people: 沈榮津 蔡英文

content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Mask production ramping up with new equipment

Taiwan is ramping up production of surgical masks using newly acquired equipment with a goal of 10 million per day by next week as domestic demand surges amid the COVID-19 epidemic, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said yesterday.

With delivery of the machines, 60 new production lines have been opened at manufacturing plants across Taiwan, although some of the equipment still needs fine tuning, Shen said.

Taiwan’s daily output of masks is expected to reach 9.2 million on average this week and when the production lines reach full capacity next week, it will be 10 million per day, he said.

President Tsai Ing-wen, left, and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, second left, inspect an Yi Ting Non-Woven Co mask manufacturing plant in Taoyuan yesterday.
 Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times

On Thursday last week, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that NT$90 million (US$2.99 million) would be spent to set up another 32 production lines to help meet demand.

The equipment for those 32 lines is expected to be delivered by the end of this month, Chen said.

Taiwan has enough raw materials to produce up to 15 million masks per day until the end of June, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday visited a Yi Ting Non-Woven Co mask manufacturing plant in Taoyuan and thanked everyone involved in the efforts to contain COVID-19.

The company is one of several contracted by the government to help ramp up mask production.

The factory has four machines churning out roughly 400,000 masks per day, Yi Ting said.

Its daily output is expected to rise to 600,000 when it adds two more machines to its production lines, the company said.

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content_text:
IF THAT’S NOT A PANDEMIC:
 COVID-19 might be a ‘once-in-a-century’ pathogen, so the nation should prepare assuming that it would turn out so, a dean at NTU said

The WHO should declare the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, health experts at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health said yesterday, adding that the government should bolster disease prevention measures at long-term care centers.

College dean Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權) said that the WHO recently announced that the global death rate for the novel coronavirus is 3.4 percent, higher than previous estimates of about 2 percent, while more than 100 countries have reported confirmed cases.

“The NTU College of Public Health wants to represent the professional point of view and urge the WHO to announce the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic,” Chan said. “If these standards do not meet the criteria for a pandemic in international health regulations, then we do not know what else could be called a pandemic.”

National Taiwan University College of Public Health vice dean Tony Chen speaks at a forum in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

Chan last week said that the COVID-19 global death rate was about 2 percent and its transmissibility — the average number of people one case infects — was about 2.2, so he had suggested control measures of keeping space between people and reserving sufficient medical capacity.

However, the measures he advised last week referenced the 1968 H3N2 flu pandemic, but according to Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, COVID-19 might be the “once-in-a-century pathogen we’ve been worried about,” meaning it could be as severe as the 1957 H2N2 pandemic, so preparations should be made accordingly, Chan said.

Local transmission of COVID-19 is likely to occur in the near future, which will become the most difficult period of disease prevention, he said, adding that emphasis should be put on the prevention and control measures at hospitals and long-term care centers.

NTU Institute of Health Policy and Management associate professor Chen Ya-mei (陳雅美) said that a Hong Kong study suggests that the COVID-19 incidence and fatality rates among people aged 70 or above are about three times those for the population, while the fatality rate among people aged 80 or above might reach 15 percent.

In addition, clusters of confirmed cases have been reported in long-term care centers in the US and Australia, implying that elderly people are a high-risk group, Chen said.

Referencing guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chen said that disease prevention resources provided to long-term care centers should be the same as for hospitals, including protective clothing and masks, as well as offering online disease prevention training courses for caregivers.

The government should offer bonuses for long-term care center personnel and postpone annual assessments of care facilities so that they can focus on disease prevention, she said.

People should keep a social distance of 1.8m to 2m to prevent transmission of the virus, she said.

Taiwan is in the early stage of COVID-19 local transmission, which can easily lead to outbreaks within long-term care facilities, she said, adding that there are about 210,000 people in long-term care, or about 780,000 people if their family members and care facility personnel are included.

The government, academics and industry should cooperate to enhance disease prevention in long-term care facilities, she said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: WHO should declare pandemic: experts


title: Number of new books hits 18-year low: report

content_text:
BUCKING THE TREND:
 The decrease has been recorded for two years, yet the number of new books published in the textbook, exam prep and comics categories grew

The number of new books published in Taiwan last year was the lowest in 18 years, a National Central Library report released on Saturday showed.

Last year, 36,810 new titles were published — 2,304, or 5.89 percent, fewer than in 2017, the report said, adding that last year was the first time since 2001 that the number of new titles published fell below 37,000.

The number of new titles published has decreased for two consecutive years, the library said, adding that there was a decline of 3.19 percent in 2018.

From January to December last year, 4,952 publishers applied for International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) from the library, said the report, which is published annually based on ISBN applications and Cataloging in Publication (CIP) data.

Despite the downward trends, the number of new books published in some genres or categories grew, the report said, adding that the textbook, exam preparation and comics categories grew by 459, 397 and 241 respectively.

Publishing trends are closely connected to social changes, the library said.

The types of test prep book that saw the greatest increase last year were ones for national exams, technical certifications, exams for state-owned businesses and language certifications, reflecting the publishing industry’s response to society’s need for pragmatic matters, it said.

Based on applications for ISBN numbers, there were nearly 80 new books last year on the new Test of English for International Communication exam launched in 2018, it said.

With the implementation of new curriculum guidelines last year, many books on increasing literacy were introduced, while books aimed at improving the foundation of children’s knowledge drove an increase in the publication of children’s books, it said.

The presidential election was the most significant political or economic topic discussed last year, the library said, adding that more than 10 new books had candidates’ names in their titles.

Nearly 80 percent of the books published last year were written for adults, including regular readers and academics, the library said.

While the humanities and history genre had the most new titles last year at 4,269 — making up 11.6 percent of all new books published — it also saw a great decline compared with the previous year, the report said.

The genre with the second-most new books was children’s books at 3,887, followed by social science with 3,790 new titles, fiction with 3,497 and art with 2,806, the report showed.

Of the new titles published last year, 1,591, or 4.32 percent, were e-books, the report showed.

Although the number of new e-books dropped last year, Library Director-General Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) said that the digital reading trend could not be ignored.

Public library loan data from last year showed that loans of e-books grew by 46.55 percent, she said.

According to a Ministry of Culture study on the publishing industry, people are reading and spending more on e-books, she said.

With the COVID-19 outbreak causing people to spend less time outside, reading at home has become a good way to calm the mind, she added.

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title: Judge rules law does not cover e-cigarettes

content_text:
By Wang Ting-chuan
and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

A New Taipei City man who challenged a fine he received for importing e-cigarettes won the suit, after a district court ruled that the products fell outside of the scope of current tobacco laws.

The man, surnamed Yang (楊), was fined NT$10,000 for contravening the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) when he imported a case of e-cigarettes in May last year.

Saying the fine was unjust, Yang filed an administrative appeal.

A person uses an e-cigarette on Nov. 6 last year.
Warning: Smoking can damage your health
 Photo: Lin Ching-lun, Taipei Times

In the ruling on Feb. 24, the New Taipei District Court judge said that as the e-cigarettes Yang imported were not in the shape of cigarettes they could not be regulated under the act.

Whether the manufacture, import or sale of e-cigarette devices that are not in the shape of cigarettes should be legally regulated when they do not contain nicotine products remains a problem for lawmakers to discuss, the judge said.

Enforcement of such products in the absence of relevant laws affects free trade and property rights, the judge said.

During the trial Yang argued that the e-cigarettes — which were listed as “props” on the customs waybill — could not be used for smoking on their own.

Nicotine-containing oils must be inserted into the devices before they can be used for smoking, he said.

Also, as the devices were not in the shape of cigarettes, they could not be used to promote smoking, and therefore should not be regulated under tobacco laws, he said.

The Health Promotion Administration’s classification of e-cigarette devices as tobacco products was its own expansion of the scope of tobacco laws, which do not cover these devices, the judge said.

Meanwhile, the New Taipei City Government said that it advocated including “complete e-cigarette devices, as well as all e-cigarette device components” in the act.

The e-cigarettes imported by Yang had an overall tubular shape similar to that of a cigar, and produce smoke using a solenoid, it said, adding that the devices should be regulated under the act due to their shape and design.

The judge said that the size, weight, shape and color of the devices were all distinguishable from cigars or cigarettes.

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people: 范雲 張廖萬堅

content_text:
Virus outbreak: Academia Sinica rejects China’s virus reagent claim

Academia Sinica yesterday denied a claim by the Chinese media that China deserved credit for the institute’s development of a rapid screening reagent for COVID-19.

“China has nothing to do with the success,” Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said in response to media queries, adding that Taiwan on its own merit synthesized monoclonal antibodies that can identify the protein of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The institute would soon collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, private companies and research bodies to quickly verify and mass produce the reagent and start clinical trials, Liao said.

A researcher at Academia Sinica in Taipei yesterday holds up rapid screening reagents for, from left, COVID-19, SARS and MERS.
 Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee praised the institute’s achievement.

Several Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers also called for Academia Sinica to change its name in English and other languages to avoid confusion with the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Science and help Taiwan gain greater exposure in the international community.

“As ‘Sinica’ means ‘Chinese’ in Latin, the organization should consider altering its name to avoid possible confusion,” DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said.

Foreign academics often ask why the government does not change “Sinica” into “Taiwanica,” she said.

She asked the institute, which has used Academia Sinica as its English name since 1928, to submit a report on the issue within three months.

DPP Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) backed Fan’s proposal, saying that many Europeans mistook him for a Chinese national when he visited the region after COVID-19 broke out in China.

This is a good time to change the name, as the outbreak has led many Taiwanese to reshape their national identification, he added.

Liao said the institute is willing to discuss the issue, but added that the central government has the final call.

Additional reporting by CNA

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content_text:
Political Developments: Petition to recall Han sent to Kaohsiung commission
By Wang Jung-hsiang,
Ko Yu-hao
and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

A petition to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) was delivered to the Kaohsiung City Election Commission after reaching 400,000 signatures, the petition’s lead organizer said yesterday.

“Now that we’ve reached the end of the second stage for the petition, I promise to meet you all in 100 days in a Kaohsiung without Han Kuo-yu,” Chen Kuan-jung (陳冠榮) said.

It would take 40 days to audit the petition, and another 20 to 60 days to prepare for a provisional election, he said, adding that the election would most likely take place on June 13.

Organizers of a petition to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu link arms after delivering 400,000 signatures to the Kaohsiung City Election Commission yesterday.
 Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times

Social activist groups WeCare Kaohsiung and Citizens Mowing Action, and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party had worked together on the petition drive.

The groups yesterday met at the Kaohsiung City Government Fengshan Administration Center, and went to the election commission to deliver the signatures, Chen said.

The city’s election commission is supervised by the Central Election Commission, Kaohsiung Information Bureau Director-General Cheng Chao-hsin (鄭照新) said.

The Kaohsiung City Government would respect the Kaohsiung Election Commission’s authority in handling a recall, and would not interfere in the process, he said.

The city government’s primary focus at the moment is combating the spread of COVID-19, he added.

Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday said that the KMT has a responsibility to all its members, and that it would contact Han to see if he required assistance from party headquarters.

Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng

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people: 江啟臣 鄭照新 韓國瑜


title: Honk Kong students are more keen on studying in Taiwan

content_text:
TERTIARY EDUCATION:
 Among those interested in Taiwanese schools, 37% gave Taiwan’s political system as their reason, up 20 points from last year

Hong Kong students have become more interested in pursuing tertiary education in Taiwan, a survey by a Hong Kong educational organization found.

The survey of 1,308 Hong Kong students who are to take university entrance exams this year found that 30 percent are considering Taiwanese schools, an increase of 8 percentage points from last year, the poll released on Sunday by the Hok Yau Club found.

Among those interested in Taiwanese schools, 49 percent said that they were taking into consideration Taiwan’s proximity to Hong Kong and its similar culture, while 37 percent cited Taiwan’s political system, compared with 17 percent last year, the Hok Yau Club said.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Hong Kong students who are considering pursuing higher education in mainland China has dropped 5 percentage points from last year to 15 percent, the lowest since 2016, the organization said.

Sixty-nine percent of the students who are not considering China cited disapproval of the country’s political system, up 32 percentage points from last year, it said.

The 1,308 students were surveyed from December to last month and would be sitting the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education examination this year, the Hok Yau Club said.

Hong Kong students’ choice between Taiwan and mainland China was influenced by recent social movements, such as the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, as indicated by the weighting of the political systems of both countries in their decisionmaking process, the organization said.

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people: 陳時中 蘇貞昌 黃珊珊

content_text:
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced yesterday that it is testing an online system for buying masks using National Health Insurance (NHI) cards, while no new cases of COVID-19 were reported for a third consecutive day.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, was asked to elaborate on Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) remark earlier in the day that people could be allowed to order masks online and collect them at convenience stores, and he confirmed that such a program was in the works.

The system was being “pressure-tested” yesterday in a bid to prevent a crash if too many people tried to log on at the same time, Chen said.

A woman, right, shows her National Health Insurance card as she purchases her quota of masks at a pharmacy in Changhua County on Tuesday last week.
 Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times

If the test went smoothly, the center would likely announce details of the plan today, he said.

He said the number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan remained at 45, including 15 people who have been discharged from hospital.

The Executive Yuan banned mask exports on Jan. 23, began the requisition of masks on Jan. 31 and on Feb. 6 launched a policy requiring people to purchase masks with National Health Insurance (NHI) cards — currently three masks every seven days for adults and five masks every seven days for children.

A worker disinfects an area to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in New Taipei City’s Xindian District yesterday.
 Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP

However, an online option was proposed to help people who work during the day and cannot line up to buy masks at NHI-connected pharmacies, Chen said.

Using convenience stores for collecting online mask orders was one of the options being considered, he said.

Since the mask rationing policy was launched, the most masks purchased have been for children aged five to 15, and people aged 65 and older, he said.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that details, such as whether people would have to insert their NHI card into a card reader to order masks online, are being discussed.

The CECC is continuing to supply healthcare facilities with masks, N95 respirators and protective clothing, bringing their inventory levels up to a safe level of 35 days, and 580,000 masks would be allocated by local health departments to social welfare, long-term care and mental health facilities every week, Lo said.

A daily supply of about 700,000 masks for certain sectors, such as the taxi and airline industries, and pharmaceutical factories, would also be increased to about 800,000 masks per day, allocated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he said.

Masks for students at special education schools would be allocated by the Ministry of Education, he added.

In related news, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said that the Taipei MRT metropolitan rail system is to expand its ban on passengers with high temperatures to five more stations by the end of this month.

Infrared thermometers would screen people’s temperatures before they enter the stations, and if they measure more than 37.5?C, MRT employees would take the temperature again with an ear thermometer, Huang said.

Anyone with a temperature of more than 38?C would be barred from entering the station, while those with a temperature of 37.5?C to 38?C would be advised to wear a mask, she added.

The policy, which has been in effect at Taipei Main Station since Feb. 29, would be rolled out at Ximen Station, Banqiao Station, Taipei City Hall Station, Longshan Temple Station and Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, Taipei Rapid Transit Co employee Ling Chi-yao (凌啟堯) said.

Sixteen infrared thermometers will be set up at the six stations, in addition to the one in use at Taipei Main Station, Ling said.

Additional reporting by CNA

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title: Virus outbreak: CECC tests online mask-buying system


content_text:
CLOSELY MONITORED:
 The government last week said it would seek the Cabinet’s approval for a stimulus plan, but the prime minister said there would be no handouts

The number of tourist arrivals in Thailand last month fell 44.3 percent from a year earlier due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said yesterday.

Visitors from China, Thailand’s biggest source of tourists, tumbled 85.3 percent, TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn told a meeting of tourism operators.

In the worst-case scenario, the number of foreign tourists might fall to 30 million this year from last year’s 39.8 million, with spending down 22 percent, “if the virus situation bottoms in May,” he said.

Motorcycle taxi drivers wait for passengers on a usually busy beach in Pattaya, Thailand, on Saturday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

Just last week, Yuthasak said tourist numbers might drop by 6 million this year.

Tourism is crucial to Thailand, as spending by foreign visitors amounted to 1.93 trillion baht (US$61.15 billion) last year, or 11 percent of GDP.

The government last week said that it would seek Cabinet approval today for a US$3.2 billion stimulus package to ease the effects of the outbreak.

However, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday said there would be no such cash handouts.

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy might grow less than 1 percent this year, Thanavath Phonvichai, dean and economics professor of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, told reporters.

Growth last year was 2.4 percent, the lowest in five years.

The central bank would closely monitor global oil prices and financial market developments, and discuss them at its monetary policy review on March 25, Assistant Governor Chantavarn Sucharitakul said in a text message to reporters.

The central bank last month cut its key rate by one-quarter point to a record low of 1 percent. Most economists expect further easing this month.

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title: Thailand tourist arrivals fall 44.3% due to outbreak


title: Evacuation: Ball in China’s court

content_text:
While a second chartered flight to bring Taiwanese home from Wuhan, China, has been delayed for about a month, Hong Kong has evacuated hundreds of Hong Kongers from the city.

The evacuation emulated Taiwan’s high-profile evacuation of Taiwanese from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan, which has become known as the “Yokohama model” in Chinese-language media.

It is high time that the Chinese and Taiwanese governments put all their cards on the table regarding the evacuation of Taiwanese.

After Hong Kong used the Yokohama model, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) became worried that it would put an end to the “one China” principle.

If the CCP continues to refuse to allow Taiwan to repatriate another batch of Taiwanese in the same way as it did in Yokohama, that would be evidence that the CCP is blocking Taiwanese from returning home.

The first batch of Taiwanese brought home included a Taiwanese who had been confirmed as having been infected. This upset the public, and the government has since insisted that the next flight should include Taiwan’s own quarantine personnel onboard.

This is the cause of the stalemate.

When the public threw their full support behind the government’s decision to bring home Taiwanese on the Diamond Princess, the Yokohama model was established as a way of avoiding a disaster resulting from loopholes in disease-prevention measures.

Following a month-long deadlock, the Hong Kong government used this model to bring home Hong Kongers from Wuhan, so the CCP should now be able to allow China Airlines and Eva Airways to fly Taiwanese quarantine officers to Wuhan to bring Taiwanese in the city home.

If the CCP continues to oppose Taiwan using the Yokohama model and refuses chartered Taiwanese aircraft flying to Wuhan, while the Chinese cyberarmy continues to spread rumors about the epidemic situation in Taiwan, it would be abundantly clear that the CCP does not give a hoot about Taiwanese concerns that the epidemic might continue to spread, and that its only concern is to use the epidemic as a weapon to attack the Taiwanese government.

The public understands the pressures that Taiwanese in Wuhan are under and that they are forced to go along with the CCP’s demands that they chime in on criticism of the Taiwanese government.

However, the Yokohama model has received overwhelming public support in Taiwan, so if the CCP continues to hold Taiwanese in Wuhan hostage, that is something Taiwan will have to live with.

Liu Shih-ming is an adjunct associate professor in the Graduate School of Taiwanese Culture at the National Taipei University of Education.

Translated by Perry Svensson

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title: Shopping districts, markets to see revenue plunge

content_text:
The nation’s shopping districts, traditional markets and night markets might see revenue declines of 30 to 50 percent annually amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday in a report submitted to the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee.

The nation’s retail and services sector, which is mostly supported by domestic demand, would be the hardest hit this month and the next, as people avoid crowded places to prevent infection, surveys and data compiled by the ministry showed.

This would lead to annual sales declines of up to 20 percent at shopping centers and department stores nationwide, the report said.

In contrast, as more people turn to online shopping platforms, the e-commerce sector is expected to see robust growth in sales, it said.

The food and beverage sector would be affected by the outbreak, with restaurants expected to post revenue declines of up to 30 percent, the report said.

The ministry’s proposal to issue NT$2 billion (US$66.38 million) of “stimulus coupons” to revitalize local commerce passed its first reading at the legislature yesterday.

The coupons are to be issued when the epidemic is curtailed and can be used in restaurants, night markets, shopping centers and retail stores, as well as art exhibitions and cultural venues.

The ministry has also proposed a NT$2.5 billion budget to subsidize the loan interest payments of local businesses that struggle to pay their employees and rents.

Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told lawmakers that the ministry is also helping businesses negotiate new loans or extend existing ones.

The outbreak might pressure the nation’s medical supply chain, namely raw materials for medicines, the ministry said.

The cost of medicines could increase 20 to 30 percent, as the supply of raw materials in China dwindles, the ministry added.

The ministry would strive to help local pharmaceutical companies source raw materials from other countries and areas, including the US, Europe and India, to compensate for and prevent potential price hikes, Shen said.

Rising raw material costs would not immediately affect local firms, as they have stocked inventory, Shen added.

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content_text:
Apple Inc sold fewer than 500,000 smartphones in China last month, Chinese government data showed yesterday, as the COVID-19 outbreak halved demand for all electronic devices.

China placed curbs on travel and asked residents to avoid public places in late January, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Those restrictions stayed largely in place through most of last month.

Smartphone brands shipped 6.34 million devices in China last month, down 54.7 percent from 14 million in the same month last year, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology data showed.

It was also the lowest level for February since at least 2012, when the academy started publishing data.

Android brands, which include devices made by Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Xiaomi Corp (小米), accounted for most of the fall, as they collectively saw their shipments decline from 12.72 million units in February last year to 5.85 million units, data showed.

Shipments of Apple devices slumped to 494,000 from 1.27 million in February last year. The company’s shipments in January had held steady at a little more than 2 million.

Research firms International Data Corp and Canalys Co previously forecast that overall smartphone shipments would drop by about 40 percent in the first quarter as the coronavirus outbreak negatively affects demand and brings supply-chain problems.

Apple’s branded stores in China were shut for at least two weeks last month as fears over the outbreak mounted.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the biggest assembler of Apple’s iPhones, is hoping its Chinese factories return to normal operations by the end of this month.

Additional reporting by staff writer

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title: Apple’s China phone sales fall as virus halves demand


title: Japanese GDP contracts more than expected

content_text:
Japan yesterday said that its economy contracted more than initially believed in the final quarter of last year, reflecting the country’s economic fragility even before the COVID-19 outbreak began to threaten global growth.

The gloomy revised figures led economists to project Japan is headed for its first recession since 2012, with the viral outbreak seen depressing exports.

The country’s GDP for the October-to-December last year quarter was revised down to a contraction of 1.8 percent, dropping further from the 1.6 percent contraction estimated last month.

A man walks past a clothing store in Tokyo on Jan. 29, 2016.
 Photo: Reuters

The fall was also sharper than a 1.7 percent contraction estimated by private economists, according to a survey by the Nikkei business daily.

The latest estimate tracked a contraction during the April-to-June quarter of 2014 after the government raised the consumption tax from 5 to 8 percent.

The tax was raised again, to 10 percent, in October last year, despite fears of its economic impact.

The fourth quarter also saw a series of natural disasters, including typhoons that caused widespread flooding.

The nation logged a larger-than-expected fall in non-residential investments that pushed overall domestic demand to shrink by 2.3 percent, rather than a fall of 2.1 percent estimated earlier, according to the Japanese Cabinet Office.

Japan faces a difficult path ahead, with the global virus outbreak expected to depress growth at home and abroad, particularly pressuring exports.

“Unfortunately, any recovery in Q1 has been nipped in the bud by the global spread of the coronavirus,” Capital Economics Ltd economist Tom Learnmouth said.

“We have penciled a 0.5 percent quarter-to-quarter contraction in GDP this quarter [January through March],” he said, raising the possibility of a recession.

“That’s likely to be primarily driven by plunging export volumes,” he said.

Consumer spending would also be “hit hard,” with many people staying at home to avoid the virus, following calls from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the public to cancel unnecessary outings, while schools across the nation were requested to shut for most or all of this month.

“We think Japan’s GDP will shrink by 1 percent across 2020,” Learnmouth added.

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taiwan-subdivisions: 中山 南港

title: Leofoo Hotel to close on May 31

content_text:
DECLINE IN BUSINESS:
 The Taipei hotel would help its affected employees find work at affiliated facilities or other hotels and restaurants, Leofoo Tourism Group said

Leofoo Tourism Group (六福旅遊集團) yesterday said that it would close its 48-year-old Leofoo Hotel (六福客棧) in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) on May 31 to pave the way for a regeneration project and curb losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The group said it previously planned to close the facility at the end of this year, but decided to move up the schedule to cope with a sharp decline in business.

Hotels and restaurants have been hit hard by the outbreak, which has kept people at home to avoid infection.

The hotel’s Chinese Golden Phoenix Restaurant (金鳳廳) would close on March 31 and the guestrooms would follow on May 31, the group said.

The group — which also owns the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei (六福萬怡) in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) as well as Leofoo Resort (六福莊), Leofoo Village Theme Park (六福村) and other recreational facilities — last year gained the Taipei City Government’s approval to regenerate Leofoo Hotel.

The closure would not affect guests who have purchased hotel or restaurant vouchers, the group said, adding that they can receive full refunds or use the vouchers at affiliated facilities.

The group said it would help its employees find work at affiliated facilities or other hotels and restaurants, adding that it would disclose layoff details next month.

It is the second hotel the Hsinchu-based conglomerate closed in three years, after Westin Taipei in December 2018.

However, Leofoo Tourism Group said it would stay in the industry with a focus on the maintenance and cleaning of high-end properties, using the know-how it has gathered over the past 50 years.

Leofoo Hotel sits on a 380 ping (1,256m2) lot and is qualified for favorable development terms to encourage the regeneration of old and dangerous buildings.

The regeneration project might have a floor area ratio of 620 percent, allowing the construction of a 20-story building valued at up to NT$7 billion (US$232.33 million), REPro Knight Frank researcher Andy Huang (黃舒衛) has said.

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content_text:
Virus outbreak: Italy, France press for joint eurozone action

France and Italy yesterday called for Europe-wide fiscal stimulus to counter the impact of the coronavirus outbreak

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte promised big fiscal measures to cushion the economic blow in the eurozone’s third-biggest economy, after his government closed off much of the country’s industrial and business heartland to fight the crisis.

“We will use a massive shock therapy. To come out of this emergency we will use all human and economic resources,” Conte said.

Nurse Canan Emcan yesterday seals a virology bag with a COVID-19 sample in the isolation ward of the Essen University Hospital in Essen, Germany.
 Photo: AFP

Strict EU borrowing limits should be loosened to allow more room to maneuver and the flexibility envisaged by the EU’s budget rules should be used “in full,” he said.

“Europe cannot think of confronting an extraordinary situation with ordinary measures,” he said.

French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire echoed Conte’s appeal, urging coordinated action across the eurozone.

He said the EU, where the vested interests of individual nations often slow decisionmaking, needed to prove its political effectiveness.

“I expect a strong, massive and coordinated response from Europe to avoid the risk of an economic crisis after the epidemic,” Le Maire told France Inter radio.

Eurozone finance ministers meeting next week could ill afford to lose time commiserating over the tough economic environment at their meeting, he said, and would have to decide on a plan to support economic activity.

Le Maire said he would propose fiscal and budgetary steps that constitute a “coordinated and massive stimulus plan.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel later in the day announced that an EU summit on March 26 would discuss the effect of the virus outbreak.

More than 110,000 people have been infected in 105 countries and territories and 3,800 have died, the vast majority in China, a Reuters tally showed.

France had 1,195 confirmed coronavirus cases and 21 deaths as of yesterday.

The number of coronavirus cases in Germany totaled 1,112, official data from the Robert Koch Institute disease control center showed yesterday.

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has 484 infections — the highest number among the nation’s 16 states.

In a bid to slow the contagion, German Minister of Health Jens Spahn has called for gatherings of more than 1,000 people to be scrapped nationwide, which could affect many events, including Bundesliga football matches.

Italy saw a second day of prison protests against measures to keep the virus out of the system, including stopping family visits and limiting day releases, with about a dozen inmates taking to the roof of a Milan jail.

There were revolts in at least 10 jails on Sunday, from Bergamo, Venice and Modena in the north, to Bari and Naples in the south.

In the UK, the number of cases rose yesterday to 319, officials said.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday reported 165 new coronavirus cases in South Korea, bringing the national tally to 7,478, while the death toll rose by one to 51.

The rate of increase in new infections fell to its lowest level in 11 days, prompting South Korean President Moon Jae-in to say the nation could enter the “phase of stability” soon if it continues to reduce the number of new cases.

Iran, with 7,161 cases and 237 deaths, the third-highest toll after China and Italy, released about 70,000 prisoners because of the coronavirus, judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said yesterday, according to Mizan, the news site of the judiciary.

“The release of the prisoners, to the point where it doesn’t create insecurity in society ... will continue,” he said.

Meanwhile, trading on Wall Street was temporarily halted early yesterday as US stocks joined a global rout on crashing oil prices and mounting worries over the virus.

The suspension was triggered after the S&P 500’s losses hit 7 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.3 percent to 23,979.90, while the tech-rich NASDAQ Composite Index fell 6.9 percent to 7,987.44.

Additional reporting by AFP

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content_text:
Yageo Corp (國巨), the world’s third-largest supplier of ceramic capacitors, yesterday reported a double-digit decline in revenue for last month, as the COVID-19 outbreak stalled the full resumption of operations at its plants in China.

Consolidated revenue tumbled 13.5 percent year-on-year to NT$2.68 billion (US$88.95 million), from NT$3.3 billion, the lowest level in about two-and-a-half years. On a monthly basis, revenue slumped 18.7 percent.

Revenue in the first two months of this year totaled NT$5.99 billion, down from NT$7.88 billion in the same period last year, the company said.

“Demand remained strong in February, but the company’s capacity in China was restricted by the epidemic, which slowed the resumption of production,” Yageo said.

The company had hoped to boost its factory utilization rate to 60 to 65 percent by the end of this month.

However, as transportation restrictions remain in place in China, it now aims to lift the rate to 50 percent at the end of the month, from between 35 and 38 percent last month, it said.

“Shipments declined more than 50 percent last month from the previous month as the company saw its inventory turnover of finished goods fall to below 30 days,” Yageo said.

The company also blamed severe delays in transportation and customs declaration for the revenue decline.

Supply constraints worsened after the Lunar New Year holiday, as employees did not return to work as planned due to the lockdowns caused by the outbreak, the company said, adding that its recruitment plans were also affected.

To solve the capacity bottleneck, Yageo plans to fully utilize its factory in Kaohsiung.

To do so, the company plans to hire 1,500 workers and 100 engineers to boost production in Taiwan, it said.

Looking ahead, supply would continue to be constrained in the short term, the company said, but added that it is optimistic about revenue outlook in the long term.

Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技), a passive components maker, reported that revenue last month fell 13.4 percent year-on-year and 5.2 percent month-on-month to NT$1.91 billion, as the outbreak led to labor shortages and reduced working days.

In the first two months of this year, revenue dipped 28.71 percent annually to NT$3.93 billion, from NT$5.51 billion, it said in a statement.

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title: Yageo revenue down as virus stalls plant openings


content_text:
ENERGY

Jera buys Formosa 3 stake

Tokyo-based Jera Co yesterday announced it is to join the development of Formosa 3, an offshore wind project in Changhua County. The company, a joint venture between Japan’s TEPCO Fuel & Power Inc and Chubu Electric Power Co, has acquired a 43.75 percent stake in the project, which is set to have a combined capacity of 2 gigawatts when it is completed. Macquarie Group Ltd’s energy branch, Green Investment Group, holds a 31.25 percent stake in Formosa 3, while EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG holds the remaining 25 percent. Jera also holds a 32.5 percent stake in Formosa 1, the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm, launched late last year, and a 49 percent stake in Formosa 2.

ELECTRONICS

Asustek sales decrease

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday posted sales of NT$21.28 billion (US$706.27 million) for last month, a 1 percent decrease year-on-year and the second consecutive month of decline. The PC brand said in a statement that the decline was mainly caused by the global COVID-19 outbreak, which has led to falling demand and has also affected the supply chain. Sales in the first two months of the year declined 6.73 percent year-on-year to NT$44.49 billion, Asustek said.

TOUCH MODULES

TPK counters rumors

Touch module maker TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) yesterday said it had resumed 70 to 90 percent of production at its Chinese operations, denying market rumors that short supply of components and labor would cause production to cease. Consolidated revenue fell 13.9 percent to NT$8.21 billion last month from NT$9.53 billion in January, a 2.5 percent year-on-year decline from NT$8.42 billion last year, the company said in a statement. Revenue in the first two months of the year declined 21.04 percent year-on-year to NT$17.74 billion.

SHOEMAKERS

Fulgent Sun still optimistic

Fulgent Sun International Holding Co (鈺齊國際) yesterday said its board of directors has approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$5.5 per common share this year, based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$7.81 last year. That is a payout ratio of 70.42 percent and a dividend yield of 5.37 percent compared with the stock’s closing price of NT$102.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, the company said in a statement. Despite the global COVID-19 outbreak, Fulgent Sun said it is cautiously optimistic about this year’s outlook, adding that it had confirmed with customers that orders would not be canceled, but postponed.

IA COMPONENTS

Firms have mixed fortunes

The monthly revenues of makers of industrial automation (IA) components were mixed last month, with linear-motion component suppliers, such as Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技) and TBI Motion Technology Co (全球傳動), performing better than pneumatic parts makers, such as Airtac International Group (亞德客) and Taiwan Chelic Corp Ltd (氣立). Based on regulatory filings, Hiwin posted revenue of NT$1.22 billion, up 17.19 percent month-on-month, but down 18.87 percent year-on-year, while TBI Motion’s revenue rose 105 percent month-on-month and 18.53 percent year-on-year to NT$196.64 million. Airtac’s revenue was NT$532.39 million, down 40.11 percent month-on-month and 27.03 percent year-on-year, while Taiwan Chelic’s revenue was NT$89.25 million, up 9.36 percent month-on-month, but down 6.45 percent year-on-year.

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title: Taiwan Business Quick Take


title: Life insurers’ first-year premiums dive 37.8%

content_text:
First-year premiums (FYPs) generated by the nation’s life insurers plunged 37.8 percent annually to NT$90.96 billion (US$3.02 billion) in January as the industry faced challenges caused by lower declared interest rates and stricter rules imposed by the regulator, the Life Insurance Association said in a report.

That latest data showed a 39 percent decline in the sales of traditional life insurance policies to NT$75.02 billion and a 31.7 percent decline for investment-linked products (ILPs) to NT$15.93 billion.

The sales of ILPs fell as insurance companies offered lower investment returns after the Financial Supervisory Commission required that target-maturity bond funds be linked with policies that only invest in bonds with ratings of “BBB” or higher, the report said.

The retreat in FYPs of traditional life policies could be attributed to insurers continuing to reduce the products’ declared interest rates, which determine the bonuses that policyholders would gain, the report said.

Declared interest rates for most New Taiwan dollar-denominated interest-rate-sensitive policies provided by major insurers hovered between 2.15 percent and 2.25 percent after the cuts, which marked a considerable drop from 4 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

Sales were also negatively affected by the commission reducing insurers’ liability reserve interest rates by 25 basis points from Jan. 1, which caused an average increase of about 2 to 3 percent in premiums for new policyholders, the report said.

Consumers might remain indifferent to traditional life insurance products, as insurers must comply with a new regulation that is to take effect in July that prohibits them from offering unrealistically high returns, the report said.

The commission is preparing insurers for the implementation of new insurance contracts standard IFRS 17 in 2025, which demands insurers have positive contractual service margins.

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title: Bamboo processing plant to be built at Port of Suao

content_text:
BIG INVESTMENT:
 TieBam is to have bamboo delivered to Suao from Southeast Asian nations and process it into railway ties for shipment to buyers worldwide, TIPC said

A US-based firm is establishing a bamboo processing factory at the Port of Suao in Yilan County, Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC, 台灣港務) announced.

TieBam Inc (竺豐), which established a subsidiary in Taiwan in 2018, specializes in the densification and processing of bamboo into durable, environmentally sustainable railway ties, TIPC said.

The railway tie market has faced challenges over the past few years due to restrictions on the supply of wood amid growing awareness of environmental issues, it said.

“To address eco-sustainability and new market needs, TieBam developed and patented an innovative bamboo densification technique that allows the use of this fast-growing material in high-performance industrial applications,” TIPC said, adding that densified bamboo ties are stronger and more durable than traditional wood ties.

They are also more cost-effective and have a significantly lower impact on the environment, it said.

TIPC said that its office in Keelung on Oct. 24 last year began reviewing the qualifications of contractors interested in leasing the No. 4 warehouse at the port.

TieBam was chosen as the most qualified contractor, the company said, adding that the two sides signed a lease at the end of last month.

TIPC said that TieBam would have bamboo delivered from Southeast Asian nations to its warehouse, where the material would be processed into railway ties for shipment to buyers worldwide.

TieBam is to spend NT$200 million (US$6.64 million) building the facility at the port, which is expected to be ready for commercial production at the end of next year, TIPC said.

“The facility should generate about NT$1.6 billion in annual revenue in the initial stage, with annual revenue expected to rise to NT$6 billion over time. The facility is also expected to create about 100 new jobs. We look forward to the increase in foreign investment at the Port of Suao, which would raise its shipping volumes and revenue, as well as spur the growth of industry clusters,” the company said.

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people: 李昆澤 林佳龍

content_text:
The government has budgeted NT$1.5 billion (US$49.78 million) to ease the financial burden of large international hotels, as their businesses have been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

Financial difficulties encountered by some large international tourist hotels in Taiwan surfaced after the Landis Taichung, which had been operating for 13 years, officially folded on Sunday.

Leofoo Hotel, which has been operating for almost 50 years, yesterday announced that it is to close on May 31.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) told a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee that he hopes that it is not the start of a spate of hotel closures.

The ministry would support hoteliers that are determined to stay in business despite the challenges, Lin said, adding that their businesses would rebound dramatically once the outbreak eases.

The main financial burdens borne by large international hotels are land value and housing taxes, Lin said. The ministry has agreed to provide a subsidy of NT$1.5 billion to partially cover those taxes.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said that bailout funds for the travel industry and bus operators barely met their needs.

The nation has 127 international tourist hotels and 3,373 standard tourist hotels, Lee said.

Although the government has offered NT$21 billion, it would only be enough to cover the needs of 500 to 1,000 hoteliers, he said.

Not all of the nation’s 10,000 bed and breakfasts can secure loans from the government, which has only allocated NT$9 billion for them, he said.

Although the Tourism Bureau has budgeted NT$500 million to help provide training for tour guides, and NT$300 million to train taxi drivers and tour bus drivers, Lee said the allocation would have to be increased to NT$3.22 billion and NT$2 billion respectively to meet demand.

The budget was set after considering only about half of the 170,000 tour guides who would need training, Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said, adding that they are only eligible for funding if they have worked in the industry in the past two years.

The Ministry of Labor has provided similar training programs, Lin said.

If it is well-received, the transportation ministry would consider boosting the funds, he said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Government funding to help hotels in need


people: 黃國書 張廖萬堅 趙正宇

content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Lawmakers call for tax breaks for firms that support sports

Lawmakers have tendered proposals calling for income tax breaks to be offered to companies that make an endowment to sports bodies or competitions.

As with the tourism, restaurant and cultural sectors, whose revenues have plunged amid fears of the spread of COVID-19, the sports sector has been hit hard by the epidemic.

The Super Basketball League said that games scheduled for the second half of its 17th season would not be open to the public and tickets would be refunded.

A semi-final of the High School Basketball League is played at the Taipei Arena on Saturday, with the venue closed to the public due to a COVID-19 prevention policy.
 Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

Independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) and Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) have sponsored a proposed amendment to the Sports Industry Development Act (運動產業發展條例).

The proposal would give sports authorities the right to create a dedicated account to receive endowments from firms in the private sector, which would be eligible for an income tax deduction.

In Chao’s draft, profit-seeking enterprises can give endowments to government-designated professional or amateur sports bodies and have income tax deductions of no more than NT$25 million (US$829,738).

In Chang and Huang’s draft, endowments are divided into those for “key sports categories” and “approved sports categories,” and companies giving endowments to the former are exempt from the NT$25 million tax deduction ceiling.

To prevent tax sheltering, the draft proposal includes a provision that states that if the firm and the sports body are affiliated, the tax deduction must not exceed the endowment and would be subject to a NT$10 million upper limit.

In light of an expected fall in tax revenue, the proposals cap the amount that a sports body can receive at NT$3 billion per year.

In addition, those donating funds must request tax deductions within a specified period or forfeit the right to do so, the proposals say.

Professional sports bodies may only receive endowments within 10 years of the amendment’s ratification, while key and amateur sports bodies would be restricted to within five years of the amendment’s ratification, they state.

Chao said that he sponsored the proposal in a bid to improve the sports industry and help amateur sports competitions become professional by encouraging investment in sports, which would incentivize athletes to pursue a career locally and spur development of the industry.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Foreign missions seeking Taiwan’s advice: minister

GYMNASIUM SNUB:
 Separately, a Taiwanese man said that a gymnasium in Thailand canceled his membership, which he said meant that his privacy had been violated

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said he has received several calls from foreign missions in Taiwan to learn from the nation’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Three times, the ministry has hosted ambassadors and representatives to explain the nation’s prevention measures, Wu said in response to media queries, adding that they were grateful for the explanations.

He has also received telephone calls from many of them who say that Taiwan’s response has been successful and hope their governments would learn from Taiwan’s experience, Wu said.

Due to the outbreak and with cases on the rise in Europe, the government is still observing the situation to see whether it would be appropriate to send a delegation to this year’s World Health Assembly, which is typically held in May in Geneva, Switzerland, he said.

Later at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) asked Wu whether ministry personnel stationed abroad have epidemic prevention supplies from the country they are in.

Wu said they did not, but the ministry sends supplies to its offices abroad as needed.

The ministry sends about 460 surgical masks per week to its personnel abroad, he said.

Overseas offices in countries for which the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has issued a level 1, 2 or 3 advisory are asked what they need, the ministry said.

With the CECC’s approval, the ministry on Feb. 22 began sending masks to personnel overseas and each person is eligible for one per day, it said, adding that the CECC on Friday approved the distribution of masks to dependents of ministry personnel stationed abroad.

In other news, a Taiwanese man who often travels to Thailand for work on Saturday said that a gymnasium in Thailand canceled his membership and asked him to leave the premises.

He was taken to a police station and although he was released, the situation was unreasonable and he is planning to file a lawsuit, the man said.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand yesterday said it is assisting the man.

The situation was an isolated case and the government regrets that a Taiwanese was treated this way, Wu said.

Thailand’s government does not have policies that “discriminate” against Taiwanese, so the government would not be issuing retaliatory measures, Wu said.

The case stemmed from the gym’s policy of prohibiting use by members who had traveled to infected areas within 14 days prior, the representative office said.

As the policy was only presented in Thai and the gym unilaterally canceled the man’s membership, he believes his personal data was violated and sought help, it said.

Representative to Thailand Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said that the office would communicate with the gym to let it know that Taiwan is not on a Thai government list of restricted nations.

people: 吳釗燮 馬文君


people: 林俊憲 林佳龍

title: Virus Outbreak: Post-outbreak tourism drive planned

content_text:
The government would enhance its tourism campaigns targeting Southeast Asian travelers once the COVID-19 outbreak eases, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

“The nation has been widely praised for its performance in containing the spread of COVID-19. We need to keep the nation in a good condition and be prepared to promote Taiwan as a travel destination when we recover from the downturn caused by COVID-19,” Lin said in response to media queries.

In addition to its annual budget, the Tourism Bureau has earmarked NT$500 million (US$16.59 million) to draw people from five large tourism sources that have been severely affected by the outbreak — Japan; South Korea; Hong Kong and Macau; Europe and North America; and Southeast Asia — he said.

Each market would be allotted NT$100 million for marketing expenses, he said, adding that Southeast Asian nations would be the focus of the campaign.

The bureau has budgeted NT$2 billion in subsidies to promote domestic tourism, Lin said.

A NT$60 billion special budget created under the Special Act on COVID-19 Prevention, Relief and Restoration (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), which is expected to be passed at a Legislative Yuan plenary session on Friday, would help travel agents that have sustained financial losses due to the outbreak, Lin said.

In addition to compensating travel agents’ losses for having to cancel tours to China to comply with the government’s disease-prevention efforts, the money would also subsidize interest payments incurred on loans and help provide on-the-job training for employees, he said.

The government might consider providing each inbound visitor with seven masks to prevent them creating a hole in the nation’s disease-prevention efforts, Lin said.

He made the remark at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said that foreign visitors cannot buy masks under the government’s rationing system, as they do not have National Health Insurance cards.

The ministry should also pay attention to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and employees returning home for Tomb Sweeping Festival, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said.

The Central Epidemic Command Center would update its travel alerts for foreign countries, Lin said, adding that the ministry has arranged taxis at airports to pick up people who are ordered to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arriving in Taiwan.

Once the nation can produce 10 million masks per day, each foreign visitor could be provided with seven masks upon arrival, he said.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Glass manufacturer touts its nonreliance on China
By Liu Hsiao-hsin, Chen Kuan-pei and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

A manufacturer of glass products on Saturday said that its nonreliance on Chinese operations has led to a 40 percent increase in orders for this quarter compared with last year.

Changhua-based Taiwan Mirror Glass Enterprise Co said it has always believed in the importance of keeping its operations in Taiwan, which has allowed it to avoid disruptions on production in China caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

A slowdown in Chinese manufacturing this quarter will likely result in many international companies reassessing their supply-chain dependence on China, Taiwan Mirror Glass chief executive officer Jackson Lin (林肇睢) said.

Taiwan Mirror Glass chief executive officer Jackson Lin poses for a photograph alongside company products in Changhua County in an undated photograph.
 Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Taipei Times

One order he received from a Japanese daily commodities supplier was worth US$2 million and he also received a US$2 million order from an international furniture manufacturer that he had not received orders from for nearly 10 years, Lin said.

Both orders were a sign of things to come, Lin said, adding that the Japanese supplier had visited his factory in Changhua to arrange a long-term contract.

“Japanese businesses are of the mindset that Taiwan is stable in every way,” he said. “The industrial supply chain for glass products in Taiwan is also complete, so everything can be done domestically.”

The furniture manufacturer has also adjusted its business strategy and supply line, he said.

“In the past, it focused on competitive pricing, but Taiwanese businesses do not undercut competitors and steal orders,” Lin said.

Seeing international firms seek partnerships with Taiwanese manufacturers is evidence of their reliability and quality, he said.

Quality and reliability are taking precedence over low cost, he said.

Manufacturers and suppliers at all levels in the nation’s glass products industry are working together to keep manufacturing in Taiwan, Lin said.

“Taiwan’s top-quality public health system is also helping us to secure these orders” through its epidemic prevention efforts, he said.

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title: Afghan rivals hold dual presidential inaugurations

content_text:
GAME OF THRONES?
 The ceremonies took place just minutes and meters apart, but top foreign envoys attended Ashraf Ghani’s event. Two blasts prompted some guests to flee

Afghanistan’s rival leaders were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies yesterday, throwing plans for negotiations with the Taliban into chaos and creating a dilemma for the US as it figures out how to move its peace deal with the Taliban forward.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who last month was declared the winner of the elections in September last year, and his rival, former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who alleged fraud in the vote along with the elections complaints commission, have refused to settle their differences.

The two ceremonies were held at the same time, Ghani’s in the presidential palace and Abdullah’s in the Sapedar Palace, which is part of the presidential palace complex, both packed with each rival’s supporters.

Afghan Chief Justice Sayed Yousuf Halim, left, swears in President Ashraf Ghani, right, during an inaugural ceremony at the presidential palace in Kabul yesterday.
 Photo: AP

In a sign of international support for Ghani, his ceremony — aired on state TV — was attended by Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad; General Austin Miller, the head of US forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of foreign dignitaries including the US embassy’s charge d’affaires and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary-general’s personal representative to Afghanistan.

Abdullah inaugurated himself as president minutes after Ghani was sworn into office for a second term, vowing to “safeguard the independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity” of Afghanistan.

At Abdullah’s inauguration, aired on private Tolo TV, some of the attendees were some of the so-called “jihadi” commanders who allied with the US-led coalition to topple the Taliban in 2001 and participated in the 1990s civil wars, raising fears that the divisions among leaders could lead to violence.

Former Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, center, yesterday waves to supporters after swearing himself in as Afghan president in Kabul, accompanied by his first vice president Babur Farahmand, left, and second vice president Asadullah Sahadati.
 Photo: Reuters

Two blasts were heard during the ceremonies, prompting some people to flee.

Many of those who fled returned to their seats after Ghani’s refusal to leave the podium prompted cheers and applause.

“I have no bulletproof vest on, only my shirt, I will stay even if I have to sacrifice my head,” Ghani told the remaining crowd at his event, as sirens sounded overhead.

The dueling inaugurations took place despite last-minute shuttle diplomacy by Khalilzad, who reportedly went back and forth between the two rivals into the early hours of yesterday.

A senior member of Abdullah’s team, Basir Salangi, told Tolo TV that the US envoy had asked both sides to delay their inaugurations for three days to sort out the stalemate.

Abdullah reportedly said he was ready, but would go ahead with his ceremony if Ghani refused to postpone.

In a tweet, former Afghan deputy foreign minister Jawed Luddin thanked Washington for trying to sort out Afghanistan’s political turmoil while calling the squabbling “a mess.”

“Thank you, USA, for trying to sort out our political crisis — yet again. We know you must be sick of it — as are we Afghans,” he said.

“You and us both had a hand in bringing about the mess that is today’s Afghan politics. But I wish we Afghans felt half as responsible for the mess as you do,” he added.

Intra-Afghan talks are scheduled to be held today in Oslo, Norway.

Additional reporting by AFP


content_text:
‘TRADE MOMENTUM’:
 The improvement in the annual figure is mainly caused by a low comparison base last year and does not signal a sustained recovery, MOF said

Exports last month soared 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$25.38 billion as local manufacturers raised capacity to make up for production disruptions in China amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The increase could have exceeded 30 percent in the absence of the disease, which might push trade figures into contraction mode this month and beyond, if it evolves into a global threat and hurts the end market, the ministry said.

“The improvement in trade data had much to do with a low comparison base last year linked to the Lunar New Year,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei.

Container ships are docked at the Port of Kaohsiung on Feb. 23. Taiwan’s exports last month rose 24.9 percent from a year earlier.
 Photo: EPA-EFE / DAVID CHANG

Local firms stepped up production at home to make up for capacity shortages in China, Tsai said, adding that capacity adjustments are not order transfers.

Capacity adjustments were particularly evident in printed circuit boards, whose output soared nearly 50 percent last month from a year earlier, she said.

The holiday effect allowed all product categories to register robust increases, the only exception being machinery shipments after Chinese clients delayed or canceled orders, Tsai said.

Machinery as well as plastic and chemical products were seriously affected by the outbreak in China due to their heavy dependence on that market, Tsai said.

Electronics fared better with a 46.2 percent increase from a year earlier to US$9.38 billion, thanks to robust demand for semiconductors, DRAM, servers, passive components and other devices used in 5G deployment and other burgeoning technologies, Tsai said, adding that base metals and mineral products also saw improvements in business.

However, she would not bet on a sustained recovery, saying that exports could contract 2 to 5 percent this month in light of poor visibility and weak sentiment among firms.

“Buyers have avoided placing orders on concern of uncertainty,” Tsai said, citing comments from local firms.

Imports grew faster last month, with a 44.7 percent increase from a year earlier to US$22.08 billion, leading to a trade surplus of US$3.3 billion, a 34.7 percent decline from a year earlier, the ministry said.

Local technology firms continued to lend support to imports by buying capital equipment at an aggressive pace, it said, adding that purchases by local semiconductor firms increased 45.5 percent year-on-year.

Cumulatively, exports picked up 6.4 percent to US$50.45 billion in the first two months, while imports advanced 5.3 percent to US$43.69 billion, Tsai said.

“The coronavirus appears yet to peak given escalating cases across Europe and elsewhere, and is bound to weigh on trade momentum in the first two quarters,” she said.

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title: Exports surge amid capacity increases


people: 吳敦義 郝龍斌 江啟臣 林榮德 馬英九

content_text:
Political Developments: Chiang promises reforms at swearing-in ceremony

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) pledged urgent reforms as he was sworn in as the party’s new chairman yesterday.

“The end of the by-election is the beginning of unity,” Chiang said at his swearing-in at KMT headquarters in Taipei, which was attended by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), and former party chairmen Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), among others.

Saturday’s by-election was held to fill the vacancy left by Wu, who stepped down last month after the party’s losses in the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections.

Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secretary-general Hsu Shui-teh, left, holds up a certificate with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang at Chiang’s inauguration at KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Chiang defeated his sole opponent, former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), by taking nearly 69 percent of the vote.

“I have always believed that what is needed between generations is dialogue and not confrontation; what is needed is cooperation and not conflict,” Chiang said, adding that as party chairman, he hopes to facilitate understanding and cooperation among different generations within the party.

The KMT’s defeats in the presidential elections in 2016 and this year “highlight that the party is behind the times in many aspects and urgently needs to catch up through reform and innovation,” he said. “We do not have any time to waste.”

“In an age of democracy, the KMT can no longer expect a wise leader to make all the decisions,” he said, adding that he would promote a collective leadership.

Chiang has proposed the creation of an 11-member “decisionmaking platform” within the party that he says would advise the chairperson and assist them in the decisionmaking process by presenting a diverse range of views.

Speaking on cross-strait policy, Chiang said: “My basic principle is to stick to the values of the Republic of China’s free and democratic system and strive for cross-strait peace and common well-being.”

While trust needed to be “rebuilt” between Taiwan and China, the KMT’s most important task at the moment is its own reform and transformation, Chiang said.

KMT Central Standing Committee member Lin Rong-te (林榮德), who served as acting chairman after Wu stepped down in January, said that the coming year would be key in determining whether the KMT can return to power.

Wu Poh-hsiung said that he “dare not say ‘congratulations’” to Chiang, given the task that lies ahead.

“This is not the attainment of power and status, but rather dedication and sacrifice for a difficult job,” he said.

Ma, who is also a former KMT chairman, said while he agrees that the party should first focus on reform, its position on Taiwan’s relationship with the world and with China should also be priorities.

Taiwan should have “close relations” with the US, “peaceful relations” with China and “friendly relations” with Japan, he said.

Chiang, 48, is a US-educated politician who entered politics in 2010 when he was appointed minister of the Executive Yuan’s now-defunct Government Information Office.

He has won a legislative seat in Taichung’s eighth electoral district for three consecutive elections beginning in 2012 and received more votes that any other KMT candidate in the Jan. 11 legislative election.

Additional reporting by CNA

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content_text:
Four men accused of murder over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014 yesterday went on trial in the Netherlands, with families of the 298 victims calling for justice.

None of the defendants — three Russians and a Ukrainian — were present in the dock of the high-security court, but judges ruled that the hearing could continue in their absence.

In a somber moment, a prosecutor then read out the names of each of the men, women and children who died when the Boeing 777 was torn apart by a Russian-made missile over Ukraine while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Presiding judge Hendrik Steenhuis, left, and judge Heleen Kerstens-Fockens yesterday listen as the trial of four men suspected of involvement in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 opens in Badhoevedorp, the Netherlands.
 Photo: Reuters

Head judge Hendrik Steenhuis declared the trial open at the court near Schiphol Airport, where the flight took off, adding that there had been a “tragic loss of human lives from all around the world” in the “atrocious disaster.”

“The court realizes the impact of the loss of so many lives and the manner in which they so abruptly ended is barely conceivable,” he said.

Silence descended over the courtroom as the victims’ names were read out, with some relatives listening with bowed heads, many with their eyes closed.

“I think today is of the highest importance,” said Piet Ploeg, head of a foundation for MH17 victims, who lost his brother, sister-in-law and nephew on the flight. “This is the first day that we will know what happened, who was responsible, why the plane was shot down, and to questions like what was Russia’s role.”

Dutch prosecutors last year charged Russian nationals Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky and Oleg Pulatov and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko over the tragedy.

Prosecutors said all four were linked to pro-Russian separatists on whose territory the plane’s wreckage fell near the start of Ukraine’s bitter civil war.

They said the men were instrumental in bringing the BUK missile system to Ukraine from its original base in Russia — even if they did not pull the trigger.

Judges ruled that proceedings could go ahead “in absentia” against Girkin, Dubinsky and Kharchenko as Dutch, Russian and Ukrainian authorities had tried to contact them by post and by electronic media.

Girkin and Dubinsky had also been quoted by media as saying they did not recognize the Dutch court, the judges said.

“We assume they have waived their right to be present since they do not value the right to be present,” Steenhuis said.

Pulatov would be represented by a lawyer but would not be present, the judge added.

Russia has long denied any involvement in the downing of MH17.

If found guilty, the four suspects could be handed life sentences.

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title: Trial over downing of MH17 opens in the Netherlands


content_text:
Taiwan Advance Bio-Pharmaceutical Inc (TABP, 台灣尖端先進生技醫藥) and General Biologicals Corp (GBC, 普生股份) yesterday separately said that they have a good chance of being chosen to produce a rapid screening reagent for COVID-19.

The two were among 10 companies that attended a conference with Academia Sinica last week.

Yesterday’s announcement came after the institute on Sunday announced that it has synthesized a monoclonal antibody that can quickly identify the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“Academia Sinica said in the meeting that it has certain criteria to select qualified manufacturers for the test kits. It seems that we have a chance and we will keep in close contact with the institute,” TABP deputy director Chang Chih-feng (張志鋒) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

TABP, which focuses on test kits for antibiotics and pesticide residue in food, produces about 12,000 kits per week at its factory in New Taipei City, Chang said.

“We could allocate production capacity to mass produce the reagents by running the machines in extra shifts and recruit more operators,” he said.

As TABP has not produced reagents for human use, it might need to gain regulatory approval before starting production, he added.

GBC president Frank Lin (林孟德) said by phone that the supplier of diagnostic test kits for hepatitis B, C and D has a better chance of winning the contract, as it has been producing reagents for human use for more than 30 years.

“The production should not be difficult, as the institute is expected to provide the monoclonal antibody, which we can rapidly regenerate in mice,” Lin said.

“Synthesizing the monoclonal antibody that can identify COVID-19 is the more challenging part in the development of reagents, but we do not need to worry about it,” he said.

Both companies said they would continue negotiating with the institute over whether it would contract them to produce the kits.

The other companies that attended the meeting included AsiaGen Corp (亞洲基因), Firstep Bioresearch Inc (聯華生技), Panion & BF Biotech Inc (寶齡富錦), Formosa Biomedical Technology Corp (台塑生醫), Lihpao Life Science Corp (麗寶生醫), iXensor Co Ltd (安盛生科) and Eternal Materials Co Ltd (長興材料), said the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which helped organize the meeting.

“Many companies were interested in collaborating with Academia Sinica, as the business might be lucrative. Rapid screening reagents are not as accurate, but could be widely applied,” a ministry official said.

Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗), which last month sent an application to the health regulator for its new COVID-19 reagent that utilizes a polymerase chain reaction technique, said it would continue to focus on its own product, spokesman Leo Lee (李思賢) said.

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title: Firms express optimism on COVID-19 reagent deal


title: Twitter labels clip of Joe Biden as manipulated media

content_text:
Twitter on Sunday used its new “manipulated media” label for the first time on a video clip of former US vice president Joe Biden.

The video, which was posted on Saturday by White House social media director Dan Scavino, showed Biden stumbling on a speech in Kansas City, Missouri, in which he said the words: “Excuse me. We can only re-elect [US] President Donald Trump.”

Biden’s full sentence, which was cut off by the clip, was: “Excuse me. We can only re-elect Donald Trump if in fact we get engaged in this circular firing squad here. It’s gotta be a positive campaign so join us.”

Former US vice president Joe Biden speaks in Tougaloo, Mississippi, on Sunday.
 Photo: AP

However, Twitter’s new label was not showing for all users.

The tag was applied on Sunday afternoon, but Twitter said it was not showing when people searched for the tweet or clicked into it, only when it was seen in timelines.

A Twitter spokesman said the company was working on a fix.

“The video was NOT manipulated,” Scavino tweeted later.

Social media companies are under pressure to police misleading or false information on their platforms ahead of the US presidential election in November, in which Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders are vying to be the Democratic nominee.

The video, which had about 5.8 million views on Twitter at the time of writing, was also posted on Scavino’s Facebook page, where it had about 1 million views.

The Biden campaign criticized Facebook for showing the video on its platforms without labels.

“Facebook won’t say it, but it is apparent to all who have examined their conduct and policies: They care first and foremost about money and, to that end, are willing to serve as one of the world’s most effective mediums for the spread of vile lies,” said Greg Schultz, Biden’s campaign manager.

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references: Twitter Facebook


title: Porn site under fire over rape, abuse videos

content_text:
AGE CONCERNS:
 Critics lamented the ‘millions in advertising revenue’ that the site generates while it does not have an effective system to verify age and consent

An online petition accusing Pornhub, the UK’s biggest open access porn site, from profiting from videos of rape and sexual abuse has reached more than 350,000 signatures.

Pornhub is the world’s biggest porn site and was visited 42 billion times last year. It is free to access, with no age restrictions, and raises revenue through advertising and paid-for promotions by porn producers.

The allegations levied against Pornhub owner Mindgeek center on the perceived insufficiency of the company’s safeguarding checks on the 6 million videos a year that are posted on the site, many by amateur producers.

Over the past year the company has faced multiple accusations that rape and abuse videos were widely posted on the site.

The petition was started by a group called Exodus Cry in the US, but is being supported by activists in the UK, where Mindgeek also has offices.

“This is a company that is generating millions in advertising and membership revenue, and yet they do not have an effective system in place to verify reliably the age or consent of those featured in the pornographic content it hosts,” Exodus Cry founder Laila Mickelwait said.

Mindgeek — based legally in Luxembourg but with offices in Montreal, London, Nicosia and Los Angeles — denies the allegations made in the petition, saying that it does have thorough procedures for removing illegal content.

“Pornhub has a steadfast commitment to eradicating and fighting non-consensual content and under-age material. Any suggestion otherwise is categorically and factually inaccurate,” Mindgeek said in a statement to reporters.

Other campaign groups say that the criticisms of Pornhub are based on evidence of poor practice.

Some of the videos on Pornhub show extremely hardcore and violent pornography.

Campaigners say that this fact, coupled with the high prevalence of videos promoting sex with teenagers means there is an urgent need to know for certain that videos are made consensually.

In October last year, a 15-year-old girl who went missing in Florida was found after footage of her allegedly being raped was uploaded to Pornhub, among other sites.

Pornhub removed the video once it was reported to it and a man accused of statutory rape in connection with the case is currently awaiting trial.

The site was also criticized for continuing to host videos by a company that offered girls being featured in porn “for the first and only time” even as a court in San Diego heard evidence that the videos were made using dishonesty and abuse.

The men who ran the contributing company were found liable in a civil case. Two are in custody and are now facing criminal charges of sex trafficking, while a third has fled Britain and is considered a fugitive.

Last month the BBC reported the story of a woman who was raped at 14, with the video of her abuse ending up on Pornhub.

She said she then faced a long struggle to have the video removed from the site.

Pornhub insists that it has robust procedures to stop illegal content being posted and defend the material posted as legitimate content protected by freedom of speech.

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title: North Korea fires three projectiles

content_text:
North Korea yesterday fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said, two days after the North threatened to take “momentous” action to protest outside condemnation of its earlier live-fire exercises.

The three launches were made from an eastern coastal town in the North’s South Hamgyong province, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The multiple kinds of projectiles flew as far as 200km at a maximum altitude of 50km, it said.

People at a railway station in Seoul yesterday watch a television news broadcast showing file footage of a North Korean missile test.
 Photo: AFP

South Korea expressed “strong regret” over the launches that violate a past inter-Korean agreement aimed at lowering military animosities, the statement said.

The South Korean National Security Office director, minister of national defense and National Intelligence Service director held an emergency video conference and agreed that the North Korean action was not helpful to efforts to establish a peace on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said.

The North Korean launches were likely ballistic, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Japan detected multiple projectiles that traveled 100km to 200km but none landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, he said.

“North Korea’s latest action, on top of its repeated firings of ballistic missiles, is a serious threat to the peace and safety of Japan and ... a grave problem for the entire international society,” Suga said.

In the past 10 days, Pyongyang has said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised two rounds of live-fire artillery exercises in its first weapons tests since November last year.

Kim began the new year with a vow to bolster his nuclear deterrent and not to be bound by a major weapons test moratorium amid a deadlock in a US-led diplomacy aimed at convincing him to abandon his nuclear program in return for economic and political benefits.

South Korea and some European countries protested the second North Korea drills on March 1, which they believe involved ballistic missile launches in a contravention of UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea insists it has the right to conduct military drills in the face of US and South Korean forces on its doorstep.

The UN Security Council did not issue a statement after North Korea’s March 1 drills, but five European members condemned what they called “provocative actions.”

Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany and the UK said afterward that the tests undermine regional and international peace, security and stability, and contravene unanimous council resolutions.

The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday accused the five European countries of “repeating an absurd argument of condemnation and violation resolutions of the UN whenever we conducted military drills.”

“The illogical thinking and sophism of these countries are just gradually bearing a close resemblance to the US which is hostile to us,” the ministry said in a statement. “The reckless behavior of these countries instigated by the US will become a fuse that will trigger our yet another momentous reaction.”

Last week, Kim Jong-un’s younger sister leveled diatribes and crude insults against Seoul for criticizing its earlier live-fire exercises.

However, her statement was followed by Kim sending a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressing condolences over the South’s coronavirus outbreak.

Some experts say that North Korea might intend to catch South Korea off balance before seeking help in reviving its dilapidated economy, since the US has said sanctions on North Korea would stay in place unless it takes significant steps toward denuclearization.

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content_text:
‘STATE OF WAR’:
 Women yesterday were to stay away from their normal roles to show that when they are not there, ‘the city would not circulate’

Thousands of women across Mexico were to stay home from work or school for “A Day Without Women” yesterday, a day after International Women’s Day, when an unprecedented number of them filled the streets to protest rampant gender violence.

The back-to-back protests mark an intensification of the struggle by Mexican women against violence and impunity in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for females. Women in Argentina and Chile have staged strikes in previous years and were to do so again yesterday.

“What we want to provoke is that they see that if we’re not there, the city won’t circulate. That there are many of us. What are they going to do without us if they are killing us?” said Viviana Mendez, a lawyer and mother who planned to take part in the strike.

Women roll a vehicle over during a protest to mark International Women’s Day in Zocalo Square in Mexico City on Sunday.
 Photo: Reuters

The idea is to become invisible for a day so that coworkers, bosses, boyfriends, husbands and in some cases children reflect on the absence of each participating woman.

Government data show that 3,825 women met violent deaths last year, 7 percent more than in 2018. That works out to about 10 women slain each day in Mexico. Thousands more have gone missing without a trace in recent years.

“In Mexico it’s like we’re in a state of war; we’re in a humanitarian crisis because of the quantity of women that have disappeared or been killed,” said Maria de la Luz Estrada, coordinator of the National Citizen’s Observatory of Femicide.

A Facebook group called “A Day Without Women” has more than 320,000 Mexican members who debate and inform each other about the possible consequences of not going to the office, hospital or school for one day.

The call to protest grew last month after two murders rocked Mexico City: that of a young woman horribly disfigured, apparently by a boyfriend, and that of a seven-year-old girl abducted from her school.

In Mexico, major banks, media companies and law firms have joined the call to action. The Coparmex business confederation encouraged its more than 36,000 member companies across the country to take part.

The strike comes less than a day after tens of thousands of women wearing purple poured into the streets of Mexico City to protest gender violence. Some protesters spray painted messages like “Mexico kills women” onto monuments, smashed windows and set fires. Most marched peacefully.

However, a group of women outside Mexico City’s main cathedral clashed with men protesting abortion, with scuffles leaving dozens injured.

Wearing green bandanas symbolizing support for abortion rights, at least a dozen women ripped down banners describing abortion as femicide and set them on fire.

At the doors to the National Palace where the president lives, activists tossed Molotov cocktails over a contingent of policewomen in riot gear who were among nearly 3,000 female officers deployed during the march.

One of the homemade bombs burst amid a cluster of protesters, setting the pants of a female photographer from newspaper El Universal on fire.

The newspaper said she was hospitalized with second-degree burns.

Along the palace walls, graffitied slogans rebuked the government, including: “The president doesn’t care about us” and “misogynist AMLO,” referring to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Activists also used hammers to tear down a metal barrier surrounding the Bank of Mexico, and lit a bonfire whose flames and smoke could be seen blocks away from the public square.

Murders of women in Mexico are often accompanied by sexual violence and stunning brutality. Some women are burned. Some are mutilated.

Protesters tinted red the water of the fountain to the Roman goddess Diana in Mexico City — to symbolize the blood of victims — and also the water of a fountain to the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva, in Guadalajara.

Activists then carpeted Mexico City’s central Zocalo Square with victims’ names in white block letters. The names came from public records of deaths that appear to fall into the category of femicide, meaning those women’s killings showed marks of hatred for women.

Housewives, students and mothers took to the streets of Mexico City wearing purple shirts, bandannas and hats.

They carried signs saying: “I’m marching today so that I don’t die tomorrow.”

Additional reporting by Reuters

title: Mexican women protest violence