US chipmaker Nvidia Corp has confirmed its Taiwan headquarters would be built on Beitou Shilin Technology Park’s (北投士林科技園區) T17 and T18 plots in Taipei, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a meeting of the Taipei City Council yesterday, adding that the city government would fast-track administrative procedures to help the company establish its presence as soon as possible.
A videoconference earlier in the day with Nvidia produced three conclusions, Chiang said at the meeting, which discussed the special municipality’s policy plans and budget for next year.
The conclusions were that the company’s headquarters would be built on the 3.89 hectares of the combined T17 and T18 plots; Nvidia hopes the city would promptly terminate its contract with Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), which holds development rights for the land; and the city would accelerate administrative steps to facilitate the investment, Chiang said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Deputy Taipei Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) told reporters before the meeting that Shin Kong Life is expected to submit cost estimates this week and finalize a termination deal with the city government by next week.
The plan was the result of negotiations between Nvidia, the city government and Shin Kong Life, Chiang said.
Once the insurer and the city reach an agreement to terminate their contract, the city government would provide a cleared site and grant Nvidia special surface rights under a project-based model, he said.
Photo: CNA
The termination agreement could be completed by the end of next month, with a formal contract between the city and Nvidia expected by the middle of next year, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Yang Chih-tou (楊植斗) said that the announcement might improve Shin Kong Life’s bargaining position.
KMT Taipei City Councilor Kuo Chao-yen (郭昭巖) said that the compensation for terminating the contract — NT$2.99 billion (US$97.62 million) in land-use rights fees, NT$279 million in rent and NT$365 million in performance bonds, totaling NT$3.63 billion — should be reviewed by independent third party lawyers and accountants to ensure fairness.
Nvidia founder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) in May said that his company would establish its new Taiwan headquarters in “Beitou Shilin,” with the facility to be named Nvidia Constellation.
Once the contract with Shin Kong Life is terminated by mutual agreement, the municipality plans to invoke special land-right provisions under the Land Expropriation Act (土地徵收條例) to help Nvidia secure the site, a process estimated to take one to two months, the city government said.
All administrative procedures — including urban planning, land-use adjustments and infrastructure coordination — would be accelerated to facilitate Nvidia’s move into the site, city officials said.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS