Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/19
By: Liu Shih-yi and Ted Chen

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Friday announced that brothers Lin

Lin Hong-dow (林鴻道), center.

Hong-dow (林鴻道) and Harace Lin (林鴻明), key members of their family-owned Hung Kuo Group (宏國關係企業), are under investigation for a series of financial crimes dating back more than a decade.

The younger Lin Hong-daw, president of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, was questioned Thursday night in suspected embezzlement cases and released on bail of NT$20 million (US$650,000) early Friday morning.

The elder Harace Lin, the former chairman of Taipei 101 operator Taipei Financial Center Corp., was questioned by prosecutors for his involvement in the same cases and released on bail of NT$5 million on Wednesday.

The Lin brothers are accused of embezzling funds about a decade ago, causing losses of about NT$2.4 billion for China United Trust & Investment Co. (中聯信託), a small financial services company previously affiliated with the Hung Kuo Group.      [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-19
By: CNA

Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and China’s Alibaba Group Holding agreed on Thursday that they

A screenshot from SoftBank’s official website showing, from left, Terry Gou, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, and Jack Ma pictured with Pepper in an undated photo. (File photo/CNA)

will each invest 14.5 billion yen (US$117.4 million) in SoftBank Robotics Holdings Corporation, the SoftBank Group’s intermediate holding company responsible for its robotics business.

Under the agreement, upon the completion of the investment by Alibaba and Foxconn, SoftBank’s share ownership ratio in SoftBank Robotics will become 60% and Alibaba and Foxconn will each hold ownership stakes of 20%, the companies said in a joint statement.

SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn will build a structure to bring Pepper–a robot that can interact with human emotion–and other robotics businesses to global markets, and cooperate with the aim of spreading and developing the robotics industry on a worldwide scale, the statement said.

“Foxconn is pleased to be partnering with SoftBank and Alibaba as part of our effort to drive the advancement of robotics engineering,” said Terry Gou, founder and CEO of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, which manufactures iPhones and iPads for Apple.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/16
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Scully Hsiao

Taipei, June 16 (CNA) The Taiwan Research Institute (TRI), a private think tank, cut its forecast Tuesday for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 3.35 percent, thanks to a weak recovery in the global economy.

In its latest forecast, it predicted that Taiwan’s economy will expand 3.35 percent, down slightly from 3.43 percent in its previous forecast made in December last year.

The institute attributed the decline to a weak economic recovery worldwide and weak exports and investment at home.

However, the think tank was upbeat about local consumption this year, as agricultural and industrial materials remain low, which is keeping commodity prices in check.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-17
By: CNA

Since Taiwanese startup Gogoro unveiled its Smartscooter at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las

The Gogoro Smartscooter, March 30. (Photo/ Hung His-lung)

Vegas in January, the electric vehicle has been discussed by many local consumers and media outlets.

Before Gogoro releases the electric scooter’s price tag and monthly fees for swapping batteries Wednesday, here are 10 things you need to know about how the Smartscooter stands out from its competitors.

1. Quicker: The Smartscooter’s digital throttle in sport mode takes riders from zero to 50 kilometers per hour in 4.2 seconds, compared with an average 5.3 seconds for gas-powered 125c.c. motorcycles.

2. Faster: The Smartscooter has a max speed of 95 km/h, much faster than the maximum 50 km/h for China Motor’s (CMC) e-moving series, which was the best-selling electric motor range in Taiwan last year.

3. Ultra lightweight: Gogoro’s Aeroframe monocoque chassis is stamped out of racing grade aluminum that is 30% lighter and two times stronger than any scooter before.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-06-14

Despite rapid progress in cooperation between the financial sectors across the Taiwan Strait

Representatives of 57 founding member nations mark the establishment of the AIIB in Singapore, May 22. (Photo courtesy of AIIB)

since the signing of a financial cooperation agreement in 2009, challenges have emerged because of stalled relations in the last couple of years.

The halted legislative review in Taiwan of the trade-in-services agreement signed in 2013 has restricted the expansion of Taiwanese banks and brokerage firms in China. No new progress has been made over a proposed currency swap agreement that has been discussed between the two sides for some time.

Given these developments, Taiwanese and mainland financial regulators should explore new avenues and seek a breakthrough in cooperation in this area. One area worth trying is the capital market, since Taiwan has seen renminbi deposits exceed 300 billion yuan (US$48.35 billion) in just two years but has not been able to increase the use of the funds for investment purposes.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/13
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) Top management at China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways (EVA), the two largest airlines in Taiwan, said they are optimistic about the market perspective following the upcoming realization of cross-strait transits, which allows Chinese nationals to transit through Taiwan.

CAL Chairman Sun Hung-hsiang (孫洪祥) and EVA President Austin Cheng (鄭傳義) told CNA at the recently concluded annual International Airline Transport Association’s (IATA) meeting in Miami, Florida earlier this week that the new policy could drive market growth significantly.

The policy could attract Chinese passengers, who used to transfer via Japan, South Korea or Hong Kong for the United States, to transfer in Taiwan he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/13
By: Wu Ching-chun and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 13 (CNA) The average starting salary Taiwanese employers offered newcomers to the local job market in 2015 grew about 2 percent from a year earlier at a time when local unemployment was on the decline, according to a job bank survey.

In the survey, 1111 Job Bank, one of Taiwan’s leading human resources agencies, said that employers offered NT$26,493 (US$855) in starting salary on average to new college graduates who were first-time job seekers, up NT$524 or 2.02 percent from a year earlier.

The figure was the highest level since 1111 Job Bank launched the annual survey in 2007. The survey focuses on salaries offered to new graduates from technical colleges, universities and graduate schools.     [FULL  STORY]