taiwan-subdivisions: 萬里區 中山 新北市 金山區 新北 萬里

things: 台語 春聯

title: 傾聽里長心聲！侯友宜視察萬金區     承諾加速基層公共工程落實「利民有感」

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

新北市長侯友宜（27）日率市府團隊前往萬里、金山區，與轄內里長展開行動治理座談會。侯友宜表示，受惠於《財劃法》修法，今年金山區與萬里區預算分別增加約 1.4 億元與 1.37 億元，市府將加速推動地方基礎建設，要求公所儘速啟動招標程序，並持續結合萬金石馬拉松、萬金杜鵑花季等品牌活動，強化北海岸觀光競爭力。

▲侯友宜與來賓及萬里區里長們大合照，祝市民朋友們馬祥厚運（馬上好運）。(圖/新北市民政局 提供)

適逢馬年新春，侯友宜現場發放馬年福袋及春聯「馬祥厚運」取台語諧音「馬上好運」，祝福市民「安駒（居）樂業」。

在萬里區施政方面，近年已完成龜吼漁夫市集改建、大鵬足湯公園等建設。今年預算將用於完成萬里運動天幕興建、瑪鋉溪步道延伸及龜吼至野柳山海步道復建。

針對地方關心的萬里公有零售市場改建案，侯友宜市長裁示，經發局須於今年年中完成改建方案定案。有關中幅納骨塔量能議題，民政局說明目前正辦理周邊區域可行性評估，市府承諾只要與地方取得共識，將立即啟動後續作業，滿足民眾殯葬需求。

針對萬里區里長建議員潭溪下游清淤、沿線堤防加高一案，水利局表示，已完成土石清運約1.6萬立方公尺，並以現地土石保護堤防基腳，及福德宮及員潭溪44號橋上游左岸護岸加高，另已爭取水利署核定員潭溪治理3項工程規劃設計經費，預計今年3月完成細部設計，後續將提報中央爭取工程經費。

金山區施政方面，金山立體停車場、中山溫泉公園及四磺子坪地熱發電廠等重大建設皆已落成。今年金山中繼市場預計於 3 月正式啟用；磺港溫泉遊憩區營造、老街周邊人行道改善及金包里公共浴室整修亦將於今年陸續完工。

▲侯友宜與金山區里長及貴賓合影。(圖/新北市民政局 提供)

針對金山青年活動中心活化案，市府已請國產署評估將游泳池納入活化方案，委託專業團隊評估以BOT及ROT方式引進民間資源辦理活化利用，俟可行性評估報告審定後將續行辦理都市計畫變更、先期規劃、環境影響評估及招商等相關作業。

金山區三界里長許添坤建議市府爭取大型藝術表演團體下鄉展演，侯友宜會中指示文化局積極促進城鄉藝術發展。

針對地方關注的交通路網，交通局已函請公路局推動「台 62 線萬里匝道銜接至台 2 線」工程，規劃跨越萬里市區直銜台 2 線，藉此擴大快速公路路網，有效緩解龜吼、野柳及金山地區的塞車壓力。此外，市府將同步推動環島自行車道萬里段升級、人行步道優化及爭取機車下鄉考照等便民建設，打造便利宜居環境。

民政局長林耀長表示，自 108 年啟動行動治理以來，金山區 67 項提案已完成 61 案，萬里區 24 項提案已完成 20 案，達成率均超過 8 成。對於里長建議的建設需求，市府團隊會持續追蹤案件進度，並與中央研商爭取經費，努力回應地方需求，與市民攜手打造更美好的生活環境。


taiwan-subdivisions: 新北 新北市 新莊

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

年節將至，新北市勞工局長陳瑞嘉(27日)上午率隊前往國都汽車新莊廠，贈送飲品、防護手套等慰問品給辛苦的勞工，也提醒雇主應落實各項安全衛生整備工作，勿因維修保養高峰造成趕工過勞。勞檢處亦宣布即日起執行春安勞檢，將鎖定營造工地、食品及化學工廠、汽車維修、貨運、倉儲及國道客運業者實施檢查，讓勞工朋友都能平安、健康過好年。

▲陳瑞嘉（27）率隊前往國都汽修廠關懷訪視，並贈送慰問品給現場勞工。(圖/新北市勞檢處 提供)

勞工局說明，因年節期間返鄉及出遊需求，汽車維修保養作業頻繁，常涉及車輛頂升、動力設備操作及油品、化學品使用，稍有不慎即可能造成勞工受傷。因此陳瑞嘉局長一早就前往國都汽車新莊廠，在副總經理陳浩立的陪同下，瞭解汽車修護業不同工段的底盤、輪胎、鈑金、烤漆作業區。陳局長除了瞭解整體作業SOP，也關懷勞工使用防護用具情形。

陳副總經理表示，每當公司推出「夏季冷氣健檢」或「過年前回娘家」活動，新莊廠會特別注意出勤勞工的排班及休息情形，一切遵照職安法及勞基法的規定辦理。副廠長林啟正也補充說，目前廠區約有110位員工，每個月定保車維護保養量能至少可達2000輛次，加上鈑烤就可以拉到接近3000輛次左右，公司除了依規定執行特殊作業體檢，還會提供牛乳讓烤漆師傅飲用。值得一提的是，廠區特別重視通風，引擎發動也有排風管將廢氣吸出去，置身其中不會感到一般工廠的吵雜與悶熱，令人印象深刻。

▲陳瑞嘉率隊前往國都汽修廠關懷訪視，提醒遵循勞基法規定與安全規範。(圖/新北市勞檢處 提供)

勞檢處長林澤州提醒，春安檢查期間，勞檢員將前往企業現場實施檢查，以督促雇主落實各項安全防護工作，例如倉儲及物流業者操作堆高機時，除應設置安全裝置外，也應規劃運行路線並設置引導人員；此外，春節期間是返鄉及旅遊高峰，也提醒客運業者應避免駕駛超時工作而影響行車安全。

勞檢處最後呼籲，為避免勞工發生職業災害，雇主應設置必要的防護設施。例如：有墜落危險的場所應設置護欄或安全網；有使用中毒危害的化學品時，應採取通風、換氣等設施；衝剪機械應設置安全護圍或護罩，尤其在歲修保養期間，應確實切斷電源並由專人上鎖管制，以防止機械突然運轉而發生危險。此外，雇主使勞工加班或輪班時，應隨時注意人員健康情況，並遵守勞基法工時上限，期盼勞工朋友在春節來臨前，都能平安、健康工作，讓勞雇雙方開心過好年。

title: 平安過好年！新北啟動春安勞檢     陳瑞嘉訪國都汽車慰問基層勞工


taiwan-subdivisions: 桃園 新北 土城 鶯歌 新北市 八德

title: 雙北桃生活圈共榮！新北桃園捷運局長齊聚     爭取三鶯延伸線經費審議速通過

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

捷運三鶯線延伸桃園八德迎來關鍵進展！新北市政府與桃園市政府合作推動的「三鶯線延伸桃園八德段」，地方展現高效率，提前啟動基本設計，去(2025)年8月1日行政院核定綜合規劃後，新北捷運局立刻於8月12日將經費審議報告提報中央，行政院公共工程委員會(27)日由副主任委員李怡德率隊實地現勘與審議，新北市政府捷運工程局長李政安及桃園市政府捷運工程局長劉慶豐全程陪同，攜手向中央爭取審議盡速通過，才能讓工程盡早開工，順利於2034年完工通車。

▲新北捷運局長說明路廊現況。(圖/新北市捷運工程局 提供)

李政安表示，(27)日工程會率領軌道專業背景審查委員及相關部會人員，至桃園八德現場實地考察，現地踏勘三鶯線尾軌、LB12a站、LB13站及與桃園綠線共構的LB14站（G04站），審議會議當中，新北捷運局針對計畫路廊現況、工程設計理念、替選方案評估及施工期程等重點進行完整簡報，展現雙市府對計畫的嚴謹規劃與執行決心，以實際行動爭取中央審議支持。而為了加速期程，在中央經費審議時，同步啟動相關招標準備作業，預計今年上半年公告招標。

▲三鶯線延伸桃園八德段路線圖。(圖/新北市捷運工程局 提供)

李政安進一步說明，三鶯線延伸八德段全長約4.03公里，總經費約160.57億元，共設置3座車站（2座高架、1座地下），路線自新北鶯歌三鶯線終點站LB12鶯桃福德站尾軌延伸，沿福德一路興建，跨越國道2號大湳交流道後，續沿八德區和強路至介壽路新闢道路向西南方向前進，行經八德區大湳森林公園區段徵收範圍後轉為地下興建，最終銜接桃園捷運綠線大湳站（G04）共構及站內轉乘。新北「三環六線」與桃園「三心六線」正式接軌，未來通勤族不必再「公車轉火車」繞行，能搭捷運從土城頂埔直達桃園八德，建構服務千萬人口的北北桃捷運共榮路網。

▲LB12a站內模擬圖。(圖/新北市捷運工程局 提供)

新北捷運局詳細說明，三鶯線延伸八德段打造都會競爭力新引擎！三鶯線延伸桃園八德不僅完善三鶯線整體功能，更串聯北北桃捷運核心路網，帶動區域交通、產業及生活圈發展，提升都會競爭力，新北、桃園市政府持續緊密合作，全力促成計畫如期推動，讓市民早日享有更便利、完善的捷運服務。


things: 春聯 台語

taiwan-subdivisions: 安定 成功 平溪 中和 新北 新北市

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

為迎接2026年馬年到來，新北市長侯友宜(27)日親自發布新出爐的「馬祥厚運」春聯，向市民傳遞滿滿的新年祝福。由新北青年書法家楊承叡與設計師王景民攜手創作的新北「馬祥厚運」春聯，以吉祥詞意與台語巧思，為新春注入滿滿祝福。

▲馬年春聯大合照。(圖/新北市新聞局 提供)

從國語意涵來看，「祥」代表吉兆與福氣，「厚運」代表的是深厚而全面的祝福，不只是財運好、事業順，也祝福大家平安健康、家庭幸福，祝福馬年萬事順心、好運滿載。而台語諧音為「馬上好運」、「要最好運、也最好運」，象徵馬年來臨，好運即刻到位、財運福運齊至，寓意「馬年最好運」。

同步亮相的「馬上賺錢」新春福袋，以旋轉木馬結合錢幣為主視覺，特別設計成可以轉動，象徵「轉錢=賺錢」，呼應台語中「馬轉錢」即「欲賺錢」的吉祥諧音，寓意新的一年財運流轉、生生不息。馬匹造型上更特別貼上10元硬幣，象徵「馬上有錢」，祝福民眾新年一開始就財氣到位。隨著福袋的轉動，畫面動線串聯新北從日到夜的山海城風貌(野柳、淡江大橋、平溪)，邀請全民「到新北轉(賺)一圈」，不僅感受城市魅力，也祝福大家「馬上賺錢、一路順行」。福袋背面則以三隻奔馳的馬與馬蹄圖樣組成「驫」字意象，象徵市政建設加速推動、馬不停蹄、步步向前，同時寓意馬蹄生金，祝福市民馬到成功、財源廣進。

值得一提的是，市長自上任以來，始終以「安居樂業」作為施政核心，此次特別由市長跟百歲人瑞及秘書處長、經發局長一起開筆揮毫「安駒樂業」四字，以「駒」寓意駿馬奔馳、城市前行，象徵市政穩健推進、成果逐步累積，陪伴市民迎向安定、幸福的好日子。

▲馬年福袋。(圖/新北市新聞局 提供)

新北市政府表示，期盼透過「馬祥厚運」春聯及福袋，將祝福送進每一位市民手中，陪伴大家在新的一年中轉動好運、厚積幸福，共同迎向豐盛富足的馬年。即日起，週一至週五上班時間在市府1樓西側服務台開放民眾索取春聯，此外，新北市29個區公所也歡迎民眾就近前往索取，福袋則是配合市長的市政活動及春節走春行程發送，相關資訊將公告於「我的新北市」官網。

經發局長盛筱蓉表示，2026新北年貨市集於1月31日至2月1日在中和四號公園登場，集結40攤年貨業者，並推出年貨拍賣會等活動。另推出「線上年菜特惠組」，888元及2,888元兩種價位，限量88組，1月28日中午12點於KKTIX開放預購，詳情請上「來新北逛菜市」臉書查詢。

秘書處長祝惠美表示，本府自1月26日至2月26日在市府大廳規劃馬年主題布置，特別打造高達3公尺的「巨型絨毛元寶馬」，另採用可重複利用的木架燈箱，減少一次性材料使用，落實環保與永續理念，燈箱布置融入野柳女王頭、平溪天燈、淡江大橋與即將啟用的第二行政大樓等城市元素，市民朋友可以手機感應景點圖案即可連結至專屬網站，認識新北在地特色與周邊景點，同時輕鬆規劃走春行程，邀請民眾春節期間前來拍照打卡，共同迎接嶄新的一年。

title: 馬年好運到！侯友宜發布 2026「馬祥厚運」春聯     諧音台語祝福市民「馬上有好運」


title: 月薪 32K 起跳！新北環保局公布清潔隊員甄試簡章     釋出 910 名候用名額

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記者黃俊育 / 新北報導

新北市環保局(27)日公布「115年儲備環保車輛駕駛暨儲備清潔隊員」甄試簡章，預計招募910名候用清潔隊員，包含「儲備環保車輛駕駛」候用380名及「儲備清潔隊員」候用530名。本次甄試報名日期自2月5日(星期四)上午8時起至2月8日(星期日)下午6時止，全程採網路方式辦理報名，錄用後通過試用期者，月薪3萬2,450元起跳，歡迎符合資格的市民朋友踴躍報考。

環保局表示，考量部分民眾可能無法自行上網操作，環保局特別於第二辦公室(地址：新北市板橋區文化路1段18號，板橋國小對面)提供協助網路報名服務，服務時間為2月5日(星期四)至7日(星期六)每日上午9時至下午5時，現場有專人協助完成網路報名手續。

環保局說明，報考資格方面，凡設籍新北市4個月以上，且具國小以上學歷者均可報考「儲備清潔隊員」；另「儲備環保車輛駕駛」除了符合前述設籍及學歷外，須領有1年以上職業大貨車、職業大客車或職業聯結車駕駛執照，且執照審驗日期無逾期，亦無受吊扣、吊銷處分。

此外，甄試項目部分皆採兩階段淘汰制，「儲備環保車輛駕駛」第一階段為筆試測驗(占30%)，第二階段為道路駕駛技術測驗(占70%)；「儲備清潔隊員」第一階段為體能測驗（占70%），第二階段為筆試測驗（占30%），任一階段缺考或未通過者，不予錄取。

本次招募設有九大分區，錄取人員將依照考生成績排名及志願序分發。為穩定各區人力配置，考生錄取後需於受分發之區清潔隊工作滿6年方可申請轉調至本市其他區清潔隊，提醒考生報名前應詳閱簡章相關規定。

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taiwan-subdivisions: 新北 新北市 板橋區


content_text:
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support

Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities.

The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces.

The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said.

Soldiers pose for a photograph with the Taiwanese flag during a drill at a military facility in Taichung yesterday.  Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg

The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command that turned into an assault against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure with the aid of local collaborators.

It began with special combat units reconnoitering the field with tactical close-range rotary-wing uncrewed aerial vehicles, also known as the Capricorn, followed swiftly by special operations units, who acted as the aggressors, landing in the operation zone via UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.

The units attempted to wrest control of the command tower from defending troops by engaging in close-quarters combat.

A sergeant major surnamed Yu (游) said that his squad was able to carry out its part in the exercises in a high-pressure environment due to rigorous training.

Fire support on the defenders’ side entered in the form of eight-wheeled Cloud Leopard Armored Personnel Vehicles and M60A3 tanks.

Ground-launched versions of the Tian Jian II missiles (Sky Sword) were on standby, simulating the army’s contingency in the event the PLA attempted to complement the sudden assault with WZ-10 helicopters that would support a Type 075 amphibious assault ship.

title: HIMARS joins first exercises this year

taiwan-subdivisions: 七美 望安


title: Over 90% of foreign firms upbeat on Taiwan: AmCham survey

content_text:
About 92 percent of foreign companies said they plan to maintain or increase investment in Taiwan this year, with the majority saying they remain confident about the local market despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and tariff-related risks, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taiwan said in a survey released yesterday.

About 82 percent said they are optimistic about Taiwan’s economic outlook over the next 12 months, citing last year’s strong growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI) demand, which boosted investment in servers and advanced chip production, AmCham Taiwan’s Business Climate Survey said.

However, as a growing share of Taiwan’s exports is driven by AI-related hardware, the gains have remained uneven, with traditional industries exposed to US tariffs and China’s oversupply continuing to struggle, the chamber said.

American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan chairperson Anita Chen, right, and president Carl Wegner pose for pictures at a news conference to release the group’s 2026 Business Climate Survey in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters

More foreign firms in Taiwan are preparing emergency plans as security concerns rise, but actual disruption from tensions with China is very low, the survey showed.

About 46 percent of respondents said they were revising business continuity plans to “bolster resilience,” compared with 40 percent last year, it said.

This year, national security topped the list of foreign companies’ perceived risk to business operations, although only 7 percent reported significant disruptions last year from tensions in the Taiwan Strait, it said.

Personal anxiety about increased military activities remained unchanged at three, on a scale of up to five.

“Companies choose to stay in Taiwan despite these geopolitical concerns and it’s not because things are easy, it’s because companies are getting better at managing these risks with resilience planning and business operation planning,” AmCham Taiwan chairperson Anita Chen (陳幼臻) told reporters in Taipei.

AmCham Taiwan said that 206 of its 411 eligible members responded to the survey conducted shortly before China’s most recent war games. The group serves as an important conduit between the foreign, especially US, business community in Taiwan and policymakers in Taipei and Washington.

Taiwan has repeatedly called for the swift passage of an agreement to avoid double taxation, currently stalled in the US Senate, saying it would encourage more bilateral investment.

AmCham Taiwan president Carl Wegner said that from speaking to people in Washington, this year looked like a “good year with positive potential” for that deal to be approved.

“We speak about it with all the delegations that come here, they bring that message back” to Washington, he added.


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Japan-US alliance would collapse if Tokyo ignored Taiwan crisis: Takaichi

Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event.

Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks.

Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese military response. Beijing has responded with export curbs, flight cancellations and vitriolic commentaries, repeatedly demanding a retraction.

Japanese Prime Minister and President of the Liberal Democratic Party Sanae Takaichi, left, raises her fist in response to the audience at the end of her campaign speech for the House of Representatives election in Tokyo yesterday. Photo: AFP

“I want to make it absolutely clear that this is not about Japan going out and taking military action if China and the United States come into conflict [over Taiwan],” Takaichi said on the live TV show, referring to the comments she made in parliament in November.

“If something serious happens there, we would have to go to rescue the Japanese and American citizens in Taiwan. In that situation, there may be cases where we take joint action,” she said.

“And if the US forces, acting jointly with us, come under attack and Japan does nothing and simply runs away, the Japan-US alliance would collapse. So we would respond strictly within the limits of the law — within the limits of the laws as they currently exist — while making a comprehensive judgement based on what is happening on the ground,” she said.

Takaichi did not elaborate.

With an eye on the electorate, Takaichi has stopped short of retracting the remarks from November, saying her stance was consistent with Japan’s long-standing policy.

She has also said that China’s characterization of her remarks was inconsistent with the facts.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday urged Japan to “earnestly reflect and correct its mistakes, and to stop its manipulation and reckless actions on the Taiwan issue.”

Japan’s pacifist constitution prohibits direct military action, but allows it to exercise the right of collective self-defence, or defending the US or another friendly country that comes under attack, in cases where Japan faces a “threat to its survival.”

Takaichi has enjoyed high approval ratings since taking office in last year and has called a snap election on Feb. 8, hoping to capitalize on her popularity.


content_text:
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from South Korea to 25 percent, citing what he said was the failure of the country’s legislature to codify the trade deal the two nations reached last year.

Trump in a social media post said the new rate would apply to vehicles, lumber, pharmaceutical products and “all other Reciprocal TARIFFS.”

Under the existing agreement, the US president set a 15 percent levy on South Korean exports.

Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, yesterday.

Photo: AP

“South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States,” Trump wrote. “In each of these Deals, we have acted swiftly to reduce our TARIFFS in line with the Transaction agreed to. We, of course, expect our Trading Partners to do the same.”

If implemented, the move could have wide-ranging effects on major South Korean companies, such as Hyundai Motor Co, which exported 1.1 million vehicles to the US in 2024.

Trump’s announcement marks his latest move to ratchet up trade tensions with allies. In the past few weeks, he has threatened to raise duties on Canadian products to 100 percent if Ottawa signed a trade deal with China and to slap new charges on European countries’ goods over his quest to seize control of Greenland.

Still, Trump’s tariff threats have often been scaled back or reversed. Data compiled by Bloomberg show that about 27 percent of such threats since late 2024 were fully executed, with the share that remained in place lower at about 20 percent.

South Korea has been lauded as a model ally by the US for raising its defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP, but tensions remain over the pace at which Seoul provides investment to the US under its earlier trade deal, and regulations seen to be inhibiting US digital commerce firms.

There is also a lack of clarity over an agreement to help with US shipbuilding, the construction of nuclear submarines and the provision of nuclear fuel for submarines.

Following last year’s trade deal announcement, a domestic bill called the “special law on strategic investment with the US” was introduced to the South Korean parliament in late November last year, triggering a retroactive cut in US auto tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent.

Once passed, it would give South Korea’s government the legal authority to manage and carry out the large-scale investments it pledged to the US under the trade deal, but it has not been put on the fast track for approval for now.

A Bloomberg report last week said Seoul would hold off this year on implementing its annual US investment pledge that was part of the trade deal framework amid concerns over capital outflows and currency volatility.

South Korean Minister of Finance Koo Yun-cheol subsequently said the government was not intentionally delaying the investment, but was still in the process of selecting projects and completing required procedures.

He said it would be difficult for the funds to be allocated in the first half of the year given the time needed to identify sites, finalize designs and carry out approvals.

title: Trump threatens tariff hike to 25% on S Korean goods


people: 習近平 鄭麗文

content_text:
By Chen Yun, Su Yung-yao and Sam Garcia / Staff reporters, with staff writer

Opposition lawmakers yesterday blocked review of the special defense budget for the 10th time, while the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported that doing so might be a precondition for a summit between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing.

At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Procedure Committee, the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party voted not to include the Executive Yuan’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.72 billion) special defense budget in Friday’s meeting — the final such meeting of this legislative session.

Chinese-language media have reported that the KMT and the CCP were planning to resume the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, better known as the KMT-CCP Forum, which has been suspended for nine years, although the KMT has not confirmed that it is back on the schedule.

Legislators hold signs at a meeting of the Procedure Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Sources said that the forum would pave the way for a meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

Yesterday, sources told the Liberty Times on condition of anonymity that CCP authorities believe that the KMT has fallen short in some areas and needs to demonstrate “substantive action” before the forum can take place.

The CCP’s conditions include that the KMT block the special defense budget, take a clear stance on institutional arrangements following “reunification” and not support Taiwan-US supply chain cooperation, the sources said.

However, the conditions are starkly out of step with public opinion in Taiwan and the KMT judged the political cost to be too high, so it proposed a scaled-down “think tank exchange” as a possible way forward, they said.

The exchange, which was expected to be held in Beijing from yesterday to tomorrow, would be postponed to Monday to Wednesday next week, people familiar with the matter said.

The 40-person delegation would be led by KMT Vice Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) and includes representatives of the party’s think tank, the sources said, adding that it would be hosted by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤).

The CCP is open to the KMT’s proposed think tank exchange on issues such as tourism, technology, green energy and low birthrates, despite its view that it is a stalling tactic, Taiwanese businesspeople based in Beijing said.

More broadly, the KMT is exploring renewed cross-strait economic cooperation regarding labor, supply chains and energy, sources said.

The KMT denied the reports, saying that they were manipulating false information.

It vowed to take legal action.

Reviewing the national defense and arms procurement budget is part of the legislature’s lawful duties, and has no connection with cross-strait exchanges, the KMT said.

While opposition parties support reinforcing defense capabilities, scrutinizing large budgets that lack comprehensive explanations, are disproportionate in scale and unclear in structure is a matter of accountability to taxpayers and a fundamental responsibility of the legislature, the party said.

No form of cross-strait exchange, think tank dialogue or inter-party interaction has ever involved any quid pro quo, nor could arms purchases, defense policy or legislative decisions be used as preconditions, the KMT said.

Using lawful oversight of the defense budget as a political bargaining chip not only defies basic common sense, but also seriously misleads the public, it said.

Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han

title: Opposition blocks review for the 10th time


title: TPP’s budget bill not viable: military

content_text:
‘MISSING ITEMS’: The bill lists systems to buy from the US, but does not include costs for construction, training and maintenance, a ministry of defense official said

A special defense budget proposed by the Taiwan People’s Party’s (TPP) is not viable, as it has no provisions for combat positions, maintenance or storage, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

The TPP on Monday sponsored a NT$400 billion (US$12.71 billion) bill to fund procurements of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), M109A7 self-propelled howitzers and other weapons.

However, the absence of key items means the ministry could not implement the proposal, Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi, who heads the Department of Strategic Planning, told a news conference.

Lieutenant General Huang Wen-chi, head of the Ministry of National Defense’s Department of Strategic Planning, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Citing the TPP’s budget for buying HIMARS as an example, Huang said that the bill fails to fund vehicle depots, and maintenance and repair facilities, as well as combat positions necessary to keep the artillery operational.

Without storage facilities, the systems would be subject to environmental damage, he said.

Government workers tasked with its implementation would be exposed to prosecutable negligence should the ministry enact a budget that only has funds for weapons purchases, he said.

The ministry’s budget proposal was written after careful assessment of operational realities, he said, adding that enacting the TPP’s bill would lead to problems.

The TPP bill lists details for systems to buy from the US, but does not include costs for construction, training and maintenance that must be done in Taiwan, said Lieutenant General Hsieh Chi-hsien (謝其賢), who heads the Comptroller Bureau.

The armed forces would not be able to field the systems if the TPP’s bill were passed, Hsieh said.

However, special budgets are legislation and cannot be amended until they go through the full legislative process, meaning that the military would have no way to make the weapons work unless it reduced the number purchased or waited for amendments, he said.

The TPP caucus in a statement called the ministry’s remarks “nonsense” and accused the government of lacking strategic vision.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government in 2019 asked the US to authorize the sale of M109A6s before bowing to Washington’s advice to purchase HIMARS, the statement said.

The government’s problem-prone submarine program and its proposal to buy US-made drones prone to frequency jamming are examples of wasteful spending, it said.

The government is spending money to pacify the public in lieu of military planning, the statement said.

“The DPP is using national defense and Taiwan-US ties as a pretext to pass a NT$1.25 trillion special budget to benefit foreign arms manufacturers,” it said.

The DPP caucus urged opposition lawmakers to allow the government’s budget to be deliberated concurrently with the TPP bill.

DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said he respects the prerogative of TPP lawmakers to propose bills, but defense officials have knowledge that lawmakers might lack.

The ministry’s budget is a complete package that includes allocations for logistics, ammunition, Taiwan-US defense cooperation and efforts to secure national supply chains, Shen said.

“Putting off the matter further would be a show of policy indecision and lack of internal consensus,” DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said.


content_text:
GENERALS GONE:  Although losing top generals is not likely to harm the PLA’s ability to conduct routine military affairs, the loss of experience will hurt, a researcher said

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) removal of senior military leaders might disrupt the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) capability to wage war against Taiwan in the immediate future, Taiwanese defense experts said yesterday.

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense on Saturday announced that Zhang Youxia (張又俠), a member of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) politburo and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Liu Zhenli (劉振立), chief of the commission’s Joint Staff Department, are under investigation for suspected disciplinary and legal violations.

With the removal of Zhang and Liu, five of the seven members of the 20th Central Military Commission formed in 2022 have now been removed, leaving only its chairman, Xi, and its vice chairman, Zhang Shengmin (張升民).

Then-Chinese Central Military Commission vice chairman Zhang Youxia speaks at the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense in Hanoi on Oct. 24, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Tsai Wen-hsuan (蔡文宣), a research fellow in Academia Sinica’s Institute of Political Science, said that the negative effect on military capabilities stemming from the dismissals would benefit Taiwan in the short run.

Weakening the PLA’s war potential is an acceptable risk to Xi, as he likely does not have any plans to take action against Taiwan until he secures a fourth presidential term at the 21st National Congress of the CCP next year, Tsai said.

Chieh Chung (揭仲), an associate research fellow at the state-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that frequent purges dilute the experience of China’s top generals, impeding the modernization of its military.

Although turnover of top generals is not likely to adversely affect the PLA’s ability to conduct routine military affairs, the loss of experience is sure to create a bottleneck in Chinese efforts to develop new military capabilities, Chieh said.

There would be a significant downside for the PLA capabilities if Xi’s purges spread to lower-ranking generals, he added.

Chaos in the Chinese military’s upper echelons also increases the risks of miscalculation by removing leaders capable of handling large-scale crises, he said, adding that major generals do not have training or experience regarding strategic matters.

As Xi hollows out the commission, fear of contradicting the Chinese leader could stifle the honest exchange of opinions necessary for Beijing to manage contingencies, Chieh said.

The dismissals would have little to no effect on the frequency of China’s provocative military drills around Taiwan proper, which are conducted by the PLA Eastern Theater Command as a matter of routine, he said.

Tristan Tang (湯廣正), an associate fellow at the Taoyuan-based Secure Taiwan Associate, said that military indicators show Zhang and Liu lost influence as their war preparation efforts failed to meet expectations.

Official briefings accused the two generals of causing “severe damage to combat capability development,” a charge not seen in an earlier case involving former commission vice chairman He Weidong (何衛東), Tang said.

Publicly available information suggests that Zhang and Liu might not have met Xi’s “requirements for force building related to a Taiwan invasion, and may even have engaged in open disagreement or defiance within the PLA,” he said.

Although China’s military is unlikely to attack Taiwan in the near term, training activities and military drills might become more aggressive and frequent under successors willing to implement Xi’s military blueprint, he added.

Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Washington-based Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, said the latest purge “makes China’s threat toward Taiwan weaker in the short term, but stronger in the long term.”

It would make a military escalation riskier in the immediate term because of “a high command in disarray,” but in the long term would mean the army has a more loyal and less corrupt leadership with more military capabilities, Thomas said.

Additional reporting by AP

title: Chinese purge might slow PLA, experts say


content_text:
Reports increase of Taiwanese missing, detained in China

Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.

Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said.

Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said.

Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Beijing’s Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait were established to facilitate tourism coordination.

Previously, Taiwanese in China who encountered travel contingencies could contact the two associations for assistance, the MAC said.

However, with communications suspended between the two associations, Taiwanese in China no longer have the same safety protections and face heightened risk, it said.

The associations should hold discussions and seek to resume cross-strait tourism diplomatic links, as the safety and interests of Taiwanese are the main priority, it said.

The government has been consistent in its goodwill toward China, but it would not compromise the rights and safety of Taiwanese, the MAC said, adding that the travel industry and the public should support efforts to build an improved framework for “cross-strait tourism 2.0.”

Separately, Bureau of Consular Affairs Director-General Cheng Cheng-yung (鄭正勇) said that travel advisory standards have been updated to take into account whether countries have signed extradition or bilateral judicial assistance treaties with China.

Before traveling abroad, Taiwanese should check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ travel advisory table on the bureau’s Web site to assess the safety of their destination, Cheng said.

Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan


people: 唐鳳 張忠謀 韓國瑜 林佳龍

title: Minister Lin touts tech governance

content_text:
Taiwan’s democratization and technological innovation have been inextricably linked since 1987, but the information technology boom has brought new challenges to urban governance, as malicious actors use it to manipulate information and create division, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at the AI x Democracy Forum in Taipei yesterday.

The international forum — which was organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, with attendees from local governments, as well as European, North American and Latin American organizations — was hosted by former minister of digital affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) and featured a debate between academics and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.

Lin spoke ahead of a discussion centered on the use of innovative urban governance and global collaboration to boost democracy.

From left, Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lee Huai-jen, Taichung Deputy Mayor Cheng Chao-hsin and former minister of digital affairs Audrey Tang attend the AI x Democracy Forum in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times

The Martial Law era ended and Morris Chang (張忠謀) founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in 1987, meaning Taiwan’s political democratization and technological innovation sprouted at the same time, symbolizing the close connection between technological development and urban governance, Lin said, adding that this year marks 30 years since Taiwan’s first democratic presidential election in 1996.

Taiwan’s democracy has always stemmed from local autonomy, with mayoral and county commissioner elections first held in 1950, he said.

Effective local government incorporates into decisionmaking the daily lives of constituents and the long-term development of national democracy, he said.

Local governments have transformed into innovators in democratic governance, and have shared their experiences through international networks and global cooperation, he added.

Smart applications assisted in local governance during his time as Taichung mayor, although malicious manipulation of information could make it harder for the public to reach a consensus on many issues, posing new challenges for urban governance, Lin said.

Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) in a prerecorded video message said that the forum aims to reflect on the role of local administrations within the global democratic governance network.

Han said he hoped that participants would examine the benefits, opportunities, risks and responsibilities of AI in democratic governance, respect democratic values and use AI appropriately.


title: New Indian envoy backs interactions

content_text:
India would continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges and industrial cooperation with Taiwan, especially in the high-tech and value-added sectors, Ninad Deshpande, the country’s new representative to Taiwan, said at an Indian Republic Day event on Monday.

During a reception to mark India’s 77th Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of its constitution, Deshpande said that there has been “steady and substantive progress” in bilateral relations, with engagement expanding on all fronts.

The two sides have built partnerships in electronics, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and information and communications technology, which are contributing to “capacity-building, skills development and long-term value creation,” said Deshpande, who took up the post of director-general of the India Taipei Association (ITA) on Jan. 2.

Indian Representative to Taiwan Ninad Deshpande gestures at an Indian Republic Day event in Taipei on Monday. Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times

As India is undergoing a phase of economic and institutional reform, Taiwan’s strengths in “innovation, industrial excellence and talent development” align naturally with the priorities that his country is hoping to achieve, he said.

To that end, Taiwan and India have signed more than 20 memorandums of understanding, while bilateral trade has risen to about US$10 billion a year, the envoy said, adding that he expected the momentum to continue.

“India’s engagement with Taiwan will remain forward-looking and pragmatic,” he said. “As we enter the Year of the Horse — a symbol of energy, endurance and steady progress — we are confident that our cooperation will continue to move with purpose, resilience and momentum.”

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱), who was representative to India from 2020 to last year, told the event that India has a special place in his heart, as he still practices the yoga and meditation that he learned while there.

Describing India as an important partner, Ger said that the two countries set a record of US$12.5 billion in two-way trade last year, while more than 260 Taiwanese companies have investments in India.

Before his post at the ITA, the de facto Indian embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official ties, Deshpande, a career diplomat since 2005, since 2023 served in Geneva as India’s ambassador to Switzerland.

In July last year, he became India’s ambassador to the UN.

His other overseas posts include Beijing, Shanghai, Bangladesh and Singapore, the ITA said.

Deshpande filled the vacancy at the ITA left with the departure of former director-general Manharsinh Yadav.


title: Taiwan rises to 36th in UN tourism ranking

content_text:
SHIFT:  Taiwan is evolving from a transit stop into a tourist destination, with more international travelers willing to spend on tours, dining and cultural activities

Taiwan rose three places in the World Tourism Barometer to 36th globally in 2024, with international tourism revenue of US$10.028 billion, the Tourism Administration said on Monday.

The UN Tourism Organization publication said that its focus has switched from whether a country has returned to pre-COVID-19 levels of tourism to the amount spent by a tourist during an overseas trip.

The nation last year welcomed 8.57 million international tourists, about 9 percent more than in 2024, with most tourists coming from Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong and Macau, all of which accounted for at least 1 million tourists each.

During the first three quarters of last year, 6,057,907 tourists arrived in Taiwan, a 9.25 percent increase from the same period in 2024, the Tourism Administration said.

International tourism revenue during the first three quarters of last year, which did not include spending on airfares, was about US$7.886 billion, year-on-year growth of 11.56 percent, it said.

“The data showed that growth in Taiwan’s international tourism revenue outpaced the number of international tourists, indicating that inbound tourists’ spending patterns are also changing,” it said.

“In the past, international tourists often came to Taiwan for short, shopping-focused trips. However, in the past few years, more inbound visitors are extending their stays, traveling across multiple cities and spending on a variety of leisure activities,” it said.

Overall spending patterns of tourists from different countries also changed.

On average, tourists from the US spent 10 days in Taiwan, with a daily expenditure of about NT$7,600 (US$241.50), while the total cost of a trip is about NT$75,000, which covers accommodation, transportation, cultural events and tours, the agency said.

European tourists spent an average of NT$6,300 per day, with an average stay of 12 days, spending a total of about NT$80,000, it said.

Tourists from Southeast Asian countries — particularly from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia — spent about NT$5,000 to NT$5,500 per day, with an average stay of seven to nine days for a total cost of about NT$35,000 to NT$45,000, it added.

The data showed that Taiwan is evolving from a transit stop into a tourist destination, the agency said.

“More inbound tourists are willing to spend more time and money on tours, local cuisine and cultural activities, showing that Taiwan has steadily developed a more definite appeal among international travelers,” it said.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese outbound travel surged to a record-high last year, figures released on Wednesday last week by the Tourism Administration showed.

The number of outbound trips by Taiwanese reached 18,944,436 last year, up 12.43 percent from 2024, it said.

Japan remained the most popular destination, followed by China, with Hong Kong and Macau ranking third.

Japan was Taiwan’s largest source for international travel, followed by Hong Kong and Macau, while South Korea ranked third.

The gap between outbound and inbound travel reached 10,369,889 trips, the agency said.

Based on average spending figures from 2024 — US$1,276 per inbound visitor and NT$55,541 per outbound Taiwanese traveler — the tourism trade deficit is an estimated NT$700.98 billion.

The Tourism Administration attributed the widening imbalance to factors such as favorable exchange rates, the continued recovery of international flight capacity from the pandemic, geopolitical developments and visa relaxations by competing destinations.

Taiwan has recorded more outbound than inbound travel every year since 1990.

Despite the tourism deficit, outbound travel by Taiwanese continues to benefit domestic carriers, as well as the travel, insurance and retail sectors.


title: Taiwan AI corpus grows to 1.1bn data units

content_text:
LANGUAGE TOOLS: The dictionaries category of the training corpus consistently ranks among users’ most frequently searched topics, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said

Taiwan’s Sovereign AI Training Corpus has grown to include more than 1.1 billion tokens just more than a month after its official launch, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.

The platform, launched on Dec. 24 last year, aims to gather high-quality data in traditional Mandarin to train sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) models, ensuring that outputs better reflect the language patterns and cultural references familiar to Taiwanese.

The platform initially contained more than 2,000 datasets totaling more than 600 million units of data, also known as tokens, Department of Data Innovation Director-General Chuang Ming-fen (莊明芬) said.

Ministry of Digital Affairs officials introduce the Sovereign AI Training Corpus at a news conference in Taipei on Dec. 24 last year. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Digital Affairs

The corpus has since nearly doubled in size, surpassing 1.1 billion tokens, with weekly updates tracking the steady release of data by government agencies, she said.

Most of the data on the platform are provided by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education, covering subjects such as education, languages, history and tourism, the ministry said.

The language and vocabulary section also features dictionaries, a category that consistently ranks among users’ most frequently searched resources, it said.

Ministry statistics showed that the platform was viewed more than 35,000 times, and about 20 organizations in academia and industries have applied for access.

“That shows that people in research institutions, government agencies and the corporate world pay close attention to the high-quality data released by the government to train sovereign AI databases. It has set a good starting point for subsequent AI model developments,” Chuang said.

The ministry said that it would gradually expand data sources for sovereign AI to include inputs contributed by local governments during the first and second quarters of this year.

Local government officials would be invited to join a ministry-hosted seminar, where they would learn about the policy governing sovereign AI as well as procedures they need to follow to upload data, the ministry said.

Workshops could also be organized to assist local governments in uploading data to the platform, it added.

The ministry is planning to begin forming partnerships with the private sector in the second half of this year, and is also seeking authorization from Academia Sinica and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature to upload their data to the platform.

In related news, the government’s Open Data Platform has attracted about 175.84 million views and 22.27 million downloads more than a decade since its launch.

The platform was created in accordance with the government’s policy of digital government and data governance.

The three most frequently downloaded topics include information on earthquakes, as well as closing prices and monthly average prices of stocks, Chuang said.

“That shows that people are mostly interested in data closely related to their lives,” she added.


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Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said.

Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.

Centers for Disease Control Director-General Philip Lo, left, gives an update on Nipah virus at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Hou Chia-yu, Taipei Times

Since the first recognized case in Bangladesh in 2001, human infections have been detected almost every year, he said.

Between 2001 and last year, the South Asian country recorded 357 Nipah infections and 241 deaths, corresponding to an overall case fatality rate of about 73 percent, he said.

Among them, human-to-human transmission accounted for about 29 percent of the cases, he added.

In India, five cases — all healthcare workers at a hospital — had been reported in the eastern state of West Bengal this year as of Sunday, and about 100 contacts had been quarantined, Guo said.

India also detected its first case in 2001 in West Bengal, while its southern state of Kerala has reported nine outbreaks since 2018, but there has not been large-scale outbreak in India, he said.

The five hospital infections in India were traced to a patient hospitalized last year, who died of suspected Nipah virus infection and had drunk raw date palm sap before the onset of symptoms, CDC Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.

Two nurses who took care of the patient were infected, Lo said.

Local media reported that authorities collected samples from nine fruit bats and 24 date palm sap containers for testing, and Nipah antibodies were detected in one bat, suggesting prior exposure, he said.

Nipah is a zoonotic virus that can be transmitted to humans by direct contact with infected animals — mainly fruit bats, but also pigs, and can also be transmitted by contaminated food, such as date palm sap contaminated by bats, or close human-to-human contact, Lo said.

Its early symptoms often include fever, headache, muscle soreness, vomiting and a sore throat, and can progress to dizziness, sleepiness, altered consciousness and acute encephalitis, he said.

Some people might experience severe pneumonia and severe respiratory complications, with a fatality rate between 40 and 75 percent, he added.

There are currently no vaccines or drugs to treat the disease, but animal studies have suggested that remdesivir, an antiviral medication used to treat COVID-19, was effective for treating infection in monkeys, while there are also studies on using ribavirin, an antiviral used to treat hepatitis C, to treat Nipah virus infection, Lo said.

There is low risk of large-scale community outbreak, and no exported cases were reported in people who visited countries where cases have been reported, but considering the high fatality rate, the CDC has asked National Taiwan University Hospital to formulate clinical treatment guidelines, he said.

The CDC also issued a notice to healthcare facilities to report any suspected case and send samples for testing, while airport quarantine measures would remain the same, Lo said.

People do not have to be concerned, but should avoid direct contact with bats or pigs, and avoid drinking raw date palm sap or damaged soft fruit, such as mangoes, or juice that could be contaminated by bats when traveling to countries where the

title: Nipah to become category 5 disease in March: CDC


title: Amendments aim to boost investment

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START-UPS:  The number of angel investments is projected to rise to about 100 this year from about 40 a year ago, and total investment could jump to NT$2.2bn, an official said

Relaxations of the Industrial Innovation Statute (產業創新發展條例) are expected to boost private investment in start-ups to about NT$3 billion (US$95.33 million) this year, a sixfold increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

In addition, new amendments to the statute are expected to boost angel investment to about NT$2.2 billion on local start-ups this year, while raising corporate equipment investment tax credits to more than NT$170 billion this year, Industrial Development Administration Deputy Director-General Tsou Yu-hsin (鄒宇新) told a news conference in Taipei.

Angel investors are wealthy people who support start-ups at the initial stages, when risks of failing are relatively high and when most investors are not prepared to back them.

The ministry said it is to extend the tax incentives for investments in smart machinery and 5G applications as regulated in the amendment to the statute for another five years to the end of 2029.

The scope is expanded to include artificial intelligence and carbon-reduction technologies, it said.

Eligibility requirements under articles 23-1 and 23-2 have also been relaxed to broaden participation, the ministry said.

Amendments to Article 23-1 introduce a “pass-through taxation” mechanism for limited partnership venture capital funds investing in start-ups, and under the revised rules, such funds would no longer be subject to corporate income tax, Tsou said.

Instead, profits would be taxed directly at the partner level based on their share of earnings, preventing what Tsou described as “double taxation.”

The amendments also lower the minimum paid-in capital requirement to NT$150 million from NT$300 million, while raising the minimum ratio of investment in start-ups to 50 percent from 30 percent, he said.

The government expects the number of eligible venture capital firms to rise this year to six from an average of two per year, with annual investment increasing to NT$3 billion from about NT$500 million, he said.

The eligibility period for start-ups has also been extended from less than two years after establishment to less than five years, a move aimed at encouraging investment in more mature early-stage companies, Tsou said.

The ministry extended investor’s locking period to three years from two years, but halved the minimum investment threshold to NT$500,000 from NT$1 million, he said.

To minimize investment risks, the ministry relaxed the definition of a start-up, he said.

A company can be considered a start-up within five years of its launch, compared with two years before, he said.

The number of angel investment cases is projected to rise to about 100 this year from about 40 last year, while total investment value is expected to jump to NT$2.2 billion from about NT$600 million after the new rules take effect, he added.


title: Taiwan’s economy in booming mode for first time in a year

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In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.

Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said.

In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light. The previous red light appeared in December 2024 and also stood at 38.

People walk past an Apple store in Taipei’s prime Xinyi District yesterday. Photo: CNA

The NDC uses a five-color system to track the economy, with red signaling booming (38-45 points), yellow-red indicating a warming economy (32-37 points), green meaning stable growth (23-31 points), yellow-blue reflecting sluggishness (17-22 points), and blue signaling contraction (9-16 points).

Chen Mei-chu (陳美菊), head of the NDC’s Department of Economic Development, said although the US tariff policies, unveiled in April last year, created uncertainties, the current stronger-than-expected AI boom has allowed Taiwan’s exports to repeatedly hit new highs, paving the way to the first red light in a year.

Among the nine factors in the December composite index, the sub-index for sales generated by overtime hours rose one point to flash a yellow-red light and the sub-index on manufacturers’ business sentiment also rose one point to flash a green light.

However, the sub-index on revenue posted by wholesale, retail and food/beverage industries fell one point, flashing a yellow-red light in December.

The other six factors -- money supply, stock prices, industrial production, merchandise exports, manufacturing sector revenue, and machinery and electric equipment imports -- remained unchanged.

The December leading indicators rose 1.10 percent from a month earlier to 103.36, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth, according to the NDC.

Among the seven factors in the leading indicators, the sub-indexes on export orders, money supply, stock prices and manufacturers’ business sentiment moved higher, while the sub-indexes on employment, floor area of new construction projects, and imports of semiconductor equipment, fell, the NDC said.

As the United States has agreed to cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent to ease uncertainties, local firms have received a boost in sentiment, Chen said.

Also, think tanks at home and abroad have forecast Taiwan’s economy is expected to grow at a pace of over 4 percent this year, she noted.

“We are very upbeat,” Chen said.


title: Macronix unveils plans to ease ‘severe shortages’

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Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market.

The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year.

A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed memory unit integrating NAND and a controller.

Macronix president Lu Chih-yuan poses for a photograph at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu in August last year. Photo courtesy of Macronix International Co

The fresh capital injection would add about 10,000 wafers to the capacity of the company’s 12-inch factory, which is 20,000 wafers a month, by the end of this year, a 50 percent increase, Macronix president Lu Chih-yuan (盧志遠) told an online investors’ conference.

“Samsung announced its plans to stop producing and supplying eMMC [NAND flash memory chips]. The impact is huge. That has led to severe shortages in the market,” Lu said. “Macronix is the only company capable of producing MLCs used in eMMC, except the world’s four-biggest memorychip players: Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Kioxia.”

It would not be easy to solve the supply constraints soon, given the void left by those large-scale memorychip makers who are redirecting resources and capacity toward pricey high-bandwidth-memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) devices, Lu said.

It would take two to three years to build a new factory, not to mention a tight supply of facility-related equipment such as clean rooms, and water and chemical piping systems, he said.

To fully support the capacity expansion, Macronix plans to delay its development of 3D NOR flash memory chips for about two years, he said.

In addition to NAND flash memory chips, the company also saw strong demand for 2D NOR flash memory chips used in AI servers and high-performance-computing devices, he said.

Macronix expects its factory utilization rate to rise to about 100 percent this year to satisfy customer demand, Lu said.

The chipmaker expects its gross margin this year to return to its long-term “high-level” target, he said, adding that it has set a long-term goal to bring its gross margin back to 40 percent.

Macronix said quarterly losses narrowed significantly to NT$294 million during the fourth quarter of last year, compared with a loss of NT$862 million in the third quarter and a loss of NT$1.55 billion in the last quarter of 2024.

Earnings per share improved to minus-NT$0.16 last quarter from minus-NT$0.47 in the previous quarter and minus-NT$0.84 a year earlier.

Last year, Macronix saw losses widen to NT$3.31 billion from NT$3.21 billion.

Earnings per share dropped to minus-NT$1.77 from minus-NT$1.73, it said.


title: India and EU ink free-trade agreement

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‘MOTHER OF ALL DEALS’: Nations are willing to ‘bury the hatchet’ given the ‘atmosphere of uncertainty’ around the policies of US President Donald Trump, a researcher said

India and the EU have agreed on a free-trade agreement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday, capping nearly two decades of negotiations.

“This free-trade agreement will strengthen confidence of investors, business in India,” Modi said in remarks at an energy event.

The pact would boost trade and global supply chains, while improving India’s manufacturing and services sectors, he said.

European Council President Antonio Costa, right, puts his hand on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shoulder as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen looks on at a news conference in New Delhi yesterday. Photo: Bloomberg

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa were in New Delhi to announce the deal later yesterday.

The EU, despite long clashing with Indian officials over trade matters, is focused on shedding its economic reliance on the US and China. India is similarly trying to shake its protectionist reputation and offset a 50 percent tariff imposed by the US, while at the same time balance its ties with Russia.

Nations are increasingly willing to “bury the hatchet” given the “atmosphere of uncertainty” around the trade policies of US President Donald Trump, said Amitendu Palit, the research lead on trade and economics at the Institute of South Asian Studies.

“Diversification is absolutely essential,” Palit said. “That is the name of the game.”

The agreement would lower tariffs on most consumer and industrial goods traded between India and EU members, although it is expected to exclude some agricultural products.

The EU would also get enhanced market access for its auto exports subject to a cap.

The pact is expected to be formally signed after legal vetting, which would likely take about six months.

The deal is also required to be ratified by the European Parliament.

Modi’s announcement comes weeks after India signed trade deals with New Zealand and Oman. Just days earlier, the EU polished off a separate, long-gestating trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries — another pact meant to help the EU pivot away from the US and China, although EU lawmakers have yet to ratify it.

Modi is also trying to find new markets for a country Trump once dubbed the “tariff king.”

Yesterday’s agreement marked Modi’s fourth trade deal since May last year, also including an agreement with the UK.

Modi is seeking partnerships with the Mercosur bloc, Chile, Peru and the Gulf Cooperation Council, hoping to secure strategic resources and increase India’s global footprint.

The EU-India deal could give India, Asia’s third-largest economy, a competitive edge in the export of labor-intensive goods hit hard by Trump’s tariffs, including apparel and footwear.

More broadly, it could boost the country’s exports to the EU to about US$50 billion by 2031, according to a report by Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.

Arora singled out pharmaceutical, textiles and chemicals as sectors likely to benefit.

For the EU, the agreement would mean access to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with a market of more than 1.4 billion people.

However, the deal would not offer as much market access for European goods as the one the EU recently reached with the Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Still, “in a world where the transatlantic relationship is fundamentally broken and trusted partners are hard to come by, this is a pretty big win for the EU,” said Garima Mohan, an Indo-Pacific specialist who focuses on EU-India ties at the Washington-based German Marshall Fund. “It signals the EU’s shift to a more geopolitical, pragmatic stance.”

Bilateral trade between the EU and India stood at US$136.5 billion in India’s fiscal year through March last year, with the EU making up more than 17 percent of India’s total exports, official data showed.

India is the EU’s ninth-largest trading partner.


title: Spores-wear

content_text: Models present creations from this year’s spring and summer collection by French designer Matthieu Blazy for Chanel at Paris Fashion Week yesterday.


title: Benefits of Israel’s pivot in Africa

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At the end of last year, a diplomatic development with consequences reaching well beyond the regional level emerged. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state, paving the way for political, economic and strategic cooperation with the African nation.

The diplomatic breakthrough yields, above all, substantial and tangible benefits for the two countries, enhancing Somaliland’s international posture, with a state prepared to champion its bid for broader legitimacy.

With Israel’s support, Somaliland might also benefit from the expertise of Israeli companies in fields such as mineral exploration and water management, as underscored by Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar.

Israel, in turn, finds in Somaliland a strategically positioned partner near the Red Sea. In addition to commercial advantages, there is also the prospect of intelligence cooperation and the potential of Hargeisa becoming a useful point of presence for Tel Aviv, although there has been no official confirmation on that aspect.

The new partnership could also generate benefits beyond its immediate scope, particularly for countries that maintain solid relations with both Israel and Somaliland.

A striking example — despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties — is Taiwan. Taipei has strengthened its partnership with Somaliland through investments, mutual trust and support for each other’s core causes. In that regard, Taiwan has been a crucial ally and point of leverage for Somaliland, helping it advance its aspirations on the international stage.

Equally strategic are Taiwan’s relations with Israel, which has been seeking deeper bilateral cooperation, especially in semiconductors — an industry Israeli companies aim to become a part of through Taiwan’s broader value chain.

From the new alliance between Somaliland and Israel, Taiwan could gain significant advantages across multiple sectors. From technology to agritech, and cybersecurity to people-to-people exchanges, Taipei could coordinate trilateral initiatives involving with Tel Aviv and Hargeisa.

For example, by leveraging Israel’s expertise in water management, Taiwan could help channel advanced solutions that support Somaliland’s efforts to secure reliable water resources, while simultaneously enriching its own portfolio of partnerships in climate-resilient technologies.

More distant, for the moment, is the prospect of a partnership extending into security and defense. The potential in that regard would be considerable — particularly in areas such as drones and cybersecurity — yet it remains premature to envisage that the otherwise cordial relations among the parties might already be poised to evolve into a broader alliance encompassing defense.

By expanding its influence in Somaliland, Taiwan can position itself to take part in some of the projects that Israel is expected to launch in the country, thereby enabling Taipei to coordinate trilateral initiatives that could yield a range of advantages.

The first of these benefits would be economic. Israel has signaled its intention to channel substantial investment into Somaliland — from infrastructure to resource development — and Taiwan could be drawn into such ventures as a complementary partner, gaining access to new commercial opportunities.

The gains would also be strategic. Taiwan has every interest in bolstering its image as a state capable of cultivating prosperous and mutually beneficial relationships on the international stage, particularly through the creation of high-value partnerships that enhance the standing of all parties involved.

In that sense, Israel’s recognition of Somaliland could act as a strategic multiplier: A single diplomatic act capable of generating a cascade of benefits not only for the two contracting nations, but also for Taiwan, whose ties with Hargeisa and emerging synergies with Israel allow it to gain broader diplomatic, economic and technological opportunities.

That is a goal that Taiwan pursues with steady determination and that aligns with its wider effort to safeguard its existence as a sovereign and democratic state.

In this endeavor, the presence of allies who share specific principles and interests becomes a strategic asset of exceptional importance, for it is through such international partnerships that Taiwan enhances the stability, resilience and independence that underpin its long-term security.

Michele Maresca is an analyst at Il Caffe Geopolitico, an online international law journal, and the think tank Geopol21.


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The Legislative Yuan’s Legal Affairs Bureau has introduced a 30-day cooling-off period for couples contemplating divorce, a concept already adopted by South Korea and China. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲) has supported the policy, with some speculating that the KMT was borrowing it from China. Apparently neither the bureau nor Wu considered Taiwan’s own judicial practices in family law before floating the idea.

Before 2009, mediation with the aim of reconciliation was mandatory before divorce proceedings could begin. The requirement made Taiwan the only country in which judges were obliged to provide some sort of marriage counseling to couples seeking to separate.

The system not only echoed the pro-reconciliation sentiment in Taiwan, but reflected a seeming preference for mediation as dispute resolution.

In April 2009, the legislature amended the law, recognizing that judges can settle divorce proceedings without mediation focused on reconciliation. Additionally, divorces do not have to be registered with a household registration office to take effect.

My doctoral dissertation, published in 2008, was the first large-scale attitudinal survey of Taiwanese and judges on divorce mediation, research that is relevant to the current legislative debate.

Due to the influence of traditional Chinese legal culture on Taiwan, the Japanese colonial government initially continued mediation as a mechanism for resolving major disputes. Although the colonial government was at first reluctant to invest in a Western-style judicial system, within a year of Japanese rule, such a judiciary was established.

That system allowed Taiwanese for the first time to sue in court, fostering a legal awareness of rights and the rule of law. On the contrary, mediation, especially mandatory mediation, can hinder the exercise of legal rights.

American feminist academics have argued that mandatory divorce mediation — regardless of whether it aims for reconciliation — is disadvantageous to women. In the US, mandatory pretrial mediation is by no means a tradition, and the aim of divorce mediation has never been reconciliation. In contrast, it emphasizes property division and custody issues.

I surveyed all 19 district courts in Taiwan, encompassing 400 judges, with 319 completing a questionnaire of 104 questions. The response rate was more than 80 percent, and more than 90 percent for family court judges. I also surveyed 346 Taiwanese to compare their attitudes toward divorce and reconciliation with those of the judges.

The late American legal academic Jerome Cohen, an expert in Chinese law, regarded such research an impossible task to be carried out in China. Similarly, academics in the US and the Czech Republic also considered a judicial survey of that scale impractical.

The survey found that judges’ personal views about divorce played a critical role — more than other factors such as gender or age — in their enforcement of the reconciliation policy. Gender came next. The two factors together explained 23.6 percent of judges’ tendency to enforce the reconciliation policy.

Almost 40 percent of Taiwanese surveyed cited their views on divorce and age as the main factors in their advocating for reconciliation.

Surprisingly, even among the most conservative group of judges (married men), when compared with the most open-minded of Taiwanese (divorced women who remained single after their separation), the judges were still less likely to push for reconciliation of divorcing couples. That is consistent with later evidence that showed Taiwanese were significantly more conservative than the judiciary.

That evidence includes voters in 2018 rejecting a referendum to legalize same-sex marriage. Although a significant majority opposed legalizing gay marriage, the then-Council of Grand Justices still legalized it. Additionally, citizen judges have issued harsher sentencing in criminal cases than professional judges.

When my research was conducted, district courts and judges often cited a lack of resources and staff for not pursuing reconciliation. Nowadays, marriage counseling services have become more widely available. Couples are much more accepting of counseling, and family courts have also appointed expert mediators.

The divorce rate in Taiwan has fallen since my research, and is lower than in China, even with its 30-day cooling-off period. Such a policy in Taiwan would surely add more transactional costs to divorce without obvious benefits in deterring it.

Despite the public’s general disfavor of divorce and acceptance of reconciliation, when surveys polled people on the cooling-off proposal, they generally opposed it and were concerned that it would not take into consideration reasons for divorce, such as domestic violence. Systematic surveys or polling about the policy and other marriage issues are needed before any changes are implemented. Taiwanese would not support a legal change imported from a foreign regime, imposing burdens on consensual divorce without obvious benefits.

Sandy Chou is a Taiwanese-American attorney and professor based in Southern California. She is originally from Kaohsiung.

title: Cool off on divisive divorce law


people: 賴清德 黃國昌

title: TPP treats defense spending as wasteful

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After blocking the government’s eight-year, NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.72 billion) special defense budget, and following a hurried and unscheduled visit to the US, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) unveiled his own defense procurement bill. Its headline feature is simple: a spending ceiling of NT$400 billion.

Rather than offering an alternative, Huang simply lifted the list of items approved for sale by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Dec. 17 last year. Valued at US$11.1 billion, it was the largest single package of weapons the US has ever approved for Taiwan. Huang declared the list “enough” and capped total spending at NT$400 billion, creating the impression that Taiwan has followed US advice and that the Executive Yuan’s spending proposal would be reckless.

It remains unclear whether the Cabinet’s special budget already incorporates the items the US approved last month. Either way, Huang’s proposal is not aimed at building the kind of defense Taiwan needs. The government is proposing to build a safe house; Huang is offering a purchase list for furniture.

The government’s proposal is not a menu, it is a defined procurement plan, organized into seven categories: precision artillery; long-range precision strike missiles; air defense, anti-ballistic and anti-armor missiles; uncrewed vehicles and countermeasure systems; equipment to sustain prolonged combat; artificial intelligence-assisted and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; and systems jointly developed or procured with the US.

One plan builds a shield. The other selects a handful of tools.

The distinction matters most for President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed “T-Dome” air and missile defense system. It is not a single weapon. It is a layered structure: early-warning radar, interceptors at multiple altitudes, integrated command networks, civil defense coordination and stockpiles for sustained use. Under a NT$400 billion ceiling, which layer survives? The radar? The interceptors? The network?

A dangerous political narrative also underlies the debate — that defense spending is waste and cutting it is virtue. That turns preparedness into extravagance and “letting it be” into responsibility, but defense is insurance: Its value is invisible until it is needed.

The timing makes the argument more urgent. China’s internal purges are narrowing military decisionmaking to one man. That increases the risk of miscalculation. Taiwan’s margin for error is shrinking. The country should be building resilience, not redefining defense as a budget line to be bargained over.

The real choice before Taiwan is not between NT$1.25 trillion and NT$400 billion. It is between building a defense system and buying a partial substitute. Between integrated protection and fragmented capability. Between shaping deterrence and shaping hopes.

If Huang believes his plan is sufficient, he should explain it in detail. Until he does, his claim of fiscal responsibility remains incomplete.

The same responsibility applies to the government. Silence is not neutrality; it is surrender of the narrative. The Lai administration must explain, in plain, but serious terms, what the NT$1.25 trillion plan builds that the NT$400 billion plan cannot — not in abstract budgets, but in concrete capability.

The Ministry of National Defense should hold a news conference to show the public what the NT$1.25 trillion plan constructs, and what the NT$400 billion plan dismantles. It should ask the opposition a simple question: Which layer of defense do you want removed?

Taiwanese demand — and deserve — an answer.

John Cheng is a retired businessman from Hong Kong now living in Taiwan.


title: EDITORIAL CARTOON

content_text:
Rupert Hammond-Chambers On Taiwan: Taiwan’s Renewable Energy Goals Fall Victim to Domestic Political Fratricide

When former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) first took office in 2016, she set ambitious goals for remaking the energy mix in Taiwan. At the core of this effort was a significant expansion of the percentage of renewable energy generated to keep pace with growing domestic and global demands to reduce emissions. This effort met with broad bipartisan support as all three major parties placed expanding renewable energy at the center of their energy platforms. However, over the past several years partisanship has become a major headwind in realizing a set of energy goals that all three parties profess to want.Tsai


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SERVING UP A STORM: Last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev sent down a barrage of 24 aces to crush Learner Tien of the US in four sets

Aryna Sabalenka yesterday overcame searing heat and one of the most exciting talents in tennis to power into the Australian Open semi-finals, with Alexander Zverev serving up a storm to join her.

World No. 1 Sabalenka tamed 18-year-old Iva Jovic of the US 6-3, 6-0 in 38°C temperatures, while last year’s runner-up Zverev sent down a barrage of 24 aces to crush another young US player, Learner Tien, in four sets.

That match was played under the Rod Laver Arena roof as temperatures peaked at 43°C outside.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus returns to Iva Jovic of the US in their Australian Open women’s singles quarter-final in Melbourne yesterday. Photo: AFP

Sabalenka is aiming to win a third Australian Open in four years and looks in ominous form, yet to drop a set.

“These teenagers have been testing me in the last couple of rounds,” said Sabalenka, 27, who is on a 10-match winning streak after victory in Brisbane earlier this month. “It was a tough match. Don’t look at the score, it wasn’t easy at all. She played incredible tennis. Pushed me to one step better level and I’m super happy with the win.”

The match was played in fierce sun on Rod Laver Arena and afterwards the organizers closed the roof. The decision came after the tournament hit its maximum “heat stress” rating of five for the second time in four days.

The measure is designed to protect players, fans and officials.

Play on the outdoor courts, which were to host junior matches, was put on hold.

Temperatures reached 40°C on Saturday, with matches on outside courts paused for about five hours.

Defeat brought an end to a breakthrough tournament for Jovic, the youngest player in the women’s top 100 and seeded 29.

She stunned seventh seed and two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and blitzed past experienced Yulia Putintseva for the loss of just one game to announce herself to the world, but Sabalenka was a bridge too far.

“Ultimately, I hope to be in many quarter-finals, so I don’t think that this win or loss today is going to make or break my career really,” the confident American teenager said.

Zverev is desperate to finally win a Grand Slam at age 28, having been well beaten in last year’s final by Jannik Sinner.

“Without my aces I probably would not have won today,” Zverev said after seeing off the spirited challenge of Tien. “Obviously, very happy with my serve.”

At 29 in the world, Californian Tien was the lowest-ranked player left in the men’s singles.

He was also the youngest at age 20 and was playing in the biggest match of his life, having never reached the last eight at a major before, but he had few answers to Zverev’s booming serve, the German making only one double fault in the match — and that was on one of his match points.

The reprieve was only very temporary for Tien, who will surely come again.

title: Sabalenka beats heat and Jovic


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Luka Doncic on Monday produced a 46-point masterpiece as the Los Angeles Lakers snapped the Chicago Bulls’ four-game winning streak with a 129-118 victory on the road.

Doncic rattled in eight three-pointers on 15-of-25 shooting from the field, finishing with seven rebounds and 11 assists to lead an impressive Lakers effort at the United Center.

LeBron James chipped in with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Rui Hachimura delivered an eye-catching cameo off the bench with 23 points from nine-of-11 shooting.

Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers, right, shoots over Kevin Huerter of the Chicago Bulls in their NBA game in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The win was another encouraging result for the Lakers after a 116-110 defeat of the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

“We did a great job in the first half, kind of relaxed in the third quarter — we’ve got to work on the third quarters — but overall, a great game by everybody,” Doncic said after a win that lifts the Lakers to 28-17 in the Western Conference.

Coby White led the scoring for Chicago with 23 points, while Ayo Dosunmu had 20 off the bench.

The Lakers head to Ohio today to face the Cleveland Cavaliers for the next stop on their road trip.

The Cavaliers warmed up for that encounter with a 114-98 defeat of the Orlando Magic thanks to Donovan Mitchell’s 45-point display.

Evan Mobley backed Mitchell with 20 points, while Paolo Banchero led the Orlando scoring with 37 points.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics led from start to finish in a 102-94 defeat of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Payton Pritchard (23 points) and Jaylen Brown (20) led the Celtics scoring as second-placed Boston improved to 29-17 to remain in pursuit of conference leaders Detroit (33-11).

In other games on Monday, Brandon Miller scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Charlotte’s 130-93 blowout of Philadelphia as severe weather forced early starts for two NBA games.

Opening tip-offs were moved to the afternoon for the Hornets’ home victory and Atlanta’s 132-116 triumph over visiting Indiana after a severe winter storm on Sunday that dumped ice and snow over most of the US.

The Hornets, 19-28, stretched their winning streak to three games, while the 76ers fell to 24-21.

Miller made nine of 12 shots from the floor, including six of nine from three-point range, and was six of six from the free-throw line to lead the Hawks, who had seven other double-figure scorers, but none over 13 points.

Kelly Oubre Jr led the Sixers with 17 points, while Tyrese Maxey — third in NBA scoring with 29.9 points a game — managed only six points on three-of-12 shooting.

In Atlanta, Georgia, C.J. McCollum came off the bench to produce 23 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals to spark the Hawks.

Dyson Daniels added 22 points and nine assists, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 21 points for Atlanta.

Cameroon’s Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 26 points and nine rebounds.

The Hawks improved to 23-25 with their ninth home victory in 22 games.

Elsewhere, the Rockets mauled the Grizzlies 108-99 and the Timberwolves trounced the Warriors 108-83.

Additional reporting by staff writer

title: Doncic sparks Lakers over the Bulls in Chicago


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SSC Napoli are on the brink of being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League as the troubled Italian club face Chelsea today racked by a deep injury crisis and a faltering Serie A title defense.

Sat just inside the elimination zone on only eight points from seven matches after last week’s miserable 1-1 draw at Copenhagen, Napoli must beat Chelsea to scrape a place in next month’s playoffs.

That will be no easy task with the Blues, Antonio Conte’s former club, needing a win to stay in the top eight and bag direct qualification for the last 16.

SSC Napoli head coach Antonio Conte gestures during his side’s Serie A match against Juventus in Turin, Italy, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Napoli come into the game still stinging from a 3-0 defeat at Juventus which left the Italian champions nine points behind Serie A leaders Inter.

Sunday’s loss in Turin was a big slap in the face for Napoli and Conte, who was full of praise for his players who have had to dig deep in the face of a host injuries.

“Before today the last match we’d lost was against Udinese [on Dec. 14 last year]. We even won the Supercoppa Italiana in an emergency, an emergency which has got even worse,” Conte told DAZN on Sunday. “We’re going through a difficult period and I expect the fans to get behind the team.”

Conte’s bid to become the first Napoli coach to win back-to-back Serie A titles has been hampered by physical problems from the start of the season. It started with Romelu Lukaku suffering a hamstring injury which kept him out of action until the 79th minute of Sunday’s loss.

Lukaku replaced Antonio Vergara, who played in place of Italy international Matteo Politano, while new signing Giovane made his debut as a substitute.

Conte has also lost goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to a hamstring knock, while winger David Neres flew to London for ankle surgery on Monday.

Kevin de Bruyne has been out since October last year and will not be back until the spring after surgery on his right hamstring, while another key midfielder Andre-Frank Anguissa was supposed to be back on Sunday from another hamstring injury, but was left out due to back problems.

“We know that we’re navigating in open waters with very high waves, but we’re not getting off the boat,” Conte said. “We’re still here, made stronger by the fact that we want to keep fighting with all our might even with the absurd situation that we’re in.”

“These boys are serious, they’re giving everything and I see what they’re doing, what they have to put up with, what they’re risking, because let’s be clear here, they’re jeopardizing their physical health,” he said. “They’re playing every three days, not training, and the same players have to play high-intensity football because we don’t have any chance to rotate.”

title: Troubled Napoli staring at elimination against Blues


title: Matthews confident US can capture Olympic gold

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is confident in the US men’s ice hockey team and its chances of capturing a gold medal at next month’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

The 28-year-old center is among the NHL stars who return to the Olympics for the first time since Sochi, Russia, in 2014 as part of a men’s lineup seeking the first US gold since 1980’s Lake Placid “Miracle on Ice” triumph.

“We feel like we’re up there and we should be competing for gold,” Matthews said after practice on Monday in comments on the NHL Web site. “It’s obviously the first Olympics in a while since [NHL players] have been able to play, but you want to consistently be up there and you want to be obviously the best country in the world — and this is a great opportunity for us.”

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, right, skates past Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, center, in their NHL game in Toronto on Sunday. Photo: AP

US general manager Bill Guerin has adopted a gold-or-bust mindset since an orientation camp last year and the US team has the same attitude as the Olympics near.

“It’s just about the belief and the confidence that he has in you, and the group of Americans we have going,” Matthews said. “I think all of us feel the same way.”

The US won Olympic gold on home ice in 1960 and 1980 before NHL players were allowed to compete. The US squad lost the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver finals to Canada.

Canada also defeated the US in the final of last year’s Four Nations Faceoff after a round-robin meeting spiced by political issues that produced three fights in the first nine seconds.

US President Donald Trump’s comments about adding Canada as a 51st state and tariffs on Canadian goods had fans in Montreal booing the US national anthem before the matchup and tensions have not settled much, a television commercial with actor Jon Hamm harkening back to the mayhem from last year.

However, Matthews said the politics of the Olympic ice hockey tournament will not be on his mind.

“Not much, to be honest,” Matthews said. “I don’t really pay attention to that stuff much. I think you’re kind of aware of it. There’s only so much you can control ... when we go to the Olympics my focus will be on Team USA.”

Losing the Four Nations final in overtime to Canada, though, showed the US that they can compete with anyone for global ice hockey supremacy.

“I think it had that effect for everybody,” Matthews said. “It was like that for all the players that were able to compete and for the fans that watched.”

“It’s just so great for the game to have that aspect of it and just bring something new for the guys that haven’t been able to compete and do kind of best-on-best formats,” he said. “It’s amazing for the game that we’re able to have NHL players there representing their countries and, hopefully, that will continue to grow the game in all the positive ways it should.”

The US, who open Olympic play against Latvia on Feb. 12, will have chemistry from the Four Nations as only two players from that squad are not competing in Italy.

“There’s a lot of guys that are coming back from Four Nations,” Matthews said. “It was a quick tournament, but I thought we bonded really quickly. We came together as a team very quickly. A lot of us have played with each other coming up through juniors — World Championships, World Junior, stuff like that — so it’s important to have that chemistry.”


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MULTIPOLAR WORLD:  The Chinese president expressed hope that Finland would play a constructive role in promoting China-EU relations, Xinhua news agency said

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday told Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo that Beijing was ready to work with Helsinki to uphold a UN-centered international system and advance a multipolar world based on economic globalization, Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi also said Beijing hoped Finland would play a constructive role in promoting the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations, Xinhua reported.

Orpo’s visit to China comes as US President Donald Trump’s volatile foreign policy decisions and confrontational approach toward allies push European countries to diversify their foreign relations.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, second right, talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping, second left, during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. Photo: Reuters

ARCTIC SECURITY

It also comes amid heightened attention on arctic security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, after Trump’s threat to seize Greenland, and prevent China and Russia from expanding their influence in the region.

Those threats appeared to have eased after Trump said the US had secured permanent access to the Danish territory, but arctic security remains a growing strategic concern for Finland, its NATO partners and China.

The arctic is becoming increasingly important to international trade as shrinking ice packs open up new and faster shipping routes, cutting transit times between Asia and Europe nearly in half.

Speaking on the sidelines of Davos last week, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he wanted NATO to agree to an arctic security deal at its July summit, similar to the big increase in defense spending that it committed to last year.

One-third of Finland’s territory lies above the Arctic Circle, while China calls itself a “near-arctic state” and has ambitions to build a “Polar Silk Road.”

COLLABORATIONS

Xi yesterday called for the two sides to collaborate more in areas including energy transition, agriculture and forestry, and welcomed Finnish enterprises to “swim freely” in the “vast ocean” of China’s market.

Orpo, who is visiting from Sunday to today, told Xi that he looked forward to continued discussions on bilateral cooperation and international issues.

Orpo referenced the “candid and constructive talks” Xi had with Stubb during a 2024 state visit to Beijing.

At the time, Stubb raised an ongoing string of incidents involving damage to undersea power cables, gas pipelines and telecoms in which Chinese-registered ships have been implicated. A Chinese ship captain is facing allegations of criminal damage in a Hong Kong court in one of the cases.

Stubb in 2024 also raised the issue of North Korean support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he said NATO and the EU considered a provocation.

As Stubb had in the earlier meeting, Orpo invited Xi to visit Finland at a mutually convenient time, and said Finnish parliamentary speaker Jussi Halla-aho had invited Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji (趙樂際).

title: Xi courts Finland on global cooperation


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Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday.

The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi.

Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details.

US Ambassador to China David Perdue speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the Goldman Sachs conference in Hong Kong yesterday. Photo: Bloomberg

“I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under way, that he’s trying to correct decades of corruption inside the military,” Perdue said on the sidelines of a Goldman Sachs conference in Hong Kong, referring to Xi.

“I do believe President Xi is trying to do that. On the other hand, I think he’s making sure that he has total control of his military,” he said, adding that the US is tracking the ongoing moves closely.

Perdue did not directly answer a question about a Wall Street Journal report that Zhang allegedly leaked secrets about China’s nuclear-weapons program to the US.

A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said he was not familiar with the matter when asked about the report at a regular press briefing on Monday.

Only two people remain on China’s seven-man Central Military Commission following the investigations that ensnared also Liu Zhenli (劉振立), chief of the Joint Staff Department.

Despite the internal upheaval in Beijing, Perdue described the broader US-China relationship as “improving multi-dimensionally” since Xi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea, in October.

He said negotiators are working toward a series of agreements before Trump’s April visit to China, citing a deal involving Boeing Co.

“What we’re really trying to do in this entire episode is to buy some time and space,” Perdue said, referring to the current truce.

Trade negotiators, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart, He Lifeng (何立峰), a “were making a lot of progress,” he said.

The ambassador expressed encouragement regarding compliance with the current truce, specifically noting progress on fentanyl precursors and soybean purchases. Both sides have completed most of the agreements made in Busan, he said.

Perdue also touched on the case of jailed former Hong Kong media mogul and democracy activist Jimmy Lai (黎智英), confirming Trump has requested his release on humanitarian grounds.

He characterized the matter as an “ongoing conversation” between the two heads of state, although he said he has not seen any recent development about that.

title: Xi seeks ‘total control’ of military with purges: US


title: Japan, US plan to build synthetic diamond plant

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A plan to build a synthetic diamond plant in the US is a prime prospect in Japan’s US$550-billion investment package, as the allies push to expand production of a material vital to chip and high-precision manufacturing, sources said.

It could be among the first batch of projects, details of which Reuters is reporting for the first time, set to be unveiled ahead of a US visit by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi planned as early as March, the two sources said.

Both declined to be identified as the matter is private.

Diamonds are displayed during a visit to the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales in Gaborone on Nov. 24, 2015. Photo: Reuters

“The United States wants to accelerate domestic production of synthetic diamonds,” one of the sources said. “By involving Japanese companies, Washington hopes to build a US-Japan supply chain that does not rely on China.”

China’s recent moves to put export controls on some artificial diamonds has underscored the strategic importance of the material, most of which is now produced in China.

The synthetic diamond project involves Element Six, a part of De Beers Group, the world’s leading diamond company, the source added.

The news comes as Japan accelerates efforts to finalize projects under the initiative agreed as part of Tokyo’s deal with Washington to lower tariffs on Japanese exports.

Its investment package would include equity, loans and loan guarantees from state-owned agencies Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

Also likely to figure in the first batch of projects is a large-scale power-generation project, involving Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd, the sources said.

The deal value of the projects was not immediately known.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry declined to comment on the projects under discussion, saying it was in talks with the US to swiftly put together the project pipeline, but nothing had been decided.

Hitachi said it was engaged in discussions with the Japanese and US governments, but declined further comment.

De Beers Group, the US Department of Commerce and its Japan embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

A major infrastructure project involving construction of a data centre linked to Softbank Group also remains a finalist, Reuters reported this month.

One of the hardest known materials, diamond is crucial to high-precision manufacturing. It is used for ultra-fine polishing of semiconductors, machining hard metals and ceramics in quantum devices, and dissipating heat in advanced electronic systems.

Artificial diamonds also have dual-use military applications, in turning out munitions and radar components.


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At Yiwu International Trade City, China’s largest wholesale market, customers crowd into a small shop searching for an unlikely bestseller ahead of the Lunar New Year.

They are looking for a red plush horse with a downturned mouth, a gold bell around its neck and eyes that appear to shy away from a viewer’s gaze.

The toy has gone viral on Chinese social media ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, which this year marks the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac.

Lou Zhenxian, owner of Vision Plush Toys, works at her desk near crying horse plush toys ahead of the Lunar New Year, which is to welcome the Year of the Horse, at Yiwu International Trade City in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China, on Wednesday last week. Photo: Reuters

Called the “crying horse” by online users, the toy was designed as a happy-faced Lunar New Year decoration, but a manufacturing mistake turned its smile into a frown.

“A worker sewed the mouth on upside down by accident,” said Zhang Huoqing (張火清), owner of the Yiwu-based shop Happy Sister.

Zhang said she offered a refund after discovering the flaw, but the customer never returned the toy. Not long after, she discovered photos of it circulating online.

“People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work,” Zhang said.

As demand surged, Zhang decided to keep making the sad-faced version.

Some young white-collar workers in China say the horse’s dour expression mirrors their long hours and workplace stress.

It also taps into a broader trend for so-called “ugly-cute” toys, popularized in recent years by characters such as Pop Mart’s toothy monster Labubu.

“These days, almost everyone who walks through the door asks for the crying horse,” said Lou Zhenxian, a Yiwu vendor who has sold festive toys for more than 25 years.

By early afternoon, racks of crying horses outside Happy Sister had sold out and employees were rushing to restock the shelves.

“We will keep selling it,” Zhang said. “This crying horse really fits the reality of modern working people.”

title: Accidental ‘crying horse’ toy wins hearts in China