Asian Pacific Business Journal - 2014 September

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Asian Pacific Business Journal WWW.APBJOURNAL.COM Issue Number 0081 2014 August Issue 1548 W. Alameda Avenue, Suite D, Denver, CO 80223| Tel: 303-733-8888, 303-722-8268, Fax: 303-722-7861| asianpacifi[email protected] 2014/09/03 13:36:11 (By Jeffrey Wu) ENDITEM/WH Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwanese chip maker Himax Technologies Inc. has announced that subsidiary Himax Display Inc., which supplies micro-display panels to Google Inc., will team up with French firm Optinvent SA to develop ad- vanced smart glasses. Himax Display and Optinvent, a producer of the patented ORA Smart Glasses that feature a "see- through" display so as not to obstruct regular vi- sion, will undertake the partnership to develop next-generation augmented reality glasses, Hi- max Technologies said in a statement Tuesday. Himax Display is a manufacturer of liquid crys- tal on silicon (LCOS) chips and modules, which are used to project images inside head-mounted devices such as Google Glass eyewear, head-up displays and pico-projectors. The new product is expected to be among the most technologically advanced products in the smart glass market when released, the company said. "After working successfully together on previ- ous technological initiatives, we are very excited to expand our partnership with Optinvent," said Jordan Wu, president and chief executive officer of Himax Technologies. "They have created a leading technology which should help create significant demand for aug- mented reality glasses by mainstream consum- ers," he said in the statement. Optinvent CEO Kayvan Mirza commented that the micro-display is a key component in the per- formance of the display-centric smart glasses model. "Himax's LCOS micro-displays seamlessly work with the retinal projection engine in our ORA Smart Glasses in terms of panel performance and power consumption," Mirza added. Himax Display has been Google's partner for sev- eral years, and the U.S. search giant announced in July last year it would take a 6.3 percent stake in Himax Display to push forward its Google Glass initiative.

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Issue No. 0081

Transcript of Asian Pacific Business Journal - 2014 September

Page 1: Asian Pacific Business Journal - 2014 September

Asian Pacific Business Journal WWW.APBJOURNAL.COM

Issue Number 0081 2014 August Issue1548 W. Alameda Avenue, Suite D, Denver, CO 80223| Tel: 303-733-8888, 303-722-8268, Fax: 303-722-7861| [email protected]

����

2014/09/03 13:36:11(By Jeffrey Wu)ENDITEM/WH

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwanese chip maker Himax Technologies Inc. has announced that subsidiary Himax Display Inc., which supplies micro-display panels to Google Inc., will team up with French firm Optinvent SA to develop ad-vanced smart glasses.

Himax Display and Optinvent, a producer of the patented ORA Smart Glasses that feature a "see-through" display so as not to obstruct regular vi-sion, will undertake the partnership to develop next-generation augmented reality glasses, Hi-max Technologies said in a statement Tuesday.

Himax Display is a manufacturer of liquid crys-tal on silicon (LCOS) chips and modules, which are used to project images inside head-mounted devices such as Google Glass eyewear, head-up displays and pico-projectors.

The new product is expected to be among the most technologically advanced products in the smart glass market when released, the company said.

"After working successfully together on previ-ous technological initiatives, we are very excited to expand our partnership with Optinvent," said Jordan Wu, president and chief executive officer of Himax Technologies.

"They have created a leading technology which should help create significant demand for aug-mented reality glasses by mainstream consum-ers," he said in the statement.

Optinvent CEO Kayvan Mirza commented that the micro-display is a key component in the per-formance of the display-centric smart glasses model.

"Himax's LCOS micro-displays seamlessly work with the retinal projection engine in our ORA Smart Glasses in terms of panel performance and power consumption," Mirza added.

Himax Display has been Google's partner for sev-eral years, and the U.S. search giant announced in July last year it would take a 6.3 percent stake in Himax Display to push forward its Google Glass initiative.

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Page 2 Asian Pacific Business Journal 2014 August Issue

My Journey from Tyranny to LibertyBy Lily Williams

I am an Chinese immigrant who come to Amer-ica to seek freedom from the Communist China. I was born right before China’s Cultural Revo-lution and grew up in Chengdu, Capitol of Si-chuan province, China. As you know, in China there is only one party that is truly in power: The Communist Party. The government, which is the Communist Party, controls everything: Factories, schools, the press, hospitals, land, and universities. Growing up there, I never heard of such a thing as a “private company." There were no choices of any sort. We were all poor. We had no gas or stove, no TV, no phones, no re-frigerators, and no washing machines. In the cit-ies, electricity was rationed. In the countryside, there was no electricity.Our family of five had to live on the very low wages my parents earned. The local government issued coupons for people to buy everything from pork to rice, sugar, and flour and there was never enough. We got to buy only 2.2 pounds of pork per month for our family of five. We lived in a two room 'apartment', without heat in the winter and no indoor plumbing. I got impetigo every winter from the cold damp winter weath-er, which was common for kids to get. Eight families lived in our complex, and we had to share bathrooms (holes in the ground outside), one for all males, and one for all females. When the lights were out, no one would replace the bulb for a while so it would be totally dark to go to the bathroom. It became a quite scary ad-venture at night for us to go there. We had only government run hospitals which were filthy. I was afraid of going to a hospital because I might get diseases. The last two years before I left for college, we moved into a three-room apartment provided by my dad's work-unit. It had concrete walls and a concrete floor, a water faucet and sink, but no heat. It had a shared public restroom without a shower or bathtub - but, it was infi-nitely better than what we had before.I was eager to go to school when I turned 6 years old. My parents did not let me to go to school because they needed me to babysit my younger brother who was one year old. They could not afford his child care. I cried for a long time that night. My parents felt so guilty so they bought me a movie ticket next day. Finally, I went to school at age of 7. I was so happy and motivated to be a top student. As a child, we were brain-washed in public school every day. We were taught that two-thirds of the world population were suffering and living in hunger and our so-cialist country was the best. We didn't think that maybe China should be counted as part of the two thirds of suffering humanity! We believed whatever the government told us because we did not know anything else. I thought the other countries must be hellish if they were worse than we were. Anyway, we chanted daily: “Long Live Chairman Mao, Long Live the Communist Par-ty. I love Chairman Mao." I was so brainwashed as a small child that I could see Chairman Mao

in the clouds or the cooking fire. He was like a god to me. We were required to read all of Mao’s Red books, wear Mao’s buttons, write journals, and confess any bad thoughts to Mao.We were required to conform, not stand out as an individual. I was held back to join the Young Pioneers because I was not humble enough (I told my classmates I should be in the first batch to join due to my 100% grade on every subject and they reported on me). The big powerful state from top to bottom was always watching us very closely: from Beijing’s central government to our neighborhood block committees and po-lice stations. We had no rights, even though our constitution said we did. It was very scary that local police could stop by our home to pound on the doors at night for any reason. The govern-ment told us how to dress (Mao’s suit), what to buy and eat (coupons), where to live (household registration system) and what to read (govern-ment newspapers). The land belonged to the people (the government actually) and citizens were not allowed to have any weapons or off to prison they would go. Things have changed a lot in China since the open door policy of Deng Xiaoping really got going in the early 1980s; people have more freedom than ever before to start businesses, get jobs in another city, travel overseas, etc, but the political system is still fundamentally the same one party rule.My favorite teacher in high school told me that he was sent to a Re-education Labor Camp be-cause the Communist Party punished those who criticized the party even though the party was asking for feedback. His health was ruined dur-ing those years. He said “China is not a coun-try of laws." I was determined to study law in college. After three whole days, eight hours of testing each day, I scored very high and was ad-mitted by Fudan University (one of the top five universities) in Shanghai law school. I became the first one in my entire extended family ever to go to college. When there I was depressed to find out that what we learned in school and what was reality were totally different things. The so-ciety was not ruled by law but ruled by men. After I became a law school faculty member at Fudan University in Shanghai, I had to be care-ful about what to say in the classroom or during the party political study and self-criticism meet-ings. My leaders in law school even intruded into my private life telling me, for example, that I received too many letters (I was too social), or I should not go to my boyfriend’s parents’ house for dinner and spend a night. I was a law school faculty member and yet I was still being treated as a child!I realized I could not really have the personal freedom I dreamed to have if I stayed in China, so I decided to re-enter school in the USA. It was a long and stressful process for me to step down from my position and leave China. I went to the local security office to apply for my pass-port seven times and was treated as a deserter with papers literally thrown at my face. My law school made me sign a paper saying that I must

return to my job in Shanghai after two years of graduate study, or they will eliminate my posi-tion and send my personnel file (everyone has one in China which follows you from birth to death) to my hometown in Chengdu, which would be a death sentence for my law teaching career. However, I was determined to leave and did not care about what I had to sign.I arrived in America in 1988 with $100 in my pocket. The first ten years when I was in the U.S, I still had nightmares about being trapped in China by the government and having to dig a big hole in the ground, into the blue Pacific Ocean, so I could escape, jump into the Ocean, and swim to the United States. Even when I went back to China later to visit with my Amer-ican husband in 1991, my fears would return. For example, staying at a friend’s apartment in Beijing, one night the police came to pound on the door and wanted to check our papers. Some-one must have reported to them that that there was a foreigner in the neighborhood. I was preg-nant with our first son at that time, and we were in deep sleep after midnight when the police’s door-pounding scared the heck out of me and brought all the childhood bad memories back. Fortunately, they only wanted to check our papers, or maybe just let us know who was in charge. Another time I was in China during June 4th (Tian An Men crackdown) anniversary for a business trip, I was in a business-friend’s car, when we were randomly pulled over by the lo-cal police to check out our IDs and search our car. They did not have to show any search war-rant. I used to also travel often to Guangdong Province for business when I worked in Hong Kong. I remember the taxi drivers called the lo-cal police “mafia” because of their brutality and corruption.I did not hesitate to become an American citizen in 1995. Here I could speak freely and have my rights protected. I do not take my new freedom for granted. I vote in every election. As a U.S. citizen, I have worked for private companies in Hong Kong and Denver. Later, I started my own business and worked hard to grow my business. For the past 15 years, my husband and I have raised three children in Parker, Colorado, enjoy-ing a middle class life: kids, a house, a dog, and 2 cars. From the $100 I brought over from Chi-na to having my own businesses and properties, I know I am living the American Dream. All the immigrants I know who come to this country do so because they believe America is a land of op-portunity and freedom. We know that if you are smart, work very hard, and save your money, you will be successful and make a nice living here. I love this country. I want my children to continue to enjoy the freedom that brought me here. I want my children to have the same op-portunity I had to succeed.By telling my own story, I wanted to share my message with you: big governments do not work; big governments are very dangerous because they eventually use force. Big government (Continued on page 3 )

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2014 August Issue Asian Pacific Business Journal Page 3 My Journey from Tyranny to Liberty

(Continued from page 2)

attracts people who love power and control. Big government seems to want to distract you and di-rect your choices to unimportant social conven-tions yet limit your choices on really important things like speech, self-defense, and property rights. The freedom we have in this country is precious. The governments in the US are essen-tially pretty good. However, we are losing more and more liberty every day. The two major par-ties of this country have always expanded the government (federal or state), even when they say they are shrinking them. Whoever is in power always wants to 'do' something, to 'solve' some problem. It never really works because govern-ment must use force to solve whatever problem of the day arises. Now the federal government is $17 trillion in debt from all the problems it has 'solved'; we are losing our freedom to choose in many aspects of our life: health care, education, speech, privacy, what we want to buy to protect our families, how much money we want to keep after our hard work, etc., and even in New York drink sizes! Big government is like a cancer; it will grow and spread and keep growing if we don’t stop it. Do not believe things will always

get better. I know that people are born the same everywhere, yet their cultures and systems of government can be vastly different. Our culture, our people, and our increasing reliance on more government are, I think, a very dangerous trend.The country has been on the wrong path for too long, all our governments have been growing bigger for too long. What kind of country is this if we have to work over a half of the year to pay all the taxes and fees: federal, state, city, county; including payroll, phone, gas, car license, eating out, hotel stays, air travel, licenses, tariffs, etc. We are taxed to death for many things we don't want and the country is broke. This is astounding to me. What kind of country is this if the govern-ment uses force to take your money and spend the way they see fit and still tell you it is good for you? Are you its servant or master? Do you own yourself or not? What kind of country is this if the government takes away your choice of mar-rying anyone who makes you happy? Are you a consenting adult or not? What kind of country is this if the government can put you into a prison for what you are consuming? What kind of coun-try is this if we become like a China Socialist Iron Rice Bowl, where people are treated the same ev-erywhere; where it does not matter whether you

work hard or not, that you are told "If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." and where you must redis-tribute what you produce. What kind of country is this where the government monitors our pri-vate email and phone calls? What kind of country is this if the IRS can target you based on your political affiliation? Why have we Americans be-come so unsure of ourselves that we want to be like other countries and to think like them instead of wanting them to be like us? When did this change happen? Where is the America I dreamed of - full of strong men and women without fear of acting on their own behalf?Big government people have always been at-tracted to power, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Big government people are perpetu-ally alarmed busybodies who fearfully want to insert themselves into everybody's business here and abroad, telling them what to do or not do. That is why I felt I had to become an advocate for liberty. Let us stop these people now. Wake up and stand up. Remember how this country was founded and what our constitution really protects - Individual Liberty! Vote for liberty, vote for small, effective, and limited government.

Climate change puts endangered Devils Hole pupfish at risk of extinctionUniversity of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute

Research shows rare fish struggling to survive Las Vegas, Nevada – Climate change is hurting reproduction of the endangered Devils Hole pup-fish, threatening the survival of this rare species that has numbered as few as 35 individuals, new research by the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute (DRI) shows.

Scientists report that geothermal water on a small shelf near the surface of an isolated cavern in the Nevada desert where the pupfish live is heating up as a result of climate change and is likely to continue heating to dangerous levels.

The hotter water, which now reaches more than 93 degrees, has shortened by one week the amount of time pupfish larvae have to hatch during the opti-mal recruitment periods. The recruitment period is the 10 weeks during which water temperatures are conducive to egg hatching and sufficient food is available to sustain the newly hatched larvae. This decrease contributed to the decline of the adult pupfish population, according to a scientific paper published in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

“Climate change is making it harder for the Dev-ils Hole pupfish to survive and has most likely contributed to the decline we have seen,” said Mark Hausner, a hydrologist at the Desert Re-search Institute in Las Vegas, and lead author of the paper, “Life in a Fishbowl: Prospects for the

endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon di-abolis) in a changing climate.”

Devils Hole, in the Mojave Desert, will also likely become less hospitable to the pupfish as climate change continues to warm the planet, he said. The new research found that increasing temperatures will likely reduce the pupfish’s op-timal recruitment period by another two weeks by mid-century. Higher temperatures could also affect the availability of food for young pupfish, leading to fewer adult fish.

“There is no question that the temperature is go-ing to rise on the shallow shelf, and there is no question that the fish are going to be affected,” said Scott Tyler, lead scientist in the project, co-author of the paper and a professor of hydrologi-cal sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“While the population of the pupfish has de-clined, we are hoping they are in a period of re-covery,” Kevin Wilson, Aquatic Ecologist and a member of the research team from of the Pah-rump Field Office of Death Valley National Park, said. “Climate change is threatening the already small population size.”

Devils Hole is a water-filled limestone cavern in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a detached unit of Death Valley National Park. It is an extreme environment, with water tempera-tures and dissolved oxygen concentrations near their lethal limits for most fish.

The iridescent blue, one-inch-long pupfish have lived in the top 80 feet of the water-filled cavern for more than 10,000 years.

There are now 92 Devils Hole pupfish observed living in the geothermal pool. The population, which fluctuates throughout the year, is down from 171 fish a decade ago (according to sea-sonal counts). The population is down from 553 fish when the population counts began in 1972, according to the National Park Service.

“This is a fish that does live in a fishbowl, an in-credibly hostile fishbowl, and you can’t move the fishbowl,” Tyler said. “This is a species that can’t adapt or change or leave to go to a better envi-ronment, though it’s most likely gone through tremendous genetic bottlenecks in its more than 10,000 years of evolution.”

Tyler and his team, with grants from the National Park Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife and the Death Valley Natural History Associa-tion, used fiber-optic cable distributed tempera-ture-sensing equipment, pioneered by Tyler, to monitor temperature changes in the more than 400-foot deep geothermal fissure in the desert. They used current and historic data to create a numerical model, using the same equations used in fluid dynamics and aerodynamics for design-ing Formula-one race cars and airplane wings, to chart thermal mixing of the water within the aquifer.

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2014/09/03 22:12:14(By Lawrence Chiu and Lilian Wu)Enditem/pc

Beijing, Sept. 3 (CNA) Three business groups from Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong signed an agreement in Beijing on Wednesday to establish a fund for joint investment in film and TV production.

The agreement was signed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by Peter Lam, chairman of Hong Kong's Media Asia Entertainment Group; Lee Shoo Man, chairman of South Korea's S.M. Entertainment Co.; and Leon Lu, chairman of Kbro Media Co., a subsidiary of Taiwan's Fubon Group.

The enterprises agreed to invest jointly in film and TV production in China, specifically for Chinese-language audiences. It was also agreed that Media Asia will serve as the exclusive Chinese agent for S.M.'s entertainers, including the bands Super Junior, f(x) and EXO and singer Jang Ri-in.

The seed capital of the investment fund will be US$20 million, with Media Asia Entertainment and S.M. Entertainment serving as co-managers, while Fubon Group will fill the role of a co-founder. The goal is to raise an initial US$100 million for the fund, which has been

dubbed Dragon Tiger.

Lu said that Fubon Group is new to the film and TV business, having entered it just two years ago, but attaches great importance to the agreement and hopes that it will help to expand

Taiwan's film and television industry.

Hong Kong star Leon Lai, who is attached to Media Asia Entertainment Group, and popular South Korean stars Choi Siwon and Kangta also attended the signing ceremony.

Taiwan, HK, South Korea enterprises set up investment fund for film, TV

India—golden opportunity for Taiwan firms official(By Lee Hsin-Yin) ENDITEM/WH

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, whose giant floating Rubber Duck made a big splash across Taiwan last year, has been commissioned by Taoyuan County to pro-duce a giant white rabbit next month.

At about 25 meters long, the rabbit made of wa-terproof paper, wood and Styrofoam. It will be set up against a retired aircraft hangar as part of the Taoyuan Land Art Festival put on by the northern county, according to event organizers.

The festival will celebrate the folklore surround-ing the Mid-Autumn Festival -- which centers on the moon goddess Chang'e and her rabbit com-panion -- as part of the county's ongoing efforts to boost tourism.

Hofman's Rubber Duck had cruised from Kaoh-siung in the south all the way up to Taoyuan and Keelung last year, attracting roughly 10 million admirers islandwide.

It appeared in Taoyuan's festival last year and drew some 3 million visitors to the county's rural coastal area despite inclement weather.

Organizers said they hope for a similar success this year.

In addition to Hofman's endearing creations, the Sept. 4-14 festival will feature works from local and Chinese artists, including Xu Bin, president of China's Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Xu, who is known for his printmaking skills and installation pieces, will exhibit his project called "Stone Path," in which stones carved with Chi-nese characters are arranged to form poems on the ground.

There will also be 28 art performances and a run-ning event during the festival to provide a variety of activities, the organizers said.

For more information about the festival held in the former Taoyuan Naval Aviation Base, go to http://www.taoyuanlandart.com.tw/ (in Chinese only).

Leon Lu (third right), chairman of Kbro Media Co., S.M. Entertainment Co. Chairman Lee Shoo Man (second right) and Peter Lam (right), chairman of Media Asia Entertainment Group

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2014 August Issue Asian Pacific Business Journal Page 6 India—golden opportunity for firms

By Cecilia Hwang

Since liberalizing trade in 1991, India has be-come the world’s 10th largest economy by nominal gross domestic product and third larg-est by purchasing power parity, according to the International Monetary Fund. Its share of global GDP reached 5.69 percent last year, up from 3.17 percent in 1991. Although slowing somewhat, economic growth in 2012 hit 4.9 percent, compared to the world average of 3.8 percent. These figures point to India’s great business and investment potential for Taiwan companies. According to the ROC Ministry of Finance, Taiwan’s exports to India last year were val-ued at US$3.38 billion, and imports at US$2.62 billion. These figures represent a 20.6 percent decline compared to 2011, primarily due to a slowdown in India’s domestic demand and the 12.7 percent depreciation of the rupee against the U.S. dollar. Because of entry barriers and other concerns, most Taiwan firms have adopted a wait-and-see strategy, leaving Taiwan ranked only No. 41 in foreign direct investment in India, far behind its main competitors. Data from India’s Depart-ment of Industrial Policy and Promotion show that between April 2000 and December 2012, Taiwan invested US$65.64 million, while Japan put in US$13.94 billion, ranking it No. 4, and South Korea US$1.22 billion for No. 13. In the interests of creating a stronger economic

partnership, the governments of both Taiwan and India need to promote investment in the South Asian country through the provision of sector- and state-based information and the adoption of innovative approaches to help Tai-wan businesses build supply chains in India. The country’s huge and diverse economy of-fers a wealth of opportunities. Half of India’s 1.2 billion people are under the age of 25, a de-

mographic dividend for foreign investors look-ing for an energetic and resourceful workforce. Moreover, rapid urbanization is creating more middle- and upper-class consumers. A study by McKinsey Global Institute showed that the coun-try’s urban population grew from 290 million in

2001 to 377 million in 2011, and projected it would in-crease to 590 million by 2030. By that time, 68 cit-ies will have populations over 1 mil-lion, in-cluding six megacities exceeding 10 million: M u m b a i , Delhi, Kol-kata, Chen-

nai, Bangalore and Pune. The urban economy will provide 85 percent of total tax revenue and 91 million urban households will be middle class, up from 30 million today. City dwellers tend to be better off than their rural counterparts, and more willing to buy non-necessity goods and services. Taiwan prod-ucts, world famous for their excellent quality, impressive functionality and reasonable prices,

are well placed to take advantage of Indian con-sumers’ preference for fancy, branded goods and sensitivity to cost. Urbanization is also placing massive demands on public transportation, water supplies, sew-age and housing, and the Indian government is seeking global public-private partnerships to build the necessary infrastructure. Herein lies another golden opportunity for Taiwan compa-nies. Moreover, India is also pushing local manu-facturing, especially in electronics. With South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Corp. and Japan’s Panasonic Corp. and Hita-chi Ltd. already expanding their manufacturing facilities in India, Taiwan enterprises need to move fast in this sector so as not to fall too far behind. More local manufacturing will also increase de-mand for machine tools, production machinery and industrial spare parts, products in which Taiwan excels. India is an enormous and culturally diverse mar-ket. In terms of language alone, the 28 states and seven union territories have more than 22 official languages, not to mention the more than 800 local language varieties. Seventeen differ-ent languages appear on a rupee note. All this means that requirements for industrial products and consumer goods vary greatly depending on region and standard of living. Taiwan compa-nies should conduct thorough market surveys, make frequent customer visits and participate actively in major trade shows to develop tai-lor-made products and take full advantage of India’s tremendous potential. (THN)

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2014 August Issue Asian Pacific Business Journal Pouralal Page 7

(By Christie Chen and Wang Chao-yu)ENDITEM/ls

Taipei, Aug. 12 (CNA) The MV Logos Hope, the ship that carries the largest floating book fair in the world, has docked in Taiwan for the first time, bringing 5,000 different books and hundreds of volunteers to the country.

Operated by the German Chris-tian charity group, Good Books for All (GBA) Ships, the Logos Hope is open to the public to visit in the Port of Keelung in northern Taiwan until Sept. 9.

It will then sail to southern Tai-wan and be open to visitors in Kaohsiung and at Anping Port in Tainan from Sept. 13 to 24 and Sept. 26 to 29, respectively.

The book fair features over 5,000 titles, covering the realms of sci-ence, sports, cuisine, art, philoso-phy and language. It also offers children's books, dictionaries and maps.

Nathan Le Roux, a project coordinator with the Logos Hope, said the ship's volunteers and crew members are looking forward to learning more about Taiwanese culture during their stay after missing such an opportunity last year when a scheduled visit to Taiwan was canceled due to a mechanical problem with the

ship.

"They are very excited about it," he told CNA on Monday.

During their stay, he said, Logos Hope volunteers will also volunteer their time at Keelung Prison and with groups such as the Sunshine Social Wel-fare Foundation.

The ship carries some 400 volunteers from over 50 countries, serving in positions such as engi

neers, accountants and chefs.

Over the past 40 years, ships operated by GBA Ships have visited more than 160 countries and received over 40 million visitors on board, ac-cording to the organization.

The Logos Hope is the fourth ship operated by GBA Ships, after the Lo-gos, the Logos II and the Doulos.

It is twice the size of Dou-los, a similar type of float-ing bookstore that has vis-ited Taiwan several times, according to Logos Hope Director Lloyd Nicholas.

Lin Hsing-ying, one of the three Taiwanese vol-unteers on the ship, said she applied to become a volunteer on the ship be-cause she enjoys books and wanted to travel around the world.

The 26-year-old, who has served one and a half years on the ship, told lo-cal media that she hopes to introduce tasty Tai-wanese food to her fellow volunteers during their stay in Taiwan.

The ship, which has arrived in Keelung on Aug. 22, is scheduled to leave Taiwan on Sept. 30.

Largest floating book fair makes port call in Taiwan

USC to screen Taiwan documentaries under Spotlight Taiwan project(By Oscar Wu) Enditem

Los Angeles, Aug. 22 (CNA) The University of Southern California (USC) has become the latest institution to enter into the Spotlight Taiwan cooperation program with the Taiwan Academy, Los Ange-les to jointly promote Taiwan-ese culture in the U.S. city, an official said Thursday.

Under a memorandum signed recently, the year-long coop-eration will begin in October with the screening of nine Taiwanese documentaries, said Chi Tung-yang, director of the Taiwan Academy, Los Angeles, one of the institu-tions set up by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture to promote Taiwanese culture abroad.

The list of films to be shown includes Beyond Beauty -- TAIWAN FROM ABOVE, a 2013 documentary on Taiwan's environment featur-ing spectacular aerial photography, A Rolling

Stone, which tells the story of an autistic man and his father, and Rock Me To The Moon, a documentary on the friendship between six families battling rare diseases.

The series of nine documentaries offers an in-depth exploration of Taiwan's society from the perspectives of families, culture, politics and environment, Chi said.

Under the Spotlight Taiwan project, the Ministry of Culture works with leading foreign universities and mainstream art, culture, academic, and research orga-nizations to jointly sponsor a diverse array of activities that promote Taiwan's culture and research on Taiwan.

In addition to the USC, a similar memorandum has been signed with the University of Califor-

nia at Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.

Some 20 other universities in North America, Europe and Asia have also joined the Spotlight Taiwan project.

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Page 8 Asian Pacific Business Journal 2014 August Issue

Dear readers,

I hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day long break and are ready to go back to your normal busy life.

At this moment I am traveling in Asia. In the next issue of Asian Pacific Business Journal, I will share what I have seen and experienced with you.

Sincerely,

Jocelyn Chao PresidentAsian Pacific Business Journal

Asian Pacific Business Journal Honored Advisor: Winston L. Yang, Ph.D.Publisher: Wendy ChaoPresident: Jocelyn ChaoContributing Writers: Jocelyn Chao

(By Jeffrey Wu)ENDITEM/J

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Hon Hai Precision In-dustry Co., the Taiwanese assembler of Apple Inc.'s iPhones and iPads, said Wednesday that it plans to invest in the coal-rich northern Chinese province of Shanxi to develop an electric vehicle business.

Speaking to Shanxi businessmen at a general meeting in the province's capital of Taiyuan, Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said his company will capitalize on Shanxi's rich natural resources and help transform the province from an energy exporter into "an eco-efficient economy."

He expressed hope that Shanxi can reserve its coal bed gas in the future instead of supply-ing energy to other countries, in a bid to utilize the natural resource to manufacture technology products or build a vertically integrated supply chain for electric vehicles.

Hon Hai has operated two factory complexes in Shanxi's Taiyuan and Jincheng cities for more than 10 years, with an accumulated investment of 20 billion Chinese yuan (US$3.25 billion), Gou noted.

The Taiyuan complex is mainly respon-sible for pro-ducing high-end s m a r t p h o n e s and compo-nents for mobile phones, while the Jincheng complex mainly manufac tu res industrial ro-bots, automation gears, precision cutting tools and optical lenses, he said.

Gou promised that Hon Hai will increase its in-vestment in Shanxi this year by at least 5 billion yuan, creating an output value of over 60 billion yuan and bringing its total number of employees there to 100,000.

Hon Hai, often referred to by its trade name of Foxconn Technology Group, is seeking to trans-form itself into a technology services company to meet consumer demand and generate business growth in the coming years.

Gou said during a June 25 annual sharehold-ers' meeting that Hon Hai was planning to make electric cars priced with an extremely affordable price tag of under US$15,000, compared with current models that run as much as NT$2 mil-lion (US$66,800).

Hon Hai shares ended up 0.5 percent at NT$101.0 Wednesday in Taipei, roughly in line with a 0.54 rise in the benchmark index.

Hon Hai to develop electric cars in northern China