Extradition hearing for Huawei official begins
Beijing views Meng’s case as an attempt to contain China’s rise. The initial stage of Meng’s extradition hearing this week is focusing on whether Meng’s alleged crimes are crimes both in the US and Canada. Her lawyers on Friday filed a motion arguing that Meng’s case is really about US sanctions against Iran, not a fraud case. The extradition case could take years to resolve if there are appeals. From 2008 to 2018, nearly 90 percent of those arrested in Canada on extradition requests from the US were surrendered to US authorities.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Foundation hopes holiday boosts giving to disabled
By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterAs the Lunar New Year approaches, the Children Are Us Foundation yesterday said that it hopes people will consider donating part of the money they receive in red envelopes during the holiday to its efforts to assist people with intellectual disabilities. At the same time, their parents, who are often their primary caregivers, might be entering old age, it said. The foundation said that it has filmed a video with actor Lee Lee-zen (李李仁) to promote its fundraising campaign. At a news conference in Taipei, Lee urged people to support the foundation’s fundraising efforts by donating a portion of their red envelope money or by spreading the word about the campaign. Tasa Meng Corp has pledged to donate NT$20 each time the video is “liked” and shared through the foundation’s Facebook page from today, the foundation said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Economic growth beats expectations
The quarterly increase lifted full-year economic growth to 2.73 percent for last year, also beating an estimated 2.64 percent increase, the agency said. The yearly growth outpaced main trade rivals Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the DGBAS said. The seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rate was 6.96 percent, suggesting that economic expansion is gaining momentum, compared with 2.42 percent three months earlier, it said. Capital formation in the public and private sectors was the main catalyst with 10.72 percent growth, lifting GDP growth by 2.34 percentage points during the fourth quarter, the agency said. DOMESTIC DEMANDDomestic demand boosted economic growth last quarter by adding 4.09 percentage points, while net external demand erased 0.71 percentage points, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Chen Shih-meng slams ‘guardian gods’ in judiciary
By Jason Pan / Staff reporterOutgoing Control Yuan member Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) yesterday lashed out at Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) and former minister of justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) for protecting “dinosaur judges” and impeding judicial reform. Chen was presenting the results of two year-long investigations at a news conference at the Control Yuan when he made the remarks. He levelled accusations against Hsu, as well as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) judiciary figures including Wang and C.V. Chen (陳長文), in a speech taken from his post titled “The Guardian Gods of Dinosaur Judges” that he published on his Pointed Pigtail (尖尾週記) blog in February 2018. “I wanted to root out the dinosaur judges from the judiciary, but I found that the ‘guardian gods’ behind them were protecting and defending them, so my mission became difficult,” Chen said. In the Zhongshan Bridge case, the administration of then-Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) abused its power to dismantle the bridge, which was designated as a historic monument for preservation.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Highway traffic to increase today as holiday commences
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterHighway traffic is expected to pick up today as people start hitting the roads for the Lunar New Year holiday. The Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) unveiled its strategies for facilitating traffic flow on the upgraded Suhua Highway, which officially opened on Jan. 6. The highway’s traffic control center in Nanao Township (南澳) in Yilan County would use a traffic signal system to ease the congestion along certain sections, including between Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. From Tuesday to Wednesday next week, most highway travelers would be heading back to work, Chen added. 61), which was designed as an alternative to the Hsinchu-Tainan section of National Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Macron, Trump agree on truce in digital tax fight
BloombergFrench President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump on Monday agreed to a truce in their dispute over digital taxes that would mean neither France nor the US would impose punitive tariffs this year, a French diplomat said. “Great discussion with @realDonaldTrump on digital tax,” Macron said in a tweet. The US objected, alleging on Dec. 2 that the French tax discriminates against US technology companies, citing Section 301 of a 1974 US law that Trump has thus far reserved to justify tariffs against China. That opened the door to the US’ threat to hit US$2.4 billion of French goods with tariffs in retaliation. Among the French products targeted with duties of as much as 100 percent were luxury items such as wine, cheese and makeup.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: Policies on phones an opportunity
Civic groups in Taiwan have been calling for curbs on cellphone usage in schools for almost a decade, and as cellphone addiction continues to worsen worldwide, more schools are starting to implement related policies. Education on self-regulation methods and benefits, as well as the dangers of cellphone addiction, are also crucial and must accompany any regulations. Otherwise it will be a futile exercise and students’ cellphone usage when they leave school might become even more extreme. The problem is that cellphone addiction is not just an issue for students, but people of all ages. Often, they are the ones who encourage the students’ cellphone addiction by simply handing them a device on demand, or to pacify them when they get noisy.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Moody’s downgrades HK for ‘inertia’ over protests
BloombergMoody’s Investors Service on Monday lowered Hong Kong’s rating as a long-term issuer of debt by one notch, just months after Fitch Ratings Ltd took a similar action amid political protests. Hong Kong has been rocked by pro-democracy protests, and clashes between demonstrators and the police which have broken out regularly since June last year. The Hong Kong government strongly disagreed with Moody’s assessment and said it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision to downgrade. “Moody’s rating falls way out of line with Hong Kong’s sound credit fundamentals,” a government spokesman said in a statement early yesterday. Because of Hong Kong’s low debt-to-GDP ratio, the downgrade was likely more significant for corporate borrowers, she added.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
BOJ keeps interest rates, raises growth forecasts
As had been widely expected, the BOJ raised its growth projections for the first time in a year, thanks to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s US$120 billion economic package, unveiled last month. The central bank said that while overseas risks to the economy remained significant, they had decreased somewhat. It said it would not hesitate to take additional easing action if risks increased. The BOJ’s upgraded growth forecast positions it between the view of private economists and the more optimistic 1.4 percent projection of the government. Still, economists cast doubt on how growth can strengthen while prices weaken.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Viral outbreak affecting travel plans: travel agents
In less than a month, the outbreak has spread from Wuhan, China, to Beijing, Shanghai and Guandong Province. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has urged travel agents to avoid arranging tours to Wuhan or surrounding areas to lower the risk of travelers contracting the virus. Meanwhile, 178 Chinese tourists from Wuhan are to arrive between today and Wednesday next week, while 83 Taiwanese tourists are scheduled to go on package tours to Wuhan, local travel agencies said. “We have instructed travel agents to be especially vigilant of their guests’ health. Lion Travel said that it would also suspend sales for tours to Wuhan between March and May.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Researchers find key to metastasis of solid cancers
By Wu Liang-yi / Staff reporterAfter a decade of research, researchers have found a key to the metastasis of cancer, Academia Sinica said yesterday. A clinical study found that PSPC1 was overly expressed in 60 to 70 percent of solid cancer patients, he said. There are many different types of cancer and each develops differently, Jou said. This is why there are so many types of cancer medications, as each responds to different types of cancer, he said. For example, PSPC1 is only overly expressed in 60 to 70 percent of solid cancers, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Rodent rescue
By Han Cheung / Staff reporterLast time the Year of the Rat rolled around, many people listened to the advice of fortune tellers and bought a rodent to attract wealth. Rodents Care has taken in over 2,000 animals since its founding in 2016, and the rescue rate continues to grow. The most important solution, Chang stresses, is to house one rodent in one cage. Chang says Rodents Care first started as a Facebook group around 2015. “We had to stress to the public that we are caring for pet rodents,” Chang says.
Source:Taipei Times
January 21, 2020 15:56 UTC
Evacuation crackdown ordered as volcano recharges
AFP, TANAUAN, PhilippinesPhilippine authorities yesterday ordered a crackdown on evacuees’ daily visits to their homes in the danger zone around Taal volcano as scientists warned it could be “recharging” for a more powerful explosion. “We are directing DRRMCs [Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils] ... not to allow anyone to enter the danger zone,” Philippine Undersecretary for the Interior Epimaco Densing said. The volcano shot ash 15km high in the Jan. 12 eruption, which crushed scores of homes and killed livestock as well as crops. However, seismologists have warned the volcano could imminently unleash a much bigger eruption, posing a deadly risk to anyone in the 14km radius “danger zone” that surrounds it. “Our concern is how are we going to sustain a long term evacuation period,” he added.
Source:Taipei Times
January 20, 2020 16:06 UTC
‘Drunken gummy bears’ creators face Haribo wrath
AFP, MADRIDAnder Mendez and his friends were hoping they had struck it rich with the idea of selling alcohol-infused gummy bears — until they found themselves in the sights of sweet giant Haribo. In a not-so-sweetly worded legal letter, Haribo has accused their start-up of infringing its trademarked little bear. In 2012, Haribo took legal action against Swiss chocolate maker Lindt, saying its hollow chocolate teddy bears wrapped in gold foil were an imitation of its products. Following a long-running legal battle, a German court ruled in Lindt’s favor, saying the chocolate bears could not be mistaken for Haribo’s jelly sweets. At the time, the award generated some controversy, with opposition figures saying the product would encourage the consumption of alcohol among youngsters.
Source:Taipei Times
January 20, 2020 16:03 UTC
Delta Electronics, GKN Automotive to collaborate
By Lisa Wang / Staff reporterDelta Electronics Inc (台達電) is collaborating with UK-based GKN Automotive Ltd to develop new-generation three-in-one eDrive systems for battery electric and hybrid vehicles, the two companies said in a statement yesterday. The nation’s biggest power and thermal solutions provider is to provide inverters to be integrated with GKN Automotive’s eMotor and gearbox systems, the statement said. These would cover a large portion of the future eDrive market, which is projected to be worth more than ￡12 billion (US$15.59 billion) by 2030, the firms said, citing a forecast from IHS. “The eDrive market continues to accelerate as manufacturers are required to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations demanding technological progression and speed,” GKN Automotive chief executive officer Liam Butterworth said in the statement. GKN Automotive had produced more than 1 million eDrive units as of July last year, the statement said.
Source:Taipei Times
January 20, 2020 15:56 UTC