Malaysian student likely strangled to death, police sayStaff Writer, with CNAA 24-year-old Malaysian student who was found dead on Thursday in her rented apartment on Dadong Road in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) was likely strangled to death, police said yesterday as they awaited the results of an autopsy. The student’s boyfriend at about 6pm on Thursday called the police, saying that he had found her dead in her apartment, police said. Chinese-language media reported that the boyfriend, a 30-year-old Taiwanese surnamed Chen (陳), before he lost consciousness allegedly confessed to police that he had killed Chai. Police said an initial investigation found that Chai had been working part-time as a model and as a livestreamer on a social entertainment platform. Chen has regained consciousness and was in a stable condition in hospital, police said, adding that they are planning to question him about Chai’s death in the coming days.

China might target border reopeningDOUBLE STANDARD: Beijing expects Taipei to allow its citizens to enter the nation without quarantine while it still subjects Taiwanese to the ordeal, an official said Beijing is likely to cite Taiwan’s different border policies for people from China, Hong Kong and Macau as a “double standard” as part of its cognitive warfare efforts, a source said yesterday. The government is on Thursday to end mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers, expect those from Hong Kong, Macau and China, due to national security concerns. Beijing is likely to cite the discrepancy as a double standard and say that the Democratic Progressive Party administration “irrationally opposes” anything China-related and “as a matter of course,” the source said. The government last month announced that starting on Sept. 29, people from ChinaBy Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington

Strait transits key: US commanderTAKING A STAND: Washington has a responsibility to Taiwan, said the commander of the US Seventh Fleet, calling China’s response to Pelosi’s visit ‘irresponsible’By Yang Cheng-yu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerUS Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Karl Thomas on Friday reiterated the importance of conducting freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait, as he recognized Australia and Canada for their transits. “It’s very important that we don’t accept [China’s claims] and that’s why do we do freedom of navigation operations,” he said. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the USS Kidd transits the Taiwan Strait on Aug. 27 last year. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the USS Higgins and Canadian Halifax-class frigate the HMCS Vancouver traveled through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 20, while Australian Majestic-class carrier the HMAS Melbourne sailed through the Taiwan Strait in September 2018. Freedom-of-navigation operations are not all aimed at China, but are carried out to deter excessive claims by any nation, Thomas said.

Asian stocks gain after Wall St swingsAP, BEIJINGAsian stock markets on Friday surged after Wall Street on Thursday rebounded from a slump caused by worse-than-forecast inflation numbers. Markets in Taipei, Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai all rose a day after Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index tumbled following reports that the US consumer price index for last month rose 8.2 percent. The market benchmark quickly rebounded to end up 2.6 percent for its biggest daily gain in two-and-a-half years. Also on Friday, China reported consumer inflation rose to a 29-month high of 2.8 percent last month from the previous month’s 2.5 percent. Prices last month rose 0.6 percent from the previous month.

India sells sugar in ‘golden opportunity’ amid tight demandBloombergSugar makers in India are signing deals with traders and exporters on optimism that the government would soon announce overseas sales quotas for the season that starts this month. “There is a shortage of white sugar and the market is tight globally.”Workers load sugarcane onto a trailer in a field in Gove village in India’s western state of Maharashtra on Nov. 10, 2018. The refined variety is fetching 38.5 rupees from overseas buyers compared with a local market rate of 36 rupees, he said. Among destinations for raw sugar are Indonesia and Bangladesh, while low quality white sugar can be sold to the Horn of Africa region, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan for direct consumption, with good demand now, Shaikh said. Domestic sugar production is forecast at 35.5 million tonnes this year, while consumption is seen at 27.5 million, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said.

The new policy requires inbound travelers to undergo seven days of “self-disease prevention” after arrival. The Explorer Dream cruise ship is pictured at the Port of Keelung in an undated photograph. Seventy-nine cruise ships, carrying about 340,000 people between them, plan to dock at the port next year, she said, adding that the government would help cruise ship operators to prosper once more. To attract more tourists on cruises, Taiwan International Ports Corp updated its software and hardware during the pandemic, and would welcome visitors with high-quality services, she said. Symptoms of all infections with Omicron subvariants are usually similar — coughing, fever, a runny nose and sore throat, he said.

TPP’s Tsai Pi-ru resigns despite denying plagiarismDEGREE REVOKED: The outgoing lawmaker said she was unable to adhere to academic standards when she cited Facebook posts in her master’s thesisBy Wang Chien-hao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) yesterday resigned after her alma mater found that her master’s thesis contained plagiarized sections. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru yesterday defends herself against allegations of plagiarism at a news conference in Taipei. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei TimesEarlier yesterday, Tsai denied the accusations, telling a news conference that the thesis was her own work. “Otherwise, it will be impossible for anyone to have any substantive discussion on whether Tsai Pi-ru was at fault. Tsai Pi-ru said she believes the parts of the thesis on daycare and the aging population was deemed problematic.

New exhibition explores a century of SurrealismArt show exploring the complex evolution of the iconic movement opened yesterday in LondonAFP, LONDONFrom Salvador Dali’s lip-shaped sofa to the dreamlike video clips of Icelandic artist Bjork, Surrealism has influenced design for almost a century. The complex evolution is now being explored in a new exhibition — “Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 to Today” — which opened yesterday at London’s Design Museum. FURNITURE, FILM, FASHIONBorn in literature before spreading to visual art, Surrealism declined as an artistic movement in the early 1950s but it survived in design. In fact, some of its creations “seem to have really found their moment in this century,” Johnson said. TURBULENT TIMESThe exhibition argues that Surrealism, a reaction to the horrors of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic, has undergone a resurgence in turbulent times.

The remarks referred to Legislator Anne Kao (高虹安), the TPP’s Hsinchu mayoral candidate, who has been accused of plagiarism. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Sidney Lin speaks to a reporter at DPP headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday. Lin said that KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) should speak up in support of the party’s Hsinchu mayoral candidate, Lin Keng-jen (林耕仁). The mayoral race might also influence the presidential election in two years, Sidney Lin said. Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) is rallying support in the “tight” race, Sidney Lin said, adding that the race would be open until election day.

Ko accused of promoting inaction over PRC threatBy Yang Cheng-yu and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan Statebuilding Party Taipei city councilor candidate Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱) yesterday accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and his Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) of encouraging Taiwanese to ignore the Chinese threat. The most detestable response to the Chinese threat is urging Taiwanese to ignore it, just like the “political quack” Ko and his TPP do, she said. Taiwan Statebuilding Party Taipei City councilor candidate Wu Hsin-tai, center, is joined by Democratic Progressive Party Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung, left, at a campaign event for her in the city on Friday last week. The Taiwan Statebuilding Party held a similar news conference last week at Kaohsiung’s Sanduo roundabout and unveiled a billboard at the intersection of Minquan and Ruiguang roads in Taipei to raise awareness about the threat. The next five years are to be treacherous for Taiwan, as Xi sets his sights on “recovering Taiwan” to achieve his goal of “national rejuvenation,” Taiwan Statebuilding Party secretary-general Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said.

Tax revenue increases 21% on corporate income taxIMPROVED BUSINESS: The robust corporate income tax revenue would give the national treasury a tax surplus of NT$300 billion this year, a Ministry of Finance official saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTax revenue last month expanded 20.9 percent year-on-year to NT$365.3 billion (US$11.47 billion), driven mainly by a spike in corporate income taxes that offset declines in securities and property transaction taxes, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Corporate income tax revenue swelled 55 percent to NT$163.4 billion last month, as companies generally reported an improvement in business, although the nation’s exports faltered, the ministry said. In the first nine months of the year, corporate income tax revenue surged 57 percent to NT$893.8 billion, as listed companies posted a 12.83 percent annual gain in combined revenues. Chen attributed the advance in personal income tax revenue to the extension of capital gains taxes to transfers of presale housing contracts. Securities transaction tax revenue last month tumbled 29.1 percent to NT$12.6 billion, while land value increment tax revenue fell 15.6 percent to NT$6 billion, as weak sentiment drove people to the sidelines, the ministry said.

Army ready for war after ‘first strike’: defense chiefSERIOUS ISSUE: If a Chinese UAV entered Taiwan airspace the military would first lock onto it as a warning and only later resort to a counterattack, Chiu Kuo-cheng saidStaff writer, with CNAThe military would be prepared for war if it was forced to counter a “first strike” by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday at the legislature. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Chi-chen (江啟臣) asked Chiu to elaborate on a comment he made on Tuesday that incursions by the PLA’s uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Taiwan’s territorial airspace would now be considered a “first strike,” necessitating countermeasures. Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAThe military would first lock onto intruding UAVs as a warning, which if not heeded would prompt a defensive “counterattack,” Chiu said. Asked by Chiang whether the counterattack would be aimed at repelling intruding PLA aircraft or preventing a “second strike,” Chiu said: “I don’t see it that way.

The party will no doubt harp on how “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” laced with the usual threats and intimidation. In her speech, Tsai spoke of defense reforms and increasing the national defense budget, and how Taiwan is taking responsibility for its own self-defense. The government has established the All-out Defense Mobilization Agency to bolster military training capacity and refine reserve training. Tsai spoke of forging a “resilient nation” based on democratic freedom, economic development, social security and national defense. Taiwan needs to expedite its defense reforms and to have an overall roadmap for national mobilization.

Nanya Technology plans to slash 40 percent in manufacturing equipment spending this year and another 20 percent next year, it said. Nanya Technology Corp president Lee Pei-ing poses for a photograph at a new factory in Taipei on April 20. On an annual basis, net profit plunged 64 percent from NT$7.53 billion, Nanya Technology said. “To cope with the market changes, we are scaling back our capital spending,” Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told an online news briefing. With uncertainty about the external environment rising, Nanya Technology expects DRAM chip prices to extend the downtrend this quarter and next quarter, he said.

Bivalent jab orders dependant on uptake, CECC saysBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterAbout 450,000 doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 bivalent vaccine have been administered, and as eligibility was expanded yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said that it might order more if many people are willing to receive the jab. Moderna’s bivalent vaccine targets the original SARS-CoV-2 strain as well as the Omicron BA.1 subvariant. Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei TimesHe said 11,163 people received Moderna’s bivalent booster on Sunday, taking the total number of doses administered to more than 449,000 doses. Eligibility for the bivalent vaccine was expanded to include people aged 18 to 49 who received their last dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at least three months (84 days) ago. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said there are still about 2.55 million doses of the bivalent vaccine in stock.