Headline News
Taiwan’s first directly elected President, Lee Teng-hui, passed away
President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s first native-born and directly elected president, passed away on July 30, at the age of 97.
Lee served as head of state and as chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 until 2000, a period marked by democratization and liberalization but also by tension with China.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered his "sincere condolences" in a statement, stating that Lee helped to put an end to decades of authoritarianism and ushered in a new era of economic prosperity, openness, and rule of law in Taiwan and cemented the deep friendship between the United States and Taiwan
Condolences were also received from Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and foreign Representations in Taipei, including the British Office, Australian Office as well as the Netherlands Office Taipei.
TSMC becomes 10th biggest company in the world
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) saw its market value hit US$431.74 billion on Tuesday (July 28), surpassing Johnson & Johnson and Visa Inc. to become the 10th most valuable company in the world and helping the Taiex to surge and passing the 13,000-point mark for the first time in history.
The Taiwanese chip maker's stock has been catapulted by the news that Intel Corp.'s 7-nanometer chips are behind schedule and that it is considering outsourcing its manufacturing.
The market expectation is that Intel will outsource its production to TSMC, with China Times on Monday (July 27) reporting that Intel has reached an agreement with TSMC to produce its 7 nm chips.
Economy & Society
Taiwanese telecom companies listed as ‘Clean 5G’ networks
All five telecom service providers in Taiwan have now been listed as “Clean 5G” networks by the U.S. State Department, including Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Taiwan Mobile, Taiwan Star Telecom, and Asia Pacific Telecom.
“Clean Telcos,” on the U.S. list include leading telecom service providers from Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, France, Great Britain, Spain, and Scandinavian countries.
Chinese products labeled as 'Made-in-Taiwan'
Taiwanese authorities have discovered more than 100 instances of Chinese products being labeled as ‘Made in Taiwan’ since 2018, in what is believed are attempts to evade U.S. tariffs.
According to Taiwan’s Customs Administration, there have been at least 120 cases of illegal transshipment of Chinese products since July 2018, when trade tensions between the U.S. and China began escalating. The Chinese goods were meant to transfer in Taiwan in order to gain fake certificates of origin before export to the U.S. or other overseas destinations.
The Bureau of Foreign Trade has recently raised fines for companies mislabeling Chinese goods as being manufactured in Taiwan. Violators will now face a minimum fine of NT$60,000 (US$2,037) for the first instance, with fines doubling for subsequent violations.
Taiwan rated second safest country in the world
Taiwan is the second-safest country in the world, after Qatar, according to visitors to the Numbeo online database, who voted on 133 countries and territories worldwide.
In Numbeo’s Crime Index by Country 2020 Mid-Year survey, Taiwan scored 84.74 out of 100 for safety.
That score put Taiwan in the second place, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 84.55 and Georgia with 79.50. The top ranked country, Qatar, had a safety score of 88.10.
