Officials with the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei visited the Presidential Office yesterday to express their concern and seek clarification on recent media reports that their American rivals, GE and Pratt and Whitney, had won the contract to supply engines to China Airlines.
Office director Derek Marsh and EU representative in Taipei Brian McDonald went to the Presidential Office yesterday morning to express their concern, said Maggie Yeh (葉美慧), press and public affairs officer of the trade office.
China Airlines failed to keep a promise to reveal its final decision on the engine purchase yesterday. The airline said the purchase was a business decision and had nothing to do with politics.
Media reports this week suggested the purchase was held up by the Presidential Office, which was hoping to use the sale to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough. The reports said the Presidential Office wanted to secure an overseas stopover for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). According to the reports, Rolls Royce lost the bid to its US rivals after the British government failed to grant Chen a stopover.
Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (
A China Airlines spokesman, meanwhile, said the deal had not been finalized.
Local media have said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had sent a letter to Chen to lobby for the deal.
The Presidential Office has declined to confirm the report.
According to media reports, the contract for the engines can be used to extract promises from the US to arrange for more stopovers for Vice President Annette Lu (
Marsh and McDonald brought their concerns to Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
Spokesman Huang refused to comment on the private meeting.
The BTCO refused to say whether the British government had turned down Taiwan's request of a stopover for Chen in London.
A BTCO spokeswoman said the British government supports a fair and transparent decision-making process for the engine deal free from any non-commercial intervention.
Competition over the engine deal followed a bitter battle earlier this year between Europe's Airbus and Boeing of the US over the purchase of new jets by China Airlines.
The airline eventually compromised by purchasing 10 Boeing 747-400s -- six passenger and four cargo planes -- and 12 Airbus A330-300s.
GE has already secured a contract to supply engines for the four Boeing cargo planes.
China Airlines operates a fleet of 57 aircraft -- 42 passenger planes and 15 cargo planes.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
RSS