The luggage self-check-in system in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 1 contains parts and software made by a subsidiary of a Chinese arms manufacturer, which could put the nation at risk, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said yesterday.
The system’s conveyor belt contains parts made by a subsidiary of China North Industries Corp (Norinco, 中國北方工業集團) — a Chinese state-owned company that manufactures military products, Lin said.
The conveyor belts were manufactured and assembled in China, then disassembled and shipped to Taiwan, he said, adding that the system’s software also came from Norinco.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lin accused the airport of failing to adequately supervise the procurement process for the equipment when it upgraded the check-in systems in January.
The airport said that the tender for the upgrade project was won by Taiwanese company CTCI Advanced Systems Inc (新鼎系統公司), which had said that its system used parts from China, but it was built in Taiwan.
Lin said the most concerning issue is that although the hardware for the system’s programmable logic controller came from a Japanese company, the controller was using a programming language designed by Norinco, which could give the company backdoor access to the airport’s systems and pose a security risk.
The issue came to light due to a regulation that stipulates that such equipment must be assembled and tested in the manufacturer’s factory before it can be installed in the airport, Lin said.
As the factory is in China, CTCI sent inspectors from CECI Engineering Consultants — the company commissioned to inspect the work — to China to fulfill the requirement.
CTCI claimed the system was built in Taiwan, as it had to be disassembled for shipment, Lin said, adding that this was a loophole in the supervisory process.
“The airport has clearly stated in the past that contractors cannot use Chinese components, so how did this project slip through?” he asked. “There must be an investigation by airport authorities and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to ensure such projects do not compromise national security.”
Taoyuan International Airport Corp senior vice president Fan Hsiao-lun (范孝倫) said that CTCI had listed the Norinco subsidiary as one of its parts suppliers during the bidding process, but that the airport believed it to be a supplier of only small components and therefore not a cause for concern.
The airport would handle the situation according to regulations and would prioritize domestically produced components, he said.
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS