Mitac International Corp (
"Demand is shrinking, and production has gradually shifted to China," said Justine Liu (
As companies like Mitac try to stem losses, production and jobs in Taiwan, where the minimum wage can be more than 10 times higher than China, are the first to go.
Orders for Taiwan-made computers and the chips and connectors used to run them are drying up as PC makers in the US, Taiwan's biggest export market, wait for demand to revive before buying new stock. Global PC sales fell in the second quarter from a year earlier, the first decline since 1986, market researcher Dataquest Inc said.
"2001 is a write-off," said Damian Gilhawley, an economist at China Securities Co (中信證券), who believes Taiwan's economy shrank 0.5 percent in the second quarter from a year ago and forecasts growth will slow to 0.7 percent this year from last year's six percent. "The biggest problem is the external slowdown."
Exports, which account for about half of Taiwan's economic activity and rose 22 percent last year, dropped 17 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to figures already released. Overseas sales fell 28 percent in July, the biggest drop on record, and orders for future shipments slid 20 percent in June, suggesting the economy won't rebound this quarter.
United Microelectronics Corp (
Lower labor and production costs in China, which is expected to enter the WTO soon, are dulling Taiwan's competitive edge and draining investment from the island.
"Taiwan doesn't have a new emerging industry that can compensate for the shifting of the PC sector to China," said David Lee, an economist at Entrust Securities Co (
Company cost-cutting, falling profits and the relocation of production to China helped push Taiwan's unemployment to a record high last quarter. That, along with a falling stock market, has kept domestic spending too weak to keep growth on course.
Unemployment rose for a 10th month in June to 4.6 percent, the highest since the government began compiling figures in 1978. The TAIEX fell 16 percent last quarter.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique