Identifying Taiwan’s true friendsBy Emilian KavalskiIt seems that Taiwan is not the only country whose international status is contested by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were prompt to issue a coordinated response demanding clarification and an explanation by the PRC. With a combined territory of just over 175,000km2 and a combined population of a little more than 6 million, the three Baltic states are considered small, and not just by European standards. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, the three Baltic states have been the top three aid providers to Kyiv when measured as a percentage of GDP. And while the job of Taiwanese diplomats is becoming ever more challenging, it seems that statements such as Lu’s offer an unexpected helping hand in identifying Taipei’s true friends.

Yunlin produceYunlin County Commissioner Chang Li-shan, left, cooks at the Taiwan Vegetable Festival at a supermarket in Singapore yesterday to promote home-cooked dishes using ingredients from Yunlin. Singapore-based supermarket NTUC FairPrice organized the festival, which ends on Wednesday next week. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

Five in funeral probe out on bailCUTTING IN: Some employees at New Taipei City-run cremation and funeral services allegedly receive regular monthly bribes from private proprietors to expedite servicesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterFive New Taipei City Crematorium employees were yesterday released on bail of NT$50,000 (US$1,628) each after being questioned about allegations of accepting bribes from private funeral service operators. Seven private funeral service proprietors were also questioned and released. A New Taipei City crematorium section head surnamed Hsi is escorted by investigators in January. Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei TimesThe New Taipei City Crematorium is a unit of the government-run New Taipei City Funeral Parlor in Banciao District (板橋). Hsi was released on bail of NT$200,000, while most of the other staff posted bail of NT$100,000 each, Lee said.

Sino-Indian rivalry reshaping AsiaBy Brahma ChellaneyThree years after China stealthily began encroaching on India’s territory in the Himalayas, no end is in sight for the two countries’ border standoff. Since then, India has more than matched China’s military deployments, fueling the largest-ever military buildup in the Himalayas, one of the world’s most inhospitable regions. In an effort to strengthen its territorial claim and provoke India, China has Sinicized the names of sites in Arunachal Pradesh. Moreover, the Sino-Indian rivalry has flared up at a time when China’s economy is running into long-term constraints, including a shrinking and rapidly aging population, and slowing productivity growth. With the US-China rivalry deepening, the last thing China needed was to make a permanent enemy of its largest neighbor.

Tsai made the remark during a legislative session in Taipei after a lawmaker asked if Taiwan had such exchanges with the group. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei TimesChen asked Tsai if the upgrades could help Taiwan better connect to the Five Eyes. Chen asked if the upgrade would enable the bureau to share and receive intelligence from the Five Eyes alliance. However, China’s tactics differ in Taiwan from other places such as the US and Europe, he added. Lawmakers also expressed concern that Beijing has stepped up its monitoring of and threats toward Chinese living in Taiwan.

“Our alliance is leading on some of the most important and pressing issues of our time,” Harris said in remarks with Yoon by her side at the NASA facility. From left, South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee, South Korean President Yoon Suk -yeol, US President Joe Biden and US first lady Jill Biden (obscured) visit the Korean War Veterans’ Memorial in Washington on Tuesday. NASA and Seoul’s Korea Aerospace Research Institute are working together to support future lunar exploration efforts, he said. Yoon yesterday was scheduled to visit the White House, an unnamed US official said. Other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that there were no plans to station US nuclear weapons in South Korea.

South Korean GDP beats forecast with 0.3 percent growthBloombergSouth Korea’s economy grew more than expected at the beginning of the year, providing the central bank with breathing room while also highlighting ongoing risks to growth. Photo: BloombergThe data would be a welcome sign for BOK officials who are trying to balance taming inflation with economic growth. Keeping its key rate unchanged this month for a second straight meeting, the central bank said that economic growth this year might be slightly below its earlier 1.6 percent forecast. Meanwhile, equipment spending weighed on the quarterly data, contracting the most in at least two years. “Weak equipment spending suggests the IT [information technology] sector has yet to recover,” Ebest Investment & Securities Co analyst Woo Hye-young said.

CECC to be disbanded on Monday next weekCOVID-19 TO BE RECLASSIFIED: Vaccinations would continue to be provided, but starting from next week healthcare facilities could charge a registration feeBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterCOVID-19 is to be reclassified as a Category 4 notifiable communicable disease on Monday next week and the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is to be disbanded on the same day, the CECC said yesterday. After the center is disbanded, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is to carry out COVID-19-related response operations, it said. Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the center, said that after Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) visited the CECC yesterday afternoon, he has agreed to reclassify COVID-19 and allow the center to be disbanded on Monday next week. Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei TimesMonday next week marks the 1,197th day the center has been in operation, it said. CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that vaccinations would continue to be provided at contracted healthcare facilities and vaccination stations, but starting from Monday next week, healthcare facilities could charge a registration fee.

NBCUniversal CEO quits amid relationship probeReutersNBCUniversal Inc CEO Jeff Shell has stepped down after acknowledging an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, following a complaint that prompted an investigation, parent company Comcast Corp said on Sunday. “I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,” Shell said in a statement. “I’m truly sorry I let my Comcast and NBCUniversal colleagues down.”Shell, who had been with Comcast for about two decades, left immediately. NBCUniversal Inc CEO Jeff Shell speaks at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, on June 22 last year. Photo: ReutersThe former chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment took over as CEO in 2020, replacing Steve Burke.

China tensions speed global trade shifts: shipping CEOBloombergPolitical tensions between the US and China are contributing to lower container shipments between the world’s two largest economies, on top of an already-underway reshaping of global trade, a major shipping industry executive said. “We are seeing a deleveraging of trade between the US and China,” Ocean Network Express Holdings Ltd CEO Jeremy Nixon said at the Capital Link Singapore Maritime Forum. “Many companies in the US are looking to reduce down the amount of imports they have got coming from China,” Nixon said. Tensions have flared over issues from Taiwan to the alleged spy balloon that was shot down over the US. Separately, global political frictions could cause turmoil in economic growth and inflation, European Central Bank Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said.

Powerchip expects revenue to fall 5%CONSERVATIVE: Demand outlook remains bleak this quarter, except some rush orders and insignificant demand for certain products, a company executive said Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電), which makes DRAM chips and driver ICs on a contract basis, expects revenue to decline up to 5 percent sequentially this quarter, extending a downtrend from the past three quarters as customers digest excessive inventory. Although customers remain conservative about placing new orders, they have been more willing to engage in price negotiations, a sign that demand for some applications has started to recover, Powerchip said yesterday. “We do not expect major changes in the second quarter in terms of revenue,” Powerchip president Brian Shieh (謝再居) told an online investors’ conference. “We believe the first and secondBy Lisa Wang

US security drive focuses on ChinaBy Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporterThe US has introduced an initiative to identify possible threats posed by China and develop plans to defend against them, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said. Mayorkas on Friday announced the “90-day department-wide sprint” while delivering his first “state of homeland security address” at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations think tank. The initiative is to “assess how the threats posed by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] will evolve and how we can be best positioned to guard against future manifestations of this threat,” he said. US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas gives a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on Friday. Photo: Screenshot from a livestreamWhile listing the security issues the US is confronting, he singled out threats posed by China as among the most serious and related to all of the department’s missions.

Japan fetes LGBTQ progress, demands moreReuters, TOKYOCheering, flag-waving crowds yesterday gathered in Tokyo for the first full Pride parade in four years, celebrating advances in LGBTQ rights, but also demanding that Japan join other advanced nations in legally recognizing same-sex marriage. It is the only member of the group that does not recognize same-sex marriage. People march during the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in Tokyo yesterday. Kishida in February fired an aide who sparked outrage by saying people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage was allowed, but the prime minister remains noncommittal about same-sex marriage, even as polls show 70 percent of the public in favor. The situation has long limited the talent pool for global firms, but even traditional Japanese companies find their international competitiveness endangered without diversity, including LGBTQ rights.

Japan puts military on alert fearing N Korean missileAFP, TOKYOJapan yesterday ordered its military to prepare to shoot down a North Korean ballistic missile after Pyongyang this week said it was ready to launch its first military spy satellite. Placing the satellite into orbit would require a long-range projectile, which North Korea is banned from launching because the UN views such exercises as tests of ballistic missile technology. Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada yesterday told the country’s Self-Defense Forces “there is a possibility of ordering destructive measures against ballistic missiles and others,” a statement from the defense ministry said. In 2012 and 2016, North Korea tested ballistic missiles that Pyongyang called satellite launches. A week ago Pyongyang said it had successfully tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, hailing it as a breakthrough for the country’s nuclear counterattack capabilities.

Ko also thanked the consular staff for their hard work, the sources said. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je speaks to reporters in Washington on Friday. As the US-China conflict has escalated, Taiwan has become more important to the US, he said, adding that Hsiao agreed. Ko said he does not deserve all the credit for the meetings, as they were a result of Taiwan becoming more important to the US. As the US believes China to be its biggest threat, “it arranged its highest-ranking official in the region to handle the issue,” he said.