Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday hit out at former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who on Saturday called on the public to reject KMT candidates in November’s special municipality elections and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in the 2012 presidential poll.
“Many people say they love Taiwan, but what is more important is how they demonstrate their love,” Wu said. “To love Taiwan is not only a slogan. They must do so soberly.”
On Saturday Lee said that the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) was a scheme to form a “one China market.” He said it would suck up Taiwan’s capital, manpower and skills before swallowing up the nation, calling on the public to use their votes to punish Ma.
Elections for the heads of five special municipalities will take place on Nov. 27 in Taipei City, Sinbei City (the upgraded Taipei County), Greater Taichung (a merger of Taichung City and Taichung County), Greater Tainan (a merger of Tainan City and Tainan County) and Greater Kaohsiung (a merger of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County).
On the election in the capital, Wu yesterday said Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the KMT and his opponent, the DPP’s Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), were neck and neck but emphasized that many things could yet happen before the vote.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday agreed to serve as chief campaign supervisor for KMT candidate for the Greater Kaohsiung election, Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順).
Wang, who had turned down several invitations to become Huang’s campaign chairman, yesterday said he was still not suitable for that position, mainly because of his tight schedule.
As Huang’s chief campaign supervisor, Wang said he would do his best to stump for Huang and seek maximum support for her.
Citing the example of the legislative election in 2008, Wang said “there was room for Huang to win” in the November election if the party could muster enough support and unite all its local factions.
Huang secured more than 58 percent of the votes in Kaohsiung’s First Constituency, convincingly beating her DPP opponent by more than 17 percent.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House