China Mobile: Taiwan hangs up
Since 2009, state-owned telecom China Mobile had been trying to get regulatory approval to buy 12 per cent of Taiwan’s Far EasTone operator, in what was the first agreement by a Chinese group to invest in a Taiwanese one.
The problem: In 2009, Taiwan didn’t let Chinese groups invest in its core telcos. The two had hoped that might change, but it hasn’t. So, as of Thursday, the deal is officially dead – at least until Taiwan liberalises more, says China Mobile. Continue reading »
Taiwan and China: a musical interlude
A televised singing contest from China’s Hunan province is the latest front in the fight between China and Taiwan.
Many Taiwanese TV stations, including some news stations, devoted hours last Friday night to broadcasting the final round of Hunanese show “I Am a Singer”. That has prompted Taiwanese regulators to begin investigating whether any station broke laws covering the broadcast of Chinese programming. Continue reading »
Diaoyu – they dont call ′em the fishing islands for nothing!
They don’t call them the “Fishing” islands for nothing, it seems. The territory at the centre of the protracted Sino-Japanese-Taiwanese islands dispute is known as Diaoyu in Chinese, which means fishing, and now Beijing is making sure that Chinese citizens get a taste of the islands – just in time for Chinese New Year when fish is usually high on the menu. Continue reading »
Taiwan-China: the economic upside?
"Bumbler"?
With Taiwan’s economy sluggish this year and the stock market underperforming many regional peers, it’s easy to find Taiwan bears – including the Economist, which raised hackles locally by calling the president a “bumbler” (the unfortunate Chinese translation was “dumb egg”).
It’s not so easy to find Taiwan bulls, so a recent upbeat report from Barclays analysts is unusual. Continue reading »
Next Media deal: getting complicated
There have been growing concerns in Taiwan that the warming relationship with Beijing is causing self-censorship in the island’s media – so the deal to sell Next Media, which includes the local newspaper Apple Daily, will only fuel the debate further. Continue reading »
Banco Santander Chile jumps on the dim sum wagon
Pacific-rim Chile has long looked to the Far East for trade. Now Banco Santander Chile, the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, is sampling some financial dim sum.
The Spanish-owned bank became the first Chilean bank to raise money in China’s bond market by issuing RMB500m ($80m) in two-year renminbi-denominated paper, dubbed “dim sum” bonds. Continue reading »
Taiwan: sweet potato bonds take aim at Hong Kong
Amid all the talk about Taiwan and China’s improving relationship, not much thought is given to a third party that could lose out on business — Hong Kong, historically the back door for Taiwan’s business dealings with the mainland.
As Schive Chi, head of the Taiwan stock exchange, points out, his own efforts to get companies to list in Taiwan – plus the recent news that Taiwan can begin clearing renminbi itself - will help the island reclaim a slice of Hong Kong’s pie. Continue reading »
Taiwan: pack your bags for the US?
Shares of Taiwanese airlines took off on Tuesday amidst rumours that the US is about to welcome Taiwanese travelers visa-free.
Hilary Clinton is speaking later on Tuesday at a tourism conference in the US, sparking the latest spate of rumours around the long-awaited decision. All in all, it’s been a good year for Taiwan tourism. Continue reading »
Taiwan: will Macau’s magic rub off?
Wanted: a piece of the action
Governments across Asia have been keen to replicate the success of Macau, the region’s casino hub, where billions have been made from wealthy Chinese gamblers.
Taiwan residents in Matsu, a tiny island that is much closer to mainland China than its parent, have said Yes to gambling. Developers are keen to get started. But given Taiwan’s complicated (to say the least) relationship with mainland China, what are the odds of the plan working? Continue reading »
Chongqing says ‘business as usual’
The purging of Bo Xilai has been the talk of the town in Beijing for the past week, but back in Chongqing, where Bo was the party secretary, it is business as usual.
Or at least, that was the message that Huang Qifan, Chongqing mayor, and Zhang Dejiang, the man who replaced Bo as party secretary in Chongqing, were keen to send to the western Chinese city’s big investors. Continue reading »
Taiwan: opening up to China, bit by bit
Over the past decades, Taiwanese businesses have funneled more than $200bn in direct investment into China, but there have only been $270m worth of Chinese investment into Taiwan.
That discrepancy has been a sticking point for the Taiwan government, which on the one hand wants to attract more investments to show tangible economic benefits from mending fences with China, but on the other hand is wary of any criticism that it is letting the Chinese buy up Taiwan’s prized companies and assets. So this week’s move by the government is a significant move. Continue reading »
China, Taiwan and RQFII
Now that Taiwan’s elections are over and a new cabinet has had time to settle in, investors are turning to the question, “What comes next in cross-Strait relations?”
One intriguing possibility emerged on Monday when the China Daily newspaper quoted Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as saying that Beijing may include Taiwan in its nascent Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors programme. Continue reading »
Post-election Taiwan: beyond exports
What to expect from Taiwan’s new cabinet as they begin work this week? To judge by media speculation on the island over the past few weeks, anything is possible, from bringing in new capital gains tax, to further opening to Chinese investment.
Sean Chen, the new premier, has already given himself the rather broad goal of bringing wealth and happiness to the Taiwanese people. Fortunately he has also provided some clues as to what that means. Continue reading »
Terry Gou: Managing “1m animals” [updated with Foxconn statement]
Hon Hai’s Terry Gou has had a lot on his plate lately, between fresh labour problems, having his operations detailed for the first time by Apple’s sustainability report, and campaigning hard for Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou.
So with at least one of those three resolved when Ma was re-elected to a second term last Saturday, Gou on Sunday took a well-deserved break and hosted Hon Hai’s annual family day for staff in Taiwan, at the Taipei Zoo. What could possibly go wrong? Continue reading »
Ma’s victory: plenty of work ahead
Investors looking for an immediate stock market bounce from Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou’s successful re-election might be a bit disappointed on Monday.
The benchmark Taiex index opened up 60 points, or nearly 1 per cent, on Monday morning to reach 7250 points, bucking a broadly down Asian market, but quickly fell back into negative territory. By mid-morning it was down by 60 points. Continue reading »
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