After weeks of speculation over whether the government would have enough guts to deal with United Microelectronics Corp's (UMC, 聯電) involvement with Chinese semiconductor start-up He Jian Technology Co (Suzhou) (和艦), the Financial Supervisory Commission finally made the first move, fining UMC chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) NT$3 million, on the grounds that he had failed to publicly disclose the ties.
Frankly speaking, Tsao can afford the fine, and this so-called "punishment" is hardly going to have a deterrent effect.
If no further action is taken by the government, surely the large number of Taiwanese companies and individuals with illegal investments in China who have been eagerly watching events unfold around UMC will give a sigh of relief.
It is no secret that UMC's ties with He Jian are just the tip of the iceberg. Despite government restrictions on investments in China, far too many illegal investments have been made, in many cases by the "big boys" of Taiwanese industry. Precisely because these "big boys" are so critically important to the nation's economy, many think the government will not dare to go after them. After all, the slightest decline in their stock prices could cause an earthquake on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
In the case of UMC, the company secretly provided "assistance" -- including, at the very least, technology transfers -- to a Chinese company.
As everyone knows, the semiconductor industry is the pride and joy of Taiwan. The transfer of highly valuable and sensitive technologies to China is no small matter. It could result in China replacing Taiwan as the world's primary semiconductor supplier.
The free provision of such invaluable assets to another company in the absence of necessary disclosures and approvals constitutes, at the very least, a "breach of fiduciary duty" by Tsao and UMC's management. The crime carries a hefty punishment, including prison sentences.
Obviously, for UMC, conceding that it will receive a 15 percent stake in He Jian in exchange for the provision of the so-called "assistance" -- which at least up to this point carries only the said NT$3 million fine -- is better than facing criminal charges for breach of fiduciary duties.
Still, UMC's action should constitute illegal investment in China. President Chen Shui-bian's (
During the past five years of Chen's presidency, the government has seriously slackened off on enforcing regulations on investing in China. If this is allowed to continued, not only will the regulations be treated as mere window dressing, but the government will lose all credibility as their enforcer.
In particular, with both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
If no tough action is taken to demonstrate the government's determination in dealing with those who violate existing regulations on cross-strait investments, Beijing will have even more reason to bypass the government and instead deal only with the opposition parties.
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS