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☆ Billionaire Ishbia to buy Suns for $4 billion - ESPN
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Billionaire Mat Ishbia will buy the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Phoenix Suns and women's team the Phoenix Mercury for $4 billion, ESPN reported on Tuesday. The deal would set a record in the league after Joe Tsai bought the remaining stake in the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 in a deal that valued the team at $2.35 billion. The Suns did not immediately respond to a request for comment. American Ishbia is president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage in Michigan. Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taiwan seeks quick progress on long-stalled EU investment deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan wants progress to be accelerated on a long-stalled bilateral investment agreement with the European Union, the island's President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday. The EU included Taiwan on its list of trade partners for a potential bilateral investment agreement in 2015, the year before Tsai became Taiwan's president, but it has not held talks with Taiwan on the issue since. Meeting a delegation from the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, Tsai said Taiwan and the EU should build a "resilient democratic alliance". Delegation leader Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou told Tsai that the EU and Taiwan shared common values like democracy and human rights. "The EU recognises that our partnership in trade and investment with Taiwan is a strategic relationship with geopolitical implications," Asimakopoulou said.

☆ What could GOP control of the House mean for U.S.-China tensions?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Megan Lebowitz | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

McCarthy also says he plans to create a House select committee on China, the first since the late 1990s. House Republicans will also investigate the origins of the coronavirus and “the CCP’s role in the spread,” the blog post said, although it is unclear whether that investigation would be part of the select committee. Tensions were further inflamed in August by Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, the first by a sitting U.S. House speaker since 1997. The most volatile issue in U.S.-China relations is the status of Taiwan, which Beijing has not ruled out seizing by force. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei, Taiwan on Aug. 3, 2022.

Meeting Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi in Taipei on Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said she expected greater defence cooperation with Japan. "Japan is making a late start, it is like we are 200 metres behind in a 400-metre sprint," he added. China defence spending overtook Japan's at the turn of the century, and now has a military budget more than four times larger. Japan says it wants ship-launched U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles made by Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) to be part of its new deterrent force. To pay for the military build-up, Kishida's ruling bloc earlier on Friday said it will raise tobacco, corporate and disaster-reconstruction income taxes.

☆ Taiwan pledges deeper Japan security cooperation as senior lawmaker visits
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen gives a speech on National Day in Taipei, Taiwan, October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen pledged on Saturday to deepen security cooperation with Japan to ensure freedom in the Indo-Pacific, during a meeting with a senior member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Meeting in the presidential office in Taipei, Tsai thanked Koichi Hagiuda, the LDP's policy chief, for Japan's support over issues like maintaining security in the sensitive Taiwan Strait. "We have seen in recent years Taiwan-Japan relations have become ever closer," she said. Japan has watched with growing concern China's belligerence towards Taiwan as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims over the island.

☆ Eye of the storm: Taiwan at the centre of Sino-U.S. tensions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Ben Blanchard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China likewise views Tsai as a separatist for refusing to accept Beijing's long-standing position that China and Taiwan both belong to "one China". Since Pelosi's visit, China has continued with its military activities near Taiwan, though on a reduced scale. WHY IT MATTERSA newspaper front page reporting about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pictured in Taipei, Taiwan, August 2, 2022. The United States has long stuck to a policy of "strategic ambiguity" and not making clear whether it would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan. Anti-China sentiment continues to build in the United States, and in its newly Republican-controlled House, along with support for Taiwan.

☆ Australia's PM says he's not in group of Australian MPs to visit Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the APEC Leader's Dialogue with APEC Business Advisory Council during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand. The group, which includes Australia's governing Labor Party and opposition Liberal-National coalition MPs, will fly to Taiwan on Sunday and is the first delegation of its type to visit there since 2019, The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Albanese on Saturday described the trip as a "backbench" visit to Taiwan, not a government-led one. "There remains a bipartisan position when it comes to China and when it comes to support for the status quo on Taiwan," Albanese told reporters in the town of Renmark, in South Australia state. The group will reportedly meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, with the visit having support from Taiwan's foreign ministry.

☆ UK parliament committee chair says she talked defence cooperation on Taiwan trip
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen poses for a photo with Alicia Kearns a British lawmaker at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, Taiwan, December 2, 2022. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS. "And we talked about how we as an international community work together to prevent, and therefore the importance of deterrence diplomacy. And, yes, defence cooperation was discussed as part of that because it should be part of a whole conversation that takes place." Tsai, meeting Kearns and her delegation at the presidential office, expressed thanks for Britain's support of Taiwan, especially calls to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

☆ China accuses UK lawmakers of "gross interference" over Taiwan visit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kylie Maclellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China on Thursday accused a committee of British lawmakers visiting Taiwan of "gross interference" in China's internal affairs and threatened a forceful response to anything that undermines Chinese interests. The Chinese embassy in Britain issued a statement responding to the ongoing visit to Taiwan by British parliament's Foreign Affairs committee, calling it a "flagrant violation" of the one-China principle. China claims the self-ruled, democratic island of Taiwan as its own territory, part of its "one China" policy. "Moves of the UK side that undermine China's interests will be met with forceful responses from the Chinese side." The spokesperson said the visit sent the wrong signal to those who want Taiwan to be independent.

☆ Taiwan Ruling Party’s Election Drubbing Could Ease Tensions With China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI—A brutal defeat for Taiwan’s ruling party in local elections over the weekend could reduce chances of military conflict with China, according to political analysts, though some warned it could expose the island to subtler forms of pressure from its giant neighbor. On Saturday, voters handed a rebuke to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in decisive results that led Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to resign as party leader. The opposition Nationalist Party, which is seen as being more friendly toward Beijing, scored big wins in many of the mayoral races across Taiwan.

[1/2] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announces to resign as Democratic Progressive Party chair to take responsibility for the party's performance in the local elections in Taipei, Taiwan, November 26, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Attention is turning to Taiwan's next presidential election in 2024 after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was thrashed at local elections on Saturday, with President Tsai Ing-wen's move to focus on China backfiring with voters. Speaking to reporters late on Saturday at party headquarters, its chairman Eric Chu said the KMT understood that only by uniting could it win. But Tsai's strategy failed to mobilise voters, who disassociated geopolitics from the local elections which traditionally focus more on issues from crime to pollution. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said last week Taiwan was seeing less Chinese interference ahead of the local elections, possibly due to China's own domestic problems and its efforts to improve its international image.

☆ Taiwan’s President Steps Down as Leader of Ruling Party After Drubbing in Local Elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Joyu Wang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen leaves after announcing her resignation as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. TAIPEI—Taiwan President Tsai Ing -wen relinquished her seat as head of the island’s ruling party after it lost several key contests in local elections Saturday, foreshadowing political uncertainty amid heightened tensions with China. In a brief speech after the results came in, Ms. Tsai blamed the ballot-box losses on shortcomings in the Democratic Progressive Party’s approach to local politics. “There is still a gap between people’s expectations and our grassroot work,” she said.

☆ Taiwan president resigns as party leader after election loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party following local election losses on Saturday suffered by her party. Tsai had spoken out many times about “opposing China and defending Taiwan” in the course of campaigning for her party. “Faced with a result like this, there are many areas that we must deeply review.”Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen casts her ballot at a polling station in New Taipei City, Taiwan on Nov. 26, 2022. They’ve raised a local election to this international level, and Taiwan’s survival,” said Yeh-lih Wang, a political science professor at National Taiwan University. At an elementary school in New Taipei City, the city that surrounds Taipei, voters young and old came early despite the rain.

☆ Taiwan votes in local elections amid tensions with China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] People line up to cast their votes on election day in Taipei, Taiwan, November 26, 2022. The elections for mayors, county chiefs and local councillors are ostensibly about domestic issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and crime, and those elected will not have a direct say on China policy. But Tsai has recast the election as being more than a local poll, saying the world is watching how Taiwan defends its democracy amid military tensions with China, which claims the island as its territory. Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang or KMT, swept the 2018 local elections, and has accused Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of being overly confrontational with China. Tsai and the DPP heavily defeated the KMT in 2020 despite their setback at the 2018 local polls.

☆ James Webb telescope: New data on WASP-39b is a 'game changer,' scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed molecular and chemical portrait of a faraway planet’s skies, scoring another first for the exoplanet science community. This “hot Saturn” was one of the first exoplanets that the Webb telescope examined when it first began its regular science operations. Bocaprins’ close proximity to its host star makes it an ideal subject for studying such star-planet connections. The planet is eight times closer to its host star than Mercury is to our sun. … We are already getting very exciting results,” Nestor Espinoza, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, told CNN.

☆ No need to avoid Xi at APEC, Taiwan envoy says after rare encounter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan told its representative there was no need to avoid Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Thailand, the envoy said on Monday, leading to a rare encounter at a time when China has been stepping up military pressure. "Certainly, the presidential office had said to me if there was an opportunity there was no need to avoid a meeting or a greeting. That was the only instruction," Morris Chang told reporters in Taipei on his return from Bangkok. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping has traditionally been one of the few forums where China and Taiwan talk, even if just in passing to exchange pleasantries. Taiwan participates at APEC as "Chinese Taipei", the name it also uses to participate in the Olympics and some other events.

☆ Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving issues another apology as possible return from suspension nears
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets star who was suspended for at least five games by the team for comments made after sharing a link to an antisemitic movie on social media, has issued another apology as his possible return from suspension nears. Putting some type of threat, or assumed threat, on the Jewish community,” Irving told SNY. Irving reiterated he is not “anti-Jewish” and apologized to the Jewish community. I got a chance to do that with people from the Jewish community, people from the Black community, from the White community,” Irving said. No, I’m not anti-Jewish.’ I’m a person who believes we should all have equal opportunities and that we should all shower each other with love, and that should be at the forefront,” he continued.

[1/5] Posters from Taiwan People's Party can be seen on the streets ahead of the election in Taipei, Taiwan, November 18, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - China's belligerence towards Taiwan and the future of the island's democracy are taking centre stage in campaigns ahead of local elections next week, a key test of the ruling party's support before a presidential vote in early 2024. The Nov. 26 mayoral and councillor polls are nominally about domestic issues such as transport and the COVID-19 pandemic rather than China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory. "Russia has invaded Ukraine and Taiwan is facing the threat of China," Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters this week. "The China issue is not an issue for local elections," he told Reuters.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. the person said, adding that the calls would connect but Chinese officials wouldn't pick up. Based on a long-standing practice, faxes continue to be exchanged between two semi-official organisations that handle routine affairs: Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. The council told Reuters that while Chinese officials do not reply directly, they have handled Taiwanese requests when needed or responded through public statements. China this year labeled Tsai's administration "evil" while Taiwan called China "incredibly absurd".

[1/2] Semiconductor chips are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationTAIPEI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has decried what she called "rumours" about the risk of investing in the island's semiconductor industry and said the government was working hard to ensure investments continued. But the Chinese military's menacing of the island to assert Beijing's sovereignty claims, especially after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, is causing the chip industry to rethink the risk surrounding Taiwan. Tsai, who met with ASML Holding's (ASML.AS) chief operations officer Frederic Schneider-Maunoury on Tuesday, praised the European manufacturer of chip-making equipment for its commitment to investing in Taiwan. Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sarah Wu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationTAIPEI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has decried "rumours" about the risk of investing in the island's key semiconductor industry, saying the government was working hard to ensure such investments continued. But the Chinese military's menacing of the island to assert Beijing's sovereignty claims, especially after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, is causing the chip industry to rethink the risk over Taiwan. Meeting Frederic Schneider-Maunoury, chief operations officer of ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS), a key equipment supplier to chip companies like TSMC, Tsai praised the European company for its commitment to investing in Taiwan. "I believe that this also discredits rumours of excessive speculation about Taiwan's risk," she added. Tsai said that investing in Taiwan was "definitely a very correct direction" and the government will continue to provide support.

CNN —Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who was suspended for at least five games by the team for comments made after sharing a link to an antisemitic movie on social media, is due this week to miss his eighth consecutive game. Thursday’s matchup in Portland against the Trail Blazers will mark two weeks since the Nets announced it was suspending Irving, saying at the time “he is currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.” The team has not said when Irving’s suspension could end. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, citing sources, Irving could return as soon as Sunday, when Brooklyn plays at home against the Memphis Grizzlies. CNN reached out to the Nets on Wednesday evening for comment but did not immediately hear back. “He’s someone I’ve known for a decade, and I’ve never heard an antisemitic word from him or, frankly, hate directed at any group,” Silver said.

☆ Smartphone chip firm MediaTek CEO sees 'incremental' move away from Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 13 (Reuters) - Tensions between China and the United States are pushing some manufacturer companies to talk about moving some of their supply chain away from Taiwan as well, although it’s “incremental,” the head of Taiwan’s most important smartphone chip design firm told Reuters over the weekend. Some of the "very large (equipment manufacturers) will require their chip suppliers to have multiple sources, like from Taiwan and from U.S., or from Germany or from Europe," said MediaTek Inc (2454.TW) Chief Executive Rick Tsai. "I think in those cases, we will have to find multiple sources for the same chip if the business warrants that." While MediaTek's most advanced smartphone chips are made at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) in Taiwan, Tsai said some older smartphone chips are made by GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS.O), which has factories in places like the U.S. and Singapore, and pointed to an announcement earlier this year to make its chips at Intel Corp’s (INTC.O) fabrication facilities. Tsai said the "Intel 16" chip manufacturing technology that MediaTek has committed to use fits well for producing MediaTek chips for smart TVs and Wi-Fi.

CNN —Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai says he believes Nets star Kyrie Irving “does not have any beliefs of hate towards Jewish people.”Tsai tweeted on Friday: “Clara and I met with Kyrie and his family yesterday. We spent quality time to understand each other and it’s clear to me that Kyrie does not have any beliefs of hate towards Jewish people or any group. The 30-year-old NBA star apologized on his Instagram account after his suspension was announced. Earlier in the week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he believes that Irving is not antisemitic following a meeting between the two. Silver said the Nets along with the league will consult to decide when Irving can return from suspension.

☆ Taiwan belongs to Taiwanese, president says in fiery pre-election rebuff to China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Ben Blanchard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] People wave flags at the Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party pre-election campaign rally ahead of mayoral elections in Taipei, Taiwan, November 12, 2022. REUTERS/Ann WangSummary Taiwan president: our existence not a provocation to anyoneChina has been increasing military pressure on TaiwanTaiwan to hold local elections on Nov. 26TAIPEI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday her mission in life was to ensure the island continued to belong to its people and that Taiwan's existence was a provocation to no one, in a fiery pre-election rebuff to China. "As president, my calling is to make every effort to let Taiwan still be the Taiwan of the Taiwanese people." U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Xi next week, with Taiwan on the agenda, according to the White House. The KMT denies this but could not shake the accusations ahead of the 2020 elections, leading to the DPP landslide.

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