New Zealand lifts interest rates
New Zealand lifts interest ratesCITING INFLATION: The move followed South Korea, while the US Federal Reserve maintained its monetary policy amid market expectations of a change by year-endAFP, WELLINGTONNew Zealand yesterday became one of the first developed economies to raise interest rates since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the central bank bids to rein in rising inflation. The US Federal Reserve has so far maintained its monetary policy stimulus, although markets expect a change before the end of the year. The RBNZ cited a recovering global economy and increased international mobility caused by rising COVID-19 vaccination rates in making its decision. The bank said New Zealand’s inflation rate was set to rise above 4 percent in the medium term, exceeding its 1 to 3 percent target range. The virus has since been contained to Auckland and the bank signaled “further removal of monetary policy stimulus is expected over time.”Kiwibank Ltd chief economist Jarrod Kerr said New Zealand monetary policy had entered its first tightening cycle in seven years.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Group calls for stricter cross-strait travel curbs
The light sentences relative to their crimes exposes a need for not only judicial reform, but also changes to the law restricting travel by sensitive personnel, Hsu said. The latest proposed amendment seeks to expand the list to include those involved in key technologies, but Chiou said it would not be enough. For a start, he suggested expanding its scope to include personnel working at research institutes in “national key areas,” as well as those who play critical roles in the nation’s infrastructure. As nearly all previous cases involved contact with a Chinese agent in other countries, “only restricting travel to China is not enough,” he added. Such personnel should be required to file detailed reports of their interactions with sensitive contacts from China, Hong Kong or Macau, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Fire in bottles
COVID-19: CECC to offer BioNTech in next vaccination roundSYSTEM BUG: Forty-two THSRC workers allegedly used a loophole in a hospital’s vaccination booking system to get their second COVID-19 shot early, media reported The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is to be offered in the 10th round of vaccinations, which start on Wednesday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 10 imported cases and no local infections or deaths. The center last week said that second doses of the AstraZeneca and Medigen vaccines would be offered in the 10th round of vaccinations, but on Friday evening announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would also be offered as a first dose. People aged 64 or older (born on or before Dec. 31, 1957); people aged 18 to 63 who are also listed in the ninthBy Lee I-chia
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
KMT accuses government of not protecting TSMC
KMT accuses government of not protecting TSMCBy Lin Liang-sheng and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of caving in to the US’ demand that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) hand over confidential information. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Alex Fei, left, and KMT Legislator Lin Wei-chou hold a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, accusing the government of not supporting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co against US pressure. The Tsai administration and Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) are willing to sacrifice TSMC’s interests to comply with the US’ wishes, the KMT caucus told a news conference in Taipei. The government should get tough with the US, as Washington’s actions contravene Article 2 of the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法), KMT Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) said. Taipei should follow Seoul’s example and not leave TSMC to fight Washington alone, Lin said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Machine tool makers eye CPTPP boost
Machine tool makers eye CPTPP boostSEEKING CHANCE: The sector’s strong recovery from a COVID-19 slump came despite Asian competitors having the advantage of tariff-free trade, a trade group head saidBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiwan’s machine tool exports are expected to get a “transformational boost” should Taiwan join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Taiwan Machine Tool and Accessory Builders’ Association said yesterday. Speaking at the release of the association’s first white paper, Goodway Machine Corp (程泰機械) chairman Edward Yang (楊德華), the association’s founding chairman, said that Taiwan’s machine tool industry is experiencing a year of robust orders, but it also faces headwinds. Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin, left, and Taiwan Machine Tool and Accessory Builders’ Association chairman Habor Hsu hold up a copy of the 2021 Machine Tool Industry White Paper at the document’s release event in Taipei yesterday. “The CPTPP is our chance to turn it around.”Association chairman Habor Hsu (許文憲) said that despite negative factors, this year has been a return to form for the local machine tool industry. “The machine tool industry is the mother industry that all other industries, including semiconductors, green energy and consumer electronics, rely on,” Hsu said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
‘To soon’ to predict reshoring wave from China: Wang
‘To soon’ to predict reshoring wave from China: WangBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterIt is “still too soon to tell” whether power shortages in China would lead to a wave of reshoring by Taiwanese manufacturers, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday. “All this just happened and manufacturers are dealing with it by switching production to existing manufacturing facilities outside of China,” Wang said. About 70 percent of Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas and 75 percent of its coal come from long-term supply agreements, she said. “You can describe the responses to Taiwan’s application as encouraging,” Deng told political commentator Frances Huang (黃光芹) in an interview. “A lot of countries were taken by surprise by China’s bid,” Deng said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 15:56 UTC
Regulators mull safeguards for stablecoin payments
Regulators mull safeguards for stablecoin paymentsReuters, LONDONStablecoins would have to comply with the same safeguards as their more traditional competitors in payments, regulators said yesterday, as authorities get to grips with a rapidly evolving sector. Facebook Inc’s move in 2019 to introduce its own stablecoin — diem, then known as libra — raised concerns among governments and central banks that a major payments competitor could emerge overnight with little regulation. Since then, diem has radically scaled back its ambitions and plans to launch a US dollar stablecoin. Tether, the largest stablecoin, has a market capitalization of about US$68 billion versus just US$15 billion a year ago. The value of circulating USD coin, another major stablecoin, has also jumped dramatically to more than US$30 billion from just US$2.7 billion a year ago, CoinMarketCap data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
October 06, 2021 06:56 UTC
Nearly 99% of long-haul aircrews fully vaccinated
Nearly 99% of long-haul aircrews fully vaccinatedALMOST THERE: The CECC said that long-haul aircrews with two jabs and antibodies need to quarantine for five days and follow health management guidelines for nineBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNearly 99 percent of aircrew members working on long-haul international flights at Taiwan’s two largest airlines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. Flight attendants walk through Kinmen County’s Yangzhai Old Street to support the local tourism industry on March 4. The agency helped the two airlines get their cabin crew members vaccinated as Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) instructed last week, Wu added. Long-haul crew members who are fully vaccinated and test positive for antibodies must quarantine for five days and follow stricter health management guidelines for another nine days upon completing their flight duties, the center said. Those who have yet to be vaccinated or have only received one dose must quarantine for seven days and follow stricter health-management guidelines for seven days, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
COVID-19 antibody tests to assess prevalence: CECC
COVID-19 antibody tests to assess prevalence: CECCBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said it plans to conduct antibody tests using blood donated from April to July to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 in the nation, with donors having the choice to opt out before Oct. 18. To prevent the spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the CECC on Aug. 23 introduced five enhanced COVID-19 monitoring measures, including a large-scale antibody study to understand the prevalence of COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence achieved by vaccination or natural infection, and their geographical distribution and trends in Taiwan. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, speaks about the center’s mask policy on Saturday. The CECC yesterday also reported no new local COVID-19 infections or deaths, but seven imported cases from Malaysia, Vietnam and the US. Chen also reported that 208,307 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Monday, bringing the nation’s first-dose vaccination coverage to 57.67 percent, or 71.72 doses administered per 100 people.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Chiang hands over reins to Chu
Chiang hands over reins to ChuBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterFormer Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday handed over the party’s reins to new KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who said the KMT would be a “united,” “connected” and “combative” party under his leadership. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Johnny Chiang leaves KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “The premier established the Chinese Nationalist Party and led us in establishing the Republic of China,” Chu said, referring to Sun Yat-sen (孫中山). “Every member of the KMT must always remember that we are all followers of the premier,” Chu said. On cross-strait relations, Chu said that the KMT would restart a platform for cross-strait exchanges in accordance with the party’s charter and policy platform.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Media groups call for laws to ensure that big Internet firms spread wealth
Media groups call for laws to ensure that big Internet firms spread wealthBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterFour large media associations in Taiwan yesterday urged the government to create laws that would require Google and other large international platform operators to negotiate a reasonable split of their advertising revenue with local content providers. “The government should stipulate laws to ensure that [media providers] secure their share of advertising revenue, rather than setting up a fund to address the issue. There should be a reasonable mechanism governing the division of advertising revenue between media and platform operators, he added. It would be almost impossible for Taiwanese media to reach agreements with large platform operators,” he said. His association has on multiple occasions urged the government to create laws to ensure that local content providers receive their fair share of advertising revenue, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Firm blamed for Yushan debacle
Firm blamed for Yushan debacleBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it would hold a film production company accountable for using footage of a Swiss mountain instead of Yushan (玉山) in a promotional video marking Double Ten National Day. The ministry last month uploaded the video, titled 2021: Taiwan Bringing People Together (2021，台灣有你), on YouTube. It opened with aerial footage of a mountain labeled “Mt Jade Main Peak.”However, the footage instead showed Schafler peak in Switzerland, the ministry said in an apology on Sunday. Yushan is pictured in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs video marking Double Ten National Day. The video was removed temporarily on Saturday after the production company mistakenly used footage of the Swiss Alps instead of Yushan.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Semiconductors tipped to soar this year
The Taipei-based researcher attributed the strong outlook for the local semiconductor industry to demand for chips used in notebook computers amid a COVID-19 pandemic-induced stay-at-home economy, as well as emerging applications from 5G and artificial intelligence to automotive electronics. A 300mm silicon wafer is displayed at a GlobalFoundries Inc plant in Dresden, Germany, on Aug. 12. The production value in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry this year is expected to soar 31.8 percent from last year to NT$3.6 trillion (US$129 billion), the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute said yesterday. “Semiconductor shortages have become a new global norm,” said Cheng Kai-an (鄭凱安), a senior industry analyst at the institute. Over the next three years, the compound annual growth rate of production value in Taiwan’s foundry sector is expected to be 10.5 percent, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Jury orders Tesla to pay over racism complaint
Jury orders Tesla to pay over racism complaintReutersA US federal jury on Monday ordered Tesla Inc to pay more than US$130 million in damages to a former worker, finding that he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Tesla logo is pictured outside a dealership in New York City on April 26. Photo: ReutersIt also said that the three times Diaz complained about harassment, Tesla stepped in and made sure action was taken by staffing agencies. The jury awarded Diaz US$6.9 million in compensatory damages and US$130 million in punitive damages, the Wall Street Journal reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to a query asking if it would be appealing the verdict.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC
Lawmakers propose bill to tackle declining birthrate
Lawmakers propose bill to tackle declining birthrateBy Chien Hui-ju and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerLegislators yesterday proposed enacting a basic law to address the nation’s dwindling birthrate. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), who proposed the bill, along with sponsors and fellow DPP legislators Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) and Loh Meei-ling (羅美玲), announced the bill at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chiu Chih-wei, left, and Loh Meei-ling attend a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday. The Japanese law has helped boost that nation’s birthrate, but a lack of coordination in Taiwan has stymied the efforts of individual agencies, Loh said. The bill would also provide a legal basis for agencies to budget for related policy.
Source:Taipei Times
October 05, 2021 15:56 UTC