TIER raises 2024 GDP forecast to 3.85%GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphonesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent. Photo: CNATaiwan is home to major suppliers of high-end chips, servers, storage, memory and other devices used in AI tools and solutions. Imports, a critical gauge of capital equipment and input material purchases to meet export needs, might rise by 7.29 percent, up from 6.64 percent, the TIER said. The sense of wealth inflation would likely have evaporated this month as a result of rapid and deep share price corrections.

What China expects from Kamala Harris presidencyBloombergChina officially avoided commenting on US Vice President Kamala Harris’ late entry into the US presidential race. “And at the level of whether it’s Biden or Trump or Harris, it’s really just a matter of style,” Mahoney said. Harris has only met Xi on the sidelines of a summit in Thailand and has not visited Beijing in her current role. “Harris does not have a track record on China, and it is not an area she is particularly comfortable,” added the former Pentagon official. Harris also visited Palawan, the Philippines, an island close to an area that is in heavy dispute between China and neighboring countries.

The institute forecast GDP growth of 4.5 percent for last month and said it expects that momentum to continue for the rest of this year. People walk toward electricity meters on a wall in Taipei on April 30. In contrast, the service sector consumes 18 to 19 percent of the power supply, while average households use about 18 percent, the researcher said. TSMC’s electricity use grew 5.8 percent from a year earlier and firms in its supply chain, such as providers of silicon wafers and printed circuit boards, also used more power, the TRI said. Electricity consumption by makers of chemical and steel products rose 5.4 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, as improved inventory demand pushed up production and selling prices, it said.

Kakao founder arrested in stock manipulation caseReuters, SEOULSouth Korean authorities yesterday arrested Kim Beom-su, the billionaire founder of tech giant Kakao Corp, on suspicion of manipulating stocks during the acquisition of a K-pop agency last year. Kim, also known as Brian Kim, is seen as a visionary in South Korea’s digital industry for building the Kakao group from the ground up. Kakao Corp founder Kim Beom-su, center, leaves after a warrant hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court on Monday. In a statement, Kakao called the situation “unfortunate,” adding that Kakao CEO Shina Chung, would lead efforts to minimize the effects of any potential management vacuum. The high-profile tech entrepreneur is the largest shareholder of Kakao, with a 24 percent stake that he and affiliated entities control.

Typhoon Gaemi shuts Taiwan’s financial marketsBloombergTaipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. A woman looks at an electronic stock board at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei on July 18. Over the past few days, Gaemi traveled past the Philippines, which placed northern parts of its main Luzon island on alert.

Certainly, the administration of US President Joe Biden seems to have changed the US’ longtime strategy of ambiguity to a policy of defending Taiwan. These only demand peaceful unification of China and Taiwan, but no commitment to defend Taiwan. The consensus is that, as seen with the tactics Ukraine used to push back against Russia, Taiwan primarily needs asymmetric warfare capabilities with numerous small, dispersed, mobile, lethal and inexpensive weapons. The politically correct speech was effective in enhancing a sense of solidarity between Taiwan and liberal democracies, involving their strong moral support for Taiwan. The new normal can be expected to gradually but significantly exhaust Taiwan’s military preparedness.

Manila, Beijing at odds over sea dealSECOND THOMAS SHOAL: The Philippines objected to China’s claim that it has agreed to provide prior notice and allow full monitoring of its resupply missionsBloombergThe Philippines and China are already at odds over the details of a “provisional arrangement” that is to govern resupply missions to Manila’s military outpost in the South China Sea, just hours after announcing the agreement. Chinese coastguard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. Vessels from the two countries have engaged in testy confrontations when the Philippines send supply missions to the Sierra Madre. Beijing stressed that it has sovereignty over the shoal, and reiterated that the Philippines should remove the Sierra Madre. Manila, for its part, said it would continue to assert its rights and jurisdiction in its maritime zones, including the Second Thomas Shoal.

Public-sector workers to get 3% pay raise next yearStaff writer, with CNAThe Executive Yuan has agreed to raise the salaries of civil servants, military personnel and public school teachers by 3 percent next year, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Pingtung County that he hoped the government’s wage hike would prompt the private sector to also raise salaries and bolster the nation’s competitiveness. Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei TimesGiven that the local economy is in recovery, the Cabinet believes that civil servants, military personnel and public school teachers should also benefit, he said. The Executive Yuan increased salaries for civil servants, military personnel and public school teachers by 4 percent this year. Many employees have urged their employers to raise wages as their income has been eroded by inflation.

As the planet’s mass becomes more oblate, or flatter, it spins more slowly and thus an Earth day gets longer. No one expected to ever need a negative leap second, so it has never been tested. While some experts believe a negative leap second is inevitable, we will eventually abandon leap seconds entirely. In 2022, the General Conference on Weights and Measures voted to end the leap second from 2035 for 100 years. Perhaps this should hasten the leap second’s demise.

Researchers test Tsua-Ing rocket engine for first timeBy Esme Yeh / Staff writer, with CNAA National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) research team at 6:06am yesterday launched a rocket from a site in Syuhai Village (旭海) in Pingtung County. It was the first test of a Tsua-Ing hybrid rocket engine, and the sixth sounding rocket to take off from the launch site established by the National Science and Technology Council. The rocket was jointly built by the university’s ASARe Lab, the Advanced Rocket Research Center (ARRC) and the MEMS Servo Control System Laboratory (MSCL). The ASARe Lab integrated the rocket’s systems and designed the launch pad, while the ARRC provided the Tsua-Ing hybrid rocket engine and the MSCL provided the avionics system, Tan Zu said yesterday. Meanwhile, a National Science and Technology Council official said that TASA has initiated its Launch Vehicle Program, which aims to ensure that Taiwan is self-reliant in satellite launch technology.

New residents are people, just like ordinary Taiwanese, especially those who come from Southeast Asian countries. If enacted, the “new residents’ protection law” drafted by the Ministry of the Interior would just be a bonus measure, just like mother-tongue education. The vulnerable need protection, but we do not really need it. Taiwanese entrepreneurs’ lack of knowledge about Southeast Asian countries makes them depend on guidance from those Chinese entrepreneurs. Given this situation, dealing with the lack of a Southeast Asian talent pool would be much more beneficial to new residents than the planned “new residents’ protection law.”Nguyen Thi Thanh Ngan is the founder of Study Vietnamese Every Day.

EDITORIAL: KMT, TPP are instigating crisisThe first session of the 11th Legislative Yuan’s four-year term ended on Tuesday, and 55 bills were passed in the session, which is the fewest bills passed in one session in 12 years. In the last two days of the session, lawmakers rushed to pass a slew of resolutions and bills, mainly proposed by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators, who have a combined majority in the legislature. It was arrogant how they drafted the amendments covertly, and some party legislators, who were forced to vote uniformly with the caucuses’ decisions, looked clueless. TPP Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) last month said she had to suppress the urge to vote against a KMT-proposed bill and follow her caucus. The two parties’ attitude is the source of the constitutional crisis they claim to be trying to prevent.

First Taiwanese swims across English ChannelBy Esme Yeh / Staff writer, with CNAHsu Wen-erh (許汶而) on Friday became the first Taiwanese to swim solo across the English Channel, saying she was very happy to bring Taiwan to the world. She said she had planned to swim the English Channel in August next year, but seized the opportunity when a vacancy became available on the waiting list. Taiwanese swimmer Hsu Wen-erh holds a Taiwan national flag on a ship yesterday after finishing her swim across the English Channel. Hsu said she left the UK at 8:30am, swimming without a wetsuit, with the aim of reaching France before dark. I swam with my eyes closed almost all the way through the last two hours,” Hsu said.

Some questions for the ‘naive’ MaBy Jerome KeatingIn a recent interview with the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called President William Lai (賴清德) “naive.”As always with Ma, one must first deconstruct what he is saying to fully understand the parallel universe he insists on defending. The quickest way is to confront Ma with a series of pointed questions that force him to take clear stands on the complex issues involved and prevent him from his usual ramblings. This leads to a final set of questions that interviewers could direct at Ma: “Do you feel that the CCP would change and become democratic? Would it be on the side of democracy or not?”Those are some questions that international journalists could ask Ma in any interview. Such questions would surely lay bare whether it is Lai or Ma who is naive.

Transgender man officially changes genderStaff writer, with CNAA transgender man, identified as Nemo (尼莫), changed the gender designation on his identification card in Taipei on Friday, becoming the first transgender man in the nation to do so without undergoing gender-affirming surgery. Photo: CNA“Seeing this [updated gender marker on Nemo’s ID card] gave me goose bumps,” said Mimi, Nemo’s wife. They were accompanied to the household registration office in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) by Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR) secretary-general Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔). “With [Nemo’s] new ID card, every day is a gift, and every day is a new start,” Chien said. The court revoked the decision by the household registration office to deny Nemo’s application to change the gender on his ID card from female to male.