President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday announced that she had once again tapped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) to represent her at the APEC leaders’ summit next month.
It is the second straight year that Chang is to go to the annual summit, which is to take place in Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 16 and 17.
Chang also represented Taiwan at the 2006 summit as then-president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) representative.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Chang, 88, is the former chairman of TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker. He retired on June 5 last year after more than three decades at the company’s helm.
Tsai told a news conference at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei that she chose Chang as her representative, because of his respected status in the international arena and in-depth knowledge of the evolution and development of the nation’s technology sector.
Tsai said she has given Chang and the APEC delegation two major tasks. The first is to share Taiwan’s views on how to strengthen international economic integration in the digital era.
The president said she wants Chang to tell the gathering of the nation’s resolve and accomplishments in promoting a digital society and smart nation policies over the past few years.
The second is to make known Taiwan’s dedication to promoting inclusive and sustainable growth, and joining other economies to boost economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region in an inclusive and sustainable way, Tsai said.
APEC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the emergence of the Internet has drastically changed the economy and people’s way of life over the past three decades, Chang said.
He said he would discuss how to fully utilize the digital economy to advance people’s welfare and solve problems, as the digital economy has also caused negative social effects, such as more severe unemployment and wealth inequality.
Chang met US Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of last year’s APEC summit in Papua New Guinea for talks on free trade.
It was the highest-level talks between leaders from Taiwan and the US at an APEC event.
At the 2006 summit in Hanoi, Chang was greeted by then-US president George W. Bush at the summit, who said: “I know who you are.”
Taiwan joined the regional economic forum in 1991, two years after its establishment.
However, Taiwan’s president cannot attend the APEC leaders summit, due to the group’s “one China” position.
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,
A Control Yuan member yesterday said he would initiate an investigation into why the number of foreign nationals injured or killed in traffic incidents has nearly doubled in the past few years, and whether government agencies’ mechanisms were ineffective in ensuring road safety. Control Yuan member Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said in a news release that Taiwan has been described as a “living hell for pedestrians” and traffic safety has become an important national security issue. According to a National Audit Office report released last year, more than 780,000 foreign nationals were legally residing in Taiwan in 2019, which grew to more than