A trade dispute between the US and China partially contributed to an increase in trade volume and value at the nation’s free-trade zones at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and major seaports in the first quarter of this year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Department of Aviation and Navigation said yesterday.
Trade volume at the nation’s free-trade zones grew 6.5 percent from the same period last year, while trade value rose 21.2 percent, department data showed.
The first-quarter performance of the Farglory Free Trade Zone at the airport was particularly outstanding, growing 26.7 percent and 30.6 percent in trade volume and value respectively, the department said.
One publicly traded server and 4G-related equipment manufacturer has moved an assembly line from China to the free-trade zone at the airport to avoid US tariffs on goods produced in China, it said.
A mechanical equipment maker has moved its product processing unit from China to Tainan’s Anping Port, it added.
Some Taiwanese companies started moving their production lines from China three years ago due to regulatory changes on certain products, the department said.
The department also attributed the growth in business at the free-trade zones to an increase in the storage and transshipment volume of nonferrous metals, as well as exports of machinery and equipment at some of the nation’s major seaports.
Last year, four manufacturing companies — makers of IC components, fireproof materials, computer components and electronic gaming products — established operations at the Farglory Free Trade Zone, the department said.
Those decisions were unrelated to the US-China trade dispute, it said.
This year, a manufacturer of pressure vessels and wind turbine equipment also established operations at one of the nation’s free-trade zones, it said.
The department said that it is setting new development goals and strategies for the free-trade zones.
It aims to encourage companies to develop new business models by relaxing government regulations and is also working on making the tax code clear and reasonable to investors, it said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
RSS