PRC’s ally poaching helps TaiwanBy Fan Shih-ping 范世平The Straits Forum, the largest non-political platform between Taiwan and China, took place in China’s Fujian Province on Sunday last week. Days before the forum, on Thursday last week, Nicaragua announced that it had severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. More importantly, Nicaragua cut diplomatic ties while Washington was hosting the two-day Summit for Democracy, to which Taiwan was invited, but China was not. Why is Nicaragua so important to China that it established diplomatic ties with Managua on the same day as the breakup with Taiwan? Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), who formerly headed China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), must have been aware that the establishment of ties with Nicaragua would anger Taiwan.

Metals key for EVs likely pricier for longerBloombergMetals vital for making rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) are set to extend their stunning rally into next year, potentially increasing costs for automakers and blunting a key weapon in the race to slow climate change. LITHIUM RECORDAn index of lithium prices has more than tripled this year to a record. “It’s hard to see any material changes in global market tightness in the short term,” the company said in a written response to Bloomberg News. As miners scurry to expand capacity, long-term electric vehicle demand bodes well for the material that is used in virtually all electric vehicle batteries. In China, the world’s biggest electric vehicle market, battery manufacturers have already started to feel the pinch from the escalating cost of raw materials.

Estonia’s wood pellet industry stokes controversyProducers of wood pellets say they only use wood that has been rejected by sawmills or plywood factories, but environmentalists say that biomass demand is causing logging to intensify, threatening some bird speciesBy Polina Kalantar / AFP, IMAVERE, EstoniaEstonia’s thriving wood pellet industry is pitting environmentalists who say it increases logging and harms biodiversity against supporters who say it makes good use of wood that would otherwise go to waste. However, at a plant belonging to Europe’s biggest wood pellet producer, Estonia’s AS Graanul Invest, Mihkel Jugaste, the company’s head of quality and certification systems, defended the industry. Environmentalists say that the wood pellet industry has caused an increase in forest logging, but supporters of the sector say it is making efficient use of low-quality wood. Wood pellets are a type of biofuel that can be used in special pellet stoves or central heating furnaces for homes. Ehrpais, who is also the head of Vardi Metsauhistu, a forest management organization, said it was “an unbelievable myth” that the wood pellet industry was leading to an increase in logging.

“Kwang Yang has no plan to go public, but the company is likely to spin off its electric scooter division for an IPO,” Kwang Yang chairman Allen Ko (柯勝峰) said during an interview with a small group of reporters in Taipei. Kwang Yang Motor Co employees work on KYMCO scooters at the company’s factory in Kaohsiung in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Kwang Yang MotorTOP MAKERFounded in 1963, the company has a long history in making gas-fueled scooters. Kwang Yang has built a strong presence in the nation’s scooter market, holding on to the No. Kwang Yang expects its partnership with Harley-Davidson to bear fruit in the next two to three years, Ko said.

The study would help authorities develop a comprehensive policy response as mosquito-borne diseases are becoming more prevalent with climate change, officials from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taipei City Government and National Mosquito-Borne Disease and Research Center told a news conference in Taipei. Officials from the Environmental Protection Administration, Taipei City Government and the National Mosquito-Borne Disease and Research Center attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The models show that the risk of dengue fever transmission in northern Taiwan would increase significantly by 2050, he said. The government study would divide Taiwan in 10km2 research areas, and in its first phase focus on Taipei and high-altitude areas, Huang said. The next phase would add New Taipei City and Taichung, he said.

Following a local COVID-19 outbreak in May, schools nationwide adopted the approach of “suspending classes without suspending learning,” offering synchronous or asynchronous online instruction. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” theory, after a person’s material needs are fulfilled, spiritual needs can be pursued, and the theory is applicable to online instruction, too. Without additional staff for backup support, a slew of problems could affect online teaching, and more seriously, online teaching could threaten the effectiveness of offline teaching. While providing the hardware to students, they should also improve the quality of online instruction. Otherwise, despite the good intentions of the free tablet policy, no one would benefit from it, and this is not something that the public would want to happen.

Chinese envoy calls on Japan to support Beijing OlympicsReuters, TOKYOChinese Ambassador to Japan Kong Xuanyou (孔鉉佑) yesterday said that the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics had been unfortunately “used as a political tool,” and asked for Japan’s support, while also warning Tokyo not to interfere on Taiwan. Kong’s speech came as members of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games in February. The US and other nations have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics due to human rights abuses in Hong Kong and China’s Xinjiang region, but Japan has yet to make a decision. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during an extraordinary session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on Dec. 6. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month said that Japan and the US could not stand by if China attacked Taiwan, and Beijing needed to understand that.

US$313 million from Chinese developer disappearsBloombergChina Fortune Land Development Co (華夏幸福) said it has been unable to get hold of a money manager that it gave US$313 million for investment, casting a shadow over the profit outlook of the debt-laden developer. The Beijing-based developer has reported the matter to the local police, it said, adding that it remains unclear how it would affect current and future earnings. As instructed by Wingskengo, Fortune Land transferred US$313 million to China Create Capital for wealth management, the filing said. Fortune Land said it has booked the sum as part of its non-current financial assets, and the fair value has yet to be adjusted. Shanghai-listed shares of Fortune Land were down slightly morning yesterday.

MediaTek seeks to outpace sectorBy Lisa Wang / Staff ReporterMediaTek Inc (聯發科) expects revenue to grow as much as 19 percent annually over the next five years, outpacing the semiconductor industry’s overall expansion, the company said yesterday. MediaTek Inc vice chairman and chief executive officer Rick Tsai, left, and president Joe Chen gesture at a media event in Taipei yesterday. However, the company still faces challenges, as the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the semiconductor supply chain and caused chip supply bottlenecks, it said. MediaTek said it has been in advanced discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), and its chip packaging and testing partners over chip supply for next three to four years. Smartphones powered by MediaTek’s first flagship 5G chip, the Dimensity 9000, would hit the stores in the second quarter of next year, the company said.

EDITORIAL: The irony of the KMT’s objectionsThe politics surrounding the government’s and the opposition’s referendum campaigns is throwing up supreme ironies that deserve comment, while also highlighting concerning — but entirely unsurprising — similarities between the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) tactics and the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the article, Ma compared the Tsai administration to the Ming Dynasty secret police agency, the Eastern Bureau (東廠). The irony of Ma’s evocation of the Eastern Bureau will not be lost on anyone aware of the conduct of the KMT’s one-party state prior to Taiwan’s democratization. Chu is either incapable of thinking long term or he has convinced himself that his party is doomed to perpetual opposition. The fact that the CCP and the KMT seem to be so close on this messaging is a cause for concern.

New Zealand to resume mango imports from TaiwanBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNew Zealand has agreed to resume the importation of mangoes from Taiwan following negotiations between the two nations, the Council of Agriculture said on Tuesday. New Zealand suspended imports of lychees and mangoes from Taiwan as per a bilateral agreement, after oriental fruit flies were found in lychees in June. As lychees and mangoes are prone to the flies, imports of both fruits were temporarily banned, the council said. Chen said that New Zealand has agreed to resume mango imports from Taiwan, which were suspended in June. Wellington has also approved imports of canned meat produced in Taiwan after five years of negotiations, the council said.

Alinghi ropes in F1’s Red Bull for America’s CupReutersRed Bull has teamed up with Swiss sailing syndicate Alinghi to challenge for the America’s Cup, marking the second such Formula One deal after Ineos Britannia joined forces with Mercedes. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said that Red Bull Advanced Technologies would share experiences and engineering tips with Alinghi Red Bull Racing in a “two-way cooperation” plan. For Alinghi’s Brad Butterworth, a four-time winner of the America’s Cup, the Red Bull partnership marks a new chapter. “The America’s Cup is a technology race which is won on the water with race strategy and tactics. Red Bull has demonstrated that time and time again in F1 and in many of the other sports it competes in,” Butterworth said.

The State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, aims to sell a 6 percent stake in SBI Funds Management Pvt, while Amundi intends to sell 4 percent, the firms said in separate filings yesterday. The State Bank of India owns 63 percent of SBI Funds, and Amundi holds the rest. “The IPO would be achieved on the Indian stock market in 2022,” Amundi said in its filing. The State Bank of India and SBI Funds did not respond to e-mails seeking comment. The mutual fund’s IPO process was delayed by a COVID-19 wave that struck India in March.

People around the world should eventually become used to living with the virus — resuming normal business operations and private consumption — as the virus mutates. Taiwan Research Institute president Wu Tsai-yi, center, speaks at a seminar in Taipei yesterday. The trend should energize private consumption, which was a drag on GDP growth in the second and third quarters, Liu said. The two drivers have compensated for lackluster private consumption this year and should help push economic expansion above 4 percent next year, Wu added. Private consumption this year is likely to only edge upward 0.06 percent, but might accelerate its GDP contribution next year with a 5.3 percent gain, Wu said.

Invasion difficult to achieve: report‘NATURAL MOAT’: China’s logistics face challenges, as any landing forces would need to be resupplied with weapons, food and medicine across the StraitBy Ben Blanchard / Reuters, TAIPEIA full Chinese invasion of Taiwan with troops landed and ports and airports seized would be very difficult to achieve due to problems China would have in landing and supplying troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in its latest threat assessment. “However, the nation’s military strongly defends ports and airports, and they will not be easy to occupy in a short time. Landing operations will face extremely high risks,” the ministry said in its report, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters. Tanks fire shells during the 37th annual Han Kuang military exercises in Penghu County on Sept. 15. “It is difficult to concentrate all its efforts on fighting with Taiwan.”Experts say that China has other means at its disposal to bring Taiwan to its knees short of a full invasion, including a blockade or targeted missile attacks.