China announced yesterday it will allow Taiwanese to invest in wholly-owned shipping and container transport firms and operate ports and highways, in Beijing's latest attempt to woo the nation with economic sweeteners.
The unilateral announcement by Chinese Vice Communications Minister Xu Zuyuan (
"I hope this forum can further enhance development and cooperation in the shipping sector across the [Taiwan] Strait," Xu said in a speech as the two-day forum ended.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) dangled the carrot of the country's booming economy and vast market at the forum on Saturday.
About 500 businessmen and officials from the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) attended the forum -- the third since 2005 when China rolled out the red carpet for pan-blue politicians as part of a divide-and-rule tactic to isolate the Democratic Progressive Party.
The olive branch came days after a row between China and Taiwan over the torch route for next year's Olympic Games.
Despite the political standoff, trade, investment and tourism between the two sides have blossomed. Taiwanese investors have poured up to US$100 billion into China.
Separately, Taiwan's brand name textile manufacturers are setting their eyes on China's vast market where consumers' purchasing power has been steadily increasing.
A delegation representing 10 well-known garment companies in Taiwan, led by officials from the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTD), visited department stores in three of China's major cities -- Chengdu, Tianjin and Beijing -- this month before returning home last week.
TTD officials told reporters yesterday they felt that China, with its vast population, is a market full of opportunities.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last