By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterExports last month rose for a second straight month, increasing 4 percent from a year earlier to US$29.5 billion, as electronics shipments rose ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, while declines in non-tech products tapered off, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Semiconductor shipments grew 14.2 percent to US$9.4 billion on the back of 5G deployments by Chinese technology brands, Tsai said. Meanwhile, a protracted retreat in non-tech product exports has subsided, although it is premature to speculate on a turnaround, she said. “Strong imports are encouraging, as they usually arise from needs for capacity expansion and technology upgrades,” Tsai said. For the fourth quarter, exports returned to the positive zone with a 1.9 percent increase year-on-year to US$87.06 billion, while imports grew 4.9 percent to US$76.34 billion, the ministry said.

By Lin Liang-sheng and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerPeople First Party (PFP) Chairman and presidential candidate James Soong’s (宋楚瑜) campaign schedule took him to central Taiwan yesterday. Soong said that if elected his administrative knowledge and Gou’s expertise in technology and innovation would become twin pillars on which Taiwan’s success would be built. SUPPORTIVE DAUGHTERMeanwhile, Soong’s daughter, Soong Cheng-mai (宋鎮邁), on Monday evening showed support for her father on Facebook. Citing her experience as a manager of a small company, Soong Cheng-mai said that during an election, Taiwanese should not have to sacrifice standards or innovation, or constrain themselves to party size or seniority. “Change begins with action,” she said, calling for people to support the PFP and her father’s presidential bid.

The CPI rose only 0.56 percent during the whole of last year, the smallest gain over the past four years, Chiou said. Last month, food costs — which make up 25 percent of the gauge’s total weighting — rose 2.97 percent, driven mainly by fruit and vegetable prices, the report said. Vegetable prices increased 21.97 percent and fruit prices rose 13.01 percent, more than erasing a 14.11 percent decline in egg prices, it said. Education and recreation costs increased 1.12 percent, while medical and healthcare costs rose 1.01 percent, amid rate adjustments by travel agencies and hospitals, the report said. Core CPI — a more reliable monitor of consumer price movements, as it excludes volatile items — added 0.57 percent, a sign that consumer prices are stable, it said.

When I agreed to be his running mate, Han promised to implement my policy plans. LT: How would you interact with the KMT if party reforms do not lead to satisfactory results? LT: You have previously recommended that the KMT abandon the “1992 consensus” and adopt “one China according to the Constitution, while prioritizing Taiwan” (憲法一中，台灣優先) as its new model for cross-strait interactions. So I suggested saying both the “1992 consensus” and “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what that means” in one sentence. Simply saying the “1992 consensus” without mentioning “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what that means” would be risky.

Taiwan has long been seen as important as a proxy for the battle for hegemony between China and the United States in the region. But Taiwan is significant for its own sake: as a thriving democracy, an indispensable link in global supply chains and the world’s 21st largest economy. [5] It has lured away seven of Taiwan’s diplomatic partners. For Xi’s China, annexing Taiwan is core to achieving national redemption and the ‘Chinese dream’ — Xi’s agenda for “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era”. Annexing Taiwan would give Beijing effective control over some of the world’s most cutting-edge technologies, contained inside private companies built over many years by Taiwan’s entrepreneurs.

By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) yesterday said that the performance of its rating pool last year remained largely resilient to external challenges, albeit with a mild increase in negative bias in the second half. Taiwan Ratings did not offer any upgrades for the corporate sector last year, but made three downgrades and six downward outlook revisions. The financial services sector displayed a generally positive rating performance last year, leading Taiwan Ratings to upgrade six financial institutions, while downgrading two. Most structured financial transactions under its surveillance also showed a stable rating performance last year, supported by their conservative deal structure and steady counterparty support, despite asset performance volatility, Taiwan Ratings said. In all, Taiwan Ratings undertook six upward rating actions and five downward actions on rated entities in the nation’s financial and corporate sectors last year, it said.

By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe nation’s foreign-exchange reserves hit a fresh high last month, the central bank reported yesterday. The reserves reached US$478.13 billion, an increase of US$4.08 billion from the previous month, due to the appreciation of the euro and other reserve currencies against the US dollar, as well as returns from the bank’s management of foreign-exchange reserves, the bank said in a statement. The reserves increased also because the bank intervened in the local foreign-exchange market to maintain market order, at a time when large and sudden capital inflows caused excessive volatility, it said. That represents an increase of US$31.1 billion from the end of November, when it accounted for 88 percent of the foreign-exchange reserves, bank data showed. The bank attributed the increase mainly to rising foreign fund inflows into local equities, the Central News Agency quoted Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Harry Yen (顏輝煌) as saying yesterday.

Australia’s Animal Rescue Craft Guild yesterday said that it has been deluged with offers of help after putting out a call for volunteers to make bat wraps, joey pouches, bird’s nests, possum boxes, koala mittens and other items for marsupials. Donations to the volunteer-run group have come in from as far afield as the US, the UK, Hong Kong, France and Germany. Many have crocheted, knitted and sewed a range of items, including koala mittens for burned paws and pouches for joeys who have lost their mothers. “I’m planning to make as many as possible and am asking fabric outlets for fabric donations to sew,” Mackay said. “I looked at the list of what is most needed versus my fairly basic sewing capability and decided I could contribute the bat wraps,” Watts said.

By Cheng Shiuh-tarng 鄭旭棠Starting this academic year, the Ministry of Education has implemented the 12-year compulsory curriculum — also called the “108 curriculum” — for first-year elementary, junior-high and senior-high school students. The new curriculum has been in the pipeline for five years and has a budget of NT$45 billion (US$1.49 billion). The heavy study load and intense pace of learning is vastly different from the vision set out by the ministry. With this fixation on the outcome of competitive national exams, how can teachers, students and parents be expected to devote time to the seemingly “useless” pursuit of proclivity and passion? The imposition of testing as a common pedagogical practice instills passivity among students (Why study when there are no exams to study for?)

Instead, a pair of big-screen epics took top honors Sunday, as Sam Mendes’ technically dazzling World War I tale 1917 won best picture, drama, and Quentin Tarantino’s radiant Los Angeles fable Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood won best film, comedy or musical. 1917 also won best director for Mendes. Gervais also argued that Netflix had taken over Hollywood, given the streaming service’s commanding 34 nominations, in film and TV, coming into the Globes. Mendes’ best director ‘prize bested the likes of Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho (Parasite). Gervais opened the 77th Golden Globes by declaring movies irrelevant, pretending to confuse Joe Pesci for Baby Yoda, calling the Hollywood Foreign Press Association racist and declaring Netflix’s takeover of Hollywood complete.

Reuters and AP, BEIJINGChina yesterday said it hoped to expand newly restored ties with the Pacific state of Kiribati, site of a strategic, but mothballed Chinese space tracking station, in comments that might further stoke US anxiety about Beijing’s growing influence. Speaking to reporters after the Xi-Maamau meeting, the diplomat, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs Director Lu Kang (陸慷), did not respond directly to a question about whether Beijing planned to reopen the space tracking station. China’s space program is overseen by the military, which has so far declined to comment on the Kiribati facility. Kiribati had established diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2003, prompting a break with Beijing. Up until then, China had operated a space tracking station in Kiribati, which played a role in tracking China’s first crewed space flight and is in a part of the world where the US tests missiles and other military hardware.

AP, TOKYOJapanese Minister of Justice Masako Mori yesterday vowed to strengthen border departure checks and review bail conditions after Nissan’s former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, fled the country. Mori told reporters at a news conference the ministry has already acted to prevent a recurrence, but declined to give details. Ghosn skipped bail while awaiting trial on various financial misconduct allegations and later said from Lebanon that he did it to escape injustice. “Japan’s justice system allows investigating the facts while it ensures the individual basic human rights at the same time,” Mori told reporters at the ministry. Japan does not have an extradition treaty with Lebanon, but Mori left open the possibility Japan could seek Ghosn’s return.

Reuters, DUBAIIran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday led vast crowds in prayers in Tehran at the funeral of slain military commander Qassem Soleimani, publicly weeping for the general killed by a US drone strike. Khamenei’s voice cracked with emotion as he said prayers, forcing him to pause, state television showed. Soleimani’s successor, General Esmail Ghaani, stood near Khamenei’s side, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top leaders in the Islamic Republic. The vast procession, which television footage showed blocking off entire streets of the capital, began at Tehran University and moved towards Azadi Square (Freedom Square). Ghaani made his own threat in an interview with Iranian state television aired yesterday.

BloombergMore groups said they submitted bids for digital banking licenses in Singapore as companies, ranging from a property giant to Chinese financial technology (fintech) firms, joined forces to go for the sought-after permits. The groups join companies such as Razer Inc and Grab Holdings Inc in the race for such licenses in the city-state. Beyond Consortium also includes the Singapore Business Federation; Temasek unit Heliconia Capital Management Pte; MSIG Insurance (Singapore) Pte, a subsidiary of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co; and property giant Far East Organization Pte. Hande is a Chinese fintech company founded by Cao Tong (曹彤), the former president of Webank (微眾銀行), China’s first digital bank that is also backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊). Grab, one of Southeast Asia’s largest operators of online businesses from finance to ride-hailing, is partnering with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to apply for a full digital banking license.

Reuters, WASHINGTONBoeing Co and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Sunday confirmed that they are reviewing a wiring issue that could potentially cause a short circuit on the grounded 737 MAX jet. Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the US plane maker “identified this issue as part of that rigorous process, and we are working with the FAA to perform the appropriate analysis. The wiring issue could push back the return of the MAX, the officials added. The FAA flagged the wiring issue as potentially “catastrophic.”It is possible other protections like shielding, insulation and circuit breakers could prevent a short circuit, a company official said. Boeing would halt production of the 737 MAX this month following the grounding in March last year of its best-selling airplane after two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people.