For decades before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China in 1979, Americans with a scholarly or professional interest in Chinese affairs invariably spent at least a year in Taiwan – and often much longer – studying Mandarin or doing research. The result was that a whole generation…
Participants in AmCham Taipei’s cocktail reception marking the 68th anniversary of the Chamber’s birth in 1951 enjoyed a spectacular view from The Penthouse on the 16th floor of the eslite Hotel, a delicious selection of canapés, freeflowing wine and Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch, raffle prizes, and stimulating conversation. The event on September 19 was sponsored…
Before the U.S. government announcement last month that it would sell 66 F-16 Viper jet fighters to Taiwan in a deal valued at US$8 billion, there hadn’t been an American sale of advanced military aircraft to the island since the George H.W. Bush administration agreed to supply an earlier version of the F-16 in 1992….
The AmCham Taipei CEO Mission that visited Washington, D.C., this June found growing interest among American government officials in seeking ways to strengthen bilateral relations with Taiwan. As reported in this issue of TOPICS, there now appears to be greater understanding and appreciation in Washington of Taiwan’s strategic value in the Indo-Pacific as a staunch…
AmCham Taipei’s 2019 Hsieh Nien Fan banquet, held April 10 at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, paid tribute to the Taiwan Relations Act on its 40th anniversary. The law, which has enabled U.S.-Taiwan relations to continue smoothly without formal diplomatic recognition, was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on the same date in 1979. The banquet…
Artificial intelligence will be the electricity of the twenty-first century – a technology that will supercharge industries across the board. That’s just one of many bold observations from Taiwanese venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee’s new book, AI Super-powers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order. It’s a provocative must-read for anyone who wants to better…
The cover story in this issue of Taiwan Business TOPICS looks back with appreciation to 40 years ago this month when the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), freshly passed by Congress, became U.S. law with President Jimmy Carter’s signature. The drafting of the TRA – a process in which AmCham Taipei is proud to have played a…
AmCham Taipei’s Private Equity Committee suspended operations in late 2017 in frustration over the difficulty PE firms were facing in Taiwan in gaining approval for investment applications. In a number of cases over the previous six years, investment plans by PE companies had been either rejected outright or stalled so long that the prospective investor…
Taiwan needs to be prepared to face a challenging year in 2019. That’s one of several key messages from AmCham Taipei’s recently released Business Climate Survey. Notably fewer of our member executives – about 45% compared to 55% a year ago — expressed confidence in the economic outlook for the coming 12 months. Significantly, however,…
Taiwan took a major step forward a year ago in protecting intellectual property rights when legislators passed a law to establish a “Patent Linkage” system for safeguarding patents on pharmaceuticals. Distressingly, the government now appears to be preparing to take a big step backward by limiting the coverage of that law. Rules being proposed by…
