Taiwan News
Date: 2019/06/02
By: Taiwan Today, Agencies

TAIPEI (Taiwan Today) — The publishing arm of National Taiwan University in Taipei City enjoys an enviable reputation among its peers for outperformance. After upgrading to publishing house status in 1996, NTU Press started playing a bigger role in promoting academic development.

NTU Press Director Wang Tay-sheng, a professor in the school’s law college, said the move reflected the greater liberalization in society of the 1980s. It was also in line with a perceived need to protect academic works published in traditional Chinese characters for future generations, he added.

Hsiang Jieh, a professor of computer science at NTU who headed NTU Press from 2008 to 2016 concurs. “Simplified Chinese is proving all too pervasive in this important field,” he said. “Its influence must be checked by academic institutions and their publishing units as opposed to the private sector.”

Wang and Hsiang, consecutive directors of NTU Press, said books published by universities play an important role in enabling liberal arts and social sciences scholars to strengthen academic credibility.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 2019/06/02
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Taiwan’s government is reinforcing measures to manage imports

and exports amid rising trade friction between China and United States, which has reportedly prompted Chinese companies to sell products to the U.S. via third locations, including Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Sunday.

The MOEA was responding to a report in Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review a day earlier that the imposition of higher U.S. tariffs on imports from China has prompted Chinese exporters to turn to third countries, such as Taiwan, to bypass duties by faking the origin of their products.

In a statement issued Sunday, the MOEA said that while Taiwan’s exports to the United States from January to April this year rose 19.8 percent, its exports of information, communication and audio-video products reached US$4.26 billion, up 56.3 percent on the same period of last year, the highest growth in all exports from Taiwan to the U.S.

This year, the U.S. economy continues to grow at a steady pace, which has supported strong growth in consumption expenditure by individuals and enterprises in the country and boosted Taiwan’s exports of information, communication and audio-video products, according to the MOEA.    [FULL  STORY]

The act aims to protect the environment while improving farmers’ livelihood

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/31
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has entered a new phase of agricultural development with the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法) going into effect on Thursday (May 30).

The act was designed to protect water and soil, the environment, biodiversity, animal welfare, and consumer interests. It also provides a legal foundation on which to promote eco-friendly and sustainable use of resources.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/05/31
By Y.F. Low 

Taipei, May 31 (CNA) Taiwan shares closed up 115.50 points, or 1.11 percent, at 10,498.49 Friday on turnover of NT$123.79 billion (US$3.92 billion).     [SOURCE]

Taiwan reaps benefits from US-China trade war with order of 300 million pairs of socks for companies in Changhua

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/30
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A small township in western Taiwan has suddenly found itself flooded with an order for 600 million socks after U.S. President Trump announced that he was raising tariffs on a broad spectrum of consumer products from China earlier this month.

On May 14, Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on US$200 billion worth of goods made in China from 10 percent to 25 percent. The list of items covered by the tariffs included everything from agricultural and livestock products to clothing, household goods, mobile phones, and laptops, causing chaos in the global supply chain.

Although the tariff list is yet to be finalized until the end of the month, many major shoe brands which sell to the U.S. market such as Nike and Adidas issued an open letter to Trump warning that increased costs would be passed on to consumers because 70 percent of shoes imported into the U.S. come from China.

Behind the scenes, however, bills of lading have started to flood into other countries, including Taiwan. Just a week after Trump announced the new tariffs, an order was placed for 300 million pairs of socks for manufacturers in the tiny township of Shetou in Changhua County, reported CommonWealth Magazine.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 29 May, 2019
By: John Van Trieste

The IMD business school has declared Taiwan the world’s 16th most competitive economy in its annual competitiveness ranking.

The ranking examines the economic competitiveness of 63 countries and territories. It also takes a closer look at a range of indicators, grouped into the categories of economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

Taiwan is now the fourth most competitive economy in the Asia-Pacific region, behind Singapore in first place, Hong Kong in second, and China in third.     [FULL  STORY]

The first store will open in Cambodia’s capital

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/05/29
By: Huang Tzu-ti,Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s 85°C Bakery Café intends to make inroads into the Southeast Asian market, with the first flagship store slated to open in Phnom Penh, in June.

85°C Bakery Café, or 85 Café, was established in 2003 by Taiwan’s Gourmet Master Co., which has a presence in Taiwan, China, and the U.S. with over 1,000 outlets, reported Central News Agency. Its business in Cambodia will be operated by Branding King.

The first café will open on Preah Monivong Boulevard in Phnom Penh, a main thoroughfare of the city. The flagship store is touted by the company as the largest café in the Southeast Asian country to offer coffee, beverages, and pastry products, said the report.

As of March 2019, Gourmet Master has created a global food and beverage kingdom boasting 1,139 outlets, including 605 in China, 450 in Taiwan, 57 in the U.S., 17 in Australia, and 10 in Hong Kong.    [FULL  STORY]