The data offered the first official snapshot of the manufacturing sector after China removed the world’s strictest COVID-19 restrictions last month. Weakening external demand on the back of growing global recession fears amid rising interest rates, inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could further slow China’s exports, hurting its massive manufacturing sector and hampering an economic recovery, they said. “So even though China is opening up, manufacturing is still going to slow down because the rest of the world’s economy is slowing down. GDP expanded 3 percent in the first nine months of last year, compared with China’s official full-year goal of around 5.5 percent. The official composite PMI, which combines manufacturing and services, declined to 42.6 from 47.1.

Lawsuit filed to revoke election resultsINVESTIGATION: Prosecutors in Nantou and Miaoli counties yesterday filed litigation to prevent elected officials who allegedly engaged in vote-buying from taking officeBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterFive Nantou County councilors and Miaoli County commissioner-elect Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) could be booted out of office in lawsuits filed by prosecutors, following probes into vote-buying allegations in the run-up to November’s local elections. Following an investigation into contraventions of election law during campaigning, prosecutors in Nantou County yesterday filed to nullify the votes involving 13 winning candidates, including five county councilors, seven township representatives and one village head. Chung’s major backers were led by then-incumbent KMT county commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), and most KMT county councilors. Miaoli prosecutors also listed independent county councilor-elect Huang Sheng-chuan (黃聲全) in litigation to revoke county councilor seats, as well as nine winning township representatives and three village wardens. In Taitung County, prosecutors found vote-buying evidence against six winning candidates, including five township representatives and one village warden, and filed litigation to invalidate the election outcome in those districts.

World to face more pain as economic issues lingerBy Ali Bekhtaoui and Mathilde Dumazet / AFP, ParisIt was supposed to be the comeback year for the world economy following the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since World War II we have never seen such a complicated situation.”After the COVID-19-induced economic crisis of 2020, consumer prices began to rise in 2021 as countries emerged from lockdowns and other restrictions. However, the IMF still expects the world economy to expand this year, with growth of 2.7 percent. Floods in Pakistan resulted in US$30 billion in damage and economic loss this year. However, the UN summit ended without new commitments to phase out the use of fossil fuels, despite the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming.

Billionaires see wealth shrink amid last year’s stock crunchAFP, WASHINGTONThe fortunes of Silicon Valley billionaires took a beating last year as share prices of the world’s tech giants plummeted. Photo: REUTERSMusk largely financed his buyout of Twitter by selling off shares in Tesla, putting the share price into an even steeper downward spiral. Photo: REUTERSThe share price in Meta Platforms Inc, Facebook’s parent company, fell off a cliff last year. However, his fortune remains heavily tied to the online retail giant’s share price, which fell by more than 49 percent last year. Alphabet’s share price has declined 39 percent since January last year, punished by declining online advertising revenues, and increased competition from Apple and Amazon.

Joe Biden signs bill that has provisions for loans to TaiwanStaff writer, with CNA, WASHINGTONUS President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a US government funding bill for next year that includes provisions to authorize US$2 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons from the US. Biden, who is on vacation, finalized the US$1.65 trillion Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act covering funding for fiscal 2023. US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday. In its provisions regarding Taiwan, the act allows up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan for military purposes under the “Foreign Military Financing Program.”Taiwan would be required to pay off such loans within 12 years. The NDAA was signed into law by Biden on Friday last week, but for its funding provisions to be carried out, they must still be approved in the general appropriations act.

KMT’s Lin Hsing-er faces election reversal in TaipeiBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterLin Hsing-er (林杏兒) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might be denied her post as a Taipei city councilor after the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday filed a civil case regarding the Nov. 26 election in Taipei’s first electoral district. Taipei City Councilor Lin Hsing-er speaks to reporters at the city council yesterday. Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei TimesThe prosecutors’ office is seeking to invalidate the votes for Lin. Lin is the KMT’s deputy spokeswoman. He is head of the KMT’s Changhua County Chapter and an executive member of the Taiwan Tourist Hotel Association.

TSMC to begin 3nm mass productionTAINAN FAB: The firm in an unusual move is to hold a ceremony to launch mass production, which analysts said seeks to affirm its continued presence in Taiwan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Saturday said that it would hold a ceremony on Thursday to mark the beginning of mass production using its 3-nanometer process. The company is to mark the placing of the final beam at its Fab 18 in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in Tainan. It would also detail its plans for expanding 3-nanometer production at the facility in the coming years, TSMC said. The fab currently mass produces chips using the 5-nanometer process. It is unusual for TSMC to hold a ceremony to mark the beginning of commercial production of a new technology.

Shin Ruenn Construction Co chairman Ben Huang poses for a photograph in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times“Shin Ruenn would stand by its construction schedule despite economic uncertainty and unfavorable legislation,” he said. The Taipei-based developer is due to recognize profit from joint ventures at two pre-sale projects, Good Life of Metro Heart I and II in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District (蘆竹), Shin Ruenn Development chairman Kuo Chang-geng (郭長庚) said. The projects near the Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line have sold out, and Shin Ruenn Development could divide a profit of NT$1.23 billion upon their completion next year, Kuo said. The developer has participated in the development of Fancy World in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and Sky Forest in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港).

Considering its effect on Taiwan, the TPP caucus yesterday held a news conference at the legislature to call for better financial literacy. Awareness of the risks of investing in the cryptocurrency market is insufficient among Taiwanese, TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said. Most Taiwanese affected by the FTX collapse were students and people with limited funds, TPP Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) said, citing a local self-help association. This year’s Taiwan Financial Lives Survey by the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance showed a decline in financial resilience and literacy among young people compared with two years ago, she added. TPP Legislator Chen Wan-hui (陳琬惠) accused the Ministry of Digital Affairs of “doing nothing” in response to the FTX collapse, despite regulation of the digital economy falling under its purview.

S Korea chip output falls most since financial crisisBloombergSouth Korea’s semiconductor production last month fell by the highest rate since the global financial crisis, weighing on the nation’s industrial output and pointing to a further cooling of overseas demand for tech components as the world economy slows. Chip production shrank for a fourth straight month, falling 15 percent from a year earlier in the largest drop since 2009, data released yesterday by Statistics Korea showed. South Korea’s growth is already under pressure from falling exports and rising interest rates at home, with the gloomy outlook overseas adding to concerns. The cloudy outlook gives the Bank of Korea more reasons to be cautious as it mulls the end of its tightening cycle. The double-digit increases in inventories since October underscores a global oversupply of memory chips, a sector in which South Korea leads production.

Low wages spur hospitality sector labor shortagesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterAn ongoing labor shortage in hotels and restaurants is due to low wages rather than imbalanced supply and demand, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday. A Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts employee is pictured in Taipei in an undated photograph. The ministry said it had launched rounds of matching campaigns, and concluded that wage expectation gaps account for the understaffing issues in the hospitality sector. The service sector comprises 60 percent of employment in Taiwan, and there are many potential workers available locally to work at hotels and restaurants, the ministry said. Hospitality operators should lower their qualification requirements or raise compensation to attract applicants to vacancies, it said.

Climate, nuclear crises spark fears of worstWith dangers rising from nuclear war and climate change, does humanity need to at least begin contemplating the worst? But with dangers rising from nuclear war and climate change, does the planet need to at least begin contemplating the worst? “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis” in 1962, Joe Biden said in October. While any Russian nuclear strike would likely involve small “tactical” weapons, experts fear a quick escalation if the US responds. Benedict also faulted the Biden administration’s nuclear posture review which reserved the right for the US to use nuclear weapons in “extreme circumstances.”“I think there’s been a kind of steady erosion of the ability to manage nuclear weapons,” she said.

Records that tumbled in 2022Heatwaves in Europe, global inflation and North Korea setting off a barrage of missiles all made this year one of extremesAFP, PARISFrom roasting temperatures to rocketing energy prices and millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine, 2022 was a year of extremes. Swift topped the list for the “worst private jet CO2 emission offenders” among celebrities for her extensive private jet use this year. Less glorious for Swift was her topping the list for the “worst private jet CO2 emission offenders” among celebrities for her extensive private jet use. In August when she was awarded the unenviable prize, she had already clocked up 170 flights in her private jet. EIGHT BILLION HUMANSIn November the world’s population — which numbered 2.5 billion in 1950 — exceeded eight billion, according to the UN.

Kwang Yang seals deal to electrify HCT’s scooter fleetBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterKwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業) has clinched a deal to help HCT Logistics Co (新竹物流) electrify its scooter fleet, the company said yesterday. The deal also offers tailor-made tariffs for HCT riders using electric batteries at Kwang Yang’s swapping stations. Photo: CNA“With more battery swapping stations deployed, we are seeing more opportunities coming in,” Kwang Yang chairman Allen Ko (柯勝峰) said yesterday. Kwang Yang said it is working with Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp (士林電機) to develop motors used in electric scooters. Kwang Yang said it aims to add 600 more battery swapping stations next year to expand the number to 2,600 nationwide.

Building boom is setting up India as global steel saviorBloombergWith China’s massive construction sector still in a funk and the US and Europe likely heading into recessions, India has emerged as a savior for flagging global steel demand. Poised to overtake China as the world’s most populous nation next year, India is in the midst of a building boom. Hazra, deputy secretary-general at the Indian Steel Association, which has requested authorities look into the matter. Despite the strong growth, India is still well behind China in terms of total steel consumption. Demand for next year would be less than one-seventh of China’s 914 million tonnes, World Steel Association data showed.