Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/03
By: Fan Cheng-hsiang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) The Legislature passed a special bill Wednesday aimed at encouraging remittances of funds from abroad, by offering preferential tax rates to potential returning investors.

Under the bill, Taiwanese individuals and companies abroad will be eligible for a special tax rate of 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively, on inward remittances in the first and second years after the new law takes effect, compared with the current 20 percent levied on such funds.

If their remitted funds are invested in specific industries, such as the "five plus two" innovative industries–the Internet of Things, biotechnology, green energy, smart machinery and defense, plus high-value agriculture and the circular economy — they will receive a tax rebate of 50 percent, according to the bill.

That actually means they will be given a preferential tax rate of 4-5 percent on their remittances.
[FULL  STORY]

Cups, plates, bowls, and straws made entirely from bamboo fibers hit shelves July 3

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As Taiwan officially implements new environmental policies for restaurants and other food vendors, the Family Mart convenience store chain is preparing to unveil a line of eco-friendly products for customers.

Under the Family Mart Collection (FMC) label, the chain store is set to begin offering new biodegradable tableware including plates, bowls, cups, and straws, on July 3, reports Liberty Times (LTN).

Manufactured in Taiwan, the products are made entirely from bamboo fibers and biodegrade rapidly under natural conditions. In addition, the FMC tableware can be safely burned without emitting any toxic substances, and it can also be washed and rinsed for multiple uses.

The FMC label is responding to the demands of consumers who are starting to appreciate organic and plant-based products, according to the head of Family Mart’s commodities department, Wu Ya-ching (吳雅卿).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/02
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Taiwan's manufacturing sector signaled contraction for a seventh consecutive month in May amid lingering worries over trade friction between the United States and China, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said Tuesday.

Data compiled by TIER, one of Taiwan's leading think tanks, showed the composite index for the manufacturing sector in May fell 0.60 points from a month earlier to 9.12, flashing a "blue light" signaling contraction for a seventh straight month.

The think tank uses a five-color system to describe economic activity, with red indicating overheating, yellow-red showing fast growth, green representing stable growth, yellow-blue signaling sluggish growth and blue reflecting contraction.

A blue light is flashed when the composite index falls to 10.5 or below that level.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/01
By  Central News Agency

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, moved sharply higher Monday to return to the level the stock was at before going ex-dividend on June 24.

Ex-dividend refers to when the stock trades without the value of the next dividend payment. TSMC shares closed at NT$248.50 (US$8.02) on June 21, before having their dividend of NT$8 per share deducted and opening at NT$240.50 at the start of trading on June 24.

On Monday, TSMC shares rose 3.97 percent to close at NT$248.50, off a high of NT$250.00, with 66.24 million shares changing hands on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, where the weighted index ended up 1.53 percent at 10,895.46.

That meant the stock recovered to its pre-ex-dividend level in just six sessions, the fastest the stock has achieved the feat in three years.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/01
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) A truce between the United States and China in their trade war struck during a

meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit last week is expected to benefit not only Washington, but also Taipei, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) said Monday.

Wang Jiann-chyuan (王健全), vice president of CIER, told reporters that the better-than-expected results reached in the Trump-Xi meeting is expected to help the U.S. economy, the largest in the world, stem downside risks in the second half of this year, and that will create a breather for the global economy, including Taiwan's.

On the sidelines of the G20 summit held during June 28-29 in Osaka, Trump and Xi agreed to suspend a trade tariff escalation against each other's country and continue talks to resolve their trade disputes.

Moreover, the U.S. president announced lifting the ban against Chinese telecom equipment supplier and smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Inc., allowing U.S. tech companies to sell products to the Chinese firm.    [FULL  STORY]

South China Morning Post
Date: 30 Jun, 2019
By: Laura Zhou  

• Mainland China has stepped up its efforts to attract skilled tech workers as its aims for self-reliance in the semiconductor industry
• More career opportunities and better pay are key factors enticing skilled engineers to make the move

China hopes to fill a gap in its silicon chip manufacturing capability with the help of engineers and designers from Taiwan. Photo: Reuters

Like hundreds of thousands of tech workers in Taiwan, James Chen used to believe he would spend his whole career at Hsinchu Science Park, one of the world’s most significant centres for semiconductor manufacturing and the home of more than 400 companies.

But now, entering his sixth year working for a Chinese company in the mainland province of Guangdong, Chen said he had no plans to return to the island – even though the strategic competition between Beijing and Washington across a wide range of issues, including technology, had become increasingly intense.

There have been growing concerns that the year-long trade war with the US, as well as Washington’s threat to ban American suppliers from selling sophisticated chips to Huawei, China’s telecoms equipment giant, for national security reasons, would hamper the country’s ambitious investment in chip-making facilities and talent.

On Saturday at the G20 meeting in Japan, US President Donald Trump said he would allow Huawei to buy American products. But many observers worry that the rivalry with the US has delayed Beijing’s goal of domestically sourcing 40 per cent of all chips used by industry by 2020, and 70 per cent by 2025 under the Made in China 2025 plan.    [FULL  STORY]

HTC has reportedly taken the next steps on its Android update roadmap for its older devices. A Twitter user located in Taiwan has posted the upgrade notification for version 9.0 (Pie) on their U12+. However, this has yet to be followed by reports of the same in other areas.

Notebook Check
Date: 2019/06/30
By: Deirdre O Donnell

About a month ago now, HTC made a commitment to upgrade its more recent flagships to the latest stable version of Android (9.0, or Pie). This was to start with the U11, which is powered by the Snapdragon 835, and extent to the U12+, its 2018 successor. Now, it appears that the OEM has reached this stage in the process. A Twitter user apparently in possession of this phone has posted screenshots of its upgrade changelog.

The update in question is called version 2.45.709.1 of HTC Sense (the OEM's Android skin), and is described as containing the major OS upgrade. It also apparently confers system optimizations on the U12+, while removing the now-defunct Google+ from Sense's custom social content aggregator Blinkfeed.

However, this report fails to explain what happened to another phone, the HTC U11+ (a U11 variant that was released prior to the U12+) in this upgrade timeline. Despite the fact that its immediate predecessor's own Pie-update process has recently been reinstatedfollowing a postponement due to booting issues, the U11+ has not been sent the same notifications as the 12.    [SOURCE]