title: Indonesia to tax drinks, polluters

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Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati yesterday proposed new duties on sweetened drinks, vehicles that emit carbon dioxide and plastic bags, to control consumption of the products in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

The proposal comes amid weak tax collection after the economy grew at its slowest pace in three years last year.

Indonesia had a nearly US$15 billion revenue shortfall last year due to weak company profits and falling exports.

The proposal is to levy excise taxes ranging from 1,500 rupiah to 2,500 rupiah (US$0.11 to US$0.18) per liter on sugar-sweetened and artificial sugar-sweetened beverages, such as bottled tea, coffee, carbonated soft drinks and energy drinks, the minister told a hearing with parliament’s finance commission.

The aim is to cut consumption of sweet drinks, Indrawati said, adding that the prevalence of diabetes and obesity levels have steadily increased in the past decade.

Some 2 percent of Indonesians age 15 and above had diabetes in 2018, up from 1.1 percent in 2007, while the number of obese adults rose from 10.5 percent in 2007 to 21.8 percent in 2018.

Indrawati also brought up again her 2017 proposal to impose an excise tax of 200 rupiah per bag on plastic bags, which parliament has not yet approved. The levy, though small, could halve Indonesia’s consumption of plastic bags to 53,533 tonnes a year, she said.

The government also wants to impose duties on new vehicles that emit carbon dioxide as part of efforts to control pollution, the minister said. The tariffs would vary depending on emission levels and other aspects, she said, without providing details.

The total additional revenue expected from all three measures per fiscal year is 23.56 trillion rupiah — 1.61 trillion rupiah from plastic bags, 6.25 trillion rupiah from drinks and 15.7 trillion rupiah from vehicles, she said.

Indrawati did not say when the government plans to begin collecting the excise taxes.

Indonesian Food & Beverage Association chairman Adhi S. Lukman said that the proposal would jack up prices and hurt people’s purchasing power.

“Basically, there is no data that shows applying excise will reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases and obesity, if that’s the intention,” he said, adding that he would lobby against the measure.

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A Chunghwa Post driver delivers medical alcohol made by Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp to a pharmacy yesterday.Photo: CNA
Starting this week, Chunghwa Post is to be in charge of delivering 75 percent alcohol used as a disinfectant to protect against COVID-19, the postal company said yesterday.

The state-run firm undertook the task after it was last week ordered to deliver masks to be sold at National Health Insurance (NHI) partner pharmacies.

Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (TTLC) produces the 75 percent alcohol, Department of Mail Business and Operations head Chen Ching-hsiang (陳敬祥) said.

TTLC would first deliver the alcohol to 23 postal service hubs, from which couriers would deliver it to the NHI’s 5,660 partner pharmacies nationwide, he said.

Chen said that each partner pharmacy would receive three boxes, each containing 24 300ml bottles of alcohol.

As alcohol is flammable, couriers would be required to deliver the boxes in four-wheeled vehicles or larger trucks that are equipped with fire extinguishers, Chen said.

They would also be told to place the boxes in plastic containers for enhanced safety, he added.

Delivering masks and alcohol would increase couriers’ workloads, but many of them feel honored to be part of national disease-prevention efforts, Chen said.

Chunghwa Post would pay couriers overtime or allow them to take compensatory days off due to their increased workload, he said, adding that it would also have to employ more couriers.

The demand for additional couriers is urgent, as from today, the number of masks to be delivered by Chunghwa Post is to increase from 1.65 million to 3.96 million per day, Chen said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Chunghwa Post takes charge of 75% alcohol deliveries


title: Taiwan Business Quick Take

content_text:
MANUFACTURING

Taihan selling idle property

Taihan Precision Technology Co (台翰精密科技) yesterday said that its board of directors has approved a plan to dispose of idle buildings and land in New Taipei City’s Wugu District (五股) for NT$310 million (US$10.3 million). The designer and manufacturer of plastic products and molds said that it expects to book a disposal gain of NT$213 million from the transaction, and plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its financial structure, and boost shareholder interest and returns. While the COVID-19 outbreak in China has disrupted production in global supply chains, it has had limited effects on the company, Taihan Precision said in an e-mail.

TESTING SERVICES

Sporton net income drops

Sporton International Inc (耕興), which provides professional product testing and certification services, yesterday said net income for last year decreased 4.13 percent year-on-year to NT$671.26 million, or earnings per share of NT$7.27. Revenue fell 0.39 percent to NT$2.99 billion, it said. The drop was due to lower orders from China amid a US-China trade dispute, as well as greater operating expenses, including deployment costs for a Silicon Valley lab, Sporton said. About 50 to 60 percent of employees at its labs in Kunshan and Shenzhen, China, have returned to work since operations resumed last week amid the COVID-19 outbreak, it said, adding that it would use a flexible deployment of personnel in Taiwan, China and the US to reduce risks caused by economic uncertainties.

NETWORKING

CyberTAN restarts factory

CyberTAN Technology Inc (建漢科技), a maker of broadband and wireless networking equipment, yesterday said that its factory in Chongqing, China, has been approved to resume work following an extended Lunar New Year holiday ordered by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19. CyberTAN is a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密). Its plant in Vietnam has operated normally, while its Chinese operations received the notification of approval to restart work, effective yesterday, it said. Separately, SolidWizard Technology Co (實威國際), which provides 3D scanners and services, said that its Shanghai-based subsidiary, UnitedWizard Technology Co (研威貿易), has also been given permission to restart work.

TOURISM

Costa Cruises drops sailings

Italian cruise operator Costa Crociere SpA yesterday announced it has canceled all of its voyages scheduled to depart from Taiwan next month to protect passengers’ interests amid fears over the spread of COVID-19. The Costa neoRomantica and the Costa Venezia were due to sail from Taiwan, said the firm, which operates as Costa Cruises. Customers who have paid for cruises on those ships can, up to March 31, receive a full refund of the fare and port taxes, it said. The company also said it would continue to strengthen epidemic-control measures to ensure the safety of all passengers and crew on cruises outside of Taiwan that have not been canceled, including barring passengers and crew who have been in or transited through China, Hong Kong and Macau. In related news, Eastar Jet Inc’s nonstop charter flights between Hualien and South Korea for the spring season have been suspended until March 28 due to the outbreak, Hualien County Department of Tourism Deputy Director Chang Chih-shiang (張志翔) said on Tuesday. The suspension is expected to reduce tourist arrivals in Hualien by 10,000, Chang said.

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Rents in Hong Kong sink to lowest in two years

STEEP DISCOUNTS:Some landlords have offered discounts of up to 12 percent from current levels, while some homeowners are opting to lease until the market recovers
Apartment rents in Hong Kong have dropped to the lowest in almost two years as people leave the territory and homeowners try to lease rather than sell.

Advertised residential prices are the least since March 2018, data from property agency Spacious showed.

While the territory’s rents have been under pressure since anti-government protests started in June last year, the COVID-19 outbreak is also damping demand.

“People with partners or spouses who aren’t working, or children who aren’t at school, they’re relocating now for the time being,” Colliers International head of residential services Letizia Garcia Casalino said.

In some instances, landlords are willing to offer tenants discounts as steep as 12 percent from current levels, she said.

The outbreak is also weighing on the secondary-market sentiment. Even though home prices inched up 1 percent between Jan. 19 and Feb. 9, the latest Centaline Property Agency Ltd (中原地產) data showed, local media has been reporting on some transactions where homeowners have sold at a loss.

An apartment in Yuen Long in the New Territories was sold for 13 percent — or HK$1.2 million (US$154,423) — less than the original listing price, one newspaper reported earlier this week.

Other homeowners who are not keen on cutting their asking prices are instead trying to lease their properties, increasing supply and adding to pressure on rents, Centaline deputy regional sales manager Matthew Hung (洪文鋒) said.

“Some sellers don’t want to let go of their property at a cheap price,” Hung said. “They expect the disease will end soon and therefore they’d rather rent the apartments out in the meantime.”

Hung estimated the supply of homes for rent in the northern New Territories area that he covers has increased about 10 percent from last month.

Hong Kong is heading for its first back-to-back annual recessions on record, as the COVID-19 shutdown cripples an economy already battered by months of political unrest.

Economists’ forecasts since the start of this month point to a contraction of more than 1 percent this year, following a 1.2 percent decline last year. That would mark a bigger decline and a slower recovery from COVID-19 than from the SARS episode of 2003, when output roared back after the all-clear was signaled.

Weakened by months of pro-democracy protests that have kept tourists away and slashed retail receipts, Hong Kong cannot rely on trade and arrivals from the mainland to stoke an economic comeback.

“The likelihood of a rapid recovery is very slim this time around,” Pictet Wealth Management Ltd senior Asia economist Dong Chen said. “Neither the global economic environment nor Hong Kong’s domestic political situation supports it.”

The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg since the start of this month is for a 1.2 percent contraction this year.

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title: DBS forecasts few effects from COVID-19 outbreak

content_text:
DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday said that the COVID-19 outbreak would have a limited impact on its corporate banking business in Taiwan, if it is brought under control by summer.

The effects on its corporate loans could be 2 to 3 percent, but the bank still aims to pursue a high single-digit percentage growth rate this year, managing director Tony Luo (羅綸有) told a news conference in Taipei.

MILD HIT

DBS Bank’s parent company, Singapore-based DBS Group Holdings Ltd, last week forecast that the virus could knock 1 to 2 percent off its revenue this year.

DBS Bank last year approved syndicated loans of US$764 million, Luo said.

Aggregate loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reached NT$29.5 billion, topping other foreign banks in Taiwan, he said.

The outbreak is expected to have a mild impact on Taiwan’s economy, compared with China’s, Luo said.

UPBEAT

Some industries in Taiwan are suffering due to the outbreak, such as food and dining, tourism, retail and transport sectors as well as those relying on Chinese suppliers, he said, adding that most industries would remain unaffected if the outbreak ends in two to three months.

“We still have an upbeat outlook for this year, as demand for funds in Taiwan should grow steadily with the return of Taiwanese companies, the development of 5G and green energy, and manufacturers’ increasing automation,” Luo said.

A HELPING HAND

Even though some companies might lose orders due to the outbreak in the first half of this year, they are expected to regain those orders in the following quarters, he said.

The bank plans to provide loans to more than 10 green energy projects of this year, he said.

If the outbreak continues more than three months, it would have a more severe impact on the Asian economy, as declining consumption in China would be a drag on economic momentum, Luo said.

DBS would provide assistance to borrowers that have solid business performance, but have seen cash flow drop due to the outbreak, Luo said.

The bank would announce the details after finalizing the measures, he said.

“So far, our Taiwanese corporate clients with operations in China are dealing with the situation well. But the SMEs might struggle more,” he said.

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people: 蔡其昌 陳時中 蘇嘉全 蔡英文 蘇貞昌 陳菊

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By Peng Wan-hsin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Radio show host Clara Chou, left, interviews Legislative Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang at the Hit FM studio in Taipei yesterday.Photo: Screen grab from the Internet
Lawmakers are likely to pass a proposal to lower the voting age to 18, despite the high threshold required to amend the Constitution, Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said yesterday.

The proposal is likely to be raised in the next legislative session — which opens tomorrow — Tsai said during an interview with Clara Chou (周玉蔻) on her radio talk show Coco Breakfast.

“I feel the chance of it being passed is very high,” Tsai added.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has long advocated for the change, and a majority of the public supports it, he said.

Moreover, it is one issue that has garnered the consensus of most political parties, he said.

That consensus would be important, as the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would need to agree on any constitutional amendment, he added.

Asked whether he thought Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) would be replaced after President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) is sworn in on May 20 for a second term, the deputy speaker said that it was unlikely.

“The public largely supports Premier Su Tseng-chang, including those who do not generally support the DPP,” he said.

Speculation that he would be replaced by former premier Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) is not likely to come true given his good performance, Tsai Chi-chang said.

He also dismissed speculation that Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) would be reassigned as a minister without portfolio after May 20.

Asked about reports in the Chinese-language media that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) would be appointed as Control Yuan president, Tsai Chi-chang said it was a “reasonable conclusion by the media,” as the Examination Yuan and the Control Yuan would have openings.

Responding to Chou’s remark that being appointed Control Yuan president would give Chen Chu “nothing to do,” Tsai Chi-chang said that this was not true, as a portion of the legislature’s procedures has to pass through the Control Yuan, and until a constitutional amendment changing the Control Yuan’s functions is passed, the agency would continue to play a role.

Asked whether he would run for Taichung mayor, Tsai Chi-chang said that he wanted to focus on his current position and that he has no other plans.

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title: Vice speaker optimistic on voting age legislation


content_text:
Manufacturing sector contracts, takes heavy hits

SOME GOOD NEWS:Gross output for the auto industry grew 7.73 percent, ending eight quarters of declines, while wind projects and new factories could aid base metals
Gross output from the domestic manufacturing sector took another heavy hit last quarter as it contracted 6.6 percent year-on-year to NT$3.37 trillion (US$111.77 billion), data released yesterday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed.

Traditional manufacturing industries were the primary drivers of the sector’s decline, as they continue to face dwindling market demand due to flailing raw material prices, the ministry said.

“Many of our traditional manufacturers are very dependent on overseas sales, which in turn are tied closely to the global economic outlook,” Department of Statistics Director-General Wang Shu-chuan (王淑娟) said by telephone, adding that a US-China trade dispute last year cast a pall over worldwide market demand.

For example, the chemical materials and machinery equipment industries exported about 47 percent and 62 percent respectively of their goods abroad, Wang said, adding that the two industries saw their gross output drop 21.55 percent and 13.49 percent year-on-year last quarter to NT$381.7 billion and NT$161.8 billion.

“And now traditional manufacturers are confronted by a spreading coronavirus [COVID-19] that’s dampening business sentiment,” Wang said.

The base metal industry last quarter declined 15.76 percent in gross output to NT$320.5 billion, but the sector perform better this quarter, as the government plans to launch large construction projects this year, she said.

“We are also betting on the offshore wind industry, which would stimulate market demand for machine equipment, among other products,” Wang said, adding that Taiwanese companies relocating their production to Taiwan would also drive up demand for machinery equipment.

In contrast, the auto and auto parts industries reported that gross output grew 7.73 percent to NT$95.7 billion last quarter, ending eight consecutive quarters of annual declines, which the ministry attributed to healthy sales of small family vehicles ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and the popularity of newly launched models.

In the tech sector, gross output from the electronics components industry declined 4.14 percent to NT$953.6 billion, dragged down by shrinking market demand for LCD panels and ICs.

The market for LCD panels also remains oversaturated, resulting in price cuts and a decrease in production of flat panels, color filters and other related products, it said.

“However, the computer, electronic goods and optical components industry has seen tremendous growth, and we hope the momentum will continue this quarter, as companies have shown little intention of slowing production,” Wang said.

Those sector’s gross output surged 17.95 percent to NT$214 billion, thanks to production expansion by returning companies.

The ministry maintains an optimistic outlook regarding all of Taiwan’s tech industry, because of the upcoming deployment of 5G technologies and a trend toward using multi-camera lenses in smartphones.

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EirGenix Inc (台康生技) yesterday said that it could mass produce antibodies for use against COVID-19 within five months once the government analyzes the genetic sequence of the virus.

The New Taipei City-based contract development and manufacturing organization and biosimilars maker has partnered with Academia Sinica to assist in creating the antibody, company spokesman Chang Chih-jung (張志榮) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

“It on average takes about 18 months to develop a new antibody through a cell culture process,” Chang said.

However, the company expects the government to allow it to speed up the development process for the sake of public health, he said, adding that it would help produce those antibodies for free.

The ingredients for the antibody require regulatory approval, which would also confirm its safety and efficacy, he said.

Research groups, such as Academia Sinica or hospitals, are expected to run animal tests or clinical tests if development proceeds smoothly, he added.

Although China’s state-owned medical products maker is collecting plasma from the blood of people who have recovered from the virus, the approach could not generate enough antibodies to treat all infected people, Chang said.

Meanwhile, EriGenix has offered a carrier protein, dubbed EG74032, to Academia Sinica and the government for free to aid development of a vaccine against the virus, he said.

The carrier protein has been proven to activate T cells and boost the immune response, which has made it an important ingredient in vaccines, he said.

The protein, developed two years ago, was also provided to the US National Institutes of Health for research, as well as to other pharmaceutical companies in Europe, Japan and Canada, he added.

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title: EirGenix says it wants to help fight COVID-19


title: Danish ex-social worker convicted of massive fraud

content_text:
Britta Nielsen, accused of embezzling 117 million kroner (US$17 million) of Danish government funds, is pictured during an appearance at Randburg Magistrates’ Court in South Africa on Nov. 8, 2018.Photo: Reuters
A former employee of Denmark’s social services on Tuesday was sentenced to six–and-a-half years in prison for embezzling millions in funds, meant for people in need, over decades.

Britta Nielsen, 65, was accused of diverting 117 million Danish kroner (US$16.9 million at the current exchange rate) between 1993 and 2018 from the social services to her personal bank accounts by creating fictitious projects.

In its verdict, the Copenhagen court found Nielsen guilty of “fraud of a particular grave nature ... abusing a public position and forgery of a particular grave nature.”

The sentence is one of the longest handed down for economic crimes in the country, Danish media said.

Prosecutors had requested at least eight years in prison, claiming that she had abused her position as a public servant.

“She has betrayed the trust she was given when she became employed by the National Board of Social Services,” prosecutor Lisbeth Jorgensen told the court during the trial.

Nielsen, who was employed by the social services agency for 40 years, admitted to the fraud, but not the amount of money suggested by the prosecution.

During the trial, she said that she had been drawn into a “vicious circle” and claimed she had acted to improve the lives of her three children, who have also been charged with the handling of stolen goods.

Her lawyer, Nima Nabipour, had asked for a sentence of four to six years, arguing that crimes committed before 2009 have reached their statute of limitations.

However, the court found her liable for the embezzling of the full 117 million kroner.

Nabipour has also pleaded mitigating circumstances, such as Nielsen’s age and health.

The trial has had to be adjourned several times due to Nielsen collapsing in court and being too ill to stand trial.

However, a medical examination found her to be in good health.

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content_text:
A Buffet heir is trying to help Colombia kick its cocaine curse

With Colombian military snipers in position, Howard Buffett descends from a helicopter and trudges through the wet grass in steel-toe boots chewed through by his dog’s teeth.

Waiting under a tin-roofed shack is a small group of coca farmers. They have never heard of multibillionaire investor Warren Buffett, but after decades of neglect by their own government they are grateful for the outstretched hand of his eldest son, who they refer to simply as “the gringo.”

“There’s a saying here: The less you know, the better,” said Ruben Morantes, his leathery skin and calloused hands a testament to a lifetime of tillage in one of Colombia’s most dangerous territories, where outsiders are traditionally mistrusted.

For nearly two decades Howard Buffett has crisscrossed the world giving away part of his father’s fortune to promote food security, conflict mitigation and public safety, but his latest gamble is one of the most daunting yet: Helping Colombia kick its cocaine curse.

He is focusing on Tibu, heart of the remote, notoriously lawless Catatumbo region bordering Venezuela where Howard Buffett accompanied Colombian President Ivan Duque.

Tibu has the second-largest coca crop in all of Colombia — 11,400 hectares, according to the UN. Drug production as well as violence has skyrocketed in the area since armed groups filled the void left by retreating rebels who signed a peace deal with the government in 2016.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has committed to spending US$200 million over the next few years to transform the impoverished municipality into a model of comprehensive state building. Plans include strengthening security forces and helping farmers secure land titles and to substitute coca — the raw material for cocaine — with licit crops like cacao.

The first component is building 300km of roads to connect the municipality’s 37,000 residents for the first time with national and international markets.

It is a challenge made more difficult by lurking guerrillas who last year detonated a homemade bomb as army engineers were working on the road, killing five people and injuring several.

“The only way we have confidence that farmers can grow legal crops is if they can get those crops to market,” Howard Buffett told farmers during a visit last month with Duque to La Gabarra, a rural outpost in Tibu.

It was the first time any Colombian president had visited the blood-soaked hamlet.

The plan envisions subsidies and training for farmers as they switch crops, as well as helping them find buyers. It also aims to strengthen infrastructure for local law enforcement.

However, some experts worry Howard Buffett’s enthusiasm for speeding Colombia’s development is no match for entrenched corruption in rural areas run like political fiefdoms.

There is also the challenge posed by thousands of Venezuelan migrants who lack roots in the community and are being targeted for recruitment by criminal gangs.

A lot is riding on Howard Buffett’s investment.

Not since the start of the US-led Plan Colombia two decades ago have so many resources converged on a single geographical area, said Alvaro Balcazar, who helped the government negotiate with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia the section of the peace deal focusing on illicit crops.

“There’s no precedent for something on such large a scale,” Balcazar said. “But the region is strategic for consolidating peace in Colombia.”

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title: Medical workers deserve praise

content_text:
In response to a controversy surrounding charter flights evacuating Taiwanese from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of a COVID-19 outbreak, Taiwanese medical personnel on Feb. 7 launched an online petition calling on the government to stick to the bottom line of disease prevention.

The petition garnered the signatures of more than 110,000 healthcare professionals in just 24 hours.

Two days later, Taiwan Counter Contagious Diseases Society president Wang Jen-hsien (王任賢), whose name also appears on the list of physicians on the Web site of Beijing Jingdu Children’s Hospital, answered reporters’ questions on TV and published an opinion piece in the Chinese-language China Times in which he spouted nonsense, and blasted Taiwanese medical staff who have been doing their best to save lives and solve the nation’s urgent needs.

Wang’s criticism has aroused public fury and elicited a strong backlash throughout Taiwan. To set the record straight and ensure a correct understanding of the facts, a few issues need to be clarified.

In the opinion piece, Wang accused Li Wenliang (李文亮), a whistle-blowing Chinese physician who died due to the virus in Wuhan on Feb. 7, of contravening Chinese law by sounding the alarm about the disease outbreak to his friends through Chinese messaging app WeChat on Dec. 30 last year.

“Disclosing an epidemic at one’s discretion before the outbreak is officially announced by the government is, of course, against the law,” Wang wrote.

Absurdly, Wang’s view essentially chimes in with the views of China’s authoritarian government, and shows a crude understanding of the situation and a lack of legal common sense.

Before the outbreak, Li posted a message about the disease in a closed WeChat group chat for physicians inside the hospital only to remind his colleagues to be careful. He did not publicly spread the information, nor were the recipients members of the general public.

Therefore, Li did not breach medical ethics or the principle of privacy protection, nor did he contravene relevant laws and regulations.

Wang also criticized Taiwan’s medical sector, calling it a “rotten strawberry” that cannot stand pressure and saying that “Taiwan is now fighting a quarantine battle, but its medical staff have gotten cold feet even before the real disease-prevention battle begins. What makes them different from a rotten strawberry that is soft and mushy even when pressure is not exerted on it? While China consolidates the whole nation’s efforts to support Wuhan, Taiwan’s medical sector runs as soon as a little pressure escapes the pressure cooker. They are causing Taiwan to lose face in front of the whole world.”

Wang is wrong in making these accusations. In fact, Taiwan’s medical sector took preventive action late last month and the nation’s healthcare professionals are certainly not of the kind to “run away.”

Wang’s stance also begs the question as to whether he is helping Taiwan or Beijing to fight the disease.

Wang, who apparently cares so much about China, only proved his own ignorance of the real situation by making such irresponsible remarks.

Wang made another mistake when he criticized the petition, which calls on the government not to receive patients from Wuhan without imposing any restrictions.

Taiwan’s medical professionals are fully justified in measuring their capacity and not going beyond it, so that they can safeguard the nation’s medical resources, protect the public and prevent the healthcare system from collapsing, which would affect patients who ought to be placed under proper care.

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content_text:
Chinese President Xi Jinping leaves after a news conference at Prague Castle in the capital of the Czech Republic on March 29, 2016.Photo: Reuters
Beijing threatened to retaliate against Czech companies with operations in China if a senior Czech lawmaker went ahead with a planned visit to Taiwan, according to a diplomatic letter seen by reporters.

The Jan. 10 letter, which was sent by China’s embassy in Prague to the Czech president’s office, suggested that Czech companies operating in China, such as Volkswagen subsidiary Skoda Auto or lender Home Credit Group, would suffer if Czech Senate Speaker Jaroslav Kubera visited Taiwan.

Kubera, 72, died of a heart attack on Jan. 20, before his trip had been due to take place, but the letter, written in Czech, reveals how explicit Beijing was about the possible consequences if the visit had gone ahead.

“Czech companies whose representatives visit Taiwan with Chairman Kubera will not be welcome in China or with the Chinese people,” the letter said.

“Czech companies who have economic interests in China will have to pay for the visit to Taiwan by Chairman Kubera,” the letter said, adding that “China is the largest foreign market for many Czech companies like Skoda Auto, Home Credit Group, Klaviry Petrof and others.”

Chinese officials in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Czech president’s spokesman confirmed the office had received the letter, but did not comment on its content.

In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized China’s warning to Prague.

“China’s business pressure on the Czech Republic proves that ‘One Belt, One Road’ is a predatory policy tool, bringing only counter-effects to the global business order,” ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.

Kubera was the country’s second-most senior official after Czech President Milos Zeman.

Zeman and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis had expressed concern that Kubera’s planned visit would lead China to retaliate against the nation’s business community.

The Senate’s office said Kubera had been aware of the letter and its content after receiving a copy at a regular meeting of top Czech foreign policy officials.

The Chinese letter warned that Kubera’s trip would be seen as a “serious breach” of Beijing’s “one China” principle.

Babis’ government has said repeatedly it adheres to that principle.

However, Sino-Czech diplomatic ties cooled last year when city authorities in Prague showed support for Tibet and demanded changes to an intercity partnership agreement with Beijing over a reference to China’s policy on Taiwan.

The agreement was eventually canceled, and Prague instead signed a cooperation deal with Taipei, infuriating Beijing.

Beijing had already been upset after the Czech cybersecurity watchdog in December 2018 warned about the risks of using network technology provided by Chinese telecoms equipment makers Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and ZTE Corp (中興).

A Home Credit spokesman said he had not been aware of the letter, while Skoda could not be reached immediately for comment.

Czech senators yesterday elected Czech Senator Milos Vystrcil to succeed Kubera as speaker.

Additional reporting by staff writer

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title: Czech firms warned over official’s planned Taiwan visit


title: India investigators find no collusion by airlines

content_text:
Investigators with India’s antitrust watchdog have found no evidence that the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo Airlines Pvt Ltd, and four rival carriers colluded to fix ticket prices, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2015 ordered a probe into allegations of anti-competitive practices after similar fares were being offered on certain routes by IndiGo, SpiceJet Ltd, Go Airlines (India) Ltd, state-run Air India Ltd and now-defunct Jet Airways (India) Ltd.

The CCI inquiry, which included an analysis of the algorithms airlines use to determine ticket fares, found that all five carriers were working independently, the three sources said.

“No direct evidence of cartelization was found,” one of the sources said, adding that the investigation also did not reveal any communication among airline executives to fix prices.

Budget airline IndiGo, the country’s biggest carrier, said in a statement that “the case is without merit” and added that it has been cooperating with the investigation.

The second-biggest airline, SpiceJet, as well as GoAir, Air India and Jet Airways, did not respond to requests for comment. The CCI did not respond to questions.

An adverse finding could have led to a fine of up to three times the profit made in each year prices were fixed, or 10 percent of annual revenue, whichever was higher. Indian airlines are already grappling with slow growth in air traffic.

Details of the CCI case, which was investigated in two phases, have not been made public in line with the watchdog’s practice.

The agency, whose senior members are reviewing the investigation findings, has not made a final ruling and could further extend the investigation. However, two of the sources said the airlines were likely to be cleared.

The CCI’s investigation arm had already produced a report in 2016 saying no antitrust practices were detected. The agency directed a further probe into fare-determining software and seat-allocation patterns, a second source said.

Antitrust lawyer Gautam Shahi, who is not involved in the case, said a finding of no antitrust misconduct would be a big relief for a sector that has faced intense scrutiny.

In a separate antitrust case in 2018, the CCI found that IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet had colluded over fuel surcharge rates on cargo flights, fining them a total of 544 million rupees (US$7.6 million). The airlines have appealed that judgement.

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content_text:
Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina returns to the US’ Sofia Kenin in their Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships match in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.Photo: AFP
Sofia Kenin lost her first WTA match since winning the Australian Open earlier this month as she went down 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-3 to Elena Rybakina at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

World No. 7 Kenin’s loss completed a hat-trick of seeded upsets on the fourth day of action in the United Arab Emirates.

Title-holder Belinda Bencic was overhauled 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while third seed and two-time tournament winner Elina Svitolina was hammered 6-2, 6-1 by qualifier Jennifer Brady.

American Kenin played a pair of non-tour Fed Cup matches immediately after her Melbourne win.

The 21-year-old went down in just over two hours to her 19th-ranked opponent, who stood 192nd in the world a year ago.

“There’s a bit more pressure coming from my side [after a first Grand Slam win], but I’ve just got to try to manage it for the next tournaments,” Kenin said.

“I just didn’t feel my game really well. I just made too many unforced errors, I didn’t take my chances. I felt really off the whole match,” she added.

Kenin got away to an early break, but lost it and had to win the first set in a tiebreaker. Rybakina then dominated the next two sets to reach the second round, where she is to face Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Kazakh Rybakina last month won the Hobart title and reached the final last weekend in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

“I prepared with good practice. I didn’t expect that I would win. I tried to do my best,” Rybakina said. “I wasn’t nervous at all, because I knew it’s going to be tough.”

“I didn’t think about that she just won the Australian Open, I know that now everyone can beat everyone,” she added.

Seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka set up a potential quarter-final clash with world No. 2 Simona Halep after seeing off Greek Maria Sakkari 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Belarusian Sabalenka was yesterday to face her doubles partner Elise Mertens, who is ranked 22nd in the world, in the second round before top seed Halep was to take on Tunisian Ons Jabeur.

“We played so many times before — she’s a great player,” Sabalenka said of Mertens. “I know she’s a big fighter. I’m just going to out there and enjoy the fight. I don’t want to focus on that she’s my doubles partner, like we are friends and something. It’s going to be a big fight.”

Earlier, Bencic ran off the first 19 points against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before collapsing to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 defeat.

Pavlyuchenkova could not have made a worse start before advancing in 92 minutes.

“It’s tennis, sometimes it happens,” the 31st-ranked Russian said. “You go out there and you just don’t feel anything. I just kept on fighting, still trying to hit every ball, trying to be there.”

“Slowly I started to turn it around, I started to find my game. In the third set, it was a good level from both of us,” she added.

The shock defeats leave the spotlight to Halep and second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who begin in the second round after byes.

Gael Monfils watched in pain as girlfriend Svitolina went down to Brady.

Svitolina had little to offer as 52nd-ranked Brady gained her second victory this season over a top-10 opponent after beating Ashleigh Barty in Brisbane.

The Ukrainian’s usually steady game was nowhere to be found at the Aviation Club as first-round play concluded.

“It was not a bad start, but then everything just went downhill,” Svitolina said. “I wish I could regroup better. In the end, I didn’t feel so good the ball. Just everything was all over the place today.”

title: Rybakina overpowers Kenin in Dubai


content_text:
Average take-home pay rises nearly 3%

NOT ALL EQUAL:Employees in the finance sector took home the highest average monthly pay last year, while staff at certain educational facilities earned the least
The average monthly take-home wage rose 2.7 percent to NT$42,495 (US$1,409) in December last year, while total pay grew 7.01 percent to NT$53,667 after adding overtime and performance-based remunerations, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The latest wage figures helped elevate average monthly take-home pay by 2.26 percent to a record high of NT$41,883 for the whole of last year, as local firms emerged unscathed from the US-China trade dispute, the statistics agency said.

“Monthly salary adjustments were quite obvious, with an increase of more than 2 percent last year,” DGBAS Deputy Director Pan Ning-hsin (潘寧馨) told a media briefing in Taipei.

The pay increase came as some Taiwanese firms moved their manufacturing bases to Taiwan from China to avoid punitive tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese goods, making them less susceptible to the trade row.

Some local companies also benefited from order transfers from Chinese firms aiming to cut dependence on US suppliers.

Last year’s overall average wages, including bonuses and commissions, amounted to NT$56,652 an increase of 2.4 percent, the statistics agency said.

After adjustments for inflation, real average take-home pay gained 1.69 percent to a 16-year high of NT$40,842, while total average compensations rose 1.84 percent to NT$53,667, it said.

People who worked for banking institutions had the highest average monthly pay at NT$104,934 per month, followed by employees at transportation companies at NT$97,545 and electricity and gas suppliers at NT$96,110, the DGBAS said.

People working at educational facilities — excluding public and private schools — had the lowest average monthly compensation at NT$26,971, followed by hair salons at NT$29,625 and restaurants at NT$34,199, it said, adding that the large number of part-time employees in those sectors dragged down the wage tally.

For December last year, the number of working hours increased to 177.9, a gain of 6.7 hours from a year earlier, reflecting higher labor demand, the agency’s monthly report showed.

For the entirety of last year, Taiwanese worked 169.1 hours per month, 0.3 hours fewer than in 2018, it said.

The job pool expanded 1.14 percent to 7.96 million last year, as manufacturing sectors added 5,000 employees, while hotels and restaurants increased headcounts by 11,000, it said.

Asked about the COVID-19 outbreak in China, Pan said it is unlikely that companies would cut wages as a result of the virus, but it could constrain the pace of wage increases as seen during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Wage increases tapered off to 0.17 percent when SARS struck, Pan said.

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title: Average take-home pay rises nearly 3%


content_text:
Samsung wins Qualcomm modem chip deal: sources

FLAGSHIP CONTRACT:Samsung is to fabricate some of Qualcomm’s X60 modem chips using its 5nm technology. TSMC is expected to get part of the order, sources said
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s semiconductor manufacturing division has won a contract to make new Qualcomm Inc 5G chips using its most advanced chipmaking technology, two sources familiar with the matter said, boosting the South Korean firm’s efforts to gain market share against rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).

Samsung is to fabricate at least some of Qualcomm’s X60 modem chips, which connect devices such as smartphones to 5G wireless data networks, the sources said, adding that the X60 is to be made on Samsung’s 5-nanometer (nm) process, which makes the chips smaller and more power-efficient than previous generations.

One of the sources said that TSMC is also expected to fabricate 5nm modems for Qualcomm.

Samsung and Qualcomm declined to comment, while TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Best known among consumers for its smartphones and other electronic devices, Samsung is the world’s second-biggest chip manufacturer through its foundry division, self-supplying many of its own mobile phone parts and also fabricating chips for outside customers, such as IBM Corp and Nvidia Corp.

However, much of Samsung’s semiconductor revenue historically has come from memory chips, whose prices can swing wildly as supply and demand fluctuate. In an attempt to cut its reliance on that volatile market, Samsung last year announced a plan to invest US$116 billion in non-memory chips through 2030.

The Qualcomm deal shows progress in winning customers to that effort. Even if Samsung has won only part of the orders, Qualcomm represents a flagship customer for Samsung’s 5nm manufacturing technology.

Samsung plans to ramp up that technology this year in an attempt to regain market share against TSMC, which is also starting mass production of 5nm chips this year.

The Qualcomm win could boost Samsung’s foundry business, because the X60 is likely to be used in many mobile devices as they shift to 5G.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Samsung had a 17.8 percent market share versus TSMC’s 52.7 percent, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) data showed.

On Tuesday, Qualcomm said that it would begin sending samples of the X60 chips to customers in the first quarter of this year.

Qualcomm did not disclose who would manufacture the chips and reporters could not learn whether the first batches of chips would be made by Samsung or TSMC.

TSMC was faster to ramp up high-volume production of chips using the previous 7nm manufacturing process, winning customers such as Apple Inc.

Last month, TSMC executives said that they expect to begin ramping up 5nm production in the first half and expect it to make up 10 percent of the company’s revenue for this year.

Asked during a conference call last month how Samsung would compete with TSMC, Samsung Foundry senior vice president Shawn Han said that the company planned to expand 5nm mass production by “diversifying customer applications” this year.

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people: 王明 林佳龍

content_text:
Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien takes part in a meeting in Taipei on Sept. 19 last year.Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) would also temporarily serve as Taoyuan International Airport Corp’s (TIAC) chairman after the incumbent chairman, Wang Ming-de (王明德), retires next month, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

The appointment still needs to be approved by the state-run company’s board of directors, who are to convene a meeting on Thursday next week.

As the company is owned by the ministry, the board is expected to unanimously approve the nomination.

While the ministry has said that Wang is stepping down because he has reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, local media have reported that the real reason was the ministry’s and the Executive Yuan’s dissatisfaction with his handling of the airport’s Terminal 3 project.

Despite its impressive design, the project has yet to attract any tenders due to the high cost of construction.

While TIAC had submitted a revised design, which includes eliminating about 800 glass windows in the ceiling, the new design would still cause the project’s budget to surge by NT$16 billion (US$530.65 million).

Moreover, the construction of the terminal would not be finished until 2024, which is one year after the deadline set by the government, the reports said.

Not only did Wang fail to resolve problems with the project, he also failed to offer convincing reasons to justify the budget increase, the reports said.

Lin Kuo-hsien was said to have been chosen to temporarily take over the operation of the airport company, as he has gained the trust of the transportation minister with his handling of the strikes by China Airlines pilots and EVA Airways flight attendants last year, as well as Far Eastern Air Transport’s sudden suspension of flight services and the COVID-19 outbreak, they said.

Wang said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday that he had reached the mandatory retirement age and leaving now was the right thing to do, adding that he felt relieved.

“However, the challenges with the Terminal 3 project would still be there after I leave. The airport company would still be troubled by problems with the project, which entails many complicated interfacing issues,” he said. “Resolving these issues requires a lot of patience and extensive experience in civil engineering.”

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title: CAA head to double as airport company chairman: minister


content_text:
Highwealth Construction Corp (興富發) yesterday bought a plot of land in central Taichung for NT$8.38 billion (US$277.93 million) at an auction, which was 15.76 percent higher than the asking price, despite uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in China, auction organizer Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan (戴德梁行) said.

The Taipei-based developer was seeking to build land stock and outbid the only other bidder in the auction.

The 2,593 ping (8,556.9m2) plot near the Top City (台中大遠百) department store is the site of a former factory owned by Tah Hsin Industrial Co (達新工業), a local maker of waterproof garments and shoes, which had set the floor price at NT$7.24 billion.

“The outbreak is bound to have negative impact on the property market in the short run, but the company cannot sit idle until after the virus is contained,” Highwealth spokesman Liao Chao-hsiung (廖昭雄) said.

It has to take action when opportunity arises, Liao said.

Highwealth has had several construction projects in Taichung and knows the plot’s value, he said.

The developer aims to turn the plot into a mixed-use complex, which would not be put on the market for sale until next year or later, Liao said, adding that design plans might change depending on market direction and customer needs.

Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan manager Eagle Lai (賴一毅) said that the auction result should inject badly needed confidence into the local property market, as the outbreak chills business activity.

The other bidder was the investment arm of a major builder from northern Taiwan, Lai said, declining to elaborate.

The plot might have a floor area ratio of 650 percent, he said.

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title: Highwealth acquires Taichung plot


people: 游錫堃 林志嘉 蘇嘉全

content_text:
By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Citizen Congress Watch chairman Wu Kun-lu, left, visits Legislative Speaker You Si-kun at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) yesterday met with Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) to push for increased transparency and professionalism in the Legislative Yuan, the legislative watchdog said.

You said that the legislature could consider developing an improved version of the Parliament Broadcast IVOD service, which provides live broadcasts of legislative sessions, as well as archived recordings of past sessions.

The most important issue discussed at the meeting was the need for legislative professionalism, and the legislature’s right of consent to the appointment of personnel, You said.

The group’s hope that budgets could be examined within the legally stipulated time frame, and that the legislature could enact legislation to ensure this happens were good suggestions and would be taken into consideration, he said.

Asked whether he could improve the legislature or its public image during his time in office, You said he would continue to build on the foundation of reform that his predecessor, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), started to promote when he was in office.

You said he had asked Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) to look into improving the parliamentary broadcast service.

CCW director-general Wu Kun-lu (吳鯤魯) thanked You for working toward the realization of the group’s goals.

The broadcast service had been watched by more than 200 million viewers, and it has been very helpful for Taiwanese living abroad to feel connected with the nation and to keep them up-to-date on national issues, Wu said.

The group hopes that even more substantial content could be made accessible through the service’s Web site, Wu said.

“Without a good legislature, there is no good nation,” Wu said, adding that he hoped the legislature would continue working toward national reform.

Many companies and people have been reluctant or unable to donate to different causes because of concern over the COVID-19 outbreak, Wu said, adding that he hoped the public would continue to support the organization, which has been supervising the legislature since 1987.

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title: Legislative watchdog calls for increased transparency


title: Man questioned over killing of woman in Hsinchu

content_text:
Hsinchu City police yesterday questioned a man over the alleged killing of a woman, whose body was recovered from a mountain road in Taoyuan.

Hsinchu prosecutors and police officers on Tuesday found the 34-year-old man, surnamed Lin (林), in Yunlin County, after the woman’s teenage daughter reported her missing.

Lin was having an affair with the 45-year-old woman, who was living with her daughter in Hsinchu City, prosecutors said.

Police reviewed surveillance cameras to track the couple’s movements prior to the alleged murder, and found that they went to a hotel on Sunday night.

Lin drove off in his car the next morning and returned at about noon, but there was no sign of the woman, the footage showed.

During questioning, Lin told police that they were in a relationship and went to the hotel for romantic getaways.

However, he checked the messages on the woman’s mobile phone while she was taking a shower and found that she was also involved with other men, police quoted Lin as saying.

They started to quarrel and Lin allegedly strangled her in a fit of anger until she stopped breathing, police said.

The next morning, he transported the body to a mountain road in Taoyuan and dumped it there and returned to check the hotel room, before heading to his father’s residence in Yunlin to hide, police quoted Lin as saying.

The woman’s daughter notified the police after failing to reach her over the phone, which eventually led police to identify Lin as the prime suspect.

After questioning, Lin led police and prosecutors to the mountain road, where officials recovered the body, which had contusions and swelling on the neck.

Investigators yesterday examined the body and collected evidence where the body was found.

Lin faces murder charges, police said.

Separately yesterday, Kaohsiung police arrested a suspect after a man, surnamed Wang (王), sought help in a restaurant for a stab wound in the abdomen.

A preliminary investigation found that the attack stemmed from debt collection after Wang, 50, went looking for a man, surnamed Lee (李), to collect NT$100,000.

They met in the morning and began to quarrel over the money, police said.

Lee then allegedly stabbed Wang, who sought help at a street eatery, where the staff called the police and paramedics, who rushed Wang to hospital.

Police captured Lee in Fongshan District (鳳山) a few hours later and said that he faces attempted murder charges.

In Taichung, prosecutors said that two teenagers have been taken in custody for allegedly assaulting and robbing a taxi driver last week.

The driver was stabbed several times, but he received treatment at a hospital and is not in a critical condition, they said.

The alleged attackers, aged 19 and 17, hailed the cab, and one of them allegedly pulled a knife and demanded that the driver hand over his money.

The driver started to run, but the teenagers caught and allegedly stabbed him several times, before returning to the cab to allegedly steal his cash.

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content_text:
Fashionable masks made by China Surgical Dressings Center Co are displayed in Taipei on Sunday.Photo: CNA
As COVID-19 continues to spread, some medical supplies manufacturers have begun seeing success in marketing “fashionable” masks.

Masks printed with designs are becoming more popular in Taiwan and overseas, and have attracted the attention of international pharmacies such as Watsons, China Surgical Dressings Center Co chief operating officer Chang Te-cheng (張德成) said on Wednesday last week.

Masks are now ubiquitous in cities across Asia, and people are tired of their boring, plain look, he said, adding that masks with designs can serve as a type of “fashion accessory.”

Chang, who previously worked in the US and returned to Taiwan to take over the family business, shifted the focus of the company from being a supplier for clinics and hospital pharmacies toward the general consumer market, he said, adding that products such as fashionable masks were in line with the direction he hoped to take the company.

Chang advertised at Taipei Main Station and marketed the company’s masks on online shopping platforms such as Momo.com Inc and Shopee Taiwan Co Ltd, he said, adding that his hope was to make it as easy as possible for people to buy them.

Watsons Hong Kong then contacted him through Facebook to ask about selling the masks in their stores, Chang said.

“A manager from Watsons Hong Kong had visited Taiwan and had seen the masks in the company’s stores here, but they did not carry them in Hong Kong,” he said.

Within three days the masks appeared on store shelves in Hong Kong, Chang said.

However, what truly put China Surgical Dressings’ name on the map was its collaboration with Taiwanese singer Jeannie Hsieh (謝金燕) in 2018, he said.

Hsieh wore one of the company’s masks on stage during a televised Lunar New Year event that year, and the company handed out 1,000 masks to audience members, he said.

This year, the company has worked with German fashion label #DAMUR GmbH to expand its brand internationally, Chang said.

Masks featuring the painting My God, Help Me to Survive This Fatal Attraction by Russian artist Dmitri Vrubel were worn by visitors to Berlin Fashion Week last month, he said, adding that the masks served as the visitors’ invitations.

Making colorful masks is not difficult, but successful branding like that his company has achieved is a more significant accomplishment, and one that cannot be simply copied, Chang said.

“Five years ago who had ever heard of ‘fashionable face masks,’ but now we have defined it,” he said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Firm shares how it turned masks into a fashion statement


countries: 巴西 印度

content_text:
A: Now that we’ve finished planting the root vegetables and tomatoes, how about creating a small herb garden with the remaining space?

B: That’s a wonderful idea. We’ll have delicious fresh herbs for cooking.

A: Exactly. I’m thinking: rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano and parsley for European cuisine.

B: Sounds good. We could also grow cilantro for making authentic Indian curry.

A : 既然我們現在種完根莖類蔬菜跟番茄了，要不要把剩下的空間改造成一座小的香草花園？

B : 那太棒了。我們以後烹飪時就會有美味又新鮮的香草可以使用。

A : 對啊。我打算種迷迭香、百里香、羅勒、奧勒岡葉跟巴西利，可以用來做歐式料理。

B : 聽起來不錯。我們也可以種香菜，用來煮正宗印度咖哩。

English 英文:

Chinese 中文:

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title: EVERYDAY ENGLISH


content_text:
China’s handling of COVID-19 is a diplomatic challenge for WHO

The UN health body is having to perform a diplomatic balancing act between China and its many critics, who say its behavior is typical of its disregard for human rights
Then-president Chen Shui-bian, center, answers questions from Geneva-based journalists during a video conference in May 2007, when he protested the WHO’s rejection of the nation’s latest bid for membership, at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.Photo: AP

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The WHO is having to perform a diplomatic balancing act over the new COVID-19 outbreak, caught between China — whose draconian measures to contain the disease have delayed transmission to the rest of the world — and China’s critics, who say its behavior is typical of its disregard for human rights.

At every press briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has defended China’s handling of the epidemic in the face of critical questions, very often from US journalists. At the end of last month, when Tedros declared a public health emergency of international concern — having put it off a week earlier under what was assumed to be pressure from Beijing — he praised China for protecting the rest of the world.

“In the past few weeks we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen, which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak, and which has been met by an unprecedented response,” Tedros said. “China is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak despite the severe social and economic impact that is having on China.”

He had similar fulsome praise for Cambodia, an ally of China, which allowed the cruise ship MS Westerdam to dock after it had been turned away from other ports.

“This is an example of international solidarity we have been consistently calling for,” Tedros said. “Outbreaks can bring out the best and the worst in people.”

TAIWAN PROTESTS

Taiwan, meanwhile, has been protesting against its “very high” risk rating, which is the same as China’s and has caused other countries to impose travel bans on its citizens. Taiwan has reported just 22 cases, compared with China’s figure of more than 72,400.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news conference: “We urge the WHO to be professional and neutral: break away from China’s unreasonable claim. Don’t be kidnapped by China.”

China has long blocked Taiwan’s independent membership of the WHO, considering the state part of its territory.

Tension between China and the US is playing a significant part in the handling of the outbreak, causing difficulties for the WHO as it continues to monitor the situation. Both nations have been using the situation to score points.

When Tedros visited China on Jan. 29 and met President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Xi attached great importance to cooperation with the WHO.

“China’s measures are not only protecting its people, but also protecting the people in the whole world,” it said.

However, it went on to suggest Tedros endorsed China’s political regime.

“Hailing the high speed and massive scale of China’s moves,” Tedros said it showed China’s efficiency and the advantages of China’s system,” it said.

Over in the US, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the emergency would help the US economy.

While he mentioned on Fox Business News that this was an unfortunate disease, he said: “The fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain. So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.”

While the UK and European countries have taken measures to monitor people arriving from China, US President Donald Trump announced a ban on any foreign nationals entering the country if they have been in China during the previous 14 days.


content_text:
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ kicks off Asian tour in Taiwan

「魯保羅變裝秀」 巡演華麗登場

Entertainer RuPaul, fourth left, and the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! pose during a news conference for the drag show’s world premiere in Las Vegas on Jan. 31.
藝人魯保羅（露波，左四），與「魯保羅變裝秀Live！」的演員們，在宣傳該秀世界首演的記者會擺姿勢，一月三十一日攝於拉斯維加斯。Photo: AFP
照片︰法新社
The world’s most popular drag show is hitting the road again this year. “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq the World Tour 2020” kicked off its Asian leg yesterday from Taiwan, the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage, staging a show in the country for the first time at Taipei International Convention Center.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a nine-time Emmy Award-winning reality TV competition. The show documents entertainer RuPaul in the search for America’s next drag superstar. Led by longtime judge Michelle Visage on the show, the cast for the Asian tour includes some past winners, contestants, and the favorites from Season 11 last year.

RuPaul, the world’s most famous drag queen, shot to fame with his hit single Supermodel (You Better Work) in 1992, and was included in Time 100: the Most Influential People of 2017. The term “drag queen” refers to a man who dresses as a woman in exaggerated costumes for various reasons ranging from self-expression to entertainment purposes.

(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)

全球最熱門的變裝秀今年再次上路啦！二○二○年「魯保羅變裝皇后秀」巡演昨天起跑，台灣身為第一個同性婚姻合法化的亞洲國家，更被列為亞洲第一站。這是該巡演首次來台，於台北國際會議中心演出。

魯保羅變裝秀是榮獲九座艾美獎的電視實境競賽節目，紀錄藝人魯保羅（露波），試圖尋找美國下一位變裝明星的過程。這次亞洲巡演，由該節目長期評審蜜雪兒弗薩奇領軍，陣容包括過去的冠軍、參賽者，與去年第十一季節目受歡迎的皇后們。

魯保羅可說是全球最知名的變裝皇后！於一九九二年以暢銷歌曲《Supermodel》一炮而紅，並於二○一七年入選《時代》雜誌百大影響人物。而「變裝皇后」（drag queen）一詞，是指男性穿著誇張的戲服打扮成女性，原因可能是為了表達自我或娛樂表演。

(台北時報張聖恩)

countries: 台灣 美國


content_text:
UKRAINE

Fighting erupts in Luhansk

The military and separatist authorities on Tuesday blamed each other for an outbreak of fighting in the rebel-held Luhansk region. The fighting erupted on the fifth anniversary of the UN Security Council’s endorsement of the 2015 Minsk agreements aimed at bringing peace to the volatile eastern region. The two sides accused each other of trying to invade their territory. One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another five were wounded in combat, the military said, adding that four separatists were killed and six others wounded. The separatists said two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and three were wounded.

CAYMAN ISLANDS

Islands top money hideout

The British territory, the US and Switzerland do most to help the globe’s richest citizens hide and launder money, said a study published on Tuesday by the Tax Justice Network, a group pushing for reform. The study tests how much countries’ legal and financial systems enable the hiding of wealth by checking money-laundering laws, controls and the amount of financial activity in a country, among others. The islands ranked in the study as the most prominent center for financial secrecy. It hosts more than 100,000 companies, a number that outstrips the local population. The government said the study ignored the fact that it met global standards, adding that it did not work “in secret,” but cooperated with authorities around the world.

UNITED STATES

Bloomberg rises in polls

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday was to join fellow Democratic presidential candidates for the first time on the debate stage and face incoming fire from rivals unnerved, even angered, by his increasing prominence in the race. While candidates, such as front-runner Senator Bernie Sanders have spent months barnstorming early states, seemingly visiting every town in Iowa and New Hampshire in a personal quest for votes, Bloomberg has parachuted late into the Democratic nomination contest. The US media tycoon’s rise in polling, fueled by his astronomical spending on campaign advertising, has helped him qualify for his first debate.

FRANCE

Russian activist charged

Russian activist Pyotr Pavlensky on Tuesday was charged for his role in the dissemination of a sex video that brought down President Emmanuel Macron’s candidate for Paris mayor, his lawyer said. Pavlensky, who was granted political asylum in France in 2017, has admitted to uploading the images onto a purpose-built Web site, saying he wanted to expose the “hypocrisy” of candidate Benjamin Griveaux, a married father of three. He and his girlfriend, Alexandra de Taddeo, who was the recipient of the video, were charged with invasion of privacy and publishing images of a sexual nature without consent.

COSTA RICA

Watchman gets 16 years

A hotel watchman has been convicted of killing a Florida tourist staying at an Airbnb lodging and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The court in Pavas on Monday found that Bismark Espinoza Martinez had taken advantage of his position at the Villa Le Mas hotel in Escazu to enter the rooms where Carla Sefaniak was staying and kill her. Stefaniak, an insurance agent, had visited the nation to celebrate her 36th birthday. She checked into the small hotel on Nov. 27, 2018, and was scheduled to fly home the next day.

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title: World News Quick Take


title: World Business Quick Take

content_text:
JAPAN

Trade deficit reported

The Ministry of Finance yesterday reported a ￥1.3 trillion (US$11.8 billion) trade deficit for last month, the third consecutive deficit, as exports declined amid worries about the spread of COVID-19 that could deaden regional economic growth. Both exports and imports to China and the US fell, ministry data showed.

CYBERTECH

Dell sells RSA for US$2bn

Dell Technologies Inc on Tuesday announced a US$2.08 billion cash deal to sell cybersecurity unit RSA to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group. RSA specializes in defending computer systems and runs cybersecurity conferences. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, the companies said. The consortium includes the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and AlpInvest Partners NV. “This is the right long-term strategy for Dell, RSA and our collective customers and partners,” Dell chief operating officer and vice chairman Jeff Clarke said in a statement. “The transaction will further simplify our business and product portfolio.”

CHIPMAKERS

Intel in talks to sell unit

Intel Corp is in talks to sell a unit that makes chips for home Internet access gear to MaxLinear Inc, people familiar with the matter said. No final decision has been made and Intel could keep the connected home division, they said, and it is unclear how much the potential deal is worth. The chipmaker is looking at reducing its footprint in areas where it is not competitive, chief executive Bob Swan has said. Intel’s connected home business makes chips that enable Wi-Fi and manage data traffic for consumers. MaxLinear, based in Carlsbad, California, provides broadband and networking semiconductors.

SPAIN

Cabinet approves new taxes

The government on Tuesday approved the introduction of new taxes on digital business and stock market transactions, but the measures still require parliamentary approval. The Cabinet agreed at its weekly meeting to adopt the so-called Google tax and Tobin tax. Minister of Finance Mara Jesus Montero said that the Google tax, which has angered US authorities and brought a threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump’s administration, would be levied only from the end of the year. By then, the government hopes an international agreement on digital business taxes would be in place.

INTERNET

Order concerns Facebook

Facebook Inc said it was “deeply concerned” about a Singaporean government order from to block access to a blog page on its social media Web site under the controversial Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. The government on Monday ordered Facebook to block the States Times Review’s (STR) page in Singapore, saying it had repeatedly conveyed falsehoods and had not complied with directions it had been served with under the act. The online STR, run by Australia-based Singaporean political activist Alex Tan (陳智祥), is known for its anti-establishment articles.

INTERNET

Binance seeks license

Binance Holdings Ltd (幣安), operator of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is applying for an operating license in Singapore under its new payments legislation. The company said it had already submitted a letter of intent to apply.

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title: Dark smog veils Central Asian cities

content_text:
People walk amid smog on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Jan. 29.Photo: AFP
Snow-capped peaks used to be clearly visible from the streets of Almaty and Bishkek, two of the largest cities in Central Asia that both lie in plains surrounded by mountains.

Yet now a heavy cloud of dark smog often blots out the view as air pollution regularly soars to levels comparable to those in New Delhi and Lahore, even though Almaty and Bishkek have fewer people and industries than their Indian and Pakistani counterparts.

In the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, a city of 1 million, and Kazakhstan’s second city of Almaty, which is twice as large, the onset of winter prompts a surge in pollution as people burn coal and other dirty fuels in stoves to heat their homes.

One of those monitoring the situation is Kunduz Adylbekova, a Kyrgyz environmental activist who experiences the problem firsthand. In the area of small private houses where she lives on the outskirts of Bishkek, the air quality is particularly bad.

“The air here has a kind of heavy feel,” said Adylbekova, a program manager at the nonprofit Archa Initiative.

Many locals use highly polluting stoves to heat their homes and boil water, because they are not hooked up to mains gas. Large numbers of aging vehicles exacerbate the situation.

In Adylbekova’s district, readings of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller — regularly reach levels that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as hazardous to human health.

Sometimes readings are four times higher than the EPA minimum “hazardous” level, Adylbekova said, with locals suffering the ill effects.

“Residents are often ill, some suffer from lung problems,” she said.

The bowl-shaped topography of the two cities helps trap pollution.

Even worse, both have coal-fired power stations that date back to the Soviet era, but other factors have led to a massive increase in the smog problem over the past two decades.

In Almaty, where gleaming skyscrapers reflect the country’s oil wealth, many cite the huge growth in the number of vehicles since the breakup of the USSR.

Smog also afflicts the capitals of former Soviet republics to the south, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

While environmental groups have long sounded the alarm, now that people can easily access real-time air quality measurements online, pollution has become a talking point, particularly on social media.

However, governments have been slower to acknowledge the problem.

This month, an online petition demanding that Almaty’s authorities declare the poor air quality as an emergency gained 17,000 signatures on the first day.

The city administration responded by saying that it is looking into ways to modernize the main coal-burning power station to make it less polluting.

However, it said no decision on the upgrade would be made until the end of the year and ignored calls for an independent assessment of the plant.

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title: Bollywood goes all out with first gay rom-com

content_text:
Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana arrives for the 20th International Indian Film Academy Awards at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai on Sept. 18 last year.Photo: AFP
A foot-tapping sequin-doused disco number, a hot-pink wedding and a kiss between the two male leads: Bollywood’s latest release, billed as India’s first gay rom-com, is making no bones about its subject matter.

To be released tomorrow, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (“Be Extra Careful About Marriage”) stars popular actor Ayushmann Khurrana as a young man bucking social disapproval to be with his beloved — a time-tested Bollywood plotline, except the object of his affection is male.

India’s Supreme Court scrapped a colonial-era ban on homosexuality in 2018, but the LGBT community remains on the fringes of society — many face discrimination or even violence, including at the hands of their own families, and their stories are rarely celebrated in mainstream cinema. Until now.

A trailer for the film shows Khurrana sporting a rainbow cape and armed with a megaphone as he announces to anyone listening that his lover’s father suffers from “a disease with no cure”: homophobia.

The scene is played for laughs, but unlike earlier Bollywood movies, the gay characters are not the butt of the joke.

The film’s writer and director Hitesh Kewalya said that he felt the controversial subject matter had to be treated “in such a way as to make it accessible, and humor seemed to be the natural choice to achieve that.”

The movie is a follow-up of sorts to 2017’s Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (“Beware of Marriage”) — a sleeper hit written by Kewalya that won Khurrana praise for his portrayal of a man dealing with erectile dysfunction.

It is not the only taboo tackled by the 35-year-old star during his career. He has played everything from a money-making sperm donor to a pianist pretending to be blind.

The coproducer of Khurrana’s latest film is T-Series, a Bollywood giant which started with recordings of Hindu devotional songs before hitting the big time with movie soundtracks and becoming the world’s top YouTube channel with 128 million subscribers.

T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar said that the company had no hesitation in backing the project.

“When we heard the story, our first reaction was that it’s a perfect family entertainer that subtly speaks about the fact [that] love has no boundaries, no gender,” Kumar said.

Bollywood does not have a good track record when it comes to portraying the LGBT community, and many film have faced the ire of extremists, such as Fire, a 1996 drama about two women in unhappy marriages who have a sexual relationship.

When the film was released in India, Hindu protesters attacked cinemas showing it.

It is hardly surprising then that as recently as last year, the producers of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (“How I Felt When I Saw A Girl”), about a family accepting their lesbian daughter, kept the movie’s theme firmly under wraps until it hit the screen.

In contrast, the promotional trailers for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan feature Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar — who plays his boyfriend — sharing everything from a kiss and romantic scenes to flamboyant dance numbers.

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title: Israel planning homes for east Jerusalem: watchdog

content_text:
Israel has developed plans to build 9,000 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, the first such project in the city in more than 20 years, watchdog Peace Now said on Tuesday.

Details of the plan emerged a day after the Israeli Ministry of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety approved a controversial proposal to extend a train line from Tel Aviv into Jerusalem’s flashpoint Old City.

Peace Now said that the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing a week ago submitted plans to the Jerusalem Municipality to build the settlement units on the site of the unused Atarot Airport, between two Palestinian neighborhoods.

Final approval of the project could take years, but if built, it would drive “a wedge in the heart of the Palestinian urban continuity between Ramallah and East Jerusalem, thus preventing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem,” Peace Now said.

It would be the first new settlement in east Jerusalem since a previous government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu built the Har Homa settlement near Bethlehem in 1997, Peace Now said.

More than 600,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, in communities considered illegal under international law.

The plan “also includes the demolition of dozens of Palestinian residential units that were built in the area without permits throughout the years,” Peace Now said.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Failed quarantine baffles experts

‘UNFORTUNATE’:There could be a mode of transmission other than droplets, which might explain why the quarantine on the ‘Diamond Princess’ failed, an academic said
As an extraordinary two-week quarantine of a cruise ship was to end yesterday in Japan, many scientists said it was a failed experiment: The ship seemed to become an incubator for COVID-19 instead of an isolation facility meant to prevent the worsening of an outbreak.

The viral illness that emerged last year in central China has sickened tens of thousands of people, but the 542 cases confirmed among the ship’s 3,711 original passengers and crew are the most anywhere outside of China.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship is also the only place where health officials have seen the disease spread easily among people beyond China.

The question is: Why?

The Japanese government has repeatedly defended the effectiveness of the quarantine.

However, some experts have suggested that it might have been less than rigorous.

In a possible sign of lax protocols, three Japanese health officials who helped conduct the quarantine checks on the ship were also infected.

“There are sometimes environments in which disease can spread in a more efficient way,” said Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program.

Ryan said cruise ships in particular were known to occasionally accelerate spread.

“It’s an unfortunate event occurring on the ship, and we trust that the authorities in Japan and the governments who are taking back people will be able to follow up those individuals in the appropriate way,” he said.

Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato told reporters on Tuesday that all passengers who remained on the cruise ship have had samples taken and that those who tested negative would start getting off the vessel beginning yesterday, when their required 14-day quarantine was scheduled to end.

“They all want to go home as early as possible, and we hope to assist them so that everyone can get home smoothly,” Kato said.

However, it might not be that simple.

US health officials on Tuesday told Americans who declined to return to the US on government-chartered flights that they would not be allowed back into the country for at least 14 days after they had left the Diamond Princess.

“Obviously the quarantine hasn’t worked, and this ship has now become a source of infection,” said Nathalie MacDermott, an outbreak expert at King’s College London.

She said that the exact mechanism of the virus’ spread was unknown.

Although scientists believe the disease is spread mostly by droplets — when people cough or sneeze — it is possible that there are other ways of transmission.

“We need to understand how the quarantine measures on board were implemented, what the air filtration on board is like, how the cabins are connected and how waste products are disposed of,” MacDermott said.

“There could also be another mode of transmission we’re not familiar with,” she said, noting the possibility of environmental spread and the importance of “deep-cleaning” the entire ship to prevent people from touching contaminated surfaces.

During the 2002 and 2003 SARS outbreak, more than 300 people were infected through a defective sewage system in a Hong Kong housing estate.

MacDermott said it was possible there was a similar issue aboard the Diamond Princess.

“There’s no reason this [quarantine] should not have worked if it had been done properly,” she said.

Cruise ships have sometimes been struck by outbreaks of diseases such as norovirus, which can spread quickly in the close quarters of a ship and among elderly passengers with weaker immune systems.

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title: UN-backed government in Libya pulls out of talks

content_text:
A plume of smoke rises from the Port of Tripoli after an attack in the Libyan capital on Tuesday.Photo: Reuters
Libya’s unity government late on Tuesday announced that it would halt its participation in UN talks aimed at brokering a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country, where a fragile truce has been repeatedly broken.

The pullout came after a barrage of rocket fire hit the port in the capital Tripoli — the target of a months-long operation by eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar to oust the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA).

“We are announcing the suspension of our participation in the military talks taking place in Geneva [Switzerland] until firm positions are adopted against the aggressor [Haftar] and his violations” of the truce, the GNA said in a news release. “Without a lasting ceasefire ... negotiations make no sense. There can be no peace under the bombing.”

The port strikes were the latest contraventions of a tenuous truce that came into effect last month, brokered by Russia, which backs Haftar, and Turkey, which supports the UN-recognized government in Tripoli.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

“It is clear the objective of the systematic bombardments of the residential areas, the airport and the port, in addition to the total blockage of the oil installations, is to provoke crises for the citizens in all the aspects of their life,” the GNA statement said.

It added that Haftar’s forces were “trying in vain” to destabilize the state, having failed to seize power.

UN Support Mission in Libya head Ghassan Salame on Tuesday launched the second round of talks in the latest international effort to end fighting between the warring sides, with five senior officers from the GNA and five appointed by Haftar’s Libyan National Army taking part.

A first round of the talks ended with no result earlier this month, but Salame said that there was “more hope” this time, mainly because of the approval of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a “lasting ceasefire.”

Haftar in April last year launched his offensive on Tripoli, but after rapid advances his forces stalled on the edges of the capital.

The fighting has left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced about 140,000, the UN has reported.

Further talks were planned to start in Geneva on Wednesday next week on finding a solution.

Last month, world leaders agreed at a Berlin summit to end all meddling in the conflict and stop the flow of weapons, but little has changed on the ground since then.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to launch a naval mission to Libya to enforce an arms embargo, which the UN has said was being broken by air, land and sea.

The naval operation would be authorized to intervene to stop weapons shipments to Libya.

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title: FEATURE: Female TV anchor a first for S Korea

content_text:
News anchor Lee So-jeong attends a newscast rehearsal at a Korean Broadcasting System studio in Seoul on Feb. 6.Photo: AFP
Under gleaming studio lights, Lee So-jeong read straight from a teleprompter, rehearsing her lines ahead of the prime-time newscast for the public Korean Broadcasting System (KBS).

Five times a week, she is beamed into living rooms across the country leading its KBN News 9 bulletin, after she broke into a decades-old boys’ club in a society that is technologically and economically advanced, but still culturally male-dominated.

South Korean TV news broadcasts have long followed the same format: A serious-looking older male anchor announcing the day’s major developments, with a much younger female sidekick delivering lighter items later in the lineup.

Some of those women juniors went on to marry into the billionaire families who own South Korea’s conglomerates, rather than continue their careers.

Lee’s appointment at state-funded KBS upended that model. At 43, she even has a younger male sidekick of her own.

Female news readers used to be like “pretty flowers,” Lee told reporters.

However, she had greater ambitions, wanting to transform KBS’ conservative style and capture younger audiences turned off by broadcasts that tended to “rather lecture the viewers.”

The audience share for her program — the most-watched news broadcast in the country — has risen from 9.6 to 11 percent since she started in November last year.

However, Lee felt the pressure of being a trailblazer, knowing — however unfairly — that she cannot afford a single mistake.

“If I fail in this, it could disgrace other women reporters as a whole,” she said. “I have to do well so that other female reporters could have more opportunities.”

“That sense of responsibility and burden is greater than live broadcasting prime-time news,” she added.

South Korea has transformed itself from the ruins of the Korean War to become the world’s 12th-largest economy, and an industrial and trading powerhouse, but traditional social values still hold wide sway.

Its gender pay gap is the highest among developed countries, with women making only 66 percent of what men earn, while working mothers face pressures to excel at both child-rearing and their jobs.

Many face promotional barriers at work while carrying heavy childcare burdens, often forcing educated women to give up their careers.

Those pressures have led many South Korean women to reject motherhood and the country’s fertility rate — the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — dropped to 0.98 in 2018, far below the 2.1 needed to keep a population stable.

The trend is all too familiar to Lee, who started in television in 2003 and is herself the mother of a six-year-old son.

“I have seen many veteran female journalists whose career was cut short,” she said. “It was both disappointing and upsetting.”

Such challenges are the subject of the hit film Kim Ji-young, Born 1982.

Based on a feminist novel that triggered a backlash among men, it centers on a married South Korean woman who has quit her job and struggles to raise her child with limited support.

Lee said she had also faced difficulties following her return from year-long maternity leave.

“I felt like I was not good enough as a mother nor a journalist,” she said. “Then a senior woman colleague called me in and told me that I should not be too hard on myself.”

“I wish young women would try their best at work, but not blame themselves for things out of their control,” she said.

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title: India builds wall for Trump’s visit

content_text:
India builds wall for Trump’s visit

HIDING SOMETHING?Ahmedabad’s mayor said the 1.2m wall was built for ‘security reasons,’ not to block the view of a slum from the road Trump and Modi are to travel on
A 500m brick wall has been hastily erected in India’s Gujarat state ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum inhabited by more than 2,000 people.

“Since they are spending so much money on this wall, why not use that to improve our slum and provide better facilities for us,” said Keshi Saraniya, a resident. “Why are they hiding us poor people?”

Trump is visiting the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat during a two-day trip to India next week to attend an event at a cricket stadium called “Namaste Trump,” which translates to “Greetings, Trump.” It is along the lines of the “Howdy Modi” rally attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, Texas, in September last year.

Trump is to drive along a road next to the slum and is to be accompanied by Modi, who is from Gujarat.

News reports said that the wall was originally planned to be 1.8m to 2.1m high, but was reduced to 1.2m after it received widespread publicity.

Ahmedabad Mayor Bijal Patel said that the wall was built “for security reasons” and not to conceal the slum, adding: “Apart from security reasons, the wall is also part of a beautification and cleanliness drive.”

Several political leaders were quick to criticize the wall’s construction, questioning Modi’s development work in his own state.

Modi was chief minister of Gujarat for 12 years before becoming prime minister in May 2014.

Authorities on Monday also served eviction notices to 45 families living in another slum area near the cricket stadium.

The residents said they were asked to leave because of the upcoming event.

“We have been living here for the last 20 years and now we are suddenly being told to vacate because some important leader is visiting this city for a day. This is injustice,” said Sanjay Patani, a resident.

The land belongs to a civic body and evictions were done under the law, government official Kishore Varna said.

He did not say why the eviction notices were sent just days ahead of Trump’s visit.

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