CSC eyes steepest price increases in over three years
The logo of China Steel Corp is pictured at its Kaohsiung headquarters yesterday. The price adjustments match a pricing strategy adopted by Chinese peer Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (寶鋼), which raised its prices for hot-rolled steel for delivery next month by US$61 per tonne, China Steel said in the statement. Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (河靜鋼) in Vietnam is also expected to raise its prices significantly, to reflect higher manufacturing costs and the market uptrend, China Steel said. There have been drastic increases globally in the price of hot-rolled steel — US$1,000 per tonne in the US, US$700 per tonne in Europe and US$650 per tonne in Asia — it said. China Steel has increased the price of hot-rolled steel sheets and hot-rolled steel coils for delivery next quarter by NT$1,500 per tonne.
Source:Taipei Times
December 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
DPP says commission in line with previous decisions
DPP says commission in line with previous decisionsBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterThe National Communications Commission’s (NCC) decision to reject CTi News’ broadcasting license renewal last month was consistent with earlier decisions, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday. National Communications Commission Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang speaks at a news conference in Taipei on Nov. 18. “The NCC has abided by the law and its regulations,” the DPP said. “Ma and KMT leaders have appealed to the international media, saying that the government is clamping down on freedom of speech. However, it is well-known that the real dictatorship in Taiwan was that of the KMT,” the party said in a statement.
Source:Taipei Times
December 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
CTi denied press freedom, KMT says
CTi denied press freedom, KMT saysFOREIGN MEDIA: Johnny Chiang said that freedom of the press is a human right and denying it greatly harms Taiwan’s reputation for having freedom of speechBy Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerForeign media and the international community should be concerned about the possibility of press freedom and freedom of speech being oppressed in Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday. The KMT made the call at an international news conference in Taipei ahead of the CTi News channel going off the air at 12am today. The Taipei High Administrative Court on Monday rejected a request by CTi TV for an injunction to prevent the shutdown of its CTi News channel, meaning that CTi News is to cease broadcasting on local TV networks from today. Freedom of the press is a basic human right and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration denying it greatly harms Taiwan’s international image of having freedom of speech, he said. CTi News provided information for the public to form their own opinions and its removal was, essentially, divesting the public of differing opinions and commentary, Ma said, adding that unless one lives in an autocratic nation, shutting down a TV station harms press freedom.
Source:Taipei Times
December 11, 2020 15:56 UTC
EDITORIAL: China’s ‘super soldier’ research
EDITORIAL: China’s ‘super soldier’ researchThe early 1990s Hollywood science fiction blockbuster Universal Soldier featured part-cyborg, part-genetically enhanced “super soldiers.” Three decades later, China appears to be taking its first step toward making biologically enhanced troops a reality. US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe made the claim in an opinion piece, titled “China is national security threat No. He was subsequently fined and sentenced to three years in jail for breaching China’s ban on genetic experiments on humans. Like France, the US approach appears to be guided by ethical concerns, including the voluntary and reversible nature of human augmentation technologies. Taiwan’s military and intelligence community must closely monitor Chinese research into gene editing and other biologically enhanced capabilities, and consider developing a robust ethical framework to allow for comparable Taiwanese research.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 16:06 UTC
Legislators call for legal amendment on gender equality
Legislators call for legal amendment on gender equalityBy Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNADemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) and Fan Yun (范雲) yesterday urged the Ministry of Labor to review gender equality laws to protect workers, following a sexual harassment scandal at a chocolate company. At a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, the lawmakers called for amending the Gender Equality in Employment Act (性別工作平等法). The amendment highlights a case in which former Fu Wan Chocolate president Hsu Feng-chia (許峰嘉) was sentenced to six months in prison in 2015. Democratic Progressive Party legislators Fan Yun, left, and Hung Sun-han attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday, calling on the Ministry of Labor to review gender equality laws. Fan said that Fu Wan Chocolate is the first instance of a company’s products being boycotted due to a sexual harassment case.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Airbnb value reaches US$47bn on IPO
Airbnb value reaches US$47bn on IPOBloombergAirbnb Inc has priced its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) above a marketed range to raise about US$3.5 billion, seizing on investor demand for a home-rental business roaring back from a COVID-19 pandemic-fueled slump. Airbnb host Perla Requejo folds towels in a property that she rents to holidaymakers on the rental platform in Sanxenxo, Spain, on Monday. Photo courtesy of Perla Requejo, ReutersAt that price, Airbnb has a fully diluted value of about US$47 billion, which includes employee stock options and restricted stock units. San Francisco-based Airbnb has seen a bounce back in domestic bookings since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic crushed demand. Today, Airbnb is one of the biggest travel companies in the world.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
GlobalWafers to acquire Siltronic for US$4.5 billion
GlobalWafers to acquire Siltronic for US$4.5 billionBloombergGlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓) on Wednesday agreed to acquire German silicon wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG for about 3.75 billion euros (US$4.53 billion), yet another deal in a record year for the global semiconductor industry. GlobalWafers Co chairwoman Doris Hsu holds a silicon wafer at a media event at Hsinchu Science Park on Sept. 24, 2015. “Siltronic can help bolster GlobalWafers’ capability in 5G, power and Internet of Things,” Hsu said in an interview, adding that the deal would help GlobalWafers accelerate the development of more advanced, compound-based semiconductor technology. The combined company would be the world’s largest silicon wafer maker by revenue, with a market share of 32 to 35 percent, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) analyst Richard Hsia (夏武正) said. GlobalWafers, majority-owned by Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (中美晶), reported revenue of about NT$58 billion (US$2 billion) and operating income of NT$18 billion last year.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
CTi News online subscriptions soar
CTi News online subscriptions soarReutersThe CTi News has received a boost to its online presence, a senior executive of the channel said yesterday, as it prepares to shift its focus to the Internet after the expiration of its broadcasting licence. CTi’s major shareholder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), also runs one of China’s largest food firms, Want Want China Holdings. A CTi News broadcast is fimed in the lobby of the channel’s office building in Taipei, yesterday. CTi began operations in 1994 and is by many seen as being pro-China or “red media,” a reference to the Chinese Communist Party. “I’ve been at CTi for a long time, and as a senior executive in the news department.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
KMT’s Chiang visits human rights park
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang reads name plaques memorializing victims of political persecution in New Taipei City’s National Human Rights Museum yesterday. Chinese Nationalist Party Chairman Johnny Chiang, second left, yesterday visits the courtroom where Kaohsiung Incident detainees were tried at what is today the National Human Rights Museum in New Taipei City. Seeing his name on the plaque filled him with grief and regret, and taught him an important lesson, Johnny Chiang said. “There is no history that cannot be declassified, no truth that cannot be revealed,” Johnny Chiang said. It is from this stage in history that Taiwan’s flourishing democracy emerged, Johnny Chiang said, adding that he visited to reflect on this past and cherish the free and open society Taiwan now enjoys.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Rail repair reassessment ordered
Access to the section has been disrupted by a massive landslide on Friday last week triggered by days of heavy rainfall on Taiwan’s northeast coast. Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung, second left, inspects a damaged section of railway between Ruifang and Houtong stations in New Taipei City yesterday. “The new management system should take environmental factors into consideration,” Lin said. The landslide last week has raised questions over why the area fell through the cracks in the system. United Geotech was the contractor in charge of building the management system.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Financial risks low, but bear watching: TABF
Financial risks low, but bear watching: TABFVOLATILITY: The subindex on asset valuation risk slid last month, but remained above 100 because of an overheated property market, the institute saidBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe nation’s financial risks remain low, but rising housing prices, lending risks in banks’ overseas branches and stock market volatility need to be monitored, the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance (TABF, 台灣金融研訓院) said yesterday at the launch of its Taiwan Financial Risk Index. Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance (TABF) chairman Wu Chung-shu, second left, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Thomas Huang, center, TABF president Hank Huang, second right, and other guests attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday to announce the launch of the Taiwan Financial Risk Index. Photo: Wu Chia-ying, Taipei TimesThe nation’s first self-developed financial risk indicator, the index is composed of four sub-indices: asset valuation risk, systemic stress in the financial sector, potential instability in the non-financial sector, and spillover and contagion risks. A reading of below 100 indicates low financial risks, while a reading above the threshold suggests higher risks, the nonprofit organization said. The institute spent two years compiling the index based on the European Central Bank’s financial stability risk index.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Popular shops incorrectly label drinks, FDA reports
Popular shops incorrectly label drinks, FDA reportsStaff writer, with CNASeveral popular hand-shaken drink brands and coffee shops have not correctly labeled the origin of the tea they use or the amount of caffeine contained in their products, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday. The FDA earlier this year inspected 258 convenience stores, mobile coffee outlets and hand-shaken beverage shops to determine if they are registered with local authorities, comply with Good Hygiene Practice and correctly label their products. It found that some stores, including Louisa Coffee, Comebuy, Itso Tea and tea house Gui Ji, incorrectly labeled the origin of their tea leaves, while Gui Ji and Taoyuan-based tea shop chain Cao Ben Tea incorrectly stated the sugar and calorie content of their beverages. Louisa Coffee was also found to have falsely labeled the geographic origin of its coffee beans, the FDA said. In addition, after testing 332 random samples ranging from beverage raw materials to containers from the 258 shops, the FDA found that ice cubes used by some beverage shops — including Comebuy’s Sheng-Shin branch in Keelung, one of Like Tea Shop’s Taichung branches and Tea House in Yunlin County’s Dongshi Township (東勢) — failed to meet required sanitary standards.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taiwan to grow 1.64% this year: S&P
“Growth risk is now neutral as multiple vaccine successes increase recovery upside,” Hsu said. The logos of S&P Global and Taiwan Ratings are pictured at its office in Taipei on Sept. 4 last year. Downside risks, while retreating, remain, while ongoing virus containment measures and growing debt worldwide could derail the post-pandemic recovery, Taiwan Ratings said. The pandemic would continue to hamper air travel and container carriers have not yet come out of related risks, Hsu said. The banking sector might see moderate loan growth of 4.5 percent next year, supported by a projected 3 percent GDP growth, Taiwan Ratings financial analyst Andy Chang (張書評) said.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Freezes of submarine budget proposed
KMT Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) proposed a freeze on NT$5 billion, citing failure to complete procedural requirements before starting a detailed design for the prototype. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Shih-ying, second left, and Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang, third left, participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for an indigenous vessel project at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s Keelung shipyard yesterday. Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei TimesKMT Legislator Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞) proposed a freeze of NT$2 billion; Chiang (江啟臣) proposed NT$1 billion and KMT Legislator Lu Yu-ling (呂玉玲) proposed NT$20 million. Details of the project have only been discussed at closed-door sessions at the Legislative Yuan, a policy at odds with a transparent budget, Chiang said. The committee did not reach a decision over the budget and has forwarded the issue to be debated by the legislative caucuses.
Source:Taipei Times
December 10, 2020 15:56 UTC
Taipower, joined by GE, CTCI, to add gas power units
Taipower, joined by GE, CTCI, to add gas power unitsCLEANER ENERGY: Five combined cycle generators would replace older models at the power plant in Kaohsiung and complement units at the Taichung plant, the firm saidBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTaiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has purchased five new natural gas power generators from General Electric Co (GE) that would add 6.5 million kilowatts to Taiwan’s power capacity, a 16.2 percent boost, the state-run company said yesterday. Three of the five units would be installed at the Sinda Power Plant in Kaohsiung, while two would be added to the Taichung Power Plant, Taipower said. From left, GE Gas Power Asia Pacific president and CEO Ramesh Singaram, Taiwan Power Co chairman Yang Wei-fu and CTCI Corp chairman Michael Yang pose for a photograph at a signing ceremony in Taipei yesterday. 2 coal-fired generators at the Sinda Power Plant, Taipower manager Chang Ting-shu (張廷抒) said. Installation of the Taichung units could be completed as early as 2024, pending approval.
Source:Taipei Times
December 09, 2020 15:56 UTC