Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Depart-ment Store (新光三越) said yesterday it was actively negotiating with its Chinese partner to maintain normal operations at its Beijing joint venture in order to safeguard customers and suppliers' interests.
The company's remark came amid news that Steven Wu (吳昕達), general manager of Shin Kong, was detained by his Chinese partners because of a difference in opinion over the Beijing store's operations.
Shin Kong and China's top retailer, Beijing Hualian Group (
In a statement issued yesterday, Shin Kong said that management had acted in a "decent manner," rejecting claims by its Chinese partner that some Taiwanese executives at the venture had used improper business practices for personal interests.
The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that Hualian had accused Shin Kong managers in Beijing of taking bribes and had reported the matter to the police.
Hualian's spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Shin Kong also said it did not discuss "selling its stake in the venture" during talks with its Chinese partner.
The company added that it has built a solid reputation in Taiwan, with 16 years of experience in the retail business and has become the nation's largest department chain operator.
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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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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