A chart shows changes in the nation’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from 2012 to May this year. Last month’s figure was the slowest expansion since July 2020, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research said. Lockdowns in China’s key industrial and commercial cities hampered economic activity and intensified supply chain disruptions, local companies have said. The manufacturing industry would experience uneven results in the second half of the year, CIER vice president Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全) said. Non-manufacturing companies generally experienced a downturn in business as most Taiwanese have voluntarily stayed home since April to avoid contracting COVID-19, CIER said.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday met with travel agencies, hoteliers, amusement park operators and tour bus operators to discuss how the stimulus funds should be used to support the tourism industry. Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung, left, speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. With the ministry agreeing, many travel agencies that have been in “intensive care units” should be able to move to “general wards,” he said. Each person can apply for the travel subsidy only once, Chang said. “Domestic travel and cross-border tourism will return to normal once we pass the plateau of the pandemic,” Chang said.

MediaTek optimistic about long-term demand, citing digital transformationBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterMediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest mobile phone chip supplier, yesterday said it is upbeat about market demand in the long term, driven by accelerating digital transformation worldwide. The company’s comments came in response to shareholders’ concern about chip demand after smartphones and PC sales weakened over the past six months. MediaTek Inc chief executive officer Rick Tsai, left, and chairman Tsai Ming-kai attend the company’s annual general meeting in Hsinchu Science Park yesterday. “The global semiconductor industry has faced external headwinds [lately], but long-term prospects are optimistic,” Rick Tsai said. To attain long-term growth momentum, MediaTek in February reorganized its business into two groups — the wireless segment and the computing, connectivity and metaverse segment (CCM).

Tech giants say India ignorant in Xiaomi spatBloombergA lobby group including Apple Inc and other technology giants operating in India have called out the country’s authorities for misunderstanding how patent fees work, following local officials’ dispute with Xiaomi Corp (小米). The Indian agency that combats money laundering is accusing Xiaomi of moving money out of the country by falsely claiming it was for patent fee payments. People walk past a Xiaomi Corp store in Mumbai, India, on May 11. The risk for the other companies is that Indian authorities apply similar interpretations of royalty payments to other tech firms. Indian authorities said Xiaomi’s local unit remitted money to three foreign-based entities with ties to Xiaomi, masking them as royalty payments.

TPP outlines core agenda for next legislative sessionFIVE ISSUES: The Taiwan People’s Party said it would focus on national security, housing justice, fiscal discipline, economic development and environmental sustainabilityBy Lin Liang-sheng and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday touted their legislative achievements and outlined the party’s agenda for the upcoming legislative session in September. For the upcoming legislative session, which is to run until December, the party will focus on five core issues — national security, housing justice, fiscal discipline, economic development and environmental sustainability, he said. Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers yesterday hold a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei to give a summary of their achievements and plans for the next legislative session, which starts in September. The government must make appropriate plans for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which is to be implemented in the EU starting next year, TPP Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) said. Additionally, legislation for creating a carbon-neutral cement sector by 2050 and a road map to reducing emissions should be prioritized for the next legislative session, he said.

“As a result, the US Department of Defense is now proactively planning cooperation between the US National Guard and Taiwan’s defense forces,” Tsai said, without giving details. Photo courtesy of the Executive YuanMedia reports have previously said that Taiwan could partner with Hawaii’s National Guard for the program. Beijing has in recent years begun sending large sorties into Taiwan’s ADIZ to signal dissatisfaction, and to keep Taipei’s aging fighter fleet regularly stressed. Monday’s incursion was the largest since Jan. 23, when 39 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s ADIZ. That month saw a record 196 incursions, mostly around China’s annual national day celebrations.

Race to save undersea Stone Age cave art masterpiecesAFP, MARSEILLETo reach the only place in the world where cave paintings of prehistoric marine life have been found, archaeologists have to dive to the bottom of the Mediterranean off southern France. Archaeologist Luc Vanrell’s life changed the second he surfaced inside the Cosquer cavern and saw its staggering images. Climate change and water and plastic pollution are threatening to wash away the art prehistoric men and women created over 15 millennia. An almost life-sized recreation of the Cosquer cavern will open this week a few kilometers away in Marseille. “And because the cave walls that are today underwater were probably also once decorated, nothing else in Europe compares to its size,” he added.

TAIEX rises more than 2% after strong US showingStaff writer, with CNAThe TAIEX yesterday moved sharply higher by more than 2 percent to close above 16,600 points, with investors encouraged by strong gains on US markets at the end of last week, dealers said. People sit in front of an electronic stock board at a securities brokerage in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei TimesTurnover totaled NT$256.035 billion (US$8.79 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$27.58 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The electronics sector rose 2.55 percent and the semiconductor sub-index soared 3.08 percent, while the financial sector rose 2.05 percent, the textile sector advanced 1.75 percent and the food sector moved up 1.36 percent. The NT dollar yesterday rose NT$0.206 to close at NT$29.144 against the US dollar in Taipei trading.

COVID-19: Border reopening hinges on healthcare capacityBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterWhether Taiwan has adequate medical capacity to handle an increase in COVID-19 cases remains key to deciding when to reopen the nation’s borders to tourists, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. However, Wang said that the world is moving toward reopening borders and returning to normal life. In other news, the Railway Bureau is considering changing the criteria for recruiting railway inspectors, Wang said. Although the Railway Bureau has set a goal of recruiting 42 railway inspectors, it has so far recruited only four. “We have requested the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration to raise the wages of railway inspectors, but the request was denied,” Wang said.

Shin Kong cash payout approved by shareholdersBRIGHTER FUTURE: Shin Kong Financial Holding Co said higher payouts would be possible after Shin Kong Life Insurance adopts new accounting rules in 2026By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterShin Kong Financial Holding Co’s (新光金控) shareholders on Friday approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.4 per share, but some shareholders suggested that the company offer a higher payout to boost its share price, which has been about NT$8 in recent trading sessions. Shin Kong Financial Holding Co executives attend the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei on Friday. Photo courtesy of Shin Kong Financial Holding CoShin Kong Life Insurance would also contribute more revenue after 2026, he added. The insurer has received interest income in US dollars three times and expects to receive another payment in US dollars next month, Shin Kong Financial said. The board of directors has agreed to conduct feasibility studies on potential mergers with other financial holding companies, Shiu said.

Her visit had already been criticized for failing to secure guarantees of unfettered access to Xinjiang. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a news conference at the US Department of State in Washington on Friday. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaks at an event at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 3 last year. Her comments were quickly criticized by human rights advocates on social media. “It is absolutely stunning,” Adrian Zenz, senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, told Bloomberg News of the remarks.

Gasoline, diesel prices dip despite climbing oil costsBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterGasoline and diesel prices are to drop by NT$0.1 per liter this week, despite climbing international crude oil prices, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Affected by factors such as Germany’s call for an EU embargo on Russian oil and the arrival of the peak holiday driving period in the northern hemisphere, international crude oil prices last week increased from the previous week, CPC said. Another factor weighing on the global oil market was a continued decrease in US crude oil and gasoline inventories last week, Formosa said in a separate statement. Based on CPC’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil last week rose 0.8 percent from a week earlier, and the refiner said that it should have raised gasoline prices this week by NT$5.3 per liter and diesel prices by NT$6.8 per liter. Formosa Petrochemical said that its prices for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline are to drop to NT$30.1, NT$31.6 and NT$33.6 per liter respectively, while the price of premium diesel is to drop to NT$27.7 per liter.

Military’s new rifle to complete testing in AugustStaff writer, with CNAA new assault rifle being developed by the military is expected to finish combat readiness testing in August, the last phase before entering mass production, the Ministry of National Defense said on May 24. The new assault rifle, called the XT112, is set to complete combat readiness testing this August, Sun told a news conference. Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang speaks at a news conference at the ministry in Taipei on Tuesday last week. Combat units are currently using T91 rifles produced by the 205th Armory of the Ministry of National Defense that have been in service for nearly 20 years. The rifles are based on the T86 assault rifle, incorporating features from M16 and AR-18 rifles, but with modern features.

Taiwan and Lithuania team up to help start-upsStaff writer, with CNATaiwan’s Startup Terrace on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with a start-up incubator in Lithuania to share resources and build closer links, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi, right, meets Lithuanian Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation Jovita Neliupsiene in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday. On Thursday the six start-ups attracted a lot of attention at the Startup Fair in Vilnius, the ministry said. In November last year, Taiwan opened a representative office in Lithuania to facilitate bilateral trade and economic exchanges. Taiwan’ typically names its overseas representative offices “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” or “Taipei Representative Office,” in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid provoking a response from Beijing.

UN envoy defends China trip; Berlin’s concerns affect VWAFP and REUTERS, BEIJING and BERLINUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet yesterday said her contentious visit to China was “not an investigation,” and insisted she had unsupervised access during meetings in Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses. A still image taken from a handout video made available by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shows UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaking to journalists during a virtual press conference in Guangzhou, China, yesterday. It is the first trip to China by the UN’s top rights envoy in 17 years and comes after painstaking negotiations over the conditions of her visit. The ministry said it had turned down four applications from a company over human rights concerns in Xinjiang, but declined to name the company. “The human rights situation in Xinjiang has become worse in recent years and involves forced labor and mass internment of Uighurs,” the ministry said.