The nation welcomes reshoring of Taiwanese manufacturers driven out of China by fears of economic coercion, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told reporters at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
Wang’s remark came after China earlier this week fined Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) about NT$2 billion (US$71.94 million), accusing its subsidiaries of contravening environmental protection, land use, employee health, safety, tax and product quality regulations.
The ministry is in talks with the National Development Council (NDC) over whether the government would extend the three-year “Invest in Taiwan” initiative that started in 2019, Wang said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The initiative provides reshoring businesses with favorable loan terms as well as assistance to secure factory sites and skilled labor. It is comprised of three programs that target reshoring businesses, companies aiming to deepen their roots in Taiwan, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Taiwanese businesses have told us that they would like the program to be extended,” Wang said.
“We will make a decision by the end of the year, as the government is keen to accommodate returning businesses,” she said.
NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Wednesday said at the legislature that the initiative “would be extended as needed.”
Many Taiwanese businesses have already exited China amid a US-China trade dispute.
More recently, an unstable electricity supply in China has become another reason for companies to look elsewhere.
“Lately we have seen a spike in the number of businesses looking to take part in the initiative,” Wang said. “We encourage any company thinking about it to apply now.”
The latest data on the Invest in Taiwan Web site showed that 236 companies had been approved for the reshoring program, involving NT$910.7 billion in investments and creating 73,305 jobs.
The reshoring program is the biggest of the three parts of the initiative, the ministry said.
Overall, 1,061 companies have participated in the initiative, pledging investments totaling NT$1.14 trillion, the Web site showed.
To be approved for the initiative, companies must show that they are building highly automated, environmentally friendly and high-value-added businesses that create quality jobs in Taiwan, the ministry said.
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
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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