By Courtney Donovan Smith Taishang Factories Disrupted by COVID-19 Taiwanese manufacturers in China, particularly those based in Shanghai and neighboring Kunshan, have suffered plant closures and supply chain issues due to China’s “dynamic zero-COVID” policies and the extended lockdown of the Shanghai region, widespread disruptions to trucking within China, and delays at the port of…
By Courtney Donovan Smith April Marks End to Zero-COVID Policy Locally transmitted cases in Taiwan have been rising exponentially since early April, as the Omicron variant began spreading across the island. Recognizing the variant’s infectiousness, the economic costs of the zero-COVID approach, and that almost all reported cases have been mild or asymptomatic, the government…
By Courtney Donovan Smith U.S. and Taiwan Discuss Bilateral Relations Though Taiwan was disappointed by the delay of an expected visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi after she tested positive for COVID-19, other visits and meetings between Taiwan and the U.S. underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship as concerns grew that…
By Courtney Donovan Smith Experts Split On Economic Forecast Uncertainty about inflation and supply chain resilience have led various organizations to reach different projections about the economy’s direction this year. The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) in April raised its forecast of Taiwan’s 2022 GDP growth by 0.29 percentage points to 3.96%. CIER attributed…
By Dexter Murray Another Evergreen Vessel Stranded Nearly a year after a cargo ship owned by the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Maritime Corp. caused a six-day-long traffic jam in the Suez Canal, another Evergreen ship has run aground off the U.S. coast. The ship, called the Ever Forward, hit ground on March 13 in Chesapeake…
March Blackouts Raise Supply, Grid Concerns Taiwan experienced widespread blackouts on March 3, affecting over 5 million households around the island. Both human error and mechanical failures were at fault, according to Taiwan’s state-owned electricity monopoly Taipower. Although power was restored by the end of the day, the incident caused significant disruption to households and…
By Dexter Murray ROC Citizens, Officials Rally Behind Ukraine The parallels between Ukraine’s and Taiwan’s precarious geopolitical situations – smaller economies facing threats from larger, authoritarian neighbors – have engendered sympathy from many Taiwanese people. On March 2, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) set up a designated fund to accept donations to help Ukrainian…
By Dexter Murray Raising Interest Rates to Fight Inflation Taiwan’s Central Bank in late March raised its 2022 GDP growth forecast to 4.05%, up slightly from the 4.03% it predicted last December. The revision shows that despite slowing growth in Taiwan’s largest export markets and global uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, the Central Bank’s…
Taiwan Welcomes EU’s New Chip Act Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the EU’s announcement on February 9 of The European Chips Act, citing its potential to boost Taiwan-EU bilateral investment. The proposed legislation seeks to increase the number of semiconductors manufactured in Europe by expanding cooperation with the world’s leading chipmakers. It will dedicate…
By Dexter Murray and Aimee Wu VP Lai Attends Honduras Inauguration Ceremony Taiwan Vice President William Lai led a delegation to attend the inauguration ceremony of newly elected president of Honduras Xiomara Castro in January. Lai’s U.S. counterpart, Kamala Harris, was also present at the event. Harris spoke briefly with Lai during Castro’s inauguration, the…
