TPP treats defense spending as wastefulBy John ChengAfter blocking the government’s eight-year, NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.72 billion) special defense budget, and following a hurried and unscheduled visit to the US, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) unveiled his own defense procurement bill. Its headline feature is simple: a spending ceiling of NT$400 billion. Either way, Huang’s proposal is not aimed at building the kind of defense Taiwan needs. A dangerous political narrative also underlies the debate — that defense spending is waste and cutting it is virtue. The Ministry of National Defense should hold a news conference to show the public what the NT$1.25 trillion plan constructs, and what the NT$400 billion plan dismantles.

So, he drew up two lists, one for the 10 best decisions in US foreign policy over the past 250 years, and one for the 10 worst. Or that the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced expulsion of the Cherokee in 1838 rank three and six among the worst decisions respectively. The US made its worst decisions whenever it turned its back on that philosophy, sabotaged multilateral organizations or went rogue inside the very international system it built. Their vision was to correct the legacy of the League of Nations, which was created after World War I but could not prevent World War II. The list of the worst decisions tells the story of US power used wrong.

Matthews confident US can capture Olympic goldAFP, TORONTOToronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is confident in the US men’s ice hockey team and its chances of capturing a gold medal at next month’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. “We feel like we’re up there and we should be competing for gold,” Matthews said after practice on Monday in comments on the NHL Web site. “I think all of us feel the same way.”The US won Olympic gold on home ice in 1960 and 1980 before NHL players were allowed to compete. However, Matthews said the politics of the Olympic ice hockey tournament will not be on his mind. “There’s a lot of guys that are coming back from Four Nations,” Matthews said.

Accidental ‘crying horse’ toy wins hearts in ChinaReuters, YIWU, ChinaAt Yiwu International Trade City, China’s largest wholesale market, customers crowd into a small shop searching for an unlikely bestseller ahead of the Lunar New Year. They are looking for a red plush horse with a downturned mouth, a gold bell around its neck and eyes that appear to shy away from a viewer’s gaze. Photo: ReutersCalled the “crying horse” by online users, the toy was designed as a happy-faced Lunar New Year decoration, but a manufacturing mistake turned its smile into a frown. “People joked that the crying horse is how you look at work, while the smiling one is how you look after work,” Zhang said. “This crying horse really fits the reality of modern working people.”

Unlike previous tech cycles, these investment requirements would not fade as the industry matures and might even intensify. The third area where AI departs from previous tech revolutions is in the weakness and fragility of network effects. Earlier tech platforms grew within largely siloed markets: Google dominated search; Amazon focused on retail. Historically, equity incentives enabled tech companies to hire and retain talent, acquire intellectual property, and expand through mergers and acquisitions. In this sense, AI more closely resembles the capital-intensive industries of the mid-20th century than the asset-light tech models of the past few years.

Japan, US plan to build synthetic diamond plantReuters, TOKYOA plan to build a synthetic diamond plant in the US is a prime prospect in Japan’s US$550-billion investment package, as the allies push to expand production of a material vital to chip and high-precision manufacturing, sources said. Photo: Reuters“The United States wants to accelerate domestic production of synthetic diamonds,” one of the sources said. The synthetic diamond project involves Element Six, a part of De Beers Group, the world’s leading diamond company, the source added. Also likely to figure in the first batch of projects is a large-scale power-generation project, involving Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi Ltd, the sources said. A major infrastructure project involving construction of a data centre linked to Softbank Group also remains a finalist, Reuters reported this month.

TrendForce expects slide in global notebook shipmentsBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterGlobal notebook computer shipments are expected to slide 9.4 percent annually this year, as PC vendors face price hikes for CPUs and memory chips, which elevate manufacturing costs, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report on Monday. As PC vendors make slim margins, rising costs of components are a substantial financial burden, TrendForce said. Photo: Reuters“Memorychip prices continue to be high, and unstable CPU supplies are adding uncertainty to the notebook computer market in the short term,” the report said. PC vendors would have to adjust their product lineups and reschedule shipments to cope with higher CPU costs, it added. PC vendors stepped up notebook computer shipments in the fourth quarter last year, as they have been grappling with memorychip price surges since the second half of last year, it said.

Consumer confidence reaches nine-month highStaff writer, with CNATaiwan’s consumer confidence improved this month to a nine-month high as uncertainties were eased after Taipei and Washington agreed verbally to a deal on tariffs on Jan. 15, a survey released yesterday by National Central University (NCU) showed. The CCI measures sentiment over the following six months across six factors: consumer prices, the domestic economic climate, the stock market, durable goods purchases, employment prospects and family finances. NCU Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said the lower tariff gave a big boost to sentiment in non-tech industries, because it placed Taiwan on an equal footing with the nation’s major competitors. However, Wu said that, as part of the deal, Taiwan pledged to move some of its semiconductor supply chain to the US through large investments, and the impact of that would have to be watched. Also this month, the home-buying index jointly compiled by NCU and Taiwan Realty rose 2.32 points from a month earlier to 94.95, the university added.

India and EU ink free-trade agreement‘MOTHER OF ALL DEALS’: Nations are willing to ‘bury the hatchet’ given the ‘atmosphere of uncertainty’ around the policies of US President Donald Trump, a researcher saidBloombergIndia and the EU have agreed on a free-trade agreement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday, capping nearly two decades of negotiations. “This free-trade agreement will strengthen confidence of investors, business in India,” Modi said in remarks at an energy event. The pact would boost trade and global supply chains, while improving India’s manufacturing and services sectors, he said. Modi’s announcement comes weeks after India signed trade deals with New Zealand and Oman. Modi is also trying to find new markets for a country Trump once dubbed the “tariff king.”Yesterday’s agreement marked Modi’s fourth trade deal since May last year, also including an agreement with the UK.

Photo: Hou Chia-yu, Taipei TimesH pylori infection is the greatest known risk factor for gastric cancer, said Lee Yi-chia (李宜家), a professor of internal medicine at National Taiwan University Hospital. Sharing his personal experience, Chuang said he was diagnosed with gastric ulcer and H. pylori infection after paying for a gastroscopy in 2014. Seven years later, he was diagnosed with gastric cancer, Chuang added. H pylori can neutralize gastric acid and damage the stomach tissue, leading to gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach lining, he said. If left untreated, it could lead to peptic ulcers, or even progress to precancerous lesions and gastric cancer, he said.

HIMARS joins first exercises this yearDEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire supportBy Fang Wei-li and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. Soldiers pose for a photograph with the Taiwanese flag during a drill at a military facility in Taichung yesterday. A HIMARS maneuvers inside a military base during a combat-readiness drill in Taichung yesterday. Soldiers pose for a photograph during a drill at a military facility in Taichung yesterday.

Trump threatens tariff hike to 25% on S Korean goodsBloombergUS President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to hike tariffs on goods imported from South Korea to 25 percent, citing what he said was the failure of the country’s legislature to codify the trade deal the two nations reached last year. Trump in a social media post said the new rate would apply to vehicles, lumber, pharmaceutical products and “all other Reciprocal TARIFFS.”Under the existing agreement, the US president set a 15 percent levy on South Korean exports. Vehicles for export are parked at a port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, yesterday. Photo: AP“South Korea’s Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States,” Trump wrote. South Korean Minister of Finance Koo Yun-cheol subsequently said the government was not intentionally delaying the investment, but was still in the process of selecting projects and completing required procedures.

Over 90% of foreign firms upbeat on Taiwan: AmCham surveyBy Meryl Kao / Staff reporter, with ReutersAbout 92 percent of foreign companies said they plan to maintain or increase investment in Taiwan this year, with the majority saying they remain confident about the local market despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and tariff-related risks, the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taiwan said in a survey released yesterday. Photo: Ben Blanchard, ReutersMore foreign firms in Taiwan are preparing emergency plans as security concerns rise, but actual disruption from tensions with China is very low, the survey showed. AmCham Taiwan said that 206 of its 411 eligible members responded to the survey conducted shortly before China’s most recent war games. The group serves as an important conduit between the foreign, especially US, business community in Taiwan and policymakers in Taipei and Washington. AmCham Taiwan president Carl Wegner said that from speaking to people in Washington, this year looked like a “good year with positive potential” for that deal to be approved.

Wu Ding-guo at Wu Sha residence. Artist rendering of the Wu Sha compound in the 19th century displayed at the Wu Sha Historic Residence. The Wu Sha foundation’s research however indicates the nephew was an imposter, stating “he was not a member of the Wu Sha clan” and describing him as “a political pawn of the then-Qing government.”“Our family has suffered three persecutions,” Wu said, referring to various land seizures during the past 200 years. Wu Ding-guo began pouring resources into this historical research after establishing the Yilan Wu Sha Cultural Foundation in 2013. From that day forward, the Wu Sha clan adopted its creed, “the family best stay out of government.”When I asked Wu Ding-guo about this, he chuckled, “That’s no longer necessarily the case.

Cool off on divisive divorce lawBy Sandy Chou 周宜勳The Legislative Yuan’s Legal Affairs Bureau has introduced a 30-day cooling-off period for couples contemplating divorce, a concept already adopted by South Korea and China. In April 2009, the legislature amended the law, recognizing that judges can settle divorce proceedings without mediation focused on reconciliation. My doctoral dissertation, published in 2008, was the first large-scale attitudinal survey of Taiwanese and judges on divorce mediation, research that is relevant to the current legislative debate. American feminist academics have argued that mandatory divorce mediation — regardless of whether it aims for reconciliation — is disadvantageous to women. In the US, mandatory pretrial mediation is by no means a tradition, and the aim of divorce mediation has never been reconciliation.