Chinese envoy calls on Japan to support Beijing OlympicsReuters, TOKYOChinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou (孔鉉佑) yesterday said that the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics had been unfortunately “used as a political tool,” and asked for Japan’s support, while also warning Tokyo not to interfere on Taiwan. Kong’s speech came as members of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games in February. The US and other nations have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics due to human rights abuses in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang region, but Japan has yet to make a decision. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during an extraordinary session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Dec. 6. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month said that Japan and the US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan, and Beijing needed to understand that.

US$313 million from Chinese developer disappearsBloombergChina Fortune Land Development Co (華夏幸福) said it has been unable to get hold of a money manager that it gave US$313 million for investment, casting a shadow over the profit outlook of the debt-laden developer. The Beijing-based developer has reported the matter to the local police, it said, adding that it remains unclear how it would affect current and future earnings. As instructed by Wingskengo, Fortune Land transferred US$313 million to China Create Capital for wealth management, the filing said. Fortune Land said it has booked the sum as part of its non-current financial assets, and the fair value has yet to be adjusted. Shanghai-listed shares of Fortune Land were down slightly morning yesterday.

MediaTek seeks to outpace sectorBy Lisa Wang / Staff ReporterMediaTek Inc (聯發科) expects revenue to grow as much as 19 percent annually over the next five years, outpacing the semiconductor industry’s overall expansion, the company said yesterday. MediaTek Inc vice chairman and chief executive officer Rick Tsai, left, and president Joe Chen gesture at a media event in Taipei yesterday. However, the company still faces challenges, as the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the semiconductor supply chain and caused chip supply bottlenecks, it said. MediaTek said it has been in advanced discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), and its chip packaging and testing partners over chip supply for next three to four years. Smartphones powered by MediaTek’s first flagship 5G chip, the Dimensity 9000, would hit the stores in the second quarter of next year, the company said.

EDITORIAL: The irony of the KMT’s objectionsThe politics surrounding the government’s and the opposition’s referendum campaigns is throwing up supreme ironies that deserve comment, while also highlighting concerning — but entirely unsurprising — similarities between the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) tactics and the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the article, Ma compared the Tsai administration to the Ming Dynasty secret police agency, the Eastern Bureau (東廠). The irony of Ma’s evocation of the Eastern Bureau will not be lost on anyone aware of the conduct of the KMT’s one-party state prior to Taiwan’s democratization. Chu is either incapable of thinking long term or he has convinced himself that his party is doomed to perpetual opposition. The fact that the CCP and the KMT seem to be so close on this messaging is a cause for concern.

New Zealand to resume mango imports from TaiwanBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNew Zealand has agreed to resume the importation of mangoes from Taiwan following negotiations between the two nations, the Council of Agriculture said on Tuesday. New Zealand suspended imports of lychees and mangoes from Taiwan as per a bilateral agreement, after oriental fruit flies were found in lychees in June. As lychees and mangoes are prone to the flies, imports of both fruits were temporarily banned, the council said. Chen said that New Zealand has agreed to resume mango imports from Taiwan, which were suspended in June. Wellington has also approved imports of canned meat produced in Taiwan after five years of negotiations, the council said.

Alinghi ropes in F1’s Red Bull for America’s CupReutersRed Bull has teamed up with Swiss sailing syndicate Alinghi to challenge for the America’s Cup, marking the second such Formula One deal after Ineos Britannia joined forces with Mercedes. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said that Red Bull Advanced Technologies would share experiences and engineering tips with Alinghi Red Bull Racing in a “two-way cooperation” plan. For Alinghi’s Brad Butterworth, a four-time winner of the America’s Cup, the Red Bull partnership marks a new chapter. “The America’s Cup is a technology race which is won on the water with race strategy and tactics. Red Bull has demonstrated that time and time again in F1 and in many of the other sports it competes in,” Butterworth said.

The State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, aims to sell a 6 percent stake in SBI Funds Management Pvt, while Amundi intends to sell 4 percent, the firms said in separate filings yesterday. The State Bank of India owns 63 percent of SBI Funds, and Amundi holds the rest. “The IPO would be achieved on the Indian stock market in 2022,” Amundi said in its filing. The State Bank of India and SBI Funds did not respond to e-mails seeking comment. The mutual fund’s IPO process was delayed by a COVID-19 wave that struck India in March.

People around the world should eventually become used to living with the virus — resuming normal business operations and private consumption — as the virus mutates. Taiwan Research Institute president Wu Tsai-yi, center, speaks at a seminar in Taipei yesterday. The trend should energize private consumption, which was a drag on GDP growth in the second and third quarters, Liu said. The two drivers have compensated for lackluster private consumption this year and should help push economic expansion above 4 percent next year, Wu added. Private consumption this year is likely to only edge upward 0.06 percent, but might accelerate its GDP contribution next year with a 5.3 percent gain, Wu said.

Invasion difficult to achieve: report‘NATURAL MOAT’: China’s logistics face challenges, as any landing forces would need to be resupplied with weapons, food and medicine across the StraitBy Ben Blanchard / Reuters, TAIPEIA full Chinese invasion of Taiwan with troops landed and ports and airports seized would be very difficult to achieve due to problems China would have in landing and supplying troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in its latest threat assessment. “However, the nation’s military strongly defends ports and airports, and they will not be easy to occupy in a short time. Landing operations will face extremely high risks,” the ministry said in its report, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters. Tanks fire shells during the 37th annual Han Kuang military exercises in Penghu County on Sept. 15. “It is difficult to concentrate all its efforts on fighting with Taiwan.”Experts say that China has other means at its disposal to bring Taiwan to its knees short of a full invasion, including a blockade or targeted missile attacks.

‘Taiwan Bravo’ shows experiences of new immigrants in TaiwanStaff writerTaiwan Bravo (我們一家人), produced by the National Immigration Agency and SetTV (三立電視台), records the experiences of new immigrants in 368 towns and villages across Taiwan, including in Penghu and Lienchiang counties. It is no wonder, then, that many Hong Kongers choose Taiwan as a new home. The stories of these new immigrants in Taiwan Bravo, which is sponsored by the New Immigrants Development Fund, relate their experiences living in Taiwan and show how different cultures can unite. Taiwan Bravo is broadcast on Sundays at 2pm on SetTV, channel 54. Taiwan Bravo online:Line: https://lin.ee/UvcPzddFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SETwearefamilyWeb site: http://setwearefamily.setn.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/331eyXb

Tatung chairman, president quitSUBSTANTIAL ASSETS: After 20 years with no dividend payments, Wang Kuang-hsiang said ‘Tatung shareholders are like paupers sitting in a house made of gold’By Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTatung Co (大同) chairman Lu Ming-kuang (盧明光) and president Chaney Ho (何春盛) yesterday announced their resignations, adding further uncertainty at the troubled conglomerate which has undergone several changes to its management team since last year. Tatung Co chairman Lu Ming-kuang, left, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, as director Wang Kuang-hsiang looks on. Photo: CNALu came out of retirement to take over as chairman in December last year after his predecessor, Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵), stepped down from the position after 50 days in office amid a disagreement with major shareholder Shanyuan Group (三圓建設) chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang (王光祥). There are rumors that Wang is likely to take over as Tatung chairman when the company holds a board meeting on Tuesday next week. “Chairman Lu was hardworking and conscientious, but it’s been 20 years since Tatung paid a dividend, we will not let our investors wait another five.”Chung Yi-wen (鍾依文), who made way for Ho in June, is expected to return as president.

Myanmar’s garment workers grow desperateAs unions demand more sanctions, low-paid factory laborers fear for their jobsBy Matt Blomberg / Thomson Reuters Foundation, YangonAt a garment factory on the outskirts of Myanmar’s biggest city, Zin Mar Htun has been working through the night — doing unpaid overtime in a desperate attempt to keep her job. Myanmar workers, mostly from garment and shoe factories, take part in a May Day march in 2018 in Yangon, Myanmar. Workers in the Great Forever factory stitch clothes in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone outside Yangon, Myanmar in 2015. Since the coup, union leaders from the sector have used established networks to mobilise workers in strikes and protests. “We are doing what we believe.”’RACE TO THE BOTTOM’But critics say deeper economic sanctions could do irreversible damage to the sector and put workers at further risk.

Turkish lira plummets on expectations of a rate cutReuters, ISTANBULThe Turkish lira yesterday crashed as much as 7 percent in just a few minutes to a new record near 15 to the US dollar, gripped by worries over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s risky new economic policy and prospects of another interest rate cut on Thursday. The central bank had previously kept the lira below the 14.0 level, intervening in the foreign exchange market three times in the past two weeks by selling US dollars. The lira slid as far as 14.99 against the US currency, losing 7.3 percent of its value since Friday’s close of 13.889. Turkey’s central bank is expected to cut its policy rate by 100 basis points to 14 percent this week, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, despite inflation soaring to 21.3 percent last month. Investors and savers are concerned about recent aggressive monetary easing under which the central bank has slashed its policy rate by 400 basis points since September last year.

Catcher would sell Topo Technology (Suzhou) Co (蘇州可勝科技) and Meeca Technology (Suzhou Industrial Park) Co (蘇州工業園區可利科技) for a total of 1.27 billion yuan (US$199.38 million), a regulatory filing showed. The entrance to the Catcher Technology Co building in Tainan’s Yongkang District is pictured in an undated photograph. Catcher shares closed at NT$156 in Taipei on Friday, down 0.64 percent from the previous session. On Thursday, the company started to buy back its own shares on the open market to bolster its share price. Catcher would continue the program past that date if the share price falls below the lower limit, it added.

MAC pans calls for unification at Xiamen eventBy Chung Li-hua and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerTaiwan would never accept Beijing’s “deceptive and insolent” approach to cross-strait relations, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Saturday in response to accusations at China’s 13th Straits Forum that Taipei is endangering peace in the Taiwan Strait. The name and logo of the Mainland Affairs Council are pictured at its headquarters in Taipei in an undated photograph. China — not Taiwan — is the one posing a threat to peace in the Taiwan Strait, the MAC said, citing Beijing’s attempts at political coercion and “united front” sabotage. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has adopted an erroneous and inflexible strategy toward cross-strait relations and has “trapped itself in a vicious cycle of contradictions,” it said. The council also urged Taiwanese to see that the CCP is two-faced and work together to protect the nation’s best interests.