Taiwanese bankers stationed in Shanghai voiced hope yesterday for a quick start of cross-strait financial cooperation, as Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), China’s top negotiator with Taiwan, left for Taipei for a historic visit.
Although financial issues have not been included in the current round of talks in Taipei between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), the bankers contended that the two sides should collaborate to address the negative consequences of the ongoing global financial crisis, which is not expected to end soon.
COOPERATION
They called for speedy cooperation between the two sides to minimize the impact on both sides and address the extant problems, such as allowing Taiwan-based banks to open branches in China to serve Taiwanese businessmen there.
At present, almost all major Taiwan-based banks and stocks and securities firms have opened offices in China — mainly in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Kunshan.
CHEN VISIT
Meanwhile, Chen landed at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport later yesterday for a five-day visit as head of a 60-member delegation, including executives of China’s major banks.
In a written statement issued upon arrival, Chen called for continued and systematic SEF-ARATS negotiations to push for increased exchanges between the two sides.
ITINERARY
Later in the day, Chen paid a visit to the widow of late SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu.
Today he is scheduled to hold talks with SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), after which the two men are expected to sign four agreements on the expansion of cross-strait air services, the opening of shipping and postal links and a food safety cooperation mechanism.
He also plans to visit Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) today.
In the coming days, the ARATS chairman plans to meet various Taiwanese political and business leaders.
He also plans to visit several science and industrial facilities before flying back to Beijing.
Chen and Chiang met for the first time in Beijing in June and clinched two landmark pacts on tourism and the opening of direct weekend passenger charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, paving the way for their second meeting in Taipei.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure