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Building an inclusive city, one trash alley at a time

From Kenya to Colombia, Spain to Singapore, urban planners, businesses and citizens are creating green, open spaces in fast-growing cities to foster community spirit and tackle rising pollution and cramped living spaces
People in June walk beside the drawing at the back street between 35 street and MahaBandoola street during the event to mark the World Environment Day in Yangon, Myanmar. Asia claims 99 of the worlds 100 most polluted cities.Photo: EPA

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For years, Yee Lay kept the back door of her ground floor apartment firmly shut to keep out both the stench from the rubbish that other tenants would carelessly throw behind the building and the hordes of rats that fed on it.

Now, standing in the narrow back alley in downtown Yangon, the longtime resident beamed at the scene in front of her. There were colourful wall murals, neatly potted plants, small wooden seats, swings and a bright green and yellow see-saw.

“It’s wonderful to see a backstreet looking like this,” sighed Yee Lay, 55.

The alley’s transformation from a trash-strewn street into a public playground and garden occurred in 2017, spearheaded by Doh Eain, a social enterprise determined to make this booming city more liveable.

“Yangon has one of the lowest ratios of public spaces in the region or in the world,” Doh Eain founder Emilie Roell said in another colorfully-painted alley behind their office.

“That means children have nowhere to play, the elderly have nowhere quiet to sit outside and there are very few places where people can just come and gather,” she said.

For its latest project, last June Doh Eain opened a community playground and park in Yankin, a Yangon suburb, in an abandoned plot of land that was fast becoming another garbage dump.

From Kenya to Colombia, Spain to Singapore, urban planners, businesses and citizens are creating green, open spaces in fast-growing cities to foster community spirit and tackle rising pollution and cramped living spaces.

With more than half the world’s population living in cities, according to the UN, it is crucial for urban areas to be inclusive and sustainable, said Robin King of the Washington-based think tank World Resources Institute.

“It’s particularly important for poor people because they don’t necessarily have the opportunities to pursue private recreation spaces,” said the director of the institute’s Sustainable Cities program.

Roell shares the same concern, saying privately-owned playgrounds and spaces that charge families to use them are popping up around Yangon.

“Some of the wealthier children can afford to play there but a lot of the poor children, they need to go miles in order to have a nice playground or they don’t get to go outside so much,” she said.

‘OUR HOME’

A study by local non-profit Another Development found that between 1990 and 2014, the population of Yangon, Myanmar’s former capital and largest city, nearly doubled to more than 5 million.

But the amount of green space per person declined by nearly 40 percent to about 0.40 square meters.

This is much lower than other densely-packed Southeast Asian cities such as Jakarta and Bangkok, both of which have about seven square meters per person, according to government data and various studies.

For Roell, an anthropologist by training, her mission to get more green space into Yangon started as a side project after she moved to the city in 2013 to work for the United Nations.

Helping a friend renovate his apartment in a historical building got her involved in heritage restoration and converting a small alley near her home into a garden led to more projects.

When Roell and a few friends organized some activities with the neighbourhood children, “a discussion started to emerge about how people should be taking more responsibility over their waste and how they haven’t got enough public spaces,” she said.


title: [ LETTER ]

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The loss of a great leader

On behalf of and from the Army Aviation Association of America and Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association in Hawaii, we extend our sincere condolences for the loss of the Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 2. As helicopter pilots, we share the grief caused by such accidents.

Please convey our thoughts to the families of those who died, those who were injured, the military officers and service members of the Republic of China, and to the people of Taiwan. You lost a great leader in the death of Chief of the General Staff General Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴) in that crash.

Fifty years ago, our nations served side by side in Vietnam. We have a long history of standing with you in peace, in conflict and in disaster.

At Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, the story of the American Volunteer Group and Colonel Claire Chennault forming the Flying Tigers is remembered as another group of aviation pilots who fought side by side with you for freedom. We pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives so that others could enjoy our way of life — government by the people, for the people.

I met Shen several times when he visited Hawaii as the commander of your air force, and I personally share your admiration for this leader and your loss.

Please express our regards with the families, your government and your people as you lay these heroes to rest.

We pray for Shen, the pilots and crew of the Black Hawk helicopter, and those who lost their lives in the crash. We pray for the well-being of the people of the Republic of China, and we hope always that one day we will enjoy peace on this Earth. Until that time, we will stand strong with you in defending our democracies and our freedom.

Kenneth H. DeHoff Jr., Executive director emeritus Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

Honolulu, Hawaii

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title: SPORTS BRIEFS

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PREMIER LEAGUE

Liverpool’s march continues

Liverpool overcame another obstacle on the path to what looks an almost certain Premier League title as they chalked up a record-breaking 20th win in 21 matches with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. With closest rivals Leicester City suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat against Southampton, Roberto Firmino’s goal sent Juergen Klopp’s side 16 points clear at the top with a game in hand. Manchester United roared back to form with a 4-0 demolition of bottom club Norwich City, while Chelsea maintained their grip on fourth place with a 3-0 defeat of Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Everton won 1-0 at home against Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal drew 1-1 against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 1-1.

LIGUE 1

Lyon rally to beat Bordeaux

A fine finish from coveted striker Moussa Dembele and a deflected effort from Maxwell Cornet helped Olympique Lyonnais rally to beat Girondins de Bordeaux 2-1 in Ligue 1 action on Saturday. Dembele’s firm drive in the 53rd minute came after he was set up by Cornet, who equalized three minutes earlier for Lyon. Veteran forward Jimmy Briand put Bordeaux ahead in the 15th minute. The win moved Lyon up to sixth place and Dembele grabbed his 14th goal in 28 games. Elsewhere, Olympique de Marseille defeated Stade Rennais 1-0, Stade de Reims lost to Nimes Olympique 1-0, Montpellier HSC won 2-1 against Amiens SC, Metz bested RC Strasbourg Alsace 1-0, Toulouse went down 5-2 to Dynamo Brest and OGC Nice scraped a 1-1 draw against Angers SCO.

SERIE A

Ibrahimovic scores in win

Veteran star Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in his first AC Milan start since his return to the club in a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Saturday. The 38-year-old played the entire match, scoring on 64 minutes for his first Milan goal since leaving the club for Paris Saint-Germain eight years ago. “I’ll celebrate like a god at San Siro, not here,” said Ibrahimovic, whose previous scored in the Milan jersey was in May 2012. “I celebrate God every time I score, that way I feel alive!” Ibrahimovic, who did not want to be substituted, said: “I feel good, the coach just wanted to think about my age and see if I needed a rest, but there’s no problem. My brain is always the same and the body has to follow.” Inter’s position on top of Serie A is at risk after a 1-1 draw against Atalanta BC. Lautaro Martinez put Inter ahead after four minutes at the San Siro only for Robin Gosens to pull Atalanta level on 76 minutes. SS Lazio consolidated third position with the only goal in their game against SSC Napoli.

COP DEL REY

Valladolid win in shoot-out

Real Valladolid’s Andriy Lunin on Saturday saved two penalties in a shoot-out after their second-round clash against second-division side Marbella ended 1-1 in regulation time, sending the top-tier side through 5-2 on penalties. Other winners were RCD Mallorca, CA Osasuna, Real Zaragoza, Mirandes, Leganes, Real Betis, Ebro, UD Ibiza, Tenerife, Elche, Badajoz, Athletic Bilbao, second-division side Badalona — who beat top-flight Getafe 2-0 — Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, Recreativo de Huelva, Girona, UD Logrones, Granada and Villarreal.

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title: Winter storms kill at least 11 in US south, Midwest

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A tow truck pulls a disabled truck off the highway in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri, on Saturday.Photo: AP
Severe storms sweeping across southern portions of the US and up into the Midwest were on Saturday blamed in the deaths of at least 11 people, including two first responders, as high winds, tornadoes and unrelenting rain battered large swaths of the country.

Storm-related fatalities were reported in Texas due to icy weather, in Alabama from a deadly tornado and in Louisiana, where winds were so strong that a trailer home was lifted off its foundation.

A man drowned in Oklahoma and the storms even touched the Midwest, with at least one death on an icy highway in Iowa.

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without power from Texas to Ohio, parts of highways were closed in Oklahoma and Arkansas due to flooding, and hundreds of flights were canceled at Chicago’s international airports.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson declared a state of emergency to assist crews working to restore power around the state.

Two first responders were killed and another was critically injured in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday morning after they were hit by a vehicle while working the scene of a traffic accident in icy conditions, officials said.

Police Officer Nicholas Reyna, 27, who had been with the department for one year, died at the scene. Firefighter Lieutenant David Hill, 39, was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. Firefighter Matthew Dawson, 30, was hospitalized in critical condition.

Another person had died in Texas on Friday night, when a car flipped into a creek in Dallas as severe thunderstorms passed through.

Lightning from Friday’s stormy weather was suspected of causing fires that burned two houses, but caused no injuries in the North Texas cities of Burleson and Mansfield.

A man drowned near Kiowa, Oklahoma, after he was swept away in floodwaters, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on Saturday.

The Iowa State Patrol said roads were caked with ice early on Saturday, when a semitrailer on Interstate 80 overturned, killing a passenger in the truck east of Iowa City.

In Alabama, three people were confirmed killed near Carrollton in Pickens County, the US National Weather Service in Birmingham said on Twitter.

Earlier on Saturday, in northwestern Louisiana, firefighters found the bodies of Jerry Franks, 79, and Mary Sue Franks, 65, near their demolished trailer in Benton, the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook.

The winds were so strong the home of the couple was moved 61m from its foundation.

Also in Louisiana, Raymond Holden, 75, was killed in his bed when a tree fell on his home in Oil City, crushing him, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said.

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title: 2020 Elections: Chen Shui-bian decides to retire from politics

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Former president Chen Shui-bian talks to the media in Changhua County on Tuesday.Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), spiritual head of the Taiwan Action Party Alliance (TAPA), announced yesterday that he is withdrawing from politics and bid farewell to his supporters.

Chen, popularly known as “A-bian,” served as Taiwan’s president from 2000 to 2008.

He made the announcement in a statement after the party failed to win any seats in Saturday’s legislative elections.

“I could not sleep last night and engaged in deep reflection,” Chen said.

“I fought the battle, but as the gardener of this small tree [TAPA], I feel it is beyond my ability to water, tend and watch it grow anymore,” he said.

“I am resigning, and would like to thank everyone for their support and votes, as well as those who have accompanied me from the very beginning to today,” Chen said.

TAPA, created by Chen with the backing of supporters of Taiwanese independence, was launched in Taipei on Aug. 18 last year.

The party advocates independence and seeks Taiwan’s entry into the UN.

In a video shown at the party’s launch, Chen said he believed that TAPA could secure 1 million votes in the legislative elections and win at least three seats or surpass the 5 percent threshold required for at-large seats.

Chen, embroiled in corruption scandals from his time as president, was first detained incommunicado on Nov. 12, 2008, and released on Dec. 13, 2008, after being charged.

He was detained again on Dec. 30, 2008, for nearly two years and after being sentenced to 20 years in prison on a series of corruption charges, began serving his sentence on Nov. 11, 2010.

Chen has maintained that his incarceration was the result of a political vendetta by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for his pro-independence views.

He was in prison until January 2015, when he was released on medical parole.

On Nov. 5 last year, Chen had his medical parole extended to Feb. 4 — the 20th time he has received an extension.

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Serena ends title drought, donates to bushfire appeal

Serena Williams returns to Jessica Pegula during their women’s singles final at the Auckland Classic in New Zealand yesterday.Photo: AFP
Serena Williams ended a three-year title drought and donated her winner’s check to those affected by the Australian bushfires in an emotional WTA Auckland Classic final yesterday.

Williams raised expectations for this month’s Australian Open, where she can equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory — her first WTA trophy since she won in Melbourne in 2017.

The 38-year-old tempered celebrations as she donated her US$43,000 winners’ check to the Australian bushfire relief fund and described how the fires had affected her deeply.

“I’ve been playing in Australia for over 20 years and it’s been really hard for me to watch all the news and everything that has been happening in Australia with all the fire and ... animals and people that have lost their homes,” she said. “I decided at the beginning of the tournament ... I’d donate all my prize money for a great cause.”

It is Williams’ first title since 2017 — and her first as a mother — since she won the Australian Open while pregnant. Her 73 WTA titles now stretch across four decades, after she won her first in 1999.

The tournament top seed slipped 1-3 behind in the first set against the unseeded Pegula, a fellow American, but once she found her range, there was never any doubt about the final result, which Williams greeted by raising her arms in triumph while her husband Alexis Ohanian and two-year-old daughter, Olympia, looked on.

Pegula chased down everything Williams delivered at the start of the final and appeared set to break a second time, when Williams, by this stage yelling with every point she won, began her resurgence.

“It’s been a long time, I think you could see the relief on my face,” Williams said, adding that she could feel her game sharpening up as she prepares to head to Melbourne for the Australian Open, which is to begin on Monday next week.

“It definitely feels good, it feels like I was definitely improving as the week went on and obviously I needed to,” she said.

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Ian Easton On Taiwan: Should Taiwanese missiles target Beijing?

For many years, China’s propaganda outlets have broadcast videos of military units attacking Taiwan. Even in peacetime, viewers across China (and Taiwan) are routinely exposed to images of unprovoked violence. In one such media clip, Chinese tanks and soldiers practiced storming a large mock-up of the Presidential Office in Taipei. In another, computer-generated missiles rained down on a Taiwanese airport, digitally devastating a row of parked F-16 fighter jets. In yet another, Chinese chemical warfare troops conducted live-fire drills inside a training facility decorated with Taiwanese billboards.

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media scare tactics have been accompanied by a massive military buildup. They are given further credibility by Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平), who has made strident anti-Taiwan remarks and severed diplomatic channels with the island. Taken as a whole, China’s actions have served to destabilize the Taiwan Strait. This geographic area is fast becoming the most dangerous potential flashpoint on the planet. Expect it to get worse.

The governments of the United States and the Republic of China (Taiwan) are not well positioned to meet the threat. While these democratic partners have made significant strides in the past two years, they are not yet keeping pace with the fast-changing facts on the ground. Beijing is sprinting ahead. Washington and Taipei are moving from a crawl to a walk.

Conventional theater missiles could change the game. The Pentagon has recently tested two prototype weapons, a ground-launched cruise missile and a ground-launched ballistic missile. Both appear tailor-made for fighting China in defense of Taiwan. Over the next few years, it seems likely that the US military will deploy them to the Pacific. This could help balance the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which already has nearly two thousand of its own theater missiles aimed at Taiwan, Okinawa, and Guam.

For its part, Taiwan has quietly built a modest arsenal of ground-launched HF-2E cruise missiles capable of striking deep into China. It seems probable that dozens, if not hundreds, of these mobile missiles have been fielded. Many more could be on the way, including stealthy longer-range variants capable of reaching Beijing.

Taiwan’s military appears to have the engineering technology needed to add ballistic missiles and guided cluster rockets to its national quiver. In fact, it might have some hidden away already, waiting to give the enemy a nasty surprise if they invade.

Of course, the CCP has a game plan for defeating allied missiles. Chinese diplomats and agents of influence will accuse the United States and Taiwan of being provocative, starting an arms race, and destabilizing the region. They will claim that conventional missiles are indistinguishable from nuclear missiles, and any strike on the Chinese homeland could result in a radically disproportional response.

They will attempt to influence public sentiment in the region and use the missile issue to drive a wedge between America and its allies. Protest marches and demonstrations could accompany the deployment of each new American missile battery. The former Soviet Union excelled at manipulating the global arms control community to serve its interests. The CCP will try the same.

Meanwhile, the PLA will continue its rapid weaponization of outer space and cyber space. It will threaten to blind the sensor systems the United States and Taiwan rely on for targeting. After all, missiles can’t hit what they can’t see. For this reason, the PLA is investing heavily in electronic warfare and using commercial front companies to insert its malicious hardware into the world’s computer systems.

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title: Taiwan’s Tai loses final at the Malaysia Masters

content_text:
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying returns to Chen Yufei of China during their women’s single final at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.Photo: AP
Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying was well beaten in the women’s singles final at the Perodua Malaysia Masters yesterday.

Tai, the No. 2 women’s singles player in the world, was overpowered by China’s Chen Yufei 17-21, 10-21 in a match that last only 37 minutes.

As a result, Tai failed to reclaim the world No. 1 spot she lost to Chen last year.

In the first game, Tai took an early 8-5 lead, but Chen scored four consecutive points to seize the lead.

Chen grew in confidence in the second game, racing to an 11-6 lead, with Tai unable to get back into the match.

Tai praised Chen’s strong strokes, but said that she had made too many mistakes to win the match.

Tai and Chen had played each other 16 times prior to yesterday’s match, with Tai leading 14-2.

Tai lost to her Chinese opponent in the final of the women’s singles at the All England Open Championships in March last year and at the season-ending BWF World Tour Finals in China last year.

In the men’s final, Kento Momota of Japan defeated Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen 24-22, 21-11.

In the women’s doubles, Li Wenmei and Zheng Yu of China beat compatriots Du Yue and Li Yinhui 21-19, 16-21, 21-19, while South Korea’s Kim Gi-jung and Lee Yong-dae won the men’s doubles 21-14, 21-16 against Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China.

In the mixed doubles, Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China beat compatriots Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 21-19, 21-12.

The Malaysia Masters is the first big badminton tournament of the year.

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Murder suspect found dead in apparent suicide

GRISLY FIND:Neighbors said the man had a romantic interest in a woman who rejected his advances. She was found in Keelung cut into pieces in two boxes
Keelung police last night found a man’s body in a building, with preliminary checks indicating that he was likely a 45-year-old surnamed Lin (林), who is a murder in the murder of a 26-year-old Chinese-Malaysian woman surnamed Teng (鄧).

Although evidence needs to be examined and an autopsy is required, police said they believe the body was Lin’s.

He apparently committed suicide, they said.

Teng’s dismembered remains were found on Saturday, with body parts wrapped in quilts placed in two cardboard boxes.

Investigators said that evidence suggested Lin’s involvement in the killing and moving of the body.

Teng’s cousin, who lives in the same building as Teng in Taipei, on Monday last week reported her missing, which led to a police search.

They found her body in a mountainous area in Keelung on Saturday.

Members of Teng’s family are to board a flight from Kuala Lumpur today to help authorities and make funeral arrangements, the Central News Agency reported.

Investigators said that Lin had a criminal record, including a sentence for tying a woman up and robbing her.

He and Teng had known each other and were living in subdivided suites on the same floor of a building in Wanhua District (萬華), they said.

The investigation began after Teng did not show up at work, a restaurant in Taipei, and her cousin went to the Wanhua Police Precinct to report her as missing.

Investigators went to the woman’s rented apartment on Tuesday morning, where they interviewed neighbors, one of whom was Lin.

Police later returned to the property after officers reported the smell of strong disinfectant at the residence, but Lin was not there.

Surveillance videos showed Lin carrying two boxes from the building on Tuesday afternoon, investigators said, adding that he drove a white car.

Police named Lin as the prime suspect after they tracked his movements via his smartphone’s GPS to the site where Teng’s body was found.

Neighbors said that they heard loud arguments from the residences on Monday last week.

Lin had a romantic interest in Teng, but she had rejected his advances, they said.

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Trade groups call for trade pacts, stable China relations

Major trade groups yesterday called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to maintain stable cross-strait relations and pursue membership in regional trade blocs to make Taiwanese firms more competitive.

The Third Wednesday Club (三三會), whose member companies have combined annual revenue of US$673 billion, urged the Tsai administration to also seek free-trade agreements (FTAs).

Taiwan should try harder to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trading bloc that represents 495 million consumers and 13.5 percent of global GDP, group chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) said.

CPTPP members would gain preferential access to key markets in Asia and Latin America, said Hsu, who owns contract laptop maker Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦).

Cross-strait rapprochement is critical in pursuing FTAs and membership in regional trading bodies, he said.

FTAs cover only 9.9 percent of Taiwanese exports, while the ratio is 50 percent in South Korea, 70 percent in Vietnam and 83 percent in Singapore, putting local exporters at a disadvantage, he added.

Additionally, foreign and domestic firms are relocating production bases to cope with the US-China trade dispute and the government must ensure Taiwan has sufficient and stable electricity, water, land and labor to stand out as a favored investment destination, Hsu said.

Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC, 工商協進會) chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) said different sectors are worried about potential electricity shortages and steep price hikes with the movement toward green energy over nuclear power.

“The DPP government has not yet given final details to calm unease, and the ongoing dispute over the coal-powered Taichung Power Plant’s operation is deepening concerns over rate hikes,” Lin said.

CNAIC, which represents 1,200 members, also pressed for equal income tax terms for local and foreign companies, as well as stock investors.

The General Chamber of Commerce (全國商業總會) said the government should give serious thought to revising labor rules as existing requirements fail to please employers or employees.

The current overtime pay is unreasonably high at 2.5 times regular wages, leading companies to outsource and deny workers the opportunity to earn extra money from working overtime, the chamber’s chairman Lai Cheng-yi (賴正鎰) said.

Policymakers should grant labor rules more wiggle room regarding working hours and overtime pay as different sectors have different needs, Lai said.

Lai, owner of Shining Building Business Co (鄉林建設) and luxury hotel brand Lalu (涵碧樓), also said that cross-strait interactions should improve, increasing the number of Chinese tourists and benefiting the hospitality industry.

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content_text:
The Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry, right, carries against the Baltimore Ravens during their American Football Conference divisional playoff at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday.Photo: AFP
Derrick Henry rushed for 195 yards and completed a dazzling touchdown pass to Corey Davis as the Tennessee Titans reached deep into their bag of tricks to shock the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 28-12 in the NFL playoffs.

Henry has carried the Titans on his back in the post-season and their star pulled off the trick play of the playoffs so far on Saturday by connecting on a three-yard jump pass with Davis for a third-quarter touchdown.

“Watch us work,” said Henry, who is the first player in NFL history with 180 or more rushing yards in three consecutive games. “We don’t do too much talking. We’re just going to work and believe in each other. That’s our mentality, to come out here and work. That’s our mindset, focus on business.”

The Titans advanced to next weekend’s American Football Conference championship game against the winner of today’s game between the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Earlier, the San Francisco 49ers halted the Minnesota Vikings’ giant-killing run, also moving to within one win of a Super Bowl berth with a ruthless 27-10 playoff victory.

The 49ers advanced to a home National Football Conference championship showdown against either the Seattle Seahawks or the Green Bay Packers, who were to play today, with a relentless defensive display to throttle the Vikings’ offense.

San Francisco running back Tevin Coleman rushed for two touchdowns, while quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finished with 131 passing yards to claim victory in his first career playoff game.

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was given a torrid time, sacked six times by a rampant Niners defense.

“I was pumped for the defense,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “When you see how well the defense is playing it makes it so much easier. I think our whole team fed off it.”

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title: Titans’ shock win eliminates Ravens


content_text:
If Kim Jong-un needed another reminder about the risks of bargaining away North Korea’s nuclear weapons program to the US, President Donald Trump’s decision to kill one of Iran’s top commanders provides one.

The killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3 reinforces the North Korean view that the US only takes such actions against states that lack a credible nuclear deterrent. More specifically, Trump’s choice of attack — a covert drone strike against a high-level target — feeds regime fears that any US offensive against Pyongyang would start at the top.

“The attack will only entrench the belief in Pyongyang that a nuclear deterrent, which Iran lacks, is essential for the physical survival of Kim Jong-un,” Verisk Maplecroft head of Asia risk analysis Miha Hribernik said. “Kim and other senior North Korean officials could, in theory, be targeted the same way in the future.”

The Soleimani killing came at a precarious time for Trump’s nuclear talks with North Korea, just two days after Kim announced that he was no longer bound by his pledge to halt major weapons tests and vowed “shocking” action against the US. While the strike may give Kim pause about how far he can push Trump in the coming months, it also reaffirms the dangers of meeting American disarmament demands.

Those concerns have long weighed on talks with North Korea, which has allowed only a brief report on China and Russia condemning the “US missile attack” against Iran to appear in its state-run media and made another indirect mention in the Pyongyang Times, a small, foreign-language weekly aimed at expatriates in the capital. The regime already had cautionary tales such as the death of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, whom the US helped topple less than a decade after he gave up his own nuclear weapons.

Just weeks before Trump’s first unprecedented meeting with Kim in June 2018, then-US National Security Adviser John Bolton proposed that North Korea adopt the “Libya model” of disarmament — a remark that the president disavowed. Around the same time, Trump further complicated the Kim summit by withdrawing from the nuclear non-proliferation deal that his predecessor, former US president Barack Obama, reached with Iran.

That decision raised questions about what sort of agreement the Trump administration could reach with North Korea, which, unlike Iran, has already demonstrated its possession of nuclear bombs and missiles capable of carrying them to the continental US. Earlier this month, Kim told a gathering of ruling party leaders in Pyongyang that he would soon debut a “new strategic weapon” and ruled out denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula “until the US rolls back its hostile policy.”

The Soleimani killing makes the possibility of a US “decapitation strike” against North Korea seem less remote if the relationship between Trump and Kim further breaks down. The regime has accused the US side of plotting to kill Kim as recently as 2017, a claim bolstered by subsequent revelations that the country’s hackers had stolen secret allied military plans to take out the Pyongyang leadership.

Andrei Lankov, the Seoul-based director of the Korea Risk Group consulting firm, said Trump’s latest move will be viewed as a “warning sign” by those in North Korea who may have read his decisions to meet Kim and call off an earlier strike against Iran as weakness.

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title: Trump’s targeted Iran killing is Kim Jong-un’s biggest fear


content_text:
Quang Viet revenue rises 22.42 percent from 2018

‘LEADING POSITION’:The firm’s revenue last month fell 3.91% from November, as it was the low season, but it is positive about its business outlook for this year
Down jacket and garment maker Quang Viet Enterprise Co (廣越企業) on Thursday reported that revenue last year rose 22.42 percent year-on-year to a record high, driven mainly by orders from four clients — Patagonia Inc, Adidas AG, Nike Inc and The North Face.

Contributions from new customers such as Under Armour Inc (UA), New Balance Inc (NB) and Mammut Sports Group AG, as well as from Helly Hansen Group and Puma AG, also helped push revenue for the whole of last year to NT$16.26 billion (US$541.66 million), up from NT$13.28 billion in 2018, the firm said in a statement.

However, the company’s revenue last month fell 3.91 percent month-on-month and 4.79 percent year-on-year to NT$825.73 million due to low-season effects.

Quang Viet is positive about its business outlook for this year given its leading position in the world’s high-end down jacket market in terms of research and development, production quality and innovations, the statement said.

“Apart from the continued increase in the average selling price of products in 2020, Quang Viet is cautiously optimistic about further growth in annual sales and earnings this year,” Quang Viet president Charles Wu (吳朝筆) said in the statement.

“Global sportswear brands Adidas, Nike, UA, Puma and NB are to become major growth drivers for the company in 2020, while leading outdoor clothing brand The North Face would also help fuel growth momentum this year,” the statement said.

Quang Viet has headquarters in Taipei and operates factories in China, Vietnam, Romania and Jordan.

Its Chinese operations mainly focus on China’s domestic market and no US orders are produced there.

Its Vietnamese operations handle most US orders, which is why the US-China trade dispute has not affected it much.

Due to its increasing gross margin and decreasing operating expenses, the company’s profit growth is expected to be larger than its revenue growth this year, analysts said.

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content_text:
Anti-government protesters take part in the “Run Against Dictatorship” event in Bangkok yesterday.Photo: EPA-EFE
Thousands of Thais yesterday joined a run in the capital in what appeared to be the biggest show of dissent against the government of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, although he also drew a big show of support at a rival event.

Police estimated more than 12,745 runners and supporters gathered before sunrise at a park in Bangkok, wearing athletic outfits and colorful shoes, to participate in the “Run Against Dictatorship” event.

Some of them shouted slogans such as “Prayuth, get out!” or “Long live democracy!” while running the 2.6km course amid a sprinkling of security forces.

Many also gave a three-finger salute of resistance to authority.

“I want things to be better,” said Bangkok resident Waraporn Waralak, 45, after completing her run. “I want Prayuth to get out.”

Thailand’s government is headed by Prayuth, 65, after an election in March last year that the opposition described as having been manipulated to favor the leader’s pro-army party.

“This is the biggest gathering since the coup,” said Anusorn Unno, dean of the sociology and anthropology faculty at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, adding that the harmless nature of the activity had spurred greater participation than usual.

An excited crowd watched as organizers auctioned bibs bearing numbers significant in Thai politics, such as 2475, the Buddhist calendar year of the revolution that ended absolute monarchy in 1932.

To loud cheers, a bib numbered 0044, in reference to the former ruling junta’s Article 44 that gave Prayuth absolute executive power, was ripped in two on stage.

The event was held in line with people’s rights and no laws were broken, a government spokeswoman told reporters.

The run followed a rally last month staged by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the 41-year-old leader of the progressive Future Forward Party, who has emerged as the most outspoken opponent of Thailand’s new civilian government.

Thanathorn was on Friday charged with contravening a law on public assembly over last month’s rally, and Future Forward faces dissolution this month by the Thai Constitutional Court.

Yesterday’s event was called “Wing Lai Loong” in Thai, which translates as “Run to Oust the Uncle,” in an apparent reference to Prayuth’s nickname “Uncle Tu.”

It prompted a rival “Walk to Cheer the Uncle” event held in another park about 14km away to show support for Prayuth, where thousands also turned out.

The clashing views of the two camps aroused memories of protests that periodically roiled the Thai capital before culminating in coups in 2006 and 2014.

Supporters of Prayuth, who as army chief had led the 2014 coup, put nationalism on display by brandishing the Thai national flag, while branding Thanathorn and his supporters “nation haters” for their liberal views.

They took turns hitting giant fruit pinatas with a wooden stick, to symbolize frustration at the Future Forward Party, with an orange, for example, signifying the party’s official color.

Both crowds encompassed a wide age range, but Prayuth’s supporters were older on the whole.

“We support the prime minister, because he shows loyalty to the monarchy, our king,” said Sorasak Katkonganapan, a 62-year-old retiree at the walk.

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title: Thais run against Prayuth ‘dictatorship’


content_text:
2020 Elections: TPP ‘revolution’ is just beginning, Ko Wen-je says

Tsai Pi-ju, left, and Lai Hsiang-lin, who were elected as legislators-at-large for the Taiwan People’s Party in Saturday’s elections, hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), on Saturday night said the “revolution” was just beginning after his party won five at-large seats in Saturday’s legislative elections to become the third-largest party in the Legislative Yuan.

The next critical point would be the 2022 local elections, he said.

The TPP was established by Ko and his aides in August last year, positioning itself as a party that transcends the blue-green divide, while aiming to become a “critical minority party” in the legislature.

Although the party failed to secure regional legislative seats, it received 1,588,806 party votes, or 11.22 percent, to pass the 5 percent threshold for obtaining legislator-at-large seats.

It would also be eligible to receive government subsidies for campaign funding, as it passed the 3 percent vote threshold, and would be eligible to nominate a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

Ko told his supporters that by standing together and holding on to their ideals, the TPP’s legislative candidates made a breakthrough in the elections while facing “attacks” from the pan-blue and pan-green camps.

Their efforts would change Taiwan’s political culture, he said.

“The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have taken turns being the ruling party over the past two decades, but the country has come to a standstill and people’s lives have not changed, so society must go beyond the blue-green divide to move forward,” he said. “The TPP is the new choice for the people, aside from blue or green.”

Creating an “inclusive society” and emphasizing “state governance” would be the TPP’s two main principles, Ko added.

Responding to media queries about the DPP obtaining a legislative majority, Ko said that while the TPP would be unable to play the role of “critical minority party” and influence the voting results for bills or policies, it would try to play the role of “demonstrative effect” or “shadow cabinet.”

When unreasonable bills are proposed, TPP legislators would not throw water balloons or file for a constitutional interpretation, but they would clearly explain why the party thinks the policy is wrong, Ko said.

As long as the bills or policies proposed are good for the people, the TPP would not limit itself to a certain ideology, and would cooperate with other parties, he said.

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people: 陳椒華 徐永明 邱顯智 王婉諭 黃國昌

content_text:
2020 Elections: NPP thanks supporters, discusses its next moves

New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang, left, and NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming, second left, accompanied by the party’s newly elected legislators-at-large environmentalist Chen Jiau-hua, Claire Wang and human rights lawyer Chiu Hsien-chih, in jeep, from left, in Taipei yesterday thank voters for their support in Saturday’s elections.Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday thanked supporters for backing its legislative candidates and said that it “will not be absent” in the 2022 local elections for city mayors and county commissioners.

The party was touring Taipei and New Taipei City to thank supporters for helping it secure legislator-at-large seats for Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) and Claire Wang (王婉諭) with 1,098,100, or 7.75 percent, of the political party vote.

While NPP Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), who was ranked fourth on the party’s legislator-at-large nominee list, did not win a seat, NPP Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said that the former NPP chairman would continue to play a crucial role in the party.

Asked what the NPP’s next step would be and whether Huang would consider running for Taipei mayor in 2022, Hsu said the party aims to increase its influence at the legislative and local levels.

“The NPP will not be absent in the city mayor and county councilor elections,” he told reporters at the NPP’s headquarters before embarking on the tour.

In the local elections on Nov. 24, 2018, the party won 16 city and county councilor seats, he said, adding: “We hope to not only double, but triple that number.”

Meanwhile, Huang said: “It is too early to talk about 2022.”

“We are in 2020 and should be dealing with the problems Taiwan is facing now,” he said.

As the NPP also reached the 5 percent threshold to nominate its own candidate in the 2024 presidential election, the party would “cherish that right,” Hsu said.

He said that his plan to return to teaching after completing his term as legislator at the end of the month remains unchanged, and has already planned his classes.

The NPP’s future and the next chairperson would be determined by the party’s decisionmaking committee, he added.

Huang said that although he is not a member of the committee, he hopes that Hsu will continue to serve as chairman until the end of his term.

“As a party member I strongly hope that Yang-ming will continue to lead us,“ he said.

Hsu became chairman last year when the NPP was having a difficult time, and under his leadership the party became stronger, Huang added.

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content_text:
Part of the left side of the Penghu Guandi Temple bell tower collapsed, jeopardizing the safety of traffic and passersby on Wenlin Street below.
澎湖關帝廟左側鐘樓屋頂角崩落，威脅鄰近文林街人車通行安全。Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者劉禹慶
A huge noise resounded through the neighborhood around Guandi Temple, one of the four major old temples of Penghu County, early Wednesday morning, as the left side of the temple’s bell tower collapsed, spreading rubble across Wenlin Street below. Yeh Ching-hung, head of the Magong City Civil Administration section, happened to be passing on this motocycle at the time. He immediately notified Chaoyang Borough Warden Yen Ming-ching and instructed him to accompany local police to the site and cordon it off as a safety precaution.

It is understood that the roof of the fourth floor at the left side of the Guandi Temple’s bell tower had not had any maintenance work for many years, and that the steel reinforcing bars were rusted. The sudden partial collapse of the structure at 6:30am on Wednesday sent jagged rubble cascading down onto a stretch of road along Wenlin Street. Fortunately, no pedestrians or vehicles were passing at the time, otherwise the rocks falling at high velocity from such a height would have led to serious injuries. As the tower was continuing to crumble, Hsu Huan-ming, head of the religious affairs section of the Penghu County Civic Administration Office, rushed to the scene to inspect the situation, and discussed with the temple management the best way to proceed.

The Chronicles of Penghu have little information about Guandi Temple — also known as the Wusheng (War Sage) Temple — and only record that it was built after the island became part of China’s territory during the Qing Dynasty in 1684, the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign. It was initially built to the west of the Magong Cove military academy (to the east of the present day Penghu Defense Command), but was relocated in the first year of the Guangxu reign (1875) to its current site at then-Hongmu Cheng (present day Beichen Market). Since then, the building has been renovated several times, the last time being in 1973 when it was completely rebuilt. It was then that the bell tower was added.

Concerning the corner collapse of the bell tower, the temple management says that when it was built there was a lack of building materials in Penghu, and in some cases sand from the sea shore was used, and that this has not withstood the test of time. More recently, a series of renovations and maintenance work, including the construction of a decorated archway, has been carried out on the temple. As the bell tower is so tall, however, scaffolding needs to be erected before the tower can be thoroughly inspected, and the management had already instructed the contractor to begin work that afternoon, which involved dismantling the top two floors of the structure. As there had been an accident a few years previously, in which a temple roof decoration had fallen from the rear of the temple and struck a car below, Yen also asked the department to carry out a full inspection.

(Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

澎湖縣四大古廟之一的關帝廟，上週三清晨突然傳出左側鐘樓屋瓦掉落，鄰近居民都聽到巨大聲響，緊連的文林街散落一地碎石。馬公市公所民政課長葉慶宏剛好騎車經過，立即通知朝陽里長顏明清會同當地管區，現場拉起封鎖線維護安全。

根據了解，關帝廟左側鐘樓四樓屋頂，不堪年久失修，內部鋼筋鏽蝕，上週三早上六點三十分突然大面積崩落，夾雜尖銳碎角的石塊，大範圍散落在鄰近的文林街道路上，所幸當時無人車經過，否則在重力加速度情況下，恐將造成嚴重傷亡。由於現場仍持續崩落，澎湖縣政府民政處宗教禮俗科長許桓銘趕往現場查看，並與廟方商討後續處理之道。

又稱武聖廟的關帝廟，《澎湖紀略》僅載清朝康熙二十三年（一六八四年）將澎湖收入版圖之後所建。最初設於媽宮澳協鎮署西側校場（今澎湖防衛司令部東側）。光緒元年（一八七五年）遷建至紅木埕（今北辰市場一帶），即為現址。其後經過歷次興建，最近一次則是一九七三年全面重建，並增建鐘鼓樓。

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taiwan-subdivisions: 澎湖 馬公 澎湖縣

title:
Penghu Guandi Temple bell tower collapses
澎湖關帝廟 左側鐘樓意外坍塌


content_text:
2020 Elections: International community congratulates Tsai on win

Members of the international community on Saturday congratulated President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election.

Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono said Japan hoped to maintain its pragmatic relations with Taiwan and bolster bilateral cooperation, as Japan and Taiwan share common basic values and enjoy a close economic relationship.

He urged parties involved in the “Taiwan issue” to resolve their differences through “peaceful direct dialogue” and to promote peace and stability in the region.

The European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group said in a statement that the smooth and successful election once again testified to the strength of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and showed the determination of Taiwanese to uphold their democratic way of life, free from foreign intimidation and interference.

European External Action Service spokesperson Virginie Battu-Henriksson congratulated Taiwan for its high voter turnout, which was about 75 percent.

“Our respective systems of governance are founded on a shared commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” she said in a statement, adding that the EU closely follows cross-strait developments and encourages dialogue and constructive engagement between Taiwan and China.

British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab said that the elections were a “testament to Taiwan’s vibrant democracy,” and he expressed hope that Taiwan and China would renew dialogue to resolve their differences.

Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Rene Clarke Cooper said on Twitter that “the free and fair elections in #Taiwan is #democracy in action.”

He also retweeted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s congratulatory statement, in which Pompeo praised Taiwan for having once again demonstrated the strength of its robust democratic system.

Former US vice president Joe Biden called for stronger ties with Taiwan in a tweet congratulating Tsai’s on her victory.

“Congratulations to President Tsai and the people of Taiwan for another successful election,” wrote Biden. “You are stronger because of your free and open society.”

US Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, extended his “warmest congratulations,” while US Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, via the committee’s Twitter account, congratulated Tsai, and Taiwanese on another successful democratic election.

US representatives Steve Chabot, Albio Sires, Mario Diaz-Balart and Gerald Connolly, co-chairs of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, said the elections “demonstrate once again that democracy manifests the will of the people in a way that promotes peace, freedom and prosperity.”

They vowed to work with Tsai’s administration to improve Taiwan-US relations.

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content_text:
Online retailers report record revenues thanks to Double 12 shopping festival

Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體), the nation’s largest TV and online retailer, on Friday posted record-high revenue of NT$5.16 billion (US$171.89 million) for last month, buoyed by the Double 12 shopping festival and end-of-year sales.

The boost in revenue was mainly due to exclusive sales and promotional deals of winter products launched on Dec. 12, which followed on from Double 11 Singles’ Day, the company said, adding that Christmas holiday sales and corporate banquets also drove up revenue.

In addition, strong sales of festival-related products also increased last month, as the Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 24 this year, Momo.com said.

By product, sales of home appliances grew 31.2 percent last month, sales of health and leisure products increased 31.2 percent, while household goods and decor grew 30.9 percent, the company said.

Purchases made using its mobile shopping app accounted for 68.2 percent of overall sales last month, it said.

Last quarter, revenue rose 28.4 percent year-on-year to NT$15.91 billion, also a record, bringing overall revenue last year to NT$51.83 billion, an increase of 23.4 percent from NT$42.02 billion in 2018.

PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) also saw sales increase thanks to Double 12, with revenue growing 13.67 percent annually to NT$3.67 billion — a record.

Sales of home appliances and consumer electronics continued to dominate the company’s best-selling categories last month, while sales of food and beverages, and cosmetics and health products, posted strong increases, the company said.

Fourth-quarter sales reached a record NT$11.4 billion, while overall revenue last year was NT$38.84 billion — a 12.4 percent year-on-year increase.

PChome said it aims to further bolster sales growth by focusing on the younger generation.

Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co (EHS, 東森購物) also reported robust sales of NT$1.96 billion for last month, the highest in the past 10 years.

EHS said that sales from its online shopping platform rose 34 percent annually to NT$560 million, while sales from its dedicated telemarketing team increased 35 percent to NT$420 million.

For the whole of last year, the firm posted sales of NT$21.12 billion, benefiting from healthy sales on Strawberrynet.com, in which it holds a 76 percent stake, EHS said.

Another e-commerce operator, Kuobrothers Corp (創業家兄弟), said sales last month grew 11.28 percent year-on-year to NT$458 million, resulting in revenue of NT$1.41 billion for last quarter and record sales of NT$5.09 billion for last year.

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Members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) youth wing hold a news conference in Taipei yesterday.Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members have called on the party to review its cross-strait policy and recruit more young people following its trouncing in Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.

It was the second consecutive presidential election that the KMT has lost to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2016, and fourth since the first direct presidential election in 1996.

The KMT also failed to secure a legislative majority in Saturday’s polls.

The election results show that “the KMT could end up being replaced by other parties if it does not undertake reforms,” KMT Organizational Development Committee Youth Department Director Hsiao Ching-yan (蕭敬嚴) wrote on Facebook.

Attributing the party’s losses to its outdated cross-strait policy and leadership, Hsaio urged it to propose “a new cross-strait discourse that meets the expectation of a majority of Taiwanese.”

The “1992 consensus” is no longer relevant and has been rejected by the public in the elections, he said.

The party must appoint young people to important positions and adopt more ideas from the younger generation, he added.

KMT Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) also urged the party to rethink its cross-strait stance.

Cross-strait policy was a key issue in the presidential election and as Taiwanese have made their choice, “the KMT should respect the DPP’s way of handling cross-strait relations,” she wrote on Facebook.

The KMT should also reconsider the “1992 consensus,” proposed 28 years ago, she said, adding: “If you are wearing a piece of clothing that is out of date and does not fit you, then it is time for you to review it or look for a replacement.”

While many older KMT members seem to agree that the party needs to recruit more young people, they appeared reserved about other proposals.

One of the reasons behind the electoral defeats was the party’s poorly planned presidential primary, which upset some candidates and affected party solidarity, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said.

As KMT chairman, Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) must shoulder the responsibility, she said, adding: “We really have to pass the baton to the younger generation.”

The party must continue to build its brand, explain its core beliefs and foster more young talent, she said.

However, due to its historical significance, “the name of the Chinese Nationalist Party must never change,” she added.

More than 20 KMT members — including Yu, Taipei city councilors Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇), KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁) and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) election campaign spokespeople Huang Man-hsin (黃曼昕) and Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) — yesterday formed an alliance called “+1” to push for across-the-board reforms within the party.

The alliance demanded that Wu immediately resign his post as chairman, instead of waiting for the KMT Central Standing Committee’s approval on Wednesday, and that he and retired lieutenant general Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) withdraw their names from the party’s list of legislator-at-large nominees.

Wu Sz-huai’s nomination has played a part in the KMT’s defeat in the legislative elections, KMT Taipei City Councilor Chang Shi-gang (張斯綱) said.

The so-called “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means. Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted that he had made up the term in 2000.

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title: KMT urged to undertake reforms

people: 洪秀柱 吳斯懷 韓國瑜 許毓仁 羅智強 王鴻薇 吳敦義


content_text:
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) on Friday posted NT$32.81 billion (US$1.09 billion) in net profit for the whole of last year, missing its financial forecast for a second consecutive year.

That translated into earnings per share (EPS) of NT$4.23, falling short of the company’s forecast of NT$4.4 to NT$4.6.

The nation’s biggest telecom had projected that net profit for last year would be NT$34.11 billion to NT$35.68 billion.

The weaker-than-expected result came after profit last month declined 12.9 percent, the largest drop since September, the company said in a statement.

Aggregate revenue totaled NT$207.52 billion last year, down 3.7 percent from NT$215.48 billion in 2018 and lower than the company’s projection of NT$220.56 billion to NT$222.91 billion, the statement said.

Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-biggest telecom, posted better-than-expected net profit of NT$12.48 billion last year, or EPS of NT$4.51.

The company had forecast net profit of NT$11.19 billion, or EPS of NT$4.5, for last year.

Revenue grew 4.79 percent to NT$124.42 billion last year from NT$118.73 billion in 2018, slightly lower than the firm’s estimate of NT$124.53 billion.

Taiwan Mobile attributed the growth in revenue to contributions from its TV and online retail subsidiary, Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體).

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) posted net profit of NT$8.74 billion, slightly surpassing its forecast of NT$8.48 billion, but still down 7.61 percent from NT$9.46 billion in 2018.

EPS fell to NT$2.68, compared with NT$2.88 in 2018.

Annual revenue dropped 4.29 percent year-on-year to NT$83.87 billion, from NT$87.63 billion in 2018 and lower than its guidance of NT$84.66 billion, the company said.

However, Far EasTone said that revenue from its big data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things services jumped 21 percent annually, contributing to 13 percent of its overall revenue last year, compared with 10 percent in 2018.

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title: Chunghwa Telecom misses its net profit forecast


title: Stock market could rally post-election

content_text:
Stock market could rally post-election

HISTORICAL PRECEDENT:Statistics showed that in the five days after the previous four presidential elections, there was a 50 percent chance that the TAIEX would climb
The local stock market could rally this week as investors might increase holdings of large-cap electronics, biology and green energy stocks after President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) landslide re-election on Saturday, analysts said.

With political uncertainty cleared, the TAIEX might “be driven by a post-election boost and stage a rebound this week, as historical records have shown,” Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) president Kevin Chung (鐘國忠) said yesterday.

In the five days after the previous four presidential elections, there was a 50 percent chance that the TAIEX would climb, while the odds rose to 75 percent 10 days following the elections, Taiwan Stock Exchange statistics showed.

“The TAIEX’s rally should be insignificant, as investors are usually cautious about increasing holdings to prevent capital from being locked up during the Lunar New Year holiday later this month,” Chung said.

The stock market is to suspend trading from Tuesday next week until Jan. 30 for the holiday.

On Friday last week, the TAIEX gained 0.45 percent to 12,024.55 points.

The TAIEX would likely be traded in the range of 11,500 to 12,500 points this quarter, Jih Sun said in a report released before the elections.

The index climbed to 12,157 points during the mid-session of Jan. 3, approaching the all-time high of 12,682 hit in 1990, which might be difficult to breach, given the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the unfavorable global macroeconomy, Chung said.

Investors might also favor small-cap biology and green energy-related stocks, as the Tsai administration has been pushing for major industrial and energy transformation during her first term and would likely continue this policy, Jih Sun said.

However, the election results might deal a blow to construction, property development and tourism stocks, as cross-strait trade ties might not relax in the short term, Jih Sun added.

Investors would also be focused on earnings reports from key US technology firms, such as Intel Corp and Apple Inc, as well as the performances of the Dow Jones and S&P 500 on Wall Street, Chung said.

