Improved defense, US ties needed: TsaiJUGGLING GLOBAL GIANTS: At a National Security Council meeting, the president pushed the idea of a trade agreement with the US and stabilizing cross-strait relationsBy Lee Hsin-fang / Staff reporterPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday instructed the government to bolster self-defense capabilities, improve relations with the US across party lines, and stabilize economic and social order. The directives were issued at a National Security Council meeting, which was held earlier yesterday amid an increasing number of incursions by Chinese military planes and ahead of Tuesday’s US presidential election. Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang at a news briefing in Taipei yesterday comments on a National Security Council meeting hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen. Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei TimesDuring the meeting, Tsai said the nation should further modernize its defense capabilities, upgrade its asymmetric combat capabilities, promote indigenous arms development and reform its reserve forces to brace for Beijing’s military expansion and aggression, Chang quoted Tsai as saying. Tsai said that stabilizing cross-strait relations is a shared interest of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Lions take Game 1 of Taiwan SeriesEXTRA INNING: A pitching duel between starters Esmil Rogers for the Brothers and the Lions’ Brock Dykxhoorn kept the game at one run apiece until the final frameBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterVeteran outfielder Pan Wu-hsiung blasted a three-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Uni-President Lions a 4-2 win in Game 1 of the Taiwan Series against the CTBC Brothers at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium last night. Baseball fans fill the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium for Game 1 of the Taiwan Series between the CTBC Brothers and the Uni-President Lions yesterday. Uni-President Lions outfielder Pan Wu-hsiung, right, is congratualted by teammates during Game 1 of the CPBL’s Taiwan Series against the CTBC Brothers at the Taichung Intercontinental Stadium yesterday. Singer Wei Li-an performs at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium ahead of Game 1 of the Taiwan Series yesterday. The Taiwan Series games are to be played at the two teams’ home ballparks in Taichung and Tainan, with reminders of the government efforts to contain COVID-19 visible.

Participants in yesterday’s Taiwan LGBT Pride parade wave flags in Taipei’s Xinyi District, the starting point of the event. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei TimesBefore the parade officially started at Taipei City Hall Plaza at 2pm, thousands of people began flocking to the square since the morning. Participants of the 18th annual Taiwan LGBT Pride parade yesterday walk along a street in Taipei. “The Taiwan LGBT Pride parade is not only a carnival. Participants of the 18th annual Taiwan LGBT Pride parade pose for a photographer in Taipei yesterday.

Taiwan economy expanded 3.33% in third quarterBETTER THAN EXPECTED: It was the best performance in nine quarters — reversing a downward trend in the second quarter — thanks mainly to robust exportsBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterTaiwan’s economy last quarter grew 3.33 percent, beating the government forecast of 2.01 percent, as demand for devices used in 5G equipment, as well as work-from-home and remote-learning trends, proved stronger than expected, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. It was the best performance in nine quarters, reversing a downward trend in the second quarter, thanks to robust exports and soft imports that allowed external demand to more than offset languid private consumption, the agency said. Exports of electronic components in the third quarter surged 20.39 percent year-on-year, while shipments of information and communications technology products soared 20.64 percent, Wu said. Government agencies have commissioned public works ahead of schedule to shore up the economy, Wu said. Outbound travel shrank 97.8 percent, similar to a 98.94 percent slump in the second quarter, Wu said.

Malaysian student’s alleged killer seizedBUNGLED ABDUCTION? The man was arrested late on Thursday in connection with the death of a female Malaysian student at a university in Tainan. Liang told police that he abducted Chung, intending to sexually assault her, and eventually drove to a hillside in Kaohsiung’s Alian District (阿蓮) to dump her body. Police said they found bloodstains and a bag of female underwear in Liang’s car. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday demanded that the police and the Ministry of Education swiftly clarify details of the case.

Lite-On Technology reports net profit fell 4 percent in Q3SILVER LINING: With the COVID-19 pandemic likely to drag into next year, so would demand for work-from-home devices, Lite-On’s president saidBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterElectronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter fell 4 percent year-on-year to NT$2.99 billion (US$103.37 million), from NT$3.11 billion in the same period last year. On a quarterly basis, net profit contracted 13 percent from NT$3.45 billion, or EPS of NT$1.48, in the second quarter. The logo of Lite-On Technology Corp is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Taipei on May 9. “As Lite-On sheds underperforming departments, we expect gross margin and operating profit margin to keep improving in the fourth quarter on a year-on-year basis,” Chiu said. Cumulative net profit for the first three quarters was NT$8.01 billion, a 15 percent increase year-on-year.

TPP calls for more dredging rulesBy Wu Su-wei and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNAMore regulations should be introduced to make the legal system regulating activities in the nation’s waters more complete, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers said yesterday, citing increased dredging operations by Chinese vessels off Matsu. TPP caucus whip Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) told a news conference on raising awareness about illegal dredging that Taiwan, as an island nation, should have a complete set of laws to address its wide array of maritime affairs. It is good that the amendments passed by the Executive Yuan state that confiscated dredging vessels can be blown up at sea to become artificial fish shelters, which can benefit marine ecology, she said. Many Chinese vessels seem to not know that waters near Matsu are off-limits to dredging, Lin said. The Executive Yuan and the Ocean Affairs Council should clarify whether Matsu’s waters have been officially defined by China as designated areas for legal sand dredging, he said.

Air force jet crash claims pilot’s lifeTAKEOFF INCIDENT: Chu Kuan-meng was a member of a band and loved fishing, the military said, adding that he was to be promoted from captain to majorBy Hsieh Chun-lin, Aaron Tu and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writerAir force pilot Captain Chu Kuan-meng (朱冠甍) was killed yesterday after ejecting from his F-5E jet over the sea off Taitung County. A photograph of air force pilot Captain Chu Kuan-meng is displayed at a funeral hall in Taitung County yesterday. The Taitung County Fire Department said that it was informed of a suspected jet crash off the Jialulan (加路蘭) area in Taitung City and confirmed the incident with the Ministry of National Defense at 7:55am. Air force pilot Captain Chu Kuan-meng plays a guitar in an undated photograph. The F-5E training jet from the 7th Tactical Flight Wing that crashed in Taitung County yesterday is pictured in an undated photograph.

Yang Ming to place profit before fleetBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterYang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) plans to prioritize boosting its profitability over expanding its fleet size, chairman and CEO Cheng Chen-mount (鄭貞茂) said yesterday, adding that the firm would seek to attract foreign institutional investors with healthy financial portfolios. Yang Ming has secured a 2.6 percent share of the world’s liner fleet, data compiled by Alphaliner, a France-based maritime consultant, showed. Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp chairman and CEO Cheng Chen-mount speaks at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. The shipper holds an upbeat outlook for this quarter given excess demand in the market, Yang Ming spokesperson Shih Mei-chi (史美琦) said. The freight rates for routes from Asia to the US are expected to remain high until the Lunar New Year holiday next year, he said.

VP Lai visits Lions before start of the Taiwan SeriesBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterVice President William Lai yesterday visited a Uni-President Lions practice at the Tainan Municipal Stadium, as the team prepare for tomorrow’s Taiwan Series opener against the CTBC Brothers in Taichung. The former Tainan mayor gave the Lions a pineapple, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, to wish the team success in the best-of-seven series. Well-known as a knowledgeable baseball fan, Lai is open about his avid support for the Tainan-based Lions, often attending their games. Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei TimesThis year’s series features two rookie managers going head-to-head: Lin Yue-ping of the Lions and Chiu Chang-jung of the Brothers. The Lions are to host the next three games of the series on Tuesday, Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday in Tainan, all with 6:30pm start times.

That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.3, versus minus-NT$0.31 a quarter earlier and minus-NT$0.41 a year earlier. While unit shipments are expected to slide, factory utilization should remain high, similar to last quarter’s 95 percent, it added. “The industry’s seasonal cycles this year have been upended by the pandemic,” AUO chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told investors yesterday. Notebook computer shipments last quarter rose 35 percent and whole-year shipments are likely to register double-digit percentage growth, the company said. The company posted a net loss of NT$3.89 billion in the third quarter last year.

UMC’s net profit best in 14 yearsBy Lisa Wang / Staff ReporterUnited Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday posted its strongest quarterly net profit in 14 years as work-from-home and remote-schooling trends continued to drive demand for power management chips used in smartphones and high-speed interface controllers. Net profit last quarter soared 36.37 percent to NT$9.11 billion (US$315.07 million) from NT$6.68 billion in the second quarter. UMC expects this to significantly increase demand for 28-nanometer chips this quarter, he added. Every 1 percent appreciation in the NT dollar reduces UMC’s gross margin by 0.5 percentage points, the chipmaker said.

Executive Yuan clarifies list of pork import nationsBy Lee Hsin-fang, Lin Hui-chin and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writer and CNAOnly 13 nations are allowed to export pork to Taiwan, so it is not correct to say that pork containing ractopamine from around the world would be allowed to enter the local market after the government sets residual allowance levels for the feed additive in imported pork, Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung speaks at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. The US is the only nation that would possibly export pork containing ractopamine to Taiwan from Jan. 1, when President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) order is to take effect, he said. Tsai on Aug. 28 announced that the nation’s long-time ban on pork imports containing ractopamine would end by setting safety residual standards. Chen Shih-chung said that he has had discussions with Su about resuming the briefings.

“Right now, electric vehicles are at about 2 percent saturation, but it might reach 10 to 12 percent by 2030,” Delta chairman Yancey Hai (海英俊) told an investors’ conference. “Price is coming down and charging stations are becoming more widespread.”Delta provides direct current inverters, onboard chargers, charging stations and electric motors for electric vehicles. Delta Electronics Co chairman Yancey Hai speaks at an investors’ conference in Taipei yesterday. Sales in the automation segment were NT$9.7 billion, up 2 percent year-on-year, and revenue in the infrastructure segment was NT$23.1 billion, down 6 percent, data showed. However, the infrastructure segment saw profit grow by 727 percent due to “good control of raw material prices,” Delta’s investor relations officer Rodney Liu (劉致遠) said.

TAIEX falls 1%, tracking global boursesPANIC SELLOFFS: The local markets are susceptible to additional corrections in the near term, unless US and European bourses stabilize first, a securities analyst saidBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterThe TAIEX yesterday shed 130.84 points, or 1.02 percent, to close at 12,662.91, taking cues from global bourses overnight as France and Germany announced four-week lockdowns to contain rising COVID-19 cases. A man looks at an electronic stock board at a brokerage firm in Taipei yesterday. The TAIEX fell 1.02 percent to close at 12,662.91 points yesterday, as rising COVID-19 infections, and tougher lockdowns in Europe and the US added to worries about the economic hit from the pandemic. The National Stabilization Fund Committee on Oct. 12 pulled the NT$500 billion (US$17.29 billion) fund from the TAIEX, saying that it had achieved its goal of stabilizing the TAIEX, which had rebounded from March lows. Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong attends a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee in Taipei yesterday.