Taipei will express concern to Washington over a travel ban on three senior AU Optronics (AUO) executives, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), director-general of the Department of North American Affairs, said Taiwan hoped the US executive branch would take a “flexible” approach and consider lifting the ban on the trio, in line with the principle of presumed innocence.
AUO vice chairman Chen Hsuan-bin (陳炫彬), CEO Chen Lai-juh (陳來助) and board member and Qisda chief executive Hui Hsiung (熊暉) were recently ordered by a US judge to surrender their passports and not travel outside California’s northern district without court permission.
A San Francisco court in June indicted the Houston-based subsidiary of AUO and six company officials, including the trio, on charges of conspiring to fix LCD panel prices from September 2001 through December 2006, an allegation made by the US Department of Justice.
“They went to the US voluntarily to appear in court, meaning they will not hide themselves. Given that they have approached the case sincerely, what’s the point of barring them from leaving [the US]?” Tseng asked.
Should the Department of Justice refuse to talk with Taipei, the ministry would consider raising the matter with the American Institute in Taiwan, he said.
“As a foreign government, there is little room to maneuver in a case under judicial review and the same applies to the US’ executive branch. Even so, we will do our best to communicate with the US government to see if we can change the situation,” Tseng said.
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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