Foreign investors are likely to bet on large-cap stocks with rosy financial outlooks, such as chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) or MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which competes with Qualcomm Inc in 5G chips, he said.

The movements of those stocks are closely linked with the ups and downs of global supply chains and the world’s major stock markets, he added.

TSMC is scheduled to hold an investors’ conference on Thursday and its outlook would be a key factor affecting the TAIEX’s movements in the near term, Chung said.

On Friday, the chipmaker reported record-high revenue of NT$317.24 billion (US$10.57 billion) for the fourth quarter of last year, and its revenue for the whole of last year increased 3.7 percent to NT$1.07 trillion from a year earlier, beating its earlier forecast of an increase of 1 to 3 percent for the year.

Last week, Standard Chartered PLC said it favored Asian emerging markets and especially liked Taiwan’s semiconductor stocks, as they would benefit from easing US-China trade tensions.

Political factors were not a major consideration, it added.

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content_text:
2020 Elections: MAC urges Beijing to begin healthy interactions

‘GREAT INSPIRATION’:The US’ Randall Schriver said that each time Taiwan holds a successful election, people in China ask why they cannot have the same privilege
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Saturday called on Beijing to respect Taiwan’s election results and allow benevolent interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The council was responding to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which issued a statement late on Saturday shortly after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won re-election by a large margin, reiterating Beijing’s adherence to the so-called “1992 consensus” and the “one country, two systems” formula, as well as its opposition to any form of independence for Taiwan.

The “1992 consensus” — a term former council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.

In a statement, the council said the election results show Taiwanese’s clear response to the development of cross-strait relations and that Taiwan is a mature and consolidated democracy.

Chinese authorities should respect the results and face reality, it said, adding that Beijing should abandon threats of force against Taiwan and return to the “right path” of good cross-strait interactions, dropping its unilaterally set political preconditions for cross-strait dialogue.

Taiwanese’s insistence on democratic values and their adamant opposition to the “one country, two systems” formula should be clear to Beijing, which should face the new trend of development in cross-strait relations with Taiwan, the council said.

The government has been consistent in safeguarding Taiwan’s sovereignty, democracy and freedom and strives to maintain peace and stability in cross-strait relations, it said.

Separately, former US assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs Randall Schriver said that Taiwan’s successful presidential election is an important example for Chinese who look forward to having the right to hold democratic elections.

Speaking during a seminar on the results of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections, Schriver said that Taiwan is not the only country in the Indo-Pacific region that has faced pressure from Beijing ahead of elections.

Taiwan’s success in holding its latest elections in the face of Chinese pressure is a “great inspiration” as other countries prepare for their own elections, said Schriver, who serves as chair of the Project 2049 Institute, a US-based think tank.

“I think this [holding a successful election in Taiwan] is important for the entire region; frankly I think it is also important for the people of China,” he said.

“Every time Taiwan succeeds in its own election, people in China pay attention and ask themselves the question why they cannot have the same privilege and rights,” he said.

Taiwan’s example would be one of the leading factors in promoting change in China should Beijing one day decide to be open to democracy, he added.

“So someday there may be a different kind of China, and I am sure that Taiwan’s example is going to be on the leading edge of what promotes that change,” he said.

Former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Richard Bush said he hopes that the Chinese government will reflect on what this election means for its Taiwan policies.

“If they [China] seriously reflect on it, then maybe they would consider an approach that is different from ‘one country, two systems,’ that’s more appropriate to the reality of Taiwan,” Bush said on the sidelines of the seminar.

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title: Veterinarian warns people with dogs to check for cataracts

content_text:
By Chen Hung-ju and William Hetherington  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer
A Maltese dog rests on a bed in an undated photograph.Photo: Wu Pei-hua, Taipei Times
A veterinarian last month said that cataracts in dogs arise for some of the same reasons that they do in people: hereditary conditions, diabetes or aging.

Vision Eyecare Center for Animals veterinarian Chang Ya-fei (張雅斐) said that the No. 1 reason for the eyesight-affecting condition in dogs is hereditary factors.

While some causes for cataracts are shared among dogs and people, dogs do not develop them due to excessive screen time, smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, she said.

“In our experience at the clinic, more than 70 percent of cases in dogs are hereditary, roughly 20 percent from diabetes and about 10 percent due to aging or other causes,” Chang said.

In most cases involving hereditary preconditions, a dog will develop cataracts at about seven years old, she said, adding that her youngest case was a six-month-old puppy.

Dogs that tend to be at greatest risk are poodles, Maltese, miniature Schnauzers and Boston terriers, she said.

Dogs with diabetes often develop cataracts, because the lenses receive more glucose than normal, she said, adding that an enzyme in the lens converts glucose into sorbitol, which affects cells and makes the lens opaque.

“More than 80 percent of dogs that develop diabetes get cataracts within half a year,” she said.

Advanced age in a dog is above 10 years, and as they get older, their lenses grow increasingly turbid, she said.

However, in many cases, even if a dog’s eyes appear grayish in color — a condition known as nuclear sclerosis — their vision is unaffected, and they do not need treatment, she said.

Unfortunately, in many dogs with hereditary factors leading to cataracts there are no signs before the condition develops, meaning owners could easily miss the chance to treat the condition in its early stages, Chang said.

Pet owners — particularly those with higher-risk breeds — should have their dog checked by a vet once every six months, she said.

Treated early, most dogs recover fully from cataracts, she said, adding that surgery could be completed in an hour.

However, with older dogs, medicated eye drops to treat cataracts over a longer period is safer than surgery, she added.

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content_text:
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun smiles in New Taipei City on Dec. 19 last year.Photo: Chou Hsiang-yun, Taipei Times
With new legislators to be sworn in on Feb. 1, former premier Yu Shyi-kun, who is to take a legislator-at-large seat, is seen by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members as a popular candidate for legislative speaker.

The DPP on Saturday maintained its majority in the Legislative Yuan, winning 61 seats, four more than the 57 needed to claim the majority in the 113-seat legislature.

While the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) won 38 seats, there are smaller parties and independents with a similar ideologies that the DPP can count on if it needs additional votes on legislation.

The New Power Party maintained its presence with three seats and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party took one seat, while four of the five independents voted in belong to the pan-green camp.

DPP Legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) was the first to express support for Yu.

As Yu has a well-rounded political resume, is good at mediating and has made a steadfast effort to make Taiwan a normalized country, he is the best candidate for legislative speaker, Chen said yesterday.

Yu should also be given credit for the DPP’s outstanding legislative election results, as he traveled the nation stumping for the party’s legislative candidates, he added.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文), who in 2016 expressed an interest in running for legislative speaker, said he was waiting for DPP legislators to come to a consensus on who to support.

He said that he would respect the decision of the DPP caucus.

DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), another potential candidate, said that a stable legislature that allows parties to function normally is crucial to the nation’s development.

He said he would respect the president’s strategic personnel planning, as well as any consensus reached by caucus members.

In response to media queries, Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said that Yu seemed like a fitting choice given his experience and stature in the DPP, but he believes that DPP members’ opinions should be consulted before a conclusion is reached.

Asked if he would vie for the legislative speaker seat, Tsai said he has no such plans and would focus on his current duties.

Additional reporting by CNA

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title: 2020 Elections: Yu Shyi-kun a popular choice for next speaker

people: 蔡其昌 陳歐珀 陳明文 柯建銘


title: Researchers say eating habits correlated to depression

content_text:
By Wu Liang-yi and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer
Fruits and vegetables are displayed in an undated photograph.Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
There is a correlation between diet and depression, with food high in sugar and fat more likely to augment depression, while fruits, vegetables, fish and olives provide the opposite effect, a study by Macquarie University said.

The study recruited 78 participants aged from 17 to 35 with mild to severe depression. All reported having a diet that was high in sugar, saturated fat and processed foods.

The participants were separated into two groups — one that changed their dietary habits and one that maintained the same diet.

The group that altered their diet received videos on how to maintain a balanced, nutritional diet and food, including olive oil, natural nut oils and spices.

During the experiment period, the researchers telephoned the group regularly to check their adherence to the changed diet and urged them to consult the materials if they were struggling.

Participants in the other group received no material and were only asked to return in three weeks to report their situation.

The results showed that within three weeks, participants who changed their dietary habits reported a significant decrease in depression and pressure, while those maintaining their diet reported no changes.

Chiou Hung-yih (邱弘毅), a professor in Taipei Medical University’s school of public health, said the study showed that maintaining proper dietary habits could alleviate depression.

However, the group who showed improvement were given help and the change in eating habits did not last, as three months after the main part of the study was conducted, only seven people reported that they had stayed with the diet, Chiou said.

John Tung Foundation mental health center director Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨) said that increasing the amount of natural food in a diet can help alleviate depression even over the short term.

Most of the participants in the study were adolescents, as people in that age range, as well as those in early adulthood, are prone to depression, Yeh said, adding that habits developed at that age usually last a long time.

Maintaining a diet that could help the body produce serotonin, dopamine and adrenaline, such as milk, fish and intestines, which are rich in B6 and B12 vitamins, helps combat depression, Yeh added.

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title: Prague mayor condemns China in German paper

content_text:
Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib yesterday condemned China as an “unreliable partner” and told a German newspaper that his city would sign a twinning agreement with Taipei.

The comments by Hrib revived a dispute between Prague and Beijing that has soured Czech-Chinese relations, despite a campaign by Czech President Milan Zeman for closer ties between the two countries.

In guest commentary for the weekly paper Welt am Sonntag, Hrib, of the Czech Pirate Party, said that China was “full of resentment” and was trying to influence Czech public opinion.

The 38-year-old mayor, who has been running Prague since November 2018, sought to explain his administration’s decision to cancel a “sister-city” agreement with Beijing in October last year.

The deal was agreed in 2016, but later torn up after Hrib’s administration backed out of a controversial clause on the so-called “one China” policy.

He wrote that he could not sign an agreement that forced Prague to “speak out against the independence of Tibet and Taiwan.”

The mayor said he would instead sign a twinning agreement with Taipei today.

“That way, we have lost one partner, but won another,” he said.

If it goes ahead, the Taipei twinning would come days after Taiwanese re-elected President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a result widely seen as a blow to China.

Hrib said he did not advocate breaking off diplomatic or economic ties with China, but urged European democracies to think hard about “jumping into bed with such a risky and unreliable partner.”

“I call on all of you not to give up your values and personal integrity in the face of threats and blackmail,” he wrote.

Hrib also accused the Czech government of “neglecting” ideals of the peaceful 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended four decades of communist rule in what was then Czechoslovakia.

“As mayor, I am working to fulfill my campaign promise to return to a course of respect for democracy and human rights,” he wrote. “These are the values of the Velvet Revolution, which the current leadership of our republic is neglecting.”

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content_text:
A man leaves the Wuhan Medical Treatment Center in Wuhan, China, yesterday.Photo: AFP
A 61-year-old man has become the first person to die in China from a respiratory illness believed to be caused by a new virus from the same family as SARS, which claimed hundreds of lives more than a decade ago, authorities said.

Forty-one people showing pneumonia-like symptoms have so far been diagnosed with the new virus in Wuhan, China, with one of the victims dying on Thursday, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said on its Web site on Saturday.

Seven others remained in serious condition, two were discharged from treatment and the rest were stable, it added.

The episode has caused alarm due to the specter of SARS, which in 2002-2003 killed 349 people in China and another 299 in Hong Kong, whose economy was hit hard by the epidemic’s devastating impact on tourism.

The commission said the man who died had purchased goods from the Huanan Seafood City market, identified by authorities as the center of the outbreak and closed on Jan. 1.

The man, who also had underlying health issues including chronic liver disease, died in hospital of “respiratory failure and severe pneumonia,” the commission added.

No new cases have been detected since Jan. 3, nor any “clear evidence of human-to-human transmission,” it said.

People in white hazmat suits were seen spraying liquid on the market floor late on Saturday, while a number of guards sat outside the perimeter of the facility’s two sections without masks on.

Chinese health officials investigating the outbreak last week said they believe the pathogen is a previously unknown type of coronavirus, a broad family ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses like SARS.

Hong Kong Department of Health officials on Saturday said that genetic sequencing of the virus found in one of the Wuhan patients and published online by a Chinese expert indicated it was 80 percent similar to a coronavirus found in bats, which have been linked to SARS.

Speaking at a news conference in Hong Kong, they said it was too early to conclude definitively that it was a SARS strain, adding that the territory needed to stay vigilant.

Hong Kong authorities have taken a range of precautions including stepping up the disinfection of trains and airplanes, and checks of passengers.

On Saturday evening, there was little sign of alarm in Wuhan outside of the market.

Few people at the city’s main airport wore masks and no extra monitoring measures were visible at the airport’s terminals.

A restaurant on the outside of the building housing the seafood market was still open for business.

One man, a dry-goods seller at the market surnamed Dai, attempted to enter the market at about midnight, but was turned away by the guards.

He told reporters that he was not worried about getting infected.

“I haven’t heard that this disease is contagious,” Dai said, adding that he believed the illness was caused by a fire at the market in the middle of November last year in which items including plastic materials and chili peppers were burnt.

The WHO on Thursday said it was not recommending any specific measures for travelers or restrictions on trade with China, and expressed confidence in the ability of Chinese authorities to contain the virus.

China has entered the Lunar New Year holiday travel rush, raising concerns about the mass movement of people serving as a vector for the pathogen.

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title: China reports death in Wuhan outbreak


content_text:
Thousands of independence supporters on Saturday marched through the streets of Glasgow.

The march was the first of eight planned for this year by the grassroots organization All Under One Banner (AUOB) in what is likely to be a crucial year for the Scottish independence movement.

It came the day after the former Labor Cabinet minister and lawmaker Ben Bradshaw declared that he was “100 percent certain” that Scotland would choose to leave the UK in the event of a second referendum on independence, which Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is pushing for later this year.

Bradshaw told the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel that “the political class in England — and this includes my own party — must very quickly recognize the Scots’ right to self-determination.”

His remarks were tweeted approvingly by Sturgeon.

AUOB, which says it is not aligned with any political party, is to organize events across the country: In Peebles, Elgin, Kirkcaldy, Stirling, Edinburgh and again in Glasgow, with the next march planned for Arbroath in April to mark the 700th anniversary of the signing of Scotland’s declaration of independence.

Saturday’s march departed from Kelvingrove Park at 11:30am and headed to Glasgow Green, where it ended.

On Thursday, organizers were forced to cancel a rally planned for the Green after forecasts of high winds resulted in safety concerns.

AUOB organizer Gary Kelly said that before the weather warnings were in place, he had applied to Glasgow City Council with an estimate that about 100,000 would attend the march.

He said the program of marches this year reflected a growing momentum for a second independence referendum.

“After the general election, where the SNP got 44 percent of the vote in Scotland, how many more mandates do they need?” Kelly said.

During the general election campaign, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said if his party won it would consider granting the powers to hold a second referendum if there was a pro-independence majority after next year’s Scottish parliamentary elections.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has consistently said he would refuse to do likewise regardless of electoral circumstances.

Sturgeon at the end of last year wrote to Johnson requesting the transfer of the necessary Section 30 powers to hold a second referendum, and also called for the Scottish Parliament to be given permanent powers to hold subsequent referendums on independence from the UK.

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title: Thousands of Scots march demanding independence


title: Airtac posts record December revenue of NT1.5 billion

content_text:
Pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) on Wednesday reported record-high revenue of NT$1.5 billion (US$49.97 million) for last month, up 6 percent from a month earlier and 24 percent year-on-year, driven by robust demand from the electronics, battery and packaging industries.

Consolidated revenue for the whole of last year totaled NT$15.9 billion, a 2 percent increase from 2018 and better than analysts’ expectations.

Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) had forecast that full-year revenue would decline 0.4 percent to NT$15.54 billion, while Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) predicted an increase of 1.6 percent to NT$15.63 billion.

Market demand has improved slightly due to customers increasing automation and demand for 5G-related products, Airtac said in a statement.

“In addition, Airtac continues to increase market share to support revenue growth by developing new products and approaching new customers,” it said.

The company also said it believes this year will be better than last year.

Airtac’s products are used in the manufacture of electronic equipment, general machinery, packaging, automotive devices, batteries, construction equipment and machine tools.

The company should continue to report growth this year, driven by an expected recovery in the industrial automation sector and its new linear guide product, as well as demand for 5G components and smartphone specification upgrades, analysts said.

Airtac is expected to be a key beneficiary of the upcoming smartphone capital expenditure cycle, demand for electric vehicle batteries and a recovery in machinery orders, Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Jerry Su (蘇厚合) said in a note on Thursday.

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH

content_text:
A: I can’t believe my company is asking employees to perform on stage at the year-end banquet.

B: Eh? How come your company’s year-end banquet is so late?

A: It’s not really that late. Many companies are holding their year-end banquets around this time as a way to reward employees for their hard work in the past year.

A: 真不敢相信，我的公司竟然要員工在尾牙的時候上台表演。

B: 呃，你的公司尾牙怎麼拖到這麼晚？

A: 其實也還好耶，很多公司都在這個時候辦尾牙，犒賞員工一年來的辛勞。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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content_text:
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, top, and Rafael Nadal of Spain rally during their singles match at the ATP Cup in Sydney yesterday.Photo: Reuters

 1

 2

Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki proved too much for the Spain doubles combination at the ATP Cup yesterday as Serbia claimed the trophy two matches to one with a 6-3, 6-4 win in the decider.

A fresh Djokovic returned to Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena for the doubles after his win over Rafael Nadal set up the decider, but Nadal did not play, with Feliciano Lopez partnering Pablo Carreno Busta.

Djokovic and Troicki bounced back from a break down in the first set to romp home.

Earlier, Djokovic swept past long-time rival Nadal in a battling display in the second singles match of the final.

The Serbian blasted the top-ranked Spaniard off court 6-2 in the first set before a much tighter 7-6 (7/4) second set.

That left the final of the inaugural team event 1-1 after Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut caned Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 6-1 in the first match.

“Every time I get to play Rafa, we get to play a lot of exciting points. There were some incredible exchanges today,” Djokovic said after the singles match. “I started off the match perfectly, everything worked. I’m just really glad I held my nerve in the end.”

Djokovic, warming up for his bid to win an eighth Australian Open crown this month, went into the clash at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena leading their head-to-heads 28-26.

However, the statistics do not tell the full story.

The Serbian had won nine of their past 12 contests and has been dominant over the years on hard courts — including a comfortable win against Nadal in the Australian Open final last year.

He showed his intent immediately, breaking Nadal in the opening game when the Spaniard netted a backhand. His driving groundstrokes and deft touches proved too much, with Nadal’s serve constantly under siege as Djokovic delivered a booming ace to wrap up the set.

Nadal lifted to another level in the second set and it was an intense affair, with Djokovic saving five break points in a crucial sixth game.

It went to a tiebreaker, where a crunching backhand down the line gave Djokovic the break he needed to complete the victory.

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title: Djokovic-led Serbia win ATP Cup


content_text:
Financial groups’ profit climbs 19.16%

TOP PERFORMERS:While Cathay Financial was the most profitable among the nation’s 15 financial conglomerates, Fubon Financial ranked first in terms of earnings per share
Taiwan’s 15 financial conglomerates last week reported a record combined net profit of NT$349.95 billion (US$11.66 billion) for last year, up 19.16 percent year-on-year, due to an increase in interest income from their banking units and higher investment returns after the TAIEX moved above 12,000 points for the first time since 1990.

Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), the nation’s largest financial holding firm by assets, was the most profitable among the 15, reporting net income of NT$63.8 billion, or earnings per share (EPS) of NT$4.76.

The company attributed its strong results to Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), a life insurance subsidiary that accounted for 60 percent of its total profit, saying that the insurer’s net income grew 26 percent to NT$38.26 billion thanks to higher investment returns from domestic and foreign securities, as well as strong demand for protection-type products.

In addition, the company’s banking arm, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行), posted a 6 percent increase in profit on the back of growing interest and fee incomes, it said.

In terms of EPS, Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) ranked first among the 15. The nation’s second-largest financial holding firm posted EPS of NT$5.48 on net income of NT$58.7 billion for last year, due to contributions from its life insurance and banking units.

The company said that Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) made NT$26.4 billion in net profit last year, even though the insurance unit reported a net loss of NT$1.73 billion last month, as it set aside NT$3 billion for foreign-exchange reserves.

While many of its peers reported declines in first-year premiums because some short-term products were halted, Fubon Life’s first-year premiums rose 8 percent to NT$206.3 billion, Fubon Financial said.

Meanwhile, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank’s (台北富邦銀行) profit grew 10 percent on the back of higher interest income and investment returns, Fubon Financial said.

Other financial holding companies that also reported record profits last year included CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) and state-run Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co (合庫金控).

China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) posted an annual increase of 64 percent in net income to NT$12.85 billion, the highest in 13 years, in light of improving business at its banking, insurance and securities brokerage units, the company said.

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title: Financial groups’ profit climbs 19.16%


countries: 法國 台灣

title: 法國外交部賀蔡總統連任  祝願台海兩岸和平

content_text: （中央社記者曾婷瑄巴黎12日專電）台灣昨天舉行總統 與立委選舉，現任總統蔡英文勝選連任，法國外交部今 天向駐法代表處發出正式祝賀，除向所有當選人申賀， 並祝願台海兩岸和平。     法國外交部表示，台灣昨天的大選以自由民主的方 式順利完成，並展現台灣人民對民主、法治及人權的重 視。     外交部也說，法國向所有當選人申賀，並祝願台海 兩岸和平、對話與合作。（編輯：林治平）1090113...


countries: 馬來西亞 丹麥 日本

title: 桃田賢鬥新年首冠 日媒：用金牌開啟東京奧運年

content_text: 1月12日，世界排名第一的日本名將桃田賢鬥在2020年馬來西亞大師賽男單決賽上，以 24-22、21-11擊敗丹麥勁敵、世界排名第五的安賽龍。 　　共同社以《桃田賢鬥：用金牌開啟東京奧運年》為題進行了快訊報導。 　　四年前，桃田賢鬥因為非法賭博遭到競賽，因而錯過了2016年裡約奧運會，去年他總共贏得包括蟬聯世錦賽在內的11場國際比賽的冠軍。文中表示，氣勢如虹的桃田有望成為日本首位奧運會羽毛球男子單打金牌得主。 　　（何霞）...


title: 杜鋒賽後送陳林堅熱吻！這真的是玩嗨了啊

content_text: 日期:1月12日，CBA全明星周末正賽，比賽結束后，衛冕了三分王的福建隊陳林堅接受採訪，不料南方全明星主帥杜鋒直接沖了過來，並送給陳林堅一記香吻。 　　（DD）...


content_text:
日期:1月12日，2019-20年CBA全明星正賽在廣州打響。易建聯與林書豪各自領銜南北區明星隊展開對抗。胡明軒最後上演絕殺，最終由杜鋒帶領的南區明星隊以167-166險勝由阿的江率領的北區明星隊，奪得3連冠。趙睿本場比賽砍下30分，奪得此次全明星MVP。

南區：趙睿30分5籃板6助攻、胡金秋30分9籃板、易建聯10分、鄧蒙26分、陳林堅19分、王哲林16分7籃板、胡明軒10分3助攻。北區：韓德君37分11籃板11助攻、翟曉川20分5籃板6助攻、林書豪41分9籃板5助攻、陶漢林34分8籃板、可蘭白克13分。

比賽開始，周琦象徵性打了51秒就被換下，易建聯手感火爆連中兩記三分，南區外線開火打出一波9-0領先。翟曉川隨後暴扣命中幫助己隊止血，林書豪三分回敬幫助北區將比分追至7-14。北區今天失誤著實不少，反觀南區則是多點開花再掀一波21-9將分差逐漸拉開到19分。節末趙繼偉表現活躍連得5分，北區回敬一波11-2將分差縮小到10分。陳林堅最後反籃命中，首節結束南區以41-29領先北區。

節間休息時間，新增環節第一場1V1單挑賽為趙睿VS林書豪。兩人各自對飆2記三分戰成平手，節末雙方也互有得分，最後2秒林書豪跳投不中，雙方打成9平。

次節，（趙睿和林書豪單挑得分--翻倍，被加在正賽比分里）陶漢林連得4分，大韓也是火力全開，北區逐漸適應節奏連續暴扣得分將分差縮小到4分。後半段南區再次拉大分差，但陶漢林連得5分，林書豪追身三分再中，次節還剩2分鐘北區將比分追至76-79。節末南區重拾火力，王哲林、胡金秋連得4分再次拉開分差到8分，原帥最後飈中三分縮小比分，半場結束南區89-84領先北區。

在第二、三節中場休息時間，引人矚目的1V1單挑賽--杜鋒與曾繁日的師徒對話展開。率先進攻的杜鋒外線三分不中，而曾繁日則晃過對方的防守雙手暴扣得分勝出。不過雖然贏得勝利，曾繁日最後還是代替杜鋒學啦啦隊跳舞。

下半場，可蘭白克連中2記三分，大韓三分也中，北區發力打出一波16-8將比分反超至100-97。南區隨後連得5分再次反超。後半段兩隊一度展開僵持，胡明軒手感火熱連中兩記三分，南區外線開火將差距拉開到8分。翟曉川、陶漢林攻防兩端表現出彩，北區回敬一波8-2將分差縮小到2分。胡金秋最後補籃命中，三節結束南區122-118領先北區。

三四節休息時間進行的的單挑環節由大韓VS胡金秋。比賽還剩20秒雙方戰至8平。胡金秋最後三分不中，雙方最後戰平。

末節，（算上大韓和胡金秋的成績，兩隊各自加上16分）陶漢林連續得分，北區一度將分差縮小到2分。兩隊此後均加強防守，大韓、林書豪合砍5分后幫助北區再次超出。後半段林書豪、翟曉川攜手發力，還剩3分多鍾北區領先4分。鄧蒙連中兩記三分，但可蘭白克馬上三分回敬，再加上大韓攻防兩端的強勢表現，還剩1分多鍾北區166-161領先。節末南區改打小個陣容，陳林堅、大王先後命中，還剩29秒南區落後1分。胡明軒最後上籃命中絕殺比賽，最終南區以167-166險勝北區。

雙方首發：

南區隊：易建聯、趙睿、胡明軒、王哲林、沈梓捷

北區隊：周琦、翟曉川、林書豪、韓德君、郭艾倫

（小魚）

title: 全明星-林書豪41分趙睿MVP 南區1分險勝北區

taiwan-subdivisions: 北區 南區


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日期:1月12日，中國國奧迎來了在U23亞洲杯暨東京奧運會預選賽第二輪的比賽，面對衛冕冠軍烏茲別克隊，中國國奧抵抗了一陣后仍舊崩盤，以0-2輸球。兩連敗提前一輪宣告出局，也徹底無緣今夏的東京奧運。

在本小組另一場比賽中，韓國2-1戰勝伊朗，提前出線。而這邊國奧兩連敗，以零分墊底，提前出局。

這也意味著這支97年齡段國奧只剩下輪與伊朗最後一場比賽，隨後球隊的使命就將結束，定格在歷史之中。

回望歷史，我們的男足僅僅參加過2次奧運會，一次是遙遠的1988年漢城奧運會，這也是中國隊唯一一次通過預選賽考驗后拿到的決賽圈入場券。第二次則是2008年的憑藉東道主身份進入奧運。但遺憾的是，在奧運賽場上，中國隊僅取得過一個進球，但無積分無勝利。

看前輩。自從1992年巴塞羅那奧運會開始把男足比賽正式確定為U23賽事後，中國開始組建為參加奧運會而設立的中國男足國奧隊。從1992年到2020期間，中國總共產生過八支國奧隊。減去08年憑東道主直接參賽，我們的7支國奧從未成功突圍。

不同時期的七支國奧隊，包含了多少代中國足球人，他們中既有郝海東范志毅這樣的頂級名宿，也有昔日最強的超白金一代們。但中國國奧隊前前後後奔襲了太遠，就是沒有一次能從預選賽一步步打入奧運會的經歷。要知道世界杯，我們還能闖入過一次。

奧運會，這項體育最頂端的盛會，一直是中國足球的痛。

（本心）

countries: 韓國 伊朗 烏茲別克 中國

title: 7支國奧無一突圍 奧運是永恆夢魘 比世界杯還要難


title: 曝恆大確定亞冠外援名單小摩托入圍 高拉特無緣

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日期:1月12日，出戰2020年亞冠的球隊即將上交報名名單，據恆大跟隊記者透露，小摩托費爾南多入選恆大的亞冠名單，高拉特無緣。

《體壇周報》記者葉慧在微博寫道：

ACL2020# Paulinho、Talisca、Park & Fernandinho IN。 Goulart & Browning OUT。

這也意味著恆大的亞冠四名外援分別為保利尼奧、塔利斯卡、朴志洙和費爾南多。

本賽季費爾南多正式回歸恆大，他的速度成為球隊依賴的武器，而高拉特雖然傷愈，但是他已經接近一年沒有正式比賽，狀態成疑。

（一拳超人）