In a hearing at the Taipei district court yesterday, the Eurotrain consortium -- which lost out to a Japanese group over the construction of Taiwan's high-speed railway line -- played tough to convince the court that the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) breached a binding agreement signed in 1997.
The EU group also wanted an injunction preventing the planned exchange of contracts with Japan's Shinkansen consortium.
At the same time, there was a high-profile meeting yesterday at the Taipei office of THSRC chairperson Nita Ing (
They expressed hopes the THSRC's final choice of partners would still be the European consortium.
Furious at being sidelined by the Taiwan-Shinkansen consortium of Japan, Eurotrain -- a joint venture of France's Alstom and Germany's Siemens AG -- has filed a request at the Taipei district court for a temporary injunction on ongoing negotiations between the THSRC and the Shinkansen, which began in mid-January this year.
The court set the hearing yesterday to clarify the legal relationships between THSRC and Eurotrain. Upon clarification it will determine whether the court will order the injunction.
Wang Chia-hui (
He said a decision was expected soon, as injunctions of this kind were often needed urgently.
Wang also said there was an obvious gap between the two parties' stories over their previous legal relationship.
If granted, the injunction is expected to block a deal worth over NT$90 billion between THSRC and the Japanese consortium.
But equally, if the petition is granted, then Eurotrain must also pay up to one third of the sum in dispute, as a deposit to ensure it will compensate THSRC for any damages it may suffer by the granting of the injunction.
Despite lengthy negotiations with Eurotrain, the THSRC awarded priority negotiating rights to the Japanese group on Dec. 28 last year.
Eurotrain, which has been vying for the high-speed rail project since 1997, has since protested to the THSRC over the switch and accused the company of breaking a 1997 agreement, which obliged THSRC to sign a contract with the European group if its price was considered reasonable.
However, THSRC, which was formally established as a consortium in May 1998, denied the 1997 agreement was binding as it was signed by Eurotrain and five main shareholders of the company, not the consortium itself.
Siemens AG chairman Heinrich von Pierer met with President Lee Teng-hui (
After a meeting with Minister of Transportation and Communication Lin Fong-cheng (
Ing, appearing little affected by the meeting, later said THSRC's final choice of the core system would be made on an evaluation based on business perspectives.
"THSRC is a private sector company and therefore the decision has to be made in the interests of its shareholders, as well as the public. Business is business," Ing said.
Meanwhile, THSRC announced yesterday it is to sign a contract with a consortium of local banks on Feb. 2 for a NT$323.3 billion syndicated loan.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS