Day: June 25, 2022

“Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 classic film, had generated NT$453 million (US$15.24 million) at the box office in Taiwan as of June 24, making it the American actor’s highest-grossing film in the domestic market.

The film, which hit local movie theaters on May 25, surpassed Cruise’s record grossing movie “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” in 2018, with NT$447 million, according to the film’s distributor on Saturday.

“Top Gun: Maverick” will also be shown on IMAX and 4DX formats this week, according to VieShow Cinemas, one of Taiwan’s largest movie outlets and also a movie distribution company.

According to IMDb’s Box Office Mojo, the 2022 action-drama film has so far grossed over US$918 million globally since its worldwide debut in late May.

Prior to its premiere, a trailer was released in 2019 which had a scene showing Cruise donning the bomber jacket his character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, wore in “Top Gun.”

In the 1986 original, the back of the jacket had a naval patch that displayed the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Japan flags, which were meant to commemorate the USS Galveston’s tour of duty with the 7th Fleet from 1963 to 1964 when it performed missions off Japan and Taiwan.

In the 2019 trailer, however, the ROC and Japan flags were replaced with other generic symbols.

According to foreign media reports at the time, the flags were allegedly removed by Hollywood to appease China’s censors, and also because Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings was initially set to back the US$170 million film.

However, the Wall Street Journal reported in late May that Tencent had pulled out over concerns that supporting a film celebrating the U.S. military could anger Beijing.

Both flags were subsequently restored in the film’s official release in Taiwanese theaters on May 25.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taiwan’s industrial production in May rose by more than 4 percent from a year earlier, marking the 28th consecutive month of a year-on-year increase on the back of robust global demand for semiconductors, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Data compiled by the MOEA showed the industrial production index rose by 4.48 percent from a year earlier to 135.28 in May with the sub-index of the manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the country’s total industrial production, rising by 5.14 percent from a year earlier to 137.46, also marking the sub-index’s 28th straight month of a year-on-year increase.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production for May also rose by 2.81 percent and the sub-index of the manufacturing sector grew by 2.57 percent from a year earlier, while after seasonal adjustments, the May industrial production and the manufacturing sector’s production trended down by 0.71 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively, the data indicated.

In the first five months of this year, industrial production rose by 6.06 percent from a year earlier while the sub-index for the manufacturing sector grew by 6.31 percent year-on-year, according to the MOEA.

Huang Wei-chieh (???), deputy director of the MOEA’s Department of Statistics, said an increase in popularity of emerging technologies, such as 5G applications, high-performance computing devices, and automotive electronics continued to push up demand for semiconductors.

In addition, digital transformation in many enterprises has further boosted the production of the local semiconductor industry, Huang said.

By sectors

In May, production generated by semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan rose by 22.50 percent from a year earlier, serving as a driver for the electronics component industry, whose production increased by 14.17 percent from a year earlier, the MOEA said.

However, production of flat-panel suppliers fell by 19.83 percent from a year earlier in May, offsetting growth in the electronics component industry, as demand for displays showed signs of weakening, the MOEA added.

The MOEA said the computer and optoelectronics industry’s production rose by 3.76 percent from a year earlier in May due to strong demand for internet equipment and devices used in cloud and data center services.

Huang said the growth showed that the impact from a supply shortage in components had eased to some extent.

However, the old economy sector is still feeling the pinch of the impact from China’s COVID-19 lockdowns in several of its industrial cities such as Shanghai, and saw production weakening in May, Huang said.

Huang added that annual maintenance carried out by several old economy industries also affected their production in the month.

In May, production of the chemical material, base metal, and machinery industries fell by 6.67 percent, 3.84 percent, and 1.23 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, the MOEA’s data showed.

The auto and auto parts industry reported a 16.17 percent year-on-year decline in production in May as China’s lockdowns cut component supplies and an increase of domestic COVID-19 cases in Taiwan hurt buying interest in the local car market, the data indicated.

Outlooks

Looking ahead, Huang said Taiwan’s outbound sales were expected to benefit from China’s easing of lockdowns and the easing of border control by many other major economies, while emerging technologies are expected to bolster the local semiconductor industry, which has continued to expand production.

In June, the production sub-index of the local manufacturing sector is forecast to rise by up to 3 percent from a year earlier to between 137.16 and 141.16, Huang said.

However, uncertainties including geopolitical tensions and skyrocketing inflation worldwide may hurt the global economy and in turn affect Taiwan’s production down the road, he added.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

Torrential rain toppled a 20-meter high tree that crushed a vehicle parked along the roadside and blocked two lanes of a road in Taipei on Saturday afternoon.

No injuries were reported as the tree fell on the rear end of the car near the intersection of Guangfu North Road and Yanshou Street in Songshan District in Taipei around 1:24 p.m., according to Taipei City Government’s Fire Department.

Firefighters roped off the area to remove the tree, whose diameter was around 60 centimeters, according to the fire department.

A similar incident occurred on Friday when heavy rain brought down a 20-meter roadside tree with an 80-centimeter diameter near Xining North Road and Chang-An West Road in the city’s Datong District, damaging two cars and a traffic light.

Earlier on Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau had issued a torrential and heavy rain advisory for 19 counties and cities including Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Keelung, and Miaoli, and mountainous areas in eastern Taiwan as strong convection was likely to occur in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, people living in low-lying areas in Zhongli, Bade, and Daxi districts in Taoyuan and Neihu and Songshan districts in Taipei should watch out for flooding, according to the Water Resources Agency.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel

The Canadian community celebrated the Canadian national day in Taipei on Saturday for the first time in two years, with live performances, games and food stalls selling Canadian specialties.

It is the first Canada Day celebration that has been held in Taipei since 2020, said Jordan Reeves, the outgoing executive director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT), adding that the event was a wonderful way to wrap up his four-year tenure in Taiwan.

CTOT represents Canada’s interest in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations.

According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, which organized Saturday’s event, the annual celebration of Canada Day, which falls on July 1 every year, in Taiwan before the COVID-19 pandemic had been the largest such event in Asia, attracting more than 9,000 people each year.

However, the number of people attending Saturday’s event, which began at noon and will last until 9 p.m., was much less, likely due to the COVID-19 situation in Taiwan and the thundershower that hit the capital in the afternoon.

Also at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Harry Tseng (???) described the celebration as demonstrating the determination of the Canadian community to “bring our lives back to normal.”

He added that Taiwan’s government would continue to “open up” border controls and loosen COVID-19 protocols in the near future.

The Canadian community is deeply involved in Taiwan’s economic and cultural development, Tseng said. “Taiwan and Canada are like-minded partners; we both value and cherish freedom and democracy, and respect human rights and the rule of law.”

Looking forward to the post-pandemic era, Tseng noted, “I believe Canada and Taiwan should be working even more closely together to bring our bilateral relations to a new height.”

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel