Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday that Taiwan would standardize light-emitting-diode (LED) products with China to tap into the global market in the face of intense competition from Japan, South Korea, Germany and the US.
Liu said the government would talk with its Chinese counterpart to reach an agreement on the standardization of LEDs and a certification system in June as part of the government’s “Bridge-Building Plan (搭橋計畫),” which is aimed at establishing a platform for cross-strait industrial cooperation.
Cross-strait cooperation in the LED illumination industry will turn Taiwan and China into “a global production center of LED products,” Liu said.
Liu made the remarks when speaking to executives of Epistar Corporation (晶元光電) during his visit to the country’s biggest supplier of high brightness LED (HB LED) epiwafers and chips.
The proposal garnered positive response from Epistar, with general manager Chou Ming-chun (周銘俊) saying that the government should cooperate with China to boost the LED industry.
“China has spared no efforts in subsidizing its LED and illumination industry, and that has prompted low-price competition with Taiwan,” Chou said.
He said that technological breakthroughs in South Korea and China in recent years also posed a threat to Taiwan’s LED industry.
“Cooperating with China would help local industries explore the Chinese market,” he said.
Earlier yesterday, Liu visited Motech Industrial Inc, the world’s eighth largest manufacturer of solar cells, to promote his Cabinet’s recent proposal to develop the renewable energy industry. Stressing the government’s determination to develop the country’s renewable energy sector, Liu said the Cabinet would establish a special team for resolving difficulties facing the renewable resources industry.
“It would be a service-oriented platform supported by all government agencies because it will respond to any requests in a rapid way,” Liu said.
Motech chairman Simon Tsuo (左元淮) told Liu that focusing primarily on cell and wafer manufacturing with a limited presence in the upstream raw materials market and the downstream applications market was a potential risk for Taiwanese solar firms.
“Despite holding a key position in the supply chain of the global solar industry, Taiwan lags behind in the development of a domestic consumer market for solar applications,” he said.
Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) of the Democratic Progressive Party urged Liu to revise any regulations that make businesses hesitant to invest in solar energy.
“The government should relax restrictions on the use of farmland and salt fields and expand tax incentives to the solar industry,” Su said.
In related developments, Liu said revision of property declaration regulations that prevent some executives from taking positions with state-owned institutions was “an urgent matter.”
He made the remarks in response to several recent resignations by government officials at institutions like the Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS