Godon wins first stage in CataloniaAFP, PARISFrench Ligue 1 title contenders RC Lens on Monday objected to the potential rescheduling of their top-of-the-table clash with champions Paris-Saint Germain. That tie is to be played on April 8 and 14, immediately before and after the scheduled Lens game. France’s Dorian Godon smiles after winning the first stage of the Tour of Catalonia in Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, on Monday. “Racing Club de Lens remains committed to fairness, clear rules, and respect for all involved. These are simple principles for fair and well-respected French football.”France’s Dorian Godon, front, wins the first stage of the Tour of Catalonia in Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, on Monday.

Industrial production index rises 17.83%PROJECTION: Despite the Middle East conflicts, the manufacturing production gauge this quarter could rise to a record high for the period, an official saidBy Meryl Kao / Staff reporterThe industrial production index rose 17.83 percent year-on-year to 109.46 last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications that boosted information technology and electronics products’ output, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The manufacturing production index — which accounts for 93.72 percent of the overall industrial production index — rose 19.64 percent year-on-year to 111.55 last month, the 24th consecutive month of annual growth, ministry data showed. The figures exceeded the ministry’s forecasts of 102.26 for the industrial production index and 106.26 for the manufacturing production gauge. Industrial production in the first two months of this year grew 22.95 percent year-on-year to 116.68, the highest on record for the period, Chen said. During the first two months, production of electronic components, including integrated circuits, motherboards and memory products, rose 24.95 percent year-on-year due to strong AI demand, Chen said.

Musk unveils chip project in TexasAMAZING ABUNDANCE: Elon Musk has announced plans for a new facility in Texas which would manufacture chips for Tesla and SpaceX to use in robotics and AI Elon Musk said his Terafab project — a grand plan to eventually manufacture his own chips for robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and space data centers — would be built in Austin and jointly run by Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX). Musk, the chief executive officer of the two companies, said he would start off with an “advanced technology fab” in Austin that would have all of the equipment necessary to make chips of any kind. The project would call for one day supporting 1 terawatt (TW) of computing power per year, the amount Musk expects the companies to

Far EasTone expects double-digit revenue growthBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterFar EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said its information and communications technology (ICT) services revenue is expected to grow by a double-digit percentage this year on the back of demand for its smart city and smart medical services outgrowing most business segments. Far EasTone has clinched smart city projects to enable real-time traffic management in the nation’s metropolitan areas. Far EasTone Telecommunications Co president Chee Ching, third left, and other company executives pose for a photograph at a media gathering in Taipei yesterday. After merging with smaller peer Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) in 2023 and absorbing its losses, Far EasTone expects big growth this year, Ching said. Mobile services revenue still made up a bulky 45 percent of revenue last year, it added.

TSMC’s ADRs jump past Aramco to sixth globallyStaff writer, with CNAAmerican depositary receipts (ADRs) of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) rose sharply overnight to push up in market value to the sixth-largest in the world, according to data released by the Web site companiesmarketcap. The rebound pushed up the market value of TSMC’s ADRs to US$1.75 trillion, placing them sixth and up one notch from a session earlier. Saudi Arabian Oil Co fell from sixth to seventh after its ADRs fell 0.15 percent to push down its market capitalization to US$1.74 trillion on Monday. In the wake of its ADR’s strong showing, TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares yesterday opened up 2.23 percent to NT$1,850 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). The opening surge helped TSMC’s market cap recover to NT$47.97 trillion (US$1.5 trillion) in Taiwan before the stock pared early gains on profit-taking, closing unchanged at NT$1,810.

Taiwan faces rising prices as Iran war drives up costs: CRIFStaff writer, with CNATaiwan faces rising risks to consumer prices and energy supply as the US-Iran war enters its fourth week, with pressure building on supply chains and household costs, credit information agency CRIF Taiwan (中華徵信所) said yesterday. Continued conflict could affect energy supply stability, oil prices, consumer prices and exchange rate movements in Taiwan, CRIF said. The CPC Corp, Taiwan logo is pictured behind a sign displaying fuel prices at a gas station in Taipei on Friday last week. Photo: CNACRIF noted that companies face compounded pressure when oil prices rise and the New Taiwan dollar weakens because crude oil and natural gas imports are priced in US dollars. The agency said oil prices rising from US$80 to US$120 per barrel, combined with depreciation of the NT dollar from NT$31 to NT$32.5 per US dollar, would subject companies to simultaneous oil price and currency losses.

Yesiang expects revenue to rise amid strong demandBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterYesiang Enterprise Co (鈺祥), the nation’s biggest semiconductor chemical filters supplier, on Monday said it aims to grow revenue by at least a double-digit percentage this year after tapping into a new market segment by supplying recyclable chemical filters. As chip manufacturing becomes increasingly complex, AMC control becomes increasingly critical,” Yesiang chairman James Chuang (莊士杰) said. The company supplies AMC filters to more than 30 chip fabrication plants including 17 advanced fabs in Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Arizona. Recyclable AMC filters are expected to make up about 25 percent to 30 percent of the company’s revenue this year, Yesiang spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡呈佑) said. Yesiang reported that revenue last year dropped 13.5 percent to NT$1.66 billion (US$51.83 million) from NT$1.92 billion in 2024, citing delays in new product development.

PC prices in Taiwan expected to rise 25-30% in Q2: AsustekStaff writer, with CNAPC prices in Taiwan are expected to rise 25-30 percent sequentially in the second quarter due to a spike in the cost of components, especially memory chips, PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) said on Monday. Photo: CNACentral processing units supplied by Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc are also in short supply, driving prices even higher, he said. Chinese-language Economic Daily News recently reported that retail prices for PCs sold by leading brands, including Asustek, rose 10-15 percent in the first quarter. Liao said PC brands will have to take on the challenges posed by higher production costs, and noted that his company is planning to raise PC prices by no less than 25-30 percent in the second quarter. On the positive side, higher product prices in Taiwan have not yet hurt demand, as many consumers look to get ahead of potentially higher prices later in the year, Liao said.

Trade representative dies after chronic illnessStaff writer, with CNADeputy trade representative Yen Huai-shing (顏慧欣) died earlier this month at age 53, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) confirmed yesterday. Cho said he had received Yen’s resignation and after looking into it, learned that she had chronic health issues due to stress from her job. Deputy Trade Representative Yen Huai-shing walks past reporters at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Aug. 7 last year. According to the United Daily News (UDN), which broke the story, Yen was hospitalized with an unspecified illness at thebeginning of the year. In 2024, Yen was appointed deputy head of the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations, a position that put her — along with chief trade negotiator Yang Jen-ni (楊珍妮) and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) — at the center of trade negotiations with the US.

China could use new ethnic law as cudgel against TaiwanBy Chen Yu-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said a new Chinese law on ethnic unity could compel people to actively support unification with Taiwan or face legal consequences. The council said it expects China to intensify efforts to counter pro-Taiwan independence views, promote unification narratives and expand transnational repression targeting Taiwanese. China had committed 122 instances of cross-border repression involving Taiwan, affecting 103 people, companies or organizations as of March 13 the MAC said. The council reiterated that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other and that Beijing has no jurisdiction over Taiwan. It also warned that people in Taiwan who assist or cooperate with the CCP could face legal consequences.

Australia and EU secure sweeping new trade accordAFP, CANBERRAThe EU and Australia yesterday struck a long-awaited free-trade deal, while also agreeing to boost defense cooperation and access to crucial rare-earth minerals in the face of global uncertainty over trade. The accord is the latest agreed by Brussels in a push to diversify trade, as Europe faces challenges from the US and China. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen walk through the corridors of Parliament House in Canberra yesterday. Under the pact, the EU said it expected exports to Australia to grow by one-third over a decade. Australia said the deal could add A$7.8 billion (US$5.4 billion) to its GDP by 2030.

Taiwan should drop ‘TECO’ name: nonprofitBy Fang Wei-li and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerHello Taiwan, an international nonprofit organization, yesterday called for support for a proposal to rename Taiwan’s overseas offices as “Taiwan representative offices,” replacing the “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” format. He cited the proposed Taiwan Representative Office Act introduced by US Senator John Curtis and remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as evidence of political support in the US. Rubio, then a senator, last year sponsored legislation to rename the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) as the Taiwan Representative Office. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ use of the abbreviation “TECO” for overseas offices is easily misunderstood, he said. Citing passport redesigns, Chung said Taiwanese society has shown resilience in embracing the name “Taiwan,” and that overseas offices should follow suit.

Taiwan accounted for 2.4 percent of global exports last year, or about US$640 billion, ranking 12th worldwide, the data showed. The export shares of Hong Kong and Singapore increased by 0.3 and 0.1 percentage points respectively, the ministry’s data showed. By contrast, export shares for China, the US, Germany, Japan and South Korea declined by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points, the ministry data showed. Compared with a decade earlier, Taiwan and China recorded the most notable gains in global export share, rising 0.7 and 1.3 percentage points respectively, the ministry said. Over the same period, the shares of Germany and Japan fell by 1.6 and 1.2 percentage points respectively, while the US and South Korea posted declines of 0.7 and 0.4 percentage points respectively, it said.

Taoyuan airport also exceeded Tokyo and Hong Kong in the number of transit passengers to San Francisco, with about 760,000 headed to the northern California city in 2024. People line up at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport CorpThe institute has yet to release data for last year. The study also found that 74.7 percent of passengers on Taoyuan-San Francisco flights were transit passengers. “However, Taoyuan still lagged behind other competitors in terms of transit passengers to New York,” Yeh said, adding that Taiwan has room to improve in terms of transit passengers to the US east coast.

A Palestinian man climbs an Iranian missile remnant that landed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Hares yesterday. Photo: AFPTrump on Monday said that Washington had already had “very, very strong talks” with Tehran more than three weeks into the war, but Iran has publicly denied this. The three senior sources said Iran had only had preliminary discussions with Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt over whether the groundwork existed for talks with the US over ending the war. A European official on Monday said that, while there had been no direct negotiations between Iran and the US, Egypt, Pakistan and Gulf states were relaying messages. Inside Iran, domestic concerns are also constraining Tehran’s maneuvering room in negotiations, the senior Iranian sources said.