Taiwan Financial News

Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping's first trip to Europe in five years, which starts in France on Monday

Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and the biggest assembler of Apple's iPhone, reiterated on Sunday it expected a rise in second-quarter revenue, and reported record sales for the month of April. Foxconn said in a statement that this year's second quarter «remains a traditional off-peak season, and major products are entering a period of transition between old and new products».

Canada-based proxies, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians to «align» Ottawa's position with New Delhi's interests on key issues, particularly concerns over Khalistani separatists in Canada, an official probe has found. The findings in the interim report by Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue, who is leading the independent public inquiry, found evidence of foreign interference in Canada's last two federal elections in 2019 and 2021 but the results of the votes were not affected and the electoral system was robust. India has previously rejected as «baseless» the allegations of its interference in Canadian elections and asserted that the core issue has been Ottawa's meddling in New Delhi's internal affairs.

Ukraine, trade and investment are expected to dominate Chinese leader Xi Jinping's first trip to Europe in five years, as the Asian giant rebuilds its foreign relations after a prolonged absence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Xi will start the tour in Paris on Monday, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been stressing the idea of European strategic autonomy from the U.S. On a visit to Beijing last year, Macron courted controversy by saying France would not necessarily always align with the U.S. in foreign policy, an apparent reference to American support for the self-governing republic of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

The scale of investment by the world’s two superpowers as they conduct a proxy war through aggressive industrial policies is epic. Given the opaque nature of China’s Communist Party government, the most cited estimate is that even five years ago, China was spending 1.7% of GDP on industrial-policy projects. That ratio has surely gone up since.

Singapore Food Agency also directed a recall of a spice mix produced by Everest. In June 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had ordered a recall of spice mixes of Everest and Maggi Masala-ae-Magic as it found those contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. A few years earlier, in September 2019, a batch of MDH’s spice mix had been recalled for the same reason.

Taiwan prosecutors charged 32 individuals with fraud and money laundering linked to ACE Exchange, the Taipei Times reported Friday.

illicit trade and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transfer on behalf of the Iranian military, the US Department of Treasury said in an official statement. These companies, individuals and vessels have played a key role in financing and facilitating the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia’s war in Ukraine, it said. According to the US Department of Treasury, Sahara Thunder is the main front company that oversees Iran's commercial activities in support of these efforts.

Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist of the IMF, is Maurits C. Boas Chair of International Economics at Harvard University. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das, he discusses the record rise in military expenditure worldwide: Q. Recent reports find global defence spending now amounts to $2443 billion — which economic areas does this impact most? A. While military spending does spin off some technology, by and large, it is not good for growth or consumption because it’s destructive. The United States and Europe are facing pressures today because of Ukraine, the Middle East and potentially Taiwan — but the defence budgets of the West are tuned to a different era. We had a peace dividend after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 — now, things are going into reverse. This raises the pressure on debt and inflation.

The surging dollar has hurt stocks outside the US but one group at least stands to gain: companies that export to the world’s largest economy.

President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday she was happy the U.S. Congress had passed a sweeping foreign aid package which includes arms support for the island, as China urged Washington to stop selling weapons to Taipei. The United States is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has repeatedly demanded arms sales stop. The Senate approved by 79 to 18 four bills passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday, after House Republican leaders abruptly switched course last week and allowed a vote on the $95 billion in mostly military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Asian shares have opened higher, led by an over 2% gain in Japan’s Nikkei 225 after U.S. stocks rallied for a second straight day Tuesday, blunting the blow of what’s been a rough April

Joe Biden will sign a bill of national security package to deliver a long-delayed $95 billion emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on April 24. The Senate passed the aid for besieged US allies on Tuesday night, clearing the way for resumed arms shipments to Kyiv within days. “Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: we stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression," the statement read.

Joe Biden vowing new arms supplies will be delivered swiftly to the warzone as Russia makes battlefield gains. Days after the House of Representatives cleared the measure — part of a massive $95 billion in assistance to allies including Israel and Taiwan — the Senate followed suit, passing the package with broad bipartisan support.

defence spending is concerning given its economy is «failing», the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Admiral John Aquilino said China's economy had been battered by turmoil in its real estate sector and asserted that its official growth rates were «not real». He also said China was spending «drastically more» on its military than the 7.2% increase it declared last month.

earthquake on April 3 claimed the lives of at least 14 people and there were over 1,000 aftershocks since then. 1) Many aftershocks rocked Hualien in eastern Taiwan on late Monday and early Tuesday. However, no fatalities or significant damage was recorded.

Ukraine by the U.S. House of Representatives but urged Washington to quickly turn the bill into law and proceed with the actual transfer of weapons, saying long-range arms and air defense systems were top priorities. In an interview with NBC's «Meet the Press», Zelenskiy said the passage of the bill would send a powerful message to Russia that Washington stands by Kyiv and that it would not be «a second Afghanistan.» «I think this support will really strengthen the armed forces of Ukraine and we will have a chance for victory,» Zelenskiy said through an interpreter.

People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Central Military Commission (CMC), the apex military bureaucracy, held the founding meeting of the new Information Support Force (ISF) on April 19, 2024. The Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and Chairman of the CMC, Xi Jinping, awarded the military flag to the ISF. It was later announced that the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLA SSF) would cease to exist. Formed on December 31, 2015, the PLA SSF centralised space, cyber, electronic and psychological warfare capabilities into a single service. It was formed to create synergies between various advanced warfighting capabilities and was hailed as instrumental in achieving Xi’s stated goals of modernisation, informatisation, and converting the PLA into a world-class army. With this change, the PLA now has a new system with four services — the Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force, and four arms — the Aerospace Force, Cyberspace Force, Information Support Force and Joint Logistic Support Force. What is Information Support Force?

Gold prices rise for sixth week on rising Iran-Israel war fears netanyahu on the X platform wrote, The US Congress just overwhelmingly passed a much-appreciated aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization. Thank you, friends, thank you America!" On Saturday, US lawmakers approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies.

Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners. The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. U.S. leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.

Taipei's defence ministry said it had detected 21 Chinese military aircraft around the self-ruled island since 8:15 am (0015 GMT) on Saturday, a month before Taiwan's May 20 inauguration of incoming president Lai Ching-te. «17 aircraft (of the 21) crossed the median line and its extension, entered our northern, central, and southwestern (air defence identification zone), and joined PLA vessels for joint combat patrol,» it said in a statement posted on X around 11:30 am. Taiwan's armed forces «are monitoring the activities with our joint surveillance systems, and have dispatched appropriate assets to respond accordingly.»