Reports emerged yesterday that Robert Tsao (曹興誠), founder and former chairman of United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), gave up his Republic of China (ROC) citizenship and obtained Singaporean nationality in January.
Tsao apparently changed his nationality because he was disgruntled over his lengthy legal tribulations brought on by the semiconductor maker’s allegedly illegal investment in a Chinese company.
Prosecutors charged Tsao in 2001 with breach of trust in violation of the Commercial Accounting Act (商業會計法) for investing in Chinese company HeJian Technology (Suzhou) Co.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
The Taiwanese government barred local high-tech firms from interacting with Chinese companies at the time, fearing that transfers of sensitive technology would damage the country’s competitiveness and security.
After a lengthy litigation process, the Taiwan High Court found Tsao not guilty last year and prosecutors decided not to appeal the court case against the company founder.
Tsao did not answer calls yesterday and UMC would not confirm the reports that he had changed his nationality.
“It is a private issue for Tsao. We are not in a position to comment,” UMC said.
“As Tsao is no longer involved in the operations of the company, it will not affect the company’s operations,” it added.
The Ministry of the Interior said yesterday it would not comment on an individual case.
According to the Nationality Act (國籍法), ROC citizens over the age of 20 who voluntarily obtain foreign nationality will lose their ROC nationality after receiving the ministry’s approval.
Meanwhile, Vanessa Shih (史亞平), Taiwan’s representative to Singapore, denied yesterday she had witnessed a ceremony in which Tsao gave up his citizenship.
Shih reportedly witnessed the ceremony and then said privately that the fewer people who knew about the matter the better so as not to embarrass President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“I will not comment on the part regarding Mr Tsao, because it is his personal affair, but what the media report has said about me was incorrect. I have no idea what a ceremony to renounce nationality is and never attended such an event,” Shih said by telephone.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS