countries: 中國 台灣

people: 王定宇 蘇貞昌

title: 質詢台一席話讓玻璃心碎 中國網民抓狂：活捉王定宇！

content_text:
立委王定宇20日質詢時痛批中國害鄰居生病，將病毒的散播怪在他人頭上，近期更是不斷動用軍事力量騷擾周邊。（資料照）

2020-03-22 00:06:01

〔即時新聞／綜合報導〕武漢肺炎疫從中國情蔓延全球，中共近日戰機卻仍不停騷擾台灣。立委王定宇20日質詢時痛批中國害鄰居生病，將病毒的散播怪在他人頭上，近期更是不斷動用軍事力量騷擾周邊。沒想到，這樣一段質詢竟讓中國網民崩潰抓狂，高喊：「一定要活捉王定宇！」

王定宇20日在立法院質詢行政院長蘇貞昌時表示，中國境內武漢肺炎肆虐，還拖累了世界各國。他痛批，但在此時刻，中國卻還窮兵黷武的動用軍事力量騷擾台灣，包括軍機繞台、金門海巡船遭撞等事件層出不窮。對此，蘇貞昌回應，會用最嚴謹的料敵從寬、禦敵從嚴來做。

相關質詢影片被一《微博》認證帳號轉貼，抓狂大罵「真的有那麼一天，一定要活捉王定宇！」對此，其他中國網民也崩潰表示，「綁起來掛在漁船上」、「武統！」、「祖上還是山東人，真丟臉的不肖子孫」、「活捉之後無期徒刑，送新疆沙漠植樹」。


content_text:
前台南市長許添財PO臉文悼念岳母洪林錦文，這張岳母生前老照片，傳達台灣女性美德為家庭無怨無悔付出。（擷自臉書）

2020-03-21 23:58:27

〔記者洪瑞琴／台南報導〕「33歲決心不向命運低頭，毅然決然走上人生最孤獨辛苦的路，孑然一身憑雙手養育兩位不到10歲的小孩，因為丈夫離世」。「55歲陪著要上班的女兒，幫她照顧兩位4歲跟1歲的孫子，因為女婿黑名單出國」。

前台南市長許添財的岳母洪林錦文，於3月5日蒙主寵召，疫情當前，她自己「選擇靜靜睡著了，默默離開」，不讓家人麻煩。許添財與妻子家人也決定不打擾大家，訃聞只發家族近親，沒有公祭，已於昨（20）日舉行追思禮拜後，岳母長眠南山。

許添財懷抱感念心情，今天在臉書發悼念文，透露過去這段台灣威權時代他被列入「黑名單」無法回國，岳母陪伴洪淑貞照顧小孩，讓他永遠感恩敬愛，為一代台灣女性留下平凡中的偉大風範，含辛茹苦，貞節仁愛。

許添財說，人生旅程無法自主，但就是做該做的，岳母從沒一句怨言意見，雖然先生早逝，但她獨力扶養孩子長大，生活困難，撿蝸牛養鴨，鴨糞當絲瓜肥料，瓜棚遮蔭又可收成絲瓜，鴨可生蛋，人有蛋吃，有鴨肉吃，有絲瓜吃，省下的錢跟互助會，儲蓄讓孩子升學。

因為洪媽媽的無怨無悔付出，許添財和夫人洪淑貞也極盡孝道，將她接來侍奉陪伴數十年，而且洪媽媽接受最後的1次生日快樂祝福3天後的晚上，才靜靜地走滿93歲人生，到天國與訣別60年的先生團圓。

title: 「黑名單時代」的強大女性 許添財岳母走完人生路


title: 張上淳兒子錯在哪裡？網友中肯分析

content_text:
新冠肺炎疫情擴散，台灣前後也限制醫護人員、公務員出境，但疫情指揮中心專家諮詢小組召集人張上淳遭爆2個醫師兒在本月4日、14日分別赴美遊玩，但由於上個月政府就針對醫護人員出國做出限制，加上近日疫情持續擴大，許多確診者都是出遊返國人士，引起不少人質疑。

對此張上淳表示，預定14日出國的兒子已取消行程，而4日出國的兒子在當時，台灣尚未將美國列入二級警示，因此符合資格，並未違反規定。

按衛服部醫事司2月23日在官網上公告「醫事人員出國規定」，限制醫事人員出國，限制對象將以醫院第一線直接與照護病患相關之醫事人員為主，診所任職者將不在限制之列。初步規劃，基於風險考量，中港澳地區將嚴格禁止前往，其他經指揮中心發布為旅遊警示地區則須報准。

另醫事司於2月27日在官網上更新「醫事人員出國規定」，自2月23日起至6月30日止，所有醫院之醫事人員及社工人員，除會議、公務或有特殊原因，經報准同意者外，不得前往中央流行疫情指揮中心公布之旅遊疫情警告、警示及注意地區。

該規定適用對象: 於醫院服務之醫事人員及社工人員，診所任職者不在此限。

限制地區：第三級旅遊警告地區，除特殊情形外，禁止前往(含轉機)，第一級旅遊注意地區、第二級旅遊警示地區報准後始得前往。

報准程序：因會議、公務或其他特殊原因，欲前往第三級旅遊警告地區，應報經衛生福利部同意；第一級旅遊注意地區、第二級旅遊警示地區應報經所屬醫院同意。

根據中央流行疫情指揮中心指揮官陳時中於3月14日公布，即日起將美國華盛頓州、紐約州及加利福尼亞州等3州旅遊疫情建議提升至第二級警示(Alert)，其他州則列為旅遊疫情建議第一級注意(Watch)。

而張上淳說，預定14日出國的兒子已取消行程，而4日出國的兒子在當時，台灣尚未將美國列入二級警示，因此符合資格，並未違反規定。

綜上所述，張上淳預定4日出國的兒子，若要不違反規定，有幾種可能：

一，在診所任職，不是在醫院任職，因此不受限制。

二，如果在醫院任職，且前往第三級旅遊警告地區，有公務會議或其他特殊情形，已報准衛幅部同意。

三，如果在醫院任職，且前往第一級、第二級旅遊警示地區，已經報准所屬醫院同意。

四，如果在醫院任職，且當時美國未列任何等級的注意警示警告，則未違反任何規定。

既然張上淳預定3月4日出國的兒子，根據上述各種可能性，未違反任何規定，那麼有甚麼值得討論的？

但是必須注意，同樣地情況，中央疫情指揮中心14日始宣布將西班牙列為第三級警告地區，中和里長於3月10日出遊西班牙時，西班牙只是第一級注意或是第二級警示地區，也是合法出遊，返回台灣居家檢疫或自主健康管理14天即可。中和里長卻被罵得不堪入耳，相較於張上淳的兒子，中和里長顯然被網路糟蹋霸凌超過應負擔的責任。

網友也認為，「綠衛兵怎麼批鬥里長的，不要想裝死」、「綠共打到自己人，笑死」、「之前批里長的，就很莫名」、「里長說法一模一樣被罵到死全家」、「817怎麼敢噴顏色正確的人啦」、「雙標仔再開槍會打到自己人」、「綠衛兵連一個屁都不敢放，繼續檢討里長」。

countries: 西班牙 台灣 美國


title: 《鬼滅》人氣聲優驚爆瞞婚外遇！酒店啪啪按摩妹2小時

content_text:
大龜明日香。(取自大龜明日香推特)

33歲日本超人氣聲優岡本信彥曾為《鬼滅之刃》、《我的英雄學院》、《暗殺教室》、《月刊少女野崎同學》等多部知名動畫配音，未料他近日就被直擊與一位辣露「絕對領域」的小隻馬美女上情人酒店開房2小時，還被爆料其實他早在2年前就秘婚聲優大龜明日香，令粉絲震撼到無法接受！

岡本信彥今年１月底被《週刊文春》直擊工作結束後，一個人搭車前往歌舞伎町與一位短髮小隻馬美女約會，先是在居酒屋小酌，接著更直接赴高級情人酒店共度浪漫春宵，直到2小時後才滿足地離開酒店。

而體力超好的岡本信彥，在與小隻馬美女分開後，還前往火鍋店會合工作夥伴，最後才回到與妻子大龜明日香同住的愛巢。

對於週刊報導，岡本信彥所屬事務所坦承他已婚，還透露當天開房女子身份是位按摩師。稍早岡本信彥也發聲明向外界謝罪，更透露妻子知道這件事後，整個人都愣住了，雖然不知道會不會被原諒，但他也發誓以後決不會欺騙老婆，會成為更好的人。


title: 疫情衝擊經濟  歐盟核准法國9.7兆元擔保案

content_text:
歐洲聯盟執行委員會（European Commission）今天核准法國為高達3000億歐元（新台幣9.7兆元）資金提供擔保的提案，以救助企業，緩解武漢肺炎疫情所造成的經濟壓力。

主管市場競爭政策的歐盟執委會副主席維斯塔哲（Margrethe Vestager）說，歐盟批准法國提出的3項措施，「以協助法國經濟應對武漢肺炎造成的衝擊」。

她並說：「這可望為受到疫情衝擊的企業調度到3000億歐元的流動性支撐…我們正與會員國全天候合作，以使這些會員國能採取快速、有效和精準的行動。」

countries: 法國 歐盟


countries: 俄羅斯 美國

taiwan-subdivisions: 成功 太平

content_text:
▲美軍的目標是在2020年時，完成高超音速滑翔體系統的所有部署。（圖／取自The U.S. Army官網）

實習記者劉雪兒／綜合報導

美軍19日在夏威夷考愛島（Kauai）的太平洋導彈靶場設施（Pacific Missile Range Facility）進行了一項試射，成功發射了通用高超音速滑翔體（C-HGB），且以至少5馬赫的速度擊中目標，可以說是近年來最大的突破。

根據DefenseNews報導，美國海軍戰略系統計劃總監、海軍中將沃爾夫（Johnny Wolfe）表示，這次的實驗是建立在2017年的第一飛行試驗（Flight Experiment 1）獲得成功的基礎上，當時通用高超音速滑翔體持續實現穩定的高超音速計劃。

此外，沃爾夫還表示，在最新的實驗中，系統完全可以承受額外的負載，這一切都要歸功於政府、產業和學術機構的高超技術與支持。此外，在試射的過程中，他們還進行了數據追蹤和採集，且已經準備步入下一個階段，增加高超音速的打擊能力。

據報導，國防部高超音速發展計劃副主任懷特（Mike White）表示，高超音速系統已經準備成為陸軍和海軍所使用的武器，同時也是是目前最主要的研製任務，而目標是在2020年完成所有的部署。

值得一提的是，外界曾質疑美軍研製高超音速系統的能力，認為無論是大陸還是俄羅斯都遠勝於他們，而這次的成功試射無疑是美軍近年來最大的突破。

title: 美軍成功試射「高超音速滑翔體」　以至少5馬赫擊中目標


title: 陳嘉行呼籲：出門消費吧！　揭瘋狂囤貨「超慘後果」

content_text:
記者許皓婷／綜合報導

台灣新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情持續升溫，近日境外移入確診案例暴增，造成人心惶惶，更掀起物資搶購潮。藝人陳嘉行（焦糖哥哥）常針貶時事，他就舉例分享自身看法，並呼籲大家不要過度囤貨。

新冠肺炎爆發後，造成民眾恐慌搶購物資，陳嘉行以「每囤一次食品，就有一家餐廳因而倒閉」為題發文，他表示大家如果持續不出門到餐廳、咖啡廳、百貨業消費，等這些店倒閉後釋出的人，除了會搶工作，而且可能願意接受更低的薪資，這些失業人口少了收入，就會縮減消費，再來失業也會讓政府稅收短少，還會拿納稅錢當失業補助金，財政如果持續不好，最後連公務人員系統一樣崩潰，替大家分析出環環相扣之下的後果。

▲陳嘉行呼籲不要囤貨，「台灣物資充足」。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／焦糖 陳嘉行）

關於民眾囤貨的情形，陳嘉行認為台灣的物資充足，根本不需要過度恐慌，「就算囤貨囤到傾家蕩產，架上隔天又堆滿滿滿的商品。」他表示最好的選擇就是「盡量別特別做什麼事」，只要像平常一樣生活，大家越理性生活，每個人越安全，台灣更安全。

而陳嘉行分享看法後，引起兩極討論，有網友大讚認同：「不用恐慌過度！支持百貨餐飲業」、「支持餐飲業是好的，但盡量外帶外送，尤其不要揪朋友或家族聚餐」，但也有人認為「未來兩週是關鍵期，還是要減少去人多或密閉空間，所以鼓勵外送或外帶」、「請三思。這不是正確的防疫宣導」。

▲陳嘉行發文。（圖／翻攝自Facebook／焦糖 陳嘉行）

references: Facebook 網友


title: 雷／《梨泰院》朴敘俊、金多美狂親40秒！朴寶劍「神秘角色」登場

content_text:
記者吳孟庭／綜合報導

韓劇《梨泰院Class》今（21日）晚間播出大結局，朴敘俊飾演的朴世路終於了解自己的心意，在見到趙以瑞（金多美飾演）的時候，顧不得還在逃命，對她告白：「我愛你，以瑞啊」，兩人終於彼此相愛，而世仇「長家」會長的下場也出爐！

▲▼朴敘俊終於向金多美告白。（圖／翻攝自JTBC）

朴世路一生不願意為了自尊向長家會長（劉在明飾演）下跪，但為了心愛的女人以及他認為的正義，他對此下跪獲得了趙以瑞被綁位置的資訊。他倆見到彼此，卻還沒有逃出張根原（安普賢飾演）的追擊。

顧不得還在逃命，朴世路想起過去，對趙以瑞說，「想起了以前在梨泰院逃跑的時候，你總是為了我拚盡全力然後受傷。怎麼會這樣，我的腦子裡、我的心裡都是你，原來你也是這樣子嗎？這麼讓人心動。」

▲朴敘俊直接說「我愛你」。（圖／翻攝自JTBC）

朴世路看著以瑞，終於親口說出自己的心意，「我愛你...我愛你，以瑞啊！真的很愛你。」接著倆人眼淚含框，相擁彼此。不過追兵來襲，最終受重傷的朴世路與張根原空手搏鬥，差點被打死，好在警察終於趕到。

入院後的朴世路，趙以瑞來看他，還戲弄對方說，「你說喜歡我？啊不對，是愛我！」直球告白讓單純的男方聽了都害羞。而在最後面結尾倆人也終於灑糖，嘴對嘴親了，至少狂吻40秒，爆擊劇迷心臟！

▲朴敘俊、金多美最後一集終於親了。（圖／翻攝自JTBC）

而張大熙下場也揭曉，吳秀娥（權娜拉飾演）舉報長年來在長家蒐集到的不法資料，長家必須面對司法審判，也動搖他的會長地位，企業更可能遭賣。兒子張根秀（金東希飾演）以爸爸最愛的四字成語「弱肉強食」回敬，張大熙最終慘敗於朴世路的企業，向對方下跪。

▲劉在明最後向朴敘俊下跪。（圖／翻攝自JTBC）

▲朴寶劍以新角色客串。（圖／翻攝自JTBC）

至於之前預告朴寶劍會客串《梨泰院Class》最後一集，他的角色也在最後面出現，原來他飾演來應徵主廚的面試者，面試官有權娜拉以及前面幾集客串過的洪錫天，洪錫天還大讚對方超帥，要權娜拉一定要錄取他。她品嚐過後覺得滿意說，「明天就可以來上班吧？」朴寶劍回：「是的，老闆！」（註：洪錫天為南韓演藝圈第一位公開出櫃的藝人）


title: 高雄19家旅宿業放無薪假 晶英國際行館堅持不放還想徵人

content_text:
2020-03-21 23:10
 御盟集團董事長邵永添。（記者葛祐豪翻攝）

〔記者葛祐豪／高雄報導〕根據高雄市勞工局統計，受到武漢肺炎疫情影響，全市已有19家旅遊、旅宿業放起無薪假，波及486名勞工，但高雄晶英國際行館不僅不放無薪假，還想逆勢徵人。

武漢肺炎疫情蔓延全球，台灣觀光飯店業首當其衝，陸續傳出放無薪假或員工減薪。

高雄市勞工局指出，統計截至3月20日，高雄市因各種景氣因素通報，且仍實施減班休息的事業單位共21家，勞工計506名。其中，有19家是受到武漢肺炎疫情影響，而進行通報， 包含旅遊業、旅宿業、製造業及批發零售業。

高雄市勞工局也全力協助勞雇雙方，申辦「充電再出發訓練計畫」，讓勞工利用暫時減少工時，參加訓練課程，每月最高可領到 1萬8960 元的訓練津貼。

不過，御盟集團旗下的高雄晶英國際行館卻逆勢想徵人，御盟集團董事長邵永添說：「集團不會因疫情放無薪假，同時還要不間斷網羅好人才。」

御盟集團共有超過300名員工，邵永添堅持不因短期恐慌，而打亂佈局。他強調，全球因疫情恐慌影響經濟，但他看好台灣基本面，呼籲各界在關鍵時期更應嚴謹防疫，理性面對、不過度恐慌。

晶英國際行館總經理馮傑也說，現階段政府防疫策略嚴謹，為台灣人民健康把關，因此國內旅遊相對安全，對國旅市場保持信心。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。

taiwan-subdivisions: 高雄 高雄市

countries: 英國 台灣

things: 經濟 防疫


content_text:
2020-03-22 00:12:31

〔記者楊金城／台南報導〕蛇竟然會沿著電線爬行，身軀捲成麻花捲式緩慢前進，台南市消防局下營消防分隊出動救援，用掃帚的木柄讓這尾臭青母爬到木柄再捉蛇放生。

下營區賀建國小的校園20日下午出現蛇蹤，但不是在地面、教室，是懸掛在二層樓高、細細的電線上，這尾長1公尺多的臭青母將自己捲成麻花捲式沿電線緩慢爬行。

師生看見蛇竟然在電線上爬行，怕蛇從天上掉下來，萬一掉在師生身上肯定嚇壞人，有學生也打趣說這尾蛇像在走高空繩索表演特技。

台南市將從3月23日起將「捕蜂捉蛇勤務」回歸農業局，未來捕蜂捉蛇工作由農業局外包專業廠商處理，基層消防分隊不再受理。

老師趕緊通報下營消防分隊捉蛇後，成了分隊最後一件為民服務案件，由小隊長李衍慶和隊員前往救蛇。李衍慶拿來梯子再拿木柄撥弄這尾臭青母後，讓蛇爬上木柄，順勢掉到草地上。

李衍慶捉起蛇還為學生解說蛇的種類，不是有毒的蛇，要學生尊重生命，最後將蛇放生到野地，完成救蛇任務。

title: 蛇爬上電線現蹤國小校園 南市消防員救援順便教學

taiwan-subdivisions: 下營區 金城 下營


content_text:
2020-03-22 00:02:14

〔記者張軒哲／台中報導〕小情侶校外牽手差點被記過！台中市清水國中一對國二情侶，因在校外公園牽手放閃，遭民眾向校方檢舉。校方打算記男女學生各一次小過，並寫悔過書，雙方家長覺得校方處分過重。教育局得知後介入調解，改為輔導方式，免記過，但也引起地方人士議論，是回到農村社會保守年代嗎？

這對國二情侶雖不同班，但情竇初開，雙方下課後在公園約會，因為穿著校服，有民眾覺得兩人在戶外卿卿我我，實在不妥，因此向校方反映。校方認為是民眾投訴，堅持要各記小過一次和寫悔過書，家長認為處分過重，擔心記過會影響兩人日後求學的紀錄。

男學生的父親向民代陳情指出，兒子約會地點是在校園外後門旁的公園，兩人有牽手，但沒有親吻，坦承跟女友之前在港區藝術中心旁郵局前有搭肩，但只是牽手，就要被記小過，處罰太嚴重。

台中市府教育局今日指出，依教育部高級中等學校訂定學生獎懲規定注意事項規定第十條所示學校訂定學生獎懲規定，不得籠統將情感（男女）交往、情感（男女）關係曖昧、情感（男女）行為不檢或類似規定作為懲處要件，之前台中市並未有國中生因男女交往在公共場合牽手被記過的案例，校方作法明顯不妥。清水國中校方19日已和男女學生家長溝通，並沒有記過，改以輔導方式取代處分。

有民眾認為又不是保守的農業時期，清水國中處分太嚴重，向校方檢舉的民眾，未免大驚小怪。

兩性專家黃瑞汝表示，誰沒年輕過，這個案例不該被處罰，學校要檢討是否有落實兩性交往愛情課程，要利用機會在輔導課程讓學生了解如何正確跟異性交往，包括對身體探索、對愛情憧憬，寫悔過書只會讓學生越來越討厭學校，學校應該引導國中生交往到什麼程度，不該做一些危險性行為，要打開天窗說亮話。

title: 獨家》學生情侶公園牽手遭檢舉 清水國中要記過引家長抗議


content_text:
2020-03-22 00:25:47

［記者王捷／台南報導］武漢肺炎疫情延燒，假訊息也不斷，現在竟還出現「錄音檔」傳進年長者較多的「早安圖群組」，台南市警二分局說，這個錄音檔會轉錄文字，依法追查。

警政署在總統選舉時發現假訊息會造成社會對立、恐慌，且部分假訊息是透過LINE或是臉書長輩較多的群組傳出，過去警方會截圖假訊息，傳喚相關人員說明，不過這兩天，長輩較多的LINE群組傳出的假訊息，卻是一段錄音，警方認為可能是造謠者有意要避免被截圖。

錄音的內容是一名女性指控，市區某間銀行在「昨天」突然有一位剛從英國回來的顧客進入，而且沒戴口罩，大家很害怕報警，最後顧客被警方逮捕，現在正在檢驗中，該女性還強調，銀行的分行長就是她丈夫的朋友，又不斷重複顧客已經被警方逮捕。

被指控的銀行屬台南市警二分局轄區，二分局澄清沒有這回事，而且警方不會因為有民眾從國外回來，或沒戴口罩就逮捕人，請民眾不要亂傳，錄製這個錄音檔的人或是散播者，都違反這武漢肺炎防治特別條例，警方將依法調查。

相關新聞請見︰武漢肺炎懶人包》傳染途徑、預防措施看這裡
「武漢肺炎專區」請點此，更多相關訊息，帶您第一手掌握。

title: 武漢肺炎》銀行顧客沒戴口罩被捕？ 警追查「語音假訊息」

events: 武漢肺炎 選舉


title: 2020亞太區智慧城市大獎 台南入圍2項拚台灣之光

content_text:
2020-03-21 23:38:25

〔記者洪瑞琴／台南報導〕素有亞太智慧城市奧斯卡之稱的「IDC SCAPA亞太區智慧城市大獎」，今年第1階段評選出爐，台南市有智慧防汛網建置計劃，以及大台南智慧交通整合資訊平台兩項入圍，進入公開票選，爭取「台灣之光」。

台南西部近60％地勢低窪且靠近大海，易引發洪水危險，為了解決這問題，南市水利局自2015年起採用智能防洪解決方案，部署感應偵測器用於水閘和水位監測，並使用大數據和分析來研究氣象，即時掌握降雨量和水位警報信息。

「台南市智慧防汛網建置計畫」可據台南水文平台收集的數據和歷史洪水形勢，針對洪水可能性進行預測，以創建防洪最佳實踐模式。

大台南智慧交通平台，則是因應城市人口增長和交通基礎設施管理。南市交通局表示，其核心包含智慧交通控制、智慧公共運輸、智慧停車管理、智慧運具共享及智慧雲端平台五大系統整合，不僅納入交控、公車動態、彈性公車叫車服務、停車格位資訊等，並結合跨機關物聯網加值服務，新建雲端平台整合交通資訊，即時掌握交通狀況調整路口號誌等，讓民眾更方便使用並獲得即時交通資訊。

據了解，今年競賽有來自14個國家，超過200個智慧城市的專案提名，經過激烈角逐與評選，共有63個專案項目進入決賽，包括台南、台北及高雄都有提案入圍。目前進入公開票選，將至4月3日結束，而亞太地區智慧城市預定5月公布獲選城市，台南各界動員催票，希望能讓台南在亞洲決選中脫穎而出。


content_text:
高雄市副市長葉匡時（左2）頒獎給今年高雄獎得主，左起石孟鑫、簡佑任、李亦凡3位新銳藝術家。（記者許麗娟攝）

2020-03-21 23:16:41

〔記者許麗娟／高雄報導〕2020高雄獎今晚舉行頒將典禮，這是獎金最高的全國當代藝術獎項，今年獲選的3位藝術家李亦凡、簡佑任、石孟鑫各可獲得50萬元獎金，至5月底前可在高美館4樓展廳欣賞獲獎的優秀作品。

邁入第24屆的高雄獎是台灣年度藝文盛事之一，每年選在3月25日台灣美術節前後舉辦，今年因為疫情關係，首度移至美術館戶外舉行，本屆高雄獎共有438位參賽者競逐，經過30位評審委員的評審和辯論後，產生3位高雄獎得主，何創時書藝基金會贊助的「何創時書法篆刻類特別獎」由吳孟珊獲獎，另有優選5名、入選15名得主。

本屆高雄獎作品中，李亦凡的錄像創作《important_message.mp4》，以大量拼貼網路「內容農場」中的真偽資訊，仿造網路影像頻道的說書方式；簡佑任的《台灣山海屏風—木靈》，挪用日治時期在台畫家鄉原古統的創作，以水泥為素材臨摹並放大成屏風巨牆來擬塑現代都市叢林感；石孟鑫的作品《Ａ》則使用平常創作用的工具和生活用品，探討空間及物件的關係。

出席擔任頒獎人的高雄市副市長葉匡時指出，高雄獎是台灣當代視覺藝術最重要的獎項，高雄不僅是工業大鎮，也有豐厚多元的文化藝術底蘊，培養出非常多藝術家新銳，未來也希望幫助得獎人繼續發光發熱。

高美館館長李玉玲說，325美術節是台灣油畫藝術家陳澄波的生日，在這麼有意義的日子，來認識經過高雄獎淬煉而出的年輕藝術家，也藉此提供他們與資深藝術家交流的平台。

title: 新銳藝術家李亦凡、簡佑任、石孟鑫 榮獲2020高雄獎


title: 武漢肺炎》銀行顧客沒戴口罩被捕？ 警追查「語音假訊息」


content_text:
調查局提供福建省公安廳禁毒總隊情資，在海南省外海攔截逾1公噸的海洛因與K他命毒品，破獲北部最大毒梟鄧天販毒集團，基隆地檢署最近依運輸一、三級毒品罪起訴鄧天，最重可判死刑或無期徒刑；同案起訴的陳志雄偵查中自白，建請從輕量刑。

綽號「小胖」的鄧天是北部最大毒梟，他長期藏身於金三角地區，居間安排毒品供應、中轉至台灣的重大角色，比起被起訴求刑的林孝道，可說有過之而無不及，這兩人掌握全台一半的海洛因供應量，號稱「北鄧天、南孝道」。

起訴指出，2018年間，K他命掮客「五百」願出資2千4百萬元，透過毒販許同榮（另案起訴）安排運毒船前往柬埔寨載運600公斤K他命，許同榮因此聯繫陳志雄陳志雄安排毒品貨源與出船，企圖利用分段接駁手法將毒品運回台灣。

後來因運毒計畫受挫，許同榮改向大陸毒梟劉忠信聯繫，由劉安排船隻前往柬埔寨接運毒品；劉曾因此來台與許碰面，當面收取400多萬元訂金。

當時鄧天計畫從東南亞走私海洛因，鄧天從許同榮口中獲悉運毒計畫後，提議出資2千9百萬元，將550公斤海洛因以「加菜」方式，連同600公斤K他命一併運回台灣，後來鉅量毒品在海上遭大陸公安攔獲。

刑事局得知鄧天與陳志雄躲藏在胡志明市，去年與越南警方共組專案小組，成功在胡志明市某民宿將2人緝捕到案，押解回台受審。

毒品
 公安
 胡志明市

title: 北台灣最大毒梟鄧天涉運輸海洛因遭起訴

taiwan-subdivisions: 基隆 成功

countries: 台灣 越南 柬埔寨


content_text:
編輯／Duke

爆款單品層出不窮，台灣光是到目前為止，就接連出現「孫芸芸鞋」Nike RYZ365、Chanel贈品包等單品，因此台灣插畫家兼潮流觀察者「油頭二世」，在二月發布一張「網美必備2020」向大家表示，湊齊五個就可以召喚工具人，如果在2020年在街上看到網美配戴圖片上的單品外出，大家不要太意外喔！

▲油頭二世發布網美2020必備的單品。（圖／油頭二世授權提供，請勿隨意翻拍，以免侵權。）

1.Kangol Wool 504鴨舌帽

自從Kangol正式進駐台灣後，該品牌的帽款越來越容易取得，因此經典的Wool 504鴨舌帽在街頭的曝光率也提升許多，所以油頭二世就把該帽款納入網美必備的單品中。

▲Kangol Wool 504鴨舌帽，定價為台幣2,080元。（圖／翻攝自Kangol官網）

2.Apple AirPods Pro

發表以來就受到民眾歡迎的無線耳機AirPods，在去年迎來升級版本，並命名為「AirPods Pro」，功能主打主動式降噪、通透模式、聲控Siri功能等，不過，價格也比上一代貴上許多。

▲Apple AirPods Pro，定價為台幣7,990元。（圖／翻攝自Apple官網）

3.Chanel贈品包

相信大家近期已經被這款Chanel贈品包瘋狂洗版，不過，該包款其實只有每年消費到一定金額的VIP才拿得到，因此數量也不會太多，若是想要購買的朋友一定要注意，否則花費數千塊買到假貨，可就得不償失囉！

title: 潮流插畫家揭露「2020網美必備的5樣東西」　湊滿二個就能在IG炫照


content_text:
▲日本外相茂木敏充（Toshimitsu Motegi）。（圖／達志影像／美聯社）

記者林彥臣／綜合報導

新冠肺炎（COVID-19）從中國武漢爆發之後，疫情衝擊全球，日本外相茂木敏充表示，日前致電德國、義大利、加拿大，將會加強疫情相關的情報交流，共同對抗新冠肺炎。

根據日本媒體《每日新聞》報導，外相茂木敏充15日與德國外交部長馬斯（Heiko Maas）進行了30分鐘的通話，並且達成共識，分享對抗新冠肺炎的經驗與情報，也計畫在3月底，舉行7國外交部長之間的視訊會議。

茂木敏充向德國外長馬斯，解釋了日本在這段期間付出的努力，也達成共識確保兩國繼續合作，確保兩國公民安全返回，並且確認了未來雙邊共同合作研發藥物與疫苗的計畫。

茂木敏充也提到，18日也跟義大利外交部長迪馬尤（Luigi Di Maio）、加拿大外交部長尚帕涅（François-Philippe Champagne）進行通話，茂木在通話中聲援義大利，義大利也表示，日本的努力是其他國家的榜樣。

►酒精乾洗手下殺3折！～爆搶防疫神水來囉～

title: 日本外相宣布：加強與德國、義大利情報交流　共同對抗新冠肺炎

countries: 德國 義大利 日本 中國 加拿大


title: 火神山工人無法回家！「困隔離點」連補助都領不到…武漢當局回應了

content_text:
▲許多工人不眠不休奮戰，才能完成火神山醫院。（圖／翻攝微博）

記者柯振中／綜合報導

大陸各省新冠肺炎案例相當多，湖北武漢還蓋了「火神山」、「雷神山」醫院，收治確診患者。不過，建造火神山的公人完成任務後，在武漢完成隔離，卻沒有辦法各自返家，還不被歸列為「滯留人員」，無法享有補助，面對許多困境。

綜合陸媒報導，火神山、雷神山醫院交付後，陸續有工人前往當地集中點隔離，最後一批隔離的工人也在14日完成隔離。不過，這群人沒有接獲返鄉許可，也沒辦法離開隔離點，期滿後不再享有任何補助，也不被視為「滯留人員」，因此也領不到一天人民幣300元（約新台幣1300元）的補貼，處境相當尷尬。

經過了漫長的等待，這些工人等不下去，在武漢市紅山區的一處隔離點聚集，抗議武漢當局不讓他們離開，又不發放補助，造成他們現在進退兩難。

▼當初火神山完工的速度震驚全球。（圖／翻攝火神山醫院）

武漢疫情爆發後，這群人從大陸各地前往，不眠不休地建設，就是為了早日緩解武漢醫療資源的壅塞，沒想到如今面臨身分尷尬、沒有收入、有家不能回的困境，令人感到心酸。

不過，根據最新消息，武漢是城鄉建設局20日指出，經過協調後，火神山、雷神山醫院的建築工人將陸續返鄉，回到自己的工作崗位，對於有意留在武漢的工人，當局也會進行特殊安排。

►酒精乾洗手特惠組！～防疫殺菌神器來囉～


countries: 秘魯 美國

title: 「要繼續玩！」60台人續留秘魯　張雅琴爆氣：把專機當計程車嗎

content_text:
▲聽聞60台人續留秘魯，竟有人理由是「要繼續玩」，張雅琴在節目上氣炸。（圖／翻攝自1800年代晚報）

記者柯沛辰／綜合報導

國內新冠肺炎確診不斷增加，20日更一次暴增27例個案，創下單日新高，幾乎都是境外移入。如今滯留秘魯132名台人中，72人自費包機離境，仍有60人續留當地，甚至有些人不避諱地說「要繼續旅遊」，堅持走完遊樂行程，讓資深主播張雅琴氣得在節目上開砲。

張雅琴20日在「1800年代晚報」談及此事，氣憤批評「我真的忍不住要講，你有沒有搞錯啊？你要繼續留下來玩，那你是說要把行程都玩到飽之後，再打給外交部說『欸給我派個專機』，是這樣子嗎？我希望不要！」

張雅琴喊話，「你有本事留下來玩，你自己想辦法回來！這樣真的真的很糟糕耶！我要講一件事情是什麼？外交部的專機又不是計程車，又不是隨叫隨到，你是在哈囉嗎？你是在哈囉嗎？我們今天要看一下，到底那60人你是要玩啥？」

▲外交部發言人歐江安。（圖／記者屠惠剛攝）

外交部發言人歐江安20日證實，滯留秘魯的132位國人中，已有72人搭包機抵達美國邁阿密，近日將轉機陸續返台。至於剩下60人將續留當地，其中有部分人士表達無提前離境需求，盼繼續在當地旅遊。

事實上，秘魯政府16日就已宣布進入緊急狀態15天，將全面暫停陸海空及河運等運輸措施，並實施宵禁，管制人車及飛行器通行。經我外交部多方協調努力下，才得以安排滯留國人順利離境。

▼影片取自YouTube，如遭刪除請見諒。


countries: 美國 巴西 挪威

title: 繼美國泳協後　美國田協也盼奧委會提議東京奧運延期1年

content_text:
▲科爾曼在世田賽拿下男子100公尺金牌 。（圖／CFP）

記者謝孟儒／綜合報導

新冠肺炎疫情全球大爆發，國際奧會重申立場，2020年東京奧運會仍如期舉行，不過繼美國泳協和美國奧委會和帕奧委員會發聲明，希望東京奧運延期一年之後，現在美國田徑協會（USATF）也寫信給美國奧委會，希望可以敦請美國奧會提議讓奧運延期。

泳協執行長辛契（Tim Hinchey）透過美國奧委會與殘奧委員會發出聲明寫道，「我們的運動員承受著巨大的壓力、壓力和焦慮，選手們的心理狀態和健康應該是重中之重。」美國奧委會和帕奧委員會首席執行長希什蘭德（Sarah Hirshland）也發聲明，認為首要任務是確保所有人的安全和健康。

而在美國奧會和泳協都發聲明後，田協也寫信給美國奧委會，希望可以敦促美國奧委會能夠提議讓奧運延期1年，事實上美國田徑名將輩出，光是在2019年世田賽就有女子400欄世界紀錄的穆罕默德(Dalilah Muhammad)，同時她也是里約奧運金牌；男子200公尺世上最年輕金牌得主的萊爾斯（Noah Lyles）；男子100公尺世界最佳的科爾曼（Christian COLEMAN ）等人。

因此美國田協更不希望東京奧運的不確定因素太多，影響選手奪金的好表現。事實上不只美國國內延期聲音四起，目前包括挪威奧委會曾遞交請願書給國際奧會，希望在疫情平息前不要舉辦奧運；還有巴西奧委會也發聲明表示，疫情大流行，運動員將難以保持最佳狀態，希望東奧延期至明年。


title: 高雄將有新面貌 吳敦義：政院已核定205兵工廠遷大樹

content_text:
副總統吳敦義與準副總統陳建仁今（10）日在高雄展覽館出席「2016臺灣國際遊艇展」開幕典禮。(記者陳俊廷攝)
副總統吳敦義今（10）日在高雄展覽館出席「2016臺灣國際遊艇展」開幕典禮，特別提及高雄地區的建設，他說，行政院已核定國防部205兵工廠搬遷計畫，將把兵工廠遷到大樹，合併203兵工廠，名字仍叫205兵工廠。

他並舉其過去擔任市長時，已把南亞、台塑、中石化、與琉酸亞遷移，把中山路兩旁規劃為經貿核心區，他說，過去最大缺口就是面積達80多公頃的205兵工廠，兵工廠搬遷後，現址未來將是經貿園區。

此外，「國道七號」、「高雄遊艇專區」還在環評，另外過去花了900多億海邊的儲油槽、儲氣槽包括南亞台塑中石化等九個公司已遷移到洲際貨櫃中心第一、第二期，他說，將來高雄市還會有新的都市面貌。

吳敦義說，陳菊市長力推的輕軌，中央也沒有缺席，扣除自償率，103億中，中央補助了60多億。

高雄輕軌即將駛入高雄展覽館，目前進入測試階段。（記者陳俊廷攝）

針對遊艇發展，吳敦義說，政府在民國98年修訂《船舶法》特別增訂「遊艇專章」，並於民國99年公告實施，特別增訂「遊艇專章」，提供遊艇活動友善環境，例如在分布於高雄地區的興達、旗津及鼓山等漁港增設遊艇碼頭。

taiwan-subdivisions: 大樹 高雄 中山 高雄市 旗津 鼓山

people: 吳敦義 陳菊 陳建仁


taiwan-subdivisions: 羅東 宜蘭縣

things: 經濟 長照

content_text:
宜蘭縣第18屆縣長暨第19屆縣議員第六選區（羅東）第18屆羅東鎮長選舉候選人公辦政見發表會於18日假羅東國中自強館舉行。本屆公辦政見發表會有一個怪現象，會場幾乎冷冷清清，即便是假日都沒有人願意到場聆聽。多數都是由各候選人的支持者充場面，有一位候選人帶了50名支持者穿背心到場加油，等到該位候選人講完離場，所有支持者也幾乎全部同時離開，留下來聆聽其他候選人發表政見的人數加起來恐怕比現場的工作人員還要少。

現場有位資深選民回憶以前公辦政見發表會的盛況，他說以前他的父親幾乎每一場公辦政見發表會都會到場聆聽，一方面可以確實知道候選人是否有用心在政見的準備，另一方面除了可以觀察候選人的口才以外，也可以藉此了解各候選人的內涵，真正可以達到選賢與能的民主目的。可是現在可能因為媒體的發達，有太多管道可以了解候選人的政見，也可以了解各候選人的能力及品德操守，早已不需要經由公辦政見發表會來了解候選人的主張及各方面的能耐。

然而，有趣的是或許各候選人也了解到這一點，因此有些人乾脆選擇不到場參與。從有些耆老的口中得知，以前有些候選人也從來不參加政見發表會，卻不代表他就不會當選，而即便口若懸河滔滔不絕的候選人也不一定就會當選。這當中的原因有很多，無法一一剖析。

只是這次宜蘭羅東的公辦政見發表會記者也觀察到有一個有趣的現象，以縣議員選舉第六選區（羅東鎮）而言，一共11位候選人，就有3位沒有到場參與政見發表。而仔細觀察部分候選人因為爭取連任的關係，著重在述說自己為選民爭取過什麼，對整體宜蘭縣及羅東鎮未來的規劃，若不是在已知的基礎上加油添醋，便是不著邊際天馬行空，甚至有人信口開河說了一堆聽起來就是沒有根據的空頭支票，也沒提出正確的調查數據或科學方法，便一直說要幫選民爭取多少又多少的補助，以希望換得選民手中的那張選票。多數的候選人都把握僅有的15分鐘，聲嘶力竭慷慨激昂地賣力演說，甚至還有候選人說到激動處連飆了好幾次的髒話，雖然聽眾不多，但是在這樣公開且正式的場合的確是比較欠缺妥當。

最特別的是抽到最後一位發表政見的縣議員候選人，他是登記第八號的歐志銘，除了是唯一一位時代力量在羅東地區提名的候選人之外，開場時還唱了一段專門為他量身打造的競選主題曲。歐志銘以Rap的形式簡單清唱了一小段這首名為「Oh！歐志銘」的競選歌曲，雖然在場聽眾並不多，卻也稍微緩和了現場過於嚴肅且沉悶的氣氛。而歐志銘也是唯一一位相對準備比較充分且完全針對政策做說明的候選人。歐志銘除了準備了不少手板及資料以外，15分鐘的內容多數圍繞在他的建築專業及未來對宜蘭及羅東地區的規劃，他談到羅東的交通堵塞問題可以透過什麼樣的方法來改善緩解，針對危老住宅部分該如何處理才可以保障民眾居住的安全，經濟發展及長照、青年創業問題他也都提出一系列完整而獨特的見解。縣議員部分的政見發表會約歷時兩小時，就在歐志銘發表完他的政見之後，緊接著便是進行縣長部分的政見發表會。

title: 羅東公辦政見發表會  光怪陸離無奇不有


content_text:
「大邱」、「新天地教會」曾是人人聞之色變的熱門關鍵字，如今卻依稀已是很遙遠的記憶。直接反映出的是南韓新冠肺炎疫情已降溫許多，而這要歸功於2015年MERS疫情後所研發的高效率檢測網路。

華爾街日報（WSJ）報導，南韓已減緩肺炎疫情帶來的重大打擊；這個疫情已使許多國家的醫療體系手忙腳亂。南韓能設法抑制住疫情擴散和降低感染人數，部分原因是長久以來持續依賴有效率的檢測網路，包括能快速隔離被感染者。

南韓已對將近30萬名民眾進行病毒檢測，檢測人數為義大利的兩倍，但確診人數僅為義大利的不到三分之一。

儘管美國努力提高檢測能力，但美國疾病管制中心（CDC）和其他公共衛生實驗室的數據顯示，美國檢測人數僅為南韓的十分之一。不過，美國也許不會迅速擴大病毒檢測，原因是川普政府計劃優先實施社交疏離（social distancing），而非地毯式檢測。

南韓在2015年MERS疫情後所研發的檢測網路，於1月底爆發新冠肺炎疫情時啟用。南韓醫師、醫療人員、實驗室和政治領袖紛紛擔起自己的責任，並遵循近幾年建立的各項規定。

例如南韓臨床生物學家李赫敏（音譯）在清晨4時45分鬧鐘響起後下床，不到幾分鐘就坐定在自家辦公桌並開始工作，包括分析肺炎檢測的圖表，並把檢測呈陽性結果的圖表，從檢測為陰性者中分抽出來。

他常在延世大學健康系統下的塞布蘭斯醫院實驗室中，仔細檢查多數的檢測結果。李赫敏忙到晚間11點才打卡下班，但他通常在半夜醒來繼續檢查這些檢測結果。「疫情相當嚴峻，對所有人來說都是如此。」

李赫敏與其他醫師代表了檢測網路系統最後的檢查站，而這項相互配合的診斷工作，將全國633座得來速檢測站和逾100座實驗室連結起來。這些單位的作業步調一致，包括實驗室使用相同的檢測設備、推動相同的訓練，以及依據相同的資訊做出決定。

南韓每一所實驗室每日上午8時都準時上傳肺炎檢測結果到一座共享資料庫，允許國內公、私立醫院監測病患的檢測結果，並向韓國疾病管理本部（KCDC）報告。醫院則上傳檢測細節到一本線上名冊；這個名冊由南韓傳染病協會（KSID）的專家製作。

李赫敏表示，這個監測系統可讓他們預測哪裡需要加強努力，也認為這是一個網路，能分享任何測試結果不明確的相關問題。

南韓推動大規模檢測的防疫措施所遭遇的阻力較小，因南韓實施單一付款人醫療健保系，並制定全面的傳染病相關條例，有助提升南韓對於新冠肺炎疫情的反應速度。在醫生建議做檢測，或檢測人員發現民眾可能與確診病例有所往來的情況下，民眾可以免費做檢測。

南韓衛生官員表示，政府現在有能力透過遍布全國的633處檢測站，每日檢測多達2萬人，檢測站包括「得來速檢測站」和新的確診病例所在地附近的移動式診所。

檢測樣本會封存入攝氏4度左右的密閉容器，再由貨車運送至118個實驗室，再由約1,200名專業醫療人員組成的團隊負責分析這些樣本。

title: 南韓新冠病毒的檢測效率何以能獨步全球？

countries: 美國 韓國 義大利

events: 新冠病毒 新冠肺炎


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Five major chains pledge not to hike grocery prices

Five of the nation’s major hypermarket and supermarket chains yesterday assured the Consumer Protection Committee that there would be no hikes in prices for rice, instant noodles or tissue paper amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The committee yesterday inquired about prices of daily necessities sold at Carrefour, Wellcome, A-mart, Costco Taiwan and Pxmart, and asked them whether there would be significant increases in prices.

The companies said that although people have been emptying shelves holding rice, instant noodles and tissue paper at some of their branches, consumers could rest assured that prices for these products would not increase, said an Executive Yuan official who requested anonymity.

The companies said that none of their rice, instant noodle or tissue paper suppliers had reported any problems, and stock of the products had remained normal, the official said, adding that the nation has high production capacity for all of the products.

However, upon learning that shelves containing these products have been frequently emptied, the committee instructed the franchises to ensure that daily necessities are stocked in time to meet growing public demand, they said.

Meanwhile, some people have mobilized all of their family members to buy tissue paper after the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the five super and hypermarket operators reached an agreement to limit the amount of tissue paper a person can purchase to one pack, the official said.

The recurrence of panic buying of tissue paper is difficult to resolve, as the problem is influenced by similar buying sprees overseas and people’s growing concern over the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases, they said.

The Executive Yuan has asked the committee, the ministry and Council of Agriculture to report the prices of common foodstuffs daily and intervene at the earliest sign of price abnormalities, the official said.

Committee Director-General Liu Chin-fang (劉清芳) urged people to shop rationally and refrain from buying more than they need.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: North Korea fires apparent ballistic missiles into sea

content_text:
North Korea yesterday fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, the latest in a series of such launches by Pyongyang as the world struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The South Korean military condemned the launches as “extremely inappropriate given the difficult situation the world is experiencing due to COVID-19... We urge them to stop immediately.”

North Korea has not reported any cases of the novel coronavirus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, oversees the launch of short-range ballistic missiles at an undisclosed location in North Korea yesterday.
 Photo: EPA-EFE / Korean Central News Agency

However, there has been widespread speculation that the virus has reached the isolated nation, and health experts have said that it could devastate the country, given its weak medical infrastructure and widespread malnutrition.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense also confirmed the North Korean launches.

For decades, North Korea’s leadership has faced international criticism for prioritizing spending on its military and nuclear weapons programs instead of providing for the population — even during times of famine.

Pyongyang considers its military development necessary for security in the face of what it describes as US aggression. North Korea is under multiple sets of punishing sanctions over its weapons programs.

Hopes for a thaw after meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump were dented as they failed to produce any substantial progress on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang has since continued to refine its military capabilities, analysts have said.

With the latest launch, Pyongyang “continues an international strategy of trying to normalize its missile tests,” Seoul-based Ewha Womans University professor Leif-Eric Easley told reporters.

Shortly before the launch, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the rubber-stamp North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly would convene on April 10.

The event would involve gathering nearly 700 officials in one place, analysts said.

Such events have been banned in many parts of the world to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“North Korea would not risk holding such a large-scale national political event if the regime was not confident about preventing or containing the spread of the virus,” specialist Web site NK News senior analyst Rachel Minyoung Lee told reporters.

Earlier this month, Kim sent a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in offering “comfort” as Seoul battled what was the worst outbreak of the virus outside China at the time.

South Korea has since largely brought the contagion under control.

Kim oversaw an “artillery fire competition” among combined units of the army on Friday, KCNA said yesterday, releasing photographs of him with military officers — none of them wearing masks.

However, despite North Korea’s decision to go ahead with its legislative session, Pyongyang’s “draconian restrictions on movement, mask-wearing propaganda, public punishment of ‘corrupt’ elites violating quarantine efforts and rush to build medical facilities suggest COVID-19 has penetrated the country,” Easley said.

“Pyongyang is likely struggling with a coronavirus crisis on a national scale,” he said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Taipei must set own policies, not follow others: official

Each local government must implement disease prevention policies based on its own considerations, so they cannot be identical, Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) said yesterday.

Her remarks were in response to questions about why Taipei did not follow New Taipei City in closing all public sports centers, activity centers and museums for 14 days, starting on Friday.

New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) made the sudden announcement to close those areas at the opening of a public sports center on Thursday to reduce gatherings of people in confined spaces and to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as a person confirmed to have the virus had visited a city public sports center.

Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang on Thursday comments on the city’s epidemic prevention measures at a news conference in the city.
 Photo: CNA

Citing comments by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) comments on Friday that Taipei and New Taipei City can cooperate in disease prevention, but it would be impossible for their operations to be identical, Huang said that each city or county must address its own situation, such as managing medical resources and public facilities.

The public sports centers in Taipei disinfect exercise equipment with alcohol regularly, so the city’s policy at present is not to close them, but to enhance prevention measures and implement a real-name system, Huang said.

“All users must register when they enter and exit the centers, so the city government can know how long these people stayed in the facilities,” she said.

Preventing people from using public sports centers might make them use private gyms, where managing disease prevention is more difficult, Huang said, adding that Taiwan has not yet entered the stage of COVID-19 community spread.

“If everyone can do a good job at protecting themselves, communities will remain safe, so unless all facilities are closed nationwide, people will still find private venues to go to,” she said.

Because the Taipei City Government wants people to reduce close contact with each other, while still leading normal lives, including using public transportation, it is considering implementing a real-name registration system at public facilities and enhancing other protective measures, she said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

people: 柯文哲 黃珊珊 侯友宜


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Foreign visitors to receive visa extensions: ministry

CARROT AND STICK:
 A new program aims to encourage those who have overstayed their visas to turn themselves in before the NIA increases penalties and enforcement

Foreign visitors who entered Taiwan before today would be granted automatic 30-day visa extensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The new measure is in response to tightened border control measures and flight bans implemented worldwide to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said.

“All travelers who entered Taiwan on or before March 21, 2020, on a visitor visa, a landing visa, or through a visa-waiver program and who have not overstayed their legal stay period will be granted an automatic 30-day extension,” the ministry said in a statement on its Web site.

No application is required, although the total period of stay cannot exceed 180 days, it said, but added that the conditions are subject to change.

The Central Epidemic Command Center on Wednesday banned the entry of foreign nationals, except those with special permission, and required all returning tourists to undergo 14 days of home quarantine.

The bureau also referred to the Expanded Overstayers Voluntary Departure Program launched by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Friday.

Foreign nationals who have overstayed their authorized period of stay and turn themselves in before June 30 would be eligible for penalty relief measures, meaning that they would receive only the minimum fine of NT$2,000 without being detained or facing an entry ban, the NIA said.

After an Indonesian woman working illegally as a caregiver was confirmed as the nation’s 32nd COVID-19 case, there has been extensive discussion about whether migrant workers who leave their original workplace would create gaps in disease prevention efforts, it said.

The program is aimed at encouraging overstayers, including migrant workers, to turn themselves in, it added.

The NIA said that after the program ends, it would amend the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) to raise the penalty for overstaying visas, and that after the outbreak abates, it would crack down on illegal immigrants.

Separately yesterday, the ministry said that it did not export masks to Paraguay, following an online uproar after Paraguayan media reported that Taiwan had donated 1 million masks.

The masks for the South American ally were purchased by Taiwan’s representative office, not exported from Taiwan, it said.

The ministry did promise to give the South American ally 1 million masks, but they are being purchased by its representative office in Paraguay and from neighboring countries, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.

The first 100,000 masks have been purchased, while the rest would be delivered in batches, she said, adding that funding was sourced from existing bilateral collaboration projects.

Foreign aid would only be provided after Taiwan meets its own needs for medical supplies amid the virus crisis, the ministry said, adding that it has asked judicial authorities to investigate the source of the misinformation.


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Hundreds of millions worldwide under lockdowns as WHO warns young people

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide began the weekend under lockdown, as the global death toll from COVID-19 accelerated sharply and the WHO warned young people that they are “not invincible.”

The pandemic has completely upended lives across the planet, sharply restricting the movement of huge populations, shutting down schools and businesses, and forcing millions to work from home — while many have lost their livelihoods entirely.

While US President Donald Trump insisted that the US was “winning” the war against the virus, states dramatically ramped up restrictions, with New York and Illinois joining California in ordering residents to stay home.

The virus death toll surged past 11,000 worldwide, with 4,000 alone in worst-hit Italy, where the daily number of fatalities has shot up relentlessly over the past week.

While older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions have been the hardest hit by the virus, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that young people were also vulnerable.

“Today I have a message for young people: You are not invincible. This virus could put you in hospital for weeks — or even kill you,” Tedros said.

“Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else,” he said.

Across Europe, governments continued to rigorously enforce lockdown measures as the continent’s most celebrated boulevards and squares remained silent and empty even as warmer spring weather arrived.

Italy on Friday reported its worst single day, adding another 627 fatalities and taking its reported total to 4,032.

The country of 60 million now accounts for 36 percent of the world’s coronavirus deaths and its death rate of 8.6 percent among confirmed infections is significantly higher than in most other nations.

France, Italy, Spain and other European countries have told people to stay at home, threatening fines in some cases, while Bavaria became the first region in Germany to order a lockdown.

Britain, falling in line with its neighbors in the EU, also announced tougher restrictions, telling pubs, restaurants and theaters to close and promising to help cover the wages of affected workers.

With virus fears gripping the US, its largest state, California — with more 1,000 cases and 19 deaths — on Thursday told its 40 million residents to stay at home.

New York state, which has reported more than 7,000 cases and 39 deaths, followed suit on Friday, ordering its nearly 20 million residents to do the same from tonight.

Trump applauded the New York and California decisions, but said that he did not think a nationwide lockdown was needed.

“Those are really two hotbeds,” Trump said. “I don’t think we’ll ever find [a US-wide lockdown] necessary.”

Shortly after the president spoke, the governors of Illinois and Connecticut ordered residents to stay at home.

The restrictions imposed in seven states cover about 100 million people, with the US’ three most populous cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — under lockdown.

Meanwhile, a staffer in the office of US Vice President Mike Pence, the point man for Washington’s response to the outbreak, tested positive for the coronavirus.

France said that more than 4,000 people were fined on the first day of confinement and ministers described those breaking the rules as “idiots.”

Europe now accounts for more than half of the world’s fatalities linked to COVID-19.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
‘STAY AT HOME’:
 The markets are still trying to assess the pandemic’s effects on the economy, while investors are awaiting clarity on a proposed government stimulus plan

Wall Street wrapped up its worst week since October 2008, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 sliding more than 4 percent on Friday as tough restrictions imposed by New York and California to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 fueled worries about damage to the US economy.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo early on Friday ordered all non-essential workers to stay home. It followed on the heels of California’s statewide “stay at home” order issued late on Thursday.

The moves by two of the most populous US states affect about 40 million people.

Also, federal authorities this week moved to close the borders with Canada and Mexico, with more than 12,000 cases having been confirmed in the US as of Friday.

“The equity markets are still trying to get a handle on how bad the economy is going to be and I think news of entire states being closed probably qualifies as incrementally negative,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Robert W. Baird and Co in Milwaukee.

It affects “a lot of economic activity and a lot of businesses,” Delwiche said.

In early trade, the market briefly attempted to build on Thursday’s gains as global policymakers turned on the taps to prop up financial markets reeling from weeks of heavy selling that ended Wall Street’s record 11-year bull run.

Coronavirus fears have wiped off almost 32 percent, or about US$9 trillion, from the value of the benchmark S&P index since its record closing high on Feb. 19.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday fell 913.21 points, or 4.55 percent, to 19,173.98; the S&P 500 lost 104.47 points, or 4.34 percent, to 2,304.92; and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 271.06 points, or 3.79 percent, to 6,879.52.

Friday’s drop left the Dow down 3 percent from when US President Trump took office in January 2017.

All three major indices registered their biggest weekly declines since October 2008, although the Cboe Volatility index — Wall Street’s fear gauge — ended the day down at 66.04, in what some investors saw as a sign that selling might subside.

For the week, the Dow lost 17.3 percent, the S&P dove 15 percent and the NASDAQ fell 12.6 percent.

Investors are now counting on further stimulus over the next few days, as the US Senate mulls a US$1 trillion package that would include direct financial help for Americans.

“The bottom line here is the market is clearly actively anticipating the fiscal stimulus plan. It’s almost like we’re going to continue to be in these volatile swings until we get a little more clarity on how large that plan is,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist at LPL Financial Holdings Inc in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A Reuters poll of economists suggested that the global economy was already in recession, while analysts at US stock market index operator S&P Global said volatility across geographies and asset classes was at record highs.

“Quadruple witching” added to choppy trading on Friday, with investors unwinding positions in futures and options contracts before their expiration.

AT&T Inc tumbled 8.7 percent as the wireless carrier said the outbreak might have a material impact on financial results and canceled a US$4 billion share repurchase agreement.

The airlines sector rose 2.4 percent after losing more than half its value since late last month.

S&P 500 utilities fell 8.2 percent on the day, leading sector declines.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the New York Stock Exchange by a 1.27-to-1 ratio; on NASDAQ, a 1.55-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 94 new lows; the NASDAQ Composite recorded 5 new highs and 257 new lows.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Wall St ends worst week since 2008 on lockdown


content_text:
WATCHING AND LEARNING:
 Places of worship in Taiwan are working to prevent the kind of outbreaks linked to religion that have occurred in South Korea, Iran and Malaysia

Buddhist monk Chang Kuan delivers a sermon to an empty room, his words livestreamed to followers praying at home as Taiwan’s faithful learn to cut back on mass gatherings during COVID-19 pandemic.

Taiwan has been widely praised for its proactive response to the outbreak, and religious communities have moved fast to limit mass gatherings.

Four of the island’s biggest Buddhist organizations dropped traditional prayer meetings and told people to follow the worship online instead.

Popular pilgrimages have been scrapped and some churches have either shut their doors or are ensuring congregants remain at least a meter apart.

Guo Huei (果暉), Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), one of the organizations that has embraced livestreaming, said Taiwan’s previous experience with the SARS outbreak in 2003 taught it to take the new coronavirus seriously.

“We called an emergency meeting of senior monks after we heard that Wuhan was under a lockdown,” he said.

The temple stopped all on-site worship immediately and urged practioners to stay home.

“Doing meditation and praying at home is the same as here,” Guo said, referring to the sprawling temple complex he oversees perched half way up a mountain on the outskirts of Taipei.

“We can’t have tens or hundreds of people together because it’s very risky,” he added.

Julian Lin and his wife usually attend DDM’s lecture each week, but they said they understood the need to stay away from crowds.

“Online meditation and teaching sessions may be convenient, but the atmosphere is still not the same,” Lin said from his home where the lecture was being broadcast on a laptop.

Public health experts battling the global pandemic have warned of the risks posed by large religious ceremonies in spreading infection.

The most dramatic example is South Korea where more than half of the country’s 8,200 COVID-19 cases have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an opaque religious sect often condemned as a cult.

One of its members attended at least four services in the southern city of Daegu — which became the center of the country’s epidemic — before being diagnosed.

In Iran, authorities placed restrictions on holy sites in response to concerns about the virus spreading in Qom, the center of the country’s outbreak and a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people.

Governments across Southeast Asia are now searching for thousands of Muslim missionaries who attended prayers at a mosque outside the Malaysian capital last month that have been linked to a surge in coronavirus cases in the region.

After SARS killed 84 people in Taiwan in 2003 — the third-highest toll after Hong Kong and China — Taiwan vowed to be ready for the next pandemic, setting up a dedicated command center for future outbreaks.

The center went operational on Jan. 20, before China had even locked down the city of Wuhan where the virus first emerged, and it coordinates the nation’s response.

On advice from the center, three large pilgrimages to the popular goddess Matsu that attracts more than a million people were postponed indefinitely.

Many of Taiwan’s large Catholic churches have also suspended Sunday Mass.

At St Christopher’s Church in Taipei, which is popular with Filipino migrant workers, devotees have been arriving to a sign with the words: “Closed for pastoral and social purposes indefinitely.”

Maria Carmen Scorpion, a Filipino care worker who was lighting a candle at a shrine outside the church, said she had not missed mass in the past 14 years.

“I was surprised, but we understand this is good for us also, for ourselves to avoid being infected by the coronavirus,” she said.

Father Otfried Chan (陳科) of the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference in Taiwan said that each parish should decide whether to cancel gatherings or mitigate risks with temperature checks and social distancing.

“We should err on the side of caution,” he said. “If there is one confirmed case in the church, that would be a big burden on the country.”

At the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Taipei, the doors were open for worshippers on a recent Sunday. Those entering rubbed their hands with sanitizer, had their temperature taken and were told to sit at least a meter apart during the service.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Virus Outbreak: Faithful stream services as temples close


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Former nurse pays Chen Shih-chung homage in latte

A coffee shop owner, who was previously a nurse, created a “4D” latte art sculpture of Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) to thank him for recognizing the efforts of frontline nurses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Few people understand the painstaking nature of a nurse’s job, but Chen gave several pep talks to nurses, recognizing and validating their hard work, Tseng Hsiao-chiao (曾筱喬), who runs a coffee shop in Pingtung County’s Chaojhou Township (潮州), said on Monday.

Touched by Chen’s support for frontline nurses, Tseng said she used special techniques to craft the sculpture of Chen holding a microphone with a speech bubble on the side with the words: “Wear a mask, wash hands frequently and take your temperature.”

A latte art sculpture of Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung is displayed on Monday at Tseng Hsiao-chiao’s coffee shop in Pingtung County Chaojhou Township.
 Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times

Some people have visited the shop to take phtographs with the creation, she said.

Tseng said that the difference between “3D” and “4D” latte art is that the former involves frothed milk, while the latter is a combination of frothed milk and whipped cream, creating a sculpture that can remain in place for about 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature, longer than a “3D” one would.

If kept in a freezer, in can last even longer, she added.

It took her about four hours to make each version of the sculpture, but the first three or four attempts did not accurately depict the tired and determined expression on his face, she said.

Nurses often must work late and have few opportunities to eat at work, with some relying on merely a cup of bubble tea for energy, which can result in shaky hands and dizziness, Tseng said.

She once carried a lunch box to work when she was still a nurse, but found that she did not have a minute to eat it during the whole day, she said.

Taiwan has earned praise from other countries for early preventive efforts against the coronavirus, and the contributions made by medical staff cannot go unnoticed, she said, adding that she is standing with the profession despite her change of career.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
There is a “huge” difference between Chinese warplanes flying around Taiwan and intruding into its airspace, and the former should not be deemed provocative, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) said, calling on the Ministry of National Defense not to mislead the public.

Just as US aircraft flying by the nation should not be deemed provocative, neither should Chinese aircraft, Wu wrote in a question-and-answer session with the Executive Yuan on Wednesday last week.

Any assumption that such moves are provocative lacks a legal basis, and the ministry should avoid “crying wolf” and causing panic, said Wu, a retired lieutenant general.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Sz-huai speaks behind a sign that reads: “Prevention first, strong ability to prepare” at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in an undated photograph.
 Photo: Chung Lee-hua, Taipei Times

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force has since last month flown its warplanes near Taiwan’s airspace four times and in one incident locked on to a Taiwanese F-16.

The ministry yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party has never renounced the use of force to annex Taiwan and has unilaterally changed the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait.

Apart from the four drills directed at Taiwan, China on March 31 last year flew two warplanes past the median line of the Taiwan Strait, breaking a tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing, the ministry said, adding that these incidents are all evidence of Chinese browbeating and provocation.

The ministry said that it has faithfully and dutifully passed on the facts and has by no means misled the public.

Wu last month called Chinese warplanes’ fly-bys “very unwise and inappropriate,” only to change his tone in a question addressed to the Executive Yuan later that month.

Wu on Wednesday last week wrote to the Executive Yuan, saying: “A correct understanding of national defense will improve the public’s notion of the issue. Conversely, misinformation would sow panic.”

Apart from the one incident in which Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the other Chinese fly-bys last month involved aircraft participating in long-distance drills, he said.

US bombers and marine patrol aircraft last month also flew near Taiwan, including off the east coast, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and once near the median line of the Taiwan Strait, he added.

He cited international law for defending Chinese fly-bys, which did not intrude into the nation’s airspace, even though the concept only applies to vessels.

The median line of the Taiwan Strait is a supposed border unilaterally drawn by the US under the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, Wu said, adding that most of the line is in international waters.

The line has served as a military demarcation adhered to by both sides of the Taiwan Strait based on a tacit agreement, he said.

Instead of emphasizing Chinese fly-bys, the ministry should focus on the formations employed by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy in joint military exercises, as well as its ability to neutralize the effects of attacks, he added.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Chinese exercises not provocative: KMT lawmaker


title: Prosecutors charge 10 over NT$4.35bn Ponzi scheme

content_text:
Ten people have been charged with fraud after 1,115 people were convinced to invest a total of NT$4.35 billion (US$143.6 million) in Taiwan’s Mega Dynamo Technology Co (風能量源科技公司), Taichung prosecutors said on Friday.

Company executives duped investors by operating a Ponzi scheme for about 10 years, prosecutors said.

Earlier investors were paid with funds from more recent investors, and the victims believed the profits were coming from company revenue, prosecutors said, adding that investors were promised high earnings with assurances that the company would go public in the US and Australia, but lost their money.

Mega Dynamo Technology Co chairwoman Chiu Tzu-chien, third right, poses for a picture at an event at the Grand Mayfull Hotel in Taipei on Nov. 30, 2018.

Screen grab from the Eagle Investment Group Web site

The company supposedly focused on wind energy generation, as well as chemical and construction materials, they said.

Those charged include company chairwoman Chiu Tzu-chien (邱姿蒨), 64, general manager Lee Chun-lin (李俊霖), 64, and Lee’s wife, Chiu Hui-ying (邱慧瑩), 61.

Chiu Hui-ying is Chiu Tzu-chien’s younger sister and director of Kuangfeng International Co (廣豐國際開發公司), which was registered by Lee and has close ties with Mega Dynamo.

The trio, along with seven other Mega Dynamo executives and staff, were charged with breaching the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法), the Banking Act (銀行法), the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法) and the Company Act (公司法), prosecutors said.

Investigators said that Mega Dynamo is registered in New Taipei City, but reported no revenue from its launch in 2008 to 2012, and from 2012 to last year, it only had an annual turnover of NT$200,000 to NT$3 million.

Company executives reportedly encouraged people to invest in the firm, saying that it owned the patent for “green concrete,” which was said to be half regular limestone concrete mix, with the other half recycled materials.

They reportedly said it had received approval and certification from the US Department of Energy to be used to store spent nuclear fuel, because it could absorb radioactivity and had heat resistant properties.

Prosecutors said they found documents presented at investment seminars, in which executives claimed to have inked contracts to supply “green concrete” to companies operating Chinese nuclear power plants, and investors were promised returns of 8.4 to 12 percent annually.

“Many of the investors were ... engineers, teachers, medical doctors, pastors and business professionals. One doctor invested more than NT$100 million,” Taichung prosecutor Wu Meng-chieh (吳孟潔) said.

Despite not paying out, Wu said company executives in 2018 continued to swindle investors by claiming to a good property development deal in China, but said that local residents were refusing to move.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
By Lo Tien-pin
and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The first of six sets of short-range automated defense weapons systems, purchased by the army, is to be deployed on Dongyin, an islet in the Matsu archipelago, to strengthen defenses in the area, the Ministry of National Defense said.

The funding for the NT$725 million (US$23.9 million) system would be spread across fiscal 2019 to 2021, with full deployment expected by the end of next year, it said on Saturday last week.

The Navy Command has purchased three sets for NT$200 billion, with the land-based variants expected to be deployed on Wuciou Island in Kinmen County, the ministry said.

The system was tested with live-fire trials at Wuciou and the Joint Forces Training Base in Pingtung County in 2014 and was on display at the 2017 Paris Air Show, it said.

The system is based on the locally produced T-75 20mm autocannon and buyers have the option of selecting the single-barrel XTR-101 or the twin-barrel XTR-102, the ministry said, adding that it can be used on land, or mounted on vehicles or ship prows.

It can be remotely controlled, making it significantly less dangerous to use as operators would be safe behind cover, it said.

The system also features a concentrated firing mechanism, allowing one person to operate of several systems at once to aim a concentrated barrage at priority targets, it said.

While the system does not use new technology, it has low overhead costs and utilizes mature photonic technology, the ministry said.

In other news, an article in the military section of Chinese Web site Sina Online said that while the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) usually names its Type 055 destroyers after cities with historic ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Taipei could not be ruled out as a option.

The article said that as of March 12, the PLAN had approved the name Zun Yi (遵義) for its third Type 055 destroyer, although in parentheses it also said that this was doubtful, as the third ship could be named Taipei, instead.

The Chinese Red Army, the forerunner of the PLA, in 1935 moved into Zunyi in Guizhou Province, one of the few cities that had not turned the Red Army away during the Long March. It was in Zunyi that the CCP had held a meeting that saw Mao Zedong (毛澤東) return to power in the party.

Taiwanese military personnel on Monday said that the Republic of China (ROC) Navy does not have a ship named Taipei.

However, they added that the Coast Guard Administration does.

The military also said that two of the ROC Navy’s Kangding-class destroyers, the Sining and Kunming , have the same names as PLAN Type 052-D missile destroyers.

The PLAN also has a Type 053 naval ship named Kangding , the same as the name of the ROC Navy’s Kangding-class destroyers, the military said.

A ROC Navy Cheng Kung-class frigate, the Zhenghe (鄭和), shares the same name as a PLAN ship, although the Chinese ship is not a combat vessel and is mainly used for training, it said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Automated defense system to be deployed on Dongyin


content_text:
China on Tuesday took steps to expel more than a dozen American journalists in retaliation for the White House imposing restrictions last month on Chinese state-controlled media in the US by classifying them as foreign missions, which came just weeks after Beijing expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters, allegedly over the headline of an opinion piece.

Some pundits have said the move reflects a new confidence within the Chinese leadership to not only shape domestic coverage, but also restrict critical foreign reporting.

What it really reflects is the fearful petulance of an emperor with no clothes, whose rule has been tarnished by the Chinese Communist Party’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan and the ensuing pandemic.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said those Americans working for the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, whose press credentials were up for renewal this year, had 10 days to turn in their press cards, and they would also not be allowed to work in Hong Kong or Macau.

In addition, China ordered the local offices of the three papers, along with those of Time magazine and Voice of America, to provide details about their staff, finances, real estate and operations.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said that Beijing had to respond to the US restrictions on staffing of Chinese state media in the US.

In yet another example of Orwellian doublespeak, the ministry said the US’ “unwarranted restrictions” had made it difficult for Chinese reporters to do their work and subjected them to “politically motivated oppression.” As if China has not long been one of the most restrictive places for reporters, with travel limits, overt monitoring by police or local thugs, and retaliation against those who speak to foreign journalists.

There have been worse tit-for-tat retaliations by China. On July 19, 1967, China withdrew the press credentials of British journalist Anthony Grey, a Reuters correspondent in Beijing and one of only four Western reporters in the city, and put him under house arrest — the same day a Xinhua reporter was sentenced to two years in prison for taking part in the Hong Kong riots. Red Guards stormed Grey’s home on Aug. 18, killed his cat, smashed his belongings and confined him to a basement room, where he would spend the next 26 months.

It might be hard to remember, or fathom, in this day and age, that for almost three decades after the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the bulk of foreign reporting on China was done from Hong Kong.

The lack of access to ministry news conferences in Beijing was not much of a handicap, because how much could be learned from spokespeople who do not answer questions and regularly disavow any knowledge of dissidents’ abductions or arrests?

Meanwhile, Beijing’s statement that those it expels would not be able to report from Hong Kong or Macau is yet another reminder of its contempt for the territory’s Basic Law and the freedoms that the PRC guaranteed for a 50-year period in the treaty it signed with the UK.

There could be a silver lining for Taiwan in this latest flare-up of Chinese-US tensions. For at least the past two decades, foreign newspapers and other media used their China-based staff to report on developments in Taiwan, or parachuted reporters in to cover elections or natural disasters — reports that all too often included the stock phrases “renegade province” or “in a move sure to anger Beijing.”

Why not take this chance to view and cover China from the other side of the Taiwan Strait? Taiwan has a free press, freedom of speech and a well-functioning, technically literate government that believes in communication. After all, it was Taipei where Reporters Without Borders opened its first bureau in Asia three years ago.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: EDITORIAL: Beijing opens news door for Taipei


title: Virus Outbreak: CECC confirms 18 new COVID-19 cases

content_text:
EXPANDED CRITERIA:
 People who returned between March 8 and Wednesday from East Asian nations or the US and had respiratory symptoms are to be quarantined

The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced 18 imported cases of COVID-19, bringing Taiwan’s total number of confirmed cases to 235.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the 18 new cases were comprised of 12 women and six men.

Most of the patients are aged between 20 and 40, he said, adding that three are in their 50s and one man is in his 70s.

Security personnel walk past an electronic board showing that most flights have been canceled at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday.
 Photo: CNA

Six of them exhibited symptoms on arrival in Taiwan and were tested for the virus, three were under home quarantine, two were in home isolation and one was conducting self-health management, Chen said, adding that they were detected while in more protected situations.

The remaining six cases were detected after they sought medical treatment on their own, he said.

People who returned from the US or East Asian countries between March 8 and Wednesday and sought medical attention for respiratory symptoms would be ordered into 14-day home quarantine and tested for the novel coronavirus, the center said.

“In the past few days we have tracked people who returned from Europe or the Middle East between March 5 and March 14, and issued them home quarantine orders,” Chen said. “Testing has been arranged for those we consider to be at higher risk.”

“We are now tracking people who arrived in Taiwan from the US or East Asian countries between March 8 and Wednesday, and have sought medical attention for respiratory symptoms,” he said. “They will be asked to undergo 14-day home quarantine and testing would be arranged.

There are about 3,000 people who meet the new criteria, Chen said, adding that the center was yesterday afternoon to begin encouraging them to proactively call the 1922 toll-free hotline. It was sending text messages to those with registered mobile phone numbers and having local health bureaus try to contact them to issue quarantine notices and arrange for testing.

Following the implementation of an entry ban on all foreign nationals and home quarantine orders for all arriving travelers, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥) said that about 1,800 people entered Taiwan as of 12pm yesterday, and there were about 5,000 arrivals on Friday.

“We urge everyone to avoid unnecessary travel,” he said.

As the number of travelers returning and leaving Taiwan have gradually fallen over the past few days, the goal of curbing the flow of people can hopefully be achieved, he added.

As the number of people placed in mandatory home quarantine has rapidly increased due to the tightened border controls, Chen Shih-chung urged them to maintain separation of at least 1m — preferably more than 2m — from people with whom they live.

People should avoid sharing household items, such as tableware, towels and bedding, with people in home quarantine and disinfect their homes regularly, he said, adding that they should also avoid sharing meals and intimate contact.

Asked why Taiwan has not implemented mass testing for the coronavirus like South Korea, Chen Shih-chung said that an average of 1,300 people are tested daily in Taiwan and that the strategy is to screen those at high risk of infection.

If mass testing is conducted, some asymptomatic carriers could have a false negative result due to a low viral load, which could cause them to believe they are safe and forgo precautionary measures, leading to a higher risk of infecting others, he said, adding that the capacity to conduct mass triage and mass isolation are needed for mass screening.

The Diamond Princess cruise ship demonstrated that an inability to completely separate infected people from others led to more infections, he added.

“While we have chosen to test people we consider to be at higher risk, we must also ensure that people get tested immediately after the onset of symptoms,” Chen Shih-chung said.

As the criteria for reporting suspected cases for testing are not clear-cut, it is important that hospitals test suspected patients, who must remain at home while they await results, he said.

Only seven locally transmitted cases have been reported in the past two weeks, four of whom were infected by people who returned from overseas trips, so people do not need to be overly concerned about community spread, he added.

However, as these two weeks are a critical phase in fighting the spread of COVID-19, people who are in home quarantine should strictly conform to the regulations, Chen Shih-chung said.

people: 陳時中 陳宗彥


title: US dollar eases as central banks pledge liquidity

content_text:
The US dollar eased on Friday after a rally that put it on track for its biggest weekly rise since the 2008 financial crisis, as a global scramble for US dollar funding sent other currencies reeling.

Currencies from the Australian dollar to the British pound tumbled to multiyear lows this week, after coordinated rate cuts by central banks and billions of US dollars of fund injections failed to calm panicky markets.

In Taipei, the New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar on Friday, gaining NT$0.204 to close at NT$30.302, down 0.3 percent for the week.

“The dollar has taken a rotation lower following interventions and the threat of interventions over the last day,” Action Economics LLC analysts said in a report.

From Brazil to Norway, policymakers are leaping to defend their currencies against the onslaught of the US dollar.

On Friday, six major central banks announced a coordinated action to enhance liquidity in the greenback by increasing the frequency of their currency swap operations.

“For many countries with borrowings in dollars, the massive depreciation in their domestic currencies, and strength in the dollar, has been increasingly threatening at a time when most emerging market and developed-world economies are either headed to or are already in recession,” Action Economics said.

The US dollar index rose 3.3 percent against a basket of currencies through a week when investors have liquidated everything from stocks to bonds to gold and commodities.

At its three-year peak of nearly 103 hit overnight, the US dollar was up more than 5 percent, its biggest weekly gain since October 2008.

Gauges of expected market swings in the euro for one-month maturities edged lower, after hitting a more than three-year high on Thursday.

However, some funding indicators showed that strains remain.

The premium over interbank rates that investors were paying to swap yen for one-year US dollar funding was elevated at about 52 basis points.

The FRA-OIS spread, a barometer of risk in the interbank market, edged higher on Friday to 97 basis points.

“While FX volatility is lower and currency basis swaps are less scary for example, the situation remains stressed,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale SA in London.

Sterling was among the major gainers, rising 3.42 percent from a 35-year low to US$1.1878, up 2.6 percent for the week.

The Australian dollar jumped 2.19 percent to US$0.5867, up 3.9 percent for the week.

Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


taiwan-subdivisions: 南港 大安

title: Virus Outbreak: Academia Sinica closes off areas

content_text:
TAKING PRECAUTIONS:
 The institution said it would move much of its personnel to its activity center and would not rent conference rooms to groups of more than 100

Academia Sinica yesterday closed its sports center and five museums on its campus in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港) after one of its staff was confirmed to have COVID-19.

In a notice on its Web site on Friday, the nation’s top academic research institution said that 16 people who had direct contact with the person are under home quarantine, while an additional 25 people who worked on the same floor are undergoing 14-day self-health management at home.

Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) later issued a Chinese-language letter to faculty members, reminding them to adhere to updated measures against “the Wuhan pneumonia.”

Academia Sinica Department of General Affairs Director Chang Kang-wei yesterday talks to reporters at the institution in Taipei’s Nangang District.
 Photo: CNA

Over the past month, the institution has made several breakthroughs in research on the virus, which has raised local morale and won international acclaim, he wrote.

In the letter, he asked the faculty members to face the challenges brought by the disease with rationality, empathy and unity.

At a news conference yesterday, Department of General Affairs Director Chang Kang-wei (張剛維) did not disclose the infected person’s department or contact history, citing Central Epidemic Command Center regulations.

The person’s work did not involve direct contact with outside members or any projects on vaccine development or disease prevention, he said.

There are nearly 6,000 people, including researchers, assistants and administrative personnel, on the Nangang campus, he added.

Academia Sinica advised its faculty not to travel abroad, telling those who must to first obtain approval, Chang said, adding that the institution has made a list of people returning from overseas and foreigners visiting its campus.

The institution from yesterday closed its sports center, the Hu Shih Memorial Hall, the Tsai Yuan-pei Memorial Hall, the Lingnan Fine Arts Museum, the Museum of the Institute of History and Philology and the Museum of the Institute of Ethnology, for an indefinite period.

To reduce the number of people working close together, one-third of its personnel in the administrative building are to work in its activity center from Monday, he said.

It would also stop leasing conference rooms to groups of more than 100 people.

Although the campus remains a public space, all buildings have implemented entry control measures, including taking people’s temperatures and requiring health declarations, he said.

As some of its departments are on National Taiwan University’s (NTU) campus in Daan District (大安), shuttle buses between the two campuses are temporarily suspended, he added.

Citing frequent exchanges between the institutions, NTU President Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) during a school meeting yesterday told faculty members to temporarily avoid visiting Academia Sinica.

Additional reporting by CNA

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Gold rebounds as falling US dollar offers reprieve

content_text:
Bullion got a reprieve on Friday as the US dollar halted its rally, making the metal more attractive to holders of other currencies.

Precious metals are rebounding after days of relentless selling by investors seeking liquidity to navigate the extreme volatility shaking global markets.

“This is definitely a sigh of relief for markets,” Simon Harvey, a foreign-exchange market analyst at Monex Europe Ltd, told Bloomberg TV.

Gold bars are pictured at the Krastsvetmet non-ferrous metals plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, on Nov. 22, 2018.
 Photo: Reuters

Still, liquidity issues will continue to create upward pressure on the US dollar, he said.

“In this market, nothing is taken for given, you have to take every day as it comes,” he added.

Bullion typically moves inversely to the US currency, which surged to a record this week, with gold taking a back seat to the greenback as the preferred haven.

Spot gold on Friday rose nearly 1.4 percent to US$1,490 an ounce in New York, its biggest gain since March 5.

The rally pared the metal’s weekly decline to 3 percent after an 8.6 percent slump last week, the worst since 1983.

Other precious metals also advanced, with silver trading at US$12.597 an ounce after jumping as much as 7.5 percent, the most since December 2014.

Silver has been hard hit by the global sell-off, but there are some signs that sentiment is turning, with exchange-traded funds buying the metal in the past two days.

Many investors see current precious-metals prices as a buying opportunity.

“When I think about what would I buy in the right here and now, I would be buying gold,” Wayne Gordon, executive director for commodities and foreign exchange at UBS Group AG’s wealth-management unit, told Bloomberg TV.

Prices might appreciate over three to six months, he said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: Praise for Taiwan eats at Beijing

content_text:
While countries worldwide are fighting the havoc caused by the spread of the Chinese coronavirus, Beijing is busy playing games to suppress Taiwan’s visibility on the international stage as the nation has gained attention for its superb campaign to protect its citizens from the virus.

At the onset of the pandemic in late December last year, pundits predicted that Taiwan would be the second large red zone following China.

By the middle of last month, those predictions were utterly debunked. At the time, Taiwan registered fewer than 40 cases and the nation has since expeditiously geared up the production and supply of masks, enough to cover all citizens in an orderly way.

Against this backdrop, Johns Hopkins University’s global pandemic monitoring Web site, maintained by the school’s center for systems science and engineering, had since its inception in early January identified Taiwan as a nation separate from China.

On March 11, within fewer than 12 hours, a chain of peculiar events occurred. Taiwan’s identity was first changed to “Taipei and environs,” but still under the column of country. Then, within an hour or so, the new identification was completely erased and moved, like Hong Kong, to a subentry under China.

Another two to three hours passed, Taiwan was again placed back in the country column. This time, it was listed as “Taiwan,” but with an asterisk. There was no special note as to the meaning of the superscript asterisk.

Clearly, the group at Johns Hopkins responsible for the map was under pressure from multiple sides, including, without doubt, Beijing.

Evidently, Taiwan receiving a thumbs-up performance in fighting the viral transmission surprises almost all international observers. The surprise, initially only expressed online, eventually turned into praise voiced openly in print.

It is the latter that irritates China, a self-proclaimed, rather jealous big brother. In Beijing’s cranial sac, Taiwan had belonged for eons to China. Taiwan is not allowed to stand on its own merits.

What Taiwan has uniquely achieved in this seemly insurmountable battle is simply too thorny for Beijing to swallow.

Kengchi Goah is a senior research fellow at the Taiwan Public Policy Council in the US.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
TOUGH STANCE:
 A KMT proposal says that people with a category one, two or five disease, who do not comply with authorities should be given seven to life in prison

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have proposed amendments to toughen penalties for those who breach the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法).

The DPP version, sponsored by DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), aims to amend Articles 62 and 69 of the act.

The proposed amendments state that people who are aware they are infected with a category one communicable disease (smallpox or a SARS-like disease), a category five disease (SARS, influenza type A, Ebola) or a category two multidrug-resistant disease (tuberculosis) and infect others because they did not comply with instructions from competent authorities would face up to three years in prison, as well as a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$3 million (US$9,900 to US$99,003).

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu speaks at an undisclosed event in this undated picture.

Screen grab from Wang Ting-yu’s Facebook account

People who fail to tell Centers for Disease Control (CDC) agents that they have any of these diseases upon entry into the country would face up to a year in prison, as well as a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$1.5 million.

The KMT proposal, sponsored by KMT Legislator Sufin Siluko, says that people known or suspected to have these diseases who fail to comply with instructions from competent authorities would be handed a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$500,000, regardless of whether they have infected others.

Should noncompliance cause someone’s death, the patient or suspected patient should be sentenced to seven years to life in prison, the KMT draft says.

If noncompliance causes severe injury to others, the perpetrator should be imprisoned for three to 10 years and fined a maximum of NT$1 million, it says.

People who attempt to spread rumors or unverified information regarding category five diseases should be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison and fined a maximum of NT$3 million, it says.

People suspected of being infected with a category five disease who fail to comply with competent authorities regarding examinations, inspections and medication would face fines of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million, while those seeking to avoid, or obstruct, disease prevention efforts should be fined NT$30,000 to NT$500,000, the KMT draft says.

Failure to mitigate conditions or comply with regulations within the given time could see the person fined per repeat offense, the KMT said.

Both proposals have passed a first reading and are being reviewed by the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: Legislators want harsher disease laws

people:
王定宇
Sufin Siluko


title: What happens when automakers cannot make autos?

content_text:
What will become of the auto industry if it cannot build vehicles? With auto plants on both sides of the Atlantic shutting down for the next few weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are about to find out.

When the global financial crisis struck in 2008, many US and European automakers idled production to prevent a buildup of unsold vehicles.

This time, though, the shutdowns are happening simultaneously and slumping demand is not the only problem automakers face. Workers are understandably fearful to step onto crowded production lines and the supply of key components risks being disrupted.

A freight train carries newly manufactured BMW vehicles near the automaker’s factory in Munich, Germany, on Wednesday.
 Photo: Bloomberg

Manufacturers hope the production hiatus would be brief, but that could prove to be wishful thinking, because the virus is a long way from being under control. (That some have offered to repurpose factory space to produce life-saving ventilators underscores the severity of this global health emergency).

Even without coronavirus, this year was shaping up to be a difficult one for the industry due to the massive cost of developing electric vehicles and overhauling factories to build them.

Unlike a decade ago, when General Motors Co (GM) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV sought bankruptcy protection, most automakers have big cash piles they can draw on to tide them over a difficult period. Even after a 26 billion euro (US$28 billion) cash outflow due to its diesel cheating, Volkswagen AG has 24 billion euros of cash and equivalents at its disposal.

That is fortunate, because due to high fixed costs and so-called negative working capital, much of the industry would burn through a lot of money. Besides protecting employees from potential virus exposure, one positive about closing plants is limiting the cash burn from rising vehicle inventories.

In an extreme scenario, Ford Motor Co and GM could each burn close to US$4 billion of cash per month, Morgan Stanley analysts have said.

Meanwhile, if unemployment spikes, automakers that lease lots vehicles via captive financial services divisions could be exposed to rising bad debts. In 2008, BMW AG had to take a 2 billion euro provision against loans going sour and falling values of used vehicles.

It is no wonder then that automaker stocks have halved in value since the start of the year and the cost of insuring their debt against default has rocketed.

Those with the weakest balance sheets have suffered most.

The market capitalization of Renault SA, which struggled to generate positive free cash even before the virus showed up, has shrunk to less than 5 billion euros; adjusted for the 43 percent stake Renault owns in alliance partner Nissan Motor Co the equity value is negative.

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC, owned by Tata Motors Ltd, is looking particularly sickly: 650 million euros of senior unsecured debt due in 2024 has tumbled to 60 percent of face value, yielding 17 percent — signaling concerns that credit investors might not get all their money back.

While the argument for consolidation is stronger than ever, so is the need to preserve cash. It is questionable whether it is still appropriate for Fiat Chrysler to pay its shareholders a 5.5 billion euro dividend prior to consummating a merger with Peugeot SA. Fiat’s balance sheet was already one of the weakest of the major automakers.

Unlike in some service industries, vehicle sales should eventually pick up some of the slack. Vehicles age and need replacing, while a restaurant meal not consumed last week does not necessarily mean you will have two the next.

Plenty of folks cooped up at home would be dreaming of taking a long road trip when this is all over, encouraged no doubt by the cheaper cost of fuel.

However, in the short term, demand will probably fall hard — Chinese sales plunged 80 percent last month, when much of the country was in lockdown. Consumer purchase incentives or government tax breaks probably would not be as effective as in 2008 to 2009, as people cannot leave their homes.

An auto industry that cannot build vehicles will not sell them. This year would see the paths of the better capitalized and financially weak firms diverge. It might not be immediate, but demands for external support, whether from taxpayers or shareholders, would come.

Chris Bryant is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies. He previously worked for the Financial Times.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
By Shih Hsiao-kuang
and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would be putting the decision on whether to enforce annual fundraising quotas for party members in civil servant positions to a vote at its National Congress to resolve the party’s lack of finances, a source said.

If the motion is passed at the National Congress, the party would be able to enforce the 2016 party resolution as far back as January this year, the source said.

The party’s main sources of finance have mostly been frozen by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee.

The party in 2016 passed a resolution mandating that the chairperson would have to raise NT$10 million (US$330,011), while vice chairpersons would have to raise NT$10 million in total.

Mayors of special municipalities would need to meet a quota of NT$2 million each; Central Standing Committee members, special municipality council speakers, city mayors and county commissioners would have a quota of NT$1 million; and legislators, municipality council deputy speakers, speakers for city and county councils, as well as local party chapter directors would have a quota of NT$500,000, the resolution says.

Legislators-at-large have to turn in NT$100,000 per year and raise NT$300,000 in funding, it says.

Should the motion pass, members who have not met their annual quota would have all benefits and powers as party members suspended by the party’s Central Evaluation and Discipline Committee until they meet their quota, the source said.

All quotas in fiscal 2019 that are yet unpaid would be wiped clean, the source said.

The party had been unable to enforce the resolution, with only the most recent legislators and Central Standing Committee members signing an accord stating that they would abide by the resolution.

As for any unfairness to those who have met their quotas since 2016, the source said that such things could not be helped, but added: “These members truly hold the party close to their hearts.”

While most KMT members participating in last year’s nine-in-one local elections had not signed an agreement to abide by the 2016 resolution, once the National Congress votes for the resolution’s passage, all party members would have to abide by the decision, the source said.

The party had achieved 70 percent of its fundraising quota for fiscal 2019 for party members working in the central government, while fundraising from those in local government had remained abysmal, they said.

The KMT said that its Reform Affairs Committee would discuss the quotas and that it hopes to arrive at a satisfactory amount for all involved.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

title: KMT to vote on fundraising quotas at congress: source


title: European shares rise on hopes of stimulus package

content_text:
European shares jumped for a second straight session on Friday, as a wave of fiscal and monetary stimulus tempted investors back into equity markets after days of selling on signs the world was headed into a deep, coronavirus-driven recession.

The European Commission said that it was looking at loosening debt rules for member states and issuing common eurozone bonds in an attempt to shore up businesses and households crushed by the meltdown in economic activity.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 1.8 percent on Friday, but was down 2 percent for the week and still looking at its worst month in three decades as the deepening spread of COVID-19 in Europe forces countries to shut down.

Financials on Friday rose 3.9 percent from a near 30-year low, with Allianz SE, Prudential PLC, ING Groep and Zurich Insurance Group surging 8.5 percent to 12 percent.

Even travel and leisure stocks attempted a rebound in what has been their worst month so far since October 1987, as the promise of more stimulus raised hopes of a smoother recovery from the health crisis.

The optimism was reflected across global equity markets, as the US Senate debated a US$1 trillion-plus package that would include direct financial help for Americans.

Meanwhile, sources told reporters that China was set to unleash trillions of yuan of fiscal stimulus.

“It’s seemingly having a positive effect given the market needed a trillion-dollar worth of help this week to just make it to the weekend,” AxiCorp Financial Services Pty Ltd markets strategist Stephen Innes said.

“[But it is] the calm before the storm, I’m afraid, as the nasty impact on corporate solvency will become more evident in the weeks ahead, when the demand shock filters through to the real economy,” Innes said.

Several blue-chip European firms have flagged a severe hit to business as the pandemic empties hotels and crushes consumer spending, with the airline industry facing a complete collapse in the face of halt in global travel.

British retailer Marks & Spencer Group PLC was the latest to warn about an impact in its clothing, homewares and international businesses, sending its shares down 5.2 percent.

Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group PLC said demand for hotels was at the lowest levels it had ever seen and announced a series of measures to cut costs.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


content_text:
Coronavirus confronts decisionmakers with a terrible trade-off
Policymakers could adapt their strategies to create a balance between social distancing and business as usual to offset the economic costs of COVID-19

At the heart of responses to COVID-19 is a terrible trade-off between maximizing social distancing measures to suppress the disease and the need to maintain some sense of normal economic activity.

Extreme social distancing can reduce the number of infections and deaths by reducing the person-to-person interactions necessary for the transmission of the disease, but only an extremely high economic cost.

Business-as-usual, with limited interventions such as handwashing and self-isolation, can keep food, essential services and the rest of the economy going, but only at the cost of a large number of infections and deaths.

First in China, and now around the rest of the world, policymakers have been confronted with the same appalling trade-off, from which there are no good outcomes, only choices between lesser evils.

China’s experience with locking down Hubei Province and implementing a prolonged holiday from normal business seems to show extreme social distancing can bring an epidemic under control.

However, the experience suggests economic costs are high, with the supply chain pushed close to breakdown, and it could only be maintained for a short period before pressure to restart the economy became overwhelming.

At the other extreme, Italy’s early experience suggests uncontrolled transmission overwhelmed the healthcare system leading to a surge in deaths, and forced the government to introduce a nationwide lockdown to arrest the rising death toll.

As the epidemic has spread around the world and infected more people, governments have struggled to identify a strategy that is politically, medically and economically sustainable, with policy oscillating as costs increase in various dimensions.

In Britain, the government’s initial strategy was to mitigate transmission through the population, flattening the peak and maintaining hospitalization and intensive care rates within system limits.

The objective was to manage the case rate until the epidemic burnt itself out naturally, when enough of the population had been exposed that herd immunity had been achieved.

Policymakers abruptly reversed course when new epidemic modeling suggested the mitigation strategy would still overwhelm the capacity of the healthcare system and lead to 250,000 or more deaths.

So, the most recent policy focuses on extreme social distancing with the objective of suppressing the epidemic rather than simply mitigating it.

The switch was prompted by epidemic modeling from Imperial College London (“Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand,” March 16).

Yet as the authors of the study note, “suppression, while successful to date in China and South Korea, carries with it enormous social and economic costs.”

Such costs might be feasible in the very short term for a few weeks or a month, but become much more significant if extreme social distancing measures have to be maintained for longer periods.

In the Imperial College study, the authors considered social distancing the entire population combined with case isolation and household quarantine and possibly school/university closure for five months.

However, the disease risks flaring up again once controls are relaxed. The authors acknowledge intensive restrictions on social contact might have to be repeatedly reintroduced for an 18-month period.

Extreme social distancing measures might need to be in place two-thirds of the time until near the end of 2021, until either herd immunity has been achieved naturally or a vaccine is available.

In most major economies, including Britain, the US, China and the EU, government strategy has now shifted to suppression.

Yet the enormous economic costs are being reflected in the sharp drop in equity market valuations and other risk assets.

Suppression has brought much of the passenger aviation, tourism, public transportation, retail, restaurant, entertainment, personal services and other industries to a near complete halt.

Suppression also threatens the manufacturing and distribution systems, and their ability to keep moving food and other items to consumers.

The sudden stoppage threatens sales, wages, rent and tax payments, with a cascade effect that would spread even to those parts of the economy not subject to formal shutdown.

It has no parallel since World War II, except perhaps for the few days in the immediate aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

In response, monetary policymakers have cut interest rates to zero, injected large volumes of liquidity, and promised forbearance on debts and other liabilities.

On the fiscal side, governments have pledged large tax cuts and/or increases in public spending, including transfer payments to individuals and businesses, to counter the economic crisis.

So far, most monetary and fiscal measures have done little to restore confidence, with equity prices and other risk assets continuing to slide amid a sustained flight to safety.

Yet monetary and fiscal stimulus can do little to sustain or revive business activity that has been shut down for non-economic reasons.

At best, policymakers can socialize losses, spreading concentrated losses suffered by the worst affected businesses and individuals and sharing them more widely across society.

Interest rate cuts spread losses among the most heavily indebted borrowers to savers. Transfer payments spread losses from the worst affected businesses and individuals to taxpayers as a whole.

Loss-sharing is a conventional response for societies facing catastrophic costs, normally through commercial insurance in the first instance but ultimately through the fiscal and monetary systems.

However, loss sharing cannot make the costs go away. Shutting down large parts of the economy for much of the next 18 months would have enormous costs, which is weighing heavily on financial markets.

In that sense, the fall in equity values and oil prices is entirely rational, reflecting the assumption business activity would be severely reduced for at least five months and perhaps as much as two years.

As the full economic costs of suppression come into focus, it is possible policymakers could refine strategy further, leading to a blended strategy between suppression and mitigation, social distancing and business as usual.

In most cases, when confronted with an uncomfortable trade-off, decisionmakers ultimately choose a middle course, rather than one of the extremes.

As they weigh up health and economic costs, policymakers might ultimately move to a strategy that mixes elements of suppression and mitigation, that tries to limit transmission and deaths, while re-opening parts of the economy to minimize the financial and social fallout.

John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.


title: UEFA undecided on name for Euros

content_text:
Soccer’s European Championship is now being played in 2021, although it was not yet clear what the competition was to be called.

“Although it will provisionally take place from 11 June - 11 July 2021, #EURO2020 will still be known as UEFA EURO 2020,” the governing body wrote on Twitter, three days after postponing the month-long event by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UEFA later clarified that statement as an error, saying: “No decision has yet been made on the name of the rearranged Euro.”

A worker cleans a square in St Petersburg, Russia, on Friday behind a Euro 2020 clock displaying 449 days left before the tournament begins.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

“The earlier tweet was sent by mistake,” it wrote.

The tournament is to be played in 12 cities across Europe, with the final in London on July 11. Some cities, including St Petersburg in Russia, already have Euro 2020 promotional material on display.

“We trust that all of our venues will remain the same, ensuring the tournament remains true to its original vision,” UEFA said.

Romanian soccer and public authorities on Thursday announced that they renewed obligations for Bucharest to host three group-stage games and a round of 16 knockout game.

UEFA picked 13 host cities in 2014, but Brussels later dropped out when a stadium construction project failed to get support from public authorities. Brussels’ four games were allocated to Wembley Stadium in London.

Meanwhile, Europe’s top five leagues could lose as much as 4 billion euros (US$4.33 billion) in combined revenue if the pandemic completely wipes out the rest of the season, a study by KPMG showed.

The accounting firm, one of the world’s biggest, calculated the total potential matchday, broadcasting and commercial revenues to be generated by the remaining matches in the Premier league, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 totaled 3.45 billion to 4 billion euros.

KPMG estimated that the Premier League would lose the most, with as much as 1.25 billion euros going up in smoke should the season be halted, a potential 800 million euros of that in broadcasting revenue alone.

“Broadcasters who have collective deals with leagues may claim that they want money back proportionally if matches are canceled and the season is not completed,” the report said.

The Premier League’s broadcasting revenue losses would be the highest, despite having fewer games left to play than every other league apart from the Bundesliga, which has the lowest number of teams at 18.

However clubs in the so-called “Big Five” all rely heavily on television money to help fill their coffers.

La Liga could lose as much as 600 million euros from broadcasters, the report said, while Serie A clubs stand to lose up to 450 million euros from a canceled season.

The Bundesliga and Ligue 1 stand to lose as much as 400 million and 200 millions euros respectively, it said.

Leagues across the continent have been put on hold by the spread of COVID-19, which has killed thousands of people around the world and whose epicenter is now Europe after originating in China’s Hubei Province.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.