Real-estate developer Radium Life Tech Co (日勝生) will be targeted if it refuses to turn over money owed to the city for the MeHAS City (美河市) project corruption case, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said in an interview late on Wednesday night.
“Be good and return the money owed to the city. If you resist, I will put aside [other corruption cases] to concentrate on yours,” Ko said in an interview with the talk show This Is It (關鍵時刻) on the Eastern Broadcasting Co (東森電視) channel.
Ko estimated that the firm short-changed the city by NT$7.6 billion (US$239.1 million) when the project was constructed.
Photo: Weng Yu-huang, Taipei Times
The MeHAS City project was constructed between 2007 and 2012 by Radium in conjunction with the Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS), encompassing 9.3 hectares of homes, offices and stores in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), next to the Xiaobitan (小碧潭) MRT station.
Under charges filed by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office in 2013, former DORTS officials face accusations of forging the cost estimates used to apportion project profits to inflate Radium’s share, underestimating the city’s costs while overestimating Radium’s contribution. The project has also been subject to controversy for allegedly allowing land designated for the MRT station to be turned over to a private developer.
In response to Ko’s comments, Radium yesterday said that it had signed a legal contract with the city and was not responsible for the price estimates that were drafted by city itself. It added that the dispute had already entered arbitration under an agreement signed in 2013 and urged the mayor to not “prejudge” the case and respect the legal process, while asking for an opportunity for company representatives to meet with the mayor to explain the firm’s position.
In the interview, Ko brushed aside questions of whether he would be powerless to do anything if no problems were found with firm’s contract, saying he was sure new discoveries would be made if all related documents were rigorously examined.
Ko has promised to declassify all documentation related to the case for perusal by city councilors and the public.
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
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS