Kenting’s tourist arrivals have plunged amidst complaints about service quality, prices, and litter. Kenting is the closest Taiwan gets to a tropical Arcadia. The small seaside town lies in a secluded peninsula near the island’s southernmost point, about 200 kilometers south of the Tropic of Cancer. White-sand beaches abound. The sun blazes, coloring the temperate…
The former British Crown Colony offers much more to visitors than just shopping and dim sum. As I prepared for my first Hong Kong visit in October 2005, I asked my ESL students in Taipei for advice on how I should spend my time there. Most of them had been to Hong Kong at least…
Taiwan Business TOPICS profiles five of Taiwan’s ascendant tech startups in industries ranging from healthcare and tourism to transportation and media. Health2Sync Diabetes runs in Ed Deng’s family. Relatives of the Taipei-based entrepreneur have passed away from complications of the disease, which is the third-leading cause of death among Taiwanese women. Researchers believe that East…
The startup ecosystem has blossomed over the past three years. To accelerate its growth, additional regulatory overhaul is needed. The Taiwanese government has vowed to create a homegrown private company worth US$1 billion or more in the next two years. Known as “unicorns” in tech lingo, these firms are the most celebrated startups in their…
Southeast Asia and Japan edge out ultra-competitive China as the markets of choice. Alex Chen is ebullient about Indonesia. Southeast Asia’s largest nation is integral to the global expansion of EZTable, the online restaurant booking platform Chen established a decade ago in Taipei. It has since become the largest platform of its kind in Asia….
The episode revealed deep-seated problems in the defense-contracting process. In February, Kaohsiung prosecutors indicted four executives and one consultant of the Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co., charging them with fraud, breach of trust, and violation of banking laws. If convicted, the defendants could face prison sentences ranging from 20 to 30 years, although the prosecution has…
An unflagging focus on stability, sometimes at the expense of reform, defined Perng Fai-nan’s two decades as head of Taiwan’s Central Bank. In Perng Fai-nan’s two decades of service as Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) before his retirement in February, the New Taiwan dollar’s value held steady, rarely deviating…
Proponents see big opportunities for Taiwan in this nascent space. Virtual currency fever swept the globe over the past year, peaking when Bitcoin’s value hit US$19,500 in December. Since that zenith, the preeminent cryptocurrency’s value has plummeted to just $10,000, illustrating its extreme volatility. Bitcoin is the best known cryptocurrency, but over a thousand have…
Banks remain cautious about embracing full-throated digitization. Customers of Taiwan’s domestic banks sometimes feel like they’re in a time warp. Basic savings accounts often are not automatically equipped with online banking – customers have to request that service. And in many cases, the standard means of tracking account activity is a passbook that must be…
Lack of exercise and poor diet are among the main reasons for the prevalence. Last year my family and I moved into an apartment building with a small gym. There are treadmills, an elliptical trainer, an exercise bike, and dumbbell sets – enough equipment for a full workout. It’s almost like having a private gym…
