p.8 EDITORIAL: Cross-party cooperation confusionIn the Taipei mayoral debate on Saturday last week, former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) posed a question to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) regarding an “interesting” proposal put forward by Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康). The KMT supporter had proposed that the KMT form an alliance with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), to unite in countering the DPP. Taiwan has seen its fair share of political party alliances. If the KMT and TPP wish to team up, perhaps they could take a page out of the DPP’s book. The DPP was completely united in its support for Ko as Taipei mayor in 2014.

“Hon Hai enjoys a competitive edge in industries with large-scale volume. Supply chain management and large-scale labor manufacturing are Hon Hai’s strengths.”People walk past the logo of Foxconn outside Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s Taipei office on Wednesday. With the factory’s operation recovering gradually, Hon Hai has proved to its key customer that it has strong risk management ability, he said. The company attributed the growth to robust demand for consumer electronics, primarily high-end smartphones, and cloud-based servers and data centers. With greater exposure to high-end consumer electronics and smartphones, Hon Hai would be less affected by rising inflation, he said.

Separate probes launched into the TPP’s Ann KaoBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterJudicial agencies yesterday said they are investigating Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) over allegations of pocketing her assistants’ wages, accepting illegal political donations and other corrupt practices. Kao is running for Hsinchu City mayor in the Nov. 26 local elections. Taiwan People’s Party Hsinchu mayoral candidate Ann Kao speaks at the legislature on Tuesday. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office separately said it has launched its own investigation after receiving complaints relating to the case. Kao and Lee allegedly used public funds for private use, Mirror Media reported, citing whistle-blowers.

South American presidents launch appeal for AmazonAFP, SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EgyptThe presidents of Colombia and Venezuela on Tuesday launched a call at the COP27 climate summit for a wide-ranging alliance to protect the Amazon, the planet’s biggest tropical forest. “We are determined to revitalize the Amazon rainforest ... to offer humanity a significant victory in the battle against climate change,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said at the UN summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Lula faces an immense challenge in putting a brake on Amazon deforestation. He urged solidarity from international organizations, at a time when the COP has put the issue of compensation for climate change effects on its agenda. “One of the subjects which could bring consensus between us, Africa and part of Asia is [a mechanism for] forgiveness of [national] debt as a means of financing action” against climate change, Petro said.

Council hails successful test flight of NCKU rocketStaff writer, with CNAResearchers at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) yesterday conducted a successful test flight in Pingtung County of a two-stage rocket using a hybrid propulsion system. The launch tested the rocket’s hybrid propulsion system, which uses a mix of liquid and solid-state propellants, the council said. A two-stage hybrid rocket is launched from a test site in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township yesterday. It is hoped that the Tainan-based university’s hybrid rocket can be modified to carry payloads for scientific research in the near future, the NSPO said. The sounding rocket launch yesterday was also used to test the basic functions of the ComSAD for future missions, the council said.

EDITORIAL: Scholz’s trip only raises doubtsGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accompanied by 12 top executives, on Friday visited China, hoping to deepen economic ties to reinvigorate the German economy, which is on the brink of a recession. Last month, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen warned of China’s “weaponization of trade” as a tool of geopolitical coercion. Taiwan has long been a target of China’s economic coercion, with politically motivated bans imposed on all types of Taiwanese products. Right before Scholz’s trip, Germany approved Chinese shipper Cosco’s purchase of a stake in Tollerort terminals in Hamburg. The German chancellor’s China trip has raised more doubts, and that could be a lesson for the world.

The Hurun Rich List, which ranks China’s wealthiest people with a minimum net worth of 5 billion yuan (US$689.3 million), said only 1,305 people made the mark this year, down 11 percent from last year. “This year has seen the biggest fall in the Hurun China Rich List of the last 24 years,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of research firm Hurun Report, which compiles the list and is named after Hoogewerf’s Chinese name, Hu Run (胡潤). The founder of TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動), Zhang Yiming (張一鳴), took second place, but saw his wealth fall 28 percent to US$35 billion due to a drop in ByteDance’s valuation. In third place was Zeng Yuqun (曾毓群), chairman of battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (寧德時代新能源). Tencent founder Pony Ma (馬化騰) posted the second largest drop in wealth of US$14.6 billion amid sliding tech stock prices, to take fifth place on the list.

Fewer furloughed as restrictions easeStaff writer, with CNAThe number of workers on official furlough programs fell by more than 1,400 during the past week as the tourism sector received a boost from eased border controls, the Ministry of Labor said. Ministry-compiled data showed that the number of workers placed on furlough programs was 15,782 as of Monday, down 1,433 from 17,215 as of Oct. 31. With eased COVID-19 restrictions boosting domestic consumption, the number of workers placed on unpaid leave programs in retail and wholesale businesses fell to 1,315 from 1,556, the data showed. Most of the enterprises implementing furlough programs are small firms that employ fewer than 50 people. Unpaid leave programs typically last for less than three months, with employees taking five to eight days of unpaid leave per month, the ministry said.

Electric vehicle sales in Taiwan to rise 31% this year: ITRIBy Lisa Wang / Staff reporterSales of fully electric vehicles (EVs) in Taiwan are to experience rapid growth over the next three years, expecting to account for about 30 percent of new vehicle sales as early as next year, jumping from 15.2 percent last year, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工業技術研究院) said yesterday. Sales of new EVs in Taiwan this year are to surge 31 percent year-on-year to 89,000 units, comprising about 20.3 percent of total sales of 438,000 new vehicles, the ITRI said. New EV sales are to comprise 24 percent of total new vehicle sales next year and reach about 29.6 percent in 2024 after seeing a 22.52 percent year-on-year growth to 136,000 units, the ITRI said. Overall new vehicle sales are to grow 2 percent to 458,000 units in 2024, it added. With EV sales growing rapidly, Taiwan should build a resilient power grid given that the vehicles are likely to create a massive demand for electricity, ITRI president Edwin Liu (劉文雄) said.

While both the Fed and the Bank of England raised interest rates by 75 basis points, their respective leaders struck different tones about what lies ahead. “These economies will suffer recession long before the Fed has caused a US economic downturn,” he said. Bloomberg Economics predicts that the global central bank rate could reach 5.5 percent in the middle of next year, up from 2.9 percent at the end of last year. In advanced economies alone, a jump to 3.5 percent from 0.1 percent is expected. The Fed benchmark in a year’s time is expected to be 2.5 percentage points above the average across other major advanced economies, the widest gap since at least 2004.

Largan reports 23-month sales high on phone ordersStaff writer, with CNALargan Precision Co (大立光), a supplier of smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, on Saturday reported that its sales for last month are its highest in 23 months after new phone launches increased orders. The company posted NT$5.21 billion (US$161.88 million) in consolidated sales, up 24 percent from a year earlier and also up 2 percent from a month earlier, it said in a statement. Last month’s sales were the company’s highest since November 2020, when its revenue was NT$5.24 billion, company data showed. Lenses with a resolution of 20 megapixels or more — a higher-margin product and one of Largan’s specialties — accounted for 10 to 20 percent of Largan’s sales last month, the company said. Sales for this month are expected to remain little changed from last month as clients continue to launch new smartphones, Largan said.

Net outflows reverse after short-selling restrictionsStaff writer, with CNAForeign institutional investors registered net fund inflows last month, reversing four consecutive months of net fund outflows, after the Financial Supervisory Commission introduced restrictions on short selling on the stock market at the beginning of the month. Data compiled by the commission showed foreign institutional investors recorded US$456 million in net fund inflows last month after US$577 million in net fund outflows in September. In a rush to park funds in US dollar denominated assets, foreign institutional investors recorded US$22.02 billion in net fund outflows in the first 10 months of this year. From January to last month, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.19 trillion (US$36.97 billion) on the local equity market, the commission said. The National Stabilization Fund’s governing committee on July 12 authorized a NT$500 billion fund to shore up share prices.

Copper soars most since 2009, supply still tightBloombergCopper jumped the most since January 2009 as optimism about a relaxation in China’s COVID-19 policies and a steep decline in the US dollar set off a scorching run-up across industrial metals markets already facing tight supply. Copper closed 7.1 percent higher on the London Metal Exchange, while zinc rose 5.7 percent and aluminum rallied 4 percent. Copper rose as high as US$8,121 a ton (US$8251 a tonne), before closing at US$8,099 a ton, in the biggest daily gain since January 2009. Supply worries are also rising to the fore in the zinc market. Despite the zinc market’s tight dynamics, prices had tumbled during a broad retreat in metals markets as worries about demand mounted in the past few months.

How mixing farms with forests can help the UK reach net zeroBy Rachel Parsons / Thomson Reuters Foundation, PETERBOROUGH, EnglandStephen Briggs popped open his pocket knife, carved a wedge from a small pink and green apple and took a bite. Yet agriculture experts say it is poised to make a comeback as part of the government’s tree-planting campaign to help meet its climate target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “Nature doesn’t do monoculture,” said Briggs, an early adopter of the practice who is advising the government on agroforestry standards. The UK committed more than ￡500 million (US$569 million) to planting 30,000 hectares of trees per year between 2020 and 2025. However, even proponents of agroforestry say making the practice more widespread would not be easy — not least because there is a lack of available trees to plant.

The Taiwan Anti-Corruption and Whistleblower Protection Association on Wednesday released its findings on the criminal records of city or county councilor candidates in this month’s local elections. Association chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), a former lawmaker, reported that among the 1,677 councilor candidates, 195 — 11.6 percent — have been prosecuted or have criminal records. Twelve cities and counties have more than 10 percent of councilor candidates with criminal records, and only Penghu County has none. The report examined whether local councilor candidates have been criminally prosecuted, have a criminal conviction record or have been blacklisted by the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Chihping anti-gangster program. Care should be taken to examine candidates’ records.