EDITORIAL: Hou moving backward with King
EDITORIAL: Hou moving backward with KingNew Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate currently trailing in the polls, earned himself a new nickname after an event at the Huang Fu-hsing (黃復興) military veterans’ branch in Kaohsiung on Saturday last week. Hou was seated next to former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the party’s 2020 presidential candidate, as a show of unity to bolster Hou’s flagging campaign. As New Taipei City deputy mayor, Hou had called for the scheduled decommissioning of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in the city’s Shihmen District (石門) and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in the city’s Wanli District (萬里) before 2018. As mayor, he voted against the party line, opposing restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮) in the December 2021 referendums. After King joined the campaign, Hou suddenly moved closer to policy positions remarkably similar to those of the Ma administration.
Source:Taipei Times
July 05, 2023 16:45 UTC
Market fresh
S&P PMI still negative on poor end-market demandThe S&P Global Taiwan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was still below the 50 point threshold last month, indicating that operating conditions remained tough for local manufacturers due to weak end-market demand in the US and Europe. Last month’s reading was 44.8, up slightly from 44.3 in May, S&P Global said in a report yesterday. The index has been in negative territory for more than a year, S&P Global said. The health of Taiwanese manufacturers had deteriorated further at the end of the second quarter in light of a sharp retreat in production, along with a solid decline in new business, theBy Crystal Hsu
Source:Taipei Times
July 05, 2023 01:55 UTC
IPL drives growth in Indian fantasy sports revenue
IPL drives growth in Indian fantasy sports revenueReuters, NEW DELHIThe revenue of fantasy gaming platforms during Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches rose 24 percent from a year earlier to more than 28 billion rupees (US$341.6 million) with more than 61 million users participating, a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants said. Fantasy gaming apps gained popularity in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: AFP“Playing fantasy sports is becoming a craze in the country,” Redseer director Saurian Chachan said, adding that 35 to 50 percent of the revenue of fantasy sports platforms was driven by IPL matches. Last week, fantasy gaming company Dream11 won a three-year contract to become a lead sponsor of India’s national cricket team for three years, replacing educational technology firm Byju’s after the end of a contract in March. Over the past five IPL seasons since 2019, fantasy gaming apps have seen a compound annual growth of 18 percent of cash users every year, while total market revenue in the same period has crossed more than US$1 billion, industry estimates showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 04, 2023 19:54 UTC
MediaTek pays nonmanagement highest salaries of companies listed on TWSE
MediaTek pays nonmanagement highest salaries of companies listed on TWSEStaff writer, with CNAMediaTek Inc (聯發科), the largest IC designer in Taiwan, last year paid its nonmanagement employees the highest average yearly salaries of all the companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, was seventh, the exchange said on Monday. MediaTek, which specializes in smartphone IC design, paid an average salary of NT$4.867 million (US$156,414) to its nonmanagement employees last year, TWSE data showed. 1 title for pay, average salaries at the firm dropped from about NT$5.15 million recorded in 2021, the data showed. Rounding out the top 10 were communications network IC designer Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱半導體, No. 10, NT$2.777 million), TWSE data showed.
Source:Taipei Times
July 04, 2023 19:54 UTC
EDITORIAL: Interviewee harassment unacceptable
EDITORIAL: Interviewee harassment unacceptableAs graduation season comes to a close, the yes123 online job bank at the end of last month surveyed 1,260 college graduates to gauge their experiences as they seek jobs, often for the first time. It turns out that many graduates’ welcome into working life is a litany of harassment, starting at the hands of interviewers. Job interviews also provide a distilled case study of the power dynamics at play in so many harassment cases. Is the interviewee going to make a fuss when the interviewer brushes their knee or asks about their plans for marriage? Overt harassment aside, these data also expose a less sinister, but more pervasive disregard for any semblance of work-life balance.
Source:Taipei Times
July 04, 2023 03:40 UTC
Ko and Hou to join housing justice and judicial reform rally
Ko and Hou to join housing justice and judicial reform rallyStaff writer, with CNATwo of the three presidential candidates — former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) — yesterday accepted invitations to attend a housing justice and judicial reform rally on July 16 on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building. Huang said the issues of judicial reform and housing justice are not exclusive to any one party, but are concerns that all Taiwanese share. Internet celebrity Holger Chen, left, and former legislator Huang Kuo-chang, hold a press conference in Taipei yesterday. After meeting with Ko, Huang and Chen went to Hou’s campaign headquarters, where they met his deputy campaign head, Hsieh Cheng-ta (謝政達). Hou had previously expressed support for the rally, Hsieh said, adding that he would “make arrangements” for Hou to attend.
Source:Taipei Times
July 03, 2023 21:38 UTC
The real problems facing Taiwan
The real problems facing TaiwanBy Michael DanielsenRecent discussions in Taiwan about reviving the cross-strait service trade agreement highlight a fundamental difference between political parties in Taiwan. Such a policy would not solve any of Taiwan’s real problems, but only make Taiwan more dependent on the Chinese economy and Chinese investment. They should develop policies that reform Taiwan to be an even better society. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has introduced initiatives in green technology, biotechnology, smart machinery and the Internet of Things. Without reforms, Taiwan will have a weaker economy and increased dependence on China, and this will weaken Taiwan’s self-determination.
Source:Taipei Times
July 03, 2023 16:41 UTC
Toward a consensus for the nation
The complicated interplays of these forces and the resulting complex dynamics significantly increase the probability of a kinetic war in Taiwan. The real danger in Taiwan’s impasse is caused not so much by international conflicts, superpowers and their schemings, as by the intramural divisions among Taiwan’s political forces that prevent the formation of a single united front. They seemingly share a common ultimate objective, which is preserving Taiwan’s democratic way of life, but make drastically different assumptions about China’s future and behavior. Having Chinese roots and the Republic of China Constitution’s backing, the pan-blue camp is willing to accept Beijing’s “one China” principle and the “1992 consensus,” which allows alternative interpretations of what “one China” means. Given the imminence and increasing escalation of the US-China conflict, the time for Taiwan’s major political parties to get their acts together and arrive at a consensus strategy on how to preserve Taiwan’s peace and democratic way of life is now.
Source:Taipei Times
July 03, 2023 16:41 UTC
EDITORIA: Economy likely to remain ‘blue’
EDITORIA: Economy likely to remain ‘blue’The National Development Council (NDC) last week reported that Taiwan’s business monitoring indicators remained “blue” for a seventh straight month in May, pointing at a continued economic slowdown, while the index of leading indicators fell for a second consecutive month, adding to worries about persistent weakness in the nation’s export-reliant economy. The index of leading indicators seeks to forecast the economic landscape in the next six months. The NDC’s data showed that the index dropped 0.28 percent in May, following a 0.19 percent fall the previous month. As the leading indicators are still falling, it means Taiwan’s economy is not out of the woods yet. In a nutshell, it would be unlikely for the business monitoring indicators to show significant upward movement in the short term, until a definitive turnaround materializes, and the “blue” signal is likely to linger for a while.
Source:Taipei Times
July 03, 2023 03:40 UTC
Accidents among leading causes of newborn deaths
Hsueh made the remarks at a conference on reducing the nation’s neonatal mortality rate, organized by the Taiwan Society of Neonatology and the Taiwan Pediatric Association in Taipei. Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan, at the podium, talks about reducing the nation’s neonatal mortality rate at a conference in Taipei yesterday. National Taiwan University Children Hospital’s Division of Neonatology attending physician Chou Hung-chieh (周弘傑) said the neonatal mortality rate has been increasing in the past three years. Another common cause of neonatal death are perinatal respiratory disorders, he said. A neonatal death database should be established to analyze the cases and improve critical issues, he added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 21:43 UTC
Ko seeks to win big by rehashing trade issue
Ko seeks to win big by rehashing trade issueBy Wu Hai-ruei 吳海瑞Convincing voters who remember the debate over the cross-strait service trade agreement a decade ago, as well as the flaws in the legislative process surrounding it at the time, will be difficult. South Korea had not even started negotiations until 2012, but it quickly came up with the English version of an FTA with China, and the official signing was just around the corner. The Legislative Yuan approved the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in August 2010, and was still debating the service trade agreement and goods trade agreement. Plus, South Korea’s trade volume reached a record high of US$1.415 trillion last year, which was almost 1.6 times Taiwan’s trade volume of US$0.9075 trillion, instead of the huge differential of 1.9 to three times predicted by Kuan — and has been shrinking. This is why Ma wanted to rush the service trade agreement through without review, sparking the 2014 Sunflower movement.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 21:41 UTC
Stephen M. Young On Taiwan: Further musings on Taiwan’s fate, in the shadow of Ukraine
Stephen M. Young On Taiwan: Further musings on Taiwan’s fate, in the shadow of UkraineThe ongoing war in Ukraine, precipitated by the dictatorial Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been a disaster of monumental proportions. So how do we apply the paradigm of Putin’s Ukraine misadventure to the island state of Taiwan? First, Taiwan poses a very different military challenge to the Putin model of aggression against Ukraine. Like the odious Putin, Mr. Xi has grandiose ambitions to rule all he surveys for the rest of his life. It is all well and good for Mr. Xi to ramble on about “resolving” the Taiwan question in his lifetime.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 17:49 UTC
Gasoline prices drop as diesel prices increase
Gasoline prices drop as diesel prices increaseBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterGasoline prices are to drop NT$0.1 per liter this week, while the cost of diesel fuel is to increase by NT$0.2 per liter, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) separately announced yesterday. Crude oil prices moved down last week on market concerns that the European and US central banks might continue to raise interest rates, which would weaken energy demand, the companies said. Oil prices were also affected by a larger-than-expected fall in the US commercial crude oil inventories last week, they added. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$27.1 per liter at CPC stations and to NT$26.9 at Formosa pumps this week, they said. The company is also to keep liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices unchanged for retail and industrial users this month, but LNG prices for power generation users, such as Taiwan Power Co (台電), are to drop 5 percent, CPC said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 17:39 UTC
HK leader warns of ‘resistance’ on anniversary
HK leader warns of ‘resistance’ on anniversaryAFP, HONG KONGHong Kong must guard against “destructive forces engaging in soft resistance,” Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) said yesterday, as the territory marked the 26th anniversary of its handover from British to Chinese rule. Police question a man in Victoria Park in Hong Kong yesterday. Photo: AFPEx-security chief turned leader Lee said that Hong Kong was “largely stable” now, but was still being targeted by countries that oppose China’s rise. “There are also destructive forces engaging in soft resistance hidden within Hong Kong,” he said during a speech at an event marking the anniversary. Yoshiaki Ogawa, known for his coverage in Hong Kong, was later interviewed for about an hour, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 03:42 UTC
EU leaders call for peace in Strait
“The European Council opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. It reconfirms the EU’s consistent ‘one China policy,’” the leaders’ statement said. European Council President Charles Michel, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talk to reporters at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. The EU would also seek to ensure a level playing field with China, so that trade and the economic relationship can be balanced, reciprocal and mutually beneficial, the leaders said. Taiwan would continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with EU members and like-minded democratic partners and jointly safeguard regional peace, stability and prosperity, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
July 02, 2023 03:42 UTC