Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday criticized the government for failing to prevent a run on The Chinese Bank, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Financial problems within the Rebar Asia Pacific Group recently led to two of its member companies applying for insolvency, which in turn triggered a run on The Chinese Bank, also a member of the group. As a result, the bank was taken over by the government on Friday.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) should have stepped in sooner than it did, KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (
Tsai added that the FSC should be abolished as "it is as useless as an appendix."
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (
"We suspect that the FSC gave the Rebar Group too much free rein. About two months ago, FSC Chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) guaranteed [the bank's ability to operate]. Can he explain how the run on the bank happened?" Lai asked.
The government wouldn't have had to waste taxpayers' money on bailing out The Chinese Bank if the FSC had done its job better, KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) said.
"This incident proves that the government is not capable of managing problematic financial institutions. As a result, a conglomerate made large sums of money and taxpayers were saddled with debt," she said.
DPP Legislator Lin Su-shan (
"Rebar Group chairman Wang You-theng (
Lin demanded that Ma use his influence to convince Wang, who fled to China the day after two Rebar Group companies applied for insolvency, to come back to Taiwan.
"The KMT's former secretary-general, Lin Fong-cheng (
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
Opposition parties not passing defense funding harms Taiwan’s national security, two US senators said separately in rare public criticism. “I am disappointed to see Taiwan’s opposition parties in parliament [the legislature] slash President [William] Lai’s (賴清德) defense budget so dramatically,” Roger Wicker, a Republican who chairs the US Senate Armed Forces Committee, said on social media. “The original proposal funded urgently needed weapons systems. Taiwan’s parliament should reconsider — especially with rising Chinese threats,” he added. Wicker’s post linked to an article published by Bloomberg that said that the two opposition parties’ move was “potentially jeopardizing the purchases of billions of dollars of
RSS