日起已經沒有經濟艙，只剩少數公務艙，票價達6570元。

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countries: 中國 美國

title: 航司市場化改革遭遇春節「難題」 2020年春運上演新版「人在囧途」