The Mainland Affairs Council (
Tsao on Sunday led a small delegation of Matsu officials to the Chinese coastal town of Mawei, located 60km from Taiwan's tiny military outpost, to sign an agreement with local officials strengthening economic and personal exchanges between the two sides (加強民間交流與合作協議).
Under the "small three links" (
The council released a statement yesterday saying that although it had not authorized the move, it approved of Tsao's actions as they "were a people-to-people initiative to promote the `small three links.'" Indeed, Tsao asserted that as a private undertaking there was no need to seek the approval of the council, which charts the government's China policy, saying only the approval of the Chinese side to the agreement was required.
The statement stressed that it agreed to Tsao's position that he had taken the step as a representative of Matsu and not as an authorized representative of the government to help bolster ties. "The agreement was unofficial and non-governmental," said the council. "Any negotiations and their outcomes must be authorized by the council for them to have legal bearing," it said.
Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
"This kind of spontaneous interaction between the two sides are not considered official and therefore have no legal bearing," Tsai said.
However, Tsai stressed that official negotiations on cross-strait trade matters must be conducted by the central government unless it authorizes other parties to do so on its behalf.
Besides media speculation on whether Tsao's actions usurped the authority of the central government, signing of the agreement further generated headlines due to its taking place under the "one China" banner.
But Tsao dismissed suggestions of a cave-in to the "one China" which the new government refuses to recognize. "The principle has long been part of the nation's constitution and many agreements signed between private groups across the strait are done so under this principle," Tsao said.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS