Officials with the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA,
On Friday, Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (
Yesterday, PFP legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (
"Why does the EPA open a door to an unwelcome client? Does it mean the company can still do business in Taiwan despite having been blacklisted?" Hsieh told the Taipei Times.
The one-year right suspension of the Japanese firm, Hsieh said, was issued by the commission following the company's unsatisfactory performance in building LNG storage tanks for the Chinese Petroleum Corp (
Hsieh said EPA head Hau Ling-bin (
Hsieh said that he suspects the Japanese company would follow the model of working with the EPA to bid on other profitable construction projects in Taiwan, including the NT$1.8 billion Tatan Power Plant (大潭電廠) project under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Hsieh said that the company is not afraid to challenge Taiwanese laws because of its good relations with high-level officials and influential political figures.
"The EPA's behavior has obviously damaged the dignity of Taiwan's laws and national interests," Hsieh said, adding that at least five local companies are capable of completing the task.
Hau yesterday stressed that the contract was awarded based on cost-effectiveness, professional performance and public interest.
"Neither I nor any of us [EPA officials] have personal relations with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and our integrity can be tested by investigative agencies," Hau said.
Hau said the Public Construction Commission wrote the EPA on Feb. 6, saying that the agency can make its decision independently in case of emergency.
Officials said solving waste-management problems in Ilan County is an urgent matter. The county generates 500 tonnes of waste per day but only relies on landfills.
The incinerator project has been delayed for five years. As early as 1997, a Taiwanese company contracting with Germany-based Stein-muller won the bid at the lower price of NT$ 2.08 billion. But the Taiwanese company had to stop work on the project when it went bankrupt.
EPA officials said that since last July the only company in the game, Taiwan-based CTCI Corp (
Hau said that doing business with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rather than CTCI would save taxpayers NT$300 million.
"The bidding absolutely conforms to national interests and Ilan residents' interests," Hau said.
Environment officials said that a bidding meeting was once interrupted by a male assistant from Hsieh's office, but Hsieh dismisses the charge.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS