There is no shame in being Chinese
There is no shame in being ChineseCompanies like Shein that are shifting headquarters and erasing connections to China are making a mistake. Being seen as a Chinese company limits demand for the initial public offering, especially from US-based pension and endowment funds, or global investors wary of Washington’s economic sanctions. Shein and Chinese rival Temu are now attracting more repeat shoppers than eBay Inc, largely because their products are cheap. From electric vehicles to smart home appliances and cross-border e-commerce, Chinese companies are gaining market share because of their access to the vast industrial catalogue and efficient supply chains at home. There is no shame in being Chinese.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2024 16:23 UTC
Books galore
TSMC plant halted over possible archeological findLIMITING THE IMPACT: Due to the discovery at the site of the firm’s first advanced packaging plant in Chiayi, plans are being made to begin work on its second plant Construction of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) packaging plant in Chiayi County has been halted following the discovery of suspected archeological ruins, local authorities said on Monday. The discovery was made at the end of last month, during construction of the first of two planned packaging plants using sophisticated chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) technology at the Chiayi Science Park (嘉義科學園區) — the Chiayi section of the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區). Construction on the plant only began last month, and it was scheduled to begin production in 2028. In accordance with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), a review committee convened early this
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2024 02:06 UTC
Taiwan sets sights on India tourists, but flights an issue
Taiwan sets sights on India tourists, but flights an issueBy William Hetherington / Staff writer, with CNAThe government would target the Indian corporate incentive market in a bid to reach its target of 10 million annual tourists to Taiwan, Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Trust Lin (林信任) said yesterday. However, to achieve that aim, direct flights to India need to resume, he said. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Trust Lin speaks to reporters at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “On June 20 this year, we invited operators from the Indian tourism industry to Taiwan for the first time,” Lin said. Lin said that the Tourism Administration has been busy promoting incentive travel in many overseas markets, hoping to attract companies to travel to Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
June 20, 2024 02:04 UTC
Whampoa officers pick CCP over integrity
Whampoa officers pick CCP over integrityBy Tzou Jiing-wen 鄒景雯On Sunday, the Whampoa Military Academy, founded by the Republic of China in 1924, celebrated its 100th anniversary. When visiting the Museum of the War of Chinese People’s Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 2014, he refused the company of Chinese officials. According to Lee, Hau made three promises in confidence: to never enter CCP state bureaus, to never accept the hospitality of CCP officials and to never engage with media criticizing the ROC. Despite serving under two different ruling parties, Hau remained steadfast in his views, defending the head of the Whampoa Military Academy as well as his own vision for the ROC. How can the Whampoa officials who chose to forsake these fundamental principles and become instruments of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army face their friends and fellow soldiers at home?
Source:Taipei Times
June 19, 2024 03:45 UTC
At least eight people killed in India train crash
At least eight people killed in India train crashAFP, KOLKATA, IndiaAt least eight people were killed in India yesterday when a goods train driver missed a signal and slammed into an express passenger train from behind, police and railway officials said. People gather at the site of a collision between an express passenger train and a goods train in Nirmaljote, India, yesterday. “A goods train disregarded the signal and hit the train from behind,” Sinha said. Sinha said the casualties could have been worse, but a guard wagon and two others carrying post that were attached to the back of the passenger train took the brunt of the crash. In that crash, a packed passenger train was mistakenly diverted onto a loop line and slammed into a stationary goods train loaded with iron ore.
Source:Taipei Times
June 17, 2024 17:17 UTC
The forced assimilation of Tibet
The forced assimilation of TibetBy Khedroob ThondupThe situation in Tibet is complex and sensitive, with reports saying the Chinese government is attempting to assimilate Tibetan culture into the Han culture. China’s approach to education in Tibet has raised significant concerns regarding the forced assimilation of Tibetan children. The educational content of the schools revolve around the Han culture, with Mandarin as the medium of instruction. The system is seen as a large-scale program intended to assimilate Tibetans into Han culture. The measures are part of what some experts describe as a policy of forced assimilation, which runs contrary to international human rights standards for education, linguistic and cultural rights, and freedom of religion or belief.
Source:Taipei Times
June 17, 2024 17:17 UTC
Brahma Chellaney On Taiwan: Is US prepared for a Taiwan invasion?
Brahma Chellaney On Taiwan: Is US prepared for a Taiwan invasion? There are ominous signs that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is preparing his country for a war over Taiwan. In fact, US President Joe Biden recently plunged the US deeper into the Ukraine war by permitting Kyiv to use American-donated weapons to strike inside Russia. More fundamentally, the drawn-out Ukraine war is crimping America’s China policy and weakening its deterrent posture in the Indo-Pacific, thereby making a Taiwan Strait crisis more likely. Indeed, the last thing Xi wants is an end to the Ukraine war because that would leave the US free to pivot to Asia.
Source:Taipei Times
June 16, 2024 16:39 UTC
US to step in if PLA strikes: ex-Japan officer
US to step in if PLA strikes: ex-Japan officerBy Wu Che-yu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe US would intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan, retired Japanese lieutenant general Hirotaka Yamashita said. Yamashita made the remarks in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Friday. He is in Taiwan to promote his book on Taiwan Strait security. Retired Japanese lieutenant general Hirotaka Yamashita gestures in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) in Taipei on Friday. To invade Taiwan, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) must deploy a massive number of troops across the Taiwan Strait, exposing vulnerable troop transport ships to smaller asymmetric weapons systems, he said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 16, 2024 03:36 UTC
The consequences of war for China
Anyone who tried to separate Taiwan from China would be “crushed to pieces,” he said during the premier defense summit. Past Chinese defense ministers have made similar threats to those of Dong. However, the US has made its intentions clear regarding this “offshore battle” — it aims to deter China from launching a sudden attack. Once all hell breaks loose in the Taiwan Strait, China worries that others would follow suit. Given the low morale of the Chinese military, can the armed forces really afford to battle on four different fronts simultaneously?
Source:Taipei Times
June 15, 2024 21:43 UTC
Taiwan deepens ties to deter a Chinese invasion
Taiwan deepens ties to deter a Chinese invasionPREPARATION IS KEY: Although it is uncertain whether Beijing will act, Taipei is getting ready with the help of ‘many friends, including the US,’ Alexander Yui saidBloombergTaiwan is deepening economic integration with other democracies and working with partners, including the US, to deter Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) from ordering an invasion of the nation, Taipei’s envoy to Washington said. We don’t know,” Representative to the US Alexander Yui (俞大?) Such a law could usher in more investment from smaller companies that work with large firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, he added. “It’s Beijing who is sending the ships, it’s Beijing who is sending fighters around Taiwan — it’s them who are creating all the tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Yui said. “Negotiating in an election year, the nearer we come to November, the more difficult it will become,” he said.
Source:Taipei Times
June 15, 2024 21:41 UTC
Taiwanese tennis players confirm Olympics partners
Taiwanese tennis players confirm Olympics partnersStaff writer, with CNATwo of Taiwan’s tennis stars have chosen their partners for the women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics, the national tennis association (CTTA) said this week. 2 in the women’s doubles, picked 20-year-old Tsao Chia-yi, ranked No. 153, to partner with her at the Summer Olympics in Paris, CTTA secretary-general Jimmy Wang told reporters later that day. Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei reacts during the women’s doubles final at the French Open in Paris on June 11 last year. Olympic tennis regulations say that each nation may send up to two teams to the men’s and women’s doubles events.
Source:Taipei Times
June 15, 2024 00:37 UTC
KMT advances proposal to ease assets restrictions
KMT advances proposal to ease assets restrictionsLACKEY? The KMT proposed amending articles 4 and 34 of the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例). DPP caucus deputy chief executive Michelle Lin (林楚茵) wrote on Facebook that the KMT’s first move after expanding the powers of the Legislative Yuan was to attempt to reclaim party assets. DPP Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) wrote on Threads that the KMT was the “greatest robber baron in the nation.”The KMT attempted to reclaim about 20,000 hectares of land and NT$1.63 billion (US$50.39 million) that the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee in 2016 ruled was illegally obtained. DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) posted photographs on Facebook showing TPP Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) smoking during the vote, alleging that Wu had skipped it.
Source:Taipei Times
June 15, 2024 00:34 UTC
Parties, civil society groups launch reform bill campaign
Lawmakers would then vote on Friday morning to decide whether the legislature should uphold the passage of the amendments. People protest against a set of legislative reform bills outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on May 28. Photo: Taipei TimesMeanwhile, political parties and civil society groups have launched campaigns to garner public support ahead of the vote. According to the Constitution, lawmakers must vote on whether to uphold the amendments’ passage no later than June 25. Civil society groups have also launched a similar campaign featuring talks and workshops in the lead-up to the vote.
Source:Taipei Times
June 14, 2024 03:36 UTC
Product power
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang clarifies ‘country’ remarkNvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday said that he was not making a geopolitical comment after a Chinese state-backed online media firm criticized him for calling Taiwan a country. Since Huang arrived in Taiwan on May 26, the Tainan native has been surrounded by fans and media whenever he has been in public. Reuters reported that some Taiwanese have begun referring to his popularity as “Jensanity.” At a night market on May 29, Huang told reporters that “Taiwan is one of the most important countries in the world. It is at the center of the electronics industry.
Source:Taipei Times
June 14, 2024 03:34 UTC
EU elections a boon for Taiwan
EU elections a boon for TaiwanBy Nicola CasariniCitizens of the 27 member states of the EU have elected a new European Parliament amid economic and security concerns related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and fears that China could be doing the same by invading Taiwan. The European Parliament has veto power regarding some key foreign policy decisions, including the adoption of a free-trade agreement or a bilateral investment treaty. This gives the EU legislature the power to influence the direction of European relations with the world. The main loser in the EU elections is Macron, whose party did not even win 15 percent of the votes. Among the various winners of the EU elections is definitively — albeit inadvertently — Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
June 12, 2024 17:54 UTC