Scooter-sharing firms asked to ban troublesome ridersBy Ho Yu-hua and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerScooter-sharing companies in New Taipei City are to be required to create a system for banning scofflaw riders after data showed that traffic infractions they incurred were 10 times that of regular scooter riders. Scooter sharing has become ubiquitous in the city since WeMo launched its services there in early 2019. Shared scooter riders were involved in 376.8 traffic infractions per 1,000 riders in the year to June, compared with 34.7 among all other scooter riders, the data showed. The report follows calls last month by Taipei City Councilor Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) for better oversight of scooter sharing in the capital. At a Taipei City Council meeting, Wu cited data that showed riders of shared scooters were responsible for 21,937 infractions last year.

Evergrande woes hit Sweden as EV unit seeks buyerMISSED SALARIES: The Swedish owner of an electric vehicle factory in Tianjin has laid off nearly half of its employees as Evergrande has ceased financing the plantBloombergChina Evergrande Group’s financial woes have spilled over to Sweden, with a unit of the company’s electric vehicle (EV) arm in talks to find new backers after cutting 300 jobs. “I’m acting as if things won’t be working out with Evergrande,” Stefan Tilk, the CEO of National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB, also known as NEVS, said in an interview. A China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd Hengchi 1 electric vehicle is presented at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show in Shanghai, China, in April. “If there’s an asset they own outside of China that they care about, it’s NEVS,” Tilk said. Evergrande first invested in the company in early 2019 through its EV arm, before lifting its stake later that year.

Supply chain issues hitting EuropeBloomberg and Reuters, TokyoEuropean manufacturers are increasingly strained by global supply-chain problems that are pushing up prices and could last well into next year. A gauge by IHS Markit measuring business activity in manufacturing fell last month by the biggest margin since April last year — the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. European-area inflation is expected to have quickened to above 3 percent last month, well exceeding the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target. Manufacturing activity there rebounded last month after COVID-19’s grip on several countries loosened, allowing the easing of lockdown measures that had shut down factories. Countries where large outbreaks of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 receded saw an improvement in activity, such as Indonesia and India.

Energy prices are rising from the US to Europe and Asia as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and people return to offices. “The volatile trading already shows that no one really knows how high gas can go,” said Niek van Kouteren, a senior trader at PZEM, a Dutch energy company. The question will be where there will be demand destruction.”Dutch gas futures surged to 100 euros per megawatt-hour, before plunging 3.1 percent to 94.7 euros by 9:21am in Amsterdam. The slowdown could lead them to sell their allowances, said Trevor Sikorski, head of natural gas and energy transition at the London-based consultants Energy Aspects. In Asia, the price of liquefied natural gas surged to a record US$34.47 per million British thermal units on Thursday.

China’s coal firms told to exceed quotasCRITICAL NEED: Environmental measures have led to an energy crisis that is causing a rethink about coal production, as China’s winter will require a solid power supplyBloombergChina’s leadership has told the country’s state-owned mining firms to produce coal at full capacity for the rest of the year even if they exceed annual quotas as the country struggles with a deepening power crisis. Boosting domestic thermal coal production is critical, the sources said, asking not to be named as the discussion contents are not public. The country controls coal production under a quota system that caps annual output of mines in order to manage supply. Coal mines are under close environmental surveillance, and Beijing has been pushing for consolidation in the sector. Its coal output was 530 million tonnes last year.

Lenders asked to comply with bank credit controlsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe central bank yesterday said that it had met with 36 local lenders and the National Federation of Credit Cooperatives to make sure they comply with credit control measures when processing mortgage applications. The central bank made the closed-door meeting known in a statement yesterday to highlight its resolve to cool the local property market. Lenders should also warn borrowers of potential interest rate increases when global central banks reverse their loose monetary policy stances, the central bank said. Yang on Thursday said that credit controls are not effective in curbing housing transactions, though they have achieved the goal of maintaining the nation’s financial stability. Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) said the market would need more time to assimilate the ban on grace periods.

Taiwan-India Relations: Surge of students promising for exchanges: officialBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporterThe number of Indian students in Taiwan surged by more than 110 percent from 2016 to 2019, demonstrating potential for expanding bilateral education exchanges, India Taipei Association Director-General Gourangalal Das said. The centers not only help Indian students learn Mandarin, but also expose them to higher education opportunities in Taiwan, he said. “The phenomenon of Indian students coming to Taiwan for higher education is somewhat new, but it is a trend with a lot of promise,” he said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Indian students in Taiwan grew by more than 110 percent from 2016 to 2019 to nearly 3,000, he added. Taiwan’s goal to become bilingual in Chinese and English by 2030 also provides incentives to Indian students, he said.

French senator to lead delegation to Taiwan: ministryBy Lu Yi-hsuan / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Alain Richard, chairman of the French Senate’s Taiwan Friendship Group, would soon lead a delegation to Taiwan. The ministry yesterday confirmed that Richard would lead a delegation to Taiwan. In the face of Lu’s repeated verbal intimidation and obstruction, Richard’s determination to visit Taiwan strengthened, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said. Richard, a member of the French ruling party La Republique En Marche, has been a member of the French National Assembly and the French Senate for nearly three decades. Since becoming chairman of the Taiwan Friendship Group in 2015, Richard has visited Taiwan twice — in 2015 and in 2018.

Lawmakers urge action after assault on store clerkBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterLawmakers yesterday urged local authorities to take action to protect workers after a man allegedly assaulted a female clerk at a convenience store in Pingtung County. The attack occurred on Sunday, when the clerk, surnamed Pan (潘), asked the man, surnamed Yang (楊), to wear a mask inside the store. People protest outside the Pingtung County Bureau of Health yesterday, demanding that the authorities deal with a man who allegedly assaulted a store clerk. Photo: Chen Yen-ting, Taipei TimesAs of yesterday, she had undergone several surgeries, but her life was no longer in danger. Meanwhile, about 50 residents of Sinnan Village (新南) in the county’s Kaohshu Township (高樹), where Yang lives, protested at the Pingtung Public Health Bureau yesterday.

Kinmen County Commissioner Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) and the descendants of the family residence’s original owners attended the ceremony to mark the start of the restoration. The Wang Chin-cheng’s Western House (王金城洋樓) combines Western and Hoklo architectural elements in an elaborate and graceful way, the county government said in a news release. Wang Chin-cheng’s Western House, a 92-year-old county-level cultural heritage site in Kinmen County’s Jinsha Township, is pictured on Wednesday. After that, a neighbor of the Indonesia-based members of the Wang family wired NT$30,000 to repair the house’s roof and outside walls, it said. Military slogans and the national flag were prominently displayed while the house was used by the army, it added.

At an online news conference, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Secretary-General Chou Shyue-yow (周學佑) extended his congratulations to Kishida. Former minister of foreign affairs Fumio Kishida, center, reacts after being elected as the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: AFPThe outcome has raised hopes that Kishida would support Taiwan’s bid to join the CPTPP, given his vocal support for Taiwan during the campaign. In related news, Yuki Tatsumi, a Japanese academic at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington, on Wednesday said that Kishida is unlikely to soften his country’s foreign policy toward Beijing. Against that backdrop, Japanese politicians, especially those in the LDP, have revised their stance toward Taipei and are considering further improvement of bilateral relations, she said.

But 13-year-olds are already welcome on social media with few protections and sometimes tragic effects, experts and parents said. Facebook and Instagram had argued that kids are getting phones steadily younger, lying about their ages, getting apps and need something designed for them. “Preteens probably shouldn’t have phones, but parents give them anyway... Young teens shouldn’t be on social media, but parents allow,” Stamos tweeted. But a lack of protection for children online means they will remain sought after targets for social media, especially the youngest users. “The real problem is that the business model is reaching deeper and deeper down the brainstem at a younger and younger age, much like the tobacco companies had to get kids addicted early,” said Harris.

Teco to supply substation for offshore wind farmBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterTeco Electric and Machinery Co (東元電機) is to provide an onshore substation for a 1,044-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Changhua County, the company said on Wednesday, after signing a preferred supplier agreement with the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project Office (海龍離岸風電計畫辦公室). One of Taiwan’s leading suppliers of electric motors, Teco said that the onshore substation would transmit output from three wind farms, located 40km off the coast of Changhua to Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) grid. “This is the third year in a row that Teco has been awarded onshore substation contracts,” Teco president George Lien (連昭志) said. With an additional 15GW of offshore wind development capacity planned by 2035, Taiwan is one of Asia’s most promising offshore wind markets, he said. Teco is expanding as a supplier in the wind farm supply chain, while aiming for business opportunities in energy storage, Lien said.

Hakuho’s exit leaves ‘void’ in sumo: expertsAFP, TOKYOSumo will struggle to fill the “void” left by the retirement of its greatest-ever champion, Hakuho, experts say, with few new stars emerging and public interest in the ancient Japanese sport likely to wane. Yokozuna Hakuho of Mongolia tosses salt into the air as he enters the ring for the final on the second day of the Grand Sumo Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 10, 2007. His departure leaves just one wrestler, Terunofuji, at sumo’s highest rank of yokozuna — and even his long-term future is unclear. The 29-year-old Terunofuji only reached the yokozuna rank in July, after an injury-plagued career that saw him drop to the second-lowest division at one point. “Sumo is a sport that has always been based around rivalry at the very top of the rankings,” he said.

Eric Chu to take KMT helm next weekStaff writer, with CNAChinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Eric Chu (朱立倫) is to assume leadership of the party at a ceremony on Tuesday next week, a KMT official said on Wednesday. Chu, who won the KMT chairperson election on Saturday last week, is to take over from KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣). The handover date was decided on Wednesday at a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee, which also confirmed the results of the chairperson election and approved Chiang’s resignation, the KMT official said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Eric Chu, right, grasps the hand of KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an at an event in Taipei on Wednesday thanking party members for voting for him in the chairperson election. The committee decided to hold a ceremony on Tuesday next week, at which Chiang would hand over the party leadership seal to Chu, who previously served as KMT chairperson from 2015 to 2016, the party official added.