content_text:
Japanese merchants may never have been more worried.

Sentiment among store managers, barbers, taxi drivers and others who deal directly with Japanese consumers plummeted to a record low at the end of last month, according to results announced yesterday from a Cabinet Office survey that goes back to 2002.

The Economy Watcher’s survey is one of the first consumer-related data points released by the Japanese government each month, so it offers an early glimpse of how people on the ground are feeling about the fast-moving impact of COVID-19.

A pedestrian crosses an intersection in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district yesterday, the first day of a state of emergency in the Japanese capital and Osaka as well as five prefectures due to the spread of COVID-19.
 Photo: Bloomberg

An index in the survey measuring people’s view of their current circumstances showed more gloom than after 2011’s deadly tsunami disaster or during the global financial crisis.

The situation is likely to have gotten worse since the survey. With infection numbers jumping recently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency covering Tokyo, Osaka and five other hard-hit prefectures, which took effect yesterday.

He also unveiled a record aid package to stem the economic damage as the country hunkers down.

A separate report released yesterday by Tokyo Shoko Research showed Japanese bankruptcies jumped 12 percent last month from a year earlier.

Business failures have increased by double digits in each of the last four months.

Some economists now see the economy shrinking more than 20 percent this quarter, while Goldman Sachs projects the economy would contract by 25 percent this quarter.

The call to stay at home, while not legally binding, would push down consumer spending by 25 percent on an annualized quarter-on-quarter basis and further reduce business spending, Goldman Sachs economists Naohiko Baba and Yuriko Tanaka wrote in a note yesterday.

They also see exports plunging 60 percent in the quarter.

The measures in Japan are of a different dimension from the lockdowns imposed in Europe and the US, given that most measures do not carry legal force and with public transport, financial services and food stores continuing, the economists said.

“However, we expect the explicit declaration of a state of emergency to meaningfully change the behavior of individuals, business owners and event organizers. We expect a change in how people act, including stepped-up business suspensions and people refraining significantly more from activities outside the home,” they wrote.

The month-long state of emergency gives regional governors more power to press businesses to close, but will add to pains the virus has inflicted on the world’s third-largest economy from supply chain disruptions and travel bans

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is expected to announce tomorrow what categories of businesses are going to have to shut, so many shops and businesses have been left to decide on their own for now.

Department stores, karaoke parlors and some non-essential businesses, such as Starbucks, have already said they would temporarily close.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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title: Main street sentiment plunges in Japan


content_text:
New Kinpo Group (新金寶集團) yesterday said it plans to launch production of masks and ventilators next month to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

The electronics conglomerate said it would leverage its overseas production capacity to help meet the needs of local healthcare systems in Southeast Asia and the US.

Production lines for masks and ventilators would be set up through its subsidiaries, including Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co Ltd (泰金寶) and Kinpo Electronics Inc (金寶) at plants in the Philippines, Thailand and the US, and the group has obtained the necessary permits from government authorities, Kinpo said in a statement.

“We will have a combined output of 2 million surgical masks and 1,000 ventilators per month,” a group official surnamed Koo (顧) told the Taipei Times by text message.

Citing Kinpo’s long-established presence in the Philippines and Thailand, New Kinpo chief executive officer Simon Shen (沈軾榮) said in the statement that the group has a responsibility to provide assistance to local governments as they face an apparent shortage of medical supplies.

The group would also donate about 200 3D masks to health professionals in Taiwan, Shen said.

Kinpo posted a 17.56 percent year-on-year decline in net profit for last year of NT$453.74 million (US$15.04 million).

This translated into earnings per share of NT$0.34, down from NT$0.41 in 2018.

The group’s board of directors last week proposed issuing a NT$0.3 cash dividend per share, which would represent a payout ratio of 88.24 percent.

The dividend must be approved by Kinpo shareholders at this year’s annual general meeting on June 22.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Kinpo to make masks, ventilators


title: Virus Outbreak: Government requisitions N95 masks

content_text:
The government has decided to requisition 3 million N95 masks per month — the nation’s total monthly output — to ensure a stable supply for medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said yesterday.

On average, medical workers in Taiwan use 30,000 to 40,000 N95 masks a day, and there are no worries at present about a shortage of supply, the official, who declined to be named, told the Central News Agency.

However, the government decided to go ahead and requisition the masks — 1.5 million every two weeks — on advice from the Centers for Disease Control to ensure the safety of medical personnel, the official said, without giving further details.

The four local companies capable of producing N95 masks have a combined capacity of 100,000 to 105,000 per day, the official said.

That capacity is projected to rise by about 20,000 units per day when one of the companies adds new production lines by the end of this month, the official said.

The government first requisitioned N95 masks, which can filter out at least 95 percent of airborne particles, on Feb. 6, according to a local mask supplier, and planned to requisition 2.1 million of them from Feb. 17 to March 17.

The N95 masks are more time-consuming to make than the regular masks that are widely used by most workers and other people.

Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) on Monday told reporters that N95 masks require four times the amount of melt-blown nonwoven fabric needed for a standard mask, of which Taiwan now produces 15 million a day.

Although enough of the raw material exists to produce both types of masks in their current quantities, Shen said the ministry would adjust the output of the masks based on the progression of the pandemic should the demand for N95 masks or regular masks rise sharply.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Sending masks to relatives allowed

content_text:
Starting today, Taiwanese are allowed send up to 30 masks every two months to first and second-degree relatives living abroad.

The government had announced the relaxation of a ban on mask exports on Monday last week.

People can send masks using Chunghwa Post or express delivery services, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Pharmacist Chen Hung-chih of the Shengang Drugstore in Changhua County’s Shengang Township holds a fan of nine medical masks yesterday.
 Photo courtesy of Chen Hung-chih

Taiwanese living abroad are also allowed to receive a up to 30 masks every two months, it added.

That means, for example, if a parent sends 30 masks to a child living abroad, the other parent or relatives may not send masks to the same child for two months, the ministry said.

People must present a digital permit when sending masks.

These can be obtained online from 9am today by applying through the Bureau of Foreign Trade Web site at emaskep.trade.gov.tw, by fax or in person at the bureau, the ministry said.

First-degree relatives include parents, children and siblings, while second-degree relatives include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and half-siblings, it said.

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content_text:
The pandemic has taken a turn for the worse in Europe and the US, and even British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Members of the 50 Cent Army and other Internet users with red-tinted glasses are spreading the view that this proves the failure of democracy and the success of China’s authoritarian regime, while praising the effects of the Wuhan lockdown. Are they right?

The US and European democracies have responded appropriately to epidemics in the past and they successfully eradicated smallpox and the bubonic plague, but the current response has been chaotic. This merely shows that the root of the problem is not to be found in democratic countries, but rather in the contacts between democracies and authoritarian regimes.

The reason the epidemic has spread so rapidly in Europe and the US is that they so readily trusted China’s totalitarian regime and its subsidiary, the WHO, and delayed their responses.

Democratic Taiwan remains wary of China and does not easily trust any Chinese information, and that is the cause of its success in handling the pandemic.

Late last year, doctors in the Wuhan area started mentioning a new infectious disease, but they were silenced by the Chinese government. It was this attempt at maintaining stability that caused the world to miss the possibility to move first.

Had it been possible to wipe out the virus before it started spreading, Wuhan would never have had to be locked down.

If doing so would still have been necessary, it could have been done at an earlier stage and the global pandemic could have been avoided.

Where there is authoritarian government, there is special privilege: Senior Chinese Communist Party officials were allowed to leave the city before the lockdown and they carried the disease to the rest of the world.

It is precisely because there is no government of, by and for the people in China that Chinese do not — and rightly so — trust their authoritarian government or unite in the fight against the epidemic as Taiwanese have. That is the reason for the chaos as Wuhan residents did what they could to escape, while authorities and residents in the areas surrounding the city did what they could to stop them.

Since China has covered up the truth on so many occasions, the claim that China has defeated the virus rings false. Considering that the accuracy of the coronavirus tests China is exporting is lower than 30 percent — less accurate than flipping a coin — that raises questions about the accuracy of the number of verified cases in China.

In comparison with China’s controls on freedom of expression, the public announcement that Johnson was diagnosed with the disease is proof of confidence in the system, and the fact that the announcement did not lead to domestic chaos and party infighting is proof of the system’s stability, and the quality of its politicians.

Just think what would happen if Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) or Russian President Vladimir Putin were diagnosed with COVID-19. Would that be made public? If such news were leaked, is it possible that it would not lead to factional power struggles or even power grabs by local strongmen trying to set up their own fiefdoms?

All this is enough to show that if a democratic country wants to protect the safety and health of its citizens, it is necessary to be on guard against totalitarian states.

Ideally, people would live in a world where all dictatorships have disappeared; that is the only way to build a world where all humanity would have a chance to be healthy.

Chen Jun-kuang is an attending physician in Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital’s psychiatry department.

Translated by Perry Svensson

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title: Virus shows failures of China, not its success


title: Virus Outbreak: Three new COVID-19 cases confirmed

people: 陳時中 柯文哲

content_text:
TAKING IT SLOW:
 Chen Shih-chung said while it would be nice to use a mask or two each day, they are disease prevention resources that must be rationed out carefully

The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday announced three new COVID-19 cases — two imported and one domestic — bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Taiwan to 379.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the domestic case, No. 379, is a woman in her 30s who sought treatment at a hospital for a fever and a runny nose on Saturday last week, and tested positive yesterday.

While the woman leads a relatively simple life and mainly remains at home, her husband in January traveled to Guangzhou, China, for work and she visited Southeast Asia in early February, Chen said, adding that 21 people who had direct contact with her have been identified and a further contact investigation is under way.

A pack of masks and accompanying note sent to Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung by a 10-year-old boy are pictured in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times

Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that the woman claimed that she usually stays at home and only walks to nearby shopping centers every day.

However, due to some difficulties in conducting the contact investigation, the local health department would need to access surveillance footage and other data sources to trace her activities and the possible source of infection, he said.

Case No. 377 is a woman in her 20s who studied in Spain and was placed in home quarantine after returning to Taiwan on March 22, Chen said.

She experienced a sore throat and diarrhea the next day, but took medicine on her own to relieve the symptoms, he said.

However, when the local government checked on her health on Saturday last week, she reported a persistent runny nose, nasal congestion, mild diarrhea, and chest and back pain, Chen said.

Her test result came back positive yesterday, he added.

Case No. 378 is a woman in her 60s who visited relatives in Indonesia between Feb. 16 and Sunday last week, when she was put in home quarantine, Chen said.

She began coughing on Wednesday last week and sought treatment for difficulty breathing, a fever, fatigue and pneumonia on Saturday last week, he said.

Ministry of Health and Welfare Department of Information Management Director Parng I-ming (龐一鳴) said that the center — with the help of HTC Corp’s (宏達電) DeepQ AI Platform and the Line messaging app — on Friday last week launched a chatbot on Line to provide information and care services to people in home quarantine, through which 9,843 people had reported their health conditions as of Tuesday.

While the number of imported cases has fallen over the past few days, the center is keeping an eye on whether there were any cluster infections that occurred during the four-day Tomb Sweeping Day weekend, Chen said, adding that the answer might be revealed as soon as Sunday.

Asked about a remark yesterday by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) that people should be allowed to buy 28 masks per month, Chen said that the maximum amount of adult masks people can buy is this week being increased to nine per 14 days, and that the government has stockpiled more than 267 million adult masks and more than 40 million children’s masks.

“Having one or even two masks per day would be nice, but I must reiterate that masks are disease prevention resources that should be used economically,” Chen said.

Taking a handwritten letter taped to a bag of masks of different sizes from his pocket, Chen said that he received the letter from a 10-year-old boy, who expressed his gratitude to the center for protecting everyone and wanted to give Chen the masks to protect him in the fight against COVID-19.

“It is moving to see a child so young who already knows to ration masks to help others,” he said.

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content_text:
The consumer price index (CPI) last month declined 0.01 percent from a year earlier as cheaper oil prices pushed down transportation costs, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

It was the second consecutive month that the inflationary gauge contracted, but the agency dismissed concerns over deflation, saying that most consumption categories reported price gains.

“We do not see signs of deflation, as consumer demand remained stable,” DGBAS Senior Executive Officer Chiou Shwu-chwen (邱淑純) told a news briefing in Taipei.

Shoppers look at garments on sale yesterday at a store in Taipei’s Wanhua District.
 Photo: CNA

Fuel cost corrections weighed on the inflationary gauge and the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed demand, she added.

Transportation and telecommunication costs shrank 4.29 percent from a year earlier, as international oil prices tumbled 16.96 percent, the report showed.

The CPI after seasonal adjustments fell 0.25 percent, but increased 0.55 percent for the first three months, suggesting stable prices, Chiou said.

The core CPI, which is considered a more reliable long-term track of consumer price movements because it excludes volatile items, gained 0.34 percent last month, she said.

Education and recreation expenses dropped 0.36 percent, as hotels and restaurants cut prices to stimulate sales, she said.

Food costs picked up 1.62 percent, led by a 12.55 percent increase in fruit prices, the report said.

Garment prices gained 1.04 percent as retailers offered smaller discounts for winter clothing this year, compared with last year, it said.

Prices for miscellaneous items also advanced 0.75 percent, elevated by more expensive jewelry and personal accessories, it said.

The wholesale price index (WPI), a measure of production costs, fell 7.32 percent, the steepest pace of decline in 52 months, the report said.

Cheaper fuel costs had a negative effect on export and import prices, with the correction most evident for raw materials, as well as base metal, plastic and chemical products, the report said.

The WPI fell 5.03 percent in the first quarter.

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title: CPI inches down on cheaper oil


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Taiwanese-Danish firm develops testing device
By Yang Mien-chieh
and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwanese-Danish firm BluSense Diagnostics has developed a device to diagnose COVID-19 with 90 percent certainty within 12 minutes using one drop of blood, and the EU next month could license it for use and it could be available in Taiwan by June.

Company president Filippo Bosco and executive vice president Jessie Sun (孫偉芸) yesterday demonstrated the machine at a news conference.

The device, no larger than an electronic blood pressure monitor, can detect immunoglobulins M and G, which are antibodies produced in the body in the early and mid-late stage of COVID-19 infection, Sun said.

A BluSense Diagnostics ViroTrack diagnostic machine adapted to detect antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is displayed at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times

As it is capable of producing results within 12 minutes, the machine could help detect whether patients are infected during the recovery period, screen local cluster infections, detect asymptomatic patients and screen those traveling abroad, she said.

It could also be used to verify whether patients should be cleared to leave the hospital, she added.

The machine last week underwent preliminary clinical tests at the Hvidovre Hospital near Copenhagen, Bosco said.

It has been able to identify whether the 15 subjects used in testing were positive or negative for the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, he said.

The company next week is looking to hold a larger-scale clinical trial — about 200 subjects — in Italy, Bosco said, adding that negotiations for conducting clinical trials in Taiwan are ongoing.

BluSense has previously developed diagnostic platforms for the Zika and dengue viruses, and the new platform had simply replaced the Zika and dengue virus antigen with a COVID-19 antigen, Sun said.

BluSense was established in 2014, with its equipment manufacturing and hardware development centers in Taoyuan’s Gueishan District (龜山), while its biochemistry research and development branch is in Copenhagen.

It received a US Agency for International Development grant in 2016 for developing ViroTrack, a rapid point of care diagnostics system using Blu-ray-based optical detection.

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title: Tainan councilor found guilty in wage fraud case

content_text:
The Tainan District Court yesterday found Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Tainan City Councilor Hung Yu-feng (洪玉鳳) guilty of corruption, for pocketing NT$11.35 million (US$376,326) in government funds intended for staff wages over a 10-year period.

Hung’s husband, Kuo Sheng-huang (郭勝煌), was also convicted in the wage fraud scheme.

Investigators found that Kuo, who worked as Hung’s office director, falsified documents about staff recruitment and produced bogus receipts to apply for government funds, which went into the couple’s personal accounts.

Although the court found the couple guilty of breaching the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例), they were granted a two-year probation and would not have to serve time if they follow specific conditions set by the court.

They were stripped of their civil rights for five years and must pay a fine of NT$1 million each.

As it was the first ruling in the case, it is subject to appeal.

Starting in 2010, during Hung’s fifth term as councilor, she and her husband used the names of six people — who colluded with the couple — which they listed as office assistants and applied with the Tainan City Government for their wages, various subsidies for research and holiday pay, a court statement said.

The fraudulent scheme ran until public prosecutors launched an investigation last year, leading to Hung and Kuo being questioned and detained in March last year, released on bail in May and indicted in September.

Councilors in the six special municipalities can hire six to eight office staff and policy research assistants. Most councilors have three to four full-time employees, while the rest work as part-timers.

Separately, prosecutors yesterday indicted KMT New Taipei City Councilor Jongren Dalus on charges of vote-buying and illegal campaigning in connection with the January legislative elections.

Besides serving as the Aboriginal councilor for New Taipei City, Dalus is the chairman of the KMT’s National Association for Urban Region Lowland Aborigines.

KMT Taichung City Councilor Huang Jen (黃仁), who was contesting a legislative seat for a lowland Aboriginal district, allegedly gave Dalus, then his New Taipei City campaign director-general, NT$200,000 to buy votes, Taichung prosecutors said.

Dalus and Huang are Amis Aborigines from the nation’s east coast.

Prosecutors quoted Dalus as saying he did not distribute the money to Aboriginal voters in the city, but used it for personal expenses.

Dalus allegedly received the money, along with a list of eligible Aboriginal voters, from Huang’s wife, Wang Chun-mei (王春梅).

In yesterday’s indictment, Dalus and Wang were charged with breaching provisions of the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員舉罷免法).

In other news, New Taipei City Councilor Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) of the Democratic Progressive Party was yesterday placed in judicial detention in an ongoing corruption probe into a wage fraud scheme.

Since 2011, Wang allegedly made NT$4 million in illicit profits by listing the names of her three relatives as office staff to collect wages and other government subsidies.

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people: 黃仁 洪玉鳳 王春 王淑慧


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Hon Hai teaming up with US firm to make ventilators

LIFE-SAVING DEVICES:
 Hon Hai founder Terry Gou is facilitating cooperation between the companies and production is expected to start in four to six weeks

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is partnering with US medical device company Medtronic PLC to produce ventilators to assist in the fight against COVID-19, the company said yesterday.

Medtronic chief executive officer Omar Ishrak in an interview with CNBC on Monday said that his company is teaming up with Hon Hai — better known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) — to make ventilators at Hon Hai’s plant in Wisconsin to support treatment for the sickest COVID-19 patients.

Hon Hai’s collaboration with Medtronic would cover the design and development of the devices, while production would start in four to six weeks, Ishrak said, without specifying manufacturing capacity.

The news was confirmed by Hon Hai, which said that medical care and technology specialists from the two companies are working closely in the hopes of speeding up mass production of the ventilators.

Hon Hai founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) is facilitating cooperation between the companies, the firm added.

Hon Hai confirmed that in the middle of last month, it applied to manufacture masks at a factory run by its Hong-Kong listed subsidiary, FIT Hon Teng Ltd (鴻騰精密), in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城), where the company is headquartered, and that it received approval from Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration.

The company’s first mask production line was set up at the Tucheng plant early last month, a source familiar with the matter said.

The coronavirus has spread worldwide and Hon Hai expects to extend mask production from the Tucheng factory to its overseas production bases, the source added.

The company has since February been making masks in China, while its subsidiary Sharp Corp began to produce them in Japan late last month.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

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title: Virus Outbreak: Institutes unveil prototype rapid test kit

content_text:
The National Health Research Institute (NHRI) and the National Defense Medical Center yesterday announced a prototype COVID-19 rapid diagnostic kit that can provide results in about 15 minutes.

The NHRI and the center’s Institute of Preventive Medicine used SARS-CoV antibodies produced during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and picked out one that can identify SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, to develop the rapid test kit.

After spending a month developing the test kit, the institutes yesterday in Taipei presented the prototype to pharmaceutical companies in the hope of achieving technology transfers and starting mass production.

National Institute of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology Director Liao Ching-len explains the functions of a prototype COVID-19 rapid diagnostic tool in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

The test works by placing a specimen taken from the mouth or nose onto a test strip, which siphons the specimen toward the antibodies on the strip, NHRI National Institute of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology Director Liao Ching-len (廖經綸) said.

As researchers have identified the coronavirus’ spike protein, if the specimen contains SARS-CoV-2, the spike protein would be caught by the antibody and two lines would appear on the test strip, indicating a positive result, he said.

The results are shown in a similar fashion to a pregnancy test — one line means negative and two lines means positive — Liao said.

The prototype has been proven to avoid cross-reaction with other viruses, including human coronaviruses OC43, 229E and NL63; adenoviruses; respiratory syncytial virus; type A influenza viruses H1N1, H5N1 and H7N9; and enterovirus 71, he said.

The prototype is not meant to replace the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test, which is currently being used for diagnosis, he said, adding that they hope the rapid test will be used as a complementary measure to allow hospitals to screen patients rapidly and sort them, Liao said.

They also hope experienced pharmaceutical companies can join them in refining the prototype, and manufacture and release the final product for front line disease prevention, he added.

NHRI President Liang Kung-yee (梁賡義) said that the Food and Drug Administration has also launched a scheme, which grants permission for clinical trials and mass production at the same time, to shorten the duration required for a product to hit the market.

If the procedures go smoothly, the test kit could be out in three months, Liang said.

Other countries have also expressed an interest in technology transfers, but the NHRI wants to give priority to Taiwanese companies, he added.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Elderly people urged to stay active

content_text:
By Chen En-hui and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Elderly people can boost their immune systems by following a healthy diet, exercising indoors, getting sufficient sleep and stimulating their brains to combat COVID-19, a physician said.

As of last year, people aged 65 or older accounted for 15.28 percent of the nation’s population, highlighting the importance of healthy lifestyles for elderly people, Chen Chih-chieh (陳至潔), a project manager at the dementia care center at Taoyuan General Hospital under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said on Sunday, citing Ministry of the Interior data.

Due to the degeneration of oral function, elderly people should eat food that is fully cooked, easy to chew and swallow, high in fiber, and low in oil and starch, Chen said.

They should follow a diet rich in diverse sources of nutrition, such as beans, fish and eggs, and low in processed foods, she added.

While eating, elderly people should sit upright, chew slowly, alternate solid food and soup between swallows, and remain in a sitting position until at least one hour after the meal to avoid choking or aspiration pneumonia, she said.

To maintain a healthy level of activity, Chen recommended stretching or muscle training exercises for 30 minutes three times a week, such as yoga, half squats, and using a spinning bike or elliptical machine.

Doing house work and playing with children also have health benefits, she added.

Keeping a regular daily schedule and getting at least eight hours of sleep are a must for elderly people, Chen said, adding that they should avoid alcohol and tobacco, and wash their hands frequently.

Elderly people who have insomnia should seek medical help to find the cause for the condition and receive treatment, Chen said.

Reading, traveling, speaking and engaging in community service and activities can help prevent degenerative brain diseases, she said.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: KMT lawmaker’s mask disinfection attempt goes awry

‘NOT ENOUGH MASKS’:
 Yeh Yu-lan admitted that she made a mistake by not using a rice cooker, and apologized to her school science teachers

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yeh Yu-lan (葉毓蘭) yesterday sparked controversy after she claimed to have nearly caused a fire in her legislative office while attempting to disinfect a mask with an air fryer.

Yeh said that she was on Tuesday attempting to follow instructions from Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳), but used an air fryer instead of a rice cooker as Tang had instructed.

The mask burned up, nearly starting a fire that could have burned down the Legislative Yuan’s second building on Taipei’s Qingdao E Road, she said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yeh Yu-lan holds a shriveled mask during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei yesterday after she used the wrong method to sterilize it.
 Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

Responding to criticism from other lawmakers over her use of the air fryer, Yeh later in the day admitted fault on Facebook and said that she had not studied physics and chemistry well enough in high school.

“OK, OK, I admit it, and I apologize to my junior-high school and senior-high school chemistry and physics teachers. I did not study well, but if I had I would be working at Academia Sinica, not in the legislature,” she wrote.

Yeh’s office also issued a statement saying that Yeh would appear later in the afternoon with the air fryer to demonstrate its “proper use in making deep-fried tianbula (甜不辣) and shrimp pancakes.”

Yeh disclosed her mishap at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee earlier yesterday, saying that she was troubled by an inadequate supply of masks, citing the need to wear one everywhere in public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She asked Minister of the Interior Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇): “I would like to ask for advice, minister, has anyone here ever steamed a mask before?”

Hsu said that he had not tried the procedure.

Yeh said that the masks she had used for the prior two days had developed an unpleasant smell, and that she hoped to find a way to stretch her limited supply.

Tang has only used six masks since February, Yeh said, adding: “Many people still do not have enough masks.”

She said that she hoped to remind the public to only use a rice cooker if they hope to extend the life of their masks.

people: 徐國勇 唐鳳 葉毓蘭


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Virus Outbreak: As Wuhan ends lockdown, NY deaths top 4,000

Thousands yesterday streamed out of Wuhan, China, after a lockdown on the epicenter of COVID-19 was lifted, offering a ray of hope even as Europe and the US faced rising deaths and crippling economic pain.

New York endured one of its darkest days so far, with the virus death toll surging past 4,000, hundreds more than the number killed on Sept. 11, 2001.

New York state on Tuesday recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500.

A woman adjusts her child’s mask as they arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, China, to take one of the first trains leaving the city early yesterday.
 Photo: AFP

“Behind every one of those numbers is an individual. There’s a family, there’s a mother, there’s a father, there’s a sister, there’s a brother. So a lot of pain again today,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

The US mourned another 1,939 deaths in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, bringing the nation’s death toll to nearly 13,000.

The hardest-hit countries, among them Italy, Spain and France, are also grappling with how to balance public safety with the devastating effects of shutdowns that have erased millions of jobs, sent financial markets plunging and pummeled major industries.

In an alarming calculation of the economic costs, the French economy recorded its worst performance since 1945 during the first quarter, shrinking about 6 percent.

Yet health experts stressed it is too early to loosen restrictions.

“Now is not the time to relax measures. It is the time to once again double and triple our collective efforts to drive towards suppression with the whole support of society,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

In Wuhan, which led the world with its unprecedented lockdown, strict measures appeared to have paid off. After a nearly 11-week travel ban was finally lifted, tens of thousands of people fled the city in joyous scenes that contrasted with the macabre mood around much of the world — even if some train passengers were traveling in hazmat suits.

“I’ve been stuck for 77 days. I’ve been stuck for 77 days,” shouted one man, who arrived at the railway station for a train back to his home province of Hunan.

Yet not all is back to normal, with schools still closed and travel discouraged. At the train station a robot whirred through crowds to spray their feet with disinfectant as it played a recorded message reminding them to wear masks.

Passengers also had to pass temperatures checks and show green “health codes” on their phone, which are calculated in part by whether their neighborhoods have been declared virus-free.

“Wuhan has lost a lot in this epidemic, and Wuhan people have paid a big price,” a 21-year-old man surnamed Yao said.

“Now that the lockdown has been lifted, I think we’re all pretty happy,” he added.

Yet even as Wuhan came back to life, new imported cases in Heilongjiang Province surged to a daily high of 25, fueled by an influx of infected travelers crossing the border from Russia.

Suifenhe, a city in Heilongjiang, yesterday announced restrictions on the movement of citizens similar to the measures Wuhan has endured.

Meanwhile, in Spain, home to the world’s second-deadliest outbreak, another 757 deaths were reported yesterday, bringing the toll up for a second day after several days of decline.

Hundreds are still dying daily in devastated Italy, although the peak of the crisis appears to have passed, with the daily rise of infections hitting a new low of 3,039.

Britain, meanwhile, reported a record 786 more deaths on Tuesday, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson entered his third day in intensive care yesterday.

Additional reporting by AP and Reuters


title: Chinese property tycoon and Xi critic under investigation

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Outspoken Chinese Communist Party (CCP) critic and millionaire property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang (任志強) has been placed under investigation for “serious violations of discipline and law,” an anti-graft watchdog said.

The party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced late on Tuesday that the 69-year-old former chairman of the state-owned real-estate developer Beijing Huayuan Group (北京市華遠集團) was under investigation.

Rights campaigners have accused Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and the CCP of using charges such as “disciplinary violations” — often considered to refer to corruption — as a way to silence dissent.

Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang poses for a photograph in his office in Beijing on Dec. 3, 2012.
 Photo: AP

Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on civil society since Xi took power in 2012, tightening restrictions on freedom of speech, and detaining hundreds of activists and lawyers.

Ren disappeared from the public eye last month, shortly after penning an essay that was fiercely critical of Xi’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The retired entrepreneur has emerged in the past few years as one of the CCP’s most prominent critics in the business world.

His essay has been scrubbed from China’s Internet, which regularly censors content that challenges the authorities, but it has been shared online outside China and a copy has been saved by news aggregator China Digital Times.

“This epidemic has revealed the fact that the Party and government officials only care about protecting their own interests, and the monarch only cares about protecting their interests and core position,” Ren wrote, without referencing Xi by name.

It also accuses the government of concealing the initial outbreak.

Nicknamed “Big Cannon” for his fiery rhetoric, Ren formerly enjoyed close links with major figures in China’s political establishment, including his former classmate Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (王岐山).

A CCP member for decades, Ren was also an influential blogger on Sina Weibo, where he had millions of followers. His account was closed by authorities in 2016 after he repeatedly called for greater freedom of the press.

Wang Yaqiu (王亞秋), a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the probe against Ren fitted a pattern of the CCP using charges such as “disciplinary violations” to silence its critics.

“It is quite clear that the Chinese government is punishing Ren for his speech critical of President Xi Jinping and Chinese government under the veneer of law. The government has a record of criminalizing peaceful speech using bogus charges,” Wang said.

Ren is likely being held in a form of extrajudicial secret detention known as liuzhi (留置), Wang said.

“Under liuzhi, detainees are held incommunicado — without access to lawyers or families — for up to six months,” Wang said.

Human rights lawyer Li Fangping (李方平) said the announcement was deliberately timed to minimize its effect, coming just hours before travel restrictions were lifted in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus first emerged.

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title: Pandemics bring lessons and ultimately progress

content_text:
Governments should be integrating compassion, respect and generosity into COVID-19 responses

Humanity has survived many pandemics throughout history and they have often taught us lessons that helped spur subsequent progress.

For example, the kingdoms and states of central and western Europe abolished serfdom once it became clear in the aftermath of devastating pestilence that dependency and servitude jeopardized leaders’ hold on power.

Similarly, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic killed more than 50 million people, but highlighted the vulnerability of entire countries in the absence of widespread access to basic healthcare. That episode spurred governments to start building the public health systems that improved life so much in the 20th century.

More often than not, humanity has banded together in the face of all kinds of threats. The COVID-19 pandemic and its many ramifications threaten to push our social, political and economic structures to the breaking point. If the past teaches us anything, it is that our survival and welfare demand that we change.

The combination of disease, recession and fear can rapidly overwhelm states and societies. Each coming day brings increasing challenges that can be met only by caring for the sick; minimizing the effects of shutdowns on lives and livelihoods; securing the delivery of adequate water, food and energy supplies; and racing to find a cure for the virus.

As in any asymmetric conflict, success depends on resilience. To contain the economic and sociopolitical fallout from the crisis, policymakers should focus on preserving human dignity and welfare as the bedrock of national and international security.

In much of the world, the most vulnerable members of society are those on the front lines of the crisis: not just doctors, nurses, caregivers and pharmacists, but also sanitation workers, farmers, supermarket cashiers and truck drivers.

These people are displaying the courage, sacrifice and dedication that would see us through the next 12 to 18 months of lockdowns, but in the absence of state support, what is to happen to the hundreds of thousands of people who have been laid off and the millions more who face looming hardship as unemployment continues to rise?

As the calls for social distancing grow louder and more incessant, we must remember our humanitarian duty to one another. Security, far from being individual, is collective and global.

The logic of mutually assured survival does not allow for gray areas. In the end, successful conflict resolution always finds a way to transcend political beliefs, nationality, ethnicity, gender and religion. Likewise, beating back this pandemic would require that our commitment to life be truly universal.

The world has reliable brokers that can help to manage this and other crises, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. They and other similarly trusted organizations must take the lead in developing a public platform of health facts so that everyone understands both the scale of the challenge and the changes that we must make to meet it.

Similarly, those who cry hoax need to be exposed as the callous cynics that they are.

The people who have been attacked the most over the past few years — migrants and refugees — must be an integral part of national efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia has said that 55 million people in the region require some sort of humanitarian assistance, and that displaced women and girls are especially vulnerable in a pandemic — so the challenge to both public health and our shared humanity is vast.

Fortunately, the multilateral system, although damaged by nationalist attacks over the past few years, still has the capacity to face up to this existential crisis.

Although human solidarity initially was significantly weakened as the coronavirus spread from China, it is now being bolstered by Chinese assistance to Italy and other countries in their time of need.

The crisis is equally a crisis of globalization, which, while it has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty over the past few decades, has also undermined the foundations of sustainability. A better globalization would require nothing less than extending the ethic of human solidarity beyond the contours of our immediate response to the pandemic.

Real success lies not in taming a pathogen, but in rediscovering and institutionalizing the true values of compassion, respect and generosity in the weeks and months ahead.

Prince El Hassan bin Talal is the founder and chairman of the Arab Thought Forum and the West Asia-North Africa Forum, and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies.

Copyright: Project Syndicate

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title: Hong Kong set for HK$138 billion in COVID-19 relief

content_text:
PAY OFFERS:
 HK$80 billion is earmarked to subsidize 50 percent of some employees’ wages, while Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her ministers are taking 10 percent pay cuts

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday announced a fresh government stimulus package of about HK$137.5 billion (US$17.7 billion) to support the territory’s deteriorating economy amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The spending package is to include a HK$80 billion job security program to subsidize 50 percent of wages for workers in affected industries for six months, Lam said in a news conference yesterday evening following a meeting of her Executive Council, which approved the measures.

The government would also suggest that transit operator MTR Corp (香港鐵路), starting in July, cut fares by 20 percent for six months, Lam said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, right, arrives yesterday for a news conference on a new stimulus relief package.
 Photo: Reuters

“We have to try our best to prevent the closure of businesses or large-scale job cuts,” she said.

“As we are facing an unprecedented challenge, the government has to respond in an unprecedented manner — to help businesses to survive, safeguard employment, and minimize the burden on businesses and citizens,” she added.

The Hong Kong government had been under pressure to add more support for an economy that had already slid into recession following months of political unrest and now faces shutdowns to curb the virus outbreak.

In February, the government announced a HK$30 billion anti-epidemic fund and a HK$120 billion relief package in the annual budget centered on a HK$10,000 handout to all permanent residents age 18 and above.

NEW MEASURES

Other measures announced yesterday include: Job security payments capped at HK$9,000 per individual for six months, with payments expected to be made no later than June. About 1.5 million residents are expected to benefit.

Thirty-thousand jobs are to be created, including civil service positions and internships, while registration fees for medical workers are to be waived and tenants of government properties would have their rents reduced by 75 percent.

Lam and 16 Cabinet ministers have also agreed to cut their salaries by 10 percent for one year.

That means Lam’s monthly salary will fall to HK$390,000 after controversially rising to HK$434,000 in July last year.

The additional spending announced yesterday almost doubles the projected budget deficit for the 2020-2021 fiscal year to HK$276.6 billion from an earlier estimate of HK$139.1 billion, which would account for about 9.5 percent of GDP, Lam said.

The relief deal is equivalent to 4.6 percent of the territory’s GDP, she said.

RESERVES TO DROP

Government reserves are also expected to drop to as low as HK$800 billion as a result of the relief measures, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan (陳茂波) said at the news conference.

Hong Kong has fared better than many other regions in controlling the disease, with confirmed cases at about 935 yesterday.

Yet a second wave of registered infections brought by residents returning from overseas has caused alarm and spurred discussion of tighter restrictions, including closing all non-essential businesses.

Additional reporting by staff writer

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title: Two Han supporters ask court to stop recall vote

content_text:
‘RIDICULOUS BEHAVIOR’:
 Wecare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin said the filing to halt the recall was like Han Kuo-yu losing a game of mahjong and ‘flipping the table’

Former Kaohsiung Information Bureau director-general Anne Wang (王淺秋) and lawyer Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元) yesterday filed a request with the Taipei High Administrative Court to halt an expected recall vote of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), claiming that campaigners “jumped the gun” in collecting signatures.

Petitioners on Tuesday passed the second-stage threshold needed for a recall vote after the Kaohsiung City Election Commission finished reviewing more than 400,000 signatures.

The commission confirmed 377,662 signatures to be valid after duplicates and signatures with incomplete information were removed.

Lawyer Yeh Ching-yuan, left, and former Kaohsiung Information Bureau director-general Anne Wang, center, talk to reporters yesterday outside the Taipei High Administrative Court, where they filed a request to halt a recall vote against Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu.
 Photo: CNA

It was to report the result yesterday to the Central Election Commission, which is expected to hold a meeting to review the case on Friday next week.

A vote must be held 20 to 60 days after a recall case is established.

Wecare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin (尹立), who has been leading the campaign to recall the mayor, yesterday said that the filing by Wang, Han’s spokeswoman in last year’s mayoral election, and Yeh was as if Han had lost a game of mahjong and was “flipping the table.”

“This is ridiculous behavior,” Yin said.

The results announced on Tuesday were a review of the second-stage signatures, but Han’s filing addresses the first stage of the process, he said.

Han should have raised his issues then, Yin said, questioning why the mayor had waited until the results were announced to mention them.

“This means that Han Kuo-yu is running out of tactics and can no longer find any reasons to refute the expression of Kaohsiung residents,” he said.

Chang Po-yang (張博洋), deputy director of Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s news department, said that he could not believe that a person who “ran away” was accusing petitioners of collecting signatures too early, referring to Han’s announcement less than a year after assuming office as mayor that he would take a leave of absence to campaign for president.

Han’s announcement that he would file a request to stop a vote fewer than 12 hours after the petition passed its second-stage signature threshold shows that he did not take the recall petition seriously before, and now, the entire Kaohsiung City Government is desperate, Chang said.

More than 370,000 signatures have been approved, but Han is disputing the 20,000 signatures collected during the first phase, he said.

“This is like a child arguing,” he added.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Exports dipped 0.6 percent last month

content_text:
BETTER THAN EXPECTED:
 A drop of 2 to 5% had been forecast, but as exports to the US fell by 3.1% and to Europe by 8.1%, those to emerging markets proved more resilient

Taiwan’s exports last month declined by a marginal 0.6 percent from a year earlier to US$28.27 billion — still the third-highest level for March — as non-tech firms took a hit from an oil price slump, but electronics vendors benefited from inventory replenishment demand from China, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

The result was better than a 2 to 5 percent retreat the ministry projected last month, thanks to the smooth resumption of work in China, order transfers and employees working from home, the ministry said.

“It is not clear if the pickup in electronics sales will continue, as the COVID-19 pandemic is halting economic activity in Europe and the US, but demand for 5G deployment and artificial intelligence [AI] applications continues to gain momentum,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing in Taipei.

Such factors might leave exports with 0.5 percent growth or a 2.5 percent contraction this month, Tsai added.

The pandemic and the tumbling price of oil weighed on shipments in almost all product categories by double-digit percentages, the ministry said in its monthly report.

Exports of plastic, chemical, base metal, machinery and electrical products reported declines of between 11.5 percent and 20 percent from a year earlier, the report showed.

Customers were hesitant to build up inventory as concerns over a global recession loom larger, the report said.

Shipments to the US dropped 3.1 percent, fell 2.1 percent to Japan and plunged 8.1 percent to Europe, where COVID-19 infections have been rising and authorities have shut down almost all nonessential businesses to combat the disease, it said.

Exports to emerging markets were resilient, increasing 3.4 percent to China and Southeast Asia, the ministry said, citing strong demand for information and communications technology products.

Exports of electronics rose 18.1 percent year-on-year to a record high of US$10.8 billion, with semiconductors mounting a 20.5 percent gain, the report showed.

“Demand for 5G deployment, high-performance chips and AI applications appear unharmed thus far,” Tsai said.

Electronics suppliers also benefited from teleconferencing, distance education and work-from-home technologies, Tsai said.

Imports squeezed a fractional 0.5 percent increase to US$25.48 billion, allowing Taiwan to retain a trade surplus of US$2.78 billion, the ministry said.

While imports of capital equipment dropped 12.7 percent to US$4.4 billion, Tsai said that the value was decent, based on historical comparisons.

For the first three months of this year, exports expanded 3.7 percent to US$78.7 billion, while imports increased 3.5 percent to US$69.17 billion.

Both results beat a forecast by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics in February.

Looking ahead, the pandemic poses the biggest challenge that could curtail demand for the nation’s exports, Tsai said, adding that global research institutes expect an abrupt recession in the West and a deeper slowdown in China.

Major tech firms might shed more light on the landscape at their upcoming investors’ conferences, Tsai added.

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STAYING FIT:
 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is one local firm that took advantage of rate cuts worldwide to lower its fundraising costs, analysts said

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it plans to raise NT$21.6 billion (US$716.2 million) in a bond issuance to finance the construction of a new production site and further expand manufacturing capacity.

TSMC on Monday in a statement said that it would issue NT$21.6 billion of secured corporate bonds in three tranches: NT$5.9 billion of five-year bonds at a rate of 0.52 percent, NT$10.4 billion of seven-year bonds at 0.58 percent and NT$5.3 billion of 10-year bonds at 0.6 percent.

MasterLink Securities Co (元富證券) is the lead underwriter for the sale, TSMC said.

The logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is pictured at its headquarters in Hsinchu on Aug. 31, 2018.
 Photo: Reuters

The chipmaker did not say when the bonds would be issued, but there is speculation that it could be by the end of this month.

Proceeds from the sale would be used to finance the firm’s development of advanced 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes at its facility in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區), analysts said.

The company mass produces 7nm chips, but expects to start the mass production of 5-nanometer chips in the first half of this year and 3-nanometer chips in 2022.

The planned bond issuance would be TSMC’s second of this year, after it issued NT$24 billion in unsecured bonds last month.

TSMC’s board of directors in February approved a proposal to offer up to NT$60 billion in unsecured bonds in Taiwan, its largest corporate bond issuance in six years, which means that the firm could issue an additional NT$14.4 billion of bonds.

The company is one local firm that took advantage of rate cuts worldwide, sparked by concern over the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, to lower its fundraising costs, analysts said.

The interest rate on the planned bond issuance is 0.06 percentage points lower than on last month’s issuance, analysts said, adding that the 0.52 percent rate on the tranche of five-year bonds is the lowest among private companies that have sought to raise funds in Taiwan over the past few years.

At an investors’ conference in January, TSMC said that it expected to raise its capital expenditure for this year from a record US$15 billion to US$16 billion — 80 percent of which would go toward developing 3-nanometer, 5-nanometer and 7-nanometer technology.

Of the remaining 20 percent, 10 percent would be used to develop better packaging and testing technology, and 10 percent would be used to develop processes to enable the firm to maintain its competitive edge, TSMC said.

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title: TSMC hoping to pick up NT$21.6bn via bond sale


content_text:
PANDEMIC ART:
 The founders of a theater company and dance troupe, and the chair of a performing arts group are the featured guests in the livestreamed series

Three Taiwanese theater professionals were to be featured yesterday in an episode of Segal Talks, an hour-long livestreamed discussion series presented by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the City University of New York.

Created last month by center executive director Frank Hentschker, who hosts the session, the Segal Talks are discussions with performers, theater professionals, curators and academics from the US and around the world about their life, work and art during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.

The shows are livestreamed at noon Mondays to Fridays at noon in New York on the HowlRound Theatre Commons’ Web site (howlround.com or www.facebook.com/HowlRound) as well as the Martin E Segal Theatre Center’s site (www.facebook.com/SegalCenter).

“An Update On The Situation For Theatre Artists In Taiwan” features Very Mainstream Studio (狠主流) and Very Theatre Company (狠劇場) founder/director Chou Tung-yen (周東彥), Horse (驫舞劇場) cofounder and dancer Chen Wu-kang (陳武康) and Performing Arts Network Development Association chairperson Kathy Hong (洪家琪), who has worked with several groups and theaters, including Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), and served as marketing communications director at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and as executive director of International Organization of Scenographers, Theater Architects and Technicians.

Hong said the discussion would offer a rare opportunity for the international community to understand the current situation in Taiwan.

While the program featuring Chou, Chen and Hong was to be livestreamed starting at midnight last night, recordings of each session are available online after the initial broadcast.

The hour-long Segal Talks series was inspired by a famous quote from German playwright Bertolt Brecht — “New times need new forms of theater,” the ministry said.

Previous discussions have featured New York-based actor and playwright Taylor Mac, German theater director Thomas Ostermeier, Italian playwright Marco Martinelli, Italian actress Ermanna Montanari and Japanese director Toshiki Okada, the ministry added.

Additional reporting by CNA and staff writer

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title: Virus Outbreak: ‘Segal Talks’ features Taiwanese arts world


content_text:
TPK Holding Co (宸鴻), a supplier of touch sensors and modules, yesterday reported a fall in first-quarter revenue that was less than expected thanks to a more rapid recovery of production and supply chains.

Revenue dropped 23.7 percent to NT$28.19 billion (US$934.68 million) from NT$36.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, but the decline was less drastic than the 30 percent slump that the company forecast in February.

On an annual basis, revenue dropped 9.65 percent from NT$31.2 billion.

“The resumption of factory operations and the recovery of supply chains were faster than we anticipated,” a company official said, adding that transportation restrictions in Xiamen, China, where TPK operates plants, were also relaxed earlier than expected.

The company’s revenue last month rebounded 27.4 percent to NT$10.45 billion from NT$8.21 billion in February.

Separately, E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), a supplier of e-paper displays, reported that revenue last month soared 90.9 percent to NT$1.28 billion from NT$668.75 million in February, bringing the firm’s first-quarter revenue to NT$2.92 billion, down 1.1 percent from NT$2.95 billion a year earlier.

By the end of last month, about 80 to 90 percent of its Chinese manufacturing capacity was restored, E Ink said, adding that its supply chains have been gradually recovering and are approaching normal levels.

Robust demand for its thin-film transistors, which are used in flexible e-papers, also helped drive revenue last month, the firm said.

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title: TPK Holding saved by rapid return of production


title: EDITORIAL: Keep recall focused on Han Kuo-yu

people: 江啟臣 陳菊 韓國瑜

content_text:
The recall of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has begun, as the Kaohsiung City Election Commission on Tuesday said that campaigners have met the signature threshold for a vote, which is likely to happen in mid-June.

Many factors would complicate the outcome, and Han and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the coming months would try to stack the cards in their favor. For the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), there is a risk that they would try to turn the vote into a fight between the pan-blue and pan-green camps. On the national level, it should keep its distance, and leave the vote to Kaohsiung residents.

KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) has to support Han, although there is a possibility that mobilizing the party’s national resources for a local issue would do more harm than good. It looks certain that Han has no intention of resigning to pre-empt the recall, and there is reason to believe that he would challenge Chiang for the party chairmanship next year.

Internal divisions within the KMT are likely to emerge in the coming months regardless of whether Han is recalled. Chiang must find a way to rein him in, while appearing to be supportive, to bolster his own chances of remaining chairman.

The KMT-majority Kaohsiung City Council is planning to postpone the coming session for a month, ostensibly as part of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to test holding council meetings remotely. The next session was to start on Thursday next week, and a plenary question-and-answer session, in which Han would face scrutiny over his performance, would have taken place on May 20, a month before the recall vote.

The postponement means the session would come after the vote. Was this a KMT ruse to ensure that Han does not have the opportunity for more gaffes prior to the vote?

The anticipated mid-June date for the recall vote originally suggested that the COVID-19 crisis might dampen voter turnout, which would work to Han’s advantage. Another factor is whether the vote takes place near the end of the month, and the long Dragon Boat Festival weekend. Young people registered to vote in Kaohsiung returning for the holiday would not be good for Han: This is the demographic that is most aggrieved by the mayor.

Immediately after the commission’s announcement, Han hired attorney Yeh Ching-yuan (葉慶元), who yesterday morning asked the Taipei High Administrative Court for an injunction against the recall. This is unlikely to succeed, but Yeh also used the occasion to question the involvement of Wecare Kaohsiung founder Aaron Yin (尹立), who is a major proponent of the recall.

Yeh said that Yin was the director-general of the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs under former Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), a major DPP figure. He was insinuating that the recall drive was part of a plot by officials under the previous Kaohsiung City Government to pull Han down, and this was Yeh’s ploy to draw the DPP into the fight.

Making this recall process a battle between the KMT and the DPP would be destructive for both sides. Chen was a popular mayor, and attacking her now might consolidate Kaohsiung voters’ negative feelings toward Han. However, distracting attention from Han and focusing on pan-blue versus pan-green camp politics might help him. His perceived advantages as a maverick “everyman” appealed to voters in the original mayoral election, but many have since grown jaded with him.

Proponents of the recall should work to ensure that the debate remains focused on the mayor and his record in office.

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content_text:
GLOBAL REACH:
 Taiwan Cricket said that up to five sides could play in a broadcast competition and that upgrading local infrastructure would be beneficial to a deal

Broadcasting companies are turning to Taiwan for cricket content amid the shutdown of the sport in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Internet streaming platform based in Mumbai, India, yesterday contacted Taiwan Cricket asking for rights to stream games in Taipei to its cricket-starved audience, which it put at 75 million people.

Yesterday, another India-based live sports streaming platform was seeking a “Taiwan cricket partnership.”

The concrete pitch at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District is pictured yesterday.
 Photo: Grant Dexter, Taipei Times

The firms were promising global reach through their platforms with live content for users.

They also said that they were looking at basketball and soccer in Taiwan.

Taiwan Cricket — which is not recognized by the government — promotes the sport and organizes games among teams nationwide.

There are up to five sides who could potentially be part of a broadcast competition at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District: Pakistan Cricket Club Taipei, the Hsinchu Titans, the Taipei Dragons, Indian Cricket Club Taipei and Formosa Cricket Club.

Taiwan Cricket said that it was seeking advice from the teams and Taipei broadcasters to determine whether a deal was possible.

An upgrade to the cricketing infrastructure in Taipei would be of great benefit — a real investment in the game — if a deal is to be made, it said.

It said that it was speaking with the Indian firms and was planning to start broadcasting games on Saturday next week.

Cricket in India, as with almost all top sports leagues worldwide, has been postponed, with its Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition delayed until Wednesday next week, although that date seems likely to be pushed back further or the season canceled altogether.

The Sportsbusiness Web site yesterday reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which runs the IPL, had given permission to pay-TV broadcaster Star India to broadcast old matches amid the lack of live action.

“IPL will not happen this year. It will now happen next year. We all know how the situation is at the moment in the country and no one will take any risk,” a BCCI source told the Indian Express last week.

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title: India turns to Taiwan for cricket


content_text:
About 6,500 athletes who have already earned their spots for the Tokyo Games are in for next year under redrawn qualifying regulations published on Tuesday by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC released its rewritten road map for qualifying for the Games, which were rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic to July 23 to Aug. 8 next year.

The new deadline for qualifying is June 29 next year and entry lists are due a week later. Individual international sports federations would still be in charge of their qualifying procedures.

Many sports allow athletes to qualify by compiling results over a series of events.

The IOC urged the federations to find a balance “between protecting those athletes who were close to qualifying based on the previous 2020 deadlines and also ensuring the best athletes at the Olympic Games” by taking into consideration performances next year.

The IOC announcement confirmed reports last week that the sports had agreed to let athletes keep spots they already had earned.

It clarified a number of points, including the need for boxing to relax a rule that sets the top age in the sport at 40. It also requires sports such as gymnastics to decide whether to allow athletes who would have been too young to compete this year to try to be eligible for next year.

“Athlete health is the guiding principle in the scheduling of any remaining Olympic qualification events,” the IOC said, urging sports not to confirm rescheduling until the effects of the novel coronavirus can be assessed.

Along those lines, World Athletics on Tuesday announced that it was shutting down all qualifying procedures through Nov. 30. Its new window for qualifying would run from Dec. 1 to June 29 next year.

“During this period, results achieved at any competition will not be considered for Tokyo 2020 entry standards or world rankings,” World Athletics said in a statement.

Qualification would restart on Dec. 1, subject to the global situation returning to normal, and continue until the end of May next year for the marathon and 50km race walk, or June next year for all other events, it said.

The total qualification period, which started last year, would be four months longer than it was originally. Meanwhile, results would continue to be recorded for statistical purposes, including for world records.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said that the decision “gives more certainty for athlete planning and preparation, and is the best way to address fairness in what is expected to be the uneven delivery of competition opportunities across the globe.”

World Athletics also said that half of the staff at its Monaco headquarters would be furloughed on full pay.

The Monaco government would contribute 70 percent of the gross salaries of staff on furlough and World Athletics would fund the remainder, it said.

“This decision, made possible by the Monaco government, means we will focus only on business critical activities for the short term, which will help us manage our cash flow effectively and protect jobs in the long term,” Coe said.

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title: Qualified athletes to retain Tokyo berths


title: German economy could shrink by 10%

content_text:
SECOND-QUARTER GLOOM:
 Six top research institutes said they expect the nation’s economy to contract 4.2 percent this year, and warned of ‘considerable’ downside risks

Germany’s economy is likely to shrink this quarter at more than twice the pace recorded at the height of the financial crisis, the country’s leading research institutes said.

Output is predicted to slump 9.8 percent in the April-June period, the most since records for quarterly data began in 1970.

The economy is set to contract 4.2 percent over the course of this year, before government measures to counter the COVID-19 impact fuel expansion of 5.8 percent next year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, front, and Minister of Health Jens Spahn arrive for a weekly Cabinet meeting in Berlin yesterday.
 Photo: Reuters

The size of the full-year contraction this year is smaller than the 5 percent predicted last week by German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier.

Yet the institutes cautioned that there are “considerable downside risks” to their projections, including a slower than expected weakening in the spread of the virus, problems with reviving the economy after the shutdown eases or a new wave of infections.

“The recession will have a profound impact on the labor market and public finances,” Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of business-cycle analysis and forecasts at the Ifo institute, said in a statement.

The unemployment rate is likely to rise to 5.9 percent this year, he added.

The twice-yearly forecasts, which form the basis of the government’s economic outlook, are prepared by the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, the Halle Institute for Economic Research, the Ifo Institute in Munich, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the RWI-Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has moved swiftly to mitigate the effects of the virus on Europe’s biggest economy, pledging hundreds of billions of euros in aid and loans for companies hit by a collapse in demand.

The ruling coalition on Monday announced a new “limitless” loan program for Germany’s small and medium-sized companies, which form the backbone of the economy.

That is on top of a slew of other measures to counter what Merkel has called Germany’s biggest challenge since World War II.

The number of new COVID-19 infections in Germany rose the most in three days, according to data yesterday from Johns Hopkins University, bringing the total to 107,663 in Europe’s fourth-most extensive outbreak.

The number of fatalities climbed to 2,016.

Separately, the French economy shrank the most since World War II in the first quarter, and the outlook for the rest of the year is souring significantly amid the confinement to limit the spread of the virus, the Bank of France said.

The central bank’s estimate of a 6 percent slump is the latest indicator of the severity of the shock to European economies from a simultaneous collapse in demand and supply.

Such a GDP drop from one quarter to the next would be comparable only to the 5.3 percent recorded around the strikes of May 1968.

Like the French statistics agency Insee, the Bank of France had to change its way of measuring to try to get a grasp on the tumult. It used high-frequency data — including card transactions and requests for unemployment benefits — to corroborate the results of its monthly survey of 8,500 businesses.

In industry, the sharpest declines in activity were in the automotive and machine-making sectors, while hotels and restaurants were the hardest hit in services.

Overall, the Bank of France said the loss of activity in one week of confinement is about 32 percent. Insee had estimated 35 percent.

The Bank of France survey also showed that factories are running at just 56 percent of capacity — a record low — down from 78 percent in February.

That loss of activity means that for every two weeks of confinement, this year’s GDP would be 1.5 percent lower, the Bank of France said.

However, it cautioned not to extrapolate from that, because the actual loss of output could be different as businesses and consumers adapt to a longer shutdown.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Domestic travel guidelines outlined

content_text:
RESTRICTIONS:
 The public would be warned against visiting popular theme parks if the venues reach their safe capacity, while scenic areas can limit visitor numbers

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday outlined travel guidelines for long weekends to prevent cluster infections of COVID-19 and said that it would officially declare them soon.

Some have suggested that the government either cancel the International Workers’ Day long weekend from May 1 to 3 or impose a domestic travel ban, after many travelers failed to observe “social distancing” rules recommended by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) — 1.5m in outdoor areas and 1m while indoors — during the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend.

Others have suggested that the government target 11 popular travel destinations with text messages reminding people to practice social distancing.

The government has realized the importance of crowd control at outdoor events and regards it as a disease prevention challenge following the Tomb Sweeping holiday, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said in an interview at the Legislative Yuan.

Following the gathering of large crowds during the long weekend, the public is concerned whether the COVID-19 situation would worsen, he said.

Giving an example, Chi said that how to properly disinfect facilities at night markets remains an issue, as visitors are likely to take off their masks and walk while eating.

The ministry and the CECC have jointly stipulated general principles governing the size of crowds in scenic areas, travel destinations and hotels, Chi said.

Specifically, safe capacity at amusement parks would be lowered to 50 percent of their maximum capacity during the nation’s disease prevention period, he said.

At certain popular theme parks, the public would be warned against visiting the venues if they reach their safe capacity, he added.

If the number of visitors at a theme park reaches 55 percent of its maximum capacity, the management would have to start limiting foot traffic, Chi said.

The managements of outdoor scenic areas can start restricting the entry of vehicles to parking facilities if the number of parked vehicles reach 50 percent of the facility’s capacity, he said.

If a scenic area can accommodate more than 100 people at a time, the management can also set a daily limit on the number of visitors and ask people to make reservations in advance, he added.

Visitors to indoor facilities would be asked to enter and exit venues from a single point of access, Chi said.

If the number of visitors inside a venue reach 50 percent of capacity, people would be required to visit during different hours of the day, he said.

As travel destinations are overseen by different government agencies, each agency would have to set its own criteria to regulate the entry of visitors, Chi said.

In other developments, the Tourism Bureau yesterday said that it would extend a policy that bans travel agencies from organizing overseas trips or hosting international tourists until May 31 in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases at home and overseas.

Meanwhile, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said that it is considering closing one of the two terminals at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for renovation after the number of travelers using the facility dropped to less than 1,000 per day, the lowest since the airport opened 41 years ago.

The airport company estimated that closing Terminal 1 would affect 250 weekly flights, while 400 weekly flights would be affected if Terminal 2 is closed.

Chi said that the company would brief ministry officials about its assessment of the situation, but added that it has to address several issues first.

It has to consider how airplanes would share the use of airport facilities if there is only one terminal available and how much time it would have to finish the renovation, which would depend on when the pandemic would slow, he said.

“If the disease ends sooner than expected, can [a single] terminal handle the rapid surge in travelers?” he asked.

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title: 撤僑？我印度代表處擬安排華航專機協助國人返台

content_text:
駐印度台北經濟文化中心今天發出通知，表示為了防患未然，代表處和政府及華航研擬安排專機，以便適時協助國人返國。外交部發言人歐江安表示，這是駐印度代表處先行規劃。

代表處在公告中表示，印度政府上個月宣布全國封鎖21天，疫情發展仍難預料，代表處正規畫租用華航專機，視狀況的發展而啟動。

代表處表示，專機相關原則包括，專機由印度德里國際機場直飛台灣桃園國際機場，欲搭乘者可盡速向所屬台商或台僑社團登記，搭乘者從印度國內到德里機場的路程需自行安排，若有需求代表處可代為申請國內路程的通行證，而國內路程和專機費用，由使用者付費。

代表處表示，過去數天期間，代表處在和印度外交部、日本友人、日本航空和全日空密切協調下，已經有20多位國人搭機離開印度，經由日本東京轉機回到台灣。

countries: 印度 台灣 日本


content_text:
Prior food crises involved supply shocks, while today’s problem is getting plentiful supplies to the people who need them

By Rajendra Jadhav, Naveen Thukral and Nigel Hunt / Reuters, SATARA, India, SINGAPORE and LONDON

In the fertile Satara District in western India, farmers are putting their cattle on an unorthodox diet: Some are feeding iceberg lettuce to buffalo, while others are feeding strawberries to cows.

It is not a treat. They can let their crops spoil or feed them to animals.

Other farmers are letting their crops spoil, dumping off truckloads of fresh grapes to rot on compost heaps.

The farmers cannot get their produce to consumers because of lockdowns that aim to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In India, as in many parts of the world, restrictions on population movement are wreaking havoc on farming and food-supply chains, and raising concern of more widespread shortages and price spikes to come.

Across the globe, millions of laborers cannot get to the fields for harvesting and planting. There are too few truckers to keep goods moving. Air freight capacity for fresh produce has plummeted as airplanes are grounded. There is also a shortage of food containers for shipping, because of a drop in voyages from China.

In Florida, a lack of Mexican migrant laborers means that watermelon and blueberry growers face the prospect of rotting crops. Similar shortages of workers in Europe mean that vegetable farms are missing the window to plant.

Such sprawling food production and distribution shocks illustrate the pandemic’s seemingly boundless capacity to suffocate economies worldwide and upend even the most essential business and consumer markets.

There has been limited disruption so far to supplies of staple grains such as rice and wheat, although problems with planting and logistics are mounting.

In Satara District, Indian farmer Anil Salunkhe is feeding his strawberries to cows because the local tourists that usually eat them are gone, as are the fruit vendors that once worked the streets of nearby Mumbai.

“Nobody was willing to buy strawberries due to the lockdown,” he said.

Salunkhe said that he cannot even give his strawberries away, because with orders to stay home, few villagers would leave their homes when he offered them the berries for free.

In nearby Bhuinj village, Prabhakar Bhosale feeds lettuce to buffalo and lets villagers take more for their own cattle. The hotels and restaurants that normally buy lettuce are closed.

The potential effects of planting and harvest disruptions are most acute in poorer countries with big populations, UN Food and Agriculture Organization senior economist Abdolreza Abbassian said.

India — the world’s second-most populous country, where a majority of the population is involved in agriculture — is among the most vulnerable nations to the disruptions.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown with just a few hours’ notice on March 25, leaving many of its 120 million migrant laborers struggling to get home and with no money for rent, food or transport.

LABOR SHORTAGES

The country’s northern grain bowl relies on labor from the eastern parts of the country, but workers have left the farms because of the lockdown.

“Who is going to fill the grain bags and bring the produce to market, and transport it to mills?” asked Jadish Lal, a merchant at Punjab’s Khanna Grain Market, the country’s largest.

Supply problems in one place are quickly felt on the other side of the world. In Canada, imports of specialty Indian vegetables such as onions, okra and eggplant have dropped by as much as 80 percent over the past two weeks as air cargo space dwindled, said Clay Castelino, president of Ontario-based Orbit Brokers, which helps shipments clear customs.

The sharp decline meant that the food must have simply gone to waste, Castelino said.

“With perishable food, once it’s gone, it’s gone,” he added.

Spain has a shortage of migrant workers from countries such as Morocco, because they cannot travel.

“In about 15 days’ time, the blueberry season will peak until mid-May,” said Francisco Sanchez, a manager at Spanish growers’ association Onubafruit. “We need a big concentration of labor then.”

In Italy, about 200,000 seasonal workers are needed over the next two months.

The government might need to ask people receiving state benefits to pick the fruit and vegetables, Italy’s Food Association Federalimentare head Ivano Vacondio said.

French Minister of Agriculture Didier Guillaume has issued a rallying cry to what he called France’s “shadow army” of newly laid-off workers to replace the usual crews of migrant workers on farms.

“If the call is not heard, the production will remain in the fields and the entire sector will be damaged,” said Christiane Lambert, head of France’s largest farm union, FNSEA.

In Brazil — the world’s top exporter of soybeans, coffee and sugar — farm lobby CNA said that the industry faces a range of problems, including challenges hiring truck drivers to haul crops and a shortage of spare parts for farm equipment.

In Argentina — the world’s top exporter of soymeal — exports have been delayed as the government ramps up inspections of incoming cargo ships.

A sharp decline in air traffic has also cut deeply into capacity to move fresh produce long distances.

Andres Ocampo, chief executive of HLB Specialties, a fruit importer based in Miami, Florida, relied on commercial flights to shift papayas and other produce from Brazil, but he has switched to buying more from Mexico and Guatemala, where goods can still be shipped by truck.

Volumes of the company’s imports from Brazil have dropped by 80 percent, Ocampo said.

“In Europe, it’s even worse, because they don’t have a Mexico-like source for papayas,” he added.

CONTAINER SHORTAGES

Exporters in the US and Canada are grappling with a shortage of refrigerated containers to supply goods, as voyages of container ships from China to the Pacific coast of North America are down by a quarter due to reduced demand because of lockdowns.

“The containers are tough to get right now,” said Michael Dykes, president of the International Dairy Foods Association, a US-based trade group. “If a company needs five containers, they’ll find they can get one.”

Port congestion is slowing shipments of pork and beef to destinations such as China, because workers have been told to stay at home. That is exacerbating the shortage of protein supplies in China, where an outbreak of African swine fever has taken a quarter of the world’s pigs off the market over the past two years.

The emerging supply-chain disruptions are much different than the food crises of 2007 to 2008 and 2010 to 2012, when droughts in grain-producing nations caused shortages that led to higher prices, unrest and riots in several countries. Those price spikes were driven in part by states hoarding rice and other staples.

Now, staple grain supplies are relatively plentiful and global prices have been low for years as farmers in the US, Brazil and in the Black Sea region have planted more and improved yields.

Although there are signs that big importers such as Iraq and Egypt are boosting grain purchases amid rising concern over food security, other countries are boosting exports.

For example, Thailand — the world’s second-largest rice exporter — is taking advantage of higher rice prices by increasing exports from stockpiles.

However, top rice exporter India has stopped rice exports due to labor shortages and logistics problems. Third-largest exporter Vietnam has also curbed exports.

African nations — where many people spend more than half of their income on food — are among the most vulnerable to disruptions in staple food supplies.

The continent is the fastest-growing consumer of rice, accounting for 35 percent of global imports and 30 percent of wheat imports. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is the third-largest rice consuming region, yet holds the smallest grain inventories — relative to demand — of all regions, because of tight government budgets and limited storage.

While prior food crises involved supply shocks, the problem today is getting plentiful supplies to the people who need it — many of whom have suddenly lost their income.

“It is a whole different animal,” Abbassian said. “You don’t have labor, you don’t have trucks to move the food and you don’t have money to buy the food.”

Additional reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj, Veronica Brown, Jonathan Saul, Sonya Dowsett, Libby George, Phil Blenkinsop, Stephen Jewkes, Gus Trompiz, Sybille de La Hamaide, Emma Farge, Michael Hogan, Christopher Walljasper, Karl Plume, P.J. Huffstutter, Tom Polansek, Rod Nickel and Ana Mano

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title: Coronavirus upends food-supply chains around the world


title: Taiwan must prepare for attack

content_text:
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might act aggressively against Taiwan amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. While no one is seeking a war, the Republic of China and its friends should responsibly prepare for various contingencies and enhance deterrence against China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to maritime ports in Zhejiang, China, raised eyebrows among China-watchers.

Some have said that Xi conducted the trip to signal the economy’s reopening or to offer assurances to the Zhejiang faction, while others have said that the province is home to the East Sea Fleet, which would figure prominently in any blockade or even invasion of Taiwan.

A blockade or invasion is unlikely, but should not be dismissed as alarmist: Beijing has never renounced the use of force against Taiwan, and the People’s Liberation Army has behaved provocatively over the past few months.

As China’s economic performance weakens and unemployment rises, the CCP might become desperate for noneconomic legitimation — namely, a political “victory” on the issue of Taiwan.

The CCP has always had the motive to coerce Taiwan, but it might regard the chaos of the pandemic as a unique opportunity to secure its objectives.

While the US and Japanese militaries retain fearsome capabilities, the US and Japanese responses to the coronavirus have been unimpressive, and several key military assets would not operate at full capacity for weeks, possibly months.

The end of monsoon season opens a “window of attack” across the Taiwan Strait from next month to July.

Taiwan can counteract the CCP’s attempts to coerce it. Communications between the central government and local authorities could be affected by Chinese cybercapabilities, so Taiwan should prepare for distributed governance and consider diffusing stores of food, seeds, weapons and vehicle fuel across the nation.

Civil defense drills might also be advisable. As oil prices are at historic lows, restocking gasoline and diesel inventories would prove to be a financial windfall for Taiwan, not just strategically sensible.

Taiwan’s friends in Washington, Tokyo and beyond should work with Taipei to immediately supply it with weapons, food and fuel.

Simultaneously, all sides must acknowledge the sensitivities of the Taiwan issue.

Washington and Taipei should strike a responsible equilibrium: They should substantively strengthen Taiwan’s defenses, but without unnecessary symbolism, which could provoke Beijing. Publicizing any arms sales or transfers would likely decrease rather than enhance Taiwan’s security.

The CCP is not likely to invade Taiwan. It would likely fail in the attempt, and even a “successful” invasion would seriously threaten economic and social stability in China, potentially leading to the CCP’s collapse.

However, the probability that the CCP would attempt to coerce Taiwan is rising, and Taipei and its friends should calmly address risks together and prepare for difficult weeks ahead.

Joe Webster is editor of China-Russia Report, although the views expressed here are his alone.

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