Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵) chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪) stepped down from her post yesterday and an ad hoc board meeting elected chief executive Ou Chin-der (歐晉德) to replace her.
Ing, 54, who founded THSRC in July 1998 after winning the nation’s first build-operate-transfer contract to construct the north-south high speed railway two years earlier, said she hoped her resignation could help reverse the company’s finances.
“My career means nothing if more government participation can help the company run smoothly and profitably,” Ing said through THSRC spokesman Ted Chia (賈先德).
PHOTO: NICKY LOH, REUTERS
Chia said Ing announced her decision to step down at the beginning of the board meeting and the board named Ou to the chairmanship under his capacity as the legal representative of the state-run China Aviation Development Foundation (航發會).
The reshuffle, which took effect immediately, ushers in a new era for THSRC, one in which the government will assume a dominant role in deciding the board lineup and management.
The government has a nearly 40 percent stake in the company. THSRC has accumulated more than NT$450 billion (US$13.8 billion) in debts and is seeking a syndicated loan worth NT$390 billion.
Neither Ing nor Ou showed up at the unscheduled press conference after the board meeting. Chia said Ing would remain a board member representing Continental Engineering Corp (大陸工程), one of THSRC’s five founding shareholders, while Ou would serve as both THSRC chairman and CEO.
Last night, however, the company said in a stock exchange filing that Ing would also step down from the board and Continental Engineering would nominate a successor soon.
Chia said the company would call an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Nov. 10 to elect a new board of directors and supervisors.
He declined to comment on reports that Ing resigned to ensure government support for the bank loan.
“The former chairperson made no mention of such pressure,” Chia said. “She did extend gratitude to all THSRC employees for helping realize the high speed rail project.”
Ou, 65, a civil engineer by training, will soon brief the media on how he plans to improve the company’s finances and operations, Chia said.
Ou joined the public service sector in the late 1980s and has worked for the national expressway engineering bureau, the public construction commission and the central government. In 1998, he was tapped by then-Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to serve as deputy mayor. He retained his friendly ties to Ma and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after joining THSRC in 1996 at Ing’s invitation.
Ou has avoided reporters since news broke over the weekend that Ing would be stepping down. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said on Sunday that Ing planned to resign.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS