EZ News 02/07/24

Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. MOFA Plays Down Guatemala's China Trade Ties The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says plans by Guatemala's new government's to develop trade ties with China does not conflict with the country's policy of maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The statement comes after Guatemala's foreign minister earlier this week told Reuters that his country "cannot ignore the weight and power China represents" - but will "continue working with Taiwan at the levels we have been doing." According to the foreign ministry here in Taiwan, the report "did not come as a surprise" as President Bernardo Arevalo has "consistently (始終如一地) maintained a policy" of maintaining formal ties with Taiwan while also developing trade links with China. TSMC Announces Employees' Business Performance Bonus Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing says its board has approved a plan to distribute employees' business performance bonus and profit sharing totaling about 100.1-billion N-T for 2023. That total includes a business performance bonus of 50.09-billion N-T distributed (分配) following each quarter of 2023 and profit sharing of 50.09-million N-T to be distributed in July this year. The board meeting also approved a plan to issue a 3.5 N-T per share cash dividend for the earnings of the fourth quarter of 2023, which hit 9.21 N-T. The ex-dividend date has been set for June 13 and the dividends will be distributed on July 11. MOA Warning on Carrying of Meat Products into Taiwan And, The Ministry of Agriculture is warning public not to bring meat products into Taiwan from other countries due to the risk of African swine fever. The annual Lunar New Year holiday reminder (提醒) comes as African swine fever has now been found in 79 countries since the first reports of the virus emerged in China in August of 2018. Data shows that between August of 2018 and January of this year, of the 6,795 meat seizures tested, 639 came back positive for the virus. Eighty-three percent of the meat products that tested positive for African swine fever came from China. Those caught entering Taiwan carrying pork and other meat products face fines of between 200,000 and 1-million N-T. Israel Arrests Palestinian American Woman in West Bank Israeli forces have arrested a 46-year-old Palestinian American woman in the West Bank. Relatives say that Samaher Esmail was pulled out of bed by soldiers late Monday and they still don't know where she is. The army says she was arrested for “incitement” (煽動) on social media. Esmail's arrest comes just as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on a diplomatic visit. A U.S. government spokesperson said the State Department was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained and was “seeking additional information" about the incident but had no further comment. Late Tuesday, Blinken arrived in Israel, where he is expected to press ahead with efforts to at least pause Israel's offensive in Gaza and curb violence in the West Bank. US Homeland Security Secretary Survives Impeachment Attempt US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has survived an impeachment attempt in the House of Representatives after several Republicans broke ranks with their party. Congressional Republicans had sought to oust (逐出) Mayorkas over the surge in migration at the US's southern border. Ira Spitzer reports. That was the I.C.R.T. news, Check in again tomorrow for our simplified version of the news, uploaded every day in the afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn