Hon Hai’s EV venture with Byton on hold: report
Hon Hai’s EV venture with Byton on hold: reportReutersHon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) electric vehicle (EV) project with Byton Ltd (拜騰) has been put on hold due to the Chinese start-up’s worsening financial situation, the Nikkei Asia reported yesterday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter. An chassis of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s MIH Open Platform electric vehicle project is pictured in Taipei on Feb. 7. Some higher-level personnel involved in the project has even left Hon Hai, the report added. Hon Hai declined to comment, while Byton did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hon Hai said that the EV joint venture’s production site might be built in the Eastern Economic Corridor special development zone in Thailand.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2021 15:56 UTC
Vote on Taiwan-related bill in US expected
Vote on Taiwan-related bill in US expectedBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAThe US House of Representatives is next week expected to vote on the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, which includes a provision recommending Taiwan’s inclusion in next year’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). It has now been sent to the full House, which is to debate and vote on the bill next week. The 1,362-page bill includes three major provisions on Taiwan under sections 1243, 1247 and 1248. This includes military articles, training, joint exercises and exchanges between officials “at the strategic, policy and functional levels,” the bill says. The US Senate’s version of the bill was approved by its Armed Services Committee on July 23.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2021 15:56 UTC
China Steel lifts prices 1.32% next month, in Q4
China Steel lifts prices 1.32% next month, in Q4By Angelica Oung / Staff reporterChina Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) yesterday said it would raise prices for domestic deliveries by 1.32 percent next month and for next quarter to reflect higher manufacturing costs and rising steel demand. “We are heading into the fourth quarter, traditionally the strong quarter for steel demand,” the company said in a statement. Prices of steel plates, hot-rolled steel, hot-rolled steel rolls, electroplated steel rolls and automotive steel would increase by NT$1,500 per tonne, while rod material prices would rise by NT$1,000 per tonne, it said. US steel prices keep breaking records, with hot-rolled steel priced at US$2,100 per tonne and cold-rolled steel nearing US$2,400 per tonne, it said. “The overall cost of raw materials remains high, which will support international steel prices,” the company said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 15, 2021 15:56 UTC
Protesters target Chinese property firm
Protesters target Chinese property firmEVERGRANDE WOES: The Chinese company issued a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, saying it was exploring ’all feasible solutions’ for a cash crunchAFP, BEIJINGDozens of people yesterday protested outside the headquarters of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) after the debt-laden firm said that it was under “tremendous pressure” and might not be able to meet its repayments. Photo: AFPAn estimated 60 to 70 people gathered outside Evergrande’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, jostling with police and demanding answers. There’s no clear explanation right now ... they should have paid the money when it was due.”Evergrande’s plight has raised fears of a contagion across the debt-mired Chinese property sector — which accounts for more than one-quarter of the world’s second-largest economy — with a knock-on effect on banks and investors. However, it issued another statement yesterday to the Hong Kong stock exchange, saying it had hired financial advisers to explore “all feasible solutions” to ease its cash crunch. It is also struggling to sell its Hong Kong headquarters, even at a loss.
Source:Taipei Times
September 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
Value of presale housing expected to soar in the fall
Value of presale housing expected to soar in the fallBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterPresale housing projects are expected to soar 64.5 percent year-on-year to NT$269.03 billion (US$9.71 billion) in northern Taiwan in the autumn sales season from Sept. 28 through next month, as local cases of COVID-19 and social distancing rules prompted developers to push back launches, the Chinese-language My Housing Monthly said on Thursday last week. The name of a Yuanlih Group presale housing project is displayed at a construction site in Taipei’s Wenshan District on July 22. Taipei has also reported an increase in new apartments of less than 30 ping (99m2), as few people want large homes, Ho said. New housing projects in Taoyuan total more than NT$50 billion, mostly concentrated in Jhongli (中壢) and Cingpu (青埔) districts with asking prices approaching NT$500,000 per ping, the magazine said. Yilan County reported the lowest value for expected new housing projects in northern Taiwan at NT$2.7 billion, it said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
Delegation to visit East Europe
Kung Ming-Shin, minister of The National Development Council (NDC) will be leading a delegation group to visit Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Lithunania, the MOFA announced on Tuesday. The delegation would comprise government officials and business representatives from sectors such as information and communication technology, precision medicine and electric vehicles, he said. Some disease prevention specialists would accompany the delegation during the visit, he added. A Slovak delegation had planned to visit Taiwan in May, but due to a local COVID-19 outbreak the visit was rescheduled. During the visit to Slovakia, the delegation would discuss the planned Taiwan trip with their counterparts, Chen said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
Blinken reaffirms US’ commitment
“I just returned from Ukraine two days ago, my next stop will be Taiwan,” Fitzpatrick said during the hearing. “These people are scared to death.”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks via videoconference during a US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing in Washington on Monday. Photo: BloombergFitzpatrick asked Blinken if the US would “do whatever it takes” to support Ukraine and Taiwan from Russian and Chinese aggression respectively. Asked about Chinese state-run media’s ongoing attempts to draw parallels between the US’ relationship with Taiwan and Washington’s abandonment of Afghanistan, Blinken said that Beijing would love to see Washington stuck in Afghanistan for another decade. Blinken added that the Biden administration could not renegotiate because of the group’s threats to resume killing Americans.
Source:Taipei Times
September 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
Chinese newspaper urges rules for ads on medical beauty
Chinese newspaper urges rules for ads on medical beautyReuters, BEIJINGChina’s People’s Daily newspaper said it was “imperative and urgent” to regulate advertisements bombarding people with recommendations for cosmetic surgery, procedures and treatments, as the ads have become excessive, with some making false claims. The People’s Daily said that some advertisements associate good looks with “high-quality,” “diligence” and “success,” fabricating stories about “plastic surgery changing one’s destiny” and distorting aesthetic perceptions. Last month, the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation drafted guidelines to regulate the medical aesthetics sector’s advertising practices, saying that they were prompting societal anxiety over people’s looks. Demand for plastic surgery or medical aesthetic treatment has boomed in China in the past few years, with procedures to make one’s eyes wider or nose higher among the most popular. However, the ads have been criticized for failing to caution people about risks.
Source:Taipei Times
September 14, 2021 15:56 UTC
Live-fire Han Kuang exercises begin
Live-fire Han Kuang exercises beginBIOLOGICAL AGENT: A containment exercise was held in southern Tainan, in response to a mock assault where troops were assumed to be attacked by bioweaponsStaff writer, with CNAThe live-fire component of this year’s annual Han Kuang military exercises, Taiwan’s major war games involving all military branches, began yesterday morning and is to run until Friday to test the armed forces’ capability to fend off a Chinese invasion. The ships’ early departure is a preventive measure in anticipation of enemy bombardment of Taiwan’s ports, a military source said. A C-130 Hercules transport plane delivers maintenance personnel, equipment and supplies to Chiashan Air Base in Hualien County yesterday during this year’s Han Kuang military exercises. The Han Kuang exercises have been held annually since 1984 in the form of live-fire drills and computerized war games. The live-fire exercises were originally scheduled to start on July 12 and run for five days.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Adimmune greenlit for Indonesia vaccine trial
Adimmune yesterday said that the Indonesian trials would determine the optimal dosage for its vaccine to generate adequate protection against COVID-19 variants and prove its efficacy. The name of Adimmune Corp is pictured at the company’s headquarters in Taichung in an undated photograph. Despite encountering a setback in Taiwan, Adimmune did not modify the formula of its COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed AdimrSC-2f, nor its recombinant protein manufacturing technology, Pan said. Instead, the company plans to apply to the Indonesian regulator to conduct a phase 3 trial there, he said. As with Moderna Inc, Adimmune would consider combining its flu vaccine into COVID-19 vaccine if its candidate is approved, although that mixture would not be a focus for research and development at this time, Pan said.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
China targets Alipay in tech crackdown
China targets Alipay in tech crackdown‘UNRULY GROWTH’: The Chinese government believes the technology industry’s monopoly power comes from its control of data and wants to end that, a source saidAFP, BEIJINGChinese regulators have ordered sweeping changes to the country’s biggest payment app Alipay (支付寶), as the Chinese Communist Party attempts to rein in “the unruly growth” of the tech giants. “The government believes big tech’s monopoly power comes from their control of data,” the source close to financial regulators told the newspaper. Ma’s business empire has been targeted in a wider crackdown on tech firms aimed at breaking monopolies and strengthening data security that has wiped billions off companies’ valuations. The ministry has summoned executives from the country’s online platforms to emphasize the need to stop shutting out each other’s services, Zhao said. However, it is unclear what actions regulators want the big tech firms to take, and by when.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Vienna marathon winner disqualified over his shoe soles
Vienna marathon winner disqualified over his shoe solesReutersEthiopia’s Derara Hurisa on Sunday won the Vienna City Marathon, but was disqualified soon after when the soles of his shoes were found to be 1cm too thick in contravention of the rules. Hurisa crossed the line with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 22 seconds, but less than 45 minutes later was left distraught when his time was struck off as his shoe soles were 5cm thick. The soles of road running shoes cannot be thicker than 4cm and Hurisa had worn a different set of shoes to the ones he had mentioned on his form. Ethiopia’s Derara Hurisa celebrates after winning the Vienna City Marathon in Austria on Sunday. He was later disqualified for wearing shoes with soles that were 5cm thick.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
IPAC urges solidarity with Taiwan
IPAC urges solidarity with TaiwanStaff writer, with CNA, LONDONMembers of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) yesterday called for global solidarity with Taiwan and Lithuania, as the nations face intense pressure from the Chinese government. In a video statement posted on Twitter, IPAC members appealed to democratic countries to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Lithuania, and raise awareness of China’s retaliatory tactics against nations such as Taiwan and Lithuania. Sakaliene is a member of Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament, and one of several IPAC members to have been targeted by Chinese retaliation. IPAC was founded last year as an international coalition to create a coordinated response to China on global security, human rights and trade issues. It has previously initiated movements encouraging governments to back Taiwan’s inclusion at the World Health Assembly, and voiced its support for Australian wine producers who were affected by Chinese trade sanctions.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
UAE to spend US$6.5bn to boost private-sector jobs
UAE to spend US$6.5bn to boost private-sector jobsMAJOR EMPLOYER: Many Emiratis pass up private-sector jobs to work in better-paying government positions, with foreigners making up for the shortfallBloombergThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to spend 24 billion dirhams (US$6.5 billion) on a package of benefits and subsidies designed to reduce citizen unemployment by making private-sector jobs more attractive. As in much of the Persian Gulf, the UAE government is the employer of choice, with many college graduates rebuffing offers from private companies while they wait for state jobs with better pay, benefits and working hours. Millions of foreigners from all over the world fill most private-sector jobs. The government’s aim is to absorb 75,000 citizens into private-sector jobs over the next five years. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a UAE political science professor, said the government should not shoulder the burden alone.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC
Childlike Mourinho hails ‘incredible’ AS Roma victory
Childlike Mourinho hails ‘incredible’ AS Roma victoryAFP, MILANAS Roma coach Jose Mourinho said he felt like a child when charging from his dugout to celebrate Stephan El Shaarawy’s last-gasp winner in a thrilling 2-1 victory over US Sassuolo, which put his side top of Serie A in his 1,000th match as a manager. Italy international El Shaarawy struck with a sublime curling strike in the 91st minute, causing wild celebrations at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, with Mourinho running to join his joyous players in front of screaming supporters behind the goal. “Today I wasn’t 58 years old, I felt like a 10, 12, 14-year-old, back when you begin to dream about a career in football. Roma’s Stephan El Shaarawy, left, scores the team’s second goal in their Serie A match against US Sassuolo at Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday. AS Roma fans wave flags as a picture of coach Jose Mourinho is displayed on the big screen before the match against US Sassuolo at Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday.
Source:Taipei Times
September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC