GOVERNMENT
MOEA names vice minister
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday promoted Water Resources Agency Director-General Yang Wei-fu (楊偉甫) to vice minister. The ministry said Yang will take office on Jan. 5 at the earliest and that he will be the first vice minister of economic affairs with hydraulic expertise. The vice minister position has been vacant for months after former Economic Affairs minister Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) resigned and former vice minister Woody Duh (杜紫軍) took over his position.
FINANCIAL
FSC, CIRC reach consensus
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) has reached a consensus with its Chinese counterpart to pursue three goals regarding the cross-strait insurance sector: improving mutual understanding in insurance supervisory issues and experience sharing; establishing communications between cross-strait financial supervisory institutions; and building an emergency communication mechanism for further cooperation. FSC Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) and his Chinese counterpart, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) Chairman Xiang Junbo (項俊波), made the remarks together after their meeting on cross-strait financial supervisory issues in the insurance sector, which was held in Beijing yesterday.
COMPUTERS
Wistron approves venture
Contract notebook computer maker Wistron Corp’s (緯創) board yesterday approved an investment in Join-Link International Technology Co Ltd (宗盈國際科技股份有限公司), with a maximum amount of NT$600 million (US$18.9 million) for the development of automobile electronics. Wistron is to hold between 51 percent and 60 percent of Join-Link shares, the company said in a statement. The firm’s shares declined 0.52 percent to NT$28.95 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which gained 0.6 percent.
TELECOMS
First International bankrupt
First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信), the nation’s sole personal handy-phone system (PHS) provider, yesterday said it has received formal documents from the Taipei District Court making the telecom’s bankruptcy official by terminating its restructuring program. First International Telecom said it plans to file an appeal within 10 days. The company will try to maintain normal operations and will continue to provide services to its users. PHS was a popular service in Taiwan several years ago and First International Telecom — the only telecom using the 1,900MHz frequency — at one point had about 1.5 million users.
MOBILE
HTC to release accessories
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) on Wednesday said it will release a series of accessories for its RE “lifestyle camera” in the first quarter of next year to attract more people, particularly young women, to its product line. “Next year, we will release a series of RE accessories to make RE more fashionable and compatible to different clothes and user scenarios, making [it] a new leading product in the camera category,” HTC North Asia president Jack Tong (董俊良) said. Speaking at the launch event for the single-SIM Desire 820 mid-tier phone in Taipei, Tong said the new accessories might be rolled out as soon as the first quarter, though he did not specify what exactly the accessories would be.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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