Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-23
By: Hsiao Po-wen and Staff Reporter

Luo Xuliang, an executive at Taiwan-based unlisted company Zodic Light World Tech (ZLW Tech),

is suspected of defrauding investors by fabricating reports on a cooperation deal with European medical equipment maker Chirana Group and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Honduras, according to our sister paper China Times.

The company fabricated reports on the deals to fuel interest in the unlisted stocks in a scam similar to the pump-and-dump fraud depicted in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, according to the paper.

Luo is currently in Austria and refused to answer questions concerning the investigation against the company.

Luo’s ruse was successful in part due to the attendance of a representative from the Taipei Slovak Economic and Cultural Office and a professor from Taipei Medical University at investor meetings and press events. Luo is said to have misrepresented himself to representatives from different countries and certain prominent professionals at events, taking photographs shaking hands with them and then publicizing them to fuel interest in the company’s shares.     [FULL  STORY]

A Taiwanese company may offer a new solution – making paper without having to chop down a single tree. Its paper is water-resistant, bug-resistant, does not burn easily and is actually made from stone.

Channel News Asia
Date: 22 Jun 2015
By: Victoria Jen, Channel NewsAsia’s Taiwan Correspondent

TAINAN CITY, Taiwan: Paper production can be one of the most polluting industries: while consuming a large amount of water, demand for clean, high quality paper also means cutting down trees for virgin pulp.

As such, businesses and governments around the world have been trying to reduce paper use to save the environment.

But with demand for paper still riding high, a Taiwanese company may offer a new solution – making paper without having to chop down a single tree.

Its paper looks ordinary enough, but unlike the usual paper, it is water-resistant, bug-resistant, and it does not burn easily. What is more amazing is that it is actually made from stone. To be exact, it is made from waste marble that is left over from flooring or other products.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-22
By: Staff Reporter

China’s massive population and economy will help it to escape the middle-income trap and become

a high-income country, according to Li Xunlei, an expert at the Shanghai Finance Institute.

In an op-ed piece in the Shanghai-based Economic Observer, Lee said China has similar characteristics to countries such as South Korea and Japan, which have escaped the middle-income trap.

The middle-income trap is a phenomenon in which a rapidly growing economy stagnates at middle-income levels and fails to advance into the ranks of high-income countries.

The World Bank classifies countries with a gross national income of US$12,616 and above as high-income countries, Li said, noting that China’s GNI per capita stood at US$5,740 in 2012.

The long working hours in China — 45 hours a week on average in 2012 — are evidence that the Chinese people are hard-working, a characteristic that is shaped by the lack of resources, namely farmlands, Li said.     [FULL  STORY]

GREEN PLEDGE:Aside from switching to LED, TFCC said it is considering installing more solar panels to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 23, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓公司), which operates the Taipei 101 skyscraper,

yesterday said it plans to spend between NT$50 million and NT$60 million (US$1.6 million and US$1.9 million) to replace all the traditional fluorescent tubes on the skyscraper’s external walls to LED lighting in the next three years as part of its efforts to conserve energy.

The company’s remarks came after purchasing 1.01 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of “green” power — which cost NT$1.07 million more than traditional power sources — from state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) in April, increasing the consumption of energy generated from renewable resources.

“Taipei 101 will not always be the tallest green building in the world, but we are trying to become the paragon for global green buildings,” Taipei 101 president Chou Te-yu (周德宇) told a press conference, referring to the firm’s pledge to conserve energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/22
By: Chen Cheng-wei, Jay Chen and Y.F. Low

June 22 (CNA) Taiwan’s unemployment fell slightly to 3.62 percent in May, down 0.01 percentage points from April and 0.23 points from a year earlier, government statistics showed Monday.

The jobless rate was the lowest for the month of May since 2000, when it dropped to 2.78 percent.

After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate was 3.75 percent last month, the same as in April and March, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.

A total of 420,000 people were unemployed in May, 1,000 fewer than in April, according to the DGBAS.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-21
By: CNA

Taiwan’s export orders in May remained haunted by weakening demand for mobile devices from

emerging markets, the country’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said Saturday, but it did not say whether the May figure will decline from a year earlier.

In April, Taiwan’s export orders fell 4% from a year earlier, the first year-on-year drop since July 2013, as demand from emerging markets for handheld devices showed signs of weakening.

A decline in orders for precision instruments and cell phone screens also affected the April figure.

Export orders for April totaled US$37.32 billion, down US$1.55 billion, or 4%, from a year earlier. The April figure was also down 2.9% from the previous month.

Economists are waiting in anticipation for the May export order data, to be released on June 23, after the government cut its forecast for Taiwan’s 2015 economic growth to 3.28% in late May from the previous estimate of 3.78%, citing slowing global demand.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-20
By: CNA

EVA Airways (EVA), one of Taiwan’s leading airlines, is set to launch its new route between Taipei

and Houston on Friday night, hoping to further tap into the North American market’s potential.

Flight BR52, which will use the carrier’s highly popular Hello Kitty-themed Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with a capacity of 333 passengers, is scheduled to take off at 10pm from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

Return flight BR51 is scheduled to leave Houston at 1:15am Saturday local time, the carrier said.

Travel times are 14 hours and 25 minutes from Taipei to Houston and 15 hours and 40 minutes from Houston back to Taipei, according to the airline.

“EVA is the first airline to operate direct flights between Taipei and Houston,” said EVA president Austin Cheng at the route’s inauguration ceremony earlier Friday.     [FULL  STORY]