China has been boosting its diplomacy and investment in Latin America for years, challenging US influence in Washington’s backyard. So, Beijing would also be concerned about what the crisis in Venezuela means for China’s interests in the oil-rich country and for its influence in the region. For years, Beijing has extended credit to Venezuela in loan-for-oil deals, which has made China the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude. Last month, a tanker bound for China and thought to be carrying Venezuelan oil was seized by US forces as part of Trump’s campaign against Maduro’s regime. Venezuelan oil only accounts for about 4 percent of China’s total imports.

Amid debates on whether the US’ strike on Venezuela violated international norms, Washington has defended the operation as “a surgical law enforcement operation facilitated by the US military against two fugitives of American justice,” not targeting the land or people of Venezuela. The Venezuela strike has also shown the US’ capabilities for cross-regional projection and military joint operations, as well as the Trump administration’s efficient decisionmaking and determination to defend national interests. Although China is unlikely to change its Taiwan policy in response to the Venezuela strike, Taiwan needs to learn from the US operation and upgrade its defense system and asymmetric weapons for advanced, precise and efficient national defense. One thing that should not be overlooked is the intelligence and espionage network in Venezuela that contributed largely to the success of the US operation. Faced with China’s escalating “gray zone” tactics and cognitive warfare, Taiwan should remain alert and contain the pro-China forces and espionage networks within the nation that seek to undermine national security.

Photo: Billy WuForty years after its premiere, the film has become the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute’s (TFAI) 100th restoration. Indeed, according to Chu Taiwan’s film industry in the 1970s and 1980s was mostly controlled by organized crime. Professor Robert Chen (陳儒修) of National Chengchi University’s Department of Radio and Television says that there was no awareness at the time of the importance of film preservation. But Taiwan’s lack of major studios and the absence of a legal mandate for film preservation meant that original negatives were scattered and difficult to trace. Aside from Tainan National University of the Arts’ lone graduate program, there is no comprehensive training in film preservation.

The outlook follows a standout last year, when Taiwan delivered one of Asia’s strongest economic performances, with GDP growth estimated at 7.2 percent, while the nation’s per capita GDP is projected to reach US$38,000, surpassing Japan and South Korea for the first time, DBS said. DBS economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said AI-driven momentum is expected to persist this year, although growth is likely to moderate amid more realistic profitability expectations, elevated equity valuations and rising corporate leverage. Photo: AFPIn its base-case scenario, DBS projects GDP growth of 4 to 5 percent, assuming AI demand remains solid, but cools, US semiconductor tariffs stay moderate and the US’ tariffs on Taiwan are slightly reduced through trade negotiations. By contrast, Taiwan’s non-technology manufacturing is expected to remain weak, with exports continuing to contract amid the lingering possibility of tariffs, DBS said. Overall, Taiwan remains well positioned to capitalize on the global AI wave while evolving into higher-value manufacturing and knowledge-based services, DBS said.

China: All words and no actionBy Aadil BrarChina often describes itself as the natural leader of the global south: a power that respects sovereignty, rejects coercion and offers developing countries an alternative to Western pressure. It cannot claim leadership of the global south while consistently declining the burdens that leadership entails. Beijing’s campaign to marginalize Taipei depends on persuading developing countries that China is not only economically indispensable, but strategically reliable. In an increasingly multipolar global south, where states hedge rather than align wholesale, credibility might matter as much as capital. Venezuela is forcing China to choose between being a powerful, but cautious transactional partner and becoming the leader it claims to be.

All F-16s to get ground collision avoidance systemsSTILL SEARCHING: An air force officer said that fitting F-16 jets with Auto-GCAS is a time-consuming process involving the integration of complex systems and trainingBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe air force would install automatic ground collision avoidance systems (Auto-GCAS) on all of its F-16V jets by next year, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, two days after a fighter pilot went missing in an apparent mishap. Air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅) was flying a Lockheed Martin F-16V on a routine training flight on Tuesday night when the jet vanished from radar over waters off Hualien County. However, the air force operates 139 F-16Vs that lack the safety system, he said. For the same reasons, the US Air Force has yet to fully outfit its F-16s with Auto-GCAS technology, he said, adding that test flights are still being conducted. The air force continually searches for ways to improve pilot survivability, he said.

Draft Animal Protection Act changes unveiledStaff writer, with CNAThe Cabinet yesterday unveiled draft revisions to the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法) that would tighten regulations on when owners can place their pets in shelters, while increasing the maximum fine for abandoning animals. Photo: CNAIn addition, the draft amendments say that if an animal shelter asks an owner to reclaim an animal, the owner must do so within seven days or be deemed to have abandoned it. The maximum fine for abandonment would be increased to NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (US$3,168 to US$31,676) — up from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000. Pet owners who lose a microchipped animal have five days to report the incident to local authorities, after which they are also deemed to have abandoned the animal, they say. Meanwhile, the sterilization system for cats and dogs still has blind spots that the draft changes aim to fix, he said.

Net profit in the fourth quarter of last year decreased to NT$6.73 billion (US$213.18 million) from NT$8.97 billion a year earlier, the company said. The figure fell 5 percent from NT$7.08 billion in the third quarter, it added. The logo of Largan Precision Co. Ltd, the world`s largest smartphone lens manufacturer, hangs outside the company`s headquarters in Taichung City in 2020. The company would disclose whether it plans to add new production lines for CPO once production proves viable, he said. Largan plans to begin shipping its first batch of variable-aperture products in the third quarter of this year, Lin said.

Premier Cho Jung-tai, center, speaks at a news conference in Taipei after a Cabinet meeting yesterday. It has been more than four months since the Executive Yuan submitted this year’s general budget to the legislature, but it has yet to be reviewed, Cho said. The Ministry of National Defense would face the greatest funding shortfall of NT$75.2 billion, Cho said. The general budget is the foundation of democratic governance and essential to meeting public needs, Cho said, calling on the legislature to expedite the review. The stalled budget would negatively affect economic growth, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Minister Chen Shu-tzu (陳淑姿) said.

Ferry operators to conduct regular battery fire drillsBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterFerry operators are required to conduct a drill at least once every three months to test preparedness in handling fires caused by portable chargers, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The announcement came after multiple reports of fires caused by portable chargers on the nation’s major railways. Photo courtesy of the Railway Police BureauBureau Director-General Yeh Hsieh-lung (葉協隆) said that portable chargers are powered by lithium batteries. Failure to conduct the drill would be deemed an operational deficiency, which operators would be required to rectify, the bureau said. Operators would be banned from providing services if such negligence would lead to safety concerns, it added.

Absentee voting would severely strain agency: officialDOUBTS REMAIN: The ‘secrecy’ of off-island voting in indigenous peoples’ areas has been compromised in the past, and absentee voting might have the same problemBy Lee Wen-hsin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerAbsentee voting would severely increase the workload of the electoral affairs agency, Deputy Minister of the Interior Wu Tang-an (吳堂安) said yesterday, instead voicing support for a proposal to make voting day and the preceeding day a national holiday. The Taiwan People’s Party’s proposal of absentee voting, proposed on Dec. 12 last year, could undergo a third reading as soon as next week. The Democratic Progressive Party on Nov. 28 last year introduced a bill that would set voting day and the day before as national holidays to encourage voting. The absentee voting system might compromise secrecy, he said, adding that external forces might influence people to apply for absentee voting in a specific area and undermine the fairness of elections. Making the pre-voting day a mandatory holiday would be preferable to introducing absentee voting, as it would not change the system, Chen said.

Suspect in TSMC trade secret theft detained incommunicadoStaff Writer, with CNAThe Intellectual Property and Commercial Court on Thursday ruled that a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. employee be detained incommunicado for stealing the company’s 14-nanometer (nm) trade secrets. The suspect, Chen Wei-chieh (陳韋傑), was indicted on Monday on charges of reproducing trade secrets relating to national core key technologies without authorization under the National Security Act. The case came to light while the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office’s Intellectual Property Branch was investigating the alleged theft of TSMC trade secrets related to its 2nm technology. When confronted with the evidence, Chen Li-ming identified Chen Wei-chieh as being involved in the case, prosecutors said. Chen Li-ming and two other suspects in the 2nm technology theft case have also been detained.

MOEA updates guidelines for foreign students interning in TaiwanStaff Writer, with CNAThe Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Thursday issued updated guidelines to protect the rights of foreign students interning in Taiwan, including clearer rules on student eligibility, internship stipends and working hours. Students must have completed at least one semester of study before coming to Taiwan and be of an age appropriate for their program. Photo: CNASpeaking to reporters before a meeting, Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said a total of 1,805 foreign students were approved to intern in Taiwan last year, with their internships covering the food and beverage, logistics and manufacturing sectors. Meanwhile, the MOEA reiterated that interns must also be covered by appropriate insurance provided by the internship host, including at least group accident or occupational accident insurance. Internship providers that violate the rules can be barred from hosting foreign interns in Taiwan for six months.

Alishan sees first snow in 7 yearsStaff writer, with CNASnow fell on Alishan (阿里山) for the first time in seven years yesterday morning, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. Jiaming Lake Mountain Hut in Taitung County is covered in snow yesterday morning. Snow also fell in other high-altitude areas from early morning until about 10am, including Jiaming Lake (嘉明湖) and nearby Xiangyang Mountain (向陽山) in eastern Taiwan, which recorded their first snow of the year, Tsai said. At about 4am, snow and ice pellets began falling at Jiaming Lake Mountain Hut, a resting point on the famous Jiaming Lake trail, local mountain guides said.

New budget creating more disparity: mayorBy Hung Jui-chin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerChanges to the way budgets are allocated to local governments would result in greater economic disparity between northern and southern Taiwan, amounting to “systemic injustice,” Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said yesterday. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che speaks to reporters in the city on Nov. 10 last year. Taipei received NT$41.6 billion (US$1.32 billion) from government tax allocations, while Tainan only got NT$16.3 billion, Huang said. “The cities and counties that receive more funding will not shy from asking for more from the central government if they are hit by natural disasters,” he added. The disparity caused by the amendments was not just a fiscal issue, but a warning that national resilience and systemic justice were being undermined, Huang said.