‘TRUSTED PARTNER’: Taiwan enjoys bipartisan support in Washington and US tech giants have been increasing their investments in Taiwan, the economy minister said

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 04, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

Taiwan-US trade relations would remain “on track” regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s presidential elections in the US, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday.

“Taiwan is a trusted partner of the US,” Wang told reporters at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. “This does not change [depending on] whether the Republicans or the Democrats are in power.”

Taiwan has made significant progress in trade and diplomatic relations with the US in the past few months.

Despite protests from China, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office in August. This was followed by a delegation led by US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach to attend closed-door meetings with government officials and business leaders in Taipei to bolster trade ties.    [FULL  STORY]

Year-end company banquets risk cancellation amid coronavirus pandemic

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/11/02
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Compal Electronics has become the first tech firm in the nation to skip the most significant event in Taiwanese corporate culture after canceling its year-end banquet (尾牙) over Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.

According to Compal Electronics, an original design manufacturer with product lines that include laptops and tablets, the banquet will not take place due to concern over the risk of COVID-19. Employees are still waiting for announcements pertaining to how the highlight of year-end parties — the prize draw — will be held, reported CNA.

Other tech companies, including Quanta Computer, Wistron, Inventec, and Pegatron, have yet to decide whether to follow suit. Barry Lam (林百里), founder of Quanta Computer, said it would be a shame if the company event was canceled because its employees deserve a moment to relax after all their hard work, according to UDN.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date 11/02/2020
By: Chang Hsiung-feng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) The number of furloughed workers in Taiwan increased slightly last week from the previous week, but it declined in October for the fifth consecutive month, the Ministry of Labor (MOL) said Monday.

As of Oct. 30, 685 companies had implemented unpaid leave programs, up 30 from a week ago, with a total of 13,303 workers on furlough, up 119 from a week earlier, data compiled by the MOL showed.

Over the past week, one more manufacturer began an unpaid leave program, but the overall number of workers on furlough in manufacturing declined by 67, according to Wang Chin-jung (王金蓉), a specialist in the MOL's Labor Conditions and Equal Employment Division.

Most of the increases in furloughed workers during the past week came in small enterprises in the retail/wholesale, transportation, travel, and public relations and marketing sectors with workforces of fewer than 50 people, Wang said.    [FULL  STORY]

DETENTE: The Eastern Broadcasting Co chairman said he was not at Tatung during its internal conflict and would work with the outgoing chairwoman to improve the firm

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 03, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

The changing of the guard at one of Taiwan’s most venerable companies was completed yesterday with the appointment of Eastern Broadcasting Co (東森電視) chairman Lin Wen-yuan (林文淵) as the new chairman of Tatung Co (大同).

Lin, no relation to the Lin family that has controlled Tatung since its founding 102 years ago, was elected unanimously by the company’s nine-member board at an extraordinary board meeting.

The board is controlled by activist investors led by Shanyuan Group (三圓建設) chairman Wang Kuang-hsiang (王光祥).

Despite a long and acrimonious struggle between company management led by outgoing Tatung chairwoman Lin Kuo Wen-yen (林郭文艷) and the activist investors, Lin Wen-yuan struck a reconciliatory tone at a news conference following the board meeting.    [FULL  STORY]

Bloomberg News
Date: Oct 29, 2020
By: Chris Horton and Raymond Wu, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Taiwan has so far managed to remain something of a haven from the coronavirus and the uncertainties of increasing U.S.-China competition, with its economy likely to have rebounded after a contraction earlier this year.

Gross domestic product expanded 1.1% in the third quarter from a year ago, according to the median forecast in a survey of economists. The cabinet hinted at an even better result in a statement Thursday, saying there would be “good news” for those who hope to see an expansion above 2% when it releases the data Friday.

Taiwan joins South Korea and China in quickly shaking off the Covid-19 downturn, even as many of its other trading partners are still contracting. That recovery has been underpinned by a variety of factors, including export growth, a stronger currency, the quick control of the virus, and a voucher-based domestic stimulus program.

“Whether you’re looking at foreign trade or consumption, it’s all looking quite positive,” Anita Hsu, an economist with Masterlink Securities Investment Advisory in Taipei, said in an interview Monday. “Domestic consumption appears to have picked up significantly, and the stimulus and tourism vouchers should be sufficient to offset some of the lost consumption from foreign tourists.”
[FULL  STORY]

Sons of tycoon's first wife refuse to accept verdict in favor of StarLux chairman

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/29
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwan High Court on Thursday (Oct. 29) began hearings in the appeal by a son of late Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) against a decision in favor of StarLux Airlines Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒).

Ever since the elder Chang passed away in 2016, his sons from different wives have been fighting each other for control over his inheritance. The transportation tycoon reportedly wrote a will leaving everything to Chang Kuo-wei, the only son of his second wife.

However, the three children of his first wife took their case to court, arguing the will had not been signed by their father himself, with no two witnesses present, as the law stipulates. Chang Kuo-wei countered them, saying an investigation had shown the tycoon had been qualified to draw up a will and was fully conscious of its content, while experts had concluded the signature was indeed the tycoon’s own handwriting.

The Taipei District Court agreed with the StarLux chairman, but his half-brothers filed an appeal with the Taiwan High Court. Because the matter was a private family affair, Thursday’s court session was closed to the public and the media, UDN reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/29/2020
By: Flor Wang and Yu Hsiang

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) A stimulus voucher program and coupon packages rolled out by the Executive Yuan and other government agencies aimed at bolstering the economy have nearly tripled business revenue, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Thursday.

The figures were made public at a weekly Executive Yuan meeting, in which ministry officials presented a report to Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).

Su was told that the stimulus vouchers issued by the Executive Yuan and coupons issued by other agencies to boost the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, at a total cost of NT$65.055 billion (US$2.243 billion), have generated an estimated NT$179 billion in business revenue.

In addition to the "Triple Stimulus Vouchers" issued by the Executive Yuan on July 15, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Council of Agriculture, the Sports Administration, the Ministry of Culture, and the Hakka Affairs Council issued their own coupons.   [FULL  STORY]

OVERFLOW EXPECTED: The LCD panel maker said it expects the uptrend to extend into this quarter and even into next year, as the stay-at-home economy continues

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 30, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

LCD panel maker AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) returned a profit in the third quarter — the first quarter in eight — as demand boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic drove shipments of large TVs and notebook computers.

The stay-at-home, work-from-home and distance-learning trends helped the Hsinchu-based company make NT$2.89 billion (US$99.95 million) in net profit last quarter, reversing a loss of NT$2.96 billion in the second quarter and a loss of NT$3.99 billion in the third quarter last year.

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.

The firm expects the uptrend to extend into this quarter and even to “overflow” into the first half of next year, as a resurgence of the pandemic hits many countries, further supporting the stay-at-home economy.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/28/2020
By: Han Ting-ting and Elizabeth Hs

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) Taipei-based Oneness Biotech Co. Ltd. (合一生技) set the price for its global

depositary receipt (GDR) issuance on Wednesday that will make it the biggest ever overseas fundraising case by a company in Taiwan's biomedical sector.

Oneness Biotech announced Wednesday morning that the price for its GDRs was finalized on Tuesday at US$51.11 per unit (equal to five common shares), or US$10.22 (NT$292.39) per share.

With 3.46 million GDR units being issued, a total of US$177 million will be raised, according to the company.

The price represented a substantial discount off Oneness' shares traded on Taiwan's over-the-counter market, which closed at NT$324.50 on the Taipei Exchange on Tuesday and were down nearly 5 percent to NT$309.00 early Wednesday afternoon.    [FULL  STORY]