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
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
EVA Airways on Saturday said that it had suspended a pilot and opened an investigation after he allegedly lost his temper and punched the first officer several times as their plane was taxiing before takeoff at Los Angeles International Airport. According to a report published on Thursday by The Reporter, the incident occurred after the flight’s Malaysian first officer tried to warn the Taiwanese pilot, surnamed Wen (文), that he was taxiing faster than the speed limit of 30 knots (55.6kph). After alerting the pilot several times without response, the first officer manually applied the brakes in accordance with standard operating
Japanese Councilor Hei Seki (石平) on Wednesday said that he plans to visit Taiwan, saying that would “prove that Taiwan is an independent country and does not belong to China.” Seki, a member of the Japan Innovation Party, was born in Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province and became a naturalized Japanese in 2007. He was elected to the House of Concilors last year. His views on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — espoused in a series of books on politics and history — prompted Beijing to sanction him, including barring Seki from traveling to China. Seki wrote on X that he intends
RSS