Computex Taipei 2024, organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), started on Tuesday last week.
The event had 4,500 booths and attracted 1,500 companies, more than 13,000 international professionals and nine technology giants — including Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc, Ammann Group Holding and other major companies. Among the companies, there is competition and more cooperation. The event also attracted more than 1,000 news reporters from around the world.
AMD chairwoman and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰), dubbed the “Queen of Semiconductors,” began the show with a keynote speech on “High Performance Computing in the AI [artificial intelligence] Era,” showing that this year’s focus was on AI technology.
Meanwhile, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), called the “Godfather of AI,” visited Taiwan for the fifth time within a year.
He came a week in advance to host banquets and meet with Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners, and to give a speech at National Taiwan University on the eve of Computex. His friendly and humble demeanor has once again caused a “Jensen Huang fever,” and his praise of Taiwan was a testament to his sense of home.
Supermicro founder and CEO Charles Liang (梁見後), whose company stock price surged nearly tenfold within a year, also returned to his alma mater, the Taipei National University of Technology, to give a speech.
They were great inspirations for Taiwan.
Huang spoke highly of Taiwan’s information and communications technology industry to the media, listing 43 Taiwanese companies he has worked with in the AI field.
Such a fairly complete AI supply chain led to a rise in their stock prices the following day.
Huang even went as far as to say that “Taiwan is one of the most important countries” and a pillar of the world.
Although he was referring to the Taiwanese tech industry, is it not also true that Taiwan, which has been a global focal point due to the Chinese military threat, has an important strategic role geopolitically?
China’s political fanatics known as “xiaofenhong” (小粉紅), literally “Little Pinks,” were stomping their feet with rage after hearing this.
However, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpieces were silent, because Computex began on June 4, and the term “June 4” is banned in China.
Given Taiwanese laws, it is also difficult for China to send companies to the show, with the exception of Lenovo Group Ltd, which opened a branch in Taiwan two decades ago.
However, Beijing would surely have sent spies to gather tech information.
What is certain is that China could hardly prevent such a large number of international professionals from coming to Taiwan to take part in the show, and it could not sell the “one China” principle at the event, or bully Taiwan by threatening to crush it into pieces just for claiming its own sovereignty.
While the new industrial revolution is in full swing, China is still indulging in its millennia-old culture and how it has been “since ancient times,” which is sad for national rejuvenation.
Taiwan’s economic prosperity contrasts sharply with China’s economic downturn.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asked enterprises at a forum: “What’s the reason for the decline in the number of new ‘unicorn enterprises’ [a start-up valued at US$1 billion or more] in our country?”
However, Xi himself might be the murderer of unicorns.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Eddy Chang
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
Taiwan is confronting escalating threats from its behemoth neighbor. Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted live-fire drills in the East China Sea, practicing blockades and precision strikes on simulated targets, while its escalating cyberattacks targeting government, financial and telecommunication systems threaten to disrupt Taiwan’s digital infrastructure. The mounting geopolitical pressure underscores Taiwan’s need to strengthen its defense capabilities to deter possible aggression and improve civilian preparedness. The consequences of inadequate preparation have been made all too clear by the tragic situation in Ukraine. Taiwan can build on its successful COVID-19 response, marked by effective planning and execution, to enhance
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has upheld the core goals of “making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” fully implementing an “America first” policy. Countries have responded cautiously to the fresh style and rapid pace of the new Trump administration. The US has prioritized reindustrialization, building a stronger US role in the Indo-Pacific, and countering China’s malicious influence. This has created a high degree of alignment between the interests of Taiwan and the US in security, economics, technology and other spheres. Taiwan must properly understand the Trump administration’s intentions and coordinate, connect and correspond with US strategic goals.
RSS