HK’s Lam praises ‘patriots only’ vote despite low turnout
HK’s Lam praises ‘patriots only’ vote despite low turnoutAFP, HONG KONGHong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday hailed the outcome of a “patriots only” legislative election that saw a record-low voter turnout and government loyalists sweep every seat. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks at a news conference at government headquarters in Hong Kong yesterday. “Hong Kong is now back on the right track of one country, two systems,” she told reporters. Hong Kong has never been a full democracy under either Britain or China, the source of years of protests. Analysts said the new system could leave Hong Kong’s rulers even more out of touch with its residents.
Source:Taipei Times
December 20, 2021 20:29 UTC
Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin secures title in Portugal
Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin secures title in PortugalStaff writer, with CNATaiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin on Sunday won the men’s singles title at the Maia 2-ATP Challenge in Portugal, defeating Nuno Borges of the host country. The victory made Tseng the latest Taiwanese player to win an ATP Challenger men’s singles title after Jimmy Wang, Lu Yen-hsun and Jason Jung. Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin competes in a Chinese Taipei Tennis Association (CTTA) tournament on June 6 last year. Tseng Chun-hsin has won four Junior Grand Slam titles. As a result, Tseng Chun-hsin is dubbed the “Night Market Champion” in Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
December 20, 2021 20:29 UTC
Notes from Central Taiwan: As allies fall, Taiwan rises
Notes from Central Taiwan: As allies fall, Taiwan risesTaiwan’s rising standing in the world has rendered losses of ‘ diplomatic allies’ mootBy Michael Turton / Contributing reporterIn 2013 Gambia, then ruled by dictator Yahya Jammeh, broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In 2019, when Taiwan lost two “diplomatic allies” in a week, the KMT demanded that Tsai sack Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). Why isn’t poaching Taiwan’s allies more of a priority? Two years ago Timothy Rich, associate professor of political science at Western Kentucky University, surveyed Taiwanese on their diplomatic relations. His research found that if asked whether diplomatic relations with the “allies” were important, 58.7 percent answered in the affirmative.
Source:Taipei Times
December 19, 2021 23:29 UTC
Lithuanian firms to start PChome initiative
Lithuanian firms to start PChome initiativeStaff writer, with CNA, LondonMarketing agency Enterprise Lithuania is seeking to help companies from the Baltic country sell their products in Taiwan through Taipei-based e-commerce platform PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), the agency said in a statement on Tuesday. “Lithuania’s exports to Taiwan have been small so far, and several Lithuanian products for general consumption are gaining ground in this market, especially Lithuanian food and beverage brands,” she said. Uzdavinyte also expressed hope that the initiative would help expand the range of Lithuanian products available in Taiwan. “We believe that Lithuanian food and beverage products, cosmetics, clothing and textiles should be in demand in Taiwan,” Uzdavinyte said. Taiwanese are interested in trying new products, Uzdavinyte said, adding that the nation’s interest in Western culture would benefit Lithuanian exporters.
Source:Taipei Times
December 19, 2021 23:27 UTC
PRC’s ally poaching helps Taiwan
PRC’s ally poaching helps TaiwanBy Fan Shih-ping 范世平The Straits Forum, the largest non-political platform between Taiwan and China, took place in China’s Fujian Province on Sunday last week. Days before the forum, on Thursday last week, Nicaragua announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. More importantly, Nicaragua cut diplomatic ties while Washington was hosting the two-day Summit for Democracy, to which Taiwan was invited, but China was not. Why is Nicaragua so important to China that it established diplomatic ties with Managua on the same day as the breakup with Taiwan? Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), who formerly headed China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), must have been aware that the establishment of ties with Nicaragua would anger Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
December 18, 2021 22:04 UTC
Metals key for EVs likely pricier for longer
Metals key for EVs likely pricier for longerBloombergMetals vital for making rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) are set to extend their stunning rally into next year, potentially increasing costs for automakers and blunting a key weapon in the race to slow climate change. LITHIUM RECORDAn index of lithium prices has more than tripled this year to a record. “It’s hard to see any material changes in global market tightness in the short term,” the company said in a written response to Bloomberg News. As miners scurry to expand capacity, long-term electric vehicle demand bodes well for the material that is used in virtually all electric vehicle batteries. In China, the world’s biggest electric vehicle market, battery manufacturers have already started to feel the pinch from the escalating cost of raw materials.
Source:Taipei Times
December 18, 2021 19:00 UTC
Estonia’s wood pellet industry stokes controversy
Estonia’s wood pellet industry stokes controversyProducers of wood pellets say they only use wood that has been rejected by sawmills or plywood factories, but environmentalists say that biomass demand is causing logging to intensify, threatening some bird speciesBy Polina Kalantar / AFP, IMAVERE, EstoniaEstonia’s thriving wood pellet industry is pitting environmentalists who say it increases logging and harms biodiversity against supporters who say it makes good use of wood that would otherwise go to waste. However, at a plant belonging to Europe’s biggest wood pellet producer, Estonia’s AS Graanul Invest, Mihkel Jugaste, the company’s head of quality and certification systems, defended the industry. Environmentalists say that the wood pellet industry has caused an increase in forest logging, but supporters of the sector say it is making efficient use of low-quality wood. Wood pellets are a type of biofuel that can be used in special pellet stoves or central heating furnaces for homes. Ehrpais, who is also the head of Vardi Metsauhistu, a forest management organization, said it was “an unbelievable myth” that the wood pellet industry was leading to an increase in logging.
Source:Taipei Times
December 18, 2021 17:13 UTC
Kwang Yang plans Ionex spinoff
“Kwang Yang has no plan to go public, but the company is likely to spin off its electric scooter division for an IPO,” Kwang Yang chairman Allen Ko (柯勝峰) said during an interview with a small group of reporters in Taipei. Kwang Yang Motor Co employees work on KYMCO scooters at the company’s factory in Kaohsiung in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Kwang Yang MotorTOP MAKERFounded in 1963, the company has a long history in making gas-fueled scooters. Kwang Yang has built a strong presence in the nation’s scooter market, holding on to the No. Kwang Yang expects its partnership with Harley-Davidson to bear fruit in the next two to three years, Ko said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 18, 2021 02:43 UTC
Government study to map mosquito-borne virus risk
The study would help authorities develop a comprehensive policy response as mosquito-borne diseases are becoming more prevalent with climate change, officials from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taipei City Government and National Mosquito-Borne Disease and Research Center told a news conference in Taipei. Officials from the Environmental Protection Administration, Taipei City Government and the National Mosquito-Borne Disease and Research Center attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The models show that the risk of dengue fever transmission in northern Taiwan would increase significantly by 2050, he said. The government study would divide Taiwan in 10km2 research areas, and in its first phase focus on Taipei and high-altitude areas, Huang said. The next phase would add New Taipei City and Taichung, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 17, 2021 22:10 UTC
Su’s tablet initiative needs support
Following a local COVID-19 outbreak in May, schools nationwide adopted the approach of “suspending classes without suspending learning,” offering synchronous or asynchronous online instruction. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” theory, after a person’s material needs are fulfilled, spiritual needs can be pursued, and the theory is applicable to online instruction, too. Without additional staff for backup support, a slew of problems could affect online teaching, and more seriously, online teaching could threaten the effectiveness of offline teaching. While providing the hardware to students, they should also improve the quality of online instruction. Otherwise, despite the good intentions of the free tablet policy, no one would benefit from it, and this is not something that the public would want to happen.
Source:Taipei Times
December 17, 2021 16:53 UTC
Chinese envoy calls on Japan to support Beijing Olympics
Chinese envoy calls on Japan to support Beijing OlympicsReuters, TOKYOChinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou (孔鉉佑) yesterday said that the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics had been unfortunately “used as a political tool,” and asked for Japan’s support, while also warning Tokyo not to interfere on Taiwan. Kong’s speech came as members of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games in February. The US and other nations have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics due to human rights abuses in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang region, but Japan has yet to make a decision. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during an extraordinary session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Dec. 6. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month said that Japan and the US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan, and Beijing needed to understand that.
Source:Taipei Times
December 17, 2021 00:58 UTC
US$313 million from Chinese developer disappears
US$313 million from Chinese developer disappearsBloombergChina Fortune Land Development Co (華夏幸福) said it has been unable to get hold of a money manager that it gave US$313 million for investment, casting a shadow over the profit outlook of the debt-laden developer. The Beijing-based developer has reported the matter to the local police, it said, adding that it remains unclear how it would affect current and future earnings. As instructed by Wingskengo, Fortune Land transferred US$313 million to China Create Capital for wealth management, the filing said. Fortune Land said it has booked the sum as part of its non-current financial assets, and the fair value has yet to be adjusted. Shanghai-listed shares of Fortune Land were down slightly morning yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2021 17:32 UTC
MediaTek seeks to outpace sector
MediaTek seeks to outpace sectorBy Lisa Wang / Staff ReporterMediaTek Inc (聯發科) expects revenue to grow as much as 19 percent annually over the next five years, outpacing the semiconductor industry’s overall expansion, the company said yesterday. MediaTek Inc vice chairman and chief executive officer Rick Tsai, left, and president Joe Chen gesture at a media event in Taipei yesterday. However, the company still faces challenges, as the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the semiconductor supply chain and caused chip supply bottlenecks, it said. MediaTek said it has been in advanced discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), and its chip packaging and testing partners over chip supply for next three to four years. Smartphones powered by MediaTek’s first flagship 5G chip, the Dimensity 9000, would hit the stores in the second quarter of next year, the company said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2021 16:35 UTC
EDITORIAL: The irony of the KMT’s objections
EDITORIAL: The irony of the KMT’s objectionsThe politics surrounding the government’s and the opposition’s referendum campaigns is throwing up supreme ironies that deserve comment, while also highlighting concerning — but entirely unsurprising — similarities between the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) tactics and the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the article, Ma compared the Tsai administration to the Ming Dynasty secret police agency, the Eastern Bureau (東廠). The irony of Ma’s evocation of the Eastern Bureau will not be lost on anyone aware of the conduct of the KMT’s one-party state prior to Taiwan’s democratization. Chu is either incapable of thinking long term or he has convinced himself that his party is doomed to perpetual opposition. The fact that the CCP and the KMT seem to be so close on this messaging is a cause for concern.
Source:Taipei Times
December 16, 2021 16:35 UTC
New Zealand to resume mango imports from Taiwan
New Zealand to resume mango imports from TaiwanBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNew Zealand has agreed to resume the importation of mangoes from Taiwan following negotiations between the two nations, the Council of Agriculture said on Tuesday. New Zealand suspended imports of lychees and mangoes from Taiwan as per a bilateral agreement, after oriental fruit flies were found in lychees in June. As lychees and mangoes are prone to the flies, imports of both fruits were temporarily banned, the council said. Chen said that New Zealand has agreed to resume mango imports from Taiwan, which were suspended in June. Wellington has also approved imports of canned meat produced in Taiwan after five years of negotiations, the council said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 15, 2021 23:38 UTC