Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration of incompetence in assisting local flat-panel firms in their legal battle against the EU and of failing to prevent a high-tech exodus to China.
AU Optronics Corp, Chimei Innolux Corp, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and HannStar Display Corp, along with South Korean firm LG Display Co, were slapped with a 649 million euro (US$860 million) fine over allegations that they had colluded and created a price-fixing cartel from October 2001 to February 2006.
The fine for the Taiwanese firms amounted to 433.92 million euros.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said the Taiwanese companies were fined because they fell into a trap set by the South Korean firm.
The South Koreans initiated a price-fixing meeting with Taiwanese firms, Wang alleged, only to turn around and accuse the latter of price-fixing.
The Ma administration failed to protect the interests and reputation of Taiwanese firms, Wang said.
Also at the legislature, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) accused Samsung of acting “unethically” by snitching on Taiwanese firms during a European Commission anti-trust investigation.
He said Samsung’s offer to the European investigators to act as a “tainted witness” in exchange for immunity was unethical.
Shih said Samsung’s action of turning informant was not in accord with its own commercial ethics.
“This should not have been done,” he said.
For the time being, Taiwan will not impose any special restrictions on imports from South Korea, he said, reiterating the government’s support for the Taiwanese manufacturers and its willingness to help them deal with new competition rules in the world market.
Wang also said that when the Ma administration was negotiating the terms of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed between Taiwan and China in June, flat-panel makers were not listed as part of the “early harvest” list.
This had resulted in many planning to take their business and investments to China and causing Taiwan to lose high-tech industries.
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) accused the Ma administration of failing to come up with measures to assist the firms in dealing with the EU litigation saying it had instead “ridiculed” them and caused them to move to China, which now threatened to destroy the nation’s high-tech industry.
Pan said that even before the ECFA “early harvest” program comes into force on Jan. 1, Taiwanese high-tech companies were already seeing falling production orders.
Such drops occurred as recently as September, he said.
Foreign investment is also only targeting the stock and real estate markets, showing that the Ma administration has done nothing for the manufacturing industry.
As with the high-tech sector, this has compelled the manufacturing industry to relocate to China, Pan said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS