Taiwan shares close below 13,000-point mark, NT dollar continues depreciating

Taiwan shares close below 13,000-point mark, NT dollar continues depreciating

2022-10-17

Taiwan shares opened low and close down on Monday, after choppy trading on Wall Street on Friday. TSMC shares shed 3.64%, falling below NT$400. Largan Precision, MediaTek, UMC as well as the three leading shipping companies all saw major losses as well. All in all, the index closed down 162 points at 12,966, on turnover of NT$206.7 billion. Let’s hear from an analyst.

Lin Han-wei
Financial analyst
I think there is a bit of a confidence crisis, because TSMC shares have fallen below NT$400. On top of that, the three leading shipping companies posted their lowest price to earnings ratios. They almost closed limit-down. I think this kind of situation of course would cause investors to lose some confidence and some may sell off their shares.

Over in the foreign exchange market, the new Taiwan dollar continued to depreciate. The Taiwan currency at one point hit a low of 32 against the U.S. dollar during intra-day trading. With intervention from the central market, it bounced back somewhat to close down 0.113 at NT$31.997 against the greenback.

外資狂殺! 電子.航運跌慘台股失守萬三

2022-10-17

上週五美股震盪走低，衝擊台股週一開低走低，台積電又被外資殺紅眼，下跌3.64%，再度跌破400元大關，大立光、聯發科、聯電、貨櫃三雄都跌慘，拖累大盤走勢，最終跌162點，以12966點作收，成交量2067億。

[[分析師林漢偉]]
“我覺得看起來，是有一點信心的危機，因為台積電已經跌破400元大關，那加上說本益比最低的貨櫃三雄，盤中都快要殺到跌停板，我覺得在這樣的情況裡面，當然對很多投資人來講，今天我覺得他們會有這種所謂信心鬆動的一個疑慮，反而把手上持股，去做一些拋售動作”

除了台股，新台幣匯率賣壓也沉重，原本盤中一度摜破32大關，最後央行介入，跌勢稍稍收斂，收在31.997元，重貶1.13角。

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Taiwan Statebuilding Party to hold parade against unification with China on Oct. 23

The Taiwan Statebuilding Party on Monday gave details for a parade it has organized for Oct. 23 to show its opposition to unification with China. The parade is scheduled for one day after the closure of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to be granted a third term. The Taiwan State Building Party called supporters to attend the rally, and to not vote for candidates from pro-China parties in the upcoming local elections.

Councilor candidates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party stand in line and chant slogans. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to get a third term leading China. In Taiwan, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party wants to raise awareness about what that could mean for Taiwan.

Wang Hsing-huan
Taiwan Statebuilding Party
After the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress, the Taiwan Strait will be in a situation of unprecedented danger. So we have decided that the day after the congress ends, on Oct. 23, we will hold a parade. It’ll show Taiwan’s vanguard – a march to protect Taiwan. We want to make it known that Taiwan stands together, and that we are resolved to fight off China and protect Taiwan.

Lee Tsung-lin
Taiwan Statebuilding Party
I would like to ask all our supporters, to not give a single vote to the mayoral and councilor candidates from the Taiwan People’s Party or the KMT. That’s the only way to effectively show them that surrendering Taiwan has no market in this country.

The councilor directed words at the pro-China parties in Taiwan. Chinese leader Xi has often discussed plans to annex Taiwan, engaging in armed conflict if necessary. Despite this, the KMT confirmed that it had sent a congratulatory message to China on the occasion of the CCP Congress. The message has been used in Chinese state media as proof that political parties in the quote “Taiwan Area” support closer cross-strait ties.

China Central Television
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s central committee on Sunday sent a congratulatory message to the Chinese Communist Party’s central committee, voicing hope that, on the foundation of the “1992 consensus” and opposition to “Taiwan independence,” the two sides of the strait will have substantial exchanges and cooperation on all fields.

Chao Tien-lin
DPP lawmaker
Despite the fact that Xi has advocated for armed conflict against Taiwan, the KMT still bends at the knee for them and sends over a congratulatory message. They do that instead of protesting China, and voicing disapproval of its stance. I think this is a shameful moment that will be forever part of the KMT’s history.

Analysts have also closely followed Xi’s words on Taiwan at the CCP Congress.

Akio Yaita
Sankei Shimbun Taipei office head
He spoke for two hours, yet made no mention of “one country, two systems.” He has said he wants to solve the Taiwan issue, but he didn’t put forward any concrete plans. Instead he just spoke all these empty words. So we didn’t really see anything of substance in that. To a certain extent, Xi Jinping is just pursuing an ostrich policy.

Ming Chu-cheng
NTU Political Science Department
Xi Jinping says China will never renounce the use of force against Taiwan. That’s nothing special. They’ve been saying the same thing for decades. But a point that he stressed was that the conflict won’t be against Taiwanese compatriots, but against external forces that intervene.

China is facing international pressure, as it grapples with a worsening COVID outbreak and an increasingly problematic economy. The world is watching as Xi prepares for a third term.

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Taiwanese Navy relies on Albatross drones to protect Taiwan waters from threat

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the use of military drones in warfare has spurred worldwide interest. Taiwan has its own indigenous military drone, the “Albatross,” also known as the Chung Xiang II. The R.O.C. Navy has more than 30 of the drones in use, and employs them to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance of Taiwanese waters. We got to meet some Albatross “pilots” to learn more about this lynchpin of Taiwan’s naval protection net.

Naval officers bring the Albatross gradually up from the tarmac into the air.

Once the drone reaches a certain height, a ground operator takes over the controls. Images are transmitted by laser and come out crystal clear.

Chi Wu-chun
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They have optical lenses assemblies that can magnify by 20 and 30 times, with a continuous focus of 12.5 times, as well as a black and white heat imaging function. The laser detector measures the drone’s distance to its target.

Pi Hsiang
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The Albatross drone beside me has been in service for many years, and has become one of the key tools currently used for surveillance and reconnaissance. This August it played an importance reconnaissance role as China was conducting military drills around Taiwan.

The Albatross measures 8.7 meters across and is 5.3 meters long. It can fly up to 12 hours in the air. The medium-size drone was developed and built in Taiwan. The drones were transferred from the Army to the Navy in 2017, and are stationed at bases including Pingtung, Hengchun and Taitung. The Navy has more than 30 Albatrosses in service, and with China’s aggressive posturing growing more frequent in recent years, the Albatross has become a favored tool, able to undertake long surveillance flights without consuming excessive resources.

Chao Chun-lin
Naval Maritime Reconnaissance
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we have gradually started to see the usage of drones on the battlefield. Recently, when the CCP held its military drills in August, we were commanded to carry out our duties in a specific maritime zone. We set up our equipment every day, takeoff and landing, carrying out targeted surveillance of the designated zone.

Every movement of China’s warships near Taiwan is closely monitored by Taiwan’s Navy. But to operate a device like this, officers have to pass a series of exacting tests.

Naval officers first undergo basic takeoff and landing training with this lifelike simulation for three months. Next they study modules such as battle maneuvers, and handling emergencies. It takes, on average, a year of training to become a drone pilot charged with guarding Taiwan’s coasts.

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Taiwan aims to install 200 offshore wind turbines before end of the year

Typhoon Nesat brought torrential rains to Taiwan over the past few days, causing flooding and blackouts. The storm also filled reservoirs, with many now up to near-full capacity. The economics ministry said it hopes to avoid future outages by adding 200 wind turbines before the end of the year, which may also involve the use of new technologies like combined wind-power and hydrogen-generating turbines.

With torrential rain falling nonstop, a waterfall has appeared at the door of this elevator. People push onto the elevator with umbrellas in hand to escape the downpour. Here at this shopping mall in Taipei’s Nangang District, the impact of Typhoon Nesat is especially apparent. The heavy downpours in recent days also caused blackouts around Taiwan. Speaking at the Global Offshore Wind Summit, economics minister Wang Mei-hua spoke on the situation.

Wang Mei-hua
Economics minister
There were originally 183 locations that were flooded, but as of 8 a.m. today that number was down to 19, and there are 3,600 homes without power. That’s after we restored power to 3,300 homes.

Wang said that by 11 p.m. on Monday power would be restored everywhere. Despite the inconveniences of the power outage, the heavy rainfall had a good side: Keelung’s Hsinshan Reservoir – which had sounded the alarm for low water levels before the storm – is now up to 80% capacity. At other reservoirs in the country, the news is even better. However, authorities are urging the public to exercise caution to avoid accidents near riverbeds when flood gates are opened. At the summit, Wang said more offshore wind turbines will be installed before year’s end, to prevent future outages.

Wang Mei-hua
Economics minister
This year will be our biggest for installation of offshore wind turbines. In fact, our goal for the end of the year is to have 200 new turbines installed.

Wang said that in order to ensure the government meets its sustainability goals for 2026, it is investing in newer wind turbine solutions. This may include installation of turbines on floating platforms, or installation of hydrogen-producing turbines.

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Hotels in Taipei seeing a gradual increase in bookings by foreign tourists

Taiwan’s borders have been open for less than a week, but already, foreign tourists are streaming in. One hotel in Taipei says that 70% of its bookings for late October are foreign travelers. Another says it’s ready for a surge in bookings over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Receptionists check in guests in a lobby full of people. Taiwan lifted all COVID border restrictions on Thursday last week and finally international travelers are coming in. Most people arriving are business travelers and independent travelers. This tourist from the U.S. says he had really been looking forward to exploring Taiwan.

American tourist
I was monitoring that because I don’t think anyone wants to stay in a hotel room for three days or a week. The flight from LA was very full. It’s nice to see Taiwan open up. And I’m here to explore this beautiful, very important island.

The traveler says he’s planning to travel around Taiwan for two weeks. According to the hotel, more than half of guests in late October are international travelers. In November and December, which are traditionally high season for the hospitality sector, occupancy is already at 80%. And 70% of bookings are for foreign travelers.

Tsai Hui-ju
Hotel PR
We have guests from Hong Kong, Singapore, as well as independent travelers from Europe and the U.S. There are also some tour groups. So we are optimistic about business in the fourth quarter. We hope to see 10% to 20% higher numbers.

The hotel has released special packages of about 15% off for long stays ranging from seven days to one month. Another hotel decided to take advantage of the lull in tourism due to COVID to renovate its facilities. Now it’s ready to reopen to offer the best services to foreign visitors.

Chao Chih-chi
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There are quite a lot of Taiwanese travelers making bookings for the Christmas season and New Year’s Eve. There are also a few foreign tourists hoping to visit Taipei.

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New Year banquets are back on the menu as COVID recedes into the past

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King crab, abalone, buddha jumps over the wall soup… Delicacy upon delicacy arrives at the table. New Year banquets languished during COVID, but now they’re back – big time.

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Are you sick of traditional banquet dishes? Now wedding banquet companies can see the pandemic slowing down, and they’re planning outdoors New Year banquet packages.

Food trucks are parked in a garden of more than 7,000 ping. This semi-buffet style banquet allows for ample social distancing and reduces infection risks, but it’s also well suited to the aesthetic tastes of Taiwan’s younger generation.

You can enjoy the food in a beautiful natural setting, and admire a fun drone performance. This new banquet offer has successfully grown bookings among young people. It’s 90% sold out.

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New Year banquets and parties have come back this year. Recently we’ve been planning these kinds of outdoors banquets for clients, for example, picnic style and barbecue style banquets. In this style, there are dedicated waiters serving, to prevent people’s food plates from overlapping.

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Right now, we are 90% booked up for both Friday and Saturday. This year we’re noticing the industries are mostly technology and finance. We also have some small businesses with small groups of 30 to 50, who are also booking out a restaurant privately to hold their New Year banquets and parties.

The New Year party season promises to be busy this year – busier even than before COVID. In the past, experts say 80% of banquet expenses went on the ingredients. Now much more focus and expense goes on the venue and its décor, to give weary employees a memorable end to the year.

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