■ Consumer prices
Japan's prices to increase
Japan will see its first increase in consumer prices in eight years in the year to March 2007 although economic growth will slow to 1.9 percent from a five-year high of 2.7 percent this fiscal year, the government said yesterday. The government approved an economic report projecting consumer prices in the next fiscal year will rise 0.5 percent, reversing an estimated drop of 0.1 percent in the year to March next year. It projected that GDP will grow 1.9 percent. This will be slower than the 2.7 percent expected this year but this figure was revised up from its previous estimate of 1.6 percent. The economy grew 2.8 percent in 2000.
■ Energy
Solar panels mass-produced
Honda Motor said yesterday that it will begin mass producing next-generation solar panels for household use from 2007, halving the carbon-dioxide emissions of the already eco-friendly technology. The Japanese giant declined to disclose the amount of new investment but the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that the auto and motorcycle maker would spend some US$86.5 million on its factory in Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan. Honda, which was the first major automaker to enter the market, said it will use thin-film solar cells made of a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium -- instead of the usual silicon. The production system will require only half the energy to produce a conventional solar cell and lower carbon-dioxide emissions by 50 percent, Honda said. The new production system will initially have an annual capacity to produce about 27.5 megawatts worth of solar cells, enough for 8,000 households a year.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
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