EU letter slams China over LithuaniaLAWMAKERS RALLY: Beijing’s unlegislated actions breach international and WTO trade rules, and affect the basic principles of the EU single market, the letter saidBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterA group of 41 EU lawmakers on Tuesday condemned China for its political and economic coercion of Lithuania, and called on leaders of the bloc to demonstrate solidarity with Vilnius. The letter was initiated by Slovakian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Miriam Lexmann, who is cochair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. “We, the undersigned members of the European Parliament, resolutely condemn political and economic coercion of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) against Lithuania,” the letter said. A list shows European Parliament members’ signatures to a letter, initiated by Slovakian Member of the European Parliament Miriam Lexmann, condemning China over its political and economic coercion against Lithuania. Separately, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets on Monday also voiced her country’s solidarity with Lithuania.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for battery swapping — which, by the way, is even faster than filling up at a gas station — I wouldn’t use an electric bike,” the marketing executive said. Gogoro Inc founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke is pictured in an interview at the company’s headquarters in Taipei on Friday last week. Photo: Sam Yeh, AFPIt costs about 10 percent more than buying gasoline each month, he said. Global sales of e-scooters are estimated to have topped 25 million units in 2020, or 35 percent of total sales of two-wheeled vehicles, BloombergNEF said. “I think battery swapping was a real game changer and is a real game changer,” Luke said.

Siltronic casts doubt on GlobalWafers’ takeover bidSiltronic AG cast doubt on a planned US$5.3 billion takeover by GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), saying the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action’s feedback so far was opaque and offered no clear resolution on how to win approval for the deal. During recent discussions, the companies did not receive any information as to whether and under which conditions a clearance for the takeover might be issued, the German company said in a regulatory filing on Friday following a news report on remedies the companies have offered. In the ministry’s view “in this case, a mitigation agreement is apparently not suitable

People enter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District in an undated photograph. To reduce in-person contacts and protect its workforce, employee restaurants would only offer boxed lunches and employees would only be allowed to eat in their cubicles rather than in public areas, Hon Hai said. Separately, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said that the company would develop a platform for companies in its ecosystem to develop metaverse applications, a strategy Hon Hai has adopted for entering the electric vehicle (EV) business. Aside from the metaverse, Hon Hai has identified quantum computing as a key technology that would significantly affect people’s lives, so the company is seeking to make inroads in that field, too, he said. Hon Hai is striving to transform itself into a technology-oriented company, leaving behind its image as a manufacturing service provider, Liu said.

Slovenia to establish office in Taiwan‘GOOD FRIEND’: The Slovenian prime minister said he had visited Taiwan four or five times, and that Taiwanese should have the right to determine their futureBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed Slovenia’s plan to establish a representative office in Taiwan, after Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa revealed the plan in an interview with Indian TV station Doordarshan on Monday. Taiwan is a democratic country that respects international democratic standards and international laws, the Slovenian prime minister said in the interview. Photo: screen grab from Doordarshan“When I spoke with our businessmen who are trading with Taiwan, they told me that we are trading with Taiwan, but those companies from Taiwan are also trading with mainland China... “Prime Minister Jansa is a good friend of Taiwan and has visited the nation several times,” she said, thanking him for speaking the truth on international issues. Taiwan and Slovenia have close economic and trade interactions, while their health ministers have shared their experiences with the pandemic via videoconference, she said.

Lithuanian beer brewer eyes the Taiwanese marketStaff writer, with CNA, VILNIUSLithuania’s oldest beer brewer is exploring the Taiwanese market in the wake of a naming row over a newly opened Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius that led to a ban on products from the Baltic state in China. Horbacauskas said he is thrilled that Taiwanese like his company’s products. The skyrocketing sales might have something to do with a campaign launched by Taipei to support Lithuanian products, which have been boycotted in China. Recent measures have included recalling its ambassador to Lithuania, downgrading diplomatic relations, expelling the Lithuanian ambassador to China, as well as suspending direct freight rail services and banning Lithuanian products from entering the Chinese market. Horbacauskas said that the company’s products entered the Chinese market seven years ago.

CECC reports 17 new domestic virus infectionsUNKNOWN SOURCES: The center was investigating how a man involved in a traffic accident and a nurse at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital had been infectedStaff writer, with CNAThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed 17 new domestic COVID-19 infections, all but three of which were linked to an outbreak in Taoyuan. Since then, other airport personnel and their contacts have also tested positive and the disease has spread to the wider community. The other three local cases reported yesterday were not linked to the outbreak in Taoyuan, the CECC said. Of the 17 domestic cases, five were classified as breakthrough infections and the vaccination status of five others was still under investigation. The CECC yesterday also reported 48 imported cases, but did not release information regarding the vaccination status of those infected.

Tesla to source key battery component outside ChinaAP, LONDONTesla Inc is turning to Mozambique for a key component in its electric vehicle batteries in what analysts believe is a first-of-its-kind deal designed to reduce its dependence on China for graphite. Tesla is to buy the material from the company’s processing plant in Vidalia, Louisiana, which sources graphite from its mine in Balama, Mozambique. The battery industry has been confronted with a short supply of graphite in the past few months, Moores said. Graphite stores lithium inside a battery until it is needed to generate electricity by splitting into charged ions and electrons. Tesla is making almost 1 million electric vehicles per year and sourcing enough batteries is its biggest constraint, he said.

Number of ‘big investors’ falls after cooling schemeBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterThe number of so-called “big investors” — those trading NT$500 million (US$18.11 million) or more in a single quarter — fell to 3,791 last quarter, the second-lowest last year after only 3,178 in the first quarter, data released yesterday by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) showed. The number of “mid-sized investors” — those trading NT$100 million to NT$500 million in shares in a single quarter — declined 28 percent from the third quarter to 30,463 last quarter, while the number of regular investors — those trading less than NT$100 million in a quarter — declined 3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter to 4.12 million, TWSE data showed. Investors sit in front of an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Taipei on Nov. 19, 2019. Photo: Kelson Wang, Taipei TimesThe drop in investors contrasts with a quarterly rise of 9 percent in the benchmark TAIEX at the end of last year, TWSE data showed. Hitting 18,218.84 at the end of last year, the TAIEX yesterday reached 18,535.42 points in the middle of the session before closing up 122.11 points, or 0.66 percent, at 18,525.44, TWSE data showed.

China might raise pressure next year: British historianStaff writer, with CNAChina would likely ramp up pressure on Taiwan next year, British historian Niall Ferguson said on Saturday, adding that deterrence is key to warding off Beijing’s threats. British historian Niall Ferguson speaks at a talk via video link on Saturday. The US and its allies should be committed to a credible deterrence strategy that could prevent “China from acting recklessly with respect to Taiwan,” Ferguson said. “Deterrence is key here.”“And it’s not just the United States that can deter China. It’s the United States and [its] allies,” he said, alluding to countries such as Japan, which has expressed concerns over security and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

The Omicron variant has become the focus of public attention recently, with school closures and some businesses having their staff work from home. One can only imagine how many such closures would be necessary should Omicron rampage across Taiwan. The strident emphasis on “mild” Omicron is intended to obscure the issue of how many would be killed by this policy. “The good news is that most of these deaths are mild.”OVERWHELMED HOSPITALSIn the US and elsewhere, the “mild” Omicron wave has resulted in massive spikes in hospitalization. Keep Taiwan (Omicron) free!

Cyprus extradition riles US lobbyistsAFP, NICOSIAA Chinese mother and son’s fight against extradition from Cyprus to face fraud charges at home has attracted criticism by US-based right-wing lobby groups who say the charges are politically motivated. The pair are due in court in the resort town of Paphos for the resumption of their extradition hearing on Friday. A US pro-democracy organization supported by former US president Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon has contacted Cypriot authorities to demand that the extradition request be rejected, Cypriot media said. The mother and son have been described as members of the New Federal State of China, a US-based political movement lobbying against the Chinese government. Cyprus would prefer to keep the case low-profile as it has an extradition treaty with China and good diplomatic ties with Washington.

Covid-19: Pingjhen plant to stay open: CompalCONTINGENCY PLANNING: Should disruptions occur, sites in Vietnam or China would take over, Compal said after COVID-19 cases among local workers were reportedBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterContract laptop maker Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦) yesterday said that operations at its plant in Taoyuan’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) are continuing, after two employees at the facility tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Compal immediately activated emergency responses and disease prevention measures at the plant, the manufacturer said. The entrance to Compal Electronics Inc’s plant in Taoyuan’s Pingjhen District is pictured yesterday. The Central News Agency reported that Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) earlier yesterday said the firm had requested that about 1,500 employees at the Pingjhen plant undergo PCR tests. Compal’s plants in China or Vietnam would temporarily fill the gap if production at the Pingjhen plant is disrupted, the company said.

Hong Kong is to elect its next chief executive in March from a pool of 1,500 candidates including incumbent Lam. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, left, speaks during a question-and-answer session at the territory’s Legislative Council on Wednesday. “Beijing’s overhaul of the Hong Kong electoral system was an attempt to secure the legitimacy of its rule over Hong Kong in the short term,” he said. “Beijing is oscillating in its control over Hong Kong, between rule by the chief executive and rule by CCP committee members,” he said. However, feigning competition in the chief executive election might help the CCP garner a sense of legitimacy,” he said.

Bees are vital to the global food chain, but their numbers have been falling sharply, largely due to climate change, large-scale agriculture and pesticide use. In 2020, Nepal’s beekeepers produced about 50 percent less honey than three years earlier — and the warming climate is a big reason for the drop, said Shiva Prasad Sharma, a beekeeper and president of the Federation of Nepal Beekeepers (FNBK). PRESSURES PILE UPBees are vital to the global food chain, but their numbers have been falling sharply, largely due to climate change, large-scale agriculture and pesticide use. The government pays up to 80 percent of the premium, and the payouts cover 90 percent of the value of any honey shortfall. “Insurance helps, but to keep the honey industry vibrant, now is the time to keep colonies safe, healthy and strong,” Neupane said.