Taiwan Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Donald Trump’s control of Venezuela’s oil supply increases U.S. influence in the world oil market, but China is the major power that has been keeping prices steady.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The U.S. ouster of the Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is forcing Beijing into a high-stakes recalculation of its ambitions in a region that looks like America’s backyard again, said people close to internal discussions in the Chinese leadership.

This is the season when columnists turn to prophecy and then congratulate themselves a year later for getting some of it right. I’m afraid I am about to join the club. As I predicted at the end of last year, Asia in 2025 revolved around three main forces: the blossoming bromance between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, rising pressure on Taiwan, and a newly emboldened Kim Jong Un drawing closer to both Moscow and Beijing.These dynamics will only get more obvious in 2026.

tax hike on cigarettes.Globally, Indian equities lagged their East Asian peers, with the South Korean and Taiwanese markets outperforming sharply, posting weekly gains of about 4% and 3%, respectively. The divergence was driven largely by valuation-led sector rotation and strong rallies in technology and semiconductor stocks in those markets, where India has limited representation, said Robin Arya, founder of GoalFi, a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered corporate research analysis firm.

Venezuela, the brutal civil war in Sudan, and the continuous instability in the Middle East, to the war in Ukraine and the growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait. All these crises have global implications.In the face of these myriad emergencies, it is no surprise that the West, broadly understood, is contending with its greatest challenge in decades. At the root of this challenge lies a sense of civilizational exhaustion, of which our adversaries have taken notice, confident that their time has come.But has it? More than 1,350 days have passed since Russia launched its three-day “special military operation”—its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression—against Ukraine.

Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected] all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

Write to Joyu Wang at [email protected] updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.

₹2,000-crore technology upgradation scheme for small businesses in the 2026-27 budget, aimed at boosting the adoption of energy-efficient machinery, two people aware of the development said.The technology upgradation scheme, proposed by the Union ministry of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), and currently under discussion, will cover MSMEs with annual turnover of less than ₹50 crore, offering them a 20% capital subsidy for purchase of energy-efficient machinery, smart manufacturing, and automation upgrades, said the first of the two persons cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.A micro enterprise has an annual turnover of up to ₹5 crore, a small enterprise up to ₹50 crore, and a medium enterprise up to ₹500 crore.The plan comes amid several countries introducing their own carbon taxes on imports from nations with weaker climate regulations. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) comes into effect from 1 January.

US-India trade deal have emerged as a key disappointment for investors, he added.Sectoral trends were mixed, with selective profit-taking visible across most segments. Metals emerged as the week’s standout performer, gaining 2.3%, aided by recent gains in copper and zinc, Vijayakumar said.

Write to Marcus Weisgerber at [email protected] all the Business News, Politics news,Breaking NewsEvents andLatest News Updates on Live Mint. Download TheMint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India, the world’s tea-drinking heartland and home to sprawling tea estates, is witnessing a shift in consumer tastes as its youngest consumers embrace Southeast Asian variants like boba and matcha. Boba tea, which originated in Taiwan, is a cold, milk-based beverage featuring tapioca pearls, while matcha is finely ground green tea powder, most commonly consumed as an iced latte.

Samsung’s India research & development (R&D) arm is the company’s most influential engineering team outside of its global headquarters in South Korea and alongside the US, a top company executive told Mint on Tuesday.According to Jong Bum Park, president and chief executive of Samsung Southwest Asia, Samsung’s India engineering operations account for the core development process of its second-largest revenue generator—smartphones. In fiscal year 2024 (FY24), Samsung generated $219 billion in revenue globally—of which 38% came from smartphones.The company’s semiconductor division, largely based out of the US and Korea, is its highest revenue generator.“The entire camera unit and its software for our flagship smartphones were developed and engineered entirely in India,” said Park in an interview.

Most of the world has shown clarity in its response to America’s new National Security Strategy. Russia loves it, liberal Europeans are dismayed and the Gulf monarchies overjoyed.In the rest of Asia — and what, until now, Washington has called the Indo-Pacific—the dominant emotion is uneasiness. There are words, phrases and entire sections in the document that are exactly what we want to hear.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The artificial-intelligence chips that Nvidia is allowed to ship to China will undergo a special security review in the U.S. before they are exported, according to administration officials.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. China’s diplomatic anger obeys a law of conservation: the total quantity remains constant, but the targets change. Some countries, notably Canada and South Korea, have recently emerged from China’s doghouse.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Military tensions are increasing between China and Japan. Investors should take note.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For a decade, one company has maintained a near-total stranglehold on the business of selling the advanced computer chips that power machine learning and artificial intelligence: Nvidia. Armed with the most advanced blueprints for graphics processing units, or GPUs, and helped by the rapid pace of innovation at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the contract fabricator that makes 90% of the world’s advanced AI chips, Nvidia has become synonymous with AI processors.

Joseph Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the «special channel», the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump's first use of the channel since returning to the White House on January 20. Feud around Taiwan The island nation of Taiwan has always remained a prime target for Chinese President Xi Jinping and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has shown keen interest in keeping a good rapport with the US in order to tackle Beijing, as per a report on Daily Mail. But why is Taiwan so important for both the US and China? Located in the geopolitically critical South China Sea, the island nation is barely 100 kilometres away from China's southeastern shores. The tiny island country is hub of manufacturing and technological giants. Apart from this, Taiwan occupies the key trade route of Taiwan Strait. Also, Taiwan is part of 'first island chain' which includes territories from Japan to Philippines.

reciprocal tariffs by the US on other competing nations raises the possibility of increased dumping by those nations in India, as well as in other export markets, which could negatively impact certain sectors, CareEdge Ratings said in a report. According to the report ' Sectoral Impact of US Reciprocal Tariff: Neutral to Negative, ' the expected direct impact of US reciprocal tariffs would vary, with no impact expected on pharmaceuticals since they are exempt from reciprocal tariffs for now. According to the rating agency, the impact is expected to be largely neutral for electronics, textiles, agricultural products, chemicals, and automobiles and parts. At the same time, it would be negative for gems and jewellery. During 2023-24, India's aggregate merchandise exports to the US stood at USD 77.5 billion compared to its imports from the US at USD 42.2 billion. Out of India's total exports to the US, the sectors in descending order of value are electronics, textiles, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, agricultural products, chemicals and automobiles and parts.

tariff rate of 10% on countries across the globe, big and small. From the imposed reciprocal tariff rates, Asia and Europe on the higher end of the tariff scale. In Asia, the highest rate of reciprocal tariff is on Cambodia and Vietnam. India faces reciprocal tariffs of 27% while China faces reciprocal tariffs of 34%. Indonesia and Taiwan are facing higher tariffs than India at 32%. Mexico and Canada are exempted from new tariffs, while the previously announced 25% tariff on autos is to take effect from April 3, 2025. Reciprocal tariffs to the equivalent of ~50% of combined estimated rate of tariff and non-tariff barriers faced by US exports in the respective countries have been announced. A retaliation might put the global economy in a trade war. The efforts to reach a bilateral agreement between India-USA provides hope and scope to limit the impact of these reciprocal tariffs levied on India.