The borders are closed to keep the pandemic at bay, a policy that is supplemented with a 14-day quarantine for arrivals, Chen said. Waiting for the light to change near a zebra art installation, cyclists wear face masks to protect against the coronavirus in Taipei on Tuesday. Separately yesterday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) reported 12 new imported COVID-19 cases and one death, with no new domestic cases for the ninth consecutive day. All but 13 of them have been recorded since the beginning of a surge in cases after May 15. The student was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammatory disease of the heart, after being admitted to a hospital, Taoyuan health officials said.

France offers to help repair military equipment: officialNO ‘PRESSURE’: Alain Richard said he does not fear retaliation over their visit to Taiwan, adding that the trip does not contradict French policyBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterFrance has offered Taiwan military equipment maintenance services, but it cannot reveal details, French Senator Alain Richard said in Taipei yesterday. French Senator Alain Richard, head of the Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group and former defense minister, addresses a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Asked if he fears retaliation from Beijing for visiting Taiwan, Richard said the trip does not contradict French diplomatic policy or relations with China. The delegation was invited to the opening of the Shawan History and Culture Park (沙灣歷史文化園區) in Keelung today. The park contains some heritage from the Sino-French War in 1884, during which Keelung was a battlefield, the Keelung City Government said.

Disney+ to launch in NovemberCNA, with staff writerWalt Disney Co has said that Disney+ subscribers in Taiwan are to have access to the service’s 1,200 movies and 16,000 episodes of television programs when it launches on Nov. 12. Disney+ hopes to attract customers with ad-free content from its namesake studio, as well as company-owned entities Pixar, Marvel, National Geographic and Star, in addition to the Star Wars franchise. At the briefing yesterday, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said the new shows and movies available on Disney+ would be updated on a weekly basis. Video streaming services have been tipped to become another battleground between rival telecoms giants Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信). Taiwan Mobile is reportedly about to sign a deal with Disney+ to offer discounted fees and other bundled promotions to its users.

Moderna vaccine shipment due to arrive early todayStaff writer, with CNAA shipment of 1.13 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is due to arrive in Taiwan early today, while the next round of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to be administered under a national program has been expanded to include people aged 45 or older. The doses would be reserved primarily as second shots for people who received their first jab of the Moderna vaccine on or before July 16, the CECC said. A batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines is unloaded at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei TimesTaiwan also took delivery of a seventh shipment of 889,200 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine early yesterday morning, Chen told the CECC’s daily news briefing. With yesterday’s shipment, Taiwan has now received about 5.09 million of the 15 million doses, the CECC said.

The logo of Nanya Technology Corp, Taiwan’s largest DRAM chipmaker, is pictured on May 7 last year. Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times“This is not the winter for DRAM [companies],” Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a virtual media briefing. For Nanya Technology, revenue this quarter might slowly return to the level between the third quarter and second quarter, Lee said. Nanya Technology saw net profit soar last quarter to NT$7.53 billion, compared with NT$1.61 billion in the third quarter last year. Commenting on the US’ latest efforts to boost chip supply chain transparency, Nanya Technology said it would not release customers’ confidential information.

Chip and ship shortages top threats to Tesla growthBloombergA double whammy of a global shortage of chips and ships is the only thing standing in the way of Tesla Inc maintaining sales growth in excess of 50 percent, according to CEO Elon Musk. “We’ve had a fantastic year, we had record vehicle deliveries,” Musk told Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. The chip shortage does not appear to be slowing Tesla just yet. Musk said the “significant cost pressure” in the supply chain had forced Tesla to increase vehicle prices, at least temporarily. “We should be through our severe supply chain shortages in [2023],” he said.

Carbon tax signals higher power costsRIGHT DIRECTION: Analysts said that Indonesia is making the right move, as one of the world’s top carbon polluters strives for zero emissions by 2060Reuters, Singapore and JakartaIndonesia is set to become Asia’s fourth country to introduce a carbon tax, but analysts expect opposition from industries that have warned of implementation problems and higher power costs that could undermine manufacturing competitiveness. The carbon tax will be introduced at a minimum rate of 30 rupiah (US$0.0021) per kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent, less than half of the originally proposed rate of 75 rupiah. The carbon tax has been generally welcomed, although some industry analysts have questioned the logic of the government taxing carbon emitted by utilities while subsidizing the electricity they produce. Coal producers and electricity providers say that higher electricity prices would likely be passed on to consumers as higher prices for goods. “Imposing a carbon tax on coal-fired power plants will affect electricity prices and the competitiveness of Indonesia’s manufacturing,” Sinadia said.

Samsung profit climbs on chips, pricey phonesBloombergSamsung Electronics Co’s operating profit rose more than 25 percent thanks to rising prices for semiconductors and surprisingly strong demand for its pricey foldable smartphones. The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones has benefited from strong demand as the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: APIn the mobile business, Samsung is ramping up production to meet strong demand for its foldable phones. “DRAM operating profit could climb due to sequential bit growth of 3-5 percent and also price rises in 3Q. NAND may also drive strong profit growth in 3Q due to a 10-15 percent sequential rise in bit shipments with a price increase of 5-9 percent.

US forces training Taiwanese: officialRAMPING UP SUPPORT? The Pentagon official said that the drills have been going on for less than a year, after similar reports were denied in November last yearAFP, WASHINGTONUS special operations forces have been quietly training Taiwanese soldiers for months, risking the ire of China, a US Department of Defense official said on Thursday. In this file photo taken on January 17, 2017 Taiwan special forces personnel walk behind an armoured personnel carrier during an annual military drill in Taichung. US special operations forces and marines have been secretly training Taiwanese troops for at least a year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. In November last year, local media reported that US troops had arrived in the nation to train Taiwanese marines and special forces in small-boat and amphibious operations.

Insurer Chubb to acquire Cigna in Asia, TurkeyReuters, SingaporeUS insurer Chubb Ltd has agreed to buy health insurer Cigna Corp’s life, accident and supplemental benefits businesses in Asia-Pacific and Turkey for US$5.75 billion in cash, both insurers said, marking the latest consolidation in Asia’s insurance sector. “The addition of Cigna’s business, which is overwhelmingly accident and health, will rebalance our global portfolio towards this important region,” Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg said. In August, HSBC Holdings agreed to acquire French insurer Axa’s Singapore assets for US$575 million. Last year, Singapore Life, an upstart insurer backed by investors including buyout group TPG, acquired the Singapore business of British insurer Aviva for nearly US$2 billion as it expands in Southeast Asia. Cigna said Chubb is acquiring Cigna’s business in South Korea and would to continue to operate it under the LINA Korea brand.

DPP Legislator Fan urges transparency at delivery appsCALL FOR REGULATION: Secretive algorithms determining payments deprive drivers of their right to negotiate their wages, Fan Yun saidBy Wu Su-wei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, staff writerFood delivery platforms should not use secretive algorithms to set drivers’ wages, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) and labor rights advocates said yesterday. Foodpanda’s drivers formerly receive NT$60 per delivery, but the firm has changed its policy and cut their nominal pay to about NT$35 to NT$40 per delivery, he said. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun, center, attends a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Although the platform claims that the algorithm rewards drivers who make more successful deliveries, drivers cannot view their ratings, he said. The platform can alter its algorithm without giving notice, depriving drivers of their right to negotiate wages, Fan said.

The actions come on top of strikes earlier this summer by 600 workers at a Frito-Lay plant in Topeka, Kansas, and 1,000 workers at five Nabisco Inc plants across the US. Workers from a Kellogg cereal plant picket outside a company plant in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday. Kellogg workers are also striking in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Non-union fast food workers have walked off the job in dozens of US cities seeking a US$15 minimum wage. Some workers said they have endured 12-hour shifts seven days per week throughout the pandemic, with only a few minutes’ notice about mandatory overtime.

Macronix posts record high monthly revenueBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterMacronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest supplier of NOR flash memory chips, yesterday reported that revenue last month expanded 13.3 percent to a record high of NT$5.68 billion (US$203.2 million), up from NT$5.01 billion in August. The company has posted monthly revenue highs since April amid robust customer demand for its chips used in servers, automotive parts, medical equipment and industrial products, as well as 5G-related applications. Robust demand for memory chips also boosted sales at Phison Electronics Corp (群聯電子), a supplier of NAND flash memory controllers and modules. Phison reported NT$16.93 billion in revenue for last quarter, a record high for the company. The company said it is bullish about market demand and revenue growth this quarter, thanks to growing uptake of 5G devices.

On a chaotic day that saw European benchmark gas surge 40 percent within a few minutes, Putin eased prices by offering to help stabilize the situation. Russia could potentially export record volumes of the vital fuel to the continent this year, he said. Quick certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline would be one way to achieve this, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said. Shipping greater volumes of gas through Ukraine is “economically unprofitable for Gazprom, because it is more expensive,” Putin said. National Grid yesterday also published a gas outlook in which it said that it expects to have enough gas to meet demand this winter.

GM introducing hands-free autoAFP, New YorkGeneral Motors Co (GM) on Wednesday unveiled plans to double revenues by 2030 as it ramps up electric vehicle production, and in 2023 launch an automobile that can be operated hands-free in most situations. Building on a series of earlier electric vehicle investment announcements, the big US automaker said it was on track to rapidly scale up its electric vehicle (EV) business, which is to include a vehicle priced at US$30,000, cheaper than offerings from Tesla Inc and other rivals. General Motors CEO Mary Barra attends a media event at the GM Orion Assembly Plant in Lake Orion, Michigan, on March 22, 2019. Photo: Reuters“The vehicle has become a software platform,” GM CEO Mary Barra said at a briefing with reporters ahead of a two-day investor presentation. “There are so many growth opportunities we have.”GM announced that its “Ultra Cruise” program, set to launch in 2023 on a premium vehicle, would enable hands-free operation in 95 percent of driving scenarios.