Regulators mull safeguards for stablecoin paymentsReuters, LONDONStablecoins would have to comply with the same safeguards as their more traditional competitors in payments, regulators said yesterday, as authorities get to grips with a rapidly evolving sector. Facebook Inc’s move in 2019 to introduce its own stablecoin — diem, then known as libra — raised concerns among governments and central banks that a major payments competitor could emerge overnight with little regulation. Since then, diem has radically scaled back its ambitions and plans to launch a US dollar stablecoin. Tether, the largest stablecoin, has a market capitalization of about US$68 billion versus just US$15 billion a year ago. The value of circulating USD coin, another major stablecoin, has also jumped dramatically to more than US$30 billion from just US$2.7 billion a year ago, CoinMarketCap data showed.

COVID-19 antibody tests to assess prevalence: CECCBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterThe Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said it plans to conduct antibody tests using blood donated from April to July to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 in the nation, with donors having the choice to opt out before Oct. 18. To prevent the spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the CECC on Aug. 23 introduced five enhanced COVID-19 monitoring measures, including a large-scale antibody study to understand the prevalence of COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence achieved by vaccination or natural infection, and their geographical distribution and trends in Taiwan. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center, speaks about the center’s mask policy on Saturday. The CECC yesterday also reported no new local COVID-19 infections or deaths, but seven imported cases from Malaysia, Vietnam and the US. Chen also reported that 208,307 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Monday, bringing the nation’s first-dose vaccination coverage to 57.67 percent, or 71.72 doses administered per 100 people.

Lawmakers propose bill to tackle declining birthrateBy Chien Hui-ju and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerLegislators yesterday proposed enacting a basic law to address the nation’s dwindling birthrate. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), who proposed the bill, along with sponsors and fellow DPP legislators Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) and Loh Meei-ling (羅美玲), announced the bill at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chiu Chih-wei, left, and Loh Meei-ling attend a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday. The Japanese law has helped boost that nation’s birthrate, but a lack of coordination in Taiwan has stymied the efforts of individual agencies, Loh said. The bill would also provide a legal basis for agencies to budget for related policy.

Nearly 99% of long-haul aircrews fully vaccinatedALMOST THERE: The CECC said that long-haul aircrews with two jabs and antibodies need to quarantine for five days and follow health management guidelines for nineBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterNearly 99 percent of aircrew members working on long-haul international flights at Taiwan’s two largest airlines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. Flight attendants walk through Kinmen County’s Yangzhai Old Street to support the local tourism industry on March 4. The agency helped the two airlines get their cabin crew members vaccinated as Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) instructed last week, Wu added. Long-haul crew members who are fully vaccinated and test positive for antibodies must quarantine for five days and follow stricter health management guidelines for another nine days upon completing their flight duties, the center said. Those who have yet to be vaccinated or have only received one dose must quarantine for seven days and follow stricter health-management guidelines for seven days, it added.

Chiang hands over reins to ChuBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterFormer Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday handed over the party’s reins to new KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), who said the KMT would be a “united,” “connected” and “combative” party under his leadership. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Johnny Chiang leaves KMT headquarters in Taipei yesterday. “The premier established the Chinese Nationalist Party and led us in establishing the Republic of China,” Chu said, referring to Sun Yat-sen (孫中山). “Every member of the KMT must always remember that we are all followers of the premier,” Chu said. On cross-strait relations, Chu said that the KMT would restart a platform for cross-strait exchanges in accordance with the party’s charter and policy platform.

Firm blamed for Yushan debacleBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it would hold a film production company accountable for using footage of a Swiss mountain instead of Yushan (玉山) in a promotional video marking Double Ten National Day. The ministry last month uploaded the video, titled 2021: Taiwan Bringing People Together (2021，台灣有你), on YouTube. It opened with aerial footage of a mountain labeled “Mt Jade Main Peak.”However, the footage instead showed Schafler peak in Switzerland, the ministry said in an apology on Sunday. Yushan is pictured in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs video marking Double Ten National Day. The video was removed temporarily on Saturday after the production company mistakenly used footage of the Swiss Alps instead of Yushan.

Media groups call for laws to ensure that big Internet firms spread wealthBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterFour large media associations in Taiwan yesterday urged the government to create laws that would require Google and other large international platform operators to negotiate a reasonable split of their advertising revenue with local content providers. “The government should stipulate laws to ensure that [media providers] secure their share of advertising revenue, rather than setting up a fund to address the issue. There should be a reasonable mechanism governing the division of advertising revenue between media and platform operators, he added. It would be almost impossible for Taiwanese media to reach agreements with large platform operators,” he said. His association has on multiple occasions urged the government to create laws to ensure that local content providers receive their fair share of advertising revenue, he added.

Jury orders Tesla to pay over racism complaintReutersA US federal jury on Monday ordered Tesla Inc to pay more than US$130 million in damages to a former worker, finding that he was subjected to a racially hostile work environment, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Tesla logo is pictured outside a dealership in New York City on April 26. Photo: ReutersIt also said that the three times Diaz complained about harassment, Tesla stepped in and made sure action was taken by staffing agencies. The jury awarded Diaz US$6.9 million in compensatory damages and US$130 million in punitive damages, the Wall Street Journal reported. Tesla did not immediately respond to a query asking if it would be appealing the verdict.

Fantasia fails to make paymentsCHINESE PROPERTY: Fantasia did not repay a US$205.7 million note, while S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Sinic’s rating, saying ‘a default-like process has begun’AFP, BEIJINGFantasia Holdings Group (花樣年控股集團), a Chinese homebuilder, on Monday missed payments on debt obligations, adding to worries over the country’s property sector as embattled giant China Evergrande Group (恆大集團) teeters on the brink of collapse. Fantasia Holdings failed to repay a US$205.7 million note, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement. Photo: APThis came as property management firm Country Garden Services Holdings Co (碧桂園) added that a unit of Fantasia had missed repayment on a 700 million yuan (US$108 million) loan, saying it was likely that Fantasia would default. While Fantasia is a smaller player in the market than Evergrande, its struggles highlight investor concerns over companies’ financial disclosures. Fitch Ratings on Monday downgraded Fantasia to “CCC-,” which indicates default is a possibility.

Global film and TV event to have Taiwan pavilionBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) yesterday said it would present a Taiwan pavilion on the online platform of the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) — a leading event in the international film and television industry to be held from Monday to Thursday next week. The pavilion is being organized with support from the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development, the agency said in a statement, adding that it would promote 55 films and 98 television shows from Taiwan to the rest of the world. The E-IP Market is a zone for trading original content adaptable across media, ACFM’s Web site says. In related news, the Taiwan Creative Content Fest — an international market and exhibition launched by TAICCA last year — is to return for a second edition from Nov. 10 to Nov. 14. Themed “Welcome to the Metaverse,” the event is to celebrate Taiwanese content driven by technology and creativity, the agency said.

Commercial property transactions gain 14.3%By Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterCommercial property transactions last quarter gained 14.3 percent from three months earlier to NT$31.32 billion (US$1.12 billion), while land deals jumped 15.8 percent to NT$77.5 billion, propelled by demand for commercial and industrial office spaces, as well as factories, Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan (戴德梁行) said yesterday. In the first three quarters of the year, commercial property deals totaled NT$105.07 billion, already surpassing the figure for the whole of last year, the local branch of the US property consultancy said. Cushman & Wakefield Taiwan managing director Billy Yen speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Land deals have been hot, with an average quarterly volume of NT$73.8 billion for the past two-and-a-half years, the consultancy said. It is unlikely that property prices would fall, given increasingly expensive building materials and land costs, Yen said.

Airline group IATA says carbon target set for 2050AP, GENEVAThe world’s largest association of airlines on Monday said that it is aiming for the air transport industry to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while acknowledging that it will be a “huge challenge.”The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has key offices in Geneva, said its general meeting in Boston had agreed on the target, a commitment that would line it up with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming under 1.5°C above pre-industrial times. The industry appears to be counting heavily on a carbon-offset plan laid out by a UN organization on civil aviation, but suggests governments have a role to play, too. KLM chief executive officer Pieter Elbers speaks at the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting in Boston on Monday. Photo: Reuters“With collective efforts of the entire value chain and supportive government policies, aviation will achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” IATA director-general Willie Walsh said in a statement. One scenario foresees sustainable fuels accounting for nearly two-thirds of the roughly 1.8 gigatons of carbon that would need to be mitigated for airlines to reach net-zero emissions, Walsh said.

Shimron Hetmyer steers Delhi to top of IPL tableAFP, DUBAIWest Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer on Monday produced a match-winning cameo as the Delhi Capitals edged out the Chennai Super Kings by three wickets to take the lead on the IPL table. “Very important for me to finish games,” the left-handed Hetmyer said. Delhi, who inched closer to a top-two finish in the league stage, made Chennai slip to second, while Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore remain third. Finishing in the top two gives the teams a second chance among the four teams to make the finals on Oct. 15. Bravo got Patel out in the final over, but new man Kagiso Rabada hit the winning runs to take Delhi to 20 points in 13 matches.

The Taipei-based researcher attributed the strong outlook for the local semiconductor industry to demand for chips used in notebook computers amid a COVID-19 pandemic-induced stay-at-home economy, as well as emerging applications from 5G and artificial intelligence to automotive electronics. A 300mm silicon wafer is displayed at a GlobalFoundries Inc plant in Dresden, Germany, on Aug. 12. The production value in Taiwan’s semiconductor industry this year is expected to soar 31.8 percent from last year to NT$3.6 trillion (US$129 billion), the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute said yesterday. “Semiconductor shortages have become a new global norm,” said Cheng Kai-an (鄭凱安), a senior industry analyst at the institute. Over the next three years, the compound annual growth rate of production value in Taiwan’s foundry sector is expected to be 10.5 percent, it said.

Forex reserves rise to US$544.9bnBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s foreign exchange reserves last month totaled US$544.9 billion, rising US$1.32 billion from August to a record for the second straight month, the central bank said yesterday, crediting foreign-exchange management. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民) said that the US dollar gained 1.73 percent last month, allowing the bank’s investment gains to more than absorb unfavorable exchange twists. Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves last month totaled US$544.9 billion, rising US$1.32 billion from August to a record for the second straight month, the central bank said yesterday. That explained why foreign portfolio investors trimmed their holdings in local shares and New Taiwan dollar deposits, which totaled US$691.3 billion last month, or 1.27 times the value of the nation’s foreign exchange reserves, he said. Taiwan remained the world’s fifth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, trailing China, Japan, Switzerland and India, the central bank said.