content_text:
ONLINE SALES SURGE:
 Taiwan Mobile posted a 7.9 percent year-on-year increase in profit due to a higher contribution from online retailer Momo.com

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom, yesterday posted a net profit of NT$8.32 billion (US$276.38 million), or earnings per share of NT$1.07, a 0.4 percent year-on-year decline that saw its earnings per share fall behind long-term rival Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大).

Revenue in the first quarter fell 6.2 percent year-on-year to NT$48.15 billion, operating income grew 1.2 percent to NT$10.53 billion, while pretax profit increased 1.3 percent to NT$10.69 billion.

While blaming the decline on weaker sales of smartphones, fewer enterprise and government projects, as well as falling demand for international data and mobile services, the company said that the results still surpassed its expectations.

Taiwan Mobile Co yesterday posted a net profit of NT$3.32 billion for last quarter, or earnings per share of NT$1.18, a 7.9 percent year-on-year increase.

Revenue in the first quarter of the year increased 6.6 percent year-on-year to NT$31.85 billion.

Taiwan Mobile chief financial officer Rosie Yu (俞若奚) attributed the growth to an increase in contributions from its subsidiary Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體), which specializes in e-commerce.

Boosted by a spike in sales last month, the online retailer yesterday posted a 28.7 percent year-on-year surge in revenue to NT$15.11 billion for last quarter.

“Sales of cloud-based and Internet of Things services, and domestic leased circuits are growing,” Yu said about the company’s telecom business.

“Revenue and operating income have continued to grow over the past three quarters,” she said, adding that the first-quarter results had fulfilled the company’s expectations.

Meanwhile, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday posted a net profit of NT$2.17 billion, or earnings per share of NT$0.67, a 2.69 percent year-on-year decline.

Revenue fell 6.87 percent year-on-year to NT$19.39 billion.

The company said that its first-quarter sales missed its expectations by 3 percent after shipments of smartphones were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the telecom reported an 87 percent increase in sales from enterprise and government projects for last month, as well as a 155 percent increase in sales related to cybersecurity tools.

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title: Chunghwa Telecom profit edges lower due to falling sales


content_text:
A group of security agencies on Thursday urged the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke its permission for China Telecom Corp (中國電信) to operate in the nation.

“This recommendation reflects the substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks” associated with China Telecom’s access to the US telecommunications network, the agencies said in a filing.

The US and China are at odds over numerous issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and the security of telecommunications networks.

A man walks past a China Telecom store in Wuhan, China, on Aug. 21, 2013.
 Photo: AFP

US officials have moved to bar Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co (華為) as a security threat, an assertion the company denies.

China Telecom “unequivocally” denies the allegations, a company representative said in an e-mail.

“The company has always been extremely cooperative and transparent with regulators,” the representative said. “In many instances, we have gone beyond what has been requested to demonstrate how our business operates and serves our customers following the highest international standards.”

The recommendation to revoke an authorization held by China Telecom since 2007 is part of a review announced last year by the FCC, after it barred China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) from the US market.

The FCC usually follows recommendations from US security agencies.

“The threat from China Telecom is a reflection of the threat that we see from Chinese telecommunications companies generally,” US Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said. “They are beholden to the government of China both by law and in fact to do its bidding.”

“We have seen behavior in violation of the mitigation agreement that we had entered into with China Telecom at the time that the license was approved,” Demers said. “That raises national security concerns.”

Agencies taking part in the filing included the US departments of justice, homeland security, defense, state and commerce, as well as the US trade representative.

China was also a factor in another regulatory decision this week when Google and Facebook Inc won approval for an undersea trans-Pacific Internet cable to Taiwan on condition the project not carry data traffic to Hong Kong.

“There is a significant risk that a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security,” the US Department of Justice said in a filing to the FCC on Wednesday.

China Telecom offers US customers access to international private lines, which it markets as providing secure bandwidth for sensitive data, the filing said.

It also offers mobile services under the CTExcel brand name, the filing added.

The Chinese government has “ultimate ownership and control” of China Telecom and the company’s US operations “provide opportunities for increased Chinese government-sponsored economic espionage,” the filing said, adding that the company made inaccurate statements about where its records were stored, and had “inadequate” cybersecurity and privacy practices.

The scope of China Telecom’s activities in the US was not immediately clear.

The security agencies said that the company connects to the Internet at 18 points, providing “Chinese government-sponsored actors with openings to disrupt and misroute US data and communications traffic.”

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title: US agencies urge FCC to bar China Telecom as threat


title: Virus Outbreak: UN head calls for unity over pandemic

content_text:
‘DEAFENING SILENCE’:
 The German envoy said that international cooperation was moving too slowly, with the five permanent members struggling to cooperate

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the “fight of a generation” — the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A signal of unity and resolve from the council would count for a lot at this anxious time,” Guterres told the body as it held its first meeting about the crisis.

The meeting of the 15-member council is being held behind closed doors by videoconference, but the UN released a copy of the secretary general’s remarks.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York City on Feb. 4.
 Photo: AFP

“The engagement of the security council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Guterres said. “To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity.”

“This is the fight of a generation — and the raison d’etre of the United Nations itself,” he said, while acknowledging that “the threat of terrorism remains alive.”

Council members gathered after weeks of disagreement — especially between the United States and China, where the novel coronavirus emerged late last year.

Led by Germany, the meeting was requested last week by nine of the council’s 10 non-permanent members who were fed up with the body’s inaction over the unprecedented global crisis.

Although the council meeting was closed-door, several ambassadors taking part released extracts of their remarks on Twitter or to reporters.

German Ambassador to the UN Christoph Heusgen, whose remarks were published by his country, lamented the slow pace of international cooperation.

“From the security council up until now, there was deafening silence,” he said, acknowledging efforts by the five permanent members “to come to a conclusion or resolution between them or to have a summit.”

“But we have to admit, it was not possible so far,” he said.

While Germany described the pandemic as an “international peace and security issue,” several other countries, including Russia, China and South Africa, said that health matters were not part of the security council’s brief.

France said that it would provide 1.2 billion euros (US$1.3 billion) to fight the virus in Africa.

Non-permanent member Estonia said that holding the meeting was “better late than never,” a jab at those seen as delaying the talks.

Ahead of the meeting, the US and China had been arguing over the origins of the virus, which US President Donald Trump has referred to as the “Chinese virus.”

US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft seemed to hint at that tension.

“The most effective way to contain this pandemic is through accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics and spread of the virus,” Craft said.

Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun (張軍) said that “any acts of stigmatization and politicization must be rejected.”

There were two competing draft resolutions debated.

One, spearheaded by Tunisia on behalf of the 10 non-permanent members, calls for “an urgent, coordinated and united international action to curb the impact of COVID-19.”

It calls for the council to “monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international peace and security, and asks the secretary-general to brief the council on such developments when appropriate.”

It also seeks an “immediate global ceasefire to allow for adequate humanitarian response” to the pandemic.

That draft resolution has been in development since March 30 and has only been discussed by the 10 non-permanent members.

The second text, proposed by France, focuses on Guterres’ call last month to cease all hostilities around the world as part of a “humanitarian pause” to fight the pandemic.

That one has only had input from the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US — which diplomats from non-permanent countries told reporters has been “very frustrating.”

France has argued that the permanent members need to smooth out their differences before any wider negotiations with the council.

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title: Nanya Technology profit rises 49.9% on lockdowns

content_text:
DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday posted a net profit of NT$1.93 billion (US$64.11 million) for the first quarter, or earnings per share of NT$0.63, a 49.9 percent quarter-on-quarter increase as growing remote schooling, telecommuting and online shopping helped fuel demand for computers, servers and networking devices amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On an annual basis, net profit plunged 46.2 percent from NT$3.59 billion.

The New Taipei City-based company expects the growth momentum to carry into this quarter and next quarter, as demand for Internet-enabled devices is expected to continue as European nations and the US appear to be headed for extended lockdowns.

However, the firm remains cautious about the second-half outlook, as the pandemic could take a severe toll on the global economy and unemployment if the coronavirus is not reined in by the third quarter.

“In the short term, demand for computers, servers and networking equipment will continue to rise, offsetting a decline in demand for smartphones. Overall, the market looks quite stable,” Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told reporters in a teleconference.

“Messages from our customers indicate that the second and third quarters will be good quarters [for PC and server DRAM],” Lee said.

Strong demand for PCs and servers would help boost average selling prices this quarter, while shipments are to remain flat from last quarter, he said.

DRAM used in PCs and servers contributed 20 percent to the chipmaker’s revenue of NT$14.42 billion in the first quarter.

Nanya Technology said telecoms did not postpone their deployments of 5G networks, although the pandemic was negatively affecting shipments of 5G smartphones.

For the full year, the chipmaker is still aiming to grow its shipments by between 15 and 18 percent year-on-year.

With the COVID-19 outbreak seemingly under control, Nanya Technology said orders from Chinese clients are stabilizing.

China accounts for about 25 percent of the chipmaker’s shipments.

Gross margin fell for a sixth consecutive quarter to 23.8 percent in the first quarter from 25.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year due to unfavorable foreign-exchange rates.

The company said it would maintain capital expenditure at NT$9.2 billion for this year, as most of the investment is earmarked for developing next-generation technologies.

That is a 67 percent increase from last year’s NT$5.5 billion.

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title: NPP calls for changes in hiring

content_text:
SYSTEM UNDER FIRE:
 An NPP legislator said that a person working under contract for 15 to 20 years at a state-run company should be hired through proper channels

A New Power Party (NPP) lawmaker yesterday called on state-owned enterprises to reform how they appoint contract workers, saying that it can lead to favoritism while also demoralizing employees who must pass state examinations to be hired.

NPP Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that during a question-and-answer session last year, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) promised to review and improve the situation after former NPP lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) provided Shen with a list of contract appointments, all of whom remain in their positions.

The presidents of state-owned corporations are in a prime position to appoint the people they want to certain levels within their company, Chen said.

New Power Party Legislator Chen Jiau-hua speaks at a news conference yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
 Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

These employees receive a monthly salary of NT$80,000 to NT$90,000, while appointments on short-term contracts are paid NT$49,000 monthly, both far above the starting wages of employees who entered the company through state exams, Chen said.

While stressing that she was not against the system, Chen said it needed reforms.

Someone who works under contract for 15 to 20 years should become an actual employee through the proper channels, Chen said.

Citing CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) as an example, Chen said it had been known to use recruitment ads that did not use the company’s proper name and would run for only a few days to attract potential contract appointments.

“Such practices seem suspiciously similar to creating a back door for select individuals,” Chen said, adding that she could not understand what CPC had to fear from letting the public know that it is hiring.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Division of Human Resources head Chen Jung-shun (陳榮順) said that all hiring of personnel through contracts is in line with the ministry’s regulations.

State-owned enterprises require such personnel, he added.

Taiwan Power Co is the only state-owned business without contract employees, while CPC has 70, Taiwan Sugar has 21 and Taiwan Water Corp has 24, comprising 0.4 to 0.6 percent of total personnel, he said.

The ministry would step up requirements for hiring contract workers and would consider the necessity of certain appointments, he said, adding that on principle, state-owned corporations do their best to control the percentage of contract hires within their companies.

A CPC representative said that its contractors include mooring masters and doctors, adding that doctors’ salaries are the equivalent of a rank 12 civil servant, at NT$100,000 per month, while a mooring master’s salary is below the average pay rate of other companies.

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people: 沈榮津 黃國昌 陳椒華


content_text:
Virus Outbreak: EU receives masks, thanks Taiwan for its ‘solidarity’

The EU on Thursday announced that it had received surgical masks donated by Taiwan and thanked Taiwan for its “gesture of solidarity” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In these difficult times, international cooperation is crucial. We highly appreciate Taiwan’s gesture of solidarity with its donation of medical masks to the European Union,” EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said in a press release.

One million of the masks, which were a direct donation, are being transferred to Spain and Italy, while the remaining masks are being delivered through bilateral channels to other EU member states, Lenarcic said.

Shipments of medical supplies donated by Taiwan bearing images of the Republic of China flag and the message “Taiwan can help” are unloaded at Luxembourg Airport on Thursday in a composite image posted by the European Commission on its Web site.
 Photo: Screen grab from the Internet

On April 1, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced that Taiwan would donate 10 million masks to countries seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation allocated 2 million masks to the US; 7 million to be shared by Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK; and 1 million to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Of the European donations, masks donated to the Netherlands — 600,000, according to the Netherlands Trade and Investment Office — arrived on Tuesday, while the remainder were shipped late on Wednesday and early on Thursday to eight other EU member states, as well as the Holy See, Switzerland and the UK, the ministry said.

On Thursday, the ministry announced a second donation of masks to be allocated to countries hard hit by the pandemic in Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said that masks sent to the nation’s diplomatic allies in Central America had arrived.

“Our assistance to allies in Central America has arrived safely. The people of Taiwan are proud to help friends in times of need,” Wu wrote on Twitter.

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people: 蔡英文 吳釗燮


content_text:
ECONOMIC PACKAGE:
 It also announced a plan to dispatch financial consultants to the nation’s shopping districts and night markets to help vendors apply for loans

The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday unveiled details about subsidy programs for the service sector amid a downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subsidies would be issued for payroll and overhead costs for businesses whose income has dropped by at least 50 percent, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei.

Subsidies would be 40 percent of each employee’s monthly salary, but not more than NT$20,000 (US$664), and would be paid from this month to June, Shen said.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) Small and Medium Enterprise Administration Director-General Ho Chin-tsang, second right, speaks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday alongside Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin, right, Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin, second left, and MOEA Department of Commerce Director-General Lee May.
 Photo: CNA

Overhead subsidies for firms would be NT$10,000 per employee, he said.

Retailers, wholesalers, restaurants, warehouses, karaoke bars, laundromats, photography studios, bridal shops, barbers and beauty parlors are among the firms that can apply for the funds, he said.

To apply, an employer must not have laid off or furloughed any workers, or cut their salaries by more than 20 percent, he said.

The ministry also announced a plan to dispatch 250 financial consultants to the nation’s 221 shopping districts and 401 night markets to assist vendors to apply for loans to mitigate negative economic effects amid the pandemic.

As small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) need proof that their income has been reduced by at least 15 percent to secure special government loans, night market vendors and small stores exempted from providing receipts might find it dfficult to apply, Minister Without Portfolio Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.

To assist small businesses to secure loans, the ministry would send financial consultants to understand their situations and help prove that their operations have been affected, Small and Medium Enterprise Administration Director-General Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄) said.

The consultants would include professionals from the eight major state-run banks, the Certified Public Accountant Associations of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and retired bank employees, Ho said.

The SME agency helped a business with 16 employees and 11 stalls in Taipei secure a loan of NT$5 million, he said.

Consultants determined from its invoices and balance sheets that its operations had suffered due to the pandemic, he said.

From March 16 to Thursday, 921 SMEs, medical facilities, transportation firms, hotels, travel agencies, recreational facilities, performance venues and movie theaters had secured a combined NT$10.1 billion in special loans, Kung said.

Authorities were still reviewing applications from another 514 establishments for a combined NT$3.94 billion in loans, he said.

As loans for an SME are capped at NT$20 million, state-owned banks have offered larger loans to businesses that need more than government agencies can give them, Kung said.

As of Thursday, state-owned banks have loaned a combined NT$25.29 billion to 1,380 businesses and NT$8.09 billion to 903 individuals, he said.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Ministry unveils subsidy program plan


references: Twitter Facebook

people: 蔡英文 蘇貞昌

title: Virus Outbreak: Netizens respond to WHO accuser

content_text:
Taiwanese are taking action after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Taiwan of orchestrating a racist campaign against him, including “complimenting” him and raising funds to run an advertisement in the New York Times.

Tedros’ remarks on Wednesday provoked angry responses from politicians across party lines, while members of the public expressed dissatisfaction via different means.

Facebook users Chang Chia-ling (張嘉玲) and Goldie Huang (黃靖芳) created an event called “Anti-racism! Let’s compliment Tedros instead!”

A design created by a crowdfunded campaign is pictured on the fundraising platform zeczec.com.
 Photo: Screen grab from the Internet

As of 6pm yesterday, the event had more than 10,000 responses, with more than 5,600 saying they were “going.”

Commenters thanked Tedros for boosting Taiwan’s profile and for acknowledging Taiwan as an independent country, while some said they admired him for his loyalty to Beijing.

As President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and government agencies have formally responded to Tedros’ false accusation, ordinary people are engaging the issue with supplementary and humorous alternatives, Chang said.

People were regulating each other in the comments to avoid improper remarks, as they do not want to fall into the trap of arguing about whether there was prejudice, she said.

They would translate selected messages from the page and publish them on the Reddit social media platform, she said, adding that they were planning more “calls to action” to help boost Taiwan’s image.

The hashtag “Thisattackcomesfromtaiwan” was trending on Facebook and Twitter, with people using the hashtag as they shared images of Taiwanese delicacies and scenery.

A group launched a crowdfunding campaign on zeczec.com to buy a front-page advert in the New York Times on Monday that it would use to “debunk Tedros’ accusation and share the nation’s opinion.”

The campaign was initiated by Watchout cofounder Lin Zu-yi (林祖儀) and graphic designer Aaron Nieh (聶永真), among others, who also raised funds to publish an advert titled “Democracy at 4am” during the 2014 Sunflower movement.

Separately yesterday, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that Tedros should speak on facts and should apologize for his inappropriate behavior.

Not only were the accusations baseless and unfair, they were made while the world is being hit by a dire pandemic, Su told reporters, adding that these are manifestations of the fact that Tedros is unfit for a job that requires professionalism and fairness.

Due to China’s bullying, Taiwan is ostracized and discriminated against, hence it knows well the pain of being subjected to unfair treatment, he said.

Nevertheless, the nation has done all that it can to contribute to the world and care for disadvantaged people, including Tedros’ home country, Ethiopia, Su said.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Health and Welfare Taipei Hospital pediatrician Daniel Lu (盧道揚) posted an open letter to Tedros on Facebook, saying he was “utterly shocked and saddened that such disinformation can be from a supposedly respectful head of international organization.”

“I met you on [a] couple of occasions, in Maputo, in Addis Ababa, and even in Geneva, when you were the minister of health for Ethiopia, between 2007 and 2010. We shook hands and talked about health issues there, respecting the same health professionals who would try their best to make health in Africa better,” Lu wrote in English.

“Please do not forget your dedication when you graduated from a world-renowned public health institution years ago, and your solemn vow recently when you ascend to this honorable position you are in now: ‘[The] health of people of the world comes first, not politics,’” Lu wrote.

The vibrancy and creativity of civic society is the most precious thing in Taiwan, just as many civic groups have embarked on foreign aid and medical campaigns worldwide, Lu told the Taipei Times.

Additional reporting by Chiu Yi-chin and Sean Lin

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Lawmaker urges rule change to protect radiologists

Radiologists should be on the list of professionals entitled to fluid-resistant gowns to help protect frontline medical staff fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said yesterday.

“Not providing the gowns to radiologists is putting their lives at risks,” Chiu told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, criticizing the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s decision in February to amend the rules about provision of waterproof surgical gowns, a move that excluded radiologists.

Taiwan’s 6,706 radiologists wear non-waterproof gowns that offer no protection against potentially virus-containing droplets, he said.

New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih, right, holds a fluid-resistant isolation gown alongside Taiwan Association of Medical Radiation Technologists chairman Tu Chun-yuan at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
 Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times

Compensation for medical personnel other than doctors and nurses is also far more limited than during the 2003 SARS pandemic, when they were given NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 per shift per person, Chiu said.

The treatment is discriminatory, Chiu said, adding that frontline healthcare professionals should be treated equally.

Radiologist Chang Wei-sheng (張維勝) said that the virus can be transmitted more easily than once thought.

Chang said that in 2003 he was infected with SARS after taking an X-ray of a patient with the disease while wearing only a mask to protect himself against viruses.

Frontline healthcare professionals, including radiologists, must be sufficiently protected, otherwise medical institutions could become loopholes in disease prevention, Chang said.

Taiwan Association of Medical Radiation Technologists chairman Tu Chun-yuan (杜俊元) said that many radiologists are couples who work in separate hospitals, so inter-hospital transmission could occur if one of them gets infected.

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content_text:
Former US vice president Joe Biden on Thursday proposed expanding access to Medicare and forgiving some student debt in new overtures to supporters of Bernie Sanders, a former rival for nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate.

Biden, who became Democrats’ presumptive nominee when Sanders ended his campaign on Wednesday, is working to close ranks as his party prepares a campaign to unseat US President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

Biden’s new proposals include expanding Medicare, government insurance for Americans over 65, to those 60 or older. He also promised to forgive student debt for lower-income Americans who attended public colleges and some other educational institutions.

Former US vice president Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, on March 12.
 Photo: AP

“Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I’m proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis,” Biden said in a statement.

Democratic presidential candidates battled for nearly a year about the practicality of Sanders’ plans to forgive all federal student debt and his “Medicare for all” proposal providing health insurance to all Americans.

Biden opposed both, offering his own slate of education and healthcare policies.

Now, Democrats are trying to tailor a message that can attract the left flank of their own party and more conservative voters who backed Trump.

As his lead in the Democratic primaries grew, Biden pivoted to a message of unity and started to adopt some policies his rivals endorsed.

Sanders on Wednesday called Biden “a very decent man, who I will work with to move our progressive ideas forward.”

Maurice Mitchell, national director at the Working Families Party, a political group that endorsed Sanders, said Biden was taking “steps in the right direction.”

Still, Mitchell said that the COVID-19 pandemic was making clear a need for broader debt relief and healthcare for all.

“He’s going to have to go some steps further especially in this particular moment when there’s a crisis at a scale many of us have not experienced,” he said.

Biden said his new policies would help Americans hurt by the outbreak to “find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged from this crisis.”

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title: Joe Biden courts Sanders’ supporters with proposals


people: 楊翠 蘇貞昌 林昶佐

title: Medical aid planned for White Terror victims, kin

content_text:
By Huang Hsin-po and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday said that it is assessing a plan to provide medical services to White Terror victims or their surviving kin.

Commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠) made the announcement during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in response to queries from Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐).

Lim said that other countries have designated centers that help political victims or their families if they have medical conditions related to the political oppression that they experienced.

Premier Su Tseng-chang, left, accompanied by Transitional Justice Commission Acting Chairwoman Yang Tsui, speaks during a question-and-answer session yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
 Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times

Many people have physical or mental ailments as a result of their experiences, he said, citing as an example someone who witnessed a family member being tortured to death and, although exhibiting no symptoms when they were young, threatens to pack up and run away.

“The practice of sending these people to psychiatric wards is just putting salt on their wounds,” he said.

Lim called on Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and the commission to assist these people.

Lim’s remarks made sense, Su said, adding that the government should take steps to provide special care to these brave and stalwart people, who stood up for the rights of others during the White Terror era.

The White Terror era refers to the suppression of political dissidents following the 228 Incident, when protesters were shot on Feb. 28, 1947. The then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime subsequently imposed martial law, which was only lifted on July 15, 1987.

Yang said that the commission is assembling volunteers from various disciplines who are involved in commission-backed therapy programs.

The commission also conducts therapeutic interviews, she said, adding that 29 families are enrolled in the program and 34 have completed it.

The commission is also producing short videos to better inform the public about this period, she said.

The commission has considered setting up centers to handle individual appeals for help, with centers made available across the nation so that victims would not need to travel to Taipei, she said.

These centers, if established, would be staffed by professionals from various fields of expertise, Yang said.

The commission has not yet decided whether it should set up an organization or unit to handle these cases, or to collaborate with existing units, she said, adding that the project is still under assessment.

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Team identifies inhibitors in search for drug

PROTEASE FOES:
 From more than 100 candidates, the biologists said tests showed the top performer was about 10 times more effective than the others

Academia Sinica yesterday said that it has identified protease inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that could eventually lead to the development of targeted drugs to stop it from replicating.

Proteases — enzymes that break down proteins — are catalysts in a range of biological processes. They are often essential for the completion of a viral infection cycle.

Protease inhibitors, which can be naturally occurring or synthetic, block viral replication. They are common in treatments for HIV and hepatitis C.

An illustration issued on March 15 shows the ultrastructural morphology of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

A team led by Liang Po-huang (梁博煌), a research fellow at the Institute of Biological Chemistry, has identified potent inhibitors of the virus’ main protease from more than 100 candidates, Academia Sinica said in a press release.

In in vitro tests, the best of the inhibitors was about 10 times more effective than other candidates in preventing the virus from replicating, it said.

Animal and human trials are required before the inhibitors can be turned into drugs to treat COVID-19, but finding potential inhibitors in such a short time demonstrates Taiwan’s ability to respond to the pandemic, it said.

“We look forward to providing an option for targeted drugs in the near future,” Academia Sinica said.

In February, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) launched the COVID-19 Open Science Platform to promote collaborative research against the disease.

To date, the effort has resulted in the synthesis of remdesivir, a drug being used in clinical trials, and the production of antibodies with potential applications in rapid COVID-19 testing, Academia Sinica said.

Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) daily news briefing that it welcomes any breakthroughs in COVID-19 research.

The CECC would gather information about the researchers’ progress, Chou said, adding that he hopes treatments to ease the pandemic would be launched soon.

Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan

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title: Virus Outbreak: Jakarta imposes lockdown as cases grow

content_text:
ACCURATE DATA?
 While Indonesia has reported the highest death toll for an Asian nation outside of China, it also has testing rates that are among the lowest globally

Soldiers and police yesterday hit the streets of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, to enforce its toughest “social distancing” rules yet as COVID-19 infections surge and critics warn of a looming public health disaster.

Offenders face heavy fines and up to a year in jail for breaking the new rules, which include a ban on gatherings of more than five people, limiting restaurants to online delivery orders and reducing public transport.

Motorbike taxis seen everywhere in the megacity of about 30 million people were banned from picking up passengers and residents were ordered to stay home.

A police officer adjusts the mask of a motorist at a checkpoint in Jakarta yesterday after the implementation of large-scale social restrictions.
 Photo: EPA-EFE

“I’ve been checking my smartphone all day, but no orders so far,” said Embari, a ride-hailing driver who goes by one name. “I know drivers can’t pick up passengers, but I was hoping for some food delivery calls.”

Mosques and other houses of worship were ordered to shut for at least the next two weeks — after millions continued to attend Friday prayers in the Muslim majority nation, despite calls to worship at home.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo last month declared a state of emergency as coronavirus deaths in the world’s fourth-most populous country jumped.

However, he resisted calls for a nationwide lockdown, fearing a collapse in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, where tens of millions eke out a living on poorly paid, informal jobs.

Indonesia’s government has faced heavy criticism over its handling of the crisis and questions about the true number of deaths.

Officially, 280 people have died of the illness, with 3,293 confirmed cases as of Thursday in the archipelago of more than 260 million. That is the highest death toll for an Asian nation outside of China.

However, testing rates are among the lowest in the world and there are fears that the number of dead could be much higher.

Jakarta city data showed that about 776 suspected and confirmed patients had been buried in local cemeteries under COVID-19 protocols requiring bodies to be wrapped in plastic and quickly buried.

That is more than five times the official 142 dead in Jakarta, the epicenter of the outbreak in Indonesia.

Officials have admitted that data collection among different jurisdictions is patchy and incomplete.

“The Indonesian government needs to ramp up testing to know the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the country,” Human Rights Watch senior Indonesia researcher Andreas Harsono said. “The authorities should also uphold the right to information and provide accurate statistics to the public.”

Indonesia’s intelligence agency has projected about 95,000 infections by June.

A bleak assessment by the University of Indonesia’s public health department warned that the country could see a death toll of more than 240,000 if testing and quarantines are not ramped up.

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content_text:
US, China military aircraft fly near Taiwan’s airspace

FREQUENT FLYERS:
 Yesterday was the sixth time this year that Chinese military aircraft had been seen operating in airspace near Taiwan

A US military reconnaissance aircraft yesterday reportedly flew near Taiwan’s southern airspace, the same day the Ministry of National Defense confirmed that Chinese military aircraft had been seen southwest of the nation.

A US RC-135U Combat Sent was operating in the South China Sea, a flight chart posted on Twitter yesterday morning by military flight tracker Aircraft Spots showed.

Ministry spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said that the armed forces are closely monitoring the nation’s surrounding waters and airspace, but did not confirm the aircraft’s movements.

Charts released by Aircraft Spots and Taiwan’s own records show that the latest mission sortie was the sixth time since March 25 that a US military aircraft was found to have been operating near Taiwan’s airspace.

The first three occurrences happened between March 25 and 27, while the fourth and fifth took place on March 31 and Wednesday.

Institute of National Defense and Security Research senior analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the RC-135U’s flight near the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines, and into the South China Sea might have been to monitor unusual activity by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the area.

Also yesterday, the ministry confirmed that several Chinese J-11 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and H-6 bombers earlier in the day flew over waters southwest of Taiwan and then into the Bashi Channel.

Soon after entering the airspace over the channel, the aircraft returned to their base along the same route, the ministry said, but it did not disclose where the planes were based.

The sortie was the sixth time this year that Chinese military aircraft were seen operating near Taiwan’s airspace this year.

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title: World Business Quick Take

content_text:
CHINA

Producer prices slump

Factory gate prices last month fell the most in five months, with deflation deepening and set to worsen in the coming months due to the economic damage wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic at home and abroad. The National Bureau of Statistics data suggested a durable recovery was some way off, with the producer price index falling 1.5 percent year-on-year, the biggest decline since October last year. It compared with a median forecast of a 1.1 percent in a Reuters poll of analysts and a 0.4 percent drop in February. The overall decline in the factory gate gauge was exacerbated by a slump in global crude oil and commodities prices, the bureau said in a statement accompanying the data.

RIDE HAILERS

Uber plans to ship masks

Uber Technologies Inc on Thursday said that it plans to ship millions of masks to its drivers and food delivery employees around the world to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Uber vice president of safety and insurance Gus Fuldner in a company blog post also said that the company plans to ship nearly 500,000 masks to US drivers located in the cities hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak. The initial mask order would come from a Chinese company that typically manufactures electronics and now produces ear-loop masks, but the company would be sourcing masks from all over the world as a long-term commitment, a company spokesman said.

AUTOMAKERS

Renault seeking US$5.5bn

Renault SA is seeking up to 5 billion euros (US$5.5 billion) in government-backed loans to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said, while dismissing the possibility of nationalization. Renault on Thursday scrapped its dividend to conserve cash after plant and showroom closures strangled operations. Senard and interim chief executive Clotilde Delbos are taking a 25 percent pay cut for at least the second quarter. The dividend, which had already been reduced, would have totaled 325 million euros.

AVIATION

Airbus cuts plane output

Airbus SE has slashed its aircraft output by a third in a stark concession to the COVID-19 pandemic that has upended the aviation industry. The world’s biggest commercial aircraft manufacturer now plans to produce about 48 planes a month across its A320, A330 and A350 programs, it said in a statement. It had gone into the year with a goal of producing about 880 planes, or an average of 73 per month. Airbus is to produce about 40 of its top-selling A320 narrow-body each month, it said, while reducing production of the advanced A350 wide-body to six per month. A330 production is to be cut to two per month, raising a question about whether the program can remain viable. The company plans to assess production on a monthly basis, chief executive Guillaume Faury told reporters.

INTERNET

Amazon plans testing lab

Amazon.com Inc is building a laboratory that would enable it to test employees for COVID-19, the latest step the online retailer is taking to try to protect its warehouse workers and delivery drivers, who are getting essential products to customers locked down at home. Amazon said that its effort might not accomplish much during the current pandemic, but it is still assigning a team of scientists, software engineers and procurement specialists to build a laboratory that would enable the company to “start testing small numbers of our front-line employees soon.”

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title: [ LETTERS ]

content_text:
Firm, fair, rational quarantine

I arrived in Taiwan on March 11. On my seventh day in the country, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) contacted me and told me not to leave my accommodation. The authorities had changed their policy: All European arrivals from March 5 had to go into quarantine until they had been in the country for a period of 14 days.

The following morning, a woman from the CECC visited me at the apartment. She told me they were tracking my mobile phone to make sure I complied with the quarantine and gave me a thermometer. I had clear instructions to fill in a health sheet each day and contact them if I developed symptoms.

To protect my girlfriend, who I am living with, the woman gave me 14 masks — two for each day. I was rung each morning of the quarantine by both the CECC and the local police. At no point did I have any symptoms.

Some people would have judged this as being “over the top” or “draconian” a couple of weeks ago. However, take a look at the numbers: Cases in Taiwan increased by 152 during my quarantine period, with the vast majority developing symptoms while in isolation.

The UK, on the other hand, had nearly 7,000 new cases, and that is not including many who are undiagnosed.

As for my quarantine being “draconian,” well, this weekend my girlfriend and I went on a trip to Taroko National Park, and next weekend we are going to Taipei.

For now, the Taiwanese authorities have escalated their immigration and quarantine policy to stay a step ahead of the virus, and they continue to remain proactive, not reactive. History will judge them to have acted with appropriate force. Other countries should take note.

Should the general public wear face masks? The WHO says no, but perhaps it is time for a rethink.

The official line from the WHO is that face masks are vital for medical staff and people who are showing symptoms should also wear one.

However, in Taiwan, masks are ubiquitous — it would be rude to go out in public and not wear one. On my flight out here, for example, a woman asked me not to sit on her row because I did not have a mask.

While people in the UK were hoarding toilet rolls, Taiwanese were lining up for masks. Why?

After wearing a mask for two weeks, I now perceive the benefits. First, when I wear a mask, I rarely touch my face. And this is important in the age of corona. A 2015 study in Australia suggested we habitually touch our faces 23 times an hour. Reducing this number would undoubtedly decrease the infection rate.

Second, putting on the mask before I leave the house has become part of a ritual — as though I am preparing for battle. I take this attitude with me into public spaces and have a heightened awareness of hygiene. “What have I touched? When did I last wash my hands?” If you multiply this across a population, it will make a big difference.

My stepfather is a general practitioner in the UK and his practice has had to order protective equipment from Amazon. If the people in charge have underestimated the need for doctors to wear masks, then no doubt they have not appreciated their value in the public arena as well.

From being in Taiwan, it is clear the benefit of masks go beyond whether or not a virus can pass through a filtration membrane and into your lungs; they change behavior and instil a sense of collective responsibility.

Now, of course, the counter for many public health bodies is that there are not enough personal protective equipment for medical staff, so the public should not wear them. And I agree that it would have been irresponsible for many governments to have announced a mask-wearing policy at the beginning of last month.

However, this is a matter of preparedness. Any cost of stockpiling masks, or at least having the ability to increase production like Taiwan has done, would have been negligible compared with an economic downturn.

Respiratory viruses have always been a top public health threat, so it is not unreasonable to hope that my government in the UK would have been better prepared.

There will be a time when the countries under lockdown will have to ease their social distancing rules before a vaccine is available, and societies will have to find ways of adapting to a new, coronavirus reality.

I hope when that time comes, those in charge look at Taiwan and see a need to develop the capability to impose strict quarantine rules and consider a policy of face masks to be worn in public spaces. Taiwan is increasing production of masks and ready to export if they need a hand.

Nicholas Toomey

Taichung

Great opportunity for CPBL

The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has been presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be broadcasting its games to the world, perhaps via YouTube, when they began on Saturday and get permission to fly in some top US, Japanese and other players to generate global interest.

With the games in empty stadiums, the league will need an alternative source of income and the likes of YouTube have built-in revenue-generating services that could be flooded by a planet’s worth of baseball-starved fans.

The CPBL should approach the government with a request for it to talk with other states about getting players tested and flown in for a few months.

Jarrod McCracken (pseudonym)

Taipei

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content_text:
Virus Outbreak: Cambodia gives leader emergency powers to fight virus

‘WORRYING TO THE EXTREME’:
 Rights groups said that the government was using the pandemic as a pretext to assert ‘absolute power over all aspects’ of life in the nation

Cambodia’s parliament yesterday passed a law to prepare the way for a state of emergency, which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has said he might have to declare to reinforce the campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human rights groups have said that an emergency would give sweeping powers to Hun Sen, who Western countries have long condemned for crackdowns on opponents, civil rights groups and the media.

The law allows the government under an emergency to monitor communications; control media and social media; and prohibit or restrict distribution of information that could generate public fear or unrest, or that could damage national security.

“The purpose of making this law for Cambodia is not unique, as there is this law already in many other democratic countries,” Cambodian Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin said.

“The law is intended to protect public order, security, people’s interests, lives, health, property and the environment,” he said.

Cambodia yesterday reported one new coronavirus case, taking its confirmed tally to 119, the Cambodian Ministry of Health said.

Hun Sen was initially skeptical about the threat posed by the coronavirus, but cases have been increasing and in the past few weeks the government has ordered restaurants, bars and casinos to close, and limited entry visas for foreigners.

Hun Sen has said that he might need emergency powers to help stem the outbreak.

His party holds every seat in the 125-seat Cambodian National Assembly and all members present voted to adopt the Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency.

Rights groups have said that the law contains broad and vague provisions that would infringe on fundamental rights and could be misused against critics.

It provides for prison terms of up to 10 years for anyone convicted of obstructing the authorities or not respecting government measures that leads to unrest or affects national security.

Human Rights Watch Asia director Brad Adams said that Cambodia should be passing laws to protect public health, not using the coronavirus as an excuse to extend government powers.

“The Cambodian government is using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to assert absolute power over all aspects of civil, political, social and economic life — all without any time limits or checks on abuses of power,” Adams said in a statement.

Rights group Amnesty International said that the law had been rammed through the legislative process with no transparency, no consultation and no due process.

“The idea of concentrating even more unchecked power into the hands of this government is worrying in the extreme,” Amnesty International official David Griffiths said.

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title: World News Quick Take

content_text:
PHILIPPINES

Health staff ordered to stay

The government has barred doctors, nurses and other health workers from leaving for overseas work as the nation seeks to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Immigration said. The temporary halt follows an order on Thursday last week by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, bureau spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said in text message. It would last for the duration of the nation’s state of emergency, the employment agency’s order said. The nation, which sends thousands of medical practitioners to work overseas, must now reinforce a healthcare system overwhelmed by the pandemic and weakened by deaths and infection of more than 200 health workers. The nation only has six doctors for every 10,000 people, according to the WHO, among the lowest in the region. Singapore’s ratio is almost 23 and Malaysia at 15.36. The ban covers 12 other jobs, including medical equipment operation and repair. More than 30,000 doctors, nurses, medical technicians, caregivers left the nation in 2010, the latest available data showed. The country had 4,076 coronavirus cases as of Thursday, with deaths reaching 203, including at least a dozen health workers.

POLAND

Infections might peak soon

The country might see the peak of coronavirus infections in the coming days, government spokesman Piotr Muller said yesterday. “It seems that if we will maintain our discipline, there is a chance that this infection rise may reach its maximum in coming days, to gradually slow down later,” Muller told public broadcaster TVP Info. Earlier, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the country might see a peak of infections next month or in June. The government reported 5,575 confirmed coronavirus cases and 174 deaths as of Thursday.

YEMEN

First virus case confirmed

The internationally recognized government yesterday announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the country, stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate an already crippled healthcare system. The national emergency committee for COVID-19 in southeastern Hadramout Governorate said on Twitter that the patient was being treated and was in a stable condition, without providing further details. Repeated bombings over five years of war have destroyed or closed more than half of the nation’s health facilities. Deep poverty, dire water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have also made it a breeding ground for disease. A Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels this week declared a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

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title: Virus Outbreak: Vietnam enters virus diplomacy fray

content_text:
FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR:
 Vietnam has given 390,000 masks to Cambodia and 340,000 to Laos, old allies with whom its influence has waned while China’s has expanded

Vietnam is challenging China’s dominance of coronavirus diplomacy with the donation of medical supplies to Europe and Southeast Asia and even winning plaudits from US President Donald Trump for a shipment of protective suits.

China is looking to burnish its credentials as a responsible power by sharing expertise and donating masks and other protective equipment to countries seeing a surge in cases of COVID-19 and to repair an image dented by the disease that originated there late last year.

Vietnam, despite its lack of resources compared with its giant neighbor, has donated 550,000 face masks to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain, and 390,000 to neighboring Cambodia and 340,000 to another neighbor, Laos.

A man on Thursday walks past a mural on a street in Hanoi during Vietnam’s nationwide social isolation effort as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19.
 Photo: AFP

It has also capitalized on the US government’s purchase of 450,000 made-in-Vietnam DuPont hazmat suits by expediting the shipment of the protective equipment, and using it to highlight its medical donations in public statements and state media.

Trump on Thursday thanked “our friends in Vietnam” for that shipment.

Helped by a mass quarantine and aggressive contact-tracing, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health has recorded more than 250 cases of COVID-19 and no deaths.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who has been widely praised for his role in leading the campaign against the coronavirus, on Monday said that the outbreak was under control.

The next day, state media showed photos of European ambassadors receiving boxes of masks from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a ceremony showcasing the donation.

“Vietnam appears to have gained in confidence by managing to deal successfully with the coronavirus,” Carl Thayer, an expert in Vietnam’s diplomacy at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, said.

“While Vietnam is bracing itself against a second wave of the virus, it is also beginning to look ahead to a revival of economic activity,” Thayer said.

Key to spurring that activity would be the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which Vietnam’s rubber stamp National Assembly is to ratify later this month, he said.

There are now 40 firms producing 7 million fabric masks daily in Vietnam, the government said on Thursday, adding that an additional 5.72 million surgical masks can be produced daily.

Vietnam is not the only country keen to show that it is able to offer its support to the world.

Taiwan is donating 16 million masks, mostly to Europe and the US, earning the diplomatically isolated nation rare prominence on the world stage.

Taiwan’s government, which like Vietnam, has managed to keep its tally of coronavirus cases low, with just five deaths, has not drawn a direct link between its virus diplomacy and that of China, but has been keen to show how “Taiwan can help,” especially as it can make more than 13 million masks daily.

South Korea has also won attention for its campaign against the virus and on Thursday it hosted an online presentation outlining its containment measures for about 400 health officials and experts from 13 countries, including the US, Mexico, and Italy.

“We’ve been getting requests from many countries for us to share our know-how,” a South Korean foreign ministry official said.

Vietnam has also not explicitly compared its virus diplomacy to China’s, but it was quick to send supplies to old allies Laos and Cambodia, where its influence has waned in recent years while China’s has surged.

Even though Vietnam needs similar equipment in its own efforts against the virus, it has made donations to neighbors with large Vietnamese communities “on the basis of traditional friendship and relations,” Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said.

Vietnam could also be pushing the quality of its medical supplies in light of mounting returns to China of faulty equipment, Thayer said.

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content_text:
GLASS CEILING:
 The Women’s Party’s has a tough battle ahead in the socially traditional and patriarchal society in which women make up just 17% of assembly seats

South Korea is regularly ranked lowest in the developed world for gender equality, but for the first time, a feminist party is seeking parliamentary seats at Wednesday’s election, accusing the political establishment of having failed women.

The Women’s Party was founded last month on International Women’s Day on the back of a surge of anger over the nation’s spycam porn epidemic and other crimes, and against a backdrop of an enduring pay gap, and employment and childcare issues.

However, it has a mountain to climb.

Women’s Party candidate Lee Ji-won, left, greets people during a campaign yesterday in Seoul for South Korea’s parliamentary elections.
 Photo: AFP

It has put forward four candidates in the proportional representation section of the vote, and will need 3 percent of the popular vote to secure a single seat.

“I had signed petitions, I participated in rallies against sexual violence against women, but realized it wasn’t going to work. So I’ve decided to go to the National Assembly,” said Kim Ju-hee, one of the four, who at 25 is among the youngest candidates in the whole election.

The party has about 10,000 members — about three-quarters of them in their 20s — and Kim said she will never marry nor have children in her efforts to fight patriarchy.

However, with the party unlikely to attract male voters, the threshold means it needs to secure the backing of 6 percent of all women.

It is an ambitious goal when South Korea’s two major parties — the ruling left-leaning Democratic Party of Korea and the conservative main opposition United Future Party (UFP) — and their satellite entities dominate the political system.

And single-issue parties have long struggled.

“For many women, it’s hard to support a party only because it deals with women’s issues,” said Kwon Soo-hyun, president of Korea Women’s Political Solidarity, a rights organization.

Chai Hyun-jung, a 33-year-old mother who works in Seoul, said she would vote for a party that offered solid pledges on children’s education and tackling the nation’s sky-high housing prices.

“I have too many other responsibilities in my life to solely focus on gender issues,” she said.

“Of course I’m angry about cybersexual violence, but I’m skeptical giving a single seat to a feminist party can actually lead to a significant difference,” she said.

Despite its economic and technological advances, South Korea remains socially traditional and patriarchal, and has one of the world’s thickest glass ceilings for women.

It has the highest gender wage gap in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and only 3.6 percent of South Korean conglomerates’ board members are female.

Similarly in politics, women make up just 17 percent of assembly seats in the outgoing parliament — 125th in a global ranking maintained by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, just behind North Korea in 120th place.

“Almost all male politicians, regardless of being progressive or conservative, are traditionalist when it comes to rights of women,” Kyonggi University criminology professor Lee Soo-jung said, adding that some do not understand the difference between pornography and crime.

Former UFP presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo admitted in his memoirs that at university he supplied a stimulant to a friend who tried to drug and have sex with a female student. Last year, a provincial governor from the Democratic Party who used to proclaim himself a feminist was convicted and jailed for raping a female aide.

Young South Korean women have enjoyed unprecedented campaigning successes outside parliament in recent years — fighting to legalixe abortion, and organizing a widespread #MeToo and anti-spycam movement that led to the largest women’s rights demonstrations in Korean history.

However, being an open feminist can lead to social stigma in a society where the movement is often framed as selfish, extreme and even irrational.

Women’s Party candidate Lee Ji-won said party members had received online death threats and had stones thrown at them while on the stump.

Linda Hasunuma, a politics academic at Temple University in the US, said feminist issues were often framed as “not representing the mainstream,” and portrayed instead as the “concerns of extreme activists.”

“It’s hard for women’s issues to gain traction in a society that has devalued women’s status and labor for generations,” she said.

However, Kim said that winning is not impossible.

“Thousands of women joined our party within the first week,” she said.

“I believe in young women’s collective wish to live a dignified life,” she said.

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title: S Korea’s first feminist party runs for elections


title: Democrats renew push for mail-in voting

content_text:
US ELECTIONS:
 Republicans said that Nancy Pelosi was using unemployment and illness amid the virus shutdown to leverage her party’s agenda to change election law

The US Democratic party want to bolster mail-in voting and take other steps to make balloting easier in the next round of congressional efforts to revive the economy and battle the COVID-19 pandemic, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.

Pelosi’s proposals drew condemnation from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, echoing US President Donald Trump’s opposition to federal attempts to prod states to relax restrictions the presidential and congressional elections in November.

Democrats in Congress have been pushing for ballots to be mailed to every registered voter for the elections.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a news conference in Washington on Feb. 6.
 Photo: AP

The virus’ threat has prompted worries that in-person balloting could be hazardous, even as large parts of the country are being told to stay home and avoid crowds to slow the spread of the disease.

“Why should we be saying to people: ‘Stand in line for hours,’ when we don’t even want you leaving the house?” Pelosi told reporters.

Democrats also want extended registration periods and additional money to help states expand voting systems.

Pelosi did not specify an amount to reporters on Thursday, but suggested US$2 billion in a conference call this week with House Democrats, said a Democratic aide who described the conversation on condition of anonymity.

In a separate call, McCarthy told reporters that he saw no reason to change election law now.

Citing the widespread illness, death and unemployment stemming from the virus, he accused Pelosi of trying to leverage the pandemic to advance her party’s agenda.

“You want to hold a bill up because you want to change election law in November, that somehow you think that gives you benefit? That’s disgusting,” he said.

Trump and McCarthy said that voting by mail would increase the risk of voter fraud.

Republicans should “not be afraid of the voice of the people, but they are,” Pelosi said. “And that’s one of the reasons they want to stand in the way of a more open democratic system at a time of a pandemic.”

Republicans have also said that the federal government should not interfere with state election laws.

The battle is expected to be waged mostly on a sweeping bill that would build on the US$2.2 trillion package enacted last month. It is funneling money to large and small businesses, most individuals, state and local governments, and the healthcare system.

Separately, state officials from both parties told reporters that the US Congress should provide more money and remove a required 20 percent match for states to receive shares of the US$400 million Washington has already provided in election assistance. Some states have indicated that they will have difficulty providing matching funds, as their revenues have declined amid the pandemic.

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title: SPORTS BRIEFS

content_text:
SUMO WRESTLING

Wrestler contracts virus

A Japanese sumo wrestler has tested positive for COVID-19, increasing the likelihood that next month’s Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, which has already been delayed, is to be further postponed. The wrestler, whose name has not been disclosed, developed a fever last week, but none of his stablemates and no officials have experienced symptoms, the Japan Sumo Association said yesterday. At the spring tournament, which was held last month in Osaka without spectators, wrestlers had to adhere to strict guidelines to avoid becoming infected.

MLB

Yankees top ‘Forbes’ list

Forbes estimates that the New York Yankees are baseball’s most valuable franchise at US$5 billion, up 9 percent from last year and 47 percent more than the No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers at US$3.4 billion. The Yankees are second among all sports to the Dallas Cowboys, listed at US$5.5 billion in the latest NFL ranking, Forbes’ evaluations showed. The magazine estimates that the value of the average MLB team rose 4 percent from last year, the smallest annual appreciation since 2010.

E-SPORTS

Stars to join charity event

Players from 20 of Europe’s most historic soccer clubs are to compete in the Stay and Play Cup, Electronic Arts announced on Thursday. The online charity event, scheduled to run from Wednesday until April 19, is to feature stars from FIFA 20, including Ajax, AS Roma, Liverpool and Real Madrid, the organizer said. The Cup expects to donate US$1 million to Global Giving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. “Millions of fans can experience the thrill of their favorite clubs and professional footballers playing — even when we have to be apart,” Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said.

NHL

Player’s wife seeks miracle

Edmonton Oilers center Colby Cave on Thursday remained in a coma in a Toronto hospital with his family saying that it will take a “miracle” for him to pull through. The team and Cave’s wife, Emily, updated his condition two days after he was placed in a medically induced coma following surgery to remove a colloid cyst that was causing bleeding on his brain. “It’s all I can keep asking: ‘He’s going to wake up right?’ We need a miracle,” Emily Cave wrote on Instagram. The forward was at home outside Toronto on Tuesday when he suffered overnight bleeding.

MMA

‘Thug Rose’ out over deaths

The manager of Rose Namajunas said that the former UFC strawweight champion would not fight at UFC 249 after two deaths in her family related to the pandemic. “Her hopes are to return to the Octagon as soon as possible,” Brian Butler wrote on Instagram on Thursday. UFC president Dana White later that day announced that the event due to take place on Wednesday next week at an unannounced location had been canceled. On Wednesday, the New York Times had reported that White planned to hold the event on tribal land, which would have skirted state restrictions on sporting events due to the coronavirus. Namajunas — known among fans for her shaved head and “Thug Rose” nickname — became the third strawweight champion in UFC history when she upset Joanna Jedrzejczyk in November 2017.

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A growing number of women are breaking into the male-dominated field by training and working at some of the nation’s most revered restaurants and institutions

Women have warm hands, their periods alter their sense of taste and they can’t work long hours — just some of the claims from those in Japan who believe women can’t be sushi chefs.

But a growing number of women in the country determined to shatter those myths are training and working as sushi chefs in some of Japan’s most revered restaurants and institutions.

Mizuho Iwai is a trainee at the upscale Onodera restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza, a ritzy neighborhood home to some of the world’s top-ranked sushi restaurants.

Mizuho Iwai, an apprentice at Sushi Ginza Onodera restaurant, grinds wasabi in January at the restaurant in Tokyo.
 Photo: AFP

In an industry where women are still rarely seen, she knew she would be an anomaly.

“I think there are a few [female] chefs but it’s rare. But I wanted to challenge things because of that,” the 33-year-old apprentice said. “I thought: this is my mission.”

And at Onodera, she’s not totally alone, there was one other woman among the 10 apprentices training at the restaurant before it recently closed temporarily over the COVID-19 outbreak. All 10 of the restaurant’s chefs are men.

The work can be grueling and requires years to master. Apprentices must learn everything from the names of different types of fish to removing scales and slicing properly. They are even instructed on how to correctly enter through the traditional drapes inside Onodera, by lifting and parting them with an elbow.

“My colleagues have accepted me,” said Iwai, who decided to become a sushi chef after cooking in small Japanese restaurants.

“They don’t treat me specially just because I’m a woman,” she added, after learning how to slice Japanese horse mackerel. “They teach me as a person.”

‘STRONG RESISTANCE’ TO WOMEN

The world of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, has long been dominated by men, more so than Italian or French cuisine, according to Fumimasa Murakami, a 54-year-old teacher at Tokyo Sushi Academy, which was still running a scaled back schedule of classes earlier this month.

There is no official data on the gender breakdown of sushi chefs in Japan, but Murakami estimates women make up “less than 10 percent.”

“[Resistance] against female chefs remains strong in Japanese cuisine, including sushi,” he said.

“Customers who don’t want a female chef at the counter do exist,” he added. “Older customers in particular have difficulty accepting it.”

But even sushi chefs have been known to repeat claims that women’s hands are too warm to keep raw fish fresh, or that their periods alter their sense of taste. Others say the job is unsuitable for women because of the long and late hours.

“In Japan, it is still strongly believed that it is women who take care of family. But sushi chefs work in the evening so it’s difficult for women,” said Yuki Noguchi, a 32-year-old former primary school teacher who finished her eight-month sushi chef training at the academy in December.

“That’s why I think the number of women who want to become a sushi chef is small in the first place,” she said.

PUNISHING TRAINING

Onodera’s head chef Akifumi Sakagami said the sushi world’s reputation for punishing training drove away women but also young people of both genders.

“I think women need a lot of courage to jump in,” the 46-year-old said.

Sakagami started as an apprentice more than 30 years ago in the northern city of Sapporo, when female chefs and trainees were essentially nonexistent.

“When I joined the industry, the working conditions in the washoku world were tough,” he said, as he showed Iwai how to thinly slice tuna and taught her how to properly peel freshly steamed shrimp. “It was long working hours with low pay. It was physically tough.”

“But the work environment is changing along with other changes in society. I think it’s getting better for both men and women,” he added.

He welcomes those changes and says being a chef depends not on gender but “competence, talent and how much effort people put in.” Fuka Sano, the other female apprentice at Onodera, said she didn’t think too much about the lack of women in the field when she decided to become a sushi chef.

“I guess women think a sushi chef is a man’s job because there are so few women,” the 18-year-old said.

But she was determined to enter the profession, after a formative trip to London.“I’m sorry to say this but sushi at chain restaurants in Britain didn’t seem appealing!” she laughed. She hopes to improve the standards of Japanese food overseas.

And Sano wants her food to be judged on its own merits, without regard for her gender.

“I want them to come (to the restaurant) for food,” she said, not “because I’m a woman.”

Her fellow apprentice Iwai hopes women like her are helping change the industry.

“It doesn’t matter whether the chef is a man or woman,” she said. “I hope the fixed image will disappear and there will be more options for women. It’s really a fun job.”

title: Women fight for a place at the table as sushi chefs in Japan


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Virus Outbreak: Pandemic helping Moon’s party ahead of elections

South Korea is the first major country to hold a general election in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis. That might turn out to be a boost for the South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The election for all 300 National Assembly seats on Wednesday comes as Moon basks in the glow of global praise for South Korea’s approach to getting one of the world’s worst outbreaks under control without resorting to the most punitive measures.

The day before early voting got under way yesterday, the nation reported 39 new coronavirus cases, the lowest number in seven weeks.

A woman wearing a mask leaves a voting booth to cast her absentee ballot for the parliamentary election at a polling station in Seoul yesterday.
 Photo: Reuters

The easing COVID-19 tally has helped Moon’s Democratic Party of Korea rebuild support battered by an economic slowdown, corruption scandals involving presidential aides and resurgent tensions with North Korea.

The turnaround is all the more remarkable because Moon had faced criticism for a lax approach after the epidemic began in neighboring China, having predicted that the virus would be terminated “before long” — only to see cases spike days later.

“It looked like Moon’s party was headed for a complete defeat in the election amid a fragile economic recovery,” said Kim Man-heum, head of the Korea Academy of Politics and Leadership and the author of several books on Korean politics. “Then came the coronavirus outbreak, which swallowed up all other controversies like a black hole, leaving only the government’s outperformance in the worldwide COVID-19 war visible.”

The vote comes about halfway through Moon’s single, five-year term, a point when an electoral defeat made his predecessor, former president Park Geun-hye, a lame duck and ultimately paved the way for her impeachment and removal.

SUCCESSOR

While a win by the conservative United Future Party could open Moon to similar peril, victory by the Democratic Party would free his hand to set up a successor.

If Moon could win the election without contributing to a subsequent spike in infections, he might also provide a road map for other leaders seeking to navigate a period of unprecedented economic and social upheaval. Places from US states to Singapore have been re-evaluating their political calendars and election practices as surging coronavirus outbreaks consume the public debate and make the democratic exercises of campaigning and voting dangerous.

In South Korea, candidates have campaigned in masks and relied more heavily on video messages to reach voters. Voters are asked to stand at least 1m apart, cover their faces, wear disposable gloves and be ready to submit to temperature checks. Voting booths are subject to frequent disinfection.

The decision to go ahead with voting contrasts with US states that have delayed presidential primaries and France, which suspended some local elections after cases began to multiply.

Singapore has held off on calling an expected vote as it orders people to stay in their homes to avoid spreading the disease.

Poland plans to conduct its May 10 presidential election by mail-in ballot.

The timing of South Korea’s vote appears to be working in Moon’s favor. His focus on mass testing and isolation of the sick to corral coronavirus clusters has been credited with a sharp slowdown in infection increases.

While South Korea once had the second-largest case tally outside China, it was the 17th globally as of Thursday, with just more than 10,000 cases, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News.

A Gallup Korea poll released last week, before restrictions on publishing poll results took effect on Thursday, showed that the Democratic Party was leading the opposition 41 percent to 23 percent.

Still, the complexity of South Korea’s vote and a history of surprises like Park’s shock defeat in 2016 make predictions difficult.

More than 1,100 candidates from 21 political parties have signed up for 253 constituencies with direct elections. Another 300 candidates are fighting for 47 seats decided by support for the parties.

“The results are often a surprise because opinion polls fail to capture each candidate’s competitiveness,” Kim said.

HEAVY HITTERS

The coronavirus crisis has loomed large in a closely watched race in central Seoul, a political proving ground that has produced three future presidents and is sometimes called South Korea’s “No. 1 district.”

The contest features two former prime ministers — Lee Nak-yon, of the Democratic Party, and opposition leader Hwang Kyo-ahn — in what could be a preview of the 2022 presidential election.

“Grabbing a victory here is like winning nationwide support,” Hwang said in a written reply to questions. “Only a landslide win would empower us to stop the ruling power’s policies.”

Hwang’s party is pushing to take a tough line with North Korea, scrap Moon’s decision to raise the minimum wage and cut back on regulations on business.

Lee declined to be interviewed.

Beside pushing through a dramatic wage increase, Moon has tightened rules on urban redevelopment to rein in a property bubble and sought to wean the economy away from nuclear energy in favor of hydrogen and solar power.

The Democratic Party is predicting that it would win at least 130 seats, while the United Future Party forecasts that it would take between 110 and 130 seats, according to Yonhap.

However, surveys have shown about one out of five voters are undecided or unwilling to say whom they support. The threat of infection at polling station only adds to the uncertainty.

“It’s highly likely to be an extremely polarized election,” said Park Won-ho, who teaches voting behavior at Seoul National University.

“Only those willing to pay for the cost of a possible infection will come to the polls, which will result in oversampling” of voters on the extreme right and left, Park said.

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While countries across the globe, hit hard by COVID-19, have kept their schools closed, Taiwan, Australia and Sweden have been among the few to keep theirs open.

Facing a worsening spread and rising death toll, more limitations on public gatherings have been put in place to slow the transmission of the virus. In some developed countries, schools have replaced face-to-face teaching with distance learning.

Such an alternative not only requires that each student has fair access to the requisite hardware and software, but that teachers are willing and able to adopt a different approach to imparting their knowledge and evaluating learning.

However, distance learning is not built in a day and Taiwan is not ready for it. If there is an imminent need for coronavirus containment, it could be a problem for schools, particularly universities.

Compared with the learning pattern in college, students in senior high school and below are highly dependent on textbooks, with a limited scope for further education. Shifting to distance learning would thus have a smaller impact.

College students, however, would be greatly affected, given that they are supposed to pursue more knowledge outside the scope of their studies. By pushing the boundaries, they can learn how to compare and contrast things in a broader sense, while thinking critically and independently.

There are two levels that the Ministry of Education should address in dealing with the challenges of implementing large-scale online learning.

First is the use of relief funds. According to a ministry plan, NT$400 million (US$13.3 million) is to be used to facilitate college teaching, training and guidance.

There are two burdens on universities and colleges. One is the tuition shortfall. Due to the temporary ban on entry by foreign nationals or the shift to distance learning, contributions from overseas students have dropped, given fewer credit hours. While earning less, schools have to pay more for the input and traning of staff for distance learning, the ministry Web site states.

The ministry should look into the significant gap in tech hardware between public and private universities, with the latter lagging far behind, although students at public and private schools are entitled to the same quality of learning. What is more concerning is that private schools lack resources to support huge annual maintenance fees.

By putting more funds into improvement and upgrading, this serious challenge could be turned into an opportunity to expand domestic demand if the government wants to save the industry and sustain the economy. Not only could it kill two birds with one stone, it might also benefit teachers and students.

The second level deals with the responsibility of teachers and students.

On one hand, teachers are obligated to adopt a different type of lesson planning, speaking in front of the camera and, with the help of assistants, engage in online platforms and interaction.

A new and fair evaluation system for learning is also needed.

If there was a need for adaptation to the trends in online teaching before, such as the platform Coursera — founded by Stanford University professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller — now is the time for the ministry to seek an incremental implementation, which might be a painful, but ultimately beneficial process from a long-term perspective.

On the other hand, students have to adapt to learning online at a random location. On the upside, they would have to spend less time on transportation, giving them more time for reading. The downside is their attitude to learning would be more difficult to evaluate objectively, including attendance, concentration and introspection.

Assigning scores would not be easy — and never objective to a larger extent. The crux is self-discipline.

As National Cheng Kung University professor Su Wen-yu (蘇文鈺) has said: “It is a matter of civic duty when it comes to employing an online teaching method, while being concerned about whether or not students are wandering around and contracting the disease instead of taking courses. That should never be a teacher’s responsibility. Teaching a course is one thing, disease prevention quite another.”

As the government steps up its efforts to ensure smooth progress during this crisis, it should give teachers more timely support. Money alone would not ensure a successful shift to distance learning; it ultimately depends on each Taiwanese’s civic and social responsibility.

Huang Yu-zhe is a political science undergraduate at Soochow University and has been accepted to National Chengchi University’s Graduate Institute of Law and Interdisciplinary Studies.

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title: Self-discipline in distance learning


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At no time since COVID-19 first broke out have Taiwanese or the government made a fuss about how great they are. Rather, they have all been humbly and carefully playing their allotted roles.

Many nations have repeatedly praised Taiwan for its success in keeping the disease under control. Taiwan’s achievements and the recognition it has won make people proud to be Taiwanese.

In contrast, China has been busy with its “grand external propaganda,” boasting about how well it has done in suppressing the epidemic. Part of its strategy has been to shower money on the WHO, where Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been waving the flag for China while it goes around telling barefaced lies.

Still, real achievements speak for themselves, and everyone can see which ones coming out of Taiwan and China are the real deal.

No amount of bragging by Beijing and the WHO can keep China’s shortcomings out of sight. One after another, Spain, the Czech Republic, Turkey and the Philippines have rejected COVID-19 test kits supplied by China, while the Netherlands rejected Chinese masks.

China’s “grand external propaganda” is falling flat. Meanwhile, Taiwan is receiving praise for its mask donations and disease-control measures, as well as its development of antigen tests, new medicines and more.

Notably, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), in his role as head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), holds daily news conferences in which he and his team tell the public exactly what is going on with the epidemic and what the government is doing about it.

The government’s transparency and responsible attitude, along with its achievements in controlling the epidemic, have done much to build Taiwan’s image as a safe and accountable nation.

Taiwan’s democracy is an advantage that China cannot match. In addition, it is demonstrating its values of responsibility and public safety in concrete and tangible ways for all to see.

COVID-19 is breaking asunder the chains of global production. Manufacturers everywhere are thinking about how they will redeploy in the post-pandemic era.

Taiwan, with its values of democracy, responsibility and safety, is sure to play a pivotal role in revived global chains of production, and its economy will be revitalized by fresh sources of income.

Although Taiwan’s new values shine a ray of light, there is no way of knowing when this pandemic will end. There is no cause for celebration. Taiwan must continue to carefully follow the CECC’s guidance. Those who are staying at home in quarantine must be extra careful and exercise self-restraint. No one can afford to push their luck.

Spare a thought for all the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, and for those who do the grassroots work in every neighborhood and village. Their steadfastness is building new Taiwanese values.

What the rest must and can do is simple: Do not add to their troubles. By working together, Taiwanese can safeguard the new values that will form the nation’s identity in the international community.

Chen Chi-yuan is an associate professor at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.

Translated by Julian Clegg

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title: Rebuilding Taiwan’s national identity