By Liu Pei-fen and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Hsinchu City Animal Protection and Education Park is to be officially opened today with the goal of raising public awareness of animal protection, and offering the best care and veterinary services for cats and dogs. The park has been upgraded to improve its animal-friendly facilities, with five times as much space as the old park, the Hsinchu City Government said, adding that it can accommodate 400 animals at once. Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) last week said that the old park was too small, so the city invested NT$155 million (US$5.17 million) to build the new shelter. The new park spans more than 4,400m2, of which 70 percent is outdoor space for animals, Lin said. It encourages animal lovers to volunteer to help by walking the dogs and training cats, which helps make Hsinchu a pet-friendly city, it said.

By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe first quadrilateral talks between Taiwan, the US, Guatemala and Honduras took place on Tuesday in Guatemala during Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu’s (吳釗燮) visit to the nation’s Central American allies, Wu wrote on Twitter yesterday. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday issued a news release saying that Wu had made a fruitful diplomatic trip, meeting with the leaders and high-ranking officials of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, it was Wu’s tweet that revealed the quadrilateral talks involving the US. “The 1st #Taiwan #US #Guatemala #Honduras quadrilateral talks focused on advancing regional cooperation & development. The four-way talks followed the inauguration ceremony, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday. Their discussions focused on Taiwan and the US jointly promoting partnerships with Guatemala and Honduras in trade, investment, infrastructure and other areas, it said.

By Marika Katanuma / BloombergAt first glance, things seem to be getting better for Japanese women. However, even with these advantages, Japanese women — whether single or married, full-time or part-time — face a difficult financial future. Japanese women make only 73 percent that of men, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A separate study did the math for Japanese women: They would run out of money 20 years before they die. However, there are additional obstacles for Japanese women.

Staff writer, with CNAThe Tourism Bureau yesterday unveiled 40 recommended itineraries for alpine travel in Taiwan as the centerpiece of its campaign to market this year as the Year of Mountain Tourism. The bureau released extensive itineraries for seven mountain areas and 33 shorter itineraries. The two major itineraries in the north include Yangmingshan National Park, Yilan County’s Taipingshan Forest Recreation Area, and the Hsinchu-Miaoli area, featuring Dabajianshan (大霸尖山) and the Guanwu National Forest Recreation Area. One features Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Taroko National Park, one covers Chilai Mountain (奇萊山), Aowanda National Forest Recreation Area and Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), and the third encompasses Yushan (玉山) and the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area. The seven main routes each take about seven days to complete, and they start and end at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the bureau said.

As expected, China’s growth slowed to 6.1 percent last year, from 6.6 percent in 2018, National Bureau of Statistics data showed. Although still strong by global standards, and within the government’s target range, it was the weakest expansion since 1990. Data on last month released along with GDP showed a surprising acceleration in industrial output and a more modest pick-up in investment growth, while retail sales were solid. Industrial output grew 6.9 percent from a year earlier, the strongest pace in nine months, while retail sales rose 8.0 percent. Fixed-asset investment rose 5.4 percent for the full year, but growth had plumbed record lows in autumn.

Reuters, SHANGHAIA second person has died from pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan following an outbreak believed to be caused by a new coronavirus strain, local health authorities said. Although the known cases of the outbreak have involved only individuals who have traveled to or live in Wuhan, the WHO has warned that a wider outbreak is possible and alerted hospitals worldwide. The exact cause of the outbreak remains unclear, although the Huanan Seafood City market in Wuhan is suspected to be the epicenter. Thailand on Thursday reported a second case of pneumonia, a 74-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan who has been quarantined. Japan on Thursday also confirmed that a man in his 30s had been infected with the virus after visiting Wuhan.

The event was the fourth and final Digital Dialogue Public Forum, as well as marking the conclusion of a year-long AIT program celebrating its 40th anniversary. The US and Taiwan have cooperated in ways that “have immeasurably benefited both of our societies and the entire global community,” Christensen said. “These ties allow us to confront new challenges head-on and side-by-side, and these ties are the inspiration for AIT’s theme for 2020: ‘Real Friends, Real Progress,’” he said, emphasizing the theme by repeating the phrase in Mandarin. Bilateral ties have not been defined solely in terms of dollar signs or how well they conform to global trends or views of the day; instead, they are sincerely invested in each other’s successes and in forging a shared future together, Christensen said, again repeating “Real Friends, Real Progress” in Mandarin. The US and Taiwan are “members of the same family of democracies” bonded by shared values, he added.

By Sam RainsyThe sham trial of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha is underway in Phnom Penh. After Kem Sokha and I founded the CNRP, Cambodia’s first united democratic opposition party, in 2012, we quickly gained strong public support. To prevent him from succeeding, I resigned as CNRP leader in February 2017, leaving Kem Sokha, with his clean record, in charge. Seven months after my resignation, his government simply fabricated treason charges against Kem Sokha. Today, Kem Sokha is forbidden from leaving the country, and I am barred from entering it.

By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterChina Development Financial Holding Corp (CDFHC, 中華開發金控) plans to delay its acquisition of China Life Insurance Co (中國人壽), as the insurer’s shareholders might be hesitant to sell their holdings at a lower price, it said yesterday. China Life’s share price tumbled 26 percent to NT$25.9 yesterday, compared with NT$35 in September 2017, when CDFHC acquired 25 percent of the outstanding shares of the company, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. “Our acquisition cost could be reduced if we are to acquire China Life now, thanks to the company’s lower share price,” CDFHC spokesman Richard Chang (張立筌) told the Taipei Times by telephone. Weak confidence in the life insurance business in recent years attributed to the decline, he said. China Life was the engine that fueled CDFHC’s profit growth last year, Chang said.

“The plane crash was a bitter accident, it burned through our heart,” Khamenei said in a speech punctuated by cries of “death to America” from the crowd. Khamenei accused Iran’s enemies of exploiting the tragedy for propaganda purposes. “The few hundred who insulted the picture of general Soleimani, are they the people of Iran? Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne on Thursday vowed to press Iran for answers about the tragedy. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov yesterday urged a “de-escalation” of tensions between Iran and the US.

BloombergAmid rising defaults and tighter liquidity for Chinese privately owned enterprises, the nation’s banks are letting some companies fail, something Deutsche Bank AG says presents bigger opportunities for foreign investors in troubled debt. It is to give US investors direct access to the nation’s soured debt market as part of this week’s “phase 1” trade deal. “There are signs we are seeing the beginning of a distressed debt cycle in China,” Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific investment bank cohead Amit Khattar said in an interview. “Distressed debt in China is going to be really interesting.”Defaults in China’s onshore corporate bond market hit a record high last year and troubles have continued in the offshore market as well. “Traditionally, it’s been harder to buy secondary loans in China and we haven’t been particularly active in China NPLs,” Khattar said.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a trade deal with China at a White House event that was part formal ceremony and part political theater. A former reality TV star, Trump is known for stage-managing his events closely, and this one was no exception. The president chose to sign the agreement himself, even though Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sent a lower-level official to represent the Chinese side. “Since China joined the World Trade Organization two decades ago, we have racked up nearly US$5 trillion — the vice premier, I hope he’s not listening to this — in trade deficits, lost millions and millions of manufacturing jobs and saw tens of thousands of factories close,” Trump said. About 35 minutes into the ceremony, Trump returned to the teleprompter.

By Harriet Sherwood / The ObserverRenee Salt had just turned 15 when she arrived at the gates of hell. Her journey with her parents to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp near Krakow in German-occupied Poland, was by cattle truck, wedged in with hundreds of other Jews, no food, water or air for 24 hours. The “Angel of Death” — Nazi SS officer Josef Mengele, a doctor who conducted cruel experiments on prisoners — stood at the head of the line. A ceremony is to include speeches by survivors, and by Polish President Andrzej Duda and World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder. At least 1.1 million people — mostly Jews — were murdered at Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps.

By Jiang Fang-yu 江芳瑜“Third force” is commonly used to refer to parties outside the conventional blue-green dichotomy in Taiwanese politics. Is it the answer to the nation’s political problems? If Taiwan is to divest itself of its problematic political legacy, it needs a second political force to operate alongside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), possibly as an even more vociferously pro-Taiwan force resisting China’s influence. There are 224 political parties in Taiwan, with as many as 98 — more than 43 percent — advocating unification with China. A “third force” cannot bring Taiwan the relief it needs.

During the final quarter of last year, TSMC’s net profit jumped 16.1 percent to NT$116.04 billion (US$3.87 billion), compared with NT$99.98 billion in the same period the previous year. That prompted the company to raise its long-term revenue growth estimate, saying that growth would approach the high end of a 5 to 10 percent compound annual growth rate in the long run. “We are confident that we can outperform the foundry sector’s revenue growth by several percentage points in US dollar terms,” TSMC chief executive officer C.C. “We need to increase capital spending as we are working closely with customers to fulfill their demand,” he said. Gross margin climbed to 50.2 percent, compared with 47.7 percent the previous year and 47.6 percent in the previous quarter